vendredi 11 mai 2012
Facebook’s New App Center: Everything You Need to Know
Instead of selling apps that integrate with Facebook, the new App Center will refer users to other app stores where they can buy them.
Confused? You’re not the only one. After Facebook announced the new feature on Wednesday, “I don’t get it” was a common response.
We’ve answered below some of the most common questions about how the App Center will work, what apps it will contain and why Facebook built it. Let us know if you have another question we missed.
So Facebook is going to have an app store now?
Yes, but not in the same sense that Google and Apple have app stores. What Facebook has announced is more of an app showcase. In addition to apps built on Facebook, it includes apps that use Facebook Login, regardless of whether they’re iOS, Android or web apps.
Does that mean I can buy iOS and Android apps on Facebook?
No. Though you will find iOS and Android apps in the App Center, you will be directed to Apple’s App Store or Google Play to actually download the apps.
Facebook announced on Wednesday that it will allow developers to charge for “apps built on Facebook” for the first time, but is not clear whether users will purchase apps directly from the App Center.
What are “apps built on Facebook,” and how are they different than iOS and Android apps that integrate with Facebook?
Apps built on Facebook are web apps viewed and used within the Facebook site. They get a special page within Facebook where they load. On the other hand, apps with Facebook integrations such as Draw Something and Pinterest are built on external platforms, but they interface with Facebook for login and other social features.
Couldn’t I spend money on apps built on Facebook before?
Yes. Previously, Facebook has allowed in-app purchases within these apps, but it has not allowed developers to charge for apps themselves.
Social game maker Zynga, for example, has previously been able to charge for items like blueberries or game advantages within Farmville. Now it will have the option to charge for Farmville itself.
How will I access Facebook’s App Center?
Facebook’s App Center will launch on the web as well as within the iOS and Android Facebook apps.
What will the App Center Look Like?
It will look a lot like Google Play or the Apple App Store. Each app will have a detail page, which includes a five-star user-rating system. A screenshot of the prototype that Facebook engineer Aaron Brady included in a blog post about the center includes sections for recommended apps, friends’ apps, top apps, trending apps and top-grossing apps.
“We use a variety of signals, such as user ratings and engagement, to determine if an app is listed in the App Center,” Brady wrote.
Hasn’t Facebook launched something like this before?
Sort of. When Facebook first launched Facebook apps in 2007, there was a dedicated applications area where users could browse apps from third-party developers. Users currently locate Facebook apps through the same search bar they use to find people, groups and events.
Why would Facebook launch something like this?
As Brady put it in his blog post, “The App Center is designed to grow mobile apps that use Facebook — whether they’re on iOS, Android or the mobile web.”
Facebook wants developers to build mobile apps that integrate it. Reaching Facebook’s 900 million users through the App Center is another incentive for them to do so.
The showcase also encourages makes it easier to discover apps built on Facebook, many of which integrate Facebook’s payment system Credits. All games built on Facebook are required to use Facebook Credits to accept payments (except when they’re running on iOS), and Facebook takes a takes a 30% cut of all purchases made with Facebook Credits. That’s why as of February Zynga accounted for 12% of the social network’s revenue.
Facebook will also presumably take a 30% cut of the purchase price for upcoming paid apps built on Facebook.
12:12 0
Why Microsoft Is Being Left in the Dust
There are now a number of companies — Apple, Google, Amazon, and others — that have Microsoft in their rear-view mirrors, disappearing quickly on the horizon in a cloud of dust.
That kick of dust in the company’s face is being emitted by Apple’s iPhone and iPad, Amazon’s Kindle, and Google’s search and cloud domination. Microsoft’s own wild lunges into various technology segments are also contributing considerably to it being left behind. Take the company’s recent partnership with Barnes & Noble, where it took 18% of the Nook e-reader for $605 million in cash and future guarantees. This was a move to compete with Amazon, but can it really compete?
If you want to know why Microsoft’s share price has been flat for 11 years while Apple, Amazon, and Google shares have soared, this is why. Microsoft is not innovating aggressively. It is not leading categories or blazing trails. No, it’s acquiring aggressively as a shortcut to innovation. That isn’t working. Its own history suggests as much.
Microsoft Has Not Capitalized on its Partnerships and Acquisitions
Last year, Microsoft announced a broad strategic partnership with Nokia, presumably to use Windows operating systems and software on Nokia’s smartphones. This was 15 months ago. But last week, a report found that Apple and Samsung generated 99 percent of the profits in the mobile phone category. Nokia, which once enjoyed more than half of all mobile phone profits, made zero.
In 2009, Microsoft acquired a 10-year license to use Yahoo’s core search technology, which later became the Bing search engine. Today, Google’s search market share is a dominant 66%, with Microsoft’s Bing a very distant second at 15%. After spending billions building and marketing Bing, Microsoft is barely visible in Google’s rear-view mirror.
Finally, what of Microsoft’s Skype acquisition a year ago? It’s too early to tell, but here’s a fact worth noting: The Wall Street Journal reports that 85% of Microsoft’s revenue comes from Windows and Office software. The rest of it? Barely a blip.
And so, Microsoft is proving, like many have before it, that acquiring companies outside your core competencies are recipes for failure. Remember when Cisco purchased the Flip video camera, at the time one of the most popular consumer electronics products on the planet? How did that work out? In 2010, HP bought Palm for $1.2 billion, but we haven’t seen any industry-altering smartphones from HP.
Conversely, consider Apple’s acquisition of Siri: a technology that immediately and profoundly complimented and enhanced its iPhone. It fit obviously and very successfully.
Microsoft Does Not Need to Compete with Amazon
Another major problem with Microsoft’s partnership involving the Nook is that there is simply no need for it to compete with Amazon. This is like Best Buy focusing all of its efforts on its ecommerce site while neglecting its one major competitive advantage: its brick-and-mortar stores. This is also like Research in Motion spending a year building its atrociously received tablet, the PlayBook, while neglecting its core competency of Blackberry smartphones.
Microsoft dominates the competition in computer operating systems and software. Computers are dying, right? And yet, in May 2012, there is no Microsoft Office for tablets and smartphones. Millions of iPads and Android tablets are being adopted in corporate environments, and most of those customers would be happy to spend $70 on Microsoft Office for each device. Except, it does not exist.
I can only guess why: because with its many categories, acquisitions and partnerships, Microsoft is physically incapable of putting its full focus behind converting its desktop products to mobile devices.
Microsoft is Going Wide, Not Deep
Which brings me to the third and final big problem with Microsoft’s Nook play. It is keeping with the strategy of going as wide as possible. Microsoft is not, and cannot be, all things to all people. In fact, no company can.
Here’s the truth: The wider you go, the more priorities you focus on, the less chance you have to be successful. But when you go deep, you can dominate. (See Apple, and Amazon.) When you go deep, you can continue perfecting. You become the world’s expert on a certain specialty. Apple is seen as the world’s expert on smartphones and tablets. Amazon is the accepted leader in online shopping and electronic reading. It’s because these two companies relentlessly focus on their strengths, saying no to nearly everything else. No. That’s a word Microsoft should consider trying out before it gets left in the dust permanently.
12:05 0
Facebook Inches Into Craigslist Territory With ‘Highlighted Posts’
The feature — discovered by Stuff, a New Zealand blog (which is unaffiliated with the U.K. publication of the same name) — is being tested with a “small percentage of users” right now, a Facebook rep says. The fee for using Highlighted Posts, meanwhile, runs from zero to “a couple of bucks.”
When asked who would use the product, the rep gave the example of a small band plugging an upcoming gig or someone selling their car. The latter appears to be new ground for Facebook since the company hasn’t previously offered users the ability to amplify their status updates. If the program is successful, it could let Facebook enter the online classified market, a segment that the IAB pegged at $2.6 billion in 2011.
It’s unclear how the program — which is similar to new ad products aimed at corporate users — would work and if it would function along the lines of Reach Generator, a Facebook ad product that ensures that a high percentage of people in your network see your post.
The rep stressed that Highlighted Posts is one of many products the company is testing right now.
The introduction comes a week before Facebook’s expected IPO. Facebook filed an amended S-1 form on Wednesday highlighting the fact that its advertising growth hasn’t kept pace with its exploding user base.
11:59 0
mercredi 9 mai 2012
Today’s Top Stories: Mark Zuckerberg’s Hoodie, Sony’s Powerful LTE Smartphones
Mark Zuckerberg’s Hoodie a “Mark of Immaturity”
Mark Zuckerberg went to a meeting in New York on Monday with potential investors wearing a hoodie, and analyst Michael Pachter thinks it’s a mark of immaturity. “I think that he has to realize he’s bringing investors in as a new constituency right now, and I think he’s got to show them the respect that they deserve because he’s asking them for their money,” Pachter said in an interview on Bloomberg TV.
Sony Unveils Two LTE Smartphones for the Japanese Market
Sony has unveiled two powerful LTE smartphones to be launched in Japan this summer: The Xperia GX and the Xperia SX. The first smartphone sports a dual core, 1.5GHz CPU, a 13-megapixel camera and a 4.6-inch screen, which makes it one of the most powerful devices in Sony’s lineup.
The Xperia SX is much smaller, with an 8-megapixel camera and a 3.7-inch screen. The device weighs only 95 grams, and Sony claims it’s the lightest LTE device in the world right now. Both devices will launch with Android 4.0.
Twitter Debunks Hacking Claims
Reacting to the claims that 55,000 Twitter accounts have been hacked with users’ credentials posted online, Twitter said those claims are largely false. Those accounts are mostly duplicates, Twitter claims, or contain the username and password information for suspended spam accounts.
11:10 0
HTC EVO 4G LTE Comes to Sprint May 18 for $199
The device sports a 4.7-inch HD 720p Super LCD display, a 1.5 GHz dual core CPU, an 8-megapixel camera on the rear plus a 1.3-megapixel one on the front and Android 4.0.
Other features of note are Beats Audio support, a 2000mAh battery and a kickstand for longer video viewing sessions.
Although one of the device’s selling points is support for fast data transfer via LTE, users will have to wait a while to start enjoying it. Sprint plans to launch its LTE network mid-2012, with Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio being the first cities to get it.
The HTC EVO 4G LTE can be pre-ordered from Sprint over at www.sprint.com/evo4glte.
11:06 0
Facebook Launches Crisis Tools for Military Service Members
It is an extension of a suicide prevention effort Facebook launched in December, which lets friends alert the social network when other users express suicidal thoughts by clicking a link next to the comment. Facebook sends an email with suicide prevention resources to the author of the comment.
“While this is helpful for a military family, there are several specific resources provided to our nation’s military that we wanted to make sure they were aware of at their time of need,” military support organization Blue Star Families, which along with the Department of Veterans Affairs partnered with Facebook for the effort, wrote in a statement.
Facebook engineers developed a way to help identify military members and their families, and it will now send them military specific resources such as The Veterans Crisis Line when their content is flagged.
In a survey of 2,891 military family members by Blue Star Families, about 10% said they had considered suicide and 9% said they knew a service member who had contemplated suicide.
When they were asked what military leaders should do concerning the issue, the most common response (23%) cited the need to eradicate the stigma that still surrounds seeking mental health support or counseling.
“Indeed, many comments mentioned leaders telling military members to ‘suck it up,’ or ‘soldier up,’” write the authors of the study.
With 86% of military families on Facebook saying they use the service daily, it makes sense for the network to serve as a private referrer to military-focused suicide prevention resources.
11:00 0
Coda Electric Sedan Zooms Into California
Name: CodaThe World at Work is powered by GE. This new series highlights the people, projects and startups that are driving innovation and making the world a better place.
Big Idea: The new, all-electric car company is offering potential owners (in California only) to design and reserve their own electric vehicle for only $99.
Why It’s Working: Focused on reducing vehicle emissions while also providing a wallet-friendly and eco-friendly option for consumers, Coda aims to make a major splash in the consumer electric vehicle industry — and the automotive industry at large.
Ladies and gentlemen, charge your engines. Consumer car industry newcomer Coda Automotive is making electric car ownership much more affordable.
Priced at $37,000 (not including federal incentives), the four-seat Coda sedan contains a lithium-ion battery and an active thermal management system that ensures the battery’s temperatures are regulated inside the vehicle for maximum use. Alloy wheels and an eco-friendly interior come standard in the vehicle, but you can also upgrade to leather seating and a premium audio system. You can also chose the color of your Coda, which comes in white, black, gray, silver, dark blue or red.
According to the company, the Coda sedan can travel 125 miles on one full charge of its 31kWh battery pack. The EPA has a more conservative (but still impressive) estimate of 88 miles on one full charge. Anecdotal evidence has also shown that the car can travel even further on a single charge, depending on how fast the driver is going and the nature of the roadway. However, there’s an extra cost of installing a proper charging station, which is not included in the vehicle price.
“What sets Coda apart is that we’re a 100% all-electric company dedicated to developing cost-effective and efficient EVs and energy storage systems,” says Thomas Hausch, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Coda. “Since day one, we’ve focused on developing a safe, affordable battery system to support the deployment of EVs and renewable energy globally.”
Coda Automotive began as Miles Electric Vehicles, founded by Miles Rubin in 2007. Rubin’s initial idea was to create a clean-technology vehicle and lower our dependence on fossil fuels while cleaning up the environment. The company made small electric vehicles universities and other institutions before branching off to become Coda. The idea, says a company spokesperson, was to develop an EV around an already existing body and modify the car to match the market’s needs.
The auto company is working with existing dealerships to sell the sedan. If you want to drive it off a lot, there are a handful of showrooms in California, but eventually there will be a major roll-out to other states. There are also five “experience centers” in California where you can test drive the car and learn about EVs — but you can’t buy one there. For now, the best bet is to place an order for a customized vehicle on the manufacturer’s website at a paltry cost of $99.
There is also a new Coda model on the horizon, with a slightly beefier battery pack. Think of it like a V4 versus a V6 engine — the larger battery, when fully charged, should last up to 150 miles. This Coda starts at around $39,900 and will be available to consumers in the coming months.
A spokesperson for Coda won’t say how many vehicles have been sold so far, but said the company would be releasing that information in the future.
10:30 0
New York Court: Viewing Online Child Porn Is Legal
The court’s decision found that looking at child pornography on the Internet without downloading it to a hard drive isn’t the same as “possessing” it, which New York State law prohibits.
“Merely viewing web images of child pornography does not, absent other proof, constitute either possession or procurement within the meaning of our Penal Law,” Senior Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick wrote in his majority opinion. “Rather, some affirmative act is required (printing, saving, downloading, etc.) to show that defendant in fact exercised dominion and control over the images that were on his screen.”
The prosecution in the case, wrote Ciparick, failed to prove that Kent was aware of the existence of a web cache, making it impossible for him to have knowingly downloaded — and therefore possessed — the child pornography to his browser’s cache.
Professor James D. Kent, an assistant professor at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was given a one-to-three year sentence for possession of child pornography in 2009.
Kent took his computer to a student IT specialist for a virus scan after complaining that it was running slowly. The scan detected the pornographic material in Kent’s web browser. He maintains that somebody else used his computer to view the material.
The court dismissed one of two counts of promoting a sexual performance of a child and two of the 143 counts of possessing child pornography with which Kent was originally charged. It upheld the other counts, which were tied to a folder on Kent’s machine filled with thousands of images of child pornography.
Nathan Z. Dershowitz, Kent’s lawyer, told msnbc.com that the real problem in the case is “legislation is not keeping up with technology,” as the court system serves only as an umpire applying the rules as passed by lawmakers.
All judges in the case expressed intense disapproval of child pornography.
10:16 0
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