Facebook's Advertising Problem

It may never be clear how much General Motors' public disparagement of Facebook advertising helped cool investor enthusiasm for the social network.

But even if Facebook's IPO woes owe more to problems with stock trading software and skepticism among financial industry insiders than to GM's claim that Facebook advertising doesn't work, the automaker's dissatisfaction with Facebook ads bears further consideration.

Facebook is clearly worth a lot of money. Perhaps not the $100 billion argued with the opening share price of $38, but its present $70 billion market capitalization is not a trivial valuation.

At the same time, other tech companies that straddled advertising and content have flown high and fallen. AOL had a valuation of $222 billion in December 1999. Today, it's worth about $2.6 billion. Yahoo, the darling of the 1990s, is still trying to recapture its glory days after years of uninspired management. Read More

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Middle Managers Must Play Game Of Risk

In the first part of this series, we looked at the evolution of the managerial role, starting in the 1910s, and its apparent failure at the dawn of the Internet era. In the second part, we looked at how the idea of charismatic leadership rose in response to the apparent failure of managerial models to cope with new realities, but how that construct failed to actually fix things. It created instead a sort of leadership theater designed to manage Wall Street perceptions, rather than the company.

Failures in leadership were blamed on managerial incompetence. Middle managers, fighting fires out of sight, became convenient scapegoats.

Why? Because they were exposed to the downside of risks without being given the ability to manage those risks or participate significantly in the upside.

We wrapped up last time by noting that the leadership theater is no longer sustainable because of the deluge of information that must be processed to steer a company. Much of that information is starting to flow upward to the C-suite, since managers aren't empowered to handle it. The Management By Exception pipes are about to burst.  Read More

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Asus Teases Transformer Technology in Video for Computex 2012

Computer maker Asus has released a YouTube teaser video for its Transformer family of products, though the video offers few hints as to what sort of Transformer offerings it is preparing us for, save for a vague reference to “the shape of the cloud,” which the video describes as “ever-changing beyond time and boundaries." This has led to some speculation that the company is preparing to launch a cloud-based storage or file syncing service during the Computex 2012 conference in Taipei.

The video may also be related to new hardware in the company’s Transformer line of Android-based tablets, or perhaps a Transformer tablet running Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system. At the end of the video, which half-mimics the music and visuals of a Hollywood blockbuster’s teaser trailer (complete with a gravelly voiced narrator), Asus suggests further announcements will be made on May 31, in advance of the conference, which runs from June 5-9. Three additional videos are in the works, judging by a landing page for the video on Techinstyle. Read More

 

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Enterprise Mobility: Tablets and Notebooks: Picking the 10 Best for Mobile Users

The technology industry is now dominated by mobile products. From iPhones to iPads, Ultrabooks to Chromebooks, just about every consumer and enterprise user is spending serious cash on mobile devices. Companies that had previously spent much of their time trying to target other, more-grounded markets are now realizing that in order to be successful in this generation, going mobile is the right move. As a result, vendors are sending out mobile products to store shelves at an astonishing rate. Nearly every day, a new smartphone, tablet or notebook is launching with hopes of becoming the hot product everyone wants. In some cases, vendors are having some success. In others, they’re falling short. But for consumers and enterprise decision makers, the hardest part of the whole ordeal is trying to cut through the clutter to get to the good stuff. This slide show might help simplify that process. Rather than waste time searching through reviews or playing the guessing game, the following items will make it clear which products will be best for today’s mobile users. Read More 

 

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Cisco: More Devices, Users Fueling Rapid Growth of Internet Traffic

Faster networks and more video also are factoring in the trend that will see traffic quadruple by 2016, Cisco says in its new Visual Networking Index Forecast.

Internet traffic, fueled in large part by the rapid rise in the number of mobile devices and Internet users, will quadruple by 2016, according to networking giant Cisco Systems.

In the latest release of its Visual Networking Index Forecast, which runs from 2011 to 2016, Cisco officials are predicting that in 2016 alone, Internet traffic will be 1.3 zettabytes, eclipsing the 1.2 zettabytes of data that ran across global networks in all the “Internet years” of 1984 to 2012. A zettabyte is 1 followed by 21 zeros; according to Cisco, 1.3ZB is 10 times more than the 121 exabytes of IP traffic created in 2008, or is equal to 38 million DVDs running on networks every hour.

The expected increase in global Internet traffic between 2015 and 2016 itself will be more than 330EB, which is almost equal to the total amount of traffic—369EB—generated in 2011. Read More

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Pogoplug Lets Small Businesses Make a Private Cloud with Pogoplug Team

Wary of the cloud because you don’t trust a third party with your precious data? Pogoplug has you covered, providing tools that allow you to create your own private cloud using an old computer or dedicated Pogoplug devices. Now, the company offers similar functionality for small businesses (or small teams or departments within larger organizations) with Pogoplug Team.

Pogoplug Team is software that you can install on any PC that allows users to remotely access files stored on that machine and also back up and share files to it via any other computer, smartphone, tablet, or Web browser. The software supports Windows XP/7, Windows Server 2008, Mac OS X, and Mac OS X Server 10.6.6 and above. Read More

Dell Precision R5500 Workstation Supports Four Concurrent Users

If you’re having a hard time convincing your boss that you need a new work notebook (“It only has a single core, boss. One core!”), then this sweet piece of machinery from Dell is probably just a pipe dream for you, although if your work involves running 3D workloads, you may have a shot. The Dell Precision R5500 rack workstation allows for up to four concurrent users, and those users can connect to the unit from just about anywhere using a variety of devices such as thin clients, desktops, and mobile devices (that are equipped with a Citrix Receiver).

Citrix XenServer with HDx 3D Pro is what underpins the system, enabling the four-user virtualization. Each virtualized users gets a dedicated graphics card within the Precision R5500; currently, the highest-end option Dell is offering is NVIDIA Quadro 2000 series graphics cards, but Quadro 4000, 5000, and 6000 series cards will be available soon. Read More

Teradata gobbles eCircle to biggen digi-marketing message blast

Data warehousing giant Teradata has been building up its application portfolio ahead of its acquisition of Aprimo in late 2010, and now it is fleshing out its app stack by snapping up eCircle, the largest provider of digital messaging software in Europe.

The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

eCircle is based in Munich, Germany and was founded in 1999 by Volker Wiewer and Thomas Wilke. They created email messaging software, and it has evolved into eC-messenger, a SaaS-based application that is run by eCircle on behalf of enterprise customers to do customized text and HTML email blasts, as well as SMS blasts, to customers. The company also has another push messaging product called eC-social that can reach out and touch you on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networks.

In January 2010, private equity firm TA Associates pumped €60m into eCircle to get a majority stake, buying out Wellington Partners, Cipio Partners, and Steadfast Capital, who had all kicked in an undisclosed amount of money into eCircle the in the prior dozen years. At that time, eCircle had 200 employees and 550 clients and was pumping out 5 billion email messages per quarter through its SaaS cloud on behalf of those clients. As of the Teradata acquisition of eCircle from TA Associates this morning, the eC-messenger service is pumping out 10 billion email messages per quarter for its more than 1,000 customers. Read More

All-Flash Systems Vs. SSD Appliances

One of the observations at EMC's annual conference, EMC World 2012, this week is the amount of solid-state disk (SSD) deployment options that EMC can offer a customer. Of all the approaches, the two that seem to be the most confusing are all-flash storage systems and SSD appliances. These two SSD technologies may seem similar, but are vastly different in how they are used.

All-Flash Storage Systems: All-flash storage systems are shareable storage systems that offer the same data services that traditional hard disk-based systems offer. This means that these systems have features like thin provisioning, snapshots, cloning, high availability, and replication. These systems typically also include some form of data efficiency to make the use of solid state more effective. As we covered in a recent chalk talk video and article, these systems are ideal candidates for deduplication and/or compression. Read More

VMware Claims It's Cheaper Than Microsoft

VMware claims its virtualization products are cheaper than Microsoft's when the total cost of ownership is calculated over a two-year period. To get to that conclusion, it sponsored a study by Principled Technologies that takes a close look at two years of administrator time and expense required to run the respective systems.

Readers of this report: beware. VMware got itself in trouble last July by charging for vSphere 5 Enterprise Edition based on the amount of virtual memory the customer used. It initially set a 48-GB virtual memory limit per license; three weeks later, in the face of customer feedback, it raised it to 96-GB per license. This study is part of VMware's continued response to that blowup. Read More

Social Business in 30 Days?

When Jive Software announced a 30-day free trial promotion as part of its revamped cloud service, I expected ridicule from the founders of Yammer, who would inevitably try to paint it as a sham. Instead, the criticism came first from another social software maker, Moxie.

Moxie Software, really? You won't find pricing plainly listed on Moxie's website, let alone a free trial or freemium offer. Instead, even though they sell cloud services, they offer a relatively old school "request a quote" contact form. Still, it was the Moxie people who reached out to me to ask, is 30 days really enough?

Frankly, I'd been wondering that myself. If what you're trying to show is the value of social collaboration across an enterprise, is 30 days long enough to make the connections and prove the value? Read More

Google Drive: Hands-On Winner

Google launched Google Drive, its new cloud-based file storage, management, and sharing service, Tuesday. It offers 5 GB of data storage for free and significantly more if you're willing to pony up some cash each month. It supports 30 different file types and a number of mobile and desktop platforms. Google Drive isn't exactly unique, however, and competitors Dropbox, Box, iCloud, SkyDrive, and others offer similar features sets. What makes Google Drive different or better than the rest, and who will benefit from it the most?

I've used Google Docs every day for more than five years. Its online document and sharing/collaboration tools are an essential element to my workflow. Considering how many governments and business have "gone Google," I am surely not the only one who's come to rely on Google Docs. Read More

China Clears Google to Buy Motorola Mobility

Chinese antitrust authorities required Google Inc. to keep its Android mobile-device software broadly available to manufacturers as part of its approval of the Internet search giant's purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., a move that underscores Beijing's increasing sway in global deal making.

The approval pushes the $12.5 billion deal over its last regulatory hurdle and helps better position Google in its competition with Apple Inc. over dominance in the fast-growing world of smartphones and tablet computers. Antitrust authorities in the U.S. and Europe already have given their blessing to the merger. Read More

Comcast, Time Warner, Cablevision Offering Shared 'CableWiFi' Network

Verizon's cable partners have formed a shared WiFi network of 50,000 hotspots for customers to use. Increasingly, differences between the wireless carriers' and cable companies' offerings are disappearing.

There’s a new WiFi game in town. Comcast, Time Warner, Bright House Networks, Cox Communications and Cablevision Systems have announced “CableWiFi,” a new network of more than 50,000 WiFi hotspots that can be shared by the customers of the various partners.                                                  

Bright House and Cablevision have already implemented the CableWiFi brand in Central Florida and the New York City area, respectively, and the others plan to add the name to their branded WiFi hotspots during the next few months.

Cablevision aside, the partners have recently also entered into bundling agreements with Verizon Wireless. Read More

Private company to make 2nd attempt at sending craft to space station

(CNN) -- SpaceX is due early Monday to make its second attempt at sending the first private spacecraft to the International Space Station after the initial launch over the weekend was aborted a half a second before liftoff.

The company's Falcon 9 rocket -- with its Dragon capsule filled with food, supplies and science experiments -- is scheduled to blast off at 3:44 a.m. ET from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The first attempt at launching the rocket was halted Saturday when a flight computer detected "high pressure in the engine 5 combustion chamber," according to the company.

"During rigorous inspections of the engine, SpaceX engineers discovered a faulty check valve on the Merlin engine," the company said in a statement Monday. "The failed valve was replaced on Saturday, and after thorough analysis, the vehicle has been cleared for launch."  Read More

Evernote Launching a Business Program, Says CEO

In remarks made at the Next Web conference in Amsterdam, Evernote CEO Phil Libin indicated that the company will be launching a business program in the coming months, according to InfoWorld.

Evernote has proved to be a popular app, making it easy for users to quickly record ideas in a variety of formats, such as notes and photos, and access them later via the cloud or local storage.

With almost 30 million users, it’s safe to say that Evernote is already being used in the enterprise, but--like a lot of excellent apps and devices--it’s strictly the domain of individual end users. An official business program would bring with it administrative controls, such as the ability to create group accounts, tighten security, and maintain some control over transfer rights. That said, the data involved with remain on Evernote’s servers; the company won’t let businesses control that side of things. Read More

Pogoplug Lets Small Businesses Make a Private Cloud with Pogoplug Team

Wary of the cloud because you don’t trust a third party with your precious data? Pogoplug has you covered, providing tools that allow you to create your own private cloud using an old computer or dedicated Pogoplug devices. Now, the company offers similar functionality for small businesses (or small teams or departments within larger organizations) with Pogoplug Team.

Pogoplug Team is software that you can install on any PC that allows users to remotely access files stored on that machine and also back up and share files to it via any other computer, smartphone, tablet, or Web browser. The software supports Windows XP/7, Windows Server 2008, Mac OS X, and Mac OS X Server 10.6.6 and above. Read More

Motorola Mobility smartphones face US import ban

SAN FRANCISCO — A US commission sided with Microsoft by moving to ban the import of Android-powered Motorola smartphones based on patent infringement complaints by the software colossus.

The ruling issued by the International Trade Commission (ITC) on Friday will take effect in late July if President Barack Obama does not overrule it.

"The Commission has issued a limited exclusion order directed to the infringing products of Motorola and has terminated the investigation," the ITC said in a written decision.

The ITC ruling put pressure on Motorola Mobility to cut a licensing deal with Microsoft instead of risk product shipping delays that could stem from removing the patented technology, which related to scheduling meetings.

Microsoft said in a released statement that it was pleased with the ITC decision and hoped that Motorola will "join the vast majority of Android device makers selling phones in the US by taking a license to our patents."

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft filed its complaint with the ITC in late 2010. Motorola phone models affected included RAZR and Droid 4S. Read More

GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Pay Off

The move by GM, one of the largest advertisers in the U.S., puts a spotlight on an issue that many marketers have been raising: whether ads on Facebook help them sell more products. On Friday, Facebook is expected to sell shares in an initial public offering that could put a market value on the company of as much as $104 billion.

GM will continue to promote its products on Facebook, but without paying the social-media company, the GM official and other people familiar with the matter said. Many companies maintain free Facebook pages. Read More

4G Mobile Hotspot Face-Off: AT&T, Verizon LTE Hotspots Fight to a Draw

Dedicated mobile hotspots have been around for a few years now, but they've gotten progressively easier to use. And with the advent of 4G service, they’ve become notably faster, capable of connecting to more devices, and just a lot more useful.

We decided to compare the latest and greatest mobile hotspots from the two national 4G LTE providers in the United States, AT&T and Verizon. We lined up Verizon’s new MiFi 4620L Jetpack LTE hotspot against AT&T’s Mobile Hotspot Elevate 4G (by Sierra Wireless) to see which one worked better.

While Mark tested the Verizon device, Ed tested the AT&T hotspot; afterward, we compared notes. After all was said and done, we agreed that both hotspots were impressive. Here’s how our head-to-head review breaks down, feature by feature. Read More

HTC Smartphones in Customs, Thanks to Apple Patent Suit

Following an exclusion order Apple won from the International Trade Commission in December, the U.S. Customs department has held up a shipment of smartphone maker HTC’s One X and Evo 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) handsets, pending an investigation into possible patent infringements, as reported by technology blog The Verge. The unnamed sources said they could confirm that shipments of the handsets were being held back.

The HTC One has already made its market debut, and The Wall Street Journal reported that the company said the customs review could disrupt future sales of the device. The One X, AT&T's version of HTC's new line of Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, devices, has a 4.7-inch, 720p high-definition Gorilla Glass display and is constructed of polycarbonate for a lightweight yet durable feel.

“The U.S. availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order,” HTC said in an official statement. “We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.” Read More

Foxconn: Apple TV reports inaccurate

Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn says its chief executive made no such mention of working on an Apple TV set at a news conference in Shanghai last week, and that any reports otherwise are inaccurate.

In a statement issued to The Next Web, the company said that Chief Executive Terry Gou "made it very clear that he would neither confirm nor speculate about Foxconn's involvement in the product", and that it is the company's policy not to talk about what it is working on for any customer.

"At no time did [Gou] confirm that Foxconn was in development or manufacturing stages for any product for any of its customers," Foxconn said. "He did say that Foxconn is always prepared to meet the manufacturing needs of customers should they determine that they wish to work with Foxconn in the production of any of their products."  Read More

Nvidia Unveils Cloud-Based Gaming, Hosted Desktop Technology

Nvidia Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang has a plan to sneak his technology into all those mobile devices that don’t already use his chips.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.,-based processor designer unveiled a pair technologies supported by its latest graphics chips that promise to beam rich gaming and visual computing capabilities to smartphones, tablets, and lightweight notebooks, among other devices.

“We’re going to take the GPU [graphics processing unit] into the cloud,” Nvidia Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang at the company’s annual GPU Technology Conference in Santa Clara, California Tuesday. “This is an endeavor we have been working on for five years,” Huang said. Read More

As 17 more states join class action against book publishers and Apple, new details revealed

New York, the District of Columbia and fifteen other states have joined the e-book pricing class action suit against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin, bringing the total number of states involved so far to 31 (if you include DC and Puerto Rico). The amended complaint, released Friday, reveals details that were previously redacted, including an e-mail from Steve Jobs.

The states’ class action suit, which was filed the same day as the Department of Justice’s lawsuit, alleges that Apple and book publishers conspired to set e-book prices. Unlike the DOJ, the states seek monetary restitution for consumers. (They have already reached a settlement with Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.) Read More

Sony promises big PSP, mini onslaught for PlayStation Vita

One of the things that die-hard PlayStation fans have been disappointed about when it comes to the PlayStation Vita is the lack of downloadable PSP games that have not been made available for the Vita. One of the selling points of the new system was that people who downloaded PSP games for their previous game platform would be able to re-download them on the Vita.

However, so far, only a small amount of those games have actually been made available. But today, there’s good news. “Starting today, you’ll have even more reason to never stop playing. We’re very excited to announce [more] PSP titles and minis will be available on the PS Vita Store, with many more coming soon,” Sony said in a post on the official PlayStation Blog. Among today’s new PSP titles are Cho Aniki Zero, Strikers 1945, Valhalla Knights 2, and Tom Clancy’s Rainboy Six: Vegas. Read More

Advanced Micro Devices Announces Partner Programs

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that it has been named to CRN’s 2012 Partner Programs Guide for its AMD Fusion Partner Program (FPP). CRN’s Partner Programs Guide recognizes vendors with robust partner programs or products that provide the best possible partnering elements for channel success.


“The companies listed in CRN’s 2012 Partner Programs Guide represent a comprehensive list of the best channel programs in the market today,” said Kelley Damore, VP and Editorial Director, for UBM Channel’s CRN. “The 5-star award is reserved for vendors that understand that a successful partnership does not rely solely on the technology. By offering their partners tools, education and regular updates, vendors on this list go above and beyond traditional support to ensure a mutually beneficial partnership.” Read More

Blizzard steps in after GAME customers 'left out in the cold'

Ailing video game retailer GAME said it would not be able to fulfill pre-orders for blockbuster title Diablo III, forcing the publisher of the game to step in to guarantee those who ordered would receive their copy.

The gaming retailer announced yesterday that it was now in voluntary administration, placing more than 500 jobs at risk across its 92 stores in Australia.

At first the company stated that it would trade "as close to business as usual" as possible and honour pre-orders of Diablo III and Max Payne 3, both of which are released in Australia this week.
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However, administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) later conceded that this may not be possible. It was not receiving any copies of Diablo 3, and no refunds would be available to customers who pre-ordered the game. Read More

Facebook's Mobile Future All About Advertising

Facebook users are increasingly accessing the online social network via their mobile devices, a trend the company expects to capitalize on through advertising as it prepares for its IPO.

In March, the average Facebook mobile user engaged with the social network for more than 7 hours, according to comScore. That's a lot of head-down time to which Facebook has to respond.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, who was on the road last week talking with investors about the company's growth strategy, said his top priorities this year are to transform Facebook's mobile and advertising experiences and further integrate online apps into the platform, reports Reuters. Read More

Apple's iPad loses '4G', becomes 'Cellular'

After being hit with complaints and legal action in Australia, it was likely a matter of time before Apple removed the "4G" moniker from its latest iPad. 

It appears that the Cupertino-based company has begun removing "4G" from the iPad's name. We checked the Apple Singapore Web page and it now shows "Wi-Fi + Cellular" instead. However, it doesn't seem to have been updated for all countries--Poland's page still shows "4G".

The change is also reflected on the US site, even though the 4G name is factually accurate. The company does mention "4G LTE" in the explanatory text. Meanwhile, the fine print on the Singapore version states that the iPad "can roam worldwide on fast mobile data networks, including HSPA, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA".  Read More

Intel: Touch, Sensors To Drive Ultrabook Market

At Intel's Investor Day this morning, PC Client General Manager Kirk Skaugen stressed the importance of touch and other new interface features in the Ultrabook market.

This isn't just for tablets, he said, showing off touch demos on a Windows 8-based notebook in the traditional clamshell design, as well as in new hybrid or convertible designs. 

In addition to the flip-over design from Lenovo and the detachable keyboard model from Compal that Otellini showed in his talk, he showed other versions from Wistron. He also shared a couple of Intel reference designs, including one where the screen slides and another with a transparent mouse pad known as Nikiski. Read More

How the ‘Lincoln Invented Facebook’ Hoax Fooled Some of the People

Abraham Lincoln applied for a patent on a newspaper-like version of Facebook in 1845? If someone told you that in a bar, you’d laugh. But if they wrapped it in a tall tale, wrote it on a blog, and attached a Photoshopped front page, it seems they can garner national press attention.

Entrepreneur and sometime blogger Nate St. Pierre published such a fable on his website Tuesday. He claimed to have visited a cemetery for circus folk in Delavan, Wisconsin (such a place does exist) and seen a gravestone that referenced P.T. Barnum and Abraham Lincoln

That led him on a journey to the Lincoln museum in Springfield, Ill., where a librarian supposedly helped St. Pierre dig up a failed patent application for the “Springfield Gazette,” replete with status updates, a profile photo and pithy quotes. “After we read it, we both sat there quiet for a long time,” St. Pierre wrote. “It was so obvious what this was, guys. A patent request for Facebook, filed by Abraham Lincoln in 1845.”

Most tall tales have red flags in them for the alert reader. This one was like a Beijing Olympics of red flags. Read More

Microsoft Patch Tuesday Swats 23 Security Bugs, Including Duqu Exploit

Microsoft released patches for 23 security vulnerabilities today as part of a busy Patch Tuesday that includes critical fixes for issues for Microsoft Windows, Silverlight, Microsoft Office and the .NET Framework.

Of the seven bulletins, Microsoft recommends administrators turn their attention to two first: MS12-034 and MS12-029. Both bulletins are rated "critical," address remote-code-execution issues and were given the highest rating on Microsoft’s “exploitability index.” MS12-034, however, ties together 10 fixes across several product lines that were bundled together as part of an update meant to implement the final fixes on a vulnerability exploited by the notorious Duqu malware.

Believed by many to be related to Stuxnet, Duqu was spotted in September exploiting a vulnerability affecting Microsoft Word. The company patched the bug with MS11-087, but other Microsoft products were discovered to contain the same vulnerability. Read More

Camera megapixels: Why more isn't always better (Smartphones Unlocked)

Just days ago, Samsung announced the Samsung Galaxy S III, the global, quad-core, Android Ice Cream Sandwich successor to its best-selling smartphone ever, the Galaxy S II.

CNET readers' reactions were mixed, with several comments that the 8-megapixel camera didn't seem too hot.

Rumors of a 12-megapixel camera leading up to the announcement were partly to blame. It's no wonder that some felt that a perfectly good 8-megapixel spec was taking a step back, especially with the 16-megapixel shooter on the HTC Titan II out in the wild, and Nokia's 41-megapixel 808 PureView, a Mobile World Congress stunner.

Despite the fact that 8 megapixels is pretty standard for a high-end smartphone camera these days, one CNET reader described the Samsung Galaxy S III's camera as "so last year." Never mind that at least one high-end phone, like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, still touts a 5-megapixel camera. Read More

Samsung reveals new flagship Galaxy smartphone

NEW YORK (WTW) — Samsung Electronics Co.'s latest Galaxy phone will have a high-definition touch screen that's nearly twice the size of the iPhone, while being thinner and lighter than Apple's phone.

The Galaxy line has emerged as the biggest competitor to the iPhone. Samsung said the Galaxy S III will go on sale in Europe on May 29 and in the U.S. this summer. The Korean company showed off the phone Thursday at an event in London.   Read More

Facebook must convince investors of its value

Facebook took another big step toward creating the largest Internet public stock offering in history Thursday, but now the Menlo Park company is faced with the formidable task of convincing skeptical investors that the 8-year-old social network is worth more than $90 billion.

A decline in net income in the first quarter, an unclear path toward generating advertising revenue on mobile devices, and the company's recent $1 billion purchase of a photo app developer figure to be hot topics in upcoming road show meetings between Facebook executives and big investors.

"Facebook still has a halo, but in our judgment that halo has become smaller after its recent growth deceleration," said Sam Hamadeh, chief executive officer of PrivCo, which tracks private pre-IPO firms. 

Read More

Rumored iPhone 5 to feature a 4-inch screen, new Dock connector?

Apple's upcoming smartphone will come with a 4-inch screen, due mainly to a thinner, taller body, according to Apple-focused site iLounge, citing an unnamed source. The site's source claims Apple's new iPhone will be 10mm taller than the iPhone 4S, and about 2mm thinner. By keeping the same width and tossing in the display to fit the new form factor, Apple is able to deliver more screen space than what's available on 3.5-inch-equipped iPhones, according to the source.

Although the front of the iPhone 5 will look about the same, the back will feature a flat, metal panel stretching from beneath the camera to nearly the bottom. iLounge's sources did not say why the device might come with that additional element. Aside from the metal panel, the device will boast Gorilla Glass 2 technology, according to the site's source.

One of the more surprising moves, though, might be iLounge's contention that Apple will launch the iPhone 5 with a new Dock connector featuring fewer pins than the 30-pin option found across its mobile devices today. The new connector is "closer to a pill shape" and will find its way to all future mobile devices the company launches, according to iLounge.

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