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Pandora hopes IPO a path to profit (AFP) : Technet |
- Pandora hopes IPO a path to profit (AFP)
- Sony PlayStation Phone: What We Know So Far (PC World)
- India's Anil Ambani group says officials probed over 2G scam (AFP)
- UberMedia buys TweetDeck for $30M, now controls 20 percent of daily tweets (Digital Trends)
- Nokia Shifts its Loyalties . . . Sort of (PC World)
- U.S. calls on Syria to release young blogger (Reuters)
- Algeria's Internet, Facebook Shut Down As Unrest Intensifies [REPORT] (Mashable)
- Will Sports Illustrated's Subscription Plan Rescue Digital Magazine Sales? (Mashable)
- The Week in iPhone 4 Cases: Heavy duty protection, and more Verizon cases (Macworld)
| Pandora hopes IPO a path to profit (AFP) Posted: 12 Feb 2011 11:54 AM PST OAKLAND, California (AFP) – Leading US Internet radio service Pandora on Friday filed plans with US regulators for an initial public offering of stock to raise as much as $100 million. Pandora indicated that it is going public in a bid to get the money it needs to grow and become profitable, and to deal with an accumulated operating deficit of $83.9 million. "A key element of our strategy is to aggressively increase the number of listeners and listener hours to increase our market penetration," Pandora said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. "However, as our number of listener hours increases, the royalties we pay for content acquisition also increase," the filing noted. Pandora's revenue has not been enough to offset the cost of paying royalties on songs, and getting big enough to tip the balance with more paid advertising is essential, the startup indicated. The Oakland, California-based firm released internal financial figures that revealed the company finished last year with a net loss of $16.7 million. The bulk of Pandora's revenue comes from advertising, while about 14 percent of the money it takes in comes from subscriptions, according to the filing. Pandora reported having 80 million registered users and that it streamed about 2.1 billion hours of music last year. Pandora was among the top smartphone applications in the United States in 2010. Pandora is available for the iPhone, the Blackberry, the Palm Pre, and devices running Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating systems but does not currently provide service outside the United States. "We have pioneered a new form of radio -- one that uses intrinsic qualities of music to initially create stations and then adapts playlists in real-time based on the individual feedback of each listener," Pandora said. "We believe the promotion of music discovery is one of the reasons why radio has endured as the most popular way to listen to music." Pandora creates personalized radio stations for users based upon their favorite artists or songs and has seen booming growth on mobile devices, according to founder Tim Westergren. He told AFP in an interview last year that Pandora would be "getting into cars and into electronic devices at home." Westergren said that the folks at Pandora were "not huge believers" in subscriptions although Pandora does offer a paid premium service which allows for unlimited listening beyond the monthly 40-hour limit on free accounts. Westergren said Pandora's biggest competitor remains broadcast radio. "They own 90-plus percent of the market," he said. |
| Sony PlayStation Phone: What We Know So Far (PC World) Posted: 12 Feb 2011 03:59 PM PST Tomorrow's the PlayStation Phone's big day, after months that felt like years speculating about what it would look like, how much it would cost, and what the heck Sony plans to actually call it (hint: not 'PlayStation Phone'). Try 'Xperia Play', after Sony Ericsson's Xperia series of high-end smartphones. Sony teased a quick shot of it during a Super Bowl 2011 Android phone commercial, a shot that more or less matched the device in all those fuzzy pictures we've stared at for months (we're blessed with reliable tipsters, it seems, but wildly incompetent photographers). If you're thinking "but it's just a slightly less attractive PSP Go," you're not far off. The Xperia Play clearly owes its design to the Go, a slide-top gaming handheld in turn derived from Sony's defunct My Life Online (mylo). We hear it'll include a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon (QSD8255) processor running Android 2.3 ("Gingerbread"), sport a generous 4-inch 854 by 480 pixel Bravia-powered touchscreen (compared to the PSP Go's 3.8-inch 480 by 272 pixel screen), include a 5.0 megapixel camera, 512MB memory, a microSD slot, and a slide-out bottom piece with an oblong touchpad splayed between Sony's trademark PlayStation d-pad (left) and symbol-etched four buttons (right). We're also pretty sure it'll support Sony's new PlayStation Suite, a software development framework for bringing older PlayStation and PlayStation Portable games to a variety of devices that support the standard. In fact the Xperia Play may just be the tip of an iceberg, an overhyped Android phone that mostly plays older PS One ports. For all the hay the gossip blogs made about this thing, the real news was Sony's Next Generation Portable all along, a device that makes the Xperia Play look like yesterday's news. Sony's set to unveil the Xperia Play tomorrow (Sunday, February 13) at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. We'll cover the conference when it kicks off at 1:00 PM EST (6:00 PM GMT). Keep tabs on us: Twitter - Facebook - RSS | Tip us off or get in touch |
| India's Anil Ambani group says officials probed over 2G scam (AFP) Posted: 12 Feb 2011 12:17 PM PST NEW DELHI (AFP) – India's Reliance Group said Saturday police investigators had "examined" several of its officials over alleged irregularities in the awarding of 2008 mobile phone licences. The statement marked the latest development in a widening probe into the government's 2008 sale of second generation, or 2G, licences at knockdown prices which has become one of the biggest corruption cases in India's history. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has "examined a few officials of Reliance ADA Group, and we are fully co-operating with the authorities in this regard," a spokesman for the group told AFP, declining to elaborate. Reliance ADA Group, controlled by tycoon Anil Ambani who is listed sixth on the 2010 Forbes list of India's billionaires with $13.3 billion, includes the country's second-largest mobile firm Reliance Communications. The CBI's probe of the group's officials comes after the national auditor said irregularities in mobile licence and spectrum allocation cost the exchequer up to $40 billion in lost revenues. The CBI is looking into companies which may have benefited from suspected rigging of licence bidding rules under then telecom minister A. Raja. Raja was arrested with two former aides earlier this month in the scandal that has tarnished the reputation of the Congress government led by Premier Manmohan Singh. The police agency has not stated any of the Reliance ADA Group firms benefited from the alleged corruption. It has, however, named India's Swan Telecom -- now known as Etisalat DB Telecom -- and real estate company Unitech as allegedly having benefited. The auditor's report, meanwhile, has accused Reliance Communications, through its Reliance Telecom unit, of violating licensing rules by holding over 10 percent of Swan Telecom, which applied for a 2G licence in 2007. The report has also alleged that Swan Telecom, which got its licence in 2008, appeared to be acting as a "front company" for Reliance Telecom when it applied for the licence. The companies have denied wrongdoing. The CBI's questioning of Reliance officials comes as troubles mount for the group. On Friday, it said it had identified unnamed brokers whom it claimed spread "baseless" charges that India's top accounting body was looking into the group's finances. The allegations wiped $2.6 billion off the value of the group's six firms in a single trading day on Wednesday. The CBI questioning of Reliance officials comes after a Supreme Court judge earlier in the week told police to go after company executives and politicians more aggressively. "We have a large number of people who think themselves to be above the law. You must catch all of them," Supreme Court Justice G.S. Singhvi said. "Merely because a person is on the Forbes list (of billionaires) and millionaires does not matter. Remember there is no parallel to this case." |
| UberMedia buys TweetDeck for $30M, now controls 20 percent of daily tweets (Digital Trends) Posted: 12 Feb 2011 12:02 PM PST
UberMedia, which is owned by Bill Gross, reportedly paid $30 million for TweetDeck, which ranks as the largest Twitter client outside of the official Twitter framework. That's a significant number considering TweetDeck has raised less than $5 million in funding over the past two years. That such a large portion of Twitter's functionality is now controlled by Gross's company puts UberMedia at odds with Twitter itself. Especially when you consider that Twitter has yet to develop a business plan that actually makes money off of the service's 200 million users. It's possible, however, that Gross has already received his comeuppance. Just this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google and Facebook have been engaged in low-level talks to acquire Twitter itself for between $8 billion and $10 billion. That high a valuation presumably played into how much UberMedia payed for TweetDeck, which relies on Twitter for its survival. Some believe, however, that such an unfathomable amount for a popular — but unprofitable — social media service is evidence that a second tech bubble is ballooning, and will at some point burst. If that cheerful thought is true, then it would seem inevitable that Gross over-paid for TweetDeck, as the entire economic environment surrounding the purchase was bloated with unrealistic optimism. Of course, nobody yet knows for sure how long the current upswing in the social media sector will last â€" and who will come out on top when all is said and done. For now, Twitter and the industry that surrounds it will simply have to live with the fact that its potentially carrying more weight than it can handle. |
| Nokia Shifts its Loyalties . . . Sort of (PC World) Posted: 12 Feb 2011 12:21 PM PST Nokia on Friday announced it forged an alliance with Microsoft to help both companies compete with Google's Android and Apple's iOS. Unfortunately it looks like Nokia might have used desktop software from one of its smartphone rivals to make part of that announcement. Nokia posted a video with CEO Stephen Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer highlighting the partnership on its NokiaConversations YouTube channel. If the background music sounds familiar, that's because it's the same music Apple used in its unibody MacBook Pro video. The loop, titled Pendulum, is bundled with iLife, and its use raises the question: Did Nokia use Apple software to produce its Microsoft partnership video? AppleInsider seems to think so. The site credits Romanian blogger Adrian Boiglu for first noticing Nokia's use of the loop and suggesting the video was created in iMovie. I'm not so sure that the soundtrack's presence is a smoking gun that points to Nokia using iMovie to produce the video, but it at least makes that a clear possibility. At the very least it is safe to assume that an Apple workstation was in the mix at some point. (Final Cut Studio, anyone?) The loop itself can be used by anyone who creates movies on a Mac, as long as it is for noncommercial use. It might be a little embarrassing for Microsoft, but can Nokia really be faulted for using royalty-free music or a Mac to produce video? The company's profit declined in the fourth quarter despite an increase in sales. CEO Elrop (the guy from the video) went as far as comparing the company's situation to standing on a burning oil platform in the North Sea in a memo leaked by Engadget . And it isn't like Windows Live Movie Maker is being embraced in the world of video production like Apple's Final Cut Pro. Irony aside, let's hope the new partnership is fruitful. Nokia needs help with its software and Microsoft needs a manufacturer to prioritize Windows Phone 7 over Android. Check out the two videos with the same tune below. |
| U.S. calls on Syria to release young blogger (Reuters) Posted: 12 Feb 2011 11:36 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States condemned Saturday what it said was Syria's "secret trial" of a young blogger and called for her immediate release, saying allegations of U.S. espionage connections were baseless. "The United States strongly condemns Syria's secret trial of blogger Tal al-Molouhi," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a statement, saying baseless allegations of U.S. connections had resulted "in a spurious accusation of espionage." "We call on the Syrian government to immediately release all its prisoners of conscience; and allow its citizens freedom to exercise their universal rights of expression and association without fear of retribution from their own government," he said. Molouhi, then a high-school student, was arrested in 2009 and her computer was confiscated. Her blogs included poems and articles supporting the Palestinian cause and criticizing the Partnership for the Mediterranean, a French diplomatic initiative bringing together Arab and European countries, as well as Israel. Molouhi's arrest stirred a storm in the Arab blogosphere, with numerous postings lambasting what was called indiscriminate repression in Syria. The United States returned its ambassador to Syria last month after a six-year hiatus just as tensions are growing again over neighboring Lebanon, where Damascus ally Hezbollah has gained the upper hand in a political crisis. Relations were downgraded in 2005 due to U.S. suspicions of Syrian involvement in the assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq al-Hariri, and U.S. sanctions remain in place on Syria for supporting Hezbollah and other militant groups. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has emphasized the value of Internet freedoms, and has criticized countries for controls they impose on their citizen's online activities. Clinton is due to deliver what the State Department is calling a "major speech" on Internet freedom Tuesday. The Internet has become a major outlet for the expression of independent views in Syria, where political opposition has been banned and emergency law in place since the Baath party took power in 1963. But several Syrian bloggers and writers have been arrested, with some sentenced to long terms, while Internet users said the government appeared to tighten controls amid widespread use of social media like Facebook and Twitter to fuel popular revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. (Reporting by Andrew Quinn; editing by Philip Barbara) |
| Algeria's Internet, Facebook Shut Down As Unrest Intensifies [REPORT] (Mashable) Posted: 12 Feb 2011 09:51 AM PST Protests in Algeria intensified today, and the Algerian government responded by deleting Facebook accounts and shutting down Internet service providers across the country, according to The Telegraph. In a volatile situation similar to that which brought down former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Algerian government has dispatched 30,000 riot police in Algiers, and is resorting to tear gas and plastic bullets to try to discourage dissent, according to The Telegraph. Algerians are calling this uprising the "February 12 Revolution," as they protest government corruption, massive unemployment, housing problems and poverty. They would like to oust Algerian President Abdelaziz Boutifleka, whose police forces are also trying to silence journalists, according to The Telegraph. From what we've seen so far, shutting down the Internet and deleting Facebook accounts is not going to work. We're thinking this is just one of many revolutions that are about to sweep the Middle East. Photo courtesy The Telegraph/EPA |
| Will Sports Illustrated's Subscription Plan Rescue Digital Magazine Sales? (Mashable) Posted: 12 Feb 2011 09:11 AM PST At a press event in New York City Friday, Sports Illustrated and parent company Time Inc. announced a new subscription plan that spans the web, and several major mobile and tablet devices -- excluding, notably, the iPhone and the iPad. To subscribe, Sports Illustrated readers will need to elect one of two subscription options at si.com/magazine (see below), and then download the apps through the Android Marketplace. Google will take an undisclosed cut of sales, Time EVP and Chief Digital Offer Randall Rothenberg said. The subscription options are as follows:
Time Inc. executives believe digital magazines have not yet reached their selling potential, largely because they have not been able to reach an agreement with Apple on a subscription model through the App Store. The issue is not the 30% revenue cut Apple insists upon -- although we can't imagine that publishers are particularly happy about that -- but that Apple won't share enough subscriber information with publishers. "Without [the subscription plan], there were lots of questions and complaints about [the magazine] being too expensive," Sports Illustrated Group Editor Terry McDonnell explained. "It [has been] very problematic for a company like this," he added, noting that the magazine's first priority is to make access as easy as possible for consumers. Time doesn't want to cut the price of single issues, however. "We're confident at some point we'll be able to sell subscriptions successfully through the iTunes store," Rothenberg said. The company wants to maintain the current price difference between single issues, and issues purchased in bulk through monthly or annual subscriptions. Digital bundles are, we believe, a step in the right direction, but until apps for the most popular tablet device and one of the most popular smartphone platforms are included in the subscription bundles, Sports Illustrated's digital reach will be limited. |
| The Week in iPhone 4 Cases: Heavy duty protection, and more Verizon cases (Macworld) Posted: 12 Feb 2011 08:30 AM PST When you design a smartphone that's encased in glass, there will naturally be concerns about the durability of said phone. Though the iPhone 4 has, by most accounts, held up perfectly fine despite its glassy nature, there seems to be increasing demand for heavy-duty cases that can quite literally turn the iPhone 4 into a wall-piercing projectile. In non-military-grade case-related news, more and more manufacturers are releasing Verizon iPhone 4-compatible models—no big surprise there—and beautiful, carved wooden cases seem to be making a comeback. Read on for this week's scoop on new iPhone 4 cases. Griffin Technology If you're planning on keeping your iPhone on you during military basic training, you might want to opt for Griffin's Survivor case ($50). Part of Griffin's new Armored series of cases, the Survivor case has been designed and tested to meet or exceed U.S. and U.K. military standards. Its shatter-resistant polycarbonate frame is clad in rugged, shock absorbing silicon and includes a built-in screen protector as well as hinged plugs that seal the openings for the dock-connector port, headphone jack, Ring/Silent switch and volume controls. This allows the case to withstand extreme conditions of dirt, sand, rain, shock, vibration, and other environmental hazards. If you want more proof of the Survivor case's durability, you can check out an entertaining video at Griffin's Website that depicts a Survivor-encased iPhone being thrown off hills, tossed across hard floors, and thrown through office walls. Miniot Miniot has three new additions to its über-classy line of iWood cases. The Contour ($189) consists of a richly textured wenge base outlined with a band of white maple. The Cobra 4 ($176) uses the contrasting wood species of maple and wenge to form a striking, striped design. And if you go through the trouble (and expense) of purchasing a fancy wooden case, you might as well pick up a wooden dock to match, right? The iWood4 ($26) is a classy wooden dock that accommodates Apple's USB-to-dock-connector cable and matches perfectly with iWood's cases; it's available in Padouk, Walnut, and Wenge wood. Root Cases In case the company's namesake didn't clue you in, Root Cases's iPhone 4 cases are made of wood from four different kinds of trees. You can choose from a case made of Walnut ($59), which is hard, dense, and smoothly polished; Zebrawood, a hard, textured wood that gets its name from its distinct, Zebra-like patterns; Wenge ($59), a distinctive tropical wood with a rich, dark color; and Bamboo ($59), a very hard, light-colored wood that's particularly popular with Pandas. Tunewear Tunewear's PRIE Ambassador iPhone 4 Leather Case ($53; available from USBFever) is made from smooth, genuine leather, and offers full protection of the back and sides of your iPhone. The case holds your iPhone in place with a velcro side latch that allows for easy removal. The back of the case features a cardholder ideal for keeping your credit cards or ID card within easy reach. The case also comes with the Tunehook, a removable carabiner-style hook that lets you latch the case to just about anything, including a belt loop or bag. Verizon iPhone case updates As we explained back in January, the Verizon iPhone has a slightly different design that means, thanks to a Ring/Silent switch that's positioned slightly closer to the bottom of the phone, some existing iPhone 4 cases won't fit the Verizon model properly. Many vendors have announced new cases specifically made for the Verizon version, while vendors whose current cases do fit have been quick to point out such compatibility. Here's the latest in Verizon-iPhone compatibility. Ballistic: For those in need of extreme protection, Ballistic's Ballistic HC case ($50) features an interchangeable outer gel skin layer, a front facing inward holster, and a built-in screen protector. In case things get down and dirty, the Ballistic HC also includes special connector seals that keep dirt and other corrosive materials out of your phone's ports. Exogear: Exogear's Exolife battery case offers sleek protection for your phone, and includes a built-in lithium-ion polymer battery that can double the iPhone's battery life. The Exolife also features ExoClear technology, which helps eliminate signal interference with your phone; ExoSync technology; which allows for syncing of your iPhone with iTunes while it's still in the case; and ExoSave, which maximizes battery life by turning off the Exolife when it's not in use. Hard Candy: Veteran case maker Hard Candy has modified three of its existing cases to fit the Verizon iPhone 4. The Bubble Slider Soft Touch ($35) is a snap-on, hard case that combines soft-touch texture with the protection of a rigid polycarbonate body. The Bubble Slider Chrome ($35) shares a similar, 3D-textured design as the Bubble Slider Soft Touch, but sports a shiny, metallic polycarbonate shell. The Street Skin ($30) features bold, rugged styling made of tough, form-fitting TPU. iChair: iChair's iPhone 4 Case ($34) has joined the ranks of Verizon-ready cases. The slim, plastic, slider-style case sports a kickstand that flips out and props up your iPhone in either portrait and landscape orientation. The case is rubber-coated for a secure grip and a velvety feel, and a microfiber lining on the inside keeps the case itself from scratching your iPhone. To help keep your iPhone looking nice, the iChair iPhone 4 Case comes with front and back screen-protector films, a dust cloth, and a squeegee for applying the films. iFrogz: iFrogz has modified a number of its iPhone 4 cases to accommodate the Verizon iPhone 4. Styles include the sleek, minimal Luxe Original ($30); the extra-thin Luxe Lean ($25); the psychedelic, jelly-coated Swerve ($30); the tire-tread-designe Treadz ($20); the hip-hop-inspired Wrapz ($20); and the semi-opaque, pattern-etched Soft Gloss ($20). Pad and Quill: Pad and Quill's The Little Black Book ($40) has been updated with a thinner design and compatibility with the Verizon iPhone 4. The charming, folio-style case has also been given a camera/flash portal so you can take pictures without removing your phone from the case. This opening could also be useful for taking covert photos, as the case does a great job of disguising your iPhone as a book. |
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