In a move it’s safe to say no one saw coming, Conan O’Brien has found a new home on basic cable, signing a deal to host a one-hour late-night talk show on TBS.

O’Brien’s as-yet-untitled 11 p.m. show will bow on the Turner network in November, shifting Lopez Tonight to the midnight slot.

via Conan O’Brien Lands at TBS.

Yahoo News has partnered with the production firm Reveille and embattled automaker Toyota to launch a new daily Web series — Who Knew? — that will expound on the site’s most popular news story of a given day.

Who Knew? is aimed at providing a mainstream Web audience with snack-sized features on lesser known aspects of whatever topics are making news at that moment (Yahoo officials claimed that Yahoo News reaches 21 percent of the online audience). For example, today the show examined the Shroud of Turin, which was recently displayed in Italy for the first time in 10 years. Each episode runs 90 seconds.

via Yahoo, Reveille, Toyota Team Up.

The average person on Facebook has 130 friends, but most of them aren’t really “friends” at all.

That’s the premise of a campaign from Microsoft that introduces its Kin phone, which is pitched as a device designed specifically “for people who are actively navigating their social lives.” Kin, a long-awaited, touch-screen mobile device that was code-named “Pink,” was based on feedback from more than 50,000 consumers in the target 20-something age range. Like some other devices, notably Motorola’s Cliq TX with Motoblur, Kin pools several social media streams including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Windows Live. But unlike Blur, Kin lets consumers program their phone so their closest friends’ updates rise to the top, a feature Microsoft calls The Loop.

via Microsoft Gets Social for Kin Phone Launch.

Back in August 2006, The Oxford English Dictionary updated its definitive record of the language with a new entry, adding “Google” as a verb, meaning to search the Internet. That put the firm in the exalted company of brands like Xerox, FedEx and TiVo, which also gave their names to the actions they invented.

via Google: Too Many Moving Parts?.

Producer Mark Burnett and Video In My Backyard (Vimby) have formed a partnership to develop branded content in the digital space.

The new co-venture, as yet unnamed, will work with media companies and advertisers to implement “cost-effective branded solutions” that will be geared toward targeted demographic groups such as mothers, millennials, the environmentally conscious and health/wellness aficionados, among others.

via Mark Burnett in Digital Branded Content Venture.

Domino’s Pizza is going to great lengths to promote its reformulated recipe. The chain this week kicked off the next phase of its “Oh yes we did” campaign, and it’s asking consumers to help spread the word.

“We’re really confident that if people will try our new pizza, they will like it, and they’ll even recommend it to their friends,” said Domino’s CMO Russell Weiner.

via Domino’s CMO Explains ‘Friends’ Strategy.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs once famously said mobile advertising “sucks.” Now, he’s out to change that with the introduction of an ad network called iAd.

Apple, which bought mobile ad network Quattro Wireless for $250 million in January, plans to offer iAd to application developers. The ads will differ from many standard mobile banners because tapping on them won’t cause users to leave the applications. Instead, brands can provide various interactive elements in displays that pop up over the application pages.

via Apple to Roll Out App Ad Net.

The media recession is over — at least for Google.

The Web giant plans to hire over 500 staffers, according to officials, as it looks to continue its momentum in the search business while deepening its strength in burgeoning segments like display advertising, mobile and video.

via Google Begins Hiring Spree.

Rumors began swirling around the iPad, long before its official late-February announcement. Since that time, the world has basically divided into two camps: those who think the new tablet will change the world, and those who believe it’s little more than an oversized iPhone.

via It’s the iPad, Not the iPanacea.