Archive for January, 2010

AT&T to put $2 Billion into revamped wireless network

– January 29, 2010Posted in: Industry News

AT&T logo It was some time ago that Verizon launched an advertising campaign targeting AT&T and their lackluster wireless network. The “There’s a map for that” campaign brought about a backlash from AT&T that resulted in a set of their own ads staring Luke Wilson, and eventually a law suite.

Although AT&T has spent months now fiercely defending their coverage, they have thankfully decided to acknowledge its shortcomings and improve. They will reportedly be putting more than $2 billion into bettering their network this year.

It was during a fourth-quarter earnings conference call that AT&T admitted that their 3G coverage wasn’t good enough, and that they would work to make it better. Head of AT&T’s Operations division, John Stankey stated “Wireless is our No. 1 investment priority.”

This means that the Kindle, iPod, and other AT&T powered wireless devices will soon be getting improved coverage. More importantly however, it means we will no longer be subjected to Luke Wilson ads.

Mashable

Tags: $ 2billion AT&T, 2 billion AT&T, AT&T improve, AT&T network, AT&T wireless, AT&T wireless 2 billion

Apple reports all time high First Quarter

acoleman

– January 26, 2010Posted in: News

Steve Jobs Mosaic Apple’s first-quarter 2010 earnings skyrocketed beyond all expectations and into their best quarter in company history.

The company is reporting a profit of $3.37 billion, which is a 50 percent increase from last year’s first-quarter profits of $2.26 billion. Revenue for first-quarter was $15.6 billion, a 32 percent increase from last year.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated “If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company. The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.”

It is that “new product” that Steve Jobs cleverly hinted at, that industry leaders are waiting to get a glimpse of at an Apple event this Wednesday. The new product is rumored to be the Apple tablet, which has been rumored for weeks now. Although Apple’s first-quarter numbers are very telling, it is going to be this Wednesday’s big reveal that will dictate the climate this year for Apple.

CNET

China denies involvement in Google cyberattack

acoleman

– January 25, 2010Posted in: Industry News, Internet Trends

Google China
It was in December that Google fell victim to a highly sophisticated cyberattack that not only compromised their own sites but a number of others as well. It was later discovered that the attacks were implemented to gain unauthorized access to the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Since then China had been silent on their involvement in the cyberattacks until now. In duel interviews with the state news agency Xinhua, China officially denied any involvement in the Google cyberattack.

An unnamed spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the “Accusation that the Chinese government participated in (any) cyberattack, either in an explicit or inexplicit way, is groundless and aims to denigrate China.” In another interview a spokesperson for China’s State Council stated that China’s desire to regulate the Internet was legitimate and should be free of “unjustifiable interferences.”

Google has threatened to completely pull out of China if any censorship of Google.cn continues. A decision that may very well come to pass, as China has stated Google can only operate in their country as long as they abide by their laws.

Yahoo

Tags: china, china cyber attack, cyber attack google, google attacks, google china, google china cyber attack, google cyberattack, google.cn

Google tops worldwide searches in 2009, but Bing sees fastest growth

acoleman

– January 22, 2010Posted in: Industry News, Internet Trends

Bing Logo The ComScore for the 2009 global search stats are out, and although Google was the leader among the search sights, Bing showed the fastest growth.

Google came in first place with 87.8 billion total worldwide searches, which was a 58 percent increase form last year. Yahoo came in second place for searches with 9.4 billion, and the Chinese search engine Baidu came in third with 8.5 billion.

It was Microsoft sites however, that saw the best growth with searches increasing 70 percent from last year. This boom in searches can be attributed to the launch of Bing, which has seen significant traction since its debut.

“The global search market continues to grow at an extraordinary rate, with both highly developed and emerging markets contributing to the strong growth worldwide.”

Overall the United States was the top search market for 2009, with 22.7 billion searches. Worldwide searches increased in 2009 to 131 billion searches, which represented a 46 percent increase.

ComScore

Tags: bing comscore, bing increase saerches, bing news, bing searches, comescore searches, comscore, comscore bing, google comscore, google news, google searches, worldwide searches, yahoo saerches

Twitter IPO still on horizon

acoleman

– January 20, 2010Posted in: Industry News, Internet Trends

In an interview with Bloomberg, Twitter COO Dick Costolo made it clear that Twitter has no plans to make an initial public offering this year. The micro-blogging site will instead be focusing on meeting their $1 billion valuation that they received September last year.

Costolo stated “We’ve raised all this money. We’ve created this global brand. It’s one of the fastest — if not the fastest — growing brands in the history of the world. Now we have to go build the business that lives up to that valuation.”

In 2009 Twitter made $25 million in revenue through a distribution deal with Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. In 2010 the company will focus on starting commercial accounts and running advertising as their business model. Costolo stated that the ads will not be a hindrance to users but rather “enhance the platform.”

Bloomberg

Tags: dick sotolo, Twitter, twitter business, twitter business model, twitter ipo, twitter valuation

New Digg extension now available for Chrome and Firefox

acoleman

– January 20, 2010Posted in: Internet Trends

Digg Chrome Extension Drop down Today Digg has unveiled an extension for Chrome, and new updates for the already existing Firefox extension. The reason for the improvements is to create a less intrusive browser experience with less interruptions, as you can now Digg stories without visiting the site itself.

When using the Digg extension for Chrome, a Digg number will appear next to any URL in your address bar. When clicking the icon you will be able to see the comment count for said URL, as well as a button for you to Digg it. The Chrome extension is only available to PC, Digg is still working on it for Mac.

The Firefox extension has been improved by moving the Digg count and button to the navigation bar, which means you no longer have to open the toolbar for stories. You also have the ability to now close the toolbar by clicking (Cmd+Shift+E ).

Both extensions feature simple drop downs for sharing on Facebook and Twitter.

Digg

Tags: digg, digg chrome, digg drop down, digg extension, digg google, digg mozilla, dihgg firefox

Apple Tablet possibly revealed this Wednesday at Apple event

acoleman

– January 18, 2010Posted in: Gadgets, Industry News

Apple Tablet

If you follow tech news closely, then you have undoubtedly heard of the Apple Tablet. A device whose identity is currently the most talked about, and most protected.

The gadget supposedly titled iSlate has been kept under warps by Apple for months now, and has been rumored to have everything from OLED technology to an e-reader. The rumors surrounding the device have grown to an almost preposterous scale but fortunately Apple has announced an upcoming event in which the device may at long last be revealed.

The said event is scheduled for Wednesday, January, 27 and will take place in San Francisco. The Apple Tablet has as good a chance of being revealed there as in any other Apple gathering, so be sure to pay attention to the event.

Mashable

Tags: Apple, Apple evnt, Apple Tablet, AppleTablet, Isalet, islate, iTablet, Tablet

Intel’s earnings skyrocket 875%

acoleman

– January 15, 2010Posted in: Industry News

Intel Light Logo While the economy emerges from turbulent times we are seeing a great deal of promise from the tech sector. That is due in part to the amazing fourth quarter report that Intel has released. The numbers have not only met the expectations of Wall Street but exceeded them.

Intel is reporting that they have made a net income of $2.3 billion for their 2009 fourth quarter, which has skyrocketed 875 percent from last years fourth quarter net income of $234 million. The chip manufacturer also reported fourth quarter revenue growth to $10.6 billion, a 28 percent increase from $8.3 billion of last year.

It was during the downturn of the economy that Intel decided to invest in new chip plants, and that is part of the reason they feel they are seeing such success now. Intel president and CEO Paul Otellini stated “Intel’s strong 2009 results reflect our investment in industry-leading manufacturing and product innovation.”

Intel

AOL layoffs begin, 1,400 jobs to be cut

acoleman

– January 12, 2010Posted in: Industry News, Internet Trends

AOL Monster Logo It was in November that we first got word of AOL and their impeding layoffs. It was during their spin-off from Time Warner that the layoffs were first announced but at the time AOL was asking employees to volunteer for cuts in exchange for buyout packages.

We now know that some 1,100 employees accepted buyout packages, leaving 1,400 employees that still need to be cut. Yesterday AOL announced that the involuntary cuts will begin and continue throughout the week. According to an AOL memo the largest number of cuts will take place on Wednesday but the process could continue until January 13.

This news comes during a time when AOL is trying desperately to redefine themselves. After their spin-off from Time Warner, they created a new site and logos in order to change their public perception. The next few weeks will be hard for AOL but hopefully they have cut enough so that they will not have to do it again.

Business Insider

Tags: 100, 400, AOL, aol 1, aol job cuts, aol layof, aol layoffs, aol monster

Facebook founder believes Public is the new “Social Norm”

acoleman

– January 11, 2010Posted in: Industry News, Internet Trends

One of the major hot button issues right now is on-line privacy. Although the debate about whether the Internet should be more open or not has been around for awhile, it has recently taken a new turn. A few of the major leaders in social media and search have expressed a more open stance in Internet privacy and the backlash has been severe.

Facebook recently drew criticism for its decision to request a mandatory update if its 350 million users privacy settings. Under the new settings certain information about users would be made public to the entire Facebook community, and potentially indexed by search engines. In a recent interview, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg commented on the privacy changes for the first time.

In an interview during a livestream with the Crunchies awards, Zuckerberg stated “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved over time.”

The statement makes Zuckerberg’s intentions for Facebook’s future clear. Although a more open Facebook policy has been met with harsh criticism, it seems the decision was inevitable.

Mashable