VentureBeat |
- Angry bakers have fingers burned as Baking Life Facebook game gets the chop
- Boston companies: Get feedback on Feb 14 from the best mentors in town
- What are the most-played words in Hanging With Friends? (exclusive)
- JunoWallet scores big as its mobile wallet for gift cards goes viral
- The DeanBeat: Should Zynga move into online gambling?
- Expresso alleviates headache of big data transfer (exclusive)
- Senate majority leader delays vote on PIPA
- Department of Justice shutdown of rogue site MegaUpload shows SOPA is unnecessary
- App maker Skygrid hits the big time with LG deal (video)
- The dark side of Apple’s digital textbook utopia
- Sulake CEO discusses Niko, Habbo Hotel and the drive to move audiences across platforms
- Microsoft acknowledges color-space problem with Xbox 360 update
- Nike’s new FuelBand tracks your calories and movement
- Can Apple’s new textbook initiative save U.S. education? (infographic)
- IBM Q4 software revenue up, profit exceeds expectations
- Megaupload defendants’ property includes 15 Mercedes, a Lamborghini, a Maserati, and a Rolls
- Top 5 reasons to support SOPA
- Scientists turn seaweed into fuel with E. coli
- Intel says 40 percent of consumer laptops will be Ultrabooks by year end
- Google+ reaches 90M users, Page “excited” about Seach Plus Your World
- Anonymous hacks DOJ, record label sites over Megaupload case (updated)
- YouTube teams up with Ridley Scott on new film festival channel
- Google: 250M Android devices activated, 11B Android Market app downloads
- Microsoft’s Xbox 360 revenues grow but profits dip in holiday quarter
- Microsoft beats the Street with record Q2 revenues of $20.9B
- Intel beats reduced earnings forecast; the PC isn’t dead yet
- Google surpasses $10B in revenue for Q4, but misses forecast
- Google named best company to work for (it’s not just the great food)
- FBI shuts down Megaupload 24 hours after Swizz Beatz revealed as CEO
- Twitter acquires Summify, as if tweets aren’t summed up enough
| Angry bakers have fingers burned as Baking Life Facebook game gets the chop Posted: 20 Jan 2012 09:02 AM PST
Baking Life currently attracts 730,000 monthly average users, and PopCap, which is owned by Electronic Arts, says that just isn't enough. "The Baking Life player numbers have dropped in such a way that Baking Life is no longer performing well enough to justify continued support. As such, we are reallocating resources to games that we are developing for future release." In its heyday, Baking Life was apparently pulling in 6.7M monthly users, a figure that would make most Facebook developers blush. Baking Life's Facebook page has now lit up with players angry at the decision. One post says, "Electronic Arts has really destroyed a lot of wonderful Facebook games. They also bought Playfish and now if a game doesn’t get so many people that play every month, they just shut it down in the same manner they are doing with Baking Life." Understandably, the players who spent real cash on Baking Life are perhaps most upset at the decision. "You have a lot of nerve, I had the whole bakery completely enlarged and decorated. And I had several hundred thousand dollars. I spent alot of money on that game and don’t appreciate your handling of it," reads one comment on Baking Life’s Facebook page. The official Baking Life forum has also been swamped with angry users, with one saying, "Seriously, I'm really hacked off ….. I have spent an obscene amount of money on this game , using Facebook credits etc only to be told it is no longer going to be available after the 31st January." The Baking Life virtual currency, called Zip Cash, is unique to the game and is available to buy in bundles ranging from 25 (costing $4.90) to 925 (costing $149.90). Virtual items can then be bought using this Zip Cash, with a 'Triple Batch Oven' costing the equivalent of $7.20. Now that the game is closing, this Zip Cash is essentially worthless, and the Baking Life Facebook page says, "We encourage you to spend your remaining Zip Cash before January 31st. All virtual currency (Zip Cash) and virtual items will be lost after January 31st." It points out that, "Any remaining Zip Cash (even if it was purchased and unused) is not transferable between or among different games or applications and is not redeemable for any sum of money or other monetary value." Rubbing further salt into the wound, there is now a link to a survey on the Baking Life Facebook page, asking for help in developing new games. One reply to this states, "How dare you ask any of us who were dedicated to playing Baking Life to vote in a survey to launch a new game to replace it." A lot of Baking Life players have had their fingers burned by the decision to shut the game down, and many are saying they be avoid any EA or PopCap published Facebook games in the future. Filed under: games, VentureBeat        
      This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Boston companies: Get feedback on Feb 14 from the best mentors in town Posted: 20 Jan 2012 09:01 AM PST
VentureBeat is on a world tour. We’re prowling to find the most exciting products to write about, but also to invite to the upcoming DEMO conference, held on April 17-19 in Silicon Valley for a product launch. This free pre-DEMO Boston session will give your company a great opportunity to pitch, and receive friendly feedback from the best mentors Boston has to offer. We’re teaming with Antonio Rodriguez, partner at Matrix Partners, (top right), Katie Rae, head of Techstars Boston and Project 11, (middle right) and Fred Destin, partner at Atlas Venture, (bottom right) where the meetings will take place. And I’ll be there too.
For 21 years, DEMO has proven to be an incredible launch platform for startups, fast-growth mid-level companies, and even large cap, publicly traded corporations to show off their new tech products to an extensive, influential media audience. Over the years, companies such as Palm, Salesforce, VMware, TiVo, WebEx, Adobe and more recently Fusion-io (the newly public company), and SuccessFactors (which sold to SAP for 3.4 billion) launched some of their earliest products at DEMO. Now, its your turn. We’ve made a lot of changes at DEMO to make sure we get the very best companies there. The DEMO Scholarship Partner Program makes DEMO free for many early stage companies. And we’re holding the event in San Francisco, to make sure we get the globe’s top tech press there, as well as members from the wider ecosystem, from investors to corporate development executives from the largest tech companies. That way companies can get wide publicity, but also do important deal-making on the side. If you’re interested in presenting your company on February 14 at the Atlas offices in Cambridge, MA, please fill out this form. If you’re selected, we will get in touch with you immediately to explain the details. You can also see our full DEMO tour schedule online here. We look forward to seeing you in Boston! Filed under: DEMO        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| What are the most-played words in Hanging With Friends? (exclusive) Posted: 20 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST
Zynga has been kind enough to share the top five most-played Hanging With Friends words with GamesBeat, just because we were curious (and thought you might be too). This is likely the only time you’ll ever see the words “sexy” and “zits” next to each other.
In case you were wondering, the most-played Words With Friends words are also included, and sound a lot like a Skyrim shout when said in a row:
The problem with QI, in particular, is that once you use it on someone, they’ll start using it too, even though they have no idea what it means. According to Record Setter, the highest scoring Words With Friends word of all-time is “oxyphenbutazone,” which racked up 1672 points in a single move. It’s an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat arthritis. Duh. Zynga also blogged some stats for their newest “With Friends” title, Scramble With Friends:
And lastly, for those with ADHD like me, here’s a bunch of Zynga-related information in a colorful infographic: “That was awesome Sebastian, give us more!” Okay! Filed under: games, mobile, social, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| JunoWallet scores big as its mobile wallet for gift cards goes viral Posted: 20 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST
During the holidays, grocery store clerks cheered whenever Chris Sweis, the chief mobile officer at JunoWallet, showed up to buy gift cards. That was because he gave the stores some huge business, buying every single iTunes card on the racks in the store. He took them back to the office so employees, like Abel Jimenez pictured right, could literally swim in a sea of gift cards. The team had to scratch off the gift cards, get the access codes, and put them into the company’s database so JunoWallet could give away an electronic version of the card. Sweis’ company has turned plastic gift cards into electronic gift cards. Instead of storing them in your physical wallet, you can put them in a virtual one on your iPhone or Android device. JunoWallet created a popular mobile app that will let you store all your gift card information in one place and access it right when you need it. It’s like a mobile wallet that connects you with just about every merchant in the world. For consumers, the JunoWallet is a simple iOS or Android app that can securely store the numbers and pins for existing gift cards from businesses such as Starbucks, Apple, or The Gap. You can redeem those gift cards directly from the device, which means you no longer have to carry a bunch of plastic in your wallet or purse. It also means you will have the gift card information when you need it, as it’s easy to forget gift cards at home.
Sweis had to charge the grocery store sales to his corporate debit card. Once, the first time he did this, he was only able to charge $800 worth at a time. And after a few times, the bank turned the spigot off. Sweis had to call and explain that his business was taking off like crazy. That was just a couple of months ago, but now the whole process has been made electronic, where the gift card makers can send codes over in digital form. “We definitely are not going to the grocery store anymore,” Sweis said. “Those were exhausting days, when we were doing 14,000 cards a day back then. We are doing significantly more business now. If we had to go to the grocery store still, I’d probably go crazy.” JunoWallet also lets you obtain promotional certificates that can be used for a variety of products and services. That means you can essentially get free money from JunoWallet through various promotions. Users have been able to convert check-ins, for instance, into points that can be redeemed for gift cards. You can buy gift cards directly from within the app, as well as give cards and certificates to friends. Or you can get bonus gift cards and discounts when you make gift card purchases. The free app has taken off like crazy. JunoWallet is at No. 5 in the finance category in the App Store. The company has also just launched an Asian-friendly wallet, dubbed BambooWallet, which is at No. 21. The BambooWallet is a companion app to JunoWallet, where you can connect different accounts.
Some places will give away bulk JunoCredits, or a virtual currency, just to get people in the door. Users can trade around different points related to specific prizes (you may need four points to get a free product), so the JunoCredits are a kind of currency that encourages social interaction. The app has an “earn gifts” tab that lets you generate JunoCredits that you can then use to shop. Some companies can use the gift cards as promotions to drive new business into their doors. They can, for instance, get consumers to install apps through incentives such as issuing JunoCredits. If someone installs an app or uses it a bunch of times, the consumer can be rewarded with gift cards sent straight to the mobile device. This cost-per-action model generates money for JunoWallet. The advertisers are happy because the user actions include things that help the brand, like getting on a company’s mailing list, becoming a fan on its Facebook page, taking a survey, calling a call center to hear a sales pitch, or an instant gathering of people communicating via text message. Sweis said there is a lot more opportunity to grow the business. “We are incentivizing actions in what is called cost-per-action ad units,” Sweis said. Sweis said his team plans to offer $10,000 in iTunes gift cards to be offered in return for certain mobile tasks to be done at the Macworld Expo next week in San Francisco.
“We all realized we had something amazing together,” Sweis said. On Facebook, JunoWallet has more than 46,000 fans. It has 13,000 Twitter followers. Advertisers are knocking on the door to use the platform. Rivals include players such as Wrapp, Swagg and Blackhawk’s GoWallet. So far, JunoWallet has angel investors. But it may need to raise money if its business keeps growing like crazy. “We’re working as hard as we can to keep up with the demand now,” Sweis said. “It is really testing us.” Filed under: games, mobile        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The DeanBeat: Should Zynga move into online gambling? Posted: 20 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST
Slot machine maker International Game Technology answered that question with a resounding “Yes!” when it bought Double Down Interactive, a 70-person Facebook casino game studio, for $500 million on Jan. 13. Zynga’s shares started going up after the deal was announced, which came shortly after the Obama administration’s Justice Department ruled in December that online gambling was legal, as long as it was not sports-related, which was specifically prohibited in prior law. The ruling reversed a long-standing position that said the 1961 federal gambling law extended to Internet gambling; now the Justice Department has given states the green light to create intrastate online gambling systems that don’t include sports betting. And states, such as Nevada, are starting to take steps to explicitly legalize online poker and possibly other games. That gives online gambling companies the right to set up poker games for players in Nevada, but the states need to create interstate agreements to allow gambling across state lines. The ball is rolling on that front, but there may be a patchwork of states for a while where online poker gambling is legal. So there is some renewed hope among the companies eyeing this market that country-wide online gambling might happen at some point in the future. That’s one reason why Zynga’s stock is reportedly rising. Zynga has more than 30 million monthly active users for its Facebook poker game, where you can pay real money to purchase virtual poker chips. But it’s not real gambling because you can’t take your winnings out of the game. If online gambling is legalized in certain states, Zynga could allow players in those states to bet and cash out real money. On that topic, Zynga officially says the following:
Arvind Bhatia, analyst at Sterne Agere, took note of the recent Zynga stock price increase and said he considered the legalization of online poker games across the U.S. to be a “long shot and highly speculative.” In an email, Bhatia said, “I don’t believe Zynga has any big advantages in online gaming compared to the more established players. Zynga’s (players) are gamers and not gamblers. Also, legalization of online gambling is obviously not a given and even if it happens it will probably take a while.” Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Securities, said, “I think it is highly unlikely. They don’t have the security in place to protect privacy, protect against fraud, report to regulators, and comply with federal, state and international laws. Others are already fully staffed and capable, and Zynga’s base of users doesn’t give them ownership if poker is legalized.” Atul Bagga, analyst at Lazard Capital, said in an initial note on Zynga that online gambling was a possible expansion area for the company, but he still doesn’t see it as near-term. Long-term, he thinks the real-money online poker market in the U.S. could be a $3 billion to $5 billion market. Zynga would face a new set of competitors like PartyGaming, PokerStars, FullTilt Poker, and Betfair. Eric Goldberg, managing director of Crossover Technologies, said, “I can’t think of a single US company that’s made a significant and successful move into gambling (including casino operations). There have been game arms of gambling companies, usually with the parent being foreign-domiciled; but the corporate DNA that the two industries produce is sufficiently foreign that the two business should not mix well.I think it more likely than not that Zynga will at least experiment with online/social gambling. (I think they’d be best served by running through out of a separate company, but that’s another discussion for another day.) At the same time, I believe any foray into online gambling has a relatively modest chance (say, 25 percent or less) of producing a material result.” But Zynga has amassed a big audience of poker-minded people. Zynga has also earned enough trust over the past five years that it will run the game fairly and give virtual chips to those who win games. The company could make money by taking a small part of every pot, and states could generate tax revenue from that take. But there are plenty of downsides to entering that market. Zynga would have to deal with tougher regulation of its behavior. It would also likely be forced to separate its game into two different parts, one where gambling is legal and one where it isn’t, partly because many of the players on Facebook are under-age. The company would have to redouble its efforts to combat fraud and make sure there is no cheating in the game. All of those efforts could be a distraction from company’s the basic mission, which is to make fun games. Zynga hasn’t moved into international markets where the rules on poker games aren’t as strict. But it also has a big suite of casino games in the works, including a social version of Bingo. Zynga could build its audience of gamblers by adapting the games for real-money gambling and cross-promoting the gambling games to its known gamblers in its audience. Online gambling could very well help Zynga with a shot in the arm for revenues. But it could also be a distraction from the core mission of making social games that entertain the world. In the age of the internet, it seems like all of the negatives around setting up a complex online poker gambling operation are surmountable. Zynga just has to decide if it purely focused on making fun games, or it wants to enter the gambling market. Filed under: games, social, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Expresso alleviates headache of big data transfer (exclusive) Posted: 20 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST
The Y Combinator alum is out with a pilot version of a hyper-speed product called Expresso designed to move big data — we’re talking about terabytes of data — faster than you can say “file transfer.” Caffeinated Mind launched in March 2011 with Sendoid, an in-browser transfer service for large files. The product is currently being used by thousands of people, but the three-person company now believes it can better solve the data transfer conundrum for larger-than-life files, co-founder John Egan explained in an exclusive interview with VentureBeat. “The standard way to move a 100 GB file is to wrap it up in a box on a hard drive and put in overnight FedEx,” Egan said. “Companies that historically didn’t really think of themselves as organizations that had to deal with big data are suddenly finding themselves in these scenarios where they have to move these huge data files around — primarily up to the cloud or between data centers,” he explained. “Thanks to AWS and Rackspace, everyone now has access to really high speed networks and really fast hardware, and as they want to move these big chunks of information around, the standard is still FedEx.” Expresso represents the company’s attempt to make big data portability simple and cheap. The product is a single-command startup server that can be deployed in the cloud or on a server or local workstation. When installed, it lets any organization perform rapid data ingest in the browser over an accelerated UDP (User Datagram Protocol) channel. That’s a pretty technical description, so let’s break it down a bit. If you’re a filmmaker like Peter Jackson, for instance, and you need to get your dailies from New Zealand back to your studio heads in Hollywood, you have a new friend in Expresso. Instead of needing to burn the unedited footage onto a hard drive and ship it overnight, Jackson can drop the enormous file onto an Expresso server in Los Angeles and have it transfer over an accelerated network in seconds. The Expresso server leverages a variety of open source projects from the academic realm, Egan said. The startup also turned to its connections in the networking and movie industries to research the problem and develop its perky transfer solution. Other than media, movie and production folks, who might this type of rapid transfer technology appeal to? A growing population of companies with extreme transfer needs, Egan said. The list includes companies in the engineering and architecture space that need to move huge CAD files across the world, research institutions working on genome sequencing, and businesses that need to perform analytics on their massive sales data sets. Expresso quietly launched in private beta days ago. Caffeinated Mind is offering the big data transfer service free of charge for the time being. Interested organizations can get priority access to the pilot by entering “venturebeat” in the priority access code field during signup. Caffeinated Mind is based in San Francisco. The startup initially raised money for Sendoid and says it is looking to raise a new round for the Expresso endeavor. [Image via javaturtle/Flickr] Filed under: cloud, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Senate majority leader delays vote on PIPA Posted: 20 Jan 2012 07:46 AM PST
PIPA, which was previously scheduled for a vote Jan. 24, is essentially the Senate version of the House's proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation. And like SOPA, it gives both the U.S. government and copyright holders the authority to seek court orders against websites associated with infringing, pirating and/or counterfeiting intellectual property. If it becomes law, it could drastically change the way the Internet operates. Under PIPA, if a website is accused of containing copyright-infringing content (like a song, picture, video clip etc.), the site could be blocked by ISPs (like Comcast), de-indexed from search engines and even prevented from doing business online with services like PayPal. The news comes just days after several sites across the internet participated in a national protest against the bill. Reddit, Craigslist, Wikipedia, and several others instituted a full blackout of services, replacing their homepages with opposition messages about PIPA and SOPA. Following the blackout day protests, 25 U.S. senators publicly came out against the bill. And Yesterday, Republican senate minority leader Mitch McConnell urged his party to revoke support for PIPA. In the statement, Sen. Reid writes:
One of the “legitimate issues” with PIPA that Reid mentions is a stipulation regarding blocking a website’s DNS record (domain name). In its current form, PIPA gives the U.S. Attorney General authority to order ISPs to block a foreign website’s DNS record if accused of piracy. But to do this, the ISPs would need to remove an extra layer of security (called DNSSEC) that’s used to prove that the site is actually what it claims to be. In other words, blocking DNS records at the ISP-level would make the internet less secure. The stipulation has drawn plenty of criticism from web security experts. Even Sen. Patrick Leahy, who authored of the PIPA legislation, has admitted that more study is needed regarding the DNS blocking stipulation. Yet, PIPA’s DNS blocking stipulation is far from the only thing critics are taking issue with, as VentureBeat points out in our recent feature 10 things you need to know about SOPA and PIPA. For more information about anti-piracy legislation, check out VentureBeat's ongoing PIPA and SOPA coverage. Filed under: media        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Department of Justice shutdown of rogue site MegaUpload shows SOPA is unnecessary Posted: 20 Jan 2012 04:36 AM PST  Pop star Will.i.am endorsing MegaUploadA strange confluence of events brought the question of how to deal with online piracy to the forefront of the American consciousness this week. Protests against the anti-piracy bills, SOPA and PIPA, were the major news of the day on Wednesday with blackouts of big sites across the web. The very next day, MegaUpload, one of the largest sites allegedly enabling piracy on the internet, was shut down as the result of a two year FBI investigation. By taking unilateral action against a rogue site who’s owners were scattered across the globe, the DOJ showed that it doesn’t need new legislation like SOPA or PIPA to handle piracy. Advocates of the legislation have always said that piracy was costing America billions in jobs and endangering jobs. Stronger laws were needed, they argued, even if they might pose risks of censorship, chill investment in tech and damage the fundamental architecture of the internet. But the DOJ was able to rely on ProIP, a law passed back in 2008, in order to shut down MegaUpload and arrest seven of its founders. It also worked with the government of New Zealand, which denied bail to the four people arrested there, including the site’s infamous founder, Kim Dotcom. Extradition to the U.S. for trail is under way. Of course, the debate over how best to deal with piracy is far from over. In response to the indictment of MegaUpload, the hacktivist group Anonymous took down the websites of the DOJ, MPAA and RIAA. And while MegaUpload and its partner sites, like MegaVideo, might seem like a clear cut villian to those who have used it for downloading albums or streaming films, there is still a strong contingent who sees the sudden arrests of its executives as overreaching. The comment thread on the tech forum Hacker News provides a sample of this strain of thought. “It’s better to allow these sites to continue to exist and demand that they comply with the requests than take them down with the FBI or whatever law enforcement agency. The precedent is far too dangerous. Today it’s Megaupload, tomorrow it will be YouTube,’ wrote user Kermit the Hermit. A more informed opinion from Mike Masnick at TechDirt gets to the same core issue. “Why do we need SOPA/PIPA again? It seems like the DOJ/ICE just undermined the key argument of the MPAA/RIAA/US CoC for why they need these laws. After all, Megaupload was one of the key examples used for why the law was needed.” He also keyed in to the fact that the arrest will only heighten the already tense debate around copyright and piracy. “Wow is the timing dumb on the government’s part. Not only does it undermine the argument for PIPA/SOPA, but it raises significant questions about whether or not the feds already have too much censorship power.” Filed under: VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| App maker Skygrid hits the big time with LG deal (video) Posted: 20 Jan 2012 04:05 AM PST
We spent some time on the floor of CES talking with Skygrid chief executive and founder Kevin Pomplun about his app and the new LG deal. (Watch our short, two-minute video interview below.) “All you have to do is touch any channel, and it plays the best shows and programs you’re interested in,” Pomplun said of his app. SkyGrid has won lots of praise for its information aggregation app, called SkyGrid, which uses data about what your friends are sharing on Facebook and Twitter to deliver tailored news to your small screen. Apple named SkyGrid one of the best news apps of the year for 2011. Now the company is turning its attention to television, with an app called Touchtv, for watching TV on your iPad. The app delivers video content and channels to you based on your interests and what your friends are watching. “Touchtv was very natural, we just focused on the TV experience…. This is the SkyGrid experience, custom tailored for a pure and clean and very simple TV design,” Pomplun said. The small company also got lucky by striking a deal with LG to integrate similar technology into its televisions. When you search for internet content on an LG smart television set, SkyGrid’s Touchtv technology will power recommendations shown on the screen. Touchtv will be integrated into LG televisions starting this quarter. More and more people are watching TV while holding a tablet or smartphone in their lap. As TV makers wake up to this growing trend, they’re desperately trying to figure out how to make their TVs more like tablets, cramming apps and social features into them. It’s interesting to see companies on the other end of the spectrum, app makers, tackling the problem in their own way — and, in this case, meeting the TV makers on their own ground. In addition to having an interesting technology, SkyGrid has been an unusually fortunate company. Its first app was one of the few apps highlighted by Apple on the day that the iPad launched, a fact that gave the company’s employees a pleasant shock when they walked into the Apple store to buy one of the first iPads — they had no idea that Apple had selected their app for special treatment. Later, SkyGrid also became one of the featured apps in the Android Market. The two events helped bring the company and its tech to the attention of LG. SkyGrid has raised $15 million in venture capital in two rounds, with investments from from RRE Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, BlackRock, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and DFJ Frontier. Other key investors include Esther Dyson, Michael F. Price, Rakesh Mathur, and others. We last covered SkyGrid when it released SkyGrid Groups, and covered SkyGrid’s second round of funding in 2008. Filed under: media        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The dark side of Apple’s digital textbook utopia Posted: 19 Jan 2012 09:49 PM PST As it did with music and cellphones, Apple today fundamentally redefined what a textbook is with the announcement of iBooks 2 and its accompanying iBooks Author software. The benefits of iBooks 2 and its interactive textbooks were hammered home during Apple’s New York City press event today: they’re interactive, easily updated, portable, the list goes on. But now that Apple’s hype machine has calmed down a bit, the issues with the company’s grand plan to revitalize education are becoming more apparent. iPads for everyone?First, there are the obvious problems. For Apple’s digital textbooks to actually take off, more students will need easy access to iPads. I, along with many others, expected Apple to announce some sort of plan to get more iPads in schools. But instead, today’s event ended abruptly as if Apple’s executives left the stage in mid-song.
In an ideal world, students would actually save money by purchasing an iPad and spending far less on books every semester (Apple’s current digital textbooks retail for $15 and under). For now though, an iPad will be another added expense on top of all the paper books students still need to buy. For K-12 public schools, it would be the school systems that have to purchase the iPads for students. Again, they may get some major discounts from Apple, but I can’t imagine too many public schools that would be willing to give kids and teenagers an expensive gadget to take home. In an interview with VentureBeat, Paul Edelman, founder and CEO of the open education marketplace Teachers Pay Teachers, calls the digital textbook’s reliance on the iPad “either a brilliant strategy on Apple’s part, or it will make its overall impact underwhelming.” Teachers have already earned over $4 million on Teachers Pay Teachers selling course guides and other materials to other educators, something that shows many teachers will likely take up Apple’s offer to create textbooks using iBooks Author and sell them on the iBookstore. Edelman goes on to say, “iBooks Author, though very neat since it is available to everyone, my suffer the same fate since creators of content lock their users into one hardware device. Today teachers create content using many different applications that can then be used on any platform or device. I love Apple, but in education open is better than closed.” The trouble with iBooks Author
The real problem, though, is that Apple doesn’t even ask you to agree to the EULA, it’s assumed that you do if you use the software, as Dan Wineman points out. He writes:
Apple has quietly pushed desktop software into uncharted territory with iBooks Author. As Wineman points out, it’s as if Microsoft tried to enforce how you could use a Microsoft Word document. It’s the sort of thing open source software types have been worrying about for years, especially after Apple’s extremely restrictive stance on iOS app development. A utopia easily becomes a dystopiaWhile I applaud Apple’s idealism when it comes to technology and education, realistically we’re going to need a lot more than an updated iBooks app and snazzy e-book editor to make a real difference in schools. Technology-centric solutions also often fail to keep in mind the value of alternatives. There’s certainly something to be said for students engaging with material primarily because of an effective teacher. And when it comes to math problems, students will still need to be able to demonstrate on paper how they reached solutions, even if a calculator or iPad is helping them with the actual number crunching. My biggest worry is that Apple’s vision takes off at the expense of other useful strategies for education. Given the cost of iPads, accessories, and maintenance, many schools could see their budgets blown away on Apple’s products, instead of other non-digital materials that could be just as helpful. Filed under: media, mobile, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sulake CEO discusses Niko, Habbo Hotel and the drive to move audiences across platforms Posted: 19 Jan 2012 08:24 PM PST With over 10 million unique visitors a month, Habbo Hotel is the world's largest game and online community for teenagers, with users in over 150 countries. With parent company Sulake releasing Niko, its second iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) game, this week, VentureBeat spoke to chief executive Paul LaFontaine, about his cross-platform strategy. LaFontaine was named as Sulake CEO in September 2011, having previously been vice president of global distribution at Playdom. This appointment coincided with the release of Sulake's first iOS app, Lost Monkey, and LaFontaine says that moving its audience across platforms will be Sulake's key focus for the year ahead. The new iOS app Niko is designed to appeal to a broad customer base, combining platforming level designs with sling shot action. It is a standalone title, but includes direct tie-ins to Habbo Hotel, which allow members to earn rewards in the app that they can then transfer back to the Habbo community. LaFontaine says the release of Lost Monkey in 2011 helped demonstrate that the Habbo community liked this idea of receiving transferable rewards in a mobile app. With a large teenage community to keep engaged, LaFontaine sees such movement as a key strategy. "Because we think retention which comes from moving audiences across platforms from product to product is an important strategic capability, you'll see more mobile efforts and social media marketing efforts from us." Having first launched in 2000, Habbo Hotel has grown from a small Finland-based virtual community to a service with over 243M users worldwide. LaFontaine points out that in Western markets 1 in 10 teens try out the product. While Habbo Hotel is still strongest in Europe, as well as other English-speaking markets, LaFontaine explains that Sulake, "solved the difficult monetization problem of the Latin American markets, so we are strong there too." The Habbo Hotel experience is free for users to engage with, but access to premium services is carried out using Habbo Credits, the virtual world's currency. These Credits are used to pay for items such as virtual furniture and elements for the homepage, and are bought with real currency. When asked about the percentage of paying users among the Habbo community, LaFontaine says,"our percent of paying users are consistent with other online entertainment communities and higher than Facebook social games." Habbo Hotel integrated with Facebook for the first time in Dec 2009, but the community had been firmly built before that. LaFontaine says, "Our strongest numbers are outside of Facebook. We view Facebook as a channel where we acquire users." He added, "We do plan on launching standalone Facebook applications which will support that objective."
Sulake will continue to focus on the teen market with its products, but LaFontaine is aware of interest from users who have grown up with Habbo Hotel. "Over the years 240M teens have registered ….. and some of them "outgrew" the service, since they are not teens anymore. We call them our alumni. We plan to actively engage that audience in a way that is fun, and nostalgic. After all, when you were a Habbo the world was a much simpler place, wasn't it? We see this as a really fun new part of our business." As for the future of social gaming as a whole, LaFontaine is overwhelming positive. "We think social gaming is a long-term part of our lives because now everyone plays. It's for the whole family." LaFontaine highlights the strength of specialization for future growth, saying "The growth opportunity is for specialization by player type, or demographic. Habbo Hotel has been fortunate enough to start as a specialist and the results speak for themselves. There will be specialist winners in the future who take advantage of this in other areas. We think the potential for growth is still there.” Niko is now available for iPhone, iPad, iPad 2 and iPod Touch. The first six levels are free to download and play, and the full game, featuring 28 levels, can be unlocked for $1.99. Filed under: games, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Microsoft acknowledges color-space problem with Xbox 360 update Posted: 19 Jan 2012 08:21 PM PST The last Xbox 360 update delivered to users in December brought with it a problem with color output for some users. Larry Hyrb, director of programming at Microsoft’s Xbox division, tweeted that the company is “aware of the color space issue w/ some Xbox video apps & are working on a fix.” Hyrb, also, known as Major Nelson, didn’t really describe the problem, but it looks like there a degradation in color for video playback on an Xbox 360. It may be a minor problem, but it looks like it’s important enough for Hyrb to address. Engadget said that other reports suggest that the HDMI output has HDCP authentication problems with certain TVs or receivers that blocks video output. We’ll await more description of the problem and report it as we find it. Digital Foundry said the new dashboard released in December to upgrade the service to its new Metro user interface also forces video content to run at limited range color (RGB) levels. The result is that colors are washed out, with blacks becoming more like a gray color. It isn’t clear yet how widespread this problem is. Here’s a thread where various fans are discussing the issue. Filed under: games        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Nike’s new FuelBand tracks your calories and movement Posted: 19 Jan 2012 06:56 PM PST
The new Nike+ FuelBand, announced Thursday, is a direct competitor to Jawbone’s similar UP wristband. Jawbone suspended production of the UP in December and issued full refunds to customers after complaints of battery and synching issues. Like the Jawbone UP, the FuelBand is worn around your wrist and can be synched to an iPhone or PC to upload activity data. “The NIKE+ FuelBand is a way for Nike to further evolve the exciting possibilities of merging the physical and digital worlds,” said NIKE, Inc. President and Chief Executive Mark Parker, in a statement. “Nike has always been about inspiring athletes, and the NIKE+ FuelBand will help motivate them in a simple, fun and intuitive way.” Designed to measure your movement throughout the entire day, from walking and running to biking and ballet, the waterproof band also allows you to set daily goals. The FuelBand will notify you through its LED software whether or not you meet those goals. So, what makes the $150 FuelBand different from the $100 Jawbone UP? For starters, the Jawbone UP can stay charged for up to 10 days, while the FuelBand lasts only four. However, the FuelBand has internal USB, which could make using the Jawbone seem like a hassle when having to use its required USB-to-headphone jack adapter to charge. Although the FuelBand is heavier, it offers a polished user interface and web access for $50 extra. In theory, the FuelBand could make for a better experience, especially for previous Jawbone UP owners burned by issues with early models. The FuelBand is available for pre-order now but won’t ship until Feb. 22. Athletes like Lance Armstrong have already endorsed the FuelBand, claiming the tool will help people meet daily and weekly fitness targets. Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Can Apple’s new textbook initiative save U.S. education? (infographic) Posted: 19 Jan 2012 04:30 PM PST
The company launched a new version of its iBooks (iBooks 2) iOS application for the iPhone and iPad, which will offer highly interactive electronic textbooks, as well as a new textbook section in the iBookstore. It also debuted an updated version of its education-based service iTunes U, which gives teachers the ability to do much more than create lectures for download. While all of these additions are great, some people are skeptical that Apple’s new initiative can do much to improve the country’s education system. Entering the textbook industry alone is definitely worth Apple’s time if the company’s only motivation is to make money. As VentureBeat previously reported, the education book publishing industry is mammoth, bringing in annual revenue upwards of $5.5 billion for sales of lower education (Kindergarten to 12th grade) and $3.7 billion for sales of scholarly/higher education in 2010, according to statistics from the Association of American Publishers. It’s true that Apple is a business, and the principle reason for every business is to turn a profit. But as history has proven with the iPod (a.k.a. digital music revolution), Apple’s business strategies revolve around improving an entire industry to gain long-term, stable profit. This business strategy is also how Apple plans to approach education and textbooks. There is also plenty of proof that suggests Apple wants to revolutionize education. Dearly departed former Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs discussed the topic in Walter Issacson’s official biography of Jobs, as VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi recently pointed out. But Apple also owes much of its early success to education, as Apple marketing senior vice president Phil Schiller said at the education event today. (And for what it’s worth, I did use Mac computers almost exclusively while attending public school in the ’90s.) Ultimately, it’s impossible to know if the American education system will improve as a result of Apple making its platforms and devices more accessible to learning or teaching in the classroom. It’s reasonable to assume that making Apple platforms/devices more education-friendly will entice more school systems to use Apple products. And it’s highly likely that when teachers or students do used these more classroom-friendly Apple devices, it will improve the learning process. But if there’s one thing that won’t improve the U.S. education system going forward, it’s spending an exuberant and unnecessary amount of money on paper textbooks year-after-year. If nothing else, school boards across the country may eventually divert the money they spend on textbooks to spending money on Apple technology as a more efficient use of resources. Check out the fact-filled infographic below for more information regarding Apple’s ability to save the U.S. education system. [Infographic via Online Education] (Click image to enlarge) Filed under: media, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| IBM Q4 software revenue up, profit exceeds expectations Posted: 19 Jan 2012 04:29 PM PST
The company reported revenue of $29.5 billion, up 2 percent year-over-year, and net income of $5.5 billion, up 4 percent year-over-year, during the fourth quarter of 2011. The steadfast technology company beat Wall Street’s profit expectations, but slightly missed revenue projections of $29.7 billion. The corporate IT supplier saw gains in its core areas. IBM’s services and software categories were up 3 percent and 9 percent respectively in the fourth quarter. The company’s hardware revenue, however, was down 8 percent year-over-year. “We had a strong fourth-quarter performance, capping a year of record earnings per share, revenue, profit and free cash flow,” newly appointed IBM president and CEO Virginia Rometty said. “We delivered outstanding results in all four of our strategic initiatives for the quarter and the year, as we continued to realize the benefit of our long-term investments in growth markets, business analytics, Smarter Planet solutions and cloud. We are well on track toward our long-term roadmap for operating earnings per share of at least $20 in 2015.” The market reacted with a calm and collected response to Big Blue following the earnings report. IBM shares closed at $180.52, but the stock price has been in flux in after hours trading. Shares have surged as high as $185.28, up 2.64 percent. [Image via mamchenkov/Flickr] Filed under: VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Megaupload defendants’ property includes 15 Mercedes, a Lamborghini, a Maserati, and a Rolls Posted: 19 Jan 2012 04:08 PM PST The Department of Justice has charged popular file-sharing web site Megaupload with a “mega conspiracy” that, it alleges, netted the company’s executives a vast cache of money and luxury cars. The indictment (see below for the full text in Scribd) refers to Megaupload’s offenses as the “Mega Conspiracy.” The company has been charged with five different counts concerning copyright infringement and money laundering. According to the indictment, Megaupload’s offenses include:
If found guilty, the defendants could spend up to 20 years in jail and might be liable for up to $175 million in fines. “It’s really that inducement scenario that harkens back to the days of Napster,” said Owen Seitel of Idell & Sietel LLP, an entertainment and IP law firm. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the site totally shut down and never came back.” By inducement, Seitel is referring to the action of offering financial compensation in exchange for uploading copyrighted content. On big sites like these, he explained, there is bound to be copyrighted material floating on the servers. But there are “safe harbors” that third-party content sites can take to protect themselves. One of these is complying with “notice and take down structures,” or flagging when copyrighted content comes into the system and then removing it. According to the indictment, Megaupload did not comply by flagging or removing content. What’s really eye-opening about this indictment is the property that the Feds have seized from the defendants. It lists a number of bank accounts, PayPal accounts, 15 Mercedes-Benz vehicles, a Rolls-Royce with the license plate “GOD,” a rare Lamborghini and a Maserati. It seems the defendants had a number of vehicles with creative license plates including “HACKER,” “POLICE,” “STONED,” “GOOD,” “CEO,” and the ominous “GUILTY.” (See below for the full list.) In addition, the indictment alleges the company or its associates spent a total of almost $8 million on yacht rentals in the Mediterranean from April to June 2011. Seitel explained “indictments by their nature are overreaching” and that these allegations should be taken with a grain of salt. Prior to being shut down by the DOJ, Megaupload released a statement calling the accusation of mass copyright-infringement “grotesquely overblown.” Indeed, a number of music celebrities have come out in support of Megaupload, prior to today’s events. The company’s new CEO, Swizz Beatz, is a musical artist himself and is married to singer Alicia Keys. “It doesn’t surpise me to see celebrities on the side of the people when they’ve already been paid,” said Seitel, “It’s really not their content getting ripped off, it’s the studios’.” In response to the indictment, hacker collective Anonymous took down the Department of Justice’s website, along with other music label sites. According to a tweet by @YourAnonNews, an impressive 5,635 Anonymous members contributed to the site attacks. It is rumored the group is planning to attack WhiteHouse.gov. The take down tactic being used is called LOIC, otherwise known as a low orbit ion cannon. LOIC is a public system that can be used to perform denial of service attacks. The five different counts Megaupload faces include conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering, criminal copyright infringement by distributing a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution on a computer network & aiding and abetting of criminal copyright infringement, and criminal copyright infringement by electronic means & aiding and abetting of criminal copyright infringement. Here’s the full list of seized goods, not counting bank accounts:
Check out the Megaupload indictment on Scribd, or read it in the embedded window below: Repossessed image via Shutterstock Filed under: security        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2012 04:02 PM PST You’re likely a little sick of hearing about SOPA by now. I know I’m sure as hell tired of writing about it. But yesterday, everyone from Google to Wikipedia protested the highly controversial bill, commonly resulting in a blackout of sites frequented daily by millions of users all around the world. It doesn’t matter how big of a rock you live under; if you didn’t know about SOPA before, you know about it now. I spent an hour last night in my bedroom talking about SOPA to Fiorello LaGuardia and he’s been dead for sixty years. So just as you and all your hipster Internet buddies may be moving on to the next thing, mistakingly thinking that SOPA is dead and buried simply because President Obama said he would not support it in its current state, there’s countless more people only now awakening to the threat. And they’re all wondering, “What the hell is SOPA?” They may also be wondering, “Do you pronounce the other one ‘pippa’, or “pipa’?” but let’s just stay focused on one thing at a time. Since there’s already an encyclopedic abyss of SOPA-related rants, news, interviews, and video games out there, I thought I’d wrap the general idea all up into a cute little infographic, with the help of designer Lorena Guerra. Note: This may or may not reveal my slightly biased, personal stance on SOPA, and is not necessarily that of VentureBeat’s as a whole. Filed under: games, media, offBeat, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Scientists turn seaweed into fuel with E. coli Posted: 19 Jan 2012 03:34 PM PST
Scientists from Bio Architecture Lab, Inc (BAL) and the University of Washington in Seattle have found a way to turn seaweed into fuel with the use of genetically modified Escherichia coli, most commonly known as E. coli, the Scientific American reported. E. coli is a bacteria that can show up in food and make humans ill. In the last few decades, there has been a push to create biofuels — fuels derived from plants and grasses — to replace fossil fuels. For a while, corn was a major biofuel player. It could be transformed into corn ethanol, a fuel that could be use in flex-fuel vehicles such as the Ford Fusion and the Dodge Ram Pickup. While corn ethanol seemed like an obvious solution, it’s not as environmentally friendly as it was once touted to be due to amount of land needed to grow the crop and its impact on food production. This is where seaweed comes in. Because seaweed grows rampantly in the world’s oceans, it takes up no land space and doesn’t affect food production like corn does. Seaweed also grows without any help from humans; relying on ocean water for nutrients with no need for fertilizers or pesticides. The team of scientists genetically modified a strain of E. coli to digest the sugars found in kombu — an edible kelp often found in miso soup — and turn it into ethanol. Once modified, the team tested the new E. coli by adding it to a solution of water and ground up kombu and letting it sit for a few days. After sitting for two days, the E. coli had broken down the kombu into a solution of ethanol and water. The entire process took place at a relatively low temperature; around 30 degrees Celsius or around 86 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning excessive heat would not be needed to covert seaweed into fuel on a larger scale. The full study was published in the January 20 edition of the journal Science. Yasuo Yoshikuni, the co-founder of BAL and one of the researchers for the project assured that this new strain of E coli wouldn’t be able to get loose and consume all of the seaweed already growing in the oceans. ”E. coli loves the human gut, it doesn’t like the ocean environment,” Yoshikuni told Scientific American, “I can hardly imagine it would do something. It would just be dead.” While the prospect of moving away from fossil fuels and corn ethanol seems appealing and environmentally friendly, turning seaweed into fuel does open up the possibility of the oceans being exploited. It’s no secret that overfishing is a major problem plaguing our oceans, with too many fish being caught for human consumption. If scientists move forward with creating ethanol from seaweed, hopefully it won’t be at the sacrifice of the world’s oceans. E. Coli image via Shutterstock Filed under: green, offBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Intel says 40 percent of consumer laptops will be Ultrabooks by year end Posted: 19 Jan 2012 03:32 PM PST
In the earnings call, Otellini said more than 70 Ultrabooks are expected to launch in 2012. Production will ramp up in the second half of the year, and by year end, about 40 percent of all consumer notebook shipments will be Ultrabooks, Otellini said. Intel’s stock is up about 2 percent in after-hours trading. “I have not seen this level of excitement in our customer base since before Centrino,” Otellini said, referring to the marketing campaign in 2003 that helped demand for laptops with WiFi networking take off. Otellini thinks consumers will be willing to spend more on laptops as they trade up to Ultrabooks, which are thin, have good performance, are secure, and are responsive. Intel surprised analysts with big numbers for its investments in capital spending (chip factories) and research and development in 2012. Intel plans to spend $12.5 billlion, plus or minus $500 million, on capital spending and $10.1 billion on research and development. Smith said that those spending numbers are relatively high and reflect special investments Intel is making for the year. Those investment numbers show that, despite the short-term problem of Thailand flooding and the slower expected GDP, Intel is confident about investing in its technological infrastructure. Otellini said the industry is shipping 1 million units a day. Demand will likely be bigger in the second half of 2012, and Ultrabook launches could drive average microprocessor prices higher. Otellini said that the effects of Thai flooding could hit bottom in terms of production problems in January and February. The result would be a refilling of inventory in the first and second quarters, and then larger sales in the second half. The floods have reduced inventory levels, but have not prevented consumers from being able to buy PCs. “Everyone on earth who wanted to buy a PC was able to buy a PC,” he said. Otellini said there is a significant blurring of PCs and tablets coming, since many PC makers showed off “convertible” models at CES, where a laptop can be converted into a tablet by rotating the screen. Otellini also said he believes that the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system this year will boost PC sales, including Ultrabook sales and Windows 8 tablet sales this year. Overall, Intel expects sales to grow in the “high single digits” this year, following a record year of $54 billion in sales. Otellini also said that the company’s Data Center Group, which sells microprocessor for servers, saw a “fantastic year” with growth at 17 percent. He noted that China is the largest market for PCs now, with 20 percent of demand. Filed under: VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google+ reaches 90M users, Page “excited” about Seach Plus Your World Posted: 19 Jan 2012 02:27 PM PST Google chief executive Larry Page announced Google+ has reached 90 million members since its launch in June. “Four months ago, when we opened [Google+] to the public, we were not sure what kind of reception we would receive,” said Vic Gundotra, Google’s senior vice president of social, on the network. “Expect us to deliver something truly beautiful. We’ve only just begun to work on that promise.” According to Page, who announced the new numbers during Google’s fourth quarter 2011 earnings call, Google+ has released a new feature every day since its June debut. Additionally, the social network is seeing huge engagement with 60 percent of users being active on the site daily, 80 percent active weekly. More businesses are hopping on Google+’s brand pages as well, totaling at around one million signed up so far. Paul Allen, a self-proclaimed Google+ analyst, predicts that the company will see 100 million users by the end of February 2012, and a whopping 300-400 million by the end of the year. This, in Allen’s opinion, is due to in particular to Android growth, which still beats iPhone in the smartphone race. Allen also believes that integrations with the growing Chrome browser will rake in more users. One of Google+’s biggest new integrations has been Google’s bread and butter product: search. “Search Plus Your World” as Google calls it, automatically populates Google searches with results from Google+ including photos, posts, and profile pages. The decision stirred antitrust accusations last week, but Page is still “really excited about it” and sees search as another growth opportunity for the social network. “I really like it,” Page said of Search Plus Your World, “And I encourage all of you to try it out too.” Facebook, on the other hand, is still the reigning social network king at 800 million active users. Digital analyst firm iCrossing predicts the giant will reach 1 billion active users by August, right around the time Facebook’s IPO is expected. Filed under: social        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Anonymous hacks DOJ, record label sites over Megaupload case (updated) Posted: 19 Jan 2012 02:26 PM PST Updated 6:24pm with statement from Anonymous. Hacker collective Anonymous has hacked the Department of Justice and Universal Music‘s websites to protest the government’s decision to shut down the popular Megaupload file-sharing site. The Department of Justice’s website has been intermittently down and up in the past hour, and we can only imagine hackers and government agents fighting for control like a scene out of a movie. Universal Music’s homepage has been down for the past hour as well. The DOJ indictment against Megaupload alleges that it is connected to a vast criminal enterprise has caused more than $500 million in harm to copyright owners. If convicted, the company and its executives could forfeit $175 million in property, including 15 Mercedes, a Maserati, a Lamborghini, a Rolls-Royce with the license plate “GOD,” and a huge pile of computers and large-screen TVs. Four people, including Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, were arrested earlier today in New Zealand, while three others are unaccounted for. Anonymous has a history of attacking government and business websites. Recently Anonymous made headlines for hacking into Stratfor’s website and database, stealing credit card information and other sensitive details. Anonymous was also angry earlier this week about SOPA legislation in Congress, and targeted media executives like Sumner Redstone, head of Viacom. In response to the Megaupload case, the Anonymous Twitter @YourAnonNews account wrote: “The government takes down #Megaupload? 15 minutes later #Anonymous takes down government & record label sites. #ExpectUs.” Update: As the dust settled, Anonymous released a statement claiming that it took down the Department of Justice, Universal Music’s website, the RIAA, and MPAA. The statement also includes personal information about MPAA chief executive officer Chris Dodd, including two home addresses, phone numbers, as well as information on his wife, and children’s names and ages. The statement reads, “We Anonymous are launching our largest attack ever on government and music industry sites. Lulz. The FBI didn’t think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us.” The @AnonOps Twitter account has posted several tweets in the past hour with the hashtags #OpPayback and #OpMegaupload We’ve seen RIAA and MPAA websites intermittently not load, but we have not seen whitehouse.gov taken down as of yet. Some recent tweets from the @AnonOps account can be viewed below: Filed under: VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| YouTube teams up with Ridley Scott on new film festival channel Posted: 19 Jan 2012 01:44 PM PST
The new Your Film Fest channel is part of YouTube’s strategy to boost the amount of premium original videos available on the site — and making it more than just a place to watch funny cat videos and viral content. In October, YouTube committed $100 million on channel partnerships to ensure that this strategy succeeds. Some of these channel partnerships include Madonna's DanceOn, World Wrestling Entertainment's Fan Nation, and exclusive bits from the Onion News Network. More recently, YouTube forged deals to bring a variety of news-related channels to the site from partners like Reuters, Young Hollywood and Penske Media-Ion TV. As part of the partnership, YouTube users from around the globe are invited to submit short, story-driven videos (up to 15 minutes in length) to a Your Film Festival contest. In June 2012, members of Scott’s TV/film production company Scott Free Productions will then select 50 semi-finalist videos, which users will then vote on. The top 10 most voted videos will screen at the Venice Film Festival. The person responsible for the winning entry gets a $500,000 production grant to work with the Scott Free team on a new project. The Your Film Fest channel will feature the 50 semi-finalist entries from the contest. Those entries will include a variety of story-driven videos, including live action shorts, animation shorts, documentaries, web-series episodes, or TV pilots. The idea behind YouTube’s Your Film Fest channel is extremely smart. YouTube is motivating people to create original story-driven content by offering them a large audience and a foot in the door to the film industry (via a job working with Scott’s production company, which is credited with making several hit TV shows and feature-length films). If the channel’s video contest proves successful, YouTube could definitely establish itself as a place for indie film makers. YouTube also has the potential to steal some attention away from video upload site competitor Vimeo. We’ve embedded YouTube’s contest pitch below. Let us know in the comments if you plan on entering and any other thoughts about the new channel.
Filed under: media, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google: 250M Android devices activated, 11B Android Market app downloads Posted: 19 Jan 2012 01:42 PM PST
Additionally, over 11 billion apps have been downloaded from the Android Market. Apple announced in October that over 250 million iOS devices were sold (including iPads and the iPod Touch), which means that Android has basically caught up with Apple’s two-year head start in the smartphone market. Google added 50 million new Android devices since its last earnings report in October. Page noted that 3.7 million Android devices were activated over the Christmas holiday weekend. Android is also quickly catching up to Apple in terms of app downloads. In October, Apple revealed its users downloaded over 18 billion apps, and by now it’s probably very close to 20 billion. It’d be interesting to know the breakdown between paid and free Android apps, as Google’s platform is known for not being as lucrative for paid apps compared to iOS. Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Microsoft’s Xbox 360 revenues grow but profits dip in holiday quarter Posted: 19 Jan 2012 01:42 PM PST
In its second fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices division posted revenue of $4.24 billion, up 15 percent from $3.69 billion a year ago. Microsoft’s revenue in Entertainment & Devices was $6.19 billion for the six months ended Dec. 31, up from $5.49 billion a year earlier. Microsoft’s operating profit in the second fiscal quarter was $528 million, down from $666 million a year ago. For the six months ended Dec. 31, operating income was $877 million, down from $1.05 billion a year earlier. As noted by chief executive Steve Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft has now sold 66 million Xbox 360 game consoles and 18 million Kinect motion sensors. Xbox Live now has 40 million members. In a conference call with analysts, Microsoft said that Xbox 360 demand was strong during the holidays and was driven by interest in the Kinect motion-sensing system. Overall entertainment sales were so strong that Microsoft was able to beat expectations for overall earnings. Microsoft said 200 million people used Skype during the quarter, with 300 billion minutes spent with the calling service. Third-party research said Xbox 360 had 46 percent of U.S. console sales in December and was the No. 1 console in 2011. Microsoft sold 8.2 million consoles in the fourth quarter. Xbox Live members are up 33 percent over a year ago. “We feel really good about our console business,” said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft, in the conference call. Filed under: games        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Microsoft beats the Street with record Q2 revenues of $20.9B Posted: 19 Jan 2012 01:25 PM PST Software titan Microsoft beat Wall Street expectations with record second quarter revenues of $20.9 billion, a 5 percent increase from the same quarter last year. "We delivered solid financial results, even as we prepare for a launch year that will accelerate many of our key products and services," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, in a statement. "Coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show, we're seeing very positive reviews for our new phones and PCs, and a strong response to our new Metro style design that will unify consumer experiences across our phones, PCs, tablets, and television in 2012." For Q2 2012, Microsoft’s operating income was $7.99 billion compared to $8.17 billion in the year-before quarter. Net income was virtually unchanged at $6.62 billion versus $6.63 billion in the year-before quarter. Diluted earnings per share amounted to $.78 per share against $.77 per share a year ago. The company barely beat Wall Street's revenue estimates, as some analysts were expecting earnings of $.76 per share. Microsoft beat that by two pennies per share. Microsoft’s Business Division had an especially strong quarter with $6.28 billion in revenue, a 3 percent increase from the prior-year period. The company was fueled by sales of Microsoft Office 2010 licences, of which it has sold about 200 million since its launch 18 month ago. Revenue generated from SharePoint and Exchange also grew by 10 percent (or more) versus the year-before quarter. On top of that strong business-focused performance, Microsoft’s Server & Tools category posted $4.77 billion in second quarter revenue, an 11% increase from a year ago. "We saw strong demand for our business products and services, despite the soft PC market and continuing economic uncertainty in key parts of the world," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft, in a statement. "We delivered record earnings per share by continuing to manage our costs while investing for future growth." The company’s only major drop in revenues by division appeared in its Windows/Windows Live Division with revenue of $4.74 billion, a 6 percent decline from the year-before period. The Online Services Division reported revenue of $784 million, a 10 percent increase from the year before. Finally, Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division posted revenue of $4.24 billion, an increase of 15 percent from the year before. That highlights the success of its Xbox 360 game console and the motion-controlled Kinect sensor. Microsoft has sold 66 million Xbox 360 consoles and 18 million Kinect sensors to date. And the Xbox Live service now has 40 million members, a massive increase of 33 percent from the prior-year period. Filed under: deals        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Intel beats reduced earnings forecast; the PC isn’t dead yet Posted: 19 Jan 2012 01:13 PM PST Intel reported earnings today for its fourth quarter, beating the reduced expectations for the busiest season of the year. The report sheds light on sales for the whole PC ecosystem, since Intel is the world’s biggest chip maker and its results are a bellwether for the industry. Intel reported earnings per share of 64 cents on revenues of $13.9 billion. A year ago, Intel earned 59 cents a share on $11.5 billion. Intel itself had predicted it would make between $13.2 billion to $14.2 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, Intel reported net income per share of 68 cents. Analysts expected Intel to report 61 cents a share in net income (non-GAAP) on revenue of $13.74 billion. On Dec. 12, Intel warned that it was lowering expectations by $1 billion due to supply chain problems created by flooding in Asia. In Thailand, heavy monsoon rains left hard drive assembly factories under several feet of water. Production has resumed, but not without hiccups. “2011 was an exceptional year for Intel,” said Paul Otellini, Intel president and chief executive, in a statement. “With outstanding execution the company performed superbly, growing revenue by more than $10 billion and eclipsing all annual revenue and earnings records. With a tremendous product and technology pipeline for 2012, we’re excited about the global growth opportunities presented by Ultrabook systems, the data center, security and the introduction of Intel-powered smartphones and tablets.” The company saw some impact from the flooding in Thailand, which hurt shipments of hard disk drives. Since hard drives are a vital part of computers, computer makers couldn’t sell as many PCs, hurting sales of Intel’s microprocessors and other chips. But the impact wasn’t enough to completely ruin the quarter. On a broader level, the PC market’s growth has slowed as consumers shift more of their computing to tablets and smartphones, where Intel is barely present in the market. Even so, Intel appeared to do a good job selling chips for traditional PCs in the quarter. For the full year, Intel reported record revenue of $54 billion (up 24 percent) and net income of $12.9 billion (up 13 percent), or $2.39 a share. In the third quarter, Intel reported $14.2 billion in revenue, up 28 percent from $3.1 billion a year ago. McAfee and Intel Mobile Communications contributed $1.1 billion in revenue to the company's top line in the third quarter, and the numbers beat analysts' $13.9 billion prediction for the quarter. Its net income for the third quarter 2011 was $3.47 billion (or 65 cents per share), up from 2.96 billion (or 52 cents per share) from a year ago — a 17 percent increase. On a sector basis in the fourth quarter, Intel’s PC Client Group reported revenue of $9 billion, up 17 percent. Data center group revenue was $2.7 billin, up 8 percent. Other Intel architecture group revenue was $1.1 billion, up 35 percent. Intel Atom microprocessor revenue and chip set revenue was $167 million, down 57 percent. McAfee and Intel Mobile Communications generated about $1 billion in revenue. Last week, Intel said that Lenovo and Motorola would create smartphones based on Intel’s Atom microprocessors. That was the first real progress for Intel in smartphones after years of trying. Meanwhile, Intel’s dominance in the PC market will be challenged later this year when ARM-based chip makers Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Texas Instruments ship chips that can run Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system on tablets and laptops. In the past, Windows has been available on the Intel-compatible x86 architecture. For the first quarter, Intel expects revenue of $12.8 billion, plus or minus $500 million. Gross profit margin is expected to be 63 percent, plus or minus a couple of percentage points. Research and development spending is expected to be $4.4 billion. For all of 2012, Intel expects a gross profit margin of 64 percent, plus or minus a few percentage points. Spending is expected to be $18.1 billion to $18.5 billion. R&D will be about $10.1 billion, and capital spending will be $12.1 billion to $12.9 billion. Filed under: VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google surpasses $10B in revenue for Q4, but misses forecast Posted: 19 Jan 2012 01:08 PM PST
For the first time ever, Google has surpassed $10 billion in gross revenue for the quarter, reaching $10.58 billion, a 25 percent increase compared to last year. Net revenue was $8.13 billion, which was slightly lower than the $8.3 billion Citi analyst Mark Mahaney was expecting. Net revenue also missed projections of around $8.4 billion by Wall Street analysts as well. Investors aren’t taking too kindly to the news, with Google’s stock falling as much as 10 percent in after hours trading. During a conference call with investors today, Google executives tried to sound as positive as possible about the earnings report. I counted at least one sarcastic “wow” from CEO Larry Page when discussing updated Android numbers, which included 250 million total devices activated and 11 billion Android Market downloads. Page also said he was “super excited” about the growth of Android, Gmail, and Google+ in the earnings report. The company also announced that its fledgling social network Google+ has surpassed 90 million users. Google reported $2.71 billion in profits on a GAAP basis for the quarter, compared to $2.54 billion last year. GAAP operating income was $3.51 billion (33 percent of revenues), compared to $2.98 billion (35 percent of revenues) in 2010. Google-owned sites generated $7.29 billion in revenue (69 percent of the total), a 29 percent jump over last year. Sites running Google’s ads generated $2.88 billion (27 percent fo the total), an annual increase of 15 percent. Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google named best company to work for (it’s not just the great food) Posted: 19 Jan 2012 01:06 PM PST
"I want Google to be an amazing place to work, so really excited to see us ranked as the best place to work by Fortune for the third time (more than any company)," Google Chief Executive Larry Page said in a Google+ post about the ranking. "Google is the sum of our people and their hard work and dedication." The Mountain View-based company hired nearly 7,000 people last year — the biggest number the company has seen in its 13-year history. Although Page and Laszio Bock, Google's senior vice president for people operations, agree that employee perks are the reason aspiring-employees flock to the company, ultimately it's about focusing on the human relations. “My job as a leader is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, and that they feel they’re having a meaningful impact and are contributing to the good of society. As a world, we’re doing a better job of that. My goal is for Google to lead, not follow that,” Page said in an interview with Fortune. Other companies that made the list include Zappos, which ranks this year at number 11; Adobe at 41; and Microsoft, which is positioned at 76, falling from its spot at 72 last year. Google currently has over 18,500 U.S. employees with 32,000 people reported to be working for the company globally at the end of 2011. Photo via Aray Chen/Flickr Filed under: VentureBeat        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| FBI shuts down Megaupload 24 hours after Swizz Beatz revealed as CEO Posted: 19 Jan 2012 12:54 PM PST
The DOJ indictment alleges that a vast criminal enterprise led by Kim Dotcom has caused more than $500 million in harm to copyright owners, while generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds. Dotcom founded Megaupload Limited, and has vigoursly defended Megaupload as a legitimate website and said previously that the site took down piracy violators in accordance with DMCA rules. Megaupload was at one time the 13th most popular website on the Internet. Similar sites to Megaupload like MediaFire, YouSendIt and Rapidshare provide file-sharing services, so we wonder if the government intends to target them as well. The government has also charged the following individuals in the indictment:
Dotcom, Batato, Ortmann and van der Kolk were arrested today in Auckland, New Zealand. Also coming out today is the surprising fact that musician and producer (and Alicia Keys’ husband) Swiss Beatz is actually the CEO of Megaupload. The New York Post “outed” Beatz yesterday, and said Beatz got his musician friends in hot water for making a music video promoting the service. Beatz was not named in the federal indictment. Personally, I blame Megaupload for bringing scrutiny upon itself with this awful music video: Filed under: media        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Twitter acquires Summify, as if tweets aren’t summed up enough Posted: 19 Jan 2012 12:41 PM PST
“Cristian Strat and Mircea Pasoi have created a product that curates the best and most important stories in your Twitter timeline and Facebook newsfeed,” a Twitter spokesperson told VentureBeat in an e-mail. “Cristian and Mircea and their team of three engineers will join our Growth team and explore ways to help people connect and engage with relevant, timely news.” Summify’s product truncates your social media and various reader feeds into hourly newsletters showing you only the information it believes you are interested in. The company’s technology looks at who you follow, what your friends like, and where you get your news to decide what content is most compelling for your newsletters. These little bites of social information can be accessed through e-mail, your browser or your iPhone. The product direction seems to fit well into Twitter’s overall vision. Twitter too is in the business of truncating. That is, taking what would have otherwise been 200-word posts and convincing people to state the opinion in 140 characters. “As hundreds of millions of people worldwide are signing up and consuming Twitter, we realized it's the best platform to execute our vision at a truly global scale,” said the team in a blog post. But becoming part of Twitter’s “Growth team” means Summify is closing down its aggregator to focus on more tweet-friendly projects. According to Summify, subscribers believe the company “found a magical solution to a truly unsolved problem.” A solution Summify says it is “streamlining,” or cutting down little by little, for an easier transition into Twitter. As of today, new registrations are being cut off, while existing Summify users will have regular access to their newsletters. Summify is also ending “public” newsletters option, as well as profile pages, influence pages, and the auto-publish feature. E-mailed summaries will be first to go in a couple weeks. Subscribers will still be able to get their social news from the website and iPhone notifications. As a sign of a good product, customers are already beginning to complain in comments of the blog post. Many are happy for the company, but are sad to see their resource fall away. One commenter described the feeling as “shocked.” Twitter would not comment on how the technology will be used, or if this was purely a talent acquisition. Summify was founded in Romania and moved to Vancouver after being accepted into incubator Bootup Labs. The company employees will be relocating to Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. Investors include Accel Partners, Capital West Partners, co-founder of FeedBurner Steve Olechowski, and more. Filed under: deals, social        
   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
What’s bigger than 
A vote on the highly debated proposed piece of legislation the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) has been postponed, announced senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in a statement today.
At $500 a pop, an iPad isn’t a light buying decision for most college students. Though if Apple is successful at convincing schools to adopt its digital textbooks, schools will likely be able to offer the tablets at a discount for students.
In addition to being locked down to creating content for the iPad, there are also issues with Apple’s End User License Agreement (commonly called a EULA) for 
Apple recently announced a 
Business services and software provider (and cloud-computing hopeful) 
Confirming Android’s ridiculous growth, Google CEO Larry Page announced today on 
Google just announced its fourth quarter earnings report for 2011, and while the numbers appear good on the surface, investors don’t seem to agree.
| You are subscribed to email updates from VentureBeat To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |