Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Monday, 10 October 2011
Steve Jobs
A Hong Kong design student's tribute to Steve Jobs that generated a buzz in cyberspace following the death of the co-founder of Apple last week is not original, the teenager said on Monday.
Jonathan Mak, 19, said he was not the first to come up with the design that fits Jobs' silhouette into the bite of the Apple logo. He was speaking after comments surfaced on Twitter that a U.K.-based designer, known as Raid71 on the web, created the original design in May.
The design posted by Mak on the Internet spread like wildfire in cyberspace on Thursday, just after the passing of Jobs.
It drew hundreds of thousands of posts, and commemorative caps and T-shirts peddled on eBay featured his design. The logo was even used by Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher as his Twitter profile picture.
Mak, a student at Hong Kong's Polytechnic University School of Design, acknowledged he was not the original creator of the design but said he did not "rip off" the U.K. designer.
Jonathan Mak, 19, said he was not the first to come up with the design that fits Jobs' silhouette into the bite of the Apple logo. He was speaking after comments surfaced on Twitter that a U.K.-based designer, known as Raid71 on the web, created the original design in May.
The design posted by Mak on the Internet spread like wildfire in cyberspace on Thursday, just after the passing of Jobs.
It drew hundreds of thousands of posts, and commemorative caps and T-shirts peddled on eBay featured his design. The logo was even used by Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher as his Twitter profile picture.
Monday, 3 October 2011
Newspapers irrelevant to under 40 years olds
Take a look at the table below its a graphic illustration of the almost complete lack of interest paid to newspapers by people under the age of 40 years. Ouch
Friday, 23 September 2011
LivingSocial - $200m raise not IPO
Daily online deals startup LivingSocial might delay filing its initial public offering in favor of a new $200 million funding round, according to a Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
The fact that both LivingSocial and rival Groupon are rethinking their IPO strategies could signal a slow down in the market demand for daily deals across the board.
T
he potential round, which would value LivingSocial at $6 billion, could include both equity and debt, according to the report. Investment for the new round would come from existing and new investors.
Previously, LivingSocial was discussing an IPO valued at more than $10 billion. However, the stock market slump that began in July is causing the company to rethink its strategy.
Daily deals company Groupon has also been rethinking its strategy toward going public because of market conditions and questions of whether the company will successfully sustain a profit in the future (Groupon has yet to turn a profit since launching in 2008). Also, both Facebook and Yelp have scaled by their own daily deals efforts, reinforcing the notion that daily deals demand is declining.
Washington D.C.-based LivingSocial has pulled in $632 million in funding to date.
The company was not available for immediate comment about the potential funding round.
The fact that both LivingSocial and rival Groupon are rethinking their IPO strategies could signal a slow down in the market demand for daily deals across the board.
T
he potential round, which would value LivingSocial at $6 billion, could include both equity and debt, according to the report. Investment for the new round would come from existing and new investors.
Previously, LivingSocial was discussing an IPO valued at more than $10 billion. However, the stock market slump that began in July is causing the company to rethink its strategy.
Daily deals company Groupon has also been rethinking its strategy toward going public because of market conditions and questions of whether the company will successfully sustain a profit in the future (Groupon has yet to turn a profit since launching in 2008). Also, both Facebook and Yelp have scaled by their own daily deals efforts, reinforcing the notion that daily deals demand is declining.
Washington D.C.-based LivingSocial has pulled in $632 million in funding to date.
The company was not available for immediate comment about the potential funding round.
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Monday, 5 September 2011
The future of newspapers
This is a lot of fun as it imagines what a newspaper reading experience might be like in the (near) future.
New York Times R&D Lab: The kitchen table of the Future from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo.
New York Times R&D Lab: The kitchen table of the Future from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo.
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Apple on a role
Apple is on a phenomenal role right now. Revenues rose to $28.6bn in the quarter, up from $15.7bn last year, while profits soared to $7.3bn, more than twice as much as in the same quarter in 2010.
Most exciting is the fact that two thirds of the computer company's revenues are now coming from mobile devices which did not exist four years ago. Thats just incredible.
Where to next for the mighty Apple? into the cloud
Most exciting is the fact that two thirds of the computer company's revenues are now coming from mobile devices which did not exist four years ago. Thats just incredible.
Where to next for the mighty Apple? into the cloud
Thursday, 30 June 2011
LivingSocial next deal of the day service to IPO?
Kate Kelly at CNBC just reported LivingSocial — a Groupon-like daily-discount company — is in the process of picking bankers for its IPO.
Here are the details, as reported by CNBC:
Here are the details, as reported by CNBC:
- An IPO could value LivingSocial at $10 billion to $15 billion.
- LivingSocial is likely to pick a banker by the end of the week.
- LivingSocial is expected to reach $1 billion in revenue this year, and they expect to be free cash flow positive by 2012.
China in Africa
Two centuries ago, Napoleon observed: "China is a sleeping giant, but when she wakes she will shake the world."
Certainly the case it Africa where an estimated 1 million Chinese now live
China is redefining the continent's economic landscape and gradually displacing the influence and relevance of western governments, corporations and development agencies.
Beijing now lends more to Africa than the World Bank does.
Certainly the case it Africa where an estimated 1 million Chinese now live
China is redefining the continent's economic landscape and gradually displacing the influence and relevance of western governments, corporations and development agencies.
Beijing now lends more to Africa than the World Bank does.
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Trinity Mirror Exec Pay
The heat has finally been turned on Trinity Mirror CEO Sly Bailey by shareholders regarding her executive pay. As the article in the ST stated the size of her pay is completely out of wack with the (current) size of the business.
It may well be time for Ms Bailey to do the right thing and re balance her pay package to the size of business she has presided over for the last 10 years.
Shrinking business should equal shrinking executive pay.
I doubt it will in this case but it should.
It may well be time for Ms Bailey to do the right thing and re balance her pay package to the size of business she has presided over for the last 10 years.
Shrinking business should equal shrinking executive pay.
I doubt it will in this case but it should.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Facebook hits a wall
Facebook has seen "big traffic drops" in the U.S. and Canada, even while it slowly closes in on 700 million members globally, according to Inside Facebook<http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/06/12/facebook-sees-big-traffic-drops-in-us-and-canada-as-it-nears-700-million-users-worldwide/>, which monitors membership rates of the social network.
The behavior of the social network's North American and (some) European membership suggests its growth potential in these nations is now limited. And that's potentially a big detriment to a Facebook IPO.
And this news on the day that Facebook IPO rumored<http://www.cnbc.com/id/43378490/> to be at $100bn valuation
The behavior of the social network's North American and (some) European membership suggests its growth potential in these nations is now limited. And that's potentially a big detriment to a Facebook IPO.
And this news on the day that Facebook IPO rumored<http://www.cnbc.com/id/43378490/> to be at $100bn valuation
Nokia and Apple friends again?
Nokia And Apple Bury The Hatchet, Settle Patent Suit http://cnt.to/os5
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
high50 launches
I am delighted to announce the launch of high50.
Its taken rather longer than we expected (3.5 years) but good things come to those that wait dont they? And over a million more people have turned 50 in the meantime so the delay isnt all bad.
So for those of you who have made it through the last half-century in reasonable shape and are looking forward to the next. Join us.
A big thank you to web wizard Toby Kay for all his hard work and the genius that is (Beta).
Its taken rather longer than we expected (3.5 years) but good things come to those that wait dont they? And over a million more people have turned 50 in the meantime so the delay isnt all bad.
So for those of you who have made it through the last half-century in reasonable shape and are looking forward to the next. Join us.
A big thank you to web wizard Toby Kay for all his hard work and the genius that is (Beta).
Apple arrives in the cloud
For those of us hard at work on developing cloud products that make it easy to access data from any device it was great to see Mr Steve Jobs unveil iCloud.
Following hard on footsteps of Google and Amazon Apple are
the latest 'big beast' to offer consumers the ease and convenience of storing data in the cloud and the ability to access it from any device.
Its a great space and one that will radically improve the way we manage our personal content and our media.
I can think of no better space to be in right now.
Friday, 3 June 2011
Groupon Q1 revenues blast
Groupon 2011 Q1 revenues of $645m, almost as much as for the whole of 2010 at $713m (FT)
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Where are the true believers?
Startup fundraising isn't about convincing skeptics but rather finding true believers.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Twitter buys Tweetdeck
Taking out another potential competitor, Twitter has reportedly acquired TweetDeck for more than $40 million in cash and stock.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Apple dominates profits with 57% profit share in Mobiles globally
With 19% smartphone (Canalys) market share, and 5% Mobiles (IDC) market share, Apple takes a disproportionate 45% of the industry profits.
Blackberry (25% of Industry Margins), HTC (15%), Samsung (12%) and Nokia (8%) complete the list.
Microsoft to buy Nokia!
Microsoft rumoured to be negotiating to buy Nokia's phone business. Watch this space
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Trinity Mirror continues to struggle
Trinity Mirror has reported a 10% fall in advertising revenue in the year to 1 May and warned of the continuing challenging and fragile economic environment facing newspaper publishers.
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
The Times iPad
Twenty-five thousand people read The Times on iPad each day. Its stablemate The Sunday Times counts 22,000 readers, including two million iPad page views.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Monday, 9 May 2011
US CEO pay
CEO Pay Rose 11 Percent in 2010
The median value of compensation for CEOs of 350 major companies rose 11
percent to $9.3 million, according to a study conducted for The Wall
Street Journal by management consultancy firm Hay Group.
At the top of the list is Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, who pocketed $84.3 million in compensation - more than double his 2009 total.
Next was Oracle honcho Larry Ellison, who received compensation valued at $68.6 million, followed by CBS CEO Les Moonves, who can drown all his Charlie
Sheen-related sorrows with compensation valued at $53.9 million.
Four of the top 10 most highly compensated CEOs were heads of media companies, including those at Viacom, CBS, Walt Disney, and Time Warner. Meanwhile,News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch ranked 52nd on the list, receiving $16.5 million in compensation.
Read it at The Wall Street Journal:
http://e.thedailybeast.com/a/tBNx9sDB7SwhTB8a9g4DTNACvd$/dail4
News boon
What an extraordinary and momentous world news and current affairs calender .
Few can remember so many massive stories packed into so few months
We've had massive natural disasters, oil and nuclear disasters and financial disasters. We've had the reshaping of north africa and the middle east thanks to the Arab Spring. We've had the slaying of OBL after a decade of effort, we've had the wondrous spectacle of a royal weddings. Phone hacking. Etc. Etc.
The list just goes on and on.
Its provided a boon for news media and the coming of age of social media as influential news channels.
This must be one of the very finest news runs of all time.
Few can remember so many massive stories packed into so few months
We've had massive natural disasters, oil and nuclear disasters and financial disasters. We've had the reshaping of north africa and the middle east thanks to the Arab Spring. We've had the slaying of OBL after a decade of effort, we've had the wondrous spectacle of a royal weddings. Phone hacking. Etc. Etc.
The list just goes on and on.
Its provided a boon for news media and the coming of age of social media as influential news channels.
This must be one of the very finest news runs of all time.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Smartphone sales growth
The worldwide smartphone market grew 80% in the first quarter compared to a year ago as manufacturers rolled out much-anticipated new devices and prices on older models dropped, according to new data from technology research firm IDC.
The number of smartphones shipped in the quarter nearly doubled to 99.6 million units from 55.4 million a year ago.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
LivingSocial raises $400m
LivingSocial, the U.S. online coupon seller, has raised $400 million to fund expansion and keep up with larger competitor Groupon Inc,
Monday, 28 March 2011
Friday, 25 March 2011
HuffPO swims the pond
Arianna Huffington is to launch a UK edition of the Huffington Post this summer, as the US news and current affairs website recently acquired by AOL moves to expand internationally.
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Groupon IPO
GroupOn to Get $25 Billion IPO?
Coupon site has been in talks with banks.
Coupon site has been in talks with banks.
http://e.thedailybeast.com/a/tBNgl3WB7SwhTB8Zun2DTNACvHu/cht5
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
The end of postage stamps?
Are stamps the next thing to be made obsolete by the onward march of technology?
Denmark will introduce something called the Mobile Postage beginning on April 1. It’s as it sounds: rather than slap a plain ol’ postage stamp on a piece of mail, Danish folk will instead send a text message to the post office, which will then send back a postage code. You then write this postage code on your mail, and off you go.
The code will cost 8 DKK (just shy of $1.50 USD), and will initially only be usable on letters up to 50g (~1.76 ounces).
Sweden said that it, too, was considering introducing a text message postage stamp.
Seems like a really good idea to us
Denmark will introduce something called the Mobile Postage beginning on April 1. It’s as it sounds: rather than slap a plain ol’ postage stamp on a piece of mail, Danish folk will instead send a text message to the post office, which will then send back a postage code. You then write this postage code on your mail, and off you go.
The code will cost 8 DKK (just shy of $1.50 USD), and will initially only be usable on letters up to 50g (~1.76 ounces).
Sweden said that it, too, was considering introducing a text message postage stamp.
Seems like a really good idea to us
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Friday, 14 January 2011
Groupon looks for even more cash through IPO
Groupon, the social buying site that spurned a $6 billion offer from Google, is pushing ahead with plans for its initial public offering, a debut that could value the company at $15 billion or more.
The company, which just raised a record $950 million from big investors, discussed a public offering with bankers this week, according to two people with knowledge of the deal who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Banks are pitching Groupon on dizzying valuations at which they expect to take the company public, with many at $15 billion, these people said
The company, which just raised a record $950 million from big investors, discussed a public offering with bankers this week, according to two people with knowledge of the deal who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Banks are pitching Groupon on dizzying valuations at which they expect to take the company public, with many at $15 billion, these people said
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Social gaming - $1bn market in 2011
Social gaming is expected to be a billion-dollar business this year, according to an eMarketer report released today. Of course, this staggering number isn’t surprising considering the massive growth of both Zynga and Facebook as a platform for social games.
eMarketer says that nearly 62 million US internet users, or 27% of the online audience, will play at least one game on a social network monthly this year, up from 53 million in 2010.
In the U.S., consumers will spend $653 million on virtual goods in social games in 2011, compared to $510 million spent in 2010.
These revenues from virtual goods will continue to make up the majority of social gaming revenues in the past but other areas in the business are anticipated to grow. Ad spending is expected to grow to $192 million in 2011 to advertise on social games, which is a 60% increase over 2010. And Lead-gen offers will increase to $248 million in 2011 from $225 in 2010.
Ad revenue is actually expected to surpass lead-generation offers as a source of developer revenues in 2012, says eMarketer.
eMarketer says that nearly 62 million US internet users, or 27% of the online audience, will play at least one game on a social network monthly this year, up from 53 million in 2010.
In the U.S., consumers will spend $653 million on virtual goods in social games in 2011, compared to $510 million spent in 2010.
These revenues from virtual goods will continue to make up the majority of social gaming revenues in the past but other areas in the business are anticipated to grow. Ad spending is expected to grow to $192 million in 2011 to advertise on social games, which is a 60% increase over 2010. And Lead-gen offers will increase to $248 million in 2011 from $225 in 2010.
Ad revenue is actually expected to surpass lead-generation offers as a source of developer revenues in 2012, says eMarketer.
Monday, 3 January 2011
Facebook valuation doubles to $50 billion
Facebook has raised another $500 million from Goldman Sachs and Russian investor Digital Sky Technologies, at a valuation for Facebook of $50 billion, the New York Times reports. That makes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg worth more than twice the $6.9 billion Forbes said he was worth in September 2010 –when Facebook was valued at $23 billion.
It probably won’t change Zuckerberg’s low-key lifestyle, but the jump in net worth will, as the New York Times noted, put Zuckerberg closer to the ranks of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, both worth $15 billion as of Forbes’ Sept. 2010 ranking of the 400 Richest Americans.
The latest fundraising will also boost the billionaire fortunes of two other Facebook co-founders, Dustin Moskovitz (worth $1.8 billion on the 2010 Forbes 400) and Eduardo Saverin (worth $1.15 billion on the 2010 Forbes 400). Moskovitz left Facebook in 2008 to start another company, Asana; Saverin helped Zuckerberg found Facebook but stayed on to graduate from Harvard while Zuckerberg and Moskovitz dropped out.
It probably won’t change Zuckerberg’s low-key lifestyle, but the jump in net worth will, as the New York Times noted, put Zuckerberg closer to the ranks of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, both worth $15 billion as of Forbes’ Sept. 2010 ranking of the 400 Richest Americans.
The latest fundraising will also boost the billionaire fortunes of two other Facebook co-founders, Dustin Moskovitz (worth $1.8 billion on the 2010 Forbes 400) and Eduardo Saverin (worth $1.15 billion on the 2010 Forbes 400). Moskovitz left Facebook in 2008 to start another company, Asana; Saverin helped Zuckerberg found Facebook but stayed on to graduate from Harvard while Zuckerberg and Moskovitz dropped out.
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Welcome to 2011
Happy New Year
2011 is going to be spectacular.
Year when tablets sales explode making them really interesting for publishers and advertisers. When Facebook and social media become very powerful advertising channels. When mobile finally gets locational. Year when everybody wakes up to the potential of Africa. When cloud computing becomes real and begins to impact on consumers lives. Year when newspapers struggle with digital and digital commercial models continue with no sign of a solution. When digital couponing takes off.
It's going to be a cracker and as always we will be ringside.
2011 is going to be spectacular.
Year when tablets sales explode making them really interesting for publishers and advertisers. When Facebook and social media become very powerful advertising channels. When mobile finally gets locational. Year when everybody wakes up to the potential of Africa. When cloud computing becomes real and begins to impact on consumers lives. Year when newspapers struggle with digital and digital commercial models continue with no sign of a solution. When digital couponing takes off.
It's going to be a cracker and as always we will be ringside.
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