Google has just set an Oct. 29 event in New York centered on its Android mobile software. “The playground is open” is all it says, so we are left to figure out what might land on that playground.
The most likely products to come out at the event are the new Nexus phone rumored to be manufacturing by LG. Also possible is a Nexus 7 tablet with more storage, 32 MB vs. the top-end 16 model currently available. Some folks are speculating that Google might drop the price of its low-end 8 MB Nexus 7 to just $99, which would really shake up the 7-inch tablet business–especially since Apple is expected to weigh in with the similarly sized iPad Mini on Oct. 23.
Then again, the invitation for the event, which will be streamed at YouTube.com/Android, singles out Android itself. So while Google already has a relatively new version of the operating system, maybe there will be some new features updates announced.
“Playground” seems likely to refer to Google Play, the Android apps and content marketplace, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see updates or new content deals announced. One interesting note, which may mean absolutely nothing: The artwork on the invitation closely resembles the drawings associated with its Google Now automated personal assistant on Android.
Or the announcements could be some combination of any of those. More to come as it develops.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Schumacher to give up racing completely. Complete retirement eminent.
The seven-times World Champion announced in Japan two weeks ago that he would be quitting F1 for good following November's season finale in Brazil as his energy levels were "in the red zone again" after three years back in the sport.
Although Schumacher has always insisted that competing in other forms of four-wheeled motorsport holds little interest for him, the 43-year-old did take part in some motorcycle races after retiring from F1 for the first time at the end of 2006.
However, asked by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport if he might re-appear in another racing category this time, Schumacher replied: "No, it's not in my plans.
"Formula 1 offers the maximum as far as emotions, speed and work completeness are concerned. Another type of car wouldn't give me the same feelings. I'm stopping here completely."
In his initial period of retirement Schumacher, in addition to competing on two wheels, also acted as an advisor to former team Ferrari and appeared on the pit wall at a number of grands prix.
A similar offer to serve as an ambassador or advisor to Mercedes is believed to be on the table this time round but the German remains light-lipped on what he might do next.
"From now on life will offer me plenty of new possibilities. I'm looking forward to them," he added.
Having come out of retirement after three years to spearhead Mercedes' new works team in 2010, Schumacher had hoped to challenge for an eighth world title but looks set to exit the sport again without adding to his record 91 wins, with his best finish to date a third place in Valencia in June.
Some pundits have suggested that the underwhelming nature of his on-track return may affect his legacy but Schumacher, despite the disappointing results, says his 'second' career has actually taught him how to accept defeat, and all in all, he's happy with his two decades in the sport as a whole.
"If I look into my life's rear-view mirror, I find myself happy and smiling," he explained.
"I've had two distinct careers: one where I won everything, and a second one where I discovered what losing means.
"Yes, I've learned how to lose, but this has made me more mature and more patient too, partly thanks to my age.
"Today I have to consider what I have done overall and I'm satisfied with myself."
Although Schumacher has always insisted that competing in other forms of four-wheeled motorsport holds little interest for him, the 43-year-old did take part in some motorcycle races after retiring from F1 for the first time at the end of 2006.
However, asked by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport if he might re-appear in another racing category this time, Schumacher replied: "No, it's not in my plans.
"Formula 1 offers the maximum as far as emotions, speed and work completeness are concerned. Another type of car wouldn't give me the same feelings. I'm stopping here completely."
In his initial period of retirement Schumacher, in addition to competing on two wheels, also acted as an advisor to former team Ferrari and appeared on the pit wall at a number of grands prix.
A similar offer to serve as an ambassador or advisor to Mercedes is believed to be on the table this time round but the German remains light-lipped on what he might do next.
"From now on life will offer me plenty of new possibilities. I'm looking forward to them," he added.
Having come out of retirement after three years to spearhead Mercedes' new works team in 2010, Schumacher had hoped to challenge for an eighth world title but looks set to exit the sport again without adding to his record 91 wins, with his best finish to date a third place in Valencia in June.
Some pundits have suggested that the underwhelming nature of his on-track return may affect his legacy but Schumacher, despite the disappointing results, says his 'second' career has actually taught him how to accept defeat, and all in all, he's happy with his two decades in the sport as a whole.
"If I look into my life's rear-view mirror, I find myself happy and smiling," he explained.
"I've had two distinct careers: one where I won everything, and a second one where I discovered what losing means.
"Yes, I've learned how to lose, but this has made me more mature and more patient too, partly thanks to my age.
"Today I have to consider what I have done overall and I'm satisfied with myself."
Newsweek sheds print, goes completely digital.
Newsweek, the American weekly news magazine published in NYC, is going all-digital from the start of 2013, marking the end of an era for the almost 80-year-old publication.
The last print edition in the United States will be its December 31 issue, and the company will look to grow its tablet and online presence, as well as its global partnerships and events business.
Newsweek Global, as it will be called, will be a single, worldwide edition supported by paid subscriptions. It will be available through e-readers for both tablet and the Web, with select content available through The Daily Beast.
Newsweek was launched in 1933 by Thomas J.C. Martyn, formerly of Time Magazine, with the first issue dated 17 February, 1933. Today, it is among the biggest-selling weekly magazines in the US, behind Time, and is published in four English language editions, as well as twelve local-language global editions.
Newsweek merged with online publication The Daily Beast back in 2010 in a 50/50 joint venture called The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. The magazine underwent a big redesign last year, which followed an announcement a couple of years previous where it laid out its plans to reinvent the magazine after losing readers to online publications. Indeed, on its 75th anniversary, the magazine finally slipped into the red, and the publication reduced its workforce by 160 people to around 400, mostly through a voluntary retirement program.
So perhaps this isn’t entirely surprising, and it is the way many publications are going. The focus, it seems, will be on building a strong digital revenue model moving forward, and it will be interesting to see what becomes of Newsweek when the final prints roll out later this year.
“Our business has been increasingly affected by the challenging print advertising environment, while Newsweek’s online and e-reader content has built a rapidly growing audience through the Apple, Kindle, Zinio and Nook stores as well as on The Daily Beast,” explains Tina Brown, editor-in-chief and founder of The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, and Baba Shetty, CEO, in a joint statement.
“Tablet-use has grown rapidly among our readers and with it the opportunity to sustain editorial excellence through swift, easy digital distribution—a superb global platform for our award-winning journalism. By year’s end, tablet users in the United States alone are expected to exceed 70 million, up from 13 million just two years ago.”
The last print edition in the United States will be its December 31 issue, and the company will look to grow its tablet and online presence, as well as its global partnerships and events business.
Newsweek Global, as it will be called, will be a single, worldwide edition supported by paid subscriptions. It will be available through e-readers for both tablet and the Web, with select content available through The Daily Beast.
Newsweek was launched in 1933 by Thomas J.C. Martyn, formerly of Time Magazine, with the first issue dated 17 February, 1933. Today, it is among the biggest-selling weekly magazines in the US, behind Time, and is published in four English language editions, as well as twelve local-language global editions.
Newsweek merged with online publication The Daily Beast back in 2010 in a 50/50 joint venture called The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. The magazine underwent a big redesign last year, which followed an announcement a couple of years previous where it laid out its plans to reinvent the magazine after losing readers to online publications. Indeed, on its 75th anniversary, the magazine finally slipped into the red, and the publication reduced its workforce by 160 people to around 400, mostly through a voluntary retirement program.
So perhaps this isn’t entirely surprising, and it is the way many publications are going. The focus, it seems, will be on building a strong digital revenue model moving forward, and it will be interesting to see what becomes of Newsweek when the final prints roll out later this year.
“Our business has been increasingly affected by the challenging print advertising environment, while Newsweek’s online and e-reader content has built a rapidly growing audience through the Apple, Kindle, Zinio and Nook stores as well as on The Daily Beast,” explains Tina Brown, editor-in-chief and founder of The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, and Baba Shetty, CEO, in a joint statement.
“Tablet-use has grown rapidly among our readers and with it the opportunity to sustain editorial excellence through swift, easy digital distribution—a superb global platform for our award-winning journalism. By year’s end, tablet users in the United States alone are expected to exceed 70 million, up from 13 million just two years ago.”
FB intro's more value to its advertising relevance.
Facebook Introduces Global Pages, Adding Toes to Brands' Global Footprint
Socialbakers > Blog >
Facebook just announced “Global Pages”, which resolves three, seemingly mutually exclusive problems international brands have faced using the social network.
The first is local relevance. Brands with a global footprint needed to appeal to a lowest common denominator for their marketing campaigns, generalizing their content for a world audience, losing local relevance and missing local or regional opportunities as a result. The second is brand consistency. To get around the first issue, many brands created localized or region and language-specific pages. This is harder to manage and metric and runs the risk of diluting a brand’s image across markets. The third is split communities. Brands with multiple pages had split communities, defeating the purpose of being a global brand with a global reach.
With “Global Pages”, these issues are resolved by merging local pages with localized material into a single global page, with a single URL that behaves differently in different markets. The single URL can be used globally, streamlining campaigns; users will be automatically directed to the best (most relevant) version of the Page for them. The pages will still have local metrics in addition to global stats, allowing you to monitor the performance of individual markets while maintaining a consistent brand identity.
According to Facebook: “Facebook users will be directed to the best version of a Page based on the country those users are in, enabling them to see localized cover photos, profile photos, Page apps, milestones, “about” information, and news feed stories from Pages – all the while remaining a part of the global brand community.” This results in the best of both worlds, resolving and reconciling all three issues at once.
They continue, “This structure works for brands that historically have managed one single Page with geo-targeted page posts, as well as for brands that have managed multiple, country-specific Pages.”
Socialbakers > Blog >
Facebook just announced “Global Pages”, which resolves three, seemingly mutually exclusive problems international brands have faced using the social network.
The first is local relevance. Brands with a global footprint needed to appeal to a lowest common denominator for their marketing campaigns, generalizing their content for a world audience, losing local relevance and missing local or regional opportunities as a result. The second is brand consistency. To get around the first issue, many brands created localized or region and language-specific pages. This is harder to manage and metric and runs the risk of diluting a brand’s image across markets. The third is split communities. Brands with multiple pages had split communities, defeating the purpose of being a global brand with a global reach.
With “Global Pages”, these issues are resolved by merging local pages with localized material into a single global page, with a single URL that behaves differently in different markets. The single URL can be used globally, streamlining campaigns; users will be automatically directed to the best (most relevant) version of the Page for them. The pages will still have local metrics in addition to global stats, allowing you to monitor the performance of individual markets while maintaining a consistent brand identity.
According to Facebook: “Facebook users will be directed to the best version of a Page based on the country those users are in, enabling them to see localized cover photos, profile photos, Page apps, milestones, “about” information, and news feed stories from Pages – all the while remaining a part of the global brand community.” This results in the best of both worlds, resolving and reconciling all three issues at once.
They continue, “This structure works for brands that historically have managed one single Page with geo-targeted page posts, as well as for brands that have managed multiple, country-specific Pages.”
Third quarter results for Nokia. RIM take note.
This is what happens when you make a good phone, but its too bulky and heavy. Has to be mobile! Better luck to the former number one manufacturer.
The former world number one mobile maker Nokia has announced its Q3 financial results today, reporting yet another quarterly loss — posting an operating loss of €576 million ($754 million). Net sales for the quarter were €7.239 billion ($9.49 billion).
Nokia said sales of its Lumia line of Windows Phone 7-based smartphones decreased quarter-on-quarter to 2.9 million units (down from four million in the previous quarter) — attributing this decline to the looming launch of Windows Phone 8-based devices, due next month.
Total smartphone sales were 6.3 million (down from 10.2 million in the previous quarter). While sales of mobile phones totalled 76.6 million during the quarter, of which 6.5 million were its Asha full touch phones.
The company also noted shrinking cash reserves. Nokia’s net cash fell to €3.6 billion ($4.7 billion) by the end of the quarter, down from €4.2 billion in June.
Commenting on the results, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said in a statement:
As we expected, Q3 was a difficult quarter in our Devices & Services business; however, we are pleased that we shifted Nokia Group to operating profitability on a non-IFRS basis.
In Q3, we continued to manage through a tough transitional quarter for our smart devices business as we shared the exciting innovation ahead with our new line of Lumia products.
In our mobile phones business, the positive consumer response to our new Asha full touch smartphones translated into strong sales. And in Q3, our mobile phones business delivered a solid quarter with sequential sales growth and improved contribution margin.
In Location & Commerce, we made progress establishing our platform offering with customers like Amazon. This is in line with our plan to expand our location offering to more customers.
And, Nokia Siemens Networks had a remarkable quarter in which we achieved record profitability on a non-IFRS basis and the Nokia Siemens Networks cash balance increased for the fourth quarter in a row.
While we continue to focus on transitioning Nokia, we are determined to carefully manage our financial resources, improve our competitiveness, return our Devices & Services business to positive operating cash flow as quickly as possible, and ultimately provide more value to our shareholders.
Nokia said it expects the fourth quarter to be “challenging”, despite being able to start selling WP8-based Lumias in Q4 — “with a lower-than-normal benefit from seasonality in volumes, primarily due to product transitions and our ramp up plan for our new devices”.
It said it expects its non-IFRS Devices & Services operating margin in Q4 to be approximately negative 6 percent, plus or minus four percentage points.
Commenting on the results, IHS Screen Digest analyst Ian Fogg noted that the WP8 launch timetable will continue to cause Nokia pain in Q4.
“Given the November Windows Phone 8 availability, Nokia’s smartphone results will not see much uplift in 2012. Q4 results will be v tough,” he tweeted.
Fogg also noted how the results highlight Nokia’s failure to drive Windows Phone into the North American market — with just 300,000 handsets shipped in Q3.
While Nokia’s -64 percent year-on-year decline in China — attributed by Nokia to its move away from Symbian — is also equally down to “lack of take up of Windows Phone Lumia devices”, said Fogg.
The former world number one mobile maker Nokia has announced its Q3 financial results today, reporting yet another quarterly loss — posting an operating loss of €576 million ($754 million). Net sales for the quarter were €7.239 billion ($9.49 billion).
Nokia said sales of its Lumia line of Windows Phone 7-based smartphones decreased quarter-on-quarter to 2.9 million units (down from four million in the previous quarter) — attributing this decline to the looming launch of Windows Phone 8-based devices, due next month.
Total smartphone sales were 6.3 million (down from 10.2 million in the previous quarter). While sales of mobile phones totalled 76.6 million during the quarter, of which 6.5 million were its Asha full touch phones.
The company also noted shrinking cash reserves. Nokia’s net cash fell to €3.6 billion ($4.7 billion) by the end of the quarter, down from €4.2 billion in June.
Commenting on the results, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said in a statement:
As we expected, Q3 was a difficult quarter in our Devices & Services business; however, we are pleased that we shifted Nokia Group to operating profitability on a non-IFRS basis.
In Q3, we continued to manage through a tough transitional quarter for our smart devices business as we shared the exciting innovation ahead with our new line of Lumia products.
In our mobile phones business, the positive consumer response to our new Asha full touch smartphones translated into strong sales. And in Q3, our mobile phones business delivered a solid quarter with sequential sales growth and improved contribution margin.
In Location & Commerce, we made progress establishing our platform offering with customers like Amazon. This is in line with our plan to expand our location offering to more customers.
And, Nokia Siemens Networks had a remarkable quarter in which we achieved record profitability on a non-IFRS basis and the Nokia Siemens Networks cash balance increased for the fourth quarter in a row.
While we continue to focus on transitioning Nokia, we are determined to carefully manage our financial resources, improve our competitiveness, return our Devices & Services business to positive operating cash flow as quickly as possible, and ultimately provide more value to our shareholders.
Nokia said it expects the fourth quarter to be “challenging”, despite being able to start selling WP8-based Lumias in Q4 — “with a lower-than-normal benefit from seasonality in volumes, primarily due to product transitions and our ramp up plan for our new devices”.
It said it expects its non-IFRS Devices & Services operating margin in Q4 to be approximately negative 6 percent, plus or minus four percentage points.
Commenting on the results, IHS Screen Digest analyst Ian Fogg noted that the WP8 launch timetable will continue to cause Nokia pain in Q4.
“Given the November Windows Phone 8 availability, Nokia’s smartphone results will not see much uplift in 2012. Q4 results will be v tough,” he tweeted.
Fogg also noted how the results highlight Nokia’s failure to drive Windows Phone into the North American market — with just 300,000 handsets shipped in Q3.
While Nokia’s -64 percent year-on-year decline in China — attributed by Nokia to its move away from Symbian — is also equally down to “lack of take up of Windows Phone Lumia devices”, said Fogg.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Apple acquired Color Labs? Why?
Color Labs, the photo-and-video-sharing social network that received much criticism over its pre-launch $41 million funding round, is about to be acquired by Apple.
We’ve heard through trusted sources that the startup was nabbed for a price that is in the ‘high double digits’, as in millions, and that the deal is ‘done’, though papers have yet to be signed.
From what we know, founder Bill Nguyen has been away from the office for three months, after a period of intense strain between him and the board.
Some of that has come out in stories so far. But what you may not know is that Nguyen actually designed the first user interface for the Color app. And, even before his relationship with the board soured, he was looking for a way to sell the company. For that, he turned to a previous relationship he had with Apple’s Senior Vice President Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue.
Nguyen started building prototype apps to show to Cue and to other potential suitors, using the resources of the Color team.
Those apps were then abandoned after he showed them off. An entirely new version of the Color broadcasting app was built and never released. Apparently, the technique worked as the deal is said to net everyone at Color, including investors, a return on the initial funding.
Yes, we know, it seems crazy. But this wouldn’t be Apple’s first time buying one of Nguyen’s startups. They snagged Lala for $80 million in December, 2009.
As to why they’d want Color Labs? We would look to Color’s patents, which may include one for a file format that they were working on to record HD video. Color said that it had six patents pending at the time of its funding, including its ‘elastic’ social graph and patents related to GPS location and battery saving. Or its software engineering team could be the target, if Apple was impressed by their work.
If true, and our sources are very well placed, the acquisition helps end a tumultuous period of Color’s existence. From its launch, Color has undergone some different transformations. First, as an application some would consider to be innovative where the premise was that phones would group photos taken with nearby devices through the app, and now its most recent incarnation where it is focused on sharing videos on Facebook (and recently signed a deal with Verizon).
Many became skeptical over Color’s introduction to the scene when it was announced that investors like Bain Capital Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, and Sequoia Capital had poured in millions of dollars to this unproven company. It was started by serial entrepreneurs Nguyen and Peter Pham, but quickly unraveled over the next couple of years. Pham left the startup in June 2011 over unknown reasons and went to work at Los Angeles incubator Science.
More conflicting news emerged this week as it was reported that the company was going to shut its doors, something that was quickly refuted.
We’ve reached out to Apple and Color for more information and will update this post if we receive it.
We’ve heard through trusted sources that the startup was nabbed for a price that is in the ‘high double digits’, as in millions, and that the deal is ‘done’, though papers have yet to be signed.
From what we know, founder Bill Nguyen has been away from the office for three months, after a period of intense strain between him and the board.
Some of that has come out in stories so far. But what you may not know is that Nguyen actually designed the first user interface for the Color app. And, even before his relationship with the board soured, he was looking for a way to sell the company. For that, he turned to a previous relationship he had with Apple’s Senior Vice President Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue.
Nguyen started building prototype apps to show to Cue and to other potential suitors, using the resources of the Color team.
Those apps were then abandoned after he showed them off. An entirely new version of the Color broadcasting app was built and never released. Apparently, the technique worked as the deal is said to net everyone at Color, including investors, a return on the initial funding.
Yes, we know, it seems crazy. But this wouldn’t be Apple’s first time buying one of Nguyen’s startups. They snagged Lala for $80 million in December, 2009.
As to why they’d want Color Labs? We would look to Color’s patents, which may include one for a file format that they were working on to record HD video. Color said that it had six patents pending at the time of its funding, including its ‘elastic’ social graph and patents related to GPS location and battery saving. Or its software engineering team could be the target, if Apple was impressed by their work.
If true, and our sources are very well placed, the acquisition helps end a tumultuous period of Color’s existence. From its launch, Color has undergone some different transformations. First, as an application some would consider to be innovative where the premise was that phones would group photos taken with nearby devices through the app, and now its most recent incarnation where it is focused on sharing videos on Facebook (and recently signed a deal with Verizon).
Many became skeptical over Color’s introduction to the scene when it was announced that investors like Bain Capital Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, and Sequoia Capital had poured in millions of dollars to this unproven company. It was started by serial entrepreneurs Nguyen and Peter Pham, but quickly unraveled over the next couple of years. Pham left the startup in June 2011 over unknown reasons and went to work at Los Angeles incubator Science.
More conflicting news emerged this week as it was reported that the company was going to shut its doors, something that was quickly refuted.
We’ve reached out to Apple and Color for more information and will update this post if we receive it.
Socware
“Malware on Facebook seems to be hosted and enabled by Facebook itself,” Michalis Faloutsos, a professor of computer science and engineering, said in a statement “It’s a classic parasitic kind of behavior. It is fascinating and sad at the same time.”
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