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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Google strikes deal to acquire daily deal service (AP) : Technet

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Google strikes deal to acquire daily deal service (AP) : Technet

Google strikes deal to acquire daily deal service (AP)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 01:30 PM PDT

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke, Ap Technology Writer – Tue Aug 2, 4:30 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Google Inc.'s latest deal aims to help people find the best daily deals on the Web.

In its latest acquisition of talent and technology, Google has bought Dealmap. It's a 15-month-old startup that compiles discount offers from local merchants scattered in markets across the nation.

Financial terms of the acquisition announced Tuesday weren't disclosed. It's the latest in a flurry of acquisitions that Google has made to expand its Internet empire into promising new markets. Since the end of 2009, Google has spent more than $2.7 billion buying more than 70 companies.

In this case, Google is trying to become a bigger player in the rapidly growing specialty of distributing daily bargains from local merchants around the country. Groupon and LivingSocial have emerged as early leaders, but hundreds of competitors are now vying for a share. Google, as the owner of the Internet's most popular search engine and most lucrative ad network, looms as one of the most imposing entrants.

Google is adding Dealmap to its arsenal just a few weeks after starting its own daily deal service. Its version, called Offers, currently confines its bargains to New York, the San Francisco Bay area and Portland, Ore., but Google plans to add more cities. The company developed its service after Groupon turned down a $6 billion takeover offer last year.

"We've been thrilled with the early success of our commerce offerings, and we think (Dealmap) can help us build even better products and services for consumers and merchants," Google spokeswoman Katelin Todhunter-Gerberg said.

Groupon, which is based in Chicago, is now pursuing an initial public offering of stock that's expected to be completed in September or October. Although it's only three years old, Groupon already is on pace to generate more than $2 billion in annual revenue — a threshold Google didn't eclipse until its sixth year in business.

Both Groupon and LivingSocial have been aggressively expanding in an attempt to build on their early lead in the daily deal market. LivingSocial broadened its reach in Asia on Tuesday with its own acquisition of a South Korean deal site called TicketMonster.

Dealmap, which is based in Menlo Park, Calif., has built a database that lists deals from more than 450 different sources. It says it has more than 2 million users.

AOL launches personalized magazine app for iPad (AP)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 01:56 PM PDT

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – Tue Aug 2, 4:56 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Internet company AOL is trying to snatch a larger portion of the tablet computer audience by launching free iPad software that presents a customized, daily e-magazine that draws in content from all over the Web.

Called Editions, the software is similar to news-aggregating mobile apps such as Flipboard and Pulse, but more focused on bringing users a finite, tailored amount of content that updates once per day. AOL's app is being released Wednesday.

David Temkin, AOL Inc.'s head of mobile products, said the Editions team spent much of the past year trying to create an app that was like a morning newspaper, but more "sci-fi."

As a result, Editions includes a variety of default sections such as top news, sports, technology and business that users can tweak. Users can edit preferences within each section down to the celebrities, companies and tech gadgets they enjoy reading about. Like a newspaper or magazine, stories in Editions are ranked in importance by their size on the page, except it uses software rather than human editors to do so.

The app has a retro-styled design that starts up to show a closed magazine lying atop a wood-grained background. Each day, the latest version of Editions sports a different cover story. A small address label includes the user's name, location and local weather. Users can decide what time they'd like Editions to be delivered, and they can flip through about a week's worth of back issues.

Because Editions doesn't have licenses with content publishers, the app typically takes users to the publisher's website to read the full story. The app does include some full articles from AOL-owned websites such as news hub The Huffington Post, which AOL bought in February.

"This app is meant to drive traffic to publishers' websites," Temkin said. "This is not meant to scrape text off them and deprive them of their ad views."

The app will begin carrying ads in a few months.

Netflix deal helps CBS 2Q profit more than double (AP)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 03:51 PM PDT

By RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer Ryan Nakashima, Ap Business Writer – Tue Aug 2, 6:51 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Those big checks that Netflix talks about sending to TV and movie studios for online rights are starting to be cashed on the other end.

Broadcaster CBS Corp. said Tuesday that its net income more than doubled in the second quarter, helped by a new deal with Netflix Inc., a mail-order DVD company that is expanding its library of programs for online viewing.

CBS cut a two-year pact with Netflix in February for older shows including "Frasier" and "Medium." The broadcaster views the deal as highly profitable because it allows CBS to generate new revenue from shows that have already run on TV, in many cases years ago, beyond what those shows already made in advertising.

"CBS has always been very aggressive in seeking new ways to utilize their library," said Edward Jones analyst Robin Diedrich. "That's working for them right now."

Chief Financial Officer Joseph Ianniello said such deals are not just "gravy." Because of their 50 percent-plus profit margins, he said, they also represent "cream and cherries on top."

"Stay tuned for more of that," he said.

CBS' net income in the three months through June 30 rose to $395 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with $150 million, or 22 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for earnings of 45 cents per share.

Revenue grew 8 percent to $3.59 billion, also better than analysts' forecast for $3.55 billion.

The biggest driver of revenue in the quarter was its content licensing and distribution business. Revenue there increased 21 percent to $889 million from $733 million a year ago.

Chief Executive Les Moonves said the company will seek more companies that want to distribute shows such as "CSI" and "Hawaii Five-O" online.

Last month, CBS signed a pact with Amazon.com Inc. that made 2,000 TV episodes available online to members of its Amazon Prime premium shipping program. Last week, CBS cut another deal with Netflix, this time for its online subscribers in Canada and Latin America.

Moonves put Google Inc., Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Dish Network Corp. among possible buyers of CBS shows in the future.

"The world is getting bigger every day," Moonves told analysts on a conference call.

Diedrich said despite such positive moves to diversify its revenue, CBS was still mostly tied to advertising and the up-and-down economic cycle. She has a "hold" rating on its stock.

Advertising revenue crept up only 3 percent to $2.22 billion from $2.16 billion.

Still, it was an impressive showing for advertising because it was compared against higher political advertising and higher revenue for the NCAA college basketball tournament in the same quarter a year ago.

This year, CBS shared coverage of the tournament with Time Warner Inc.'s Turner. That reduced revenue, but it also lowered costs and improved profits. The April 4 championship game came in the second quarter.

CBS' stock increased 50 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $26.78 in after-hours trading following the release of results Tuesday. Earlier, it closed the regular session down $1, or 3.7 percent, at $26.28. Since the beginning of the year, shares of the New York-based company are up 39 percent.

Watch as iPad Head Girl confuses onlookers with unorthodox advertisement (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 06:37 PM PDT

HP’s TouchPad tablet gets a $50 lighter price tag (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 06:24 PM PDT

Flashback: Google's Sergey Brin Isn't the Real Google Guru [VIDEO] (Mashable)

Posted: 01 Aug 2011 07:38 PM PDT

Ben Parr Ben Parr – Mon Aug 1, 10:38 pm ET

Apparently there was a time when Google didn't dominate almost every aspect of our Internet lives, as a hilarious game show appearance by Google co-founder Sergey Brin demonstrates. In 2000, Brin went on the CBS game show To Tell the Truth, a storied show where a panel of celebrities attempted to identify a contestant with an unusual occupation. In an attempt to promote his new search engine, Brin made an appearance on the rebooted version of the show along with two impostors who pretended to be the real "Google Guru."

[More from Mashable: YouTube Stars Now Have Klout]

The result is an absolutely hilarious eight minutes where the celebrities try to identify Sergey Brin with questions about what URL stands for and even "What is a search engine?" Hey, this was right after Al Gore invented email, so we're willing to cut these celebrities some slack.

You can check out Sergey Brin's game show debut in the video, which we discovered via Andrew Gerrand on Google+, below.

[More from Mashable: Google Buys Daily Deals Aggregator Dealmap]

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Google+ attracts 25 million visitors (Reuters)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 05:14 PM PDT

By Alistair Barr Alistair Barr – Tue Aug 2, 8:14 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc's new social network has attracted 25 million users, making it the fastest website to reach that audience size, according to data released on Tuesday by comScore.

Google+, launched in late June, had 25 million unique visitors as of July 24 and is growing at a rate of roughly one million visitors a day, comScore noted in a presentation.

In contrast, it took Facebook about three years to attract 25 million visitors, while Twitter took just over 30 months, according to comScore.

While the data show Google's latest attempt at breaking into social networking has started strongly, it may not mean the project is a long-term success. MySpace grew to 25 million unique visitors in less than two years -- faster than Facebook or Twitter. However, it's lost a lot of visitors in the past year, comScore data show.

The United States had more than 6 million unique visitors, and India more than 3.6 million, the data show,

Canada and the UK had around 1 million unique visitors each, Germany over 920,000 and Brazil just over 780,000. France and Taiwan each had around 500,000.

(Reporting by Alistair Barr; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Online ad revenue exceeds print in Canada: study (AFP)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 04:05 PM PDT

– Tue Aug 2, 7:05 pm ET

MONTREAL (AFP) – Online advertising revenues have surpassed those of newspapers in Canada and are expected to grow further in the coming years, according to a study published Tuesday.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB) said online ad revenues exceeded expectations to rise by 23 percent to Can$2.23 billion ($2.32 billion) in 2010, making them second only to television in terms of media ad revenue.

IAB President Paula Gignac called the rise a "watershed moment for the digital community in Canada," adding that the future looks "extremely positive" considering the rise of mobile and interactive advertising.

Advertising revenues for print media grew a mere four percent to reach Can$2.1 billion in 2010, while television revenues grew 9 percent to reach Can$3.4 billion, according to the report.

Search advertising continues to lead, accounting for Can$907 million, or 41 percent, of online revenue, followed by display advertising -- such as banners and ads on websites (31 percent) -- and interactive ads (26 percent), according to the report, which cited figures from a major industry group.

Online video advertising grew by 85 percent from 2009 to 2010, while email advertising declined, but both account for a small percentage of overall digital ad revenues, the study said.

In Canada, the Internet accounts for 15.9 percent of all media advertising revenue, a higher percentage than in the United States (15.4 percent) or France (15.6 percent) but lower than Britain, Germany and Scandinavian countries, where it accounts for 28.7 percent.

Why Should You Buy Android Instead of an iPhone? (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 09:07 PM PDT

Jared Spurbeck Jared Spurbeck – 35 mins ago
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COMMENTARY | The iPhone offers the slickest, shiniest, most elegant experience available on a smartphone, sort of like how Macs stand at the head of the PC world. On top of that, there are more and better apps available for iPhones (although Android phones have more free apps).

So why would you even consider an Android phone? Well, here's what Android smartphones have going for them that iPhones lack:

The best Google apps

Since Android is made by Google, the Google apps for Android tend to be a step ahead of where they are on the iPhone. Google Translate got real-time voice translation on Android before it came to the iPhone, while Google Maps for Android has had turn-by-turn navigation for a long time. And the Gmail app for Android lets you do basically everything the Gmail website does.

Choice of wireless carriers

For years, the iPhone was only available on AT&T's wireless network here in the States. It finally arrived on Verizon's network this year, but it's still unavailable on Sprint or T-Mobile, or any of the contract-free wireless carriers like Virgin Mobile or MetroPCS.

If you're choosing your network before you choose your phone, then you probably won't even consider the "iPhone versus Android" struggle. If you're looking at getting an iPhone, though, it's worth noting what you give up; not only do you have to sign a contract, you also pay an extremely high monthly rate for data compared to some contract-free plans.

For $25, Virgin Mobile offers unlimited data and texts plus 300 minutes a month, and it uses Sprint's wireless network. Meanwhile, AT&T's GoPhone plans (which don't work with its iPhones) offer a la carte pricing, letting you put together an absurdly cheap data-only plan if you so desire. I was paying $15 a month earlier, but I found that this offered too little and had to upgrade to its $25 a month plan.

Text reflow

This is one of those little things that you don't realize you want until you miss it.

What is text reflow? Well, if you're reading this paragraph on an iPhone, then when you pinch the screen to zoom in it'll stick out past each edge of the screen. Zoom in far enough, and you have to scroll left and right in order to keep reading. This is not fun, especially if you have poor eyesight.

On an Android smartphone, if you pinch to zoom in on a website, your phone will "reflow" the words to make them fit inside your screen. So, you don't have to squint at your phone's screen and you can just thumb the page up and down without having to scroll back and forth to read stuff. It doesn't work on everything, unfortunately, but it works for nearly all text on the web.

Pull-down notification bar

When an iPhone wants to tell you something, it gives you a pop-up that takes over the screen, and you have to tap to make it go away. This can be annoying sometimes, like when it gives you a pop-up to tell you it noticed a wireless network in range because you walked in a store with free wi-fi.

On an Android smartphone, an icon appears at the top of the screen instead. Then you can pull down the part of the screen with the icons in it to see what each one is and tap them to address them. It's a little hard to describe, but in practice it's very convenient.

So is an Android phone right for you? Good question. Play with both kinds of smartphones, but keep these points in mind as you do so.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Canalys Sees 379 Percent Rise in Android Devices (NewsFactor)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 02:05 PM PDT

Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com – Tue Aug 2, 5:05 pm ET

As the world waits for snippets of news about the next iPhone and fans pounce on gossip about its release date and possible features, a new report says Apple's smartphone is getting its processor kicked by Android-based devices in the global market.

The market research and consulting firm Canalys says shipments of devices based on Google's operating system rose 379 percent in the second quarter, compared to a year ago, to 51.9 million units, bolstered by partnerships with such vendors as Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, ZTE and Huawei. Sales were particularly strong in the Asia-Pacific region, with an 85 percent market share in South Korea and 71 percent in Taiwan.

Apple's share of the global market for the quarter is 19 percent, with 20.3 million devices shipped, which means five Android handsets were sold for every two iPhones, according to Canalys.

Not Too Shabby

But being the world's largest smartphone vendor, edging out Finland-based Nokia, and running the number-two operating system is nothing to sneeze at, Canalys said.

"The iPhone has been a phenomenal success story for Apple and a watershed product for the market," said the firm's vice president and principal analyst, Chris Jones. "It's an impressive success story, given that Apple has only been in the smartphone market for four years. With the next-generation iPhone anticipated in Q3, it's likely that Apple's position will grow even stronger in the second half of the year."

Research In Motion's BlackBerry phones fell 33 percent from the same quarter last year to 12 percent of the market, while Microsoft saw a bigger disappointment with its Windows-based phones falling 52 percent to a measly one percent of the global market, Canalys said.

Microsoft is banking on its deal with Nokia to fuel greater adoption of its Windows Phone 7 operating system, which is now updated with new Mango features. In late June, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop unveiled its first Phone 7 device, code-named Sea Ray.

Reinforcements Needed

"A fresh crop of products is certainly needed," Jones said.

For both Google and Microsoft, neither of which make their own devices, a wide range of partnerships with companies that will share marketing of devices appealing to diverse interests is the key.

"It all comes down to how many carriers are able to sell specific OEM brands," said wireless analyst Kirk Parsons of J.D. Power and Associates. "Android has an advantage over Apple because there are many more carriers and OEM brands that make and sell the Android-based smartphone devices."

Another advantage, he said, is the cost. "Android price points have dropped over time and are typically lower than Apple's," Parsons said.

The report found that Samsung is the largest Android vendor and second-biggest vendor overall after Apple, with shipments of 17 million units. That's due in large part to its successful Galaxy S devices, which look and feel similar to the iPhone.

Will Twitter's Photo Sharing Win Over Facebook Users? (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 09:02 PM PDT

These Companies Are Making Android Shine (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 09:07 PM PDT

Jared Spurbeck Jared Spurbeck – 35 mins ago
Contribute content like this. Start here.

Android phones and devices aren't always the classiest. Thanks to Android's open-source programming code, anyone can make an Android smartphone or tablet ... for better or for worse. And while Google controls who gets to use the official Google apps for Android, including the Android Market, it's historically been very lenient.

With all that freedom to design things using Android, though, a handful of people and companies are making things worth taking note of. Here are the ones that I like:

HTC

This company does basically one thing: Make smartphones. And it does it very well, pairing its classy HTC Sense interface with the Android operating system. This includes simplified versions of Android apps, like the photo gallery and home screen, and glossy home screen widgets, like one that unifies your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

HTC Sense is, in my opinion, the shiniest and easiest-to-use customized version of Android. On top of that, HTC smartphones tend to be shiny and elegantly designed, from high-end models like the Thunderbolt down to my low-to-midrange HTC Aria.

HTC's recently moved into the tablet market with its HTC Flyer, which is premium priced relative to the iPad. It remains to be seen whether the more convenient size and the pressure-sensitive stylus accessory are compelling advantages, but the Flyer at least appears to have HTC's signature level of polish.

Barnes and Noble

The popular bookseller uses Android "under the hood," to make its Nook and Nook Color series of e-readers. This gave Barnes and Noble a jumpstart, in competing with Amazon's Kindle. And so far, the results are both stylish and very convenient.

The Nook Color wasn't designed to rival the iPad, like most of the tablets out there. Instead, it was designed to be the best color e-reader out there, with an extremely sharp multitouch screen and a convenient book and magazine store. But with an exceptional web browser, plus an app market that includes Angry Birds and Pandora, the Nook Color makes a compelling iPad alternative, especially at its $249 price point. Add in the ease of making it a "real," Honeycomb-powered Android tablet, using freely available techniques and downloads, and one begins to see Android's potential ... and the advantage of letting anyone build stuff with it!

Google

It only makes sense that Google would be driving a lot of the innovation happening on Android. Most of its apps aren't open-source, unlike Android itself. But they help to set an example, and to showcase what Android is capable of.

Google's apps, like Google Body and the new 3d-enabled Google Maps, were the first apps for Honeycomb tablets. And while its old music player was kind of bare-bones, the new app that integrates with Google Music is surprisingly neat. Meanwhile, the Android Market has grown a lot over the years, both online and in its mobile version. It remains Android users' first destination for finding new apps.

Amazon

So, who would be brazen enough to compete with Google on its own turf? Amazon, with its Android "Appstore." Its rumored-to-be-upcoming Android Kindles probably won't run Google's apps, but it's becoming clear that the online retailer does not see that as a problem.

And many more

Apple's enabled developers to make surprisingly good apps, for its phones and iPads. But the App Store itself remains tightly controlled, and only Apple's allowed to make iOS devices.

Call Google crazy if you want, but I think it's awesome that it opened up Android to everyone. Just think of what wouldn't have been made, if Google hadn't.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Mobile dating app use surpasses dating website use (Appolicious)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 12:55 PM PDT

San Francisco cab driver's 'dash camera' helps catch robber (Digital Trends)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 05:48 PM PDT

Trevor Mogg Trevor Mogg – Tue Aug 2, 8:48 pm ET

San_Francisco_Aerial_ViewIt's an unfortunate state of affairs when you can't walk down the street and have a conversation on your cell phone without someone coming along and wrenching it out of your hand. But that's exactly what happened to a local woman in the Russian Hills neighborhood of San Francisco the other evening. 

No doubt feeling rather shaken following her ordeal, she must have thought that was the end of it. And the assailant most probably believed he'd got away scot-free. But, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, as the perpetrator hightailed it away from the scene, from along the street came a taxicab – one that had just happened to catch the whole incident on a security video camera mounted on its dashboard. 

The SFC reports that many cab companies in the city have been equipping their cabs with so-called "dash cameras" – ones that record, non-stop, everything that's happening up ahead. Around 700 of the city's 1,500 cabs are now thought to have a dash camera.

The quick-thinking driver told the woman to jump in and together they tracked the assailant. Using the cab driver’s phone, the woman called the police. The driver, meanwhile, followed the man, who was probably moving along at a more leisurely pace by now.

The police followed the woman’s directions and were able to arrest the man, a local resident by the name of Brandon C. West, in connection with the alleged robbery.

Though the installation of the cameras is the subject of some controversy, with civil liberty groups for one opposed to them, the cab driver who assisted the woman thinks they’re a good idea.

He told the SFC: “It makes me feel much safer. And when the police check the chips, they can see what is going on. It’s going to be very healthy.â€

San Francisco police officer Albie Esparza agreed: "The video shows the crime happening in progress and we get a positive ID. It's beneficial to everyone."

However you feel about the use of such technology, the victim of this particular incident will certainly have been grateful that a camera-equipped cab was in the vicinity when the assailant struck. Of course, even without the camera, they might still have been able to nab the alleged criminal, but footage from such a camera will, as Officer Esparza said, help to confirm the ID of an attacker.

Can YouTube Become a Serious Streaming Movie Destination? (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 08:24 PM PDT

Jason Gallagher Jason Gallagher – 1 hr 18 mins ago
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Video streaming options seem to be popping up across the Internet as quickly as viral videos. Of course, streaming video from the Internet is nothing new, but streaming movies and television shows is really just starting to catch fire among consumers. Facebook recently expanded their video rental service to offer six hit movies for viewers to stream, and now YouTube has announced it will be expanding its catalog by 3,000 movies.

What the move really does is put YouTube into a category similar to popular streaming services like Netflix and Hulu Plus. However, the major difference is that YouTube is offering a purchase based experience rather than a subscription based service. While Hulu Plus offers many television programs after they air on broadcast television, it may only be a matter of time until Google owned YouTube manages to press their advantage as a popular video sharing destination for millions of users and expand into that market.

One of the main knocks against Netflix is the quality of titles available for streaming, while past seasons of television shows are one thing, the movie catalog is made up of older titles and very few blockbuster hits. The YouTube streaming selections, thanks to their agreements, will make the titles available the same time the movie is released on DVD. While this would seem to give YouTube an advantage, the $2.99 to $3.99 streaming rental charge may turn off Netflix subscribers used to unlimited streaming for less than $10 a month.

YouTube will absolutely be able to compete with other pay per movie streaming websites. Services like iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand offer similar options to the YouTube movies business model, whether or not enough video streaming fans exist to continue to make all the services viable will be interesting. Plus, there is always that Google TV platform that could play an expanded role, now that YouTube is featuring full-length films.

Still, many users will keep flocking to YouTube for the content that has made it such a powerhouse on the Internet. Short user created video blogs or other viral videos will probably always have a place on the web, and now they can be enjoyed on the same web site as some of the best films Hollywood has to offer. As long as the longer films do not pause constantly, YouTube might be onto something.

Jason Gallagher is a former travel professional and long-time Pennsylvania resident. These experiences give him a first-hand look at developing situations in the state and everything included in the travel industry from technology to trends.

Skype for iPad back in the App Store - and it's still there (Digital Trends)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 08:20 PM PDT

Trevor Mogg Trevor Mogg – 1 hr 22 mins ago

skype ipadYesterday Skype for iPad appeared in the App Store, only to be pulled a short time later. No one knew why. The company apologized on its Twitter feed. "We know you've been eagerly awaiting Skype for iPad and apologize for the inconvenience," a tweet said.

After that, Skype's twitter feed fell silent. What were they doing? Tweaking the iPad version's interface? Fixing a security hole? Quite possibly they were simply writing the blog post accompanying its release.

Ten hours after its last tweet came another: "Finally, Skype for iPad is now available." And the good news? It's still available.

Before yesterday, iPad users of Skype had to make do with the iPhone version, which had a small interface on the tablet's larger screen, along with several other limitations.

In the blog post that went up on Tuesday, Rick Osterloh, the video chat company's head of product management, wrote that the iPad-specific version is "beautifully designed and optimized for the iPad. It offers the best of both worlds for users who want a larger Skype experience, on-the-go."

He continued: "Not only does Skype for iPad feature an interface that takes advantage of the large screen, but there are a number of additional iPad-optimized features found in this new app."

These include optimized two-way video calling, enabling users to connect with 170 million other Skype users around the world. Instant messaging during a video call is now possible. Viewing contacts has become simpler – they're laid out in a grid format, displaying large avatar photos. Navigation has been improved, making it simpler to search recent conversations and history. The introduction of "simple SMS texting" means you can just tap on a contact and select "send SMS," or open the dial pad and punch in the appropriate number before typing your message. Calls to landlines and cell phones are possible, with Skype credit, and the new app works over both Wi-Fi and 3G networks.

Skype for iPad is free and requires iOS4 or higher to run. 

Smith Micro Q2 loss wider than expected; shares fall (Reuters)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 03:37 PM PDT

– Tue Aug 2, 6:37 pm ET

(Reuters) – Smith Micro Software (SMSI.O) posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss as revenue almost halved, and forecast weak third-quarter sales, sending its shares down 12 percent after hours.

Smith Micro, which makes software for telecom companies, projected third-quarter revenue of $15-$20 million, below analysts' estimates of $23.4 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company posted a second-quarter net loss of $7.8 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with a net income of $1.9 million, or 5 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, loss at the company, whose clients include Verizon Communications (VZ.N), Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N), Dell Inc (DELL.O) and AT&T Inc (T.N), was 15 cents a share.

April-June revenue fell to $16.1 million.

Analysts expected a loss of 11 cents a share on revenue of $17.8 million.

Shares of Aliso Viejo, California-based Smith Micro were trading down 38 cents at $2.95 after the bell. They closed at $3.33 Tuesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

CommVault tops on software (Investor's Business Daily)

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 03:31 PM PDT

– Tue Aug 2, 6:31 pm ET

The provider of data management software and services said Q1 EPS nearly doubled to 21 cents, topping estimates by 4 cents, as it closed more enterprise software deals and boosted sales. Revenue climbed 38% to $91.5 mil, beating forecasts of $83.8 mil, with software sales jumping 55% and services revenue rising 26%. Operating margin nearly doubled to 10.9% from 5.5%. CommVault (NASDAQ:CVLT - News) shares climbed 6.2% to 41.16.
at 9:55 PM

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