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<title>Haaze.com / Dhoni / Published News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:10:40 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Microsoft files ITC complaint against TiVo]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-files-itc-complaint-against-tivo</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-files-itc-complaint-against-tivo</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:10:40 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-files-itc-complaint-against-tivo</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against the makers of TiVo and is seeking to bar the set-top DVR boxes from being imported to the U.S. as well as being sold within the country's borders.The legal move, which was sniffed out by blog Winrumors, is a follow up to a year-old patent suit Microsoft filed against TiVo for illegally using video purchasing and delivery technology in its digital video recorders--two features Microsoft says are covered within patents it owns. Microsoft had originally said it was &quot;open to resolving this situation through an intellectual property licensing agreement,&quot; and that it had &quot;initiated discussions&quot; with TiVo to negotiate said licenses. Within the pages of the ITC complaint, Microsoft does not mention the outcome of those negotiations, though Kevin Kutz, Microsoft's director of public affairs, seems to have confirmed that they at least took place in the slightly reworded version of the statement the company released today:&quot;We have filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington against TiVo Inc. for infringement of four Microsoft patents. We have a strong and robust patent portfolio that we will vigorously defend against infringement. It is our responsibility to protect our customers and partners and to safeguard the investments we make to bring innovative products and services to market. However, we remain open to resolving this situation through an intellectual property licensing agreement, and we look forward to continued negotiations with TiVo.&quot;TiVo told CNET it had not yet been served the ITC complaint and therefore had no comment on the matter.Microsoft is currently involved in another ITC complaint, though it concerns itsXbox 360 console, which Motorola says is infringing on its patents. In late December, the ITC said it would agree to hear that complaint. The ITC is also currently involved in a similar patent infringement claim, covering a handful of Apple patents it says Motorola is infringing on with its Droid smartphones. Microsoft says it currently holds more than 25,000 patents and pending patent applications within the U.S. Besides the ones mentioned as part of the TiVo complaint, the company is the leader of CPTN holdings, a consortium of technology companies that's set to acquire 882 of Novell's patents as part of November's multibillion dollar sale to Attachmate.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[FCC chief previews proposed Net neutrality rules]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=fcc-chief-previews-proposed-net-neutrality-rules</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=fcc-chief-previews-proposed-net-neutrality-rules</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=fcc-chief-previews-proposed-net-neutrality-rules</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Federal Communications Commission is set to finally vote on rules this month that will keep the Internet open, but the fight may continue as neither side in the Net neutrality debate is expected to be completely satisfied with the outcome.As expected, early Wednesday, the FCC staff circulated an agenda for the agency's December 21 meeting stating that it would be voting on an order that adopts &quot;basic rules of the road to preserve the open Internet as a platform for innovation, investment, competition, and free expression.&quot;Chairman Julius Genachowski gave a preview of the new rules during a brief press Wednesday. Genachowski proposed a set of rules for Net neutrality over a year ago. In that proposal the chairman suggested making the four basic principles already outlined by the commission official rules and he suggested adding two rules.Major telephone companies and cable operators, which have generally been opposed to Net neutrality regulations, supported most of the original proposal. But there were two major areas of contention. For one, broadband providers wanted to ensure that the language used in the rules would not prohibit them from either managing their networks or charging different prices for different levels of service. And second, wireless service providers wanted the wireless networks to be exempt from Net neutrality regulations.Consumer groups oppose these measures.The new proposal that Genachowski discussed today is similar to a compromise proposed earlier this fall by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), which would bar Internet providers from discriminating against rival Internet traffic and includes some limited Net neutrality protections on wireless Internet networks.Genachowski said during his speech that the proposal will allow broadband providers to impose usage-based charges so that customers using more bandwidth would get charged more than customers using less. The FCC will also allow providers to experiment with offering specialized services that could provide higher-quality access to consumers rather than sending applications and content over the public Internet.  Broadband providers will also be required to justify why these services require dedicated bandwidth rather than being delivered over the public Internet. And broadband companies cannot discriminate against traffic on the public Internet in favor of their own services or their customers' premium services.The new proposal will also treat wireless networks differently than wired networks with respect to Net neutrality. Wired broadband providers will be &quot;prohibited from blocking lawful content, applications, services and the connection of nonharmful devices to the network,&quot; and they will be subject to transparency requirements as to how their networks are managed. Wireless service providers will also be subject to the transparency requirement. And they will also not be able to block or degrade most traffic, such as Web sites and certain applications. But Genachowski said he recognizes &quot;differences between fixed and mobile broadband,&quot; and therefore believes the rules should be more flexible for wireless.The new proposal is not likely to satisfy either side in the debate. Broadband providers are likely to still find some of the provisions too restrictive. Some companies have suggested that Congress should write new rules and make them law rather than having the FCC handle it. Consumer groups are also not likely to be satisfied with the outcome, because they were looking for the FCC to do more.The FCC's authority was called into question earlier this year when a federal court threw out a case in which the FCC had tried to enforce its Internet Openness principles against Comcast.In May, Genachowski suggested a &quot;third way&quot; that essentially called for the FCC to reclassify Internet traffic under the regularity regime, which would allow the FCC to regulate certain aspects of the Internet. The proposal has been highly criticized by the industry.Now, it appears that Genachowski has abandoned his plans for the &quot;third way.&quot; The rules he plans the agency to adopt will not reregulate any part of the Internet.There is likely to be last-minute lobbying at the FCC before the December 21 vote. And it's unclear if Genachowski has the full support of all Democrats on the Commission. The New York Times, reported Wednesday that Michael J. Copps, who has publicly supported more stringent Net neutrality regulation may put up a fight over the more lenient rules.One thing is clear, the debate over Net neutrality is far from over. And lobbyists from consumer advocates, tech companies, and broadband service providers will be spending a lot of time at the FCC over the next month.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google mixes local and social reviews in Hotpot]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-mixes-local-and-social-reviews-in-hotpot</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-mixes-local-and-social-reviews-in-hotpot</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-mixes-local-and-social-reviews-in-hotpot</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Hotpot will present recommended businesses based on search terms and your previous ratings.(Credit:screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)If at first, second, and third you don't succeed, try, try again.Google is taking another crack at a social service, this time with Hotpot, a tool designed to capture local knowledge and recommend establishments such as restaurants or stores you might want to visit. Google unveiled an early version of Hotpot in a blog post yesterday, and I think Hotpot has some attributes that could help it achieve modest success.&quot;With Hotpot, we're making local search results for places on Google more personal, relevant, and trustworthy,&quot; product manager Lior Ron said in the post, calling the service a &quot;local recommendation engine powered by you and your friends.&quot;As with many attempts to make something useful and commercially relevant out of social networking, Hotpot attempts to convert the recommendations of your connections into advice for you. Your own recommendations and warnings will be used as signals to determine which establishments are presented to your friends when they search--and, of course, vice versa.So yes, that means if Hotpot attains any level of success, you'll be enduring yet another round of invitations from your online connections. I just inflicted some on my own friends and family in an attempt to try out Hotpot, and it pained me to do so.But here's a nice thing about Hotpot: you can play it in solitaire mode, too, so to speak.Google wants people to join Hotpot to rate local businesses and see what others have rated.(Credit:screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)Based on what you've liked and disliked in your own reviews through the service, Google will tailor recommendations based on the broader pool of ratings of establishments in Google Places. This means that, although you'll be deprived of the wisdom of your local-savvy friends, the service still provides a human-filtered answer.Hotpot, it should be noted, is eminently suited for making money. It's got search terms for entities that likely are related to commercial transactions, a tasty combination for Google's automated ad auction system.If this all sounds a little familiar, it should: Yelp, whose local business data once fed into the Google Places service on which Hotpot is based, has been working for years on the idea of local reviews and socially influenced recommendations.&quot;Yelp is all about the power of word-of-mouth amplified,&quot; Yelp tells its new members. &quot;Our growing online community wants to hear the real story about everything local, from you and your friends.&quot;One advantage Yelp has going for it is integration with Facebook, which can ease the painful process of trying to construct yet another social graph out of your online connections.Facebook, too, is trying to cash in on local business dealings. Facebook Places, for example, lets merchants offer deals to people who electronically &quot;check in&quot; to a particular spot using the company's geolocation services.Google has been trying to build social networking into its business for years now. Orkut caught on in a couple corners of the world--Brazil and India--but not beyond that. Google Latitude gives people a way to find their friends on Google Maps, but it has languished too. Google Buzz, the most recent effort, grafted onto Gmail for easier social graph construction, but it's faltered as well. (That's too bad, in my opinion, since I prefer its user interface to Facebook's any day.)Google isn't one to give up easily, though, and location services have new prominence at the company with Marissa Mayer now spearheading Google's location-aware services and local markets work.The company has some assets on its side in this competition. Here are three big ones: search, Android, and Google Maps.Ready for another social service Sign up for Hotpot. The service uses your ratings both in a mostly anonymous way and more personally with your social connections.(Credit:screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)Search, which is Google's cash cow, could theoretically give Google an advantage if its algorithms do, in fact, produce relevant results.But with Google Places, there is a garbage in, garbage out problem: why, when I searched forcar repair businesses in my home of Old Windsor, England, did Hotpot show me Clewer Mill Stream, a haunt where (Wikipedia informs me) the Knights Templars of Bisham granted a license for a fishery in 1198 and 19th-century schoolboys from Eton were penalized if caught shooting waterfowl On the flip side, Hotpot's recommendations for New Mexican restaurants in Santa Fe--a subject in which I have some modest if somewhat outdated expertise--were spot on. I immediately added some ratings of my own for restaurants I liked with the nice Hotpot interface that flips over the cards on which the entries appear so you can enter the information.Android and Google Maps are related: each is a tremendous boon for the other since knowing where you are is so important when you're out and about. Version 4.7 of the Google Maps app for Android just arrived, and it's plugged into Hotpot.When you launch the new version, you'll see this update message: &quot;Rate places to get personalized place recommendations. Add the 'Rate Places' widget to your home screen to rate a place quickly while you're there.&quot;It's not clear how many people will leap to supply Google with this user-generated content. But certainly there's a fair amount already in Google Places, and making it easier to add more will undoubtedly help. Amazon, Yelp, and others have given people a mechanism to have their say about their customer experiences, and Google might have an easier time plugging into that impulse than into the more serious commitment of participating in some new social service.Here's one more thing I find fascinating about Hotpot, Google Places, Google Maps, and Street View: the idea that Google is building a virtual overlay to the real world. Search results are a virtual phenomenon that has relevance to the real world, but Places is essentially a layer of information stitched directly to the real world.Augmented reality, which aligns closely with this concept, has plenty of hype from overenthusiastic advocates, but it's not just sci-fi silliness. The navigation app on my Android phone is a very here-and-now example of what can be done.Finally, I find Google Places and Hotpot intriguing due to who owns its content.A lot of what Google has done in its mission to &quot;organize the world's information and make it universally accessible&quot; is index what's already available online--Web pages, books, and Twitter, if not Facebook.With Places--as with photos in Panoramio, streets and 3D buildings in Google Maps, and the ill-fated Knol--Google wants us all to add the information directly to Google. The company has been better than most about sharing such data with others through application programming interfaces, but there's no doubt that information Google controls is more valuable than that it skims from the rest of the Net.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple's iAd traveling to Japan]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-iad-traveling-to-japan</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-iad-traveling-to-japan</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-iad-traveling-to-japan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A Nike ad created with iAd was demoed during Apple&amp;39's iPhone 4.0 event.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)Apple's iAd is setting up shop in Japan.Released in the U.S. over the summer, the mobile ad platform will reachiPhone andiPod Touch users in Japan in early 2011, Apple said yesterday.Apple will host, target, and deliver the ads, while Tokyo-based ad agency Dentsu Group will sell and develop them. Dentsu's subsidiary Cyber Communications will handle the specific planning and production of the ads.&quot;After an incredibly successful launch in the U.S. where we've already doubled the number of brands on the network, we're excited to bring iAd to Japan,&quot; Andy Miller, Apple's vice president of iAd, said in a statement. &quot;Dentsu is one of the world's most prestigious advertising agencies, making them an ideal partner for iAds in Japan.&quot;Apple sees iAd as a way for developers of free apps to make some money, giving them 60 percent of the ad revenue. Since its debut, iAd has been limited to the iPhone and iPod Touch. But the upcoming release of iOS 4.2 will bring iAd's mobile ads to theiPad as well. Ads created through iAd appear within an actual app and open up full blown in a window when clicked on, rather than redirecting users to a separate Web page. The first ads via iAd hit the iPhone in the U.S. in early July. One report at the time said that some advertisers paid as much as $1 million for mobile ad space, with early adopters including Walt Disney, AT&amp;T, General Electric, Geico, J.C. Penney, Target, and Best Buy. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple's tough iTunes note meant for indie labels]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-tough-itunes-note-meant-for-indie-labels</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-tough-itunes-note-meant-for-indie-labels</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-tough-itunes-note-meant-for-indie-labels</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple's letter to music labels about the company's adoption of 90-second song samples sounded brash and uncompromising, reminiscent of how the company once seemed to negotiate with the music industry.Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters Guild of America, said he&amp;39's in favor of longer samples. He just thinks artists should be compensated for them. (Credit:Rick Carnes)Apple wrote in e-mails to an undisclosed number of music industry executives--made public on Tuesday--that it would soon offer longer samples for songs that are at least two-and-a-half minutes in length. For shorter songs, iTunes would continue to offer 30-second previews, the company wrote. CNET broke the news in August that Apple planned to offer longer samples. What raised eyebrows about Apple's note was that it appeared that the company was offering an ultimatum to the entire record industry. But the largest stakeholders, the four top labels--Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music--signed off on Apple's plan to boost the length of iTunes' song previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds in August, according to multiple music industry sources. Apple has also penned individual deals with some of the top publishing companies. Instead of the big guys, Apple's notice appears to be directed at the scores of independent record labels, industry insiders said. Apple stated in the letter that it would roll out longer samples soon at iTunes and that anybody who left their music up at the Web store was automatically agreeing to give Apple the right to offer the longer song samples &quot;gratis,&quot; or for free. The message is pretty clear: accept the longer previews for longer songs, or pull them off iTunes. An Apple representative confirmed that the note was sent but declined to comment for this story. Managers at some of the bigger indie labels were reluctant to comment today, saying they hadn't seen Apple's letter or hadn't had time to analyze it. Two did acknowledge that it seemed that Apple was playing hardball. There's a reason for the tough approach. Apple is in a hurry to get the deals done so it can offer the longer samples for holiday shopping. Time is running out. Apple CEO Steve Jobs was expected to announce the longer samples at a press event on September 1, music industry sources told CNET. Before that could happen, the National Music Publishers Association notified the company that it would need to negotiate a deal with the publishers before going ahead with its plans. Sources said the NMPA is still in negotiations with Apple, as is Broadcast Music Inc.. (BMI), a group that collects royalties on behalf of songwriters and publishers. Hanna Pantle, a BMI spokeswoman, told CNET today, &quot;We are in active and positive negotiations with Apple for the performance right of our repertoire.&quot; At a time when many iTunes users favor YouTube to sample and discover music, a longer sample seems like a no-brainer. In its note, Apple said, &quot;We believe that giving potential customers more time to listen to your music will lead to more purchases.&quot;But some in the music industry have grumbled in the past that Apple should compensate rights owners for the previews. &quot;It's like giving away ice cream samples--someone has to pay the cost,&quot; said Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters Guild of America. &quot;I think it would be a good thing for consumers to go to 90 seconds. But they're tripling the amount of time, and they want it for free. I think there ought to be compensation. I believe anytime you use music, you ought to reward the people making the music.&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Bing goes live with Facebook social search]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-goes-live-with-facebook-social-search</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-goes-live-with-facebook-social-search</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-goes-live-with-facebook-social-search</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Bing&amp;39's new social search lets you access the profiles of your Facebook friends.(Credit:Bing)Bing has rolled out its new social search, a feature that can display profiles and updates from your Facebook friends as part of your Bing search results.This step of the Facebook integration has been in the works for a few weeks, but the techs at Bing fine-tuned the feature before yesterday's rollout, according to a post on the official Bing blog.The new social search integrates with Facebook in a couple of ways.If you opt to link your Facebook account with your Bing log-in, searching for the name of one of your Facebook friends in Bing brings up a link to that person's entire profile in your results. This is true even if that person has elected not to share their Facebook profile with any search engines, since only you can see those results. So if you have a Facebook friend named Jerry Seinfeld, a link to his profile will appear alongside results for the famed comedian.Early testers of the Facebook integration were apparently unhappy that they couldn't view the profiles of their friends through Bing with the same ease they could through Facebook itself, according to the blog, leading Microsoft to set up this specific type of access.Further, Bing tweaked the age requirements. Facebook requires its users to be 13 or older, but Bing initially limited profile search results to people 18 and older. Based on customer feedback, Microsoft changed this option to let all your Facebook friends regardless of age show up in your Bing search results.The Bing and Facebook team-up also can retrieve results for items &quot;liked by your Facebook friends.&quot; So if you're looking for opinions on a certain movie or restaurant, Bing can show you any Facebook friends who &quot;liked&quot; those specific items.The ease with which Facebook information can flow into Bing may arouse some privacy concerns. The integration is a one-way street, so no information goes from Bing back to Facebook. But still, anyone wary of the new social search can control or turn off the feature on both accounts.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[High Court's violent-game sales ruling: Why now]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=high-courts-violent-game-sales-ruling-why-now</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=high-courts-violent-game-sales-ruling-why-now</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Nov 2010 07:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Politics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=high-courts-violent-game-sales-ruling-why-now</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.The U.S. Supreme Court today heard arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, a case that challenges California's 2005 law banning the sale of &quot;violent&quot; video games to minors. The law has yet to take effect, as rulings by lower federal courts have held it to be an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.There's little doubt that banning the sale of nearly any content to adults violates the protections of free speech, including, as decided last year, video depictions of cruelty to animals. In today's hearing, California's legal arguments centered largely on another case, the Supreme Court's 1968 decision in Ginsberg v. New York. There, the court upheld state restrictions on the sale of pornography to minors, even though the material is protected speech for adult purchasers.As technology has made video game graphics more realistic and lifelike, the games have only now captured the attention--and invaded the nightmares--of regulators in the real world. In Schwarzenegger v. EMA, California is urging the court to extend Ginsberg's reasoning to content that meets its definition for violent video games. Ginsberg, the state argues in its brief (PDF), upheld a ban on the sale of sexual content to minors because such content is dangerous to their development. So too, it argued today, with violent video games. Indeed, the state argues that such material has as much, if not more, of a negative impact on the development of children than does sexual material. That, of course, is a question open to considerable debate. After the fact, the state cited a number of academic studies that find a correlation between exposure to violent video games (including games, such as Super Mario Bros., well outside the California definition) and antisocial behavior. But as scholarly briefs from the Entertainment Merchants Association (PDF) and a joint brief from the Progress and Freedom Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (PDF) point out, the methodology in these studies has been roundly criticized. Why now The court may focus on those studies in its decision, but I have a different question. Why are California and other states focusing on video games, and why now As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg asked at today's argument, &quot;What about films What about comic books Why are video games special&quot;The answer has everything to do with timing. As EMA's brief points out, similar attacks have accompanied the rise in popularity of every new form of media throughout U.S. history:The California statute...is the latest in a long history of overreactions to new expressive media. In the past, comic books, true-crime novels, movies, rock music, and other new media have all been accused of harming our youth. In each case, the perceived threat later proved unfounded. Video games are no different. Video games have been around since the 1970s, but state legislatures have only recently begun trying to regulate them. So why the delay The answer, not surprisingly, is Moore's Law. As technology has made video game graphics more realistic and lifelike, the games have only now captured the attention--and invaded the nightmares--of regulators in the real world. High-end games such as Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil generate what the PFF/EFF brief calls &quot;moral panic.&quot; Legislators equate what they see on the screen with behaviors that gleefully flaunt the laws and norms of the real world. Their first impulse is to find a way, somehow, to stop it--even though it's only a simulation.Realism matters. It's hard to remember that not so long ago, video games began their Neolithic Age. Consider Pong, the first home video game from Atari in 1975. It would take an imagination greater than mine to think of the batting of a block of monochrome pixels by a bar of pixels to be violent enough to corrupt youth' likewise, the breaking of a wall of pixels one at a time in the follow-on game Breakout. But a few years later, consider the commercial for Activision's ice hockey game: The game promises to be one of the &quot;roughest&quot; video games ever, &quot;battling for the puck&quot; with &quot;fierce body checking&quot; and &quot;ruthless tripping.&quot; Just watching the players fight it out drives a meek-looking Phil Hartman into a frenzy' within a few seconds, he seems ready to attack the clerk who teases him that he's not yet ready for it.Despite an ad that explicitly suggests a connection between playing (or even watching the game) and becoming violent, the actual graphical quality of the violence is so disconnected from visual reality that it never occurred to any state legislature to ban or otherwise restrict it.Now fast-forward just a few short decades later to the imminent release of Xbox 360's Kinect. Using Microsoft's new sensor technology, players of the forthcoming Kinectimals can control realistically rendered animals simply by issuing voice commands or by mimicking the desired movements. It hardly seems possible that the same beings who invented Pong could have advanced to Kinectimals within the span of one human lifetime. But we did.Coupled with new 3D technology and increasingly large, high-fidelity displays, video games have in the span of only a few decades advanced to the point of challenging the cinematic qualities of movies. Indeed, games and films are converging. They now use much of the same technology to produce and to display. Now that video games offer fidelity in imagery and movement that is comparable to film, the law has awakened to both the positive and negative impacts they have on those who interact with them. Since the First Amendment doesn't allow interference with the sale of violent content to adults, California focused on children. But it's clear from the tone of the state's brief that it just plain doesn't like certain video games, just as it didn't like certain movies and certain books in an early age of mass-market technologies. Frozen in time, laws become irrelevant As before, legislators would like, if they could, to turn the clock back.Of course, that is always the response of the law to new technologies that challenge our conceptions of reality. The only difference between the comic book burnings of the 1950s and the video game laws of today is the speed with which revolutionary technologies are arriving. The killer apps come faster all the time. And with them come the counterrevolutionaries. This is why the California statute also suffers from another common and fatal flaw of laws attempting to hold back new technologies: early obsolescence. Lost in today's legal arguments is the impending anachronism of the California statute. It assumes a world, disappearing almost as quickly as it arrived, in which video games are imported into California as physical media in packages and sold in retail stores. Consider, for example, Section 1746.2:Each violent video game that is imported into or distributed in California for retail sale shall be labeled with a solid white &quot;18&quot; outlined in black. The &quot;18&quot; shall have dimensions of no less than 2 inches by 2 inches. The &quot;18&quot; shall be displayed on the front face of the video game package.As broadband connections make it possible for game developers and platform manufacturers to transport the software over the Internet, sales of video games in media form are rapidly declining. So even if the law is ruled constitutional, it will apply to an ever-shrinking portion of the video game market. There will soon be no &quot;retail sale&quot; and no &quot;front face&quot; of a &quot;package&quot; onto which a label can be put in the first place. These industry changes aren't being made to evade laws like California's. Digital distribution reduces costs and eliminates middlemen (the retailers, the packagers, the truckers) who add little or no value. More to the point, it enables companies to establish ongoing relationships with their customers, which can be used to sell add-on chapters and levels, online play, and the sale of related products and content, including films.The industry, in other words, is evolving not only in terms of sophistication and realism of the product. The same technologies are also scrambling its supply chain. And what is emerging as the new model for &quot;games&quot; is something in which California and other states have almost no regulatory interest. The pace of legal change can't hope to keep up with the pace of technological change, making this law, like many others, out-of-date, even before the ink is dry. So it seems an odd time to target legislation at a particular and disappearing version of the industry's content and retail channels. But that's often the case with laws trying to manage the unpleasant social side effects of new technologies, just as they become mainstream. The pace of legal change can't hope to keep up with the pace of technological change, making this law, like many others, out-of-date, even before the ink is dry. This is not to say that the Supreme Court's decision in this case won't matter, even if it rejects the California law. Another feature of statutes like this, unfortunately, is a high likelihood of unintended consequences. The potential for the court's decision to do future mischief to unrelated industries and dissimilar content is legion. For example, as the PFF-EFF brief points out, California and other states may try to extend the ban on sales to minors to other content and to online channels. But it isn't as easy to determine the age of an online buyer as someone in your brick-and-mortar store. &quot;Applying the law online would likely require mandatory age verification of all online gamers because the law prohibits any sale or rental to a minor,&quot; according to the brief.A similar feature in an earlier federal effort to control pornography on the Internet led the Supreme Court to void the statute on First Amendment grounds. But in the Supreme Court, and in the lower courts that interpret its decisions, anything can happen. In fact, it usually does.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Waiting for Spotify, act gazillion and one]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=waiting-for-spotify-act-gazillion-and-one</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=waiting-for-spotify-act-gazillion-and-one</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 29 Oct 2010 07:10:24 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=waiting-for-spotify-act-gazillion-and-one</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For anyone following the attempts by European music service Spotify to launch in the United States, it should be plain that the company and supporters are trying hard to rally support among music aficionados. Daniel Ek founded music service Spotify, a European music juggernaut struggling to make the hop to the U.S.(Credit:Ian Phillips-McLaren)All the headlines about Spotify have teased a potential American audience for months. The latest example came yesterday when the blog Music Ally reported that Spotify, which is attempting to obtain the music licenses and launch a U.S. service, has paid about 40 million euros, or the equivalent of $55 million, to music rights holders since launching there two years ago. The blog also wrote that most of the money, 30 million euros ($41 million), was generated over the last eight months. Yesterday, sources close to the company also told CNET that Spotify's conversion rates--the ability of a company to convince users of the start-up's free streaming services to adopt a paid-subscription offer--is improving. This has been a major sticking point with the labels. When it comes to licensing free-music services, the labels want to see a business partner turning people into paying customers. The numbers sound impressive and show improvement. But take a closer look before you celebrate the biggest music juggernaut to hit the states since Abba: there are plenty of unanswered questions about Spotify's ability to make big bucks as it attempts to license music from the four major record labels in hopes of launching a U.S service before the end of the year. Converting the unbelieversCertainly, Spotify's publicity machine is functioning at a high level. The company has seemed almost ubiquitous in the tech press during the past few months. There's the one about Sean Parker, a Spotify investor, declaring at a tech conference that the company can solve the music sector's piracy problem, and the one about Spotify launching an app for the Windows Phone. Oh yeah, and here's a story about Spotfy being an acquisition target. Let's try to separate fact from fiction about this company, founded in Sweden by Daniel Ek. Spotify seems to be making some improvements in key areas, such as in converting users to the paid service, but there's still plenty to be skeptical about.When it comes to converting new users to Spotify, managers have told their label counterparts that the number of people who convert to the paid offering in their first month has more than doubled recently, the sources said. The start-up is telling music execs that this kind of improvement bodes well for the future. Spotify's conversion rates have hovered around 5 or 6 percent, according to sources close to the company, numbers that underwhelm leaders at the big labels who want about 15 percent, the sources said. Still, Spotify managers are telling record executives that their conversion rates aren't static, according to the music sources. They go up over time and with each added feature, such as the recent launching of the company's mobile app on the Windows Phone, the sources said. Doubts lingerThen, there's the issue of how much money Spotify earns for rights holders. Let's take the numbers that Music Ally reported the company generated during the first eight months of the year and give Spotify the benefit of the doubt. Let's say the company will pay the same rate for the entire year. In that case, rights owners would receive $61.5 million for the year, or about $15 million per quarter. In reality, the independent labels would get a chunk of that money, but for this exercise, let's say the pot is divided equally among the four largest labels. That would mean that Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music, would each receive $3.8 million a quarter from Spotify. Warner, the third largest music label, reported for the quarter ended June 30 that it made $652 million in total revenue and $179 million in digital revenue. Spotify's contribution would add less than a percent to the record company's total revenue and about 2 percent to digital. Europe is a smaller market than the U.S. but Spotify boasts 10 million users. It seems clear that thus far the start-up's contribution to the labels' bottom line is at best modest. Jim Butcher, Spotify's spokesman, couldn't talk internal numbers but said: &quot;We're really happy that Spotify has become a major revenue generator in Europe's digital music space.&quot;These are hard times for the music industry and can the labels afford to turn their backs on $61 million They might if they believed Spotify was siphoning dollars away from more lucrative revenues sources. While Spotify has crowed about making more money in Europe than iTunes, some at the labels are wondering whether Spotify's free service has cut into iTunes sales, leading to less overall money for the record companies. There's some support for this. Russ Crupnick, an analyst with market researcher NPD Group, said in February that his research showed U.S.-based free streaming-music sites lead to a 13 percent decrease in paid downloads.&quot;We're eating our young,&quot; Crupnick said during a music industry conference. &quot;For some, more listening just means more listening and tends to lead to less purchasing.&quot;Prove the modelWhat may help label managers get over their reticence is that Spotify has shown a willingness to boost the amount of money it advances to the record companies. Earlier this week, I reported that this has helped the company make progress in the negotiations over licensing. The big question I have is why is Spotify in such a hurry to get to the United States if the company is doing so well in Europe. If the labels are asking for too much money or have doubts about its business model, why not prove the model in Europe and then negotiate from a stronger position laterSome have wondered whether Spotify isn't trying so hard to launch here so it can make the company more attractive to potential buyers. Spotify has discussed selling the company in the past, multiple sources have told me. TechCrunch reported this week that both Google and Apple had approached Spotify about an acquisition. Spotify denied such discussions ever took place with Apple. The company, however, did not respond to questions about Google. Spotify and Google did indeed discuss such a deal, according to sources with knowledge of the talks. The way I see it, much of Spotify's troubles can be traced to the company's inability to keep quiet. Why promise to launch when you don't have signed agreements Why set arbitrary deadlines and make them public When you negotiate deals in public you run the risk of showing up the other party. If Spotify can't make this deadline, it should go home, focus on the markets where it already operates and worry about jumping here only when the labels are the ones begging for a Spotify U.S.A. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Firefox 4 release slips to 2011]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=firefox-4-release-slips-to-2011</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=firefox-4-release-slips-to-2011</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=firefox-4-release-slips-to-2011</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Mozilla has pushed back the plannedFirefox 4 release to 2011, a delay that's no surprise given the difficulties in releasing the first full-featured beta of the open-source browser--but that also gives breathing room for several competitors.Mozilla had hoped to release Firefox 4 in 2010, but a newly updated Firefox 4 schedule shows the first release candidate arriving in early 2011.&quot;Development on Firefox 4 has not slowed down, and strong progress is being made daily. However, based on the delays in completing the 'feature complete' Beta 7 milestone against which our add-on developers and third-party software developers can develop, as well as considering the amount of work remaining to prepare Firefox 4 for final release, we have revised our beta and release candidate schedule,&quot; said Mike Beltzner, vice president of engineering for Firefox, in a mailing list message yesterday. &quot;The frequent beta releases have been extremely helpful in identifying compatibility issues with existing web content, so we plan on continuing to release beta milestones through the end of December. Our estimate is now that release candidate builds will ship in early 2011, with a final release date close behind.&quot;Six beta versions have arrived in recent weeks, but Firefox 4 beta 7 hasn't appeared, despite more than six weeks of frenzied development. One big issue holding up release has been the integration of Firefox's older Tracemonkey engine for running Web-based JavaScript programs and the new JaegerMonkey engine that draws on Google's V8 engine in Chrome.Mozilla's arewefastyet.com site shows progress matchingSafari and Chrome JavaScript execution speed, but new JavaScript engines can be tough to tune. Several JavaScript bugs are blocking Firefox 4 beta 7.The JaegerMonkey JavaScript engine in Firefox 4, whose performance is shown here in purple, has proven competitive against the engines in Apple&amp;39's Safari and Google&amp;39's Chrome, as measured by the SunSpider and V8 benchmark suites. (Click to enlarge.)(Credit:Mozilla)Among other changes in Firefox 4 are a revamped interface, a Bing search option, hardware-accelerated graphics, the new Jetpack foundation for add-ons to customize the browser, an HTML5 parser to interpret Web pages with the new standard for creating them, and WebGL for 3D Web graphics.And presenting a major new front in the browser wars, Firefox 4 also works on Google's Android operating system for phones and other mobile devices. Today, the cutting edge in that market is dominated by the WebKit engine used on Android, Apple's iOS, and several other mobile operating systems.Releasing the new version is important for Mozilla. Firefox remains the second most popular browser as measured by Net Applications usage statistics, but the browser market hasn't been as competitive as it is now in more than a decade.Firefox and Opera kept the independent-browser fires burning during the years when Microsoft's Internet Explorer was dominant but somewhat dormant after its victory in the first browser wars of the 1990s.In September&amp;39's browser usage, IE dipped back below 60 percent share and Chrome gained 0.5 percentage points of usage.(Credit:Net Applications)Web technologies started picking up steam again, with Apple's Safari engineers joining the development effort begun by Opera and Firefox, and Firefox started wrenching significant share away from IE. But in the last two years, Google Chrome burst onto the scene, rising rapidly to third place and flattening Firefox's growth.And even more recently, Microsoft began fighting back again with IE9, currently released in a first beta version. This browser was developed more in the open, letting outside developers get more of a say in its workings, and features many new modern abilities. Perhaps chief among them is ambitious hardware acceleration.Firefox 4 has hardware acceleration, too, and unlike IE9 offers it forMac OS X, Linux, and most important the vast number of Windows XP systems still in use. Firefox 4 beta 1 for Android was powerful enough to run the full JavaScript-intense desktop version of Gmail, including the priority inbox. However, in this case, the Web application fell back to its more basic HTML interface.(Credit:Stephen Shankland/CNET) <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft puts PC game downloads in the browser]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-puts-pc-game-downloads-in-the-browser</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-puts-pc-game-downloads-in-the-browser</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:21:50 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-puts-pc-game-downloads-in-the-browser</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft wants to let PC gamers know it's still serious about delivering game software and is putting that idea to the test with a new system that places fewer roadblocks in the way of getting gamers connected to digital game downloads.Today, the company is announcing a new online store that will let gamers buy digital copies of games--old and new--from just their browser. The site, which opens up on November 15th retains the Games for Windows Marketplace moniker, but is an online version of the store that's long been available through the company's Games For Windows Live software client--albeit with a few tweaks. Users can browse this catalog of around 100 games, find out more about them, then make a purchase that downloads right in their browser. The client software is still needed for large game files, as was to explained CNET in an interview earlier this week withXbox's group project manager Peter Orullian. &quot;For people who have the client--the client will morph into a tool they might use for different reasons, but if mostly what people were using the client for was just to go and purchase the games, that's what we've solved, because a lot of those people have said, 'It's just extra work,'&quot; Orullian said. A mock-up of Microsoft&amp;39's Games for Windows Marketplace Specials page, which will feature games that are on sale.(Credit:Microsoft)Another step Microsoft has removed from the PC game buying experience is the need to buy games with Microsoft Points--the tech titan's virtual currency. If users have points in their account from Xbox orZune marketplace transactions, they can still use those, but there is now an option to just pay with a credit or debit card. When asked if that had been a point of contention from within Microsoft, Orullian said it wasn't. &quot;I work really, really closely with the business manager [of Microsoft], and not once did he ever express any angst on this. So what I know on this is that this is feedback we had, and we wanted to have a simple way to purchase, and we just kind of marched set drum. We never had any kind of fight on that,&quot; Orullian said.Besides the purchase option, Microsoft is using the refresh of the online games marketplace to change what kind of information can be presented to users. That includes things like add-ons, which if they're a part of the catalog will be included not just on the game page but at the point of purchase. This comes into play with games like Bethesda's Fallout series, which has a large amount of downloadable content. Now you see these downloadable items not just when you're exploring the game on its information page, but when you're just about to buy it--something the company is banking on as pulling in extra buys in the same way a user would buy a candy bar at a grocery stand checkout. The new marketplace also takes advantage of RSS feeds from developers, so shoppers of the site can see the most recent updates of news items from a particular developer. Orullian explained that this would be otherwise unfiltered, except for something like a sale of game through another online games distributor, which would not show up.Along with game information and add-ons, Microsoft is also using the refresh as a way to present game promotions. Much like Xbox Live, Microsoft will be offering promotions like a game of the week, and time-specific promotions. &quot;If we can find a great number of zombie games, we'll bring them together in a zombie cluster,&quot; Orullian said. &quot;It's something we haven't seen in the PC space. The appetite we've seen for it on the console suggests it will be successful.&quot; Today's updates are part of a continuing effort by Microsoft to stay in the front line of the PC games downloading scene where third-party companies like Valve and Stardock have taken considerable marketshare by iterating their online marketplaces and software clients at what can arguably be considered a faster pace. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Maybe There is Hope for Silicon Valley (and the World) After&nbsp'All]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=maybe-there-is-hope-for-silicon-valley-and-the-world-afternbspall</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=maybe-there-is-hope-for-silicon-valley-and-the-world-afternbspall</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=maybe-there-is-hope-for-silicon-valley-and-the-world-afternbspall</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Living in Silicon Valley, one gets used to meeting people who are optimistic and who talk about changing the world. But as I lamented in this piece about the Valleya4a4s obsession with Facebook and Twitter apps, most of its entrepreneurs either think too small or are focused on the wrong things. So, even though I am enthusiastic about its ability to take risks and innovate, Ia4a4ve been skeptical about whether Silicon Valley can really think big enough to solve global problems.That was until I visited Singularity University, located on NASAa4a4s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, this week.To say that I was blown away with what I learned and saw in just a few hours would be an understatement. I left Singularitya4a4s campus with the same excitement that I used to feel as a child about how engineering and science will, one day, save the world. The experience recalled childhood fantasies of technologies that connect the human brain to a central computer to share knowledge' bionic organs that give people superhuman strength' and nano-organisms that monitor and repair the body and cure disease.a4s And I was reminded of my childhood fears of cyborgs becoming smarter than humans and taking over the world. All the great stuff from sci-fi movies.Singularity University was founded by futurist Ray Kurzweil and X Prize founder Peter Diamandis, in 2009. It has a whoa4a4s who of the scientific community on its board and notable backers like Google.The name of the university comes from a Ray Kurzweil book, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. In 2005, Kurzweil postulated that technology is hurtling humanity toward the next great evolutionary leap. By 2029, according to Kurzweil, computers will achieve human intelligence, and by 2045 wea4a4ll be able to upload our consciousness into what, today, is called the cloud.a4s So even if our bodies dona4a4t live forever, our minds will.No, the school doesna4a4t teach science fiction.a4s It aims to solve the grand challenges that humanity facesa4&quot;such as poverty, famine, disease, global warming, and dwindling energy suppliesa4&quot;by teaching select groups of business executives, technologists, and government leaders the advances that are occurring in a4Aexponential technologiesa4.a4s It challenges its students to think about radical new innovations that will affect the lives of a billion people within 10 years. a4AExponential technologiesa4 are those technologies that dona4a4t grow gradually, but at light speedsa4&quot;in fields like robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), computational neuroscience, and nanotech.The university runs a 10-week graduate studies program and shorter executive programs. Classes are taught by the foremost experts in each fielda4&quot;like Dan Barry, three-time NASA astronaut' Vint Cerf, internet pioneer and Google executive' Daniel M. Kammen, UC Berkerley energy resources professor and Nobel Peace Prize winner' and Daniel Kraft, Stanford professor of stem-cell biology.a4s Students learn about disruptive innovations and their implications and brainstorm on the sequences in which the next technology revolutions will happen.During my visit to Singularity University, I attended Dan Barrya4a4s class on robotics and AI, Daniel Krafta4a4s lecture on advances in stem-cell biology and genome testing, and a demonstration of a new device being developed by Berkeley Bionics.I dona4a4t know why, but I had long believed that AI was a legacy of the 70s and was a failed technology. I was surprised to learn that AI techniques are actually becoming commonplace today: in cyber-warfare, in Googlea4a4s new car, and even in new generations of toys. And a genome testa4&quot;which would have cost over a billion dollars two decades agoa4&quot;will soon cost less than $100. Advances in genome testing, it is postulated, may make it possible to create personalized drug formulations. In other words, rather than standard medicines that are formulated for everyone, it may be possible to create personal prescriptions based on a persona4a4s DNA. Medicines that cana4a4t be brought to market because they cause an adverse reaction in a tiny proportion of the population can be prescribed to those who benefit. I was also delighted to learn how Berkeley Bionics will soon make it possible for people who are paralyzed and confined to wheelchairs to start walking again. I saw one person who already is.The university is hardly two years old, and I didna4a4t expect it to have enjoyed any successes. But its executive director, Salim Ismail, says that the school has already inspired many. It had four team projects start companies last summer, and 15 this summer.a4s These startups include Acasa, which constructs houses through 3D printing' www.getaround.com, which provides peer-to-peer car sharing' and one that is looking to use beamed power to launch spacecraft. Ray Kurzweil even persuadeda4sIsrael to change its energy policy to focus more on solar rather than nuclear sources (and as a result, solar-energy use is going exponential).So there is lots of hope for Silicon Valley and the world. But we need to get our top technologists, academics, and political leaders to spend a few days at Singularity University so that they start thinking big again. We also need to get American children excited again about studying engineering and science. And we need to reignite the passion in graduates of engineering programs at schools like Duke, Berkeley, and Stanford.a4s Too often, they choose to become management consultants and investment bankers.Editora4a4s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. You can follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa and find his research at www.wadhwa.com.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[SkyGrid Brings Realtime News Aggregator To Android&nbsp'Phones]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=skygrid-brings-realtime-news-aggregator-to-androidnbspphones</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=skygrid-brings-realtime-news-aggregator-to-androidnbspphones</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=skygrid-brings-realtime-news-aggregator-to-androidnbspphones</guid>
<description><![CDATA[SkyGrid, a startup that offers a powerful business news aggregator, is bringing its popular application to Android devices today. SkyGrida4a4s app allows you to add filters to news streams, with the aim of giving you the most important news right as ita4a4s happening. Using the startup&amp;'s patented algorithm, Information Velocity' SkyGrid measures what news is spreading the fastest across the world, and brings that content directly to its apps.So users will know what news is relevant based on the people, topics, and events, that are spreading the fastest around the whole world. The app itself streams information from mainstream news, social sites, and blogs and allows you to share news articles and streams on the app via email, Twitter and Facebook.SkyGrid For Android also allows you to filter news by type, with news centralized around politics, tech, sports, entertainment, healthcare and more. And you can create custom streams that combine different types of news, follow streams, and access SkyGrid&amp;'s featured news that are trending globally. The Android apps also takes advantage of the devices search capabilities by offering one-tap search, a faster UI, and easier sharing (to Facebook, Twitter and email) directly from articles. Considering the app&amp;'s popularity on the iPad and iPhone, the Android app should see decent traction. CrunchBase InformationSkyGridInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Facebook Debt Collection Case Is Definitely A&nbsp'First]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-debt-collection-case-is-definitely-anbspfirst</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-debt-collection-case-is-definitely-anbspfirst</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-debt-collection-case-is-definitely-anbspfirst</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Getting tagged in a drunkena4sphoto is no longer the most embarrassing thing that can happen to you on Facebook. Earlier this year St. Petersberg resident Melanie Beacham fell $362a4sbehind on her car payments. a4sHer debt collection agency MarkOne Capital tried contacting her through the phone (up to 20 times per day) but then moved on to using Facebook to send bizarre messages to her friends and family.Feeling like something wasn&amp;'t right about being contacted through her social graph by the absurd user profilea4sJeff Happenstance (whose profile image now seems to be an ominous array of cars), Beacham went to Morgan and Morgana4sconsumer protection attorney Billy Howard who then filed an unprecedented lawsuit against MarkOne Financial.It turns out that contacting debtors through the social network is a big no no, at least in Facebook&amp;'s perspective. In a statement they gave to The Atlantic.&amp;''There are state and federal laws and FTC regulations that govern the actions of debt collectors. The collector in the St. Petersburg case likely violates a number of these laws and regulations and we encourage the victim to contact the FTC and her state Attorney General.In addition, Facebook policies prohibit any kind of threatening, intimidating, or hateful contact from one user to another. We encourage people to report such behavior to us, only accept friend requests from people that they know, and use privacy settings and our blocking feature to prevent unwanted contact.&amp;''The FTC Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is currently in the process of being amended (it hasn&amp;'t been updated since 2006) and does not specifically deal with social networking. It does however protect against &amp;''contact by embarrassing media&amp;'' and it remains to be seen whether Facebook messages will count.The Beacham case will be the first time someone has sued a debt collector for their use of Facebook and the first time someone has put through a motion to enjoin the use of Facebook to contact a debtor&amp;'s family and friends.a4sHoward says the danger with Facebook is that collectors can reach out a lot easier and reach a lot more people than a phone call.Howard recommends that anyone who receives a Facebook message from a debt collector screen capture and save the messages as evidence,a4s&amp;''Contacting family and friends through Facebook is 21st century buggery. Some of these tactics that debt collectors take, wouldn&amp;'t even know if John Gotti would have allowed them.&amp;''Court documents below.Image: Switched.    View this document on Scribd    View this document on Scribd    View this document on ScribdCrunchBase InformationFacebookInformation provided by CrunchBaseTipTweet<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[RIM&'s BlackBerry PlayBook blazes past Apple&'s iPad in browser speed tests (video)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rimrsquos-blackberry-playbook-blazes-past-applersquos-ipad-in-browser-speed-tests-video</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rimrsquos-blackberry-playbook-blazes-past-applersquos-ipad-in-browser-speed-tests-video</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rimrsquos-blackberry-playbook-blazes-past-applersquos-ipad-in-browser-speed-tests-video</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Research in Motion&amp;'s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is a little web browsing speed demon, especially compared to Apple&amp;'s iPad, according to a video test released by RIM yesterday.When it comes to simple web page rendering, the PlayBook manages to load sites like UEFA.com and CBS.com before the iPad even renders a single element of the page. The video also demonstrates the PlayBook&amp;'s Flash compatibility, which appears to be surprisingly fast given how much Flash slows down normal computers. The iPad, of course, can&amp;'t render a Flash page at all.Both devices score 100 out of 100 on the Acid 3 browser test, a popular way to determine how well a browser adheres to web standards, but the iPad demonstrates a small rendering error that puts it slightly behind the PlayBook.Finally, the PlayBook also beats out the iPad when it comes to rendering Javascript and HTML5 Canvas elements, which are increasingly used for rich web content. Using the Pocket Full of Canvas test, the PlayBook&amp;'s browser managed to play the HTML5 demonstration smoothly, while the iPad seemed to be chugging along at a slow frame rate.The browser tests seem fair, but since the video was produced by RIM and not an independent third-party, we can only trust its findings so much. I don&amp;'t have an iPad to confirm its page loading or HTML5 performance, so let us know if you see the same sluggishness on your iPad.Via Business InsiderDona4a4t miss VentureBeata4a4s first live webinar a4&quot;a4ADemystifying the Business Clouda4 a4&quot; on Nov. 17 at 11 am Pacific Time. Join VentureBeat Founder &amp;amp' Editor-in-Chief Matt Marshall and Huddle Co-Founder Andy McLoughlin for an in-depth discussion about migrating core business processes to the cloud.Sign up for free now. This webinar is part of a series co-hosted byHuddle, an innovative online-collaboration startup based in the UK and San Francisco.Next Story: Adobe CEO says he has no plans to sell Previous Story: Four ways cloud computing can make your business better nowPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: BlackBerry PlayBook, iPad, PlayBook, tablets, web browserCompanies: Apple, RIM          Tags: BlackBerry PlayBook, iPad, PlayBook, tablets, web browserCompanies: Apple, RIMDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Mark Zuckerberg credits games for Facebook&'s rapid growth]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mark-zuckerberg-credits-games-for-facebookrsquos-rapid-growth</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mark-zuckerberg-credits-games-for-facebookrsquos-rapid-growth</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mark-zuckerberg-credits-games-for-facebookrsquos-rapid-growth</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said he fully appreciates the value of games to the growth of Facebook.Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Zuckerberg said that games took off on Facebook and generated a lot of early buzz for the social network. Titles such as FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Zynga Poker are a big part of why Facebook has more than 500 million users, 50 percent of whom log in every day. Games are still vital to the social network, since seven of the top 10 application companies (by number of users) are game companies, according to market analyst firm AppData. More than 200 million users play games on Facebook each month.The reason Facebook needs the game companies is that it doesn&amp;'t build its own content and relies on the app makers to create the software that users want. Reacting to something venture capitalist Fred Wilson said on the preceding panel, Zuckerberg said that Zynga wasn&amp;'t the only successful application company built on top of Facebook&amp;'s platform. He pointed to other big social game companies such as CrowdStar, Playfish (bought by Electronic Arts), and Playdom (bought by Disney).&amp;''Those are four really good game companies that are built almost entirely on Facebook,&amp;'' Zuckerberg said, talking to conference co-host John Battelle. &amp;''Zynga&amp;'s market value is bigger than Electronic Arts. [Zynga has] made a structural disruption to the game industry. If you look at a lot of platforms, games are usually the first big vertical market. That&amp;'s true for the iPhone. Even if you go back to the early PC, some of the first things that got people excited were games.&amp;''Zuckerberg said the revenues from game companies have been important to Facebook, which makes money from ads that the game companies place on the social network. Facebook also more recently started generating revenue from Facebook Credits, a virtual currency used in games. In game transactions using Facebook Credits, Facebook gets a 30 percent cut.While Zuckerberg appreciates the game companies, he hasn&amp;'t favored them over other user interests. In the spring, Facebook cut back on the ability of games to send communications to users, mainly because non-gamers who saw the messages viewed them as spam. Game companies saw their users fall dramatically, since they lost a lot of virality. They had to advertise more heavily, and that shifted more profits from the game developers into Facebook&amp;'s pockets.The introduction of Facebook Credits generated similar grumbles among game developers. That move made social game company executives wonder if Facebook&amp;'s chief executive truly appreciated what the game companies had done for the social network.That prompted other social networks such as Hi5 to target game developers, saying their apps were welcome on its social network. Hi5&amp;'s strategy with its Sociopath platform is to put more control of the platform in the developers&amp;' hands.But Zuckerberg said that the app companies willingly pay Facebook that money because, taken as a whole, Facebook generates considerable business for them. And Facebook has recently started figuring out how to promote games better without offending the network&amp;'s non-gamers.Next Story: Exit41 wants you to order dinner on Facebook Previous Story: Mark Zuckerberg defends Facebook&amp;'s aggressive social strategyPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Web 2.0 SummitCompanies: Crowdstar, Facebook, Playdom, Playfish, ZyngaPeople: John Battelle, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim OReilly          Tags: Web 2.0 SummitCompanies: Crowdstar, Facebook, Playdom, Playfish, ZyngaPeople: John Battelle, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim OReillyDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Motorola&'s Motopad tablet may be the first Android 3.0 device]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorolarsquos-motopad-tablet-may-be-the-first-android-3-0-device</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorolarsquos-motopad-tablet-may-be-the-first-android-3-0-device</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorolarsquos-motopad-tablet-may-be-the-first-android-3-0-device</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google may have selected Motorola&amp;'s upcoming 7-inch &amp;''Motopad&amp;'' tablet as its flagship Android 3.0 device, according to Mobile Review&amp;'s Eldar Murtazin.While still unconfirmed (we&amp;'ve dropped a line to Google, but don&amp;'t expect to hear back), Murtazin has historically been a reliable source for major mobile news. The news is also believable since rumors of Motorola tablets running Android 3.0 have been swirling about for months. Given how much Motorola helped rocket Android to mainstream success last year with the Droid, I wouldn&amp;'t be surprised to see Google turn to the company to help cement Android tablets as legitimate iPad competitors.Android 3.0, which goes by the codename &amp;''Honeycomb&amp;'', is said to be more tablet friendly than any current Android release, including the upcoming Android 2.3 update. We&amp;'ve also reported that LG and Lenovo have delayed their Android tablet development until next year to take advantage of Android 3.0. Google is expected to release the update some time in the first half of 2011.Thus far, Samsung&amp;'s Galaxy Tab has been the most polished Android tablet released &amp;8212' even though it&amp;'s running Android 2.2. But reviews of the Tab have been mixed, with most of its problems apparently stemming from Android 2.2&amp;'s deficiencies as a tablet platform.via Boy Genius ReportNext Story: How Facebook plans to reinvent email and online messaging Previous Story: Ford Focus to zoom into 20 first-launch cities in 2011PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, Galaxy Tab, iPad, Motopad, talbetsCompanies: Google, Lenovo, Lg, motorola, Samsung          Tags: Android, Galaxy Tab, iPad, Motopad, talbetsCompanies: Google, Lenovo, Lg, motorola, SamsungDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Twitter eyes global expansion through local trends and translations]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=twitter-eyes-global-expansion-through-local-trends-and-translations</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=twitter-eyes-global-expansion-through-local-trends-and-translations</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=twitter-eyes-global-expansion-through-local-trends-and-translations</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In an effort to increase global outreach, microblogging platformTwitter has added 13 countries and 6 cities to its localized trending topics list today and announced plans to roll out integrated translations within tweets.Twitter&amp;'s trending list tracks keywords within tweets and promotes topics that appear at a high frequency at any given moment. The list has given users a useful way to keep up with the pulse of the platform, but when specialized to countries and cities it can be even more useful, as it lets users gauge local trends in and specific to their area.With today&amp;'s addition of 13 countries and 6 cities, the microblogging platform will be expanding its trending list to Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, Venezuela and to the cities of Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, Rio De Janeiro, Sydney, Toronto.Additionally, the company said it plans on integrating Google Translate within its details pane, showing an automated translation for tweets in other languages. The feature is currently in use by a small percentage of users but will be rolled out site-wide within the next few weeks.Over the past year, Twitter has seen monumental growth internationally. Back in March, real-time analytics firm Semiocast found that only 30% of tweets originated in the United States, with English accounting for less than 44% percent &amp;8212' a decrease from 50% just two months prior.Website monitoring firm Pingdom looked for growth regions in June and noticed steep curves originating from countries in Latin America and Asia, particularly from Argentina, India, Japan, and South Korea.With an estimated 190 million users in its back pocket, the site has come a long way from being the talk-of-the-town at the SXSW Conference in 2007. As countries around the world continue to get hit by the Twitter plague, there&amp;'s no telling how high that number will climb.Previous Story: Baidu CEO: We tried harder than Google in ChinaPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: global, International, Local, Translations, TrendsCompanies: Pingdom, Semiocast, Twitter          Tags: global, International, Local, Translations, TrendsCompanies: Pingdom, Semiocast, TwitterSid Yadav is a contributor to VentureBeat. He currently studies computer science and psychology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He is also the creator of Memiary, a micro-diary utility. You can reach him at sidyadav@gmail.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @sidyadav.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[On the GreenBeat: GM revs up for European Volt, solar and biofuels outlook is shiny]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-gm-revs-up-for-european-volt-solar-and-biofuels-outlook-is-shiny</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-gm-revs-up-for-european-volt-solar-and-biofuels-outlook-is-shiny</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-gm-revs-up-for-european-volt-solar-and-biofuels-outlook-is-shiny</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Here are the top cleantech stories we&amp;'re following today on the GreenBeat:Solar and biofuels could be price competitive with traditional power sources within a decade, the Boston Consulting Group said, but wind power and electric cars will struggle with mass adoption, Reuters reports.GM will start taking reservations today for its European electric hybrid, the Opel Ampera (pictured) &amp;8212' which is the European version of the Chevy Volt. The car is priced at about 43,000 euros, or about $59,000, but will likely cost a lot less for consumers thanks to European subsidies.Toyota will produce an electric car to go on sale in 2012 that will have a range of 62 miles on a single charge, Reuters reports.Car battery company A123 has landed a deal to supply lithium-ion cells to Shanghai car maker SAIC for use in an electric vehicle, Bloomberg reports. The companies have formed a joint venture called Advanced Traction Battery Systems and will produce an electric car in 2012 with a range of about 100 miles.Water infrastructure monitoring startup TaKaDu has closed a second round of financing led by Emerald Technology Ventures. Existing investors Giza Venture Capital and Gemini Israel Funds participated in this round. The company previously raised $3.5 million in first-round financing last year, a spokesman said.Next Story: Social Gaming Summit: December 1 in New York (VentureBeat discount) Previous Story: 2010 Cleantech Open Awards Gala coming up Nov 17PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Ampera, batteries, biofuels, electric cars, electric vehicles, Solar, Volt, waterCompanies: A123, Boston Consulting Group, Emerald Technology Ventures, Gemini Israel Funds, Giza Venture Capital, GM, Opel, TaKaDu, Toyota          Tags: Ampera, batteries, biofuels, electric cars, electric vehicles, Solar, Volt, waterCompanies: A123, Boston Consulting Group, Emerald Technology Ventures, Gemini Israel Funds, Giza Venture Capital, GM, Opel, TaKaDu, ToyotaIris Kuo is the VentureBeat's lead GreenBeat writer. She has reported for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, Houston Chronicle, the McClatchy Washington Bureau and Dallas public radio. Iris attended the University of Texas at Dallas and lives in Houston. Follow Iris on Twitter @thestatuskuo (and yes, that's how you  pronounce her last name).VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Site turns ride-sharing into a social game - Springwise]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=site-turns-ride-sharing-into-a-social-game---springwise</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=site-turns-ride-sharing-into-a-social-game---springwise</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Transportation</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=site-turns-ride-sharing-into-a-social-game---springwise</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If mobile gaming can turn the dreary to-do list from something we should do into something we want to do, then the possibilities are surely endless for other aspects of life that could use a like-minded dose of fun and motivation. Such as ride-sharing, for instance. As if on cue, Ridekicks is a UK-based site that turns carpooling into a social game with rewards for earth-friendly driving.Now in beta, Ridekicks aims to use fun to help change the way that people use cars. Toward that end, it awards points to users for every shared ride. Users planning a trip can post it on the site as well as promote it on their own social networks, while those hoping for a ride can search for opportunities to share. Drivers who want to charge passengers for the ride can even do so through the site' Ridekicks charges a 5 percent fee per transaction. In any case, every shared mile by either driver or passenger equates to one Ridekick point, allowing both sides of the equation to be rewarded. Points are also earned when those who share a ride put a4Astickersa4 on each other''s profiles, as well as when they complete reviews. Points are taken away, however, for those who are reviewed badly. In Foursquare-like fashion, the ultimate goal of the game is to become a4AThe King of the Road,a4 or the highest-scoring participant' those who earn that title, however, only get to keep it as long as they keep sharing. There''s also the chance to become a4AThe Hometown Heroa4 a4&quot; the highest-scoring participant from any given city a4&quot; or a4ACaptain Planet,a4 the player who travels the most miles as a passenger. Ridekicks hasn''t yet decided on any reward scheme for accumulated points, but it''s open to suggestions. OK, so that''s two mundane aspects of life converted into games. All you developer-minded entrepreneurs out there: where else does the world need more fun (Related: More airport ride matching a4&quot; In New Delhi, carpooling system rewards members for giving rides a4&quot; More social ride-sharing.)Website: www.ridekicks.comContact: hello@ridekicks.comSpotted by: Richard Monk<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[There&'s Always A&nbsp'Bu.tt]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=therersquos-always-anbspbu-tt</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=therersquos-always-anbspbu-tt</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=therersquos-always-anbspbu-tt</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This just landed in our inbox: a pitch for a new URL shortener with the slightly amusing name Bu.tt, which is of course described by its creator &amp;8211' John McKinnon &amp;8211' as a shortening service that &amp;''kicks it&amp;''.If you think bit.ly or TinyURL or whichever service you fancy just seems too serious for certain linking occasions, Bu.tt is one way to get the job done.And because it&amp;'s so cheeky (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), it&amp;'s bound to get you some attention, too. Say, isn&amp;'t that the reason why we share links in the first placeCase in point: http://bu.tt/erface.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[What&'s The Street Price Of Twitter Nearly $1.6&nbsp'Billion]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=whatrsquos-the-street-price-of-twitter-nearly-1-6nbspbillion</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=whatrsquos-the-street-price-of-twitter-nearly-1-6nbspbillion</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=whatrsquos-the-street-price-of-twitter-nearly-1-6nbspbillion</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Like other hot startups there is a healthy secondary market ecosystem for Twitter stock. The current street value of a share of any series of Twitter stock At least $7 per share, say multiple sources with knowledge of transactions. With 225 million shares outstanding after a three for one stock split earlier this year, that&amp;'s a $1.575 billion valuation.There aren&amp;'t nearly as many early Twitter employees with sizable amounts of stock to sell compared to Facebook, but the demand is there for those that are in the market. There are even a few funds that have been created with the sole purpose of buying stock from Twitter employees and investors, and the Twitter board of directors generally doesn&amp;'t interfere by exercising its right of first refusal.The $7/share valuation is generally considered the &amp;''fair&amp;'' price for larger transactions of at least $1 million. Smaller transactions, which can attract a more robust number of potential buyers, are sometimes closing at higher valuations, we&amp;'ve heard.Twitter was last officially valued at $1.1 billion post money when it raised $100 million late last year. The company is still effectively revenue-free.CrunchBase InformationTwitterInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[What you should know about LinkedIna4a4s IPO]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=what-you-should-know-about-linkedinâÂ€Â™s-ipo</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=what-you-should-know-about-linkedinâÂ€Â™s-ipo</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=what-you-should-know-about-linkedinâÂ€Â™s-ipo</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Youa4a4ve probably seen that professional networking site LinkedIn filed for its initial public offering today. Now that the first wave of excitement has died down, let&amp;'s take a look at the most relevant facts about the company and its IPO plans, drawn primarily from the filing:How much does LinkedIn want to raise through the IPO Up to $175 million.How does LinkedIn describe itself a4AWe are the worlda4a4s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 90 million members in over 200 countries and territories. Through our proprietary platform, members are able to create, manage and share their professional identity online, build and engage with their professional network, access shared knowledge and insights, and find business opportunities, enabling them to be more productive and successful.a4What does LinkedIn want to do with the money a4AWe intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including further expansion of our product development and field sales organizations, and for capital expenditures. In addition, we may use a portion of the proceeds from this offering for acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies or other assets.a4How big is the workforce The company says it had 990 employees at the end of 2010.What is LinkedIna4a4s business model a4AWe generate revenue from enterprises and professional organizations by selling our hiring solutions and marketing solutions offline through our field sales organization or online on our website. We also generate revenue from members, acting as individuals or on behalf of their enterprise or professional organization, who subscribe to our premium services.a4How much money is LinkedIn making now In the nine months ending on Sept. 30, LinkedIn says it made $1.85 million in profits on $161.4 million in revenue. In 2009, it lost $4.0 million on $120.1 million in revenueWho are LinkedIna4a4s current shareholders Founder Reid Hoffman (pictured) and his wife Michelle Yee own 21.4 percent of the company. Sequoia Capital owns 18.9 percent. Greylock Partners owns 15.8 percent.  Bessemer Venture Partners owns 5.1 percent. CEO Jeff Weiner owns 4.1 percent.What does LinkedIn see as a potential threat to its future success Among other things, the company lists security, government regulation, the fact that most of its traffic comes from a minorty of users, and the challenge of balancing members&amp;' needs with moneymaking opportunities as risk factors.Previous Story: As Egypt cracks down on protests, it shuts off the internetPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Companies: Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, linkedin, Sequoia CapitalPeople: Jeff Weiner, Reid Hoffman          Companies: Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, linkedin, Sequoia CapitalPeople: Jeff Weiner, Reid HoffmanAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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