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Facebook stock drop fallout: Zuckerberg off top 40 richest list | LA Times

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:49:45 -0400

Reposted from http://lat.ms/KbmtoS on May 29, 2012 at 11:30PM

Well, that didn’t take long.

Google's self-driving car faces competition from Europe | LA Times

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:49:44 -0400

Reposted from http://lat.ms/JTWThZ on May 30, 2012 at 12:15AM

Google isn’t the only one with a self-driving car up its sleeve.

Tim Cook: 'Stay Tuned,' We Can Do More With Facebook (AAPL, FB) | BusinessInsider

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:04:28 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/KtD1qw on May 29, 2012 at 10:57PM

“Facebook is a great company,” according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Not exactly the consensus view on Wall Street right now!

Cook expressed his admiration for the beleaguered social-networking giant at the D10 conference, which we’re covering live.

Conference cohost Walt Mossberg pressed Cook on the lack of Facebook integration on the iPhone: “Twitter is there, but no Facebook. What’s the relationship like?”

Cook answered, “I think our relationship is good. I think we can do more with them. Stay tuned.”

“We want to provide customers a simple way to do what they want to do. Facebook has millions of customers. We want them to have the best experience on our platform.”

Apple’s Ping music-sharing social network flopped in large part because it launched without Facebook integration. Former CEO Steve Jobs said Facebook’s terms for doing a deal were “onerous.”

Cook was more generous: “They have their way of doing things. But people say that about us. It doesn’t mean you can’t work with them.”

Mossberg asked if Cook was going to kill Ping. Cook said: “I don’t know. I’m going to look at it.”

Apple has to be enviously watching Spotify’s success with Facebook’s new Open Graph integration, which places items in users’ news feeds about the songs their friends are listening to.

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Exclusive: Songkick Allows Artists To Update Tour Data With Tourbox | Billboard

Tue, 29 May 2012 22:52:40 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/Na9xwU on May 29, 2012 at 05:40PM

Called Tourbox, the new product allows any artist to tap directly into Songkick’s database. Tourbox features a dashboard that lets artists input their concert information into Songkick and syndicates the event listings to a variety of digital services. The service also gives a widget for artists’ websites and blogs that has their concert data feed.

Menlo Park set to approve Facebook campus expansion plan | LA Times

Tue, 29 May 2012 22:09:21 -0400

Reposted from http://lat.ms/KtbyoM on May 29, 2012 at 07:20PM

The city council in Menlo Park, Calif., is set to approve a deal that will let Facebook employ thousands more people at its headquarters there.

How To Clean Up Your Messy iPad Home Screen | BusinessInsider

Tue, 29 May 2012 21:06:03 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/JTylpm on May 29, 2012 at 07:32PM

You can make your iPad home screen less cluttered by organizing your apps and putting them in folders.

Watch the video below to find out how you can create folders and clear up your messy iPad home screen.

Produced By William Wei

And Don’t Miss…

• The Must-Know iPhone Trick For Heavy Texters

• It’s Super Easy To Make Music On Your iPad: Here’s How

• How To Sync Your Calendar With LinkedIn’s New iPad App

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HOW TO PARTY LIKE MILLIONAIRES FOR FREE: San Francisco Startup Hustlers Show The Way | BusinessInsider

Tue, 29 May 2012 21:05:58 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/JTykll on May 29, 2012 at 06:24PM

Even in Silicon Valley, some people are jealous of New York’s startup boogie.

The cofounders of Tracks.by, a San Francisco startup which helps musicians cultivate online fans, jetted off to New York on a whim last week to drum up business and see what the buzz was about.

Matt Schlicht and Mazy Kazerooni had no plans and barely any Big Apple connections—but they’d helped Lil Wayne get 36 million Facebook fans, and they cultivated relationships with artists as early employees at Ustream.

They ended up partying with Britney Spears’s manager, Adam Leber, and landing a Hamptons mansion, rent-free.

Oh, and it wasn’t all play: They signed up new clients and added 100,000,000 new fans to Tracks.by’s platform.

Schlicht flew five people to New York on a whim the Friday before Memorial Day. His budget: $2,500.

Jason Baptiste, their former roommate, now CEO of OnSwipe, took them to the Standard. “We ended up dancing on the tables.”

Next stop: 50 Cent’s record label, G-Unit.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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The Latest! Filestube, iHeartRadio, Jambase, British Clubs, Soul Man, No Doubt, Facebook, VEVO, Viki... | Digital Music News

Tue, 29 May 2012 20:19:23 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/JTsL6h on May 29, 2012 at 08:03PM

These are the stories we’re tracking late in the day. Check back for continued updates later this evening and into tomorrow morning.

10 Secrets of Successful Crowdfunding - From Scott Steinberg | Read/WriteWeb

Tue, 29 May 2012 19:35:09 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/LcEvm8 on May 29, 2012 at 06:00PM

With the recent passage of the JOBS Act, crowdfunding is about to get even hotter. Serial tech entrepreneur, speaker and consultant Scott Steinberg, author of The Crowdfunding Bible, explains how to make crowdfunding work for your startup.

Steinberg, CEO of TechSavvy Global, answered ReadWriteWeb’s most pressing questions with these 10 insights into successful crowdsourcing:

ReadWriteWeb: Are particular types of tech startups better suited for crowdfunding than others, and why is that so?

Scott Steinberg: It’s best for [startups] with a strong consumer focus that can easily communicate their value proposition. Crowdfunding works for creative projects - apps, consumer products, software - that resonate with average, everyday people.

What crowdfunding is not typically best for is something very technological in nature or B-to-B oriented. The biggest successes have been galvanized around consumer-facing products like [the Pebble smartwatch] or the [Double Fine] Adventure game… something there’s tremendous demand for. Ultimately, you’re trying to reach either as broad an audience as possible, or a very loyal and passionate [niche] audience of fans.

RWW: How do you know whether crowdfunding is a better approach for your startup than seeking traditional forms of financing?

SS: You have to be strategic because there’s no stealth mode. If you fail with a crowdfunding campaign, your brand and reputation will take a hit and you’re going to have a hell of a time going back to investors after that to convince them there’s a market for your service or product.

[Crowdfunding works best] if you’re not looking for a tremendous amount of capital, and that’s relative to your industry. $200K or $300K may be peanuts for an app or game maker. It’s good for projects that can be done affordably, that need to be done nimbly and for which it’s important that you retain creative control.

Often you only have a few seconds to clearly communicate your value proposition, so if you’re selling innovative tablet PCs or a revolutionary app, crowdfunding might work. If you’re selling a revolutionary inventory management system - well, that’s a hell of a lot drier. It comes down to a sales pitch. [Crowdfunding] investors are not as sophisticated as professional venture and angel investors. A product that can be easily and clearly communicated to a consumer stands a better chance.

RWW: What makes for a good crowdfunding pitch?

SS: You’re getting backers to buy into the vision that what you’re doing is part of a larger movement. For example, with Double Fine Adventure, which raised $300K, the pitch wasn’t, “Hey, we’re making an adventure game.” The pitch was, “Adventure games are not dead. We’ve got legendary game designer Tim Schafer to create one. Let’s give the publishers a kick in the ass and show them the genre is alive and well.” For the cost of a latte, people could buy into a historic movement.

That sense of participation is what you’re looking to convey. Convince people there’s a reason your project deserves to be birthed into the world, what the benefits to them are, why the time to act is now or never, and how by doing so, they’ll directly play a part in making the world a better place.

RWW: What are the most common misconceptions startup entrepreneurs have about crowdfunding?

SS: One is, “Hey, I’ll launch [the crowdfunding campaign] and that’s when the work stops.” Time and time again, I’ve seen campaigns launch to great fanfare and then fall off a cliff 48 hours later. It’s imperative prior to hitting the launch button that you’ve done your research, you’ve plotted a marketing campaign, you’ve got your social media tools lined up, you know who your audience is and how to reach them, and you have a working promotional plan for the entire duration of the campaign.

Brian Fargo, who created Wasteland 2 and [crowdfunded] nearly $3 million, said, “Our software development company all but stopped for three weeks so we could get our ducks in a row.” That’s what you’re competing with.

Do your homework and plan for as many eventualities as you can upfront. Study campaigns that have succeeded and campaigns that have failed. Know what resources you’re going to activate, and when and how you’re going to activate them. This could be video testimonials from noted industry personalities, or other brands, creators or influencers you can get a shout-out from on social media. Budget carefully and leave a 30% cushion. Set your funding goals carefully - ask for just what you need, because the more realistic the funding goal, the more attainable it seems to everyday users and the more likely they are to contribute.

Crowdfunding is a marathon, not a sprint. Often [entrepreneurs] don’t understand the time commitment involved. Every day you’re going to be working the phones, working Twitter, doing outreach, talking to media. It’s incredibly taxing, but at the end it may be incredibly rewarding as well.

RWW: What’s the ideal time frame for a crowdfunding campaign?

SS: Thirty days seems to be the magic number. You need time to see what’s resonating and fix what’s broken. Maybe your rewards or your creative campaign aren’t resonating. You need to be able to adapt on a dime. You need a game plan, but you also need to realize that no good plan survives first contact with the enemy.

RWW: Let’s say you launch your campaign, and it falls flat. What should you do?

SS: Talk to your backers. Get their impressions. Nobody wants to see you succeed more than they do. Remember, you have the ability to change much of it on the fly. If your messaging doesn’t connect or your rewards don’t connect, you can always tweak it. If your video isn’t resonating or people keep asking questions about your pitch, post updates to answer the questions, or do outreach through email newsletters.

Think of your campaign as a series of battles in an ongoing war. It’s important to know upfront who you can call on for support, because you’re going to need to lean on your backers, partners, and friends and family.

RWW: What types of rewards work best to galvanize contributors?

SS: You need a combination of physical merchandise or preorders and personalized, one-of-a-kind rewards, such as advance access to a beta program. It’s important to offer value at every level. This isn’t a charity fundraiser; people expect something in return for their money. Start at the impulse buy level - $5 or so - and go up to high-end, exclusive prizes. Have reasonably spaced-out [reward] tiers - don’t jump from $5 to $500 - so everyone has a chance to contribute. Have a mix of rewards, some designed to draw attention to your campaign or attract the big fish, and some designed to monetize. It’s also a good idea to introduce new rewards throughout your campaign.

RWW: Once you’ve gotten your funds, the job isn’t over. What do entrepreneurs need to do at this stage?

SS: You need to thank [your contributors] profusely. These people are engaged customers and your most ardent supporters and brand evangelists. Embrace them and stay in constant contact. Not only are they likely to help you spread the word, but many times they’ll also offer to contribute [to your business in other ways].

The beauty of crowdfunding is it allows you to connect with your target audience from Day One, better engage them and create empathy. In many ways this is the holy grail of marketing - [customers are] emotionally invested in the outcome, personally interested and want to see you succeed. So half your branding and awareness battle has already been fought.

RWW: How do you think the JOBS Act will affect crowdfunding?

SS: I think it’s going to catalyze even more interest, and we’ll see more small and midsized businesses in the traditional space turning to crowdfunding as a viable alternative.

On sites like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo and RocketHub, not everything is designed to be a money-making enterprise. [Thanks to the JOBS Act, crowdfunding will attract] sophisticated startups looking to pitch more viable business strategies. And everyday individuals, instead of putting their money in the stock market, will be looking for [startups] that will deliver sustainable business models and maximum ROI.

RWW: What are some of your favorite examples of tech startups using crowdfunding creatively?

SS: gTar is a new and novel startup with an iPhone-powered digital guitar. [It shows] how effective crowdfunding can be when you have an eye-catching, unique offering that makes an impression very quickly.

But by far the best crowdfunding campaign I’ve seen so far is not a tech startup. Amanda Palmer is a musician who wanted to raise $100K for a new CD, tour and book. She has a three-minute video where she doesn’t say a word, just holds up poster board with writing on it, smiles and waves and utterly charms you. She’s already raised $800K.

Facebook's Instagram Acquisition Not Only Makes Sense, It's Smart | Read/WriteWeb

Tue, 29 May 2012 19:35:06 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/LcEv5M on May 29, 2012 at 05:30PM

It has been fashionable lately to do some head scratching over Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram, which we now know came just weeks before the social network released a camera app of its own that looked a lot like, well, Instagram. But there’s an argument to be made that Facebook owes no apologies to its shareholders. Maybe CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s move to buy Instagram was borderline brilliant.

Writing for TheStreet.com, Rocco Pendola compares the acquisition to a strategy once favored by big radio station owners like Clear Channel and Citadel.

“Imagine a major city with just one FM station targeting 18-to-34-year-old men with alternative music. It does well in the market, which suggests there might be room for another FM music station of the same, or similar, format that goes after the same demographic,” Pendola wrote. “Instead of sitting around to wait for a competitor to flip the switch on the same type of station, the owner of the existing station changes format on another one of its properties, introducing a new station that goes after the same 18-to-34-year-old male audience.”

In other words, Facebook is probably expecting that Instagram will cannibalize some users from its new phone app and vice versa. But it no longer matters: All of the revenue stays with Facebook, and it no longer has to figure out how to convert the 40 million people who already use and like Instagram. Meanwhile, any app maker thinking to enter the market may reconsider, as the market may be close to saturation.

“I’m surprised nobody - at least that I know of - has made this logical connection,” Pendola wrote. “It’s probably because they’ve been too busy jumping on the now cosmopolitan bandwagon of Facebook hate.”

Indeed, while the tech press is still by-and-large embracing Facebook, the financial press has quickly tied Facebook to the whipping post. The release of Facebook Camera was seen as proof positive that Zuckerberg et al were capable of building a world-changing social network but not capable of running a publicly traded company.

“Someone please explain to me why this makes sense,” Anthony DeRosa of Reuters wrote about the Facebook Camera launch. “Producing an inferior product must have cost money and certainly must have taken time to develop. Even if the app were developed before Facebook bought Instagram, it would have been less damaging for Facebook to pretend that it had never existed than to confuse the marketplace by introducing two competing products from the same company.”

Facebook is not commenting on the acquisition, as the Instagram deal has not closed. The Wall Street Journal noted that with the ongoing slump in Facebook’s share prices, the deal is now worth less than $1 billion.

Justin Bieber and the Billboard Music Awards: A Tale of Dueling Hashtags | Billboard

Tue, 29 May 2012 19:19:30 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/LR21ra on May 29, 2012 at 11:15AM

The tale of how tweets from Justin Bieber, using the wrong hashtag, nearly caused Billboard to revise its social-media plan for the Billboard Music Awards — and lessons learned along the way.

Business Matters: Facebook's IPO Could Have Just Killed Some Digital Music IPOs | Billboard

Tue, 29 May 2012 19:19:30 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/JNEXHF on May 29, 2012 at 02:14PM

Facebook’s falling stock prices may deter other digital music sites from stepping into public waters, such as Vevo and Spotify, while it may also have had an effect on Pandora’s stock price, which fell back down after last week’s gains.

YouTube Adds Instagram-Like App For Streaming Concerts | O Music Awards Blog

Tue, 29 May 2012 19:19:27 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/LR23zd on May 29, 2012 at 05:52PM

Everyone has them on their phones: grainy, blurred, completely unrecognizable shots of what looks like a band performing in some anonymous venue. Taking such shots — as horrible and completely useless as they may be — is a badge of honor. A way of saying, “Yes! I WAS at this Kanye show. Or what it Tegan and Sara? I can’t tell.” And now, thanks to a new app from YouTube, those who brag via photo will be able to keep on keeping on — even if they’re attending a show digitally.

YouTube has just rolled out a new app called Front Row in conjunction with Vivid LIVE, an annual music event held at Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid Sydney, the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas. YouTube users will be able to watch performances live on YouTube and, if they like what they see, they can use a built-in camera app to zoom in and take snaps of the shows they’re watching. They can then apply filters to shots and share them via social networks. Basically, the app creates glorified screenshots.

Tuesday, Imogen Heap will perform live on YouTube (and at the fest) — future performances include The Temper Trap and Amon Tobin. You can check out the full lineup here.

The concept is certainly novel in some respects, but in others, it seems a little, well, useless. First of all, taking a photo at a show, as we have already said, is usually done as if to brag, “I was here!” Since viewers using Front Row are decidedly absent, would they really want to take a shot of an event they cannot physically attend and share it out to their friends? Why not just share the link to the stream if they’re keen on broadcasting their activity? That seems much more efficient and useful to their followers.

Secondly, if viewers are looking for a memento to remember what they just experienced (another reason one takes a photo), why not just nab the video after it’s archived on YouTube?

Still, the app is still very much in its infancy, so we’ll have to see what engagement levels are like after the fact.

What was the last show you shared via photo?

Image courtesy of Flickr, genericface

Megaupload Wins Crucial Evidence Disclosure Battle With US Govt. | TorrentFreak

Tue, 29 May 2012 18:51:31 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/KFv008 on May 29, 2012 at 05:18PM

As widely reported, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and the rest of the “Mega Conspiracy” stand accused by the US Government of running a criminal operation.

Charges in the indictment include engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering, and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement.

The prosecution is hoping to have the defendants extradited to the U.S., but following a ruling by New Zealand District Court Judge David Harvey today, this will prove to be more complicated than expected.

In an 81-page decision, Judge Harvey ruled on a request from Megaupload’s legal team for the U.S. Government to reveal what evidence they have on the defendants. In other words, Megaupload wants to see the extent to which the U.S. authorities can back up their criminal charges.

The U.S. Government objected to the request arguing that Megaupload doesn’t have the right to disclosure in the extradition process, but Judge Harvey disagreed.

He ordered the disclosure of all documents related to the alleged criminal acts, not just those in the possession of New Zealand police, but all files held by the FBI and other U.S. authorities as well.

Much of today’s ruling looks into procedural issues, but Judge Harvey also makes some interesting remarks on the way the U.S. is handling this case. He notes that if the U.S. has its way the extradition process would be merely “administrative”, as opposed to “judicial”. This would interfere with the rights of the accused, who according to Judge Harvey should have the right to review the evidence so they can argue against it.

“In my view there must be fairness and the hearing and balance must be struck, otherwise the record of case becomes dominant virtually to the exclusion of everything else and places the extradition process in danger of becoming an administrative one rather than judicial,” the verdict reads.

The Judge further grants disclosure of evidence related to all the criminal charges, and notes that the allegations of the U.S. Government are rather complex. For example, the authorities are applying civil copyright concepts in a criminal context. Furthermore, he notes that the copyright infringement changes are the cornerstone, in the sense that the money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering charges are all based on the alleged copyright infringements.

“There is a complex factual matrix and justiciable issues are complicated by the fact that the United States is attempting to utilize concepts from the civil copyright context as a basis for the application of criminal copyright liability which necessitates a consideration of principles such as the dual use of technology or what they described as significant non-infringing use,” Judge Harvey writes.

“The existence of criminal copyright charges is a keystone to providing the unlawful conduct element of the racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud charges.”

Judge Harvey concludes with an order for the US Government to hand over all documents related to the charges within 21 days.

This is a significant victory for Megaupload, and not only because they can now build a better defense against the extradition as well as any U.S trial. The comments made by Judge Harvey also suggest that without proper evidence of criminal copyright infringements against the accused, there’s not much left of the case. And as Kim Dotcom revealed earlier, this evidence might not be that strong.

Source: Megaupload Wins Crucial Evidence Disclosure Battle With US Govt.

BlackBerry maker RIM hires outside firms to review its business | LA Times

Tue, 29 May 2012 18:51:30 -0400

Reposted from http://lat.ms/KFuZJQ on May 29, 2012 at 06:00PM

Research in Motion, the struggling maker of BlackBerry smartphones, has hired two investment firms to help review its business and finances, and warned that it expected an operating loss for its current quarter.

Apple iTV: iPhone-maker feeds the high-definition hype | LA Times

Tue, 29 May 2012 18:51:30 -0400

Reposted from http://lat.ms/LE6mhT on May 29, 2012 at 06:13PM

Apple Inc. is so secretive about its unreleased phones, tablets, computers and — potentially — TVs, that you could almost say that the phrase “notoriously secretive” has become an unofficial Apple slogan.

Google announces new Chromebook, Chromebox computers | LA Times

Tue, 29 May 2012 18:51:29 -0400

Reposted from http://lat.ms/KFuXl1 on May 29, 2012 at 04:58PM

Google has announced the latest versions of its buck-the-trend Chromebook line of computers.

Historic Apple items go on auction | LA Times

Tue, 29 May 2012 18:51:28 -0400

Reposted from http://lat.ms/LE6mhO on May 29, 2012 at 04:26PM

Apple products are always in demand, but right now three items from its past are particularly hot.

Rhinofy-Abraxas | Lefsetz Letter

Tue, 29 May 2012 18:51:27 -0400

Reposted from http://bit.ly/KFuWxE on May 29, 2012 at 06:29PM

I saw the Woodstock movie, Santana killed with “Soul Sacrifice”, but although I liked “Evil Ways” I didn’t buy the debut, I only had so much money. So, months later, when I was a freshman at college and everybody was buying albums to evidence their identity, I didn’t purchase the newly released “Abraxas” either. But […]

Digital Notes: Samsung Music Hub Takes on Just About Everyone | Media Decoder » Ben Sisario

Tue, 29 May 2012 18:51:24 -0400

Reposted from http://nyti.ms/LE6jCI on May 29, 2012 at 05:53PM

The company’s service, which for now is limited to Europe and the new Galaxy S III phone, competes with download stores, Internet radio players, streaming services and online lockers. Also, a musician takes in $1 million through Kickstarter.

me*dia*or