Just a day after it was announced that MySpace would lay off nearly half its staff, News Corp. admitted it's considering selling the site. "News Corp is assessing a number of possibilities including a sale, a merger, and a spinout," Rosabel Tao, a spokesperson for Myspace.
On Tuesday, the former social-networking behemoth announced it would cut its staff by 47 percent. News Corp. famously bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, but it hasn't exactly been a cash cow for the media company. In the last quarter, the segment of News Corp. that owns MySpace lost $156 million.
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Thursday, January 13, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Apple's Verizon iPhone could cannibalize 6.5M sales from AT&T
Though the arrival of the iPhone on Verizon is expected to increase overall U.S. iPhone sales for Apple, the effect on carrier AT&T is expected to be significant. Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray said in a note to investors on Monday that he believes the launch of a Verizon iPhone will increase total 2011 U.S. handset sales for Apple by 2.5 million, a number he cautioned "may be conservative." In all, Munster sees AT&T selling 11 million iPhones, and 9 million from Verizon.
Munster sees Verizon activating 25 million total smartphones in calendar year 2011. If Apple does indeed account for 9 million, the handset maker would sell 36 percent of the smartphones on Verizon's network. Munster's model places Apple with a much lower share of smartphone sales that the iPhone currently enjoys at AT&T. In the September 2010 quarter, Munster estimates that the record 5.2 million iPhones activated by AT&T accounted for about 80 percent of all smartphones sold by the carrier.
In addition, analyst Shaw Wu with Kaufman Bros. issued a note to investors on Monday in which he said Verizon arguably needs the iPhone more than Apple needs Verizon.
"The reason that VZ arguably needs the iPhone now more than ever is as it has lost share to AT&T over the last two quarters as Android momentum slows here in the U.S. (as per carrier subscriber data)," he said. "We also believe VZ is willing to pay to keep the iPhone exclusive on its network and AT&T. Because of this, we believe the iPhone isn't likely to appear on T-Mobile USA and/or Sprint until later."
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Munster sees Verizon activating 25 million total smartphones in calendar year 2011. If Apple does indeed account for 9 million, the handset maker would sell 36 percent of the smartphones on Verizon's network. Munster's model places Apple with a much lower share of smartphone sales that the iPhone currently enjoys at AT&T. In the September 2010 quarter, Munster estimates that the record 5.2 million iPhones activated by AT&T accounted for about 80 percent of all smartphones sold by the carrier.
In addition, analyst Shaw Wu with Kaufman Bros. issued a note to investors on Monday in which he said Verizon arguably needs the iPhone more than Apple needs Verizon.
"The reason that VZ arguably needs the iPhone now more than ever is as it has lost share to AT&T over the last two quarters as Android momentum slows here in the U.S. (as per carrier subscriber data)," he said. "We also believe VZ is willing to pay to keep the iPhone exclusive on its network and AT&T. Because of this, we believe the iPhone isn't likely to appear on T-Mobile USA and/or Sprint until later."
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Friday, January 07, 2011
Facebook Faces Loss of Its Privacy
Facebook revealed that it is preparing to go public with its financial data sometime in 2012. Facebook expects its investor population to exceed 499 this year, it reportedly states in a private placement document leaked to a number of media outlets from Goldman Sachs, which would compel it to disclose tons of financial information.
Investor interest in Facebook has grown with stepped-up private trading by former employees and early investors on websites such as SharesPost and SecondMarket. On Monday, Goldman Sachs announced it made a US$500 million investment in Facebook, which pegged Facebook's value at $50 billion. Facebook's value just last year was $10 billion. This mammoth increase in value over the past year gives it and its exclusive group of investors the incentive to go into public trading.
The growth in investors and a potential IPO could change the face of Facebook. "It means that Facebook and its investors want to take advantage of the amazing momentum the company has generated," Azita Arvani, principal of the Arvani Group, told the E-Commerce Times.
A Facebook IPO will have an impact on Facebook's freewheeling culture. "What it means, bottom line, is more accountability -- more accountability to its investors, more accountability to its customers and to Wall Street, including the financial analysts," Laura DiDio, principal analyst at ITIC, told the E-Commerce Times.
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Investor interest in Facebook has grown with stepped-up private trading by former employees and early investors on websites such as SharesPost and SecondMarket. On Monday, Goldman Sachs announced it made a US$500 million investment in Facebook, which pegged Facebook's value at $50 billion. Facebook's value just last year was $10 billion. This mammoth increase in value over the past year gives it and its exclusive group of investors the incentive to go into public trading.
The growth in investors and a potential IPO could change the face of Facebook. "It means that Facebook and its investors want to take advantage of the amazing momentum the company has generated," Azita Arvani, principal of the Arvani Group, told the E-Commerce Times.
A Facebook IPO will have an impact on Facebook's freewheeling culture. "What it means, bottom line, is more accountability -- more accountability to its investors, more accountability to its customers and to Wall Street, including the financial analysts," Laura DiDio, principal analyst at ITIC, told the E-Commerce Times.
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Sunday, January 02, 2011
Facebook cements No. 1 status
In 2010, Facebook pushed past Google to become the most popular site on the Internet for the first time, according to two Web tracking firms. The title caps a year of rapid ascent for Facebook in which the social network hit 500 million users.
"This is the most transformational shift in the history of the Internet," said Lou Kerner, a social-media analyst with Wedbush Securities and former chief executive of Bolt.com, an early networking site. "We're moving from a Google-centric Web to a people-centric Web."
According to Experian Hitwise, Facebook jumped to the top spot after spending last year in third place and the year before ranked ninth. The company found that 8.9 percent of unique online visits were to Facebook this year, compared with Google's 7.2 percent. Meanwhile, ComScore, another firm that calculates Web traffic, said Facebook is on track in 2010 to surpass Google for the first time in number of pages viewed. Each unique visit to a site can result in multiple page views.
A survey this summer by the Nielsen Co. found that Americans spent nearly 23 percent of their time online using social networks, up from about 16 percent in a 2009 poll. Social networking took up more time than any other activity, including e-mail, which experienced a decline. Searching took up just less than 4 percent of time online, according to the survey.
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"This is the most transformational shift in the history of the Internet," said Lou Kerner, a social-media analyst with Wedbush Securities and former chief executive of Bolt.com, an early networking site. "We're moving from a Google-centric Web to a people-centric Web."
According to Experian Hitwise, Facebook jumped to the top spot after spending last year in third place and the year before ranked ninth. The company found that 8.9 percent of unique online visits were to Facebook this year, compared with Google's 7.2 percent. Meanwhile, ComScore, another firm that calculates Web traffic, said Facebook is on track in 2010 to surpass Google for the first time in number of pages viewed. Each unique visit to a site can result in multiple page views.
A survey this summer by the Nielsen Co. found that Americans spent nearly 23 percent of their time online using social networks, up from about 16 percent in a 2009 poll. Social networking took up more time than any other activity, including e-mail, which experienced a decline. Searching took up just less than 4 percent of time online, according to the survey.
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Monday, December 27, 2010
Microsoft Tablet Aimed at Fighting IPad Faces Long Odds
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, said to unveil new software for tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show next week, will face skeptics who say his company won’t soon narrow Apple Inc.’s iPad lead.
“By the time Microsoft gets it figured out everybody will already own an iPad,” said Keith Goddard, CEO of Capital Advisors Inc. an investing firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that holds Apple shares. “That train has left the station.”
Allying with ARM is Microsoft’s way of stepping up rivalry with Apple, which has garnered the largest share of the tablet market with its iPad. The new Windows version would be tailored for battery- powered devices, such as tablets and wireless handsets. Computer makers have unsuccessfully been trying to sell tablet-style computers based on Microsoft’s Windows for about a decade.
By adapting its computer operating system for a tablet, Microsoft is taking a different approach from Apple, which used a mobile-phone operating system as the basis for the iPad. Microsoft is taking software designed for use with a mouse and keyboard and adapting it to a touch screen, according to the people familiar with the matter. That will require developers to rework PC programs to make them useful on a tablet.
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“By the time Microsoft gets it figured out everybody will already own an iPad,” said Keith Goddard, CEO of Capital Advisors Inc. an investing firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that holds Apple shares. “That train has left the station.”
Allying with ARM is Microsoft’s way of stepping up rivalry with Apple, which has garnered the largest share of the tablet market with its iPad. The new Windows version would be tailored for battery- powered devices, such as tablets and wireless handsets. Computer makers have unsuccessfully been trying to sell tablet-style computers based on Microsoft’s Windows for about a decade.
By adapting its computer operating system for a tablet, Microsoft is taking a different approach from Apple, which used a mobile-phone operating system as the basis for the iPad. Microsoft is taking software designed for use with a mouse and keyboard and adapting it to a touch screen, according to the people familiar with the matter. That will require developers to rework PC programs to make them useful on a tablet.
Full Story
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Skype says two-thirds of users still can't log in
Skype estimates that about two-thirds of its users are still unable to log in after an outage caused by problems with its underlying peer-to-peer interconnection system. Almost 5 million users are back online, Skype said, but that's still only around 30 percent.
Skype's initial description of the problem said many of the "supernodes" that act as directories for Skype users to find one another were taken offline by a problem affecting some versions of the Skype client.
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Skype's initial description of the problem said many of the "supernodes" that act as directories for Skype users to find one another were taken offline by a problem affecting some versions of the Skype client.
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Windows Phone 7 Ships 1.5M Devices In First Six Weeks
Microsoft announced that 1.5 million mobile devices running its Windows Phone 7 platform have been shipped to retailers in the six weeks since the operating system's launch November 8. Corporate VP for Mobile Communications, Business and Marketing Achim Berg said this number was "in line with our expectations – especially when compared to other new platform introductions" and that customer momentum and retail presence were still building.
Windows Phone 7's initial shipment rate puts the platform well behind current rates for other major mobile phone operating systems. That said, the numbers are favorable compared to those for other first-generation phone platforms. The original iPhone took 74 days to sell its first million units when it launched back in early 2007.
The sales rate for the first six weeks represents a slight slowdown from 40,000 reported sales on the platform's first day of availability.
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Windows Phone 7's initial shipment rate puts the platform well behind current rates for other major mobile phone operating systems. That said, the numbers are favorable compared to those for other first-generation phone platforms. The original iPhone took 74 days to sell its first million units when it launched back in early 2007.
The sales rate for the first six weeks represents a slight slowdown from 40,000 reported sales on the platform's first day of availability.
Full Story
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Microsoft Unveils Upgrade to Bing Search Engine
Microsoft showed off a host of visual and search enhancements to its search engine Bing Wednesday, in hopes that better packaging will help it eat away at Google's online dominance.
Wednesday's announcements includes a new mobile app for Android and the iPhone, that brings some of the design feel of Windows Phone 7 to their competitors' devices, along with some nifty maps, real time bus directions, and an easy way to make beautiful panoramas.
Microsoft also redesigned its browser-based image search and maps and traditional search also got a slight makeover, with visual changes being made to how results are returned for musical artists, destinations and movies, among other types of search.
Perhaps most importantly, Bing now has a partnership with Facebook, and one out of five Bing users are candidates for "instant personalization," since they are logged into Facebook and haven't chosen to opt-out.
Bing now has 11.8% of the U.S. search market, a 48% hump growth since Bing replaced Live search in the summer of 2009.
Full Story
Wednesday's announcements includes a new mobile app for Android and the iPhone, that brings some of the design feel of Windows Phone 7 to their competitors' devices, along with some nifty maps, real time bus directions, and an easy way to make beautiful panoramas.
Microsoft also redesigned its browser-based image search and maps and traditional search also got a slight makeover, with visual changes being made to how results are returned for musical artists, destinations and movies, among other types of search.
Perhaps most importantly, Bing now has a partnership with Facebook, and one out of five Bing users are candidates for "instant personalization," since they are logged into Facebook and haven't chosen to opt-out.
Bing now has 11.8% of the U.S. search market, a 48% hump growth since Bing replaced Live search in the summer of 2009.
Full Story
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