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01/24/12--15:35: Twitter looks to squash spam and malicious links with new acquisition (chan 1592482)

Twitter finally appears to be preparing a new wave of attacks on the malicious spammers that have overrun the popular social network during the past year. Web security firm Dasient on Monday announced that it has been acquired by Twitter. ”Since its inception, Dasient has been focused on solving web-scale security problems involving malware and other types of online abuse,” the firm noted in a blog post. “In 2009, Dasient launched its web anti-malware platform, capable of scanning URLs and websites for the presence of harmful content. In 2010, Dasient launched the industry’s first anti-malvertising service to protect ad networks and publishers from the scourge of malicious ads. Over the last year, we have been very active in securing the ads and content


01/24/12--15:57: Apple CEO Tim Cook Touches On Kindle Fire, Android, Windows Phone (chan 1592482)



In the world of boring corporate earnings calls, Apple's investor Q&A sessions are about as exciting as it gets--the equivalent hardcore pornography for most tech geeks. Offering a rare peek inside the famously secretive company, Apple's earnings are watched by every industry analyst and news outlet--and even live blogged in some instances, like a worldwide sporting event. With such attention paid to the spectacle, Apple has used the forum to go after competitors--Steve Jobs once passionately used his bully pulpit to aggressively knock Android--and it appears current CEO Tim Cook plans to use his megaphone in the same fashion.

Cook hopped on the call today to not only boast of Apple's record-high $46 billion revenues and $13 billion profits, but to talk up the company's sales of 15.4 million iPads and 37 million iPhones. In doing so, Cook touched on various Apple competitors in the tablet and smartphone market, from the Kindle Fire to Android to Windows Phone.

Speaking in response to an analyst's question about lower-priced tablet competitors, Cook indicated he wasn't really aware that there was any true direct competition with the iPad. "In terms of the competetive ecosystem, the iPad is in a class all by itself," he told listeners on the call. Disregarding devices such as the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet as "limited-function tablets," he acknowledged that "they'll sell a fair number of units...but I don't think people who want an iPad will settle."

"Last year was supposed to be the year of the tablet," he added. "Most people will agree that it was the year of the iPad--for the second year in row."

One investor asked if low-cost alternatives such as the Kindle Fire were actually increasing sales of the iPad--that is, when customers play with the "limited-function tablets" they're more likely to want a higher-end device like the iPad, the analyst suggested. "After Amazon launched the Kindle Fire, in my view, there wasn't an obvious effect on the numbers," Cook answered. "I've heard the theory from some customers--that they looked at [the Kindle Fire] and decided to buy an iPad. Whether that happens on a larger basis, I don't know." Still, he added, the iPad is causing a huge amount of cannibalization for Windows PCs. "We love that trend," he beamed.

As for Android, Cook indirectly criticized Google for not providing "crisp" data and numbers so he could get a true sense of the market. But in the tablet market, he said, it's clear the iPad is winning customers in the enterprise, education, and consumer markets. "It's winning market by market by market," he said.

Cook even rejected the comparison of iOS versus Android as a two-horse race, arguing that with over 315 million iOS devices cumulatively sold, Apple is far ahead of any competition. "I think all of us inherently believe that the iPad is way ahead there--there's really no comparison," Cook boasted.

"I don't think this is a two-horse race," he continued. "There's a horse in Redmond that always sneaks up, and always runs. There are other players that we never count out. I don't think we pay attention to how many horses there are...we just try to be the lead one."

[Image: Flickr user Tinou]









01/24/12--16:30: T-Mobile says iPhone offers ‘poor’ experience, points customers to 4G Android phones instead (chan 1592482)

An internal document allegedly obtained from T-Mobile says the iPhone offers a “poor” customer experience on T-Mobile’s network. While it’s arguable that is a true statement since current iPhone models don’t support T-Mobile’s 1700MHz and 2100MHz 3G/4G bands and can only run on a second-generation EDGE network, there are now well over a million T-Mobile customers currently using unlocked iPhones on its network. The internal document instead asks customer service representatives to suggest customers buy T-Mobile’s 4G HSPA+ Android devices instead. We certainly understand where T-Mobile is coming from; obviously it wants to be able to control its customers’ experiences on its network. Plus, EDGE is far slower than the carrier’s HSPA+ network. As TMoNews points out, it’s more probable that customers


01/24/12--17:25: iPhone 4S and iPad 2 jailbreak installed almost a million in three days (chan 1592482)

On Friday, the Chronic Dev Team and iPhone Dev Team joined forces and released “Absinthe A5,” an untethered jailbreak solution for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2. The two groups released the download figures on Monday and revealed that almost 1 million people jailbroke their devices during Absinthe’s first three days of availability. Using Cydia, the alternative App Store that comes with the exploit, the team was able to track the exact number of downloads. Specifically, the jailbreak was performed on 491,325 iPhone 4S handsets, 308,967 iPad 2 tablets and 152,940 iPad 2s that had been previously jailbroken on iOS 4. Read


01/24/12--18:20: Android 4.0 updates coming to Sony’s tablets and Xperia phones this spring (chan 1592482)

Sony will update the company’s Tablet S, Tablet P and Xperia line of smartphones to Android 4.0 in the spring, according to The Verge. Both tablets are already running Ice Cream Sandwich and are currently being tested behind the scenes. The company did not give a specific release date, however it plans to add “some really cool unique bits” to both tablets on top of the update. Last fall, Sony confirmed that its entire 2011 Xperia portfolio would receive an Android 4.0 update at a later date. Phones set to get the Ice Cream Sandwich update include the Xperia Arc, Arc S, Play, Neo, Neo V, Mini, Mini Pro, Active and Ray, as well as Sony Ericsson’s Live Walkman. Read


01/24/12--19:15: Nokia fined in Australia for spamming customers with text messages (chan 1592482)

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has fined Nokia for sending spam-filled text messages to its customers. Nokia had been sending messages with tips on how customers could take advantage of their phones’ features, Reuters said Tuesday, but the government agreed Nokia should allow its customers to opt out of receiving the messages. ”Some businesses are still not getting SMS marketing right,” Australian Communications and Media Authority chairman Richard Bean told Reuters. “The same rules apply to SMS marketing as for email marketing, and the same rules apply to all businesses, big and small.” Read


01/24/12--20:10: Virgin America brands jet with ‘stay hungry, stay foolish’ to honor Steve Jobs (chan 1592482)

A Virgin America Airbus A320 now features the quote, “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” directly beneath the cockpit in tribute to the late Steve Jobs, reports CNET. The quote is taken from Jobs’s 2005 Stanford commencement speech and was suggest by a Virgin America employee. ”The ‘Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish’ aircraft name was actually submitted as a tribute to Mr. Jobs by one of our employees in an internal plane naming competition,” said Virgin America spokesperson Abby Lunardini. Virgin has always looked to innovate the industry and it was the first airline company to offer fleet-wide Wi-Fi. It is also the only airline based in Silicon Valley, and the company likens itself to the late Apple co-founder. “The idea behind Virgin America was to reinvent the


01/24/12--21:15: Texas Instruments to close plants in Texas and Japan (chan 1592482)

Texas Instruments announced recently that, even though it reported better than expected chip sales during the fourth quarter of 2011, the company will shut down its plants in Texas and in Japan. Texas Instruments has seen an increased demand for its mobile chips but will close the two factories during the next 18 months while increasing its employee numbers at different plants. The move is an effort to cut costs, Reuters said. The company reported a fourth-quarter profit of $298 million, down from $942 million during the same quarter last year. Revenue also fell from $3.53 billion last year to $3.42 billion during the fourth quarter. “Everybody feared we’d end the holiday season with abysmal sales,” Cody Acree, an analyst with


01/24/12--22:30: Microsoft may discontinue its virtual currency system (chan 1592482)

Microsoft may be preparing to discontinue its virtual currency system by the end of the year, according to Inside Mobile Apps. The software giant is reportedly looking to phase out Microsoft Points in favor of real money transactions. After the switch, customers with existing Microsoft Points balances will have them converted into their local currency. Microsoft is said to have already warned mobile developers to plan their upcoming downloadable content and in-app purchases in accordance with the change. The move isn’t all that surprising; Microsoft has been gradually introducing cash purchases for its full Xbox Live games instead of using the points system, which many have seen as confusing and unnecessary. Microsoft Points are currently used to purchase games and media


01/25/12--03:42: Google Privacy Changes To Unite User Tracking Info, Yahoo Posts Tepid Q4 Earnings, Obama Announces Trade Practice Monitor (chan 1592482)

Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day.

O2 Found Sharing Phone Numbers With Websites. U.K. mobile service provider O2 is sending the phone numbers of its customers to the websites they visit on their mobile phone. The cause of the information breach is unclear, TheNextWeb reports. According to O2's Twitter account, which has been slammed with irate customer tweets, the company is investigating the issue. --NS

--Updated 6:35 a.m. EST



Google Gets Better At Tracking. Google announced changes to its privacy policies, which includes combining the data it collects about users across all its services. It's an extension of the kind of tracking Google already does--positioning Gmail ads next to related content on an email, for example. However, this move reaches across email, YouTube and search services, and includes mobile location data when you log in via a GPS-enabled device, the Washington Post points out. This will give the company a nuanced picture of your movements on the Web and in the world. Users will not be able to opt out of the changes, which will take effect on March 1. --NS

Yahoo Posts Tepid Q4 Earnings. New Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson led his first earnings call yesterday, announcing another slightly disappointing quarter for Yahoo. The company saw a 5% dip in income in Q4, and a revenue of $1.32 billion--13% down from last year's figure. Thompson hinted that he might close some sections of Yahoo, but kept mum about any overall strategy changes to the company. --NS

Obama Announces Trade Practice Monitor. In his State of the Union address yesterday, President Barack Obama announced a new Trade Enforcement Unit that would watch over and prevent the illegal entry of counterfeit goods and software into the U.S., with China's business practices as its first target. The unit would investigate "unfair trade practices in countries like China," Obama said, adding, "There will be more inspections to prevent counterfeit or unsafe goods from crossing our borders." --NS

--Updated 6:00 a.m. EST

[Image: Flickr user nathanmac87]

Yesterday's Fast Feed: Julian Assange To Host TV Talk Show, Google Reverses Real Name Policy, Orange To Bring Free Wikipedia To Mobile Phones, and more!









01/25/12--04:15: IBM and HTC partner to lure the enterprise market to Android (chan 1592482)

IBM and HTC are working together to make Android a more attractive platform for the enterprise market. Executives from both companies recently demoed IBM software running on HTC smartphones and tablets during IBM’s Lotusphere and Connect conference, TechWeek Europe said recently. “It’s only been really relatively recently that HTC has broken into the enterprise space,” HTC’s executive director Global Enterprise and Services David Jaegar said. “We’re driving toward that magic 100-million device number globally. We see IBM as the gold standard for an enterprise partnership. We want to make sure if IBM is talking about Android or tablets, HTC is in the conversation.” HTC is focusing specifically on security applications, Jaegar explained recently. The Taiwan-based phone and tablet maker also said


01/25/12--05:30: AT&T bashes Sprint for using roaming agreements and ‘disinvesting’ in its own network (chan 1592482)

AT&T’s Senior Vice President-Federal Regulatory and Chief Privacy Officer Bob Quinn recently wrote a post on the company’s blog that called Sprint out for deciding to use roaming agreements, and “disinvesting” in its own network in Kansas and Oklahoma instead of providing customers with access to its network. As it turns out, the Federal Communications Commission originally prevented carriers, under the Home Market Rule, from creating roaming agreements when they had the spectrum or the ability to use their own networks. However, as Quinn explains, the rule was overturned in 2010 and is currently undergoing an appeals process. Read on for more. So what makes AT&T so mad about Sprint’s decision to use someone else’s network? AT&T doesn’t think the


01/25/12--05:57: RapidShare Responds To Megaupload Comparisons: Only 5% Of Our Files Are Pirated (chan 1592482)

RapidShare attorney Daniel Raimer explains why the amount of pirated content a service hosts is not the proper metric for deciding whether it deserves the same fate as Megaupload.

Don't try to compare Megaupload to RapidShare--or any other hosting or cloud service for that matter. Kim Dotcom's now infamous file-sharing service has become the black plague of the industry, having been shut down (but not proven guilty) by Federal prosecutors and accused of costing the entertainment industry $500 million in lost revenues.

Now, every somewhat-similar service is claiming to be a part of a different industry--or a different stratosphere--in an attempt to distance their businesses from Dotcom's allegedly extreme piracy violations and business model. For some, that's true.

On Tuesday, we caught up with RapidShare attorney and spokesman Daniel Raimer. RapidShare is one of the world's most popular file-hosting sites, and many have wondered whether the site could be next on the Feds list of targets. In the second of our two-part interview (read part one here), Raimer explains why the amount of pirated content a service hosts is not the proper metric for deciding whether it deserves the same fate as Megaupload.

FAST COMPANY: Has illegal content ever been downloaded through RapidShare?

DANIEL RAIMER: Yes.

Do you have any sense of the percentage of content on RapidShare that is copyrighted or pirated material?

Our estimate is that it is in the low one-figure percentage area. I would assume that it's maybe 5%.

Could you technically figure out the exact percentage?

No, it's hard to exactly measure it. We've taken a bunch of different approaches to come up with that number. One of the approaches, for example, is the number of downloads. We believe that files that are uploaded to RapidShare and published without authorization are probably downloaded quite a lot. The vast majority of files on our system have never been downloaded, so obviously people are uploading them for more backup purposes. Or they've been downloaded very few times, suggesting they are just for personal use. I can't give you the exact numbers, but the number of files that have not been downloaded more than 10 times is really really huge--these are files that we probably wouldn't even need to argue about.

What is the threshold here for when the amount of pirated content on a service becomes an issue?

The threshold shouldn't be the amount of illegal content on a server, but rather the conduct of the company. If a company is acting legitimately and trying to crack down on piracy, rather than promote it, the company should be fine. If you provide a server and allow customers to upload content, you can't really figure out what they upload, and what amount of data is legitimate versus non-legitimate. The only thing you can control is your own behavior. Do you intend to let pirates engage in criminal activities? Yes or no? Do you have reward programs? Are you fast when it comes to taking illegal files down?

That is the key issue. Those guys who have 99% illegal stuff on their servers are the guys who turn a blind eye to piracy. Let me put it the other way around. If you operate legitimately, the amount of piracy is probably not going to exceed a certain level, but it's really hard to quantify that.

What if it turns out that only 5% of Megaupload files are pirated, too?

As I've already said, I believe the percentage is the wrong approach. I would rather look at what the company is doing. Are they promoting online infringement? If it turned out that Megaupload had just 1% of illegal files, but at the same time, they were paying money willingly and knowingly to upload movies and publish the link, this would still be criminal, and they should be held liable. I don't know if that's the case, but I think it's all about the conduct. That's what criminal prosecution should be all about.

How much responsibility lies with the service providers to police piracy?

I have to give you two responses. Right now, I think the responsibility for providers like us are not very broad. If you look at the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it is pretty clear what a provider has to do, and that's basically respond to takedown notices, and to keep an open eye whenever you see a red flag. It's not too much, and it's the kind of things we've done since day one. I know that people in the content industry aren't satisfied with that because they say, "Hey, just sending out takedown notices and having someone upload the file again is like a game of Whack The Mole. I don't want to play it anymore. You guys have to be more proactive." I believe that from a legal standpoint, a service provider would be fine if they just comply with the DMCA because it basically prevents you from criminal liability. From a moral standpoint, I think a provider should be more, and participate in the fight against piracy, at least that's our take on the situation and why we are being more proactive than others. We have implemented a more stringent policy. We have a part of our company dedicated to anti-abuse measures. We crawl the Internet for hints on where illegal files may be stored.

Read part one of our interview with Raimer here.

And read Fast Company's previous coverage of the feds' raid on Megaupload and its founder Kim Dotcom here.

[Image provided by Shutterstock]









01/25/12--06:15: Amazon’s Kindle Fire had no impact on iPad sales, Apple CEO says (chan 1592482)

Amazon’s Kindle Fire had a huge holiday season by all accounts, with fourth-quarter sales that may have exceeded 4 million units according to analyst estimates. While a number of analysts made predictions that Amazon’s $199 tablet would take a bite out of iPad sales — Morgan Keegan’s Travis McCourt thought the Kindle Fire could cost Apple as much as $1 billion in holiday sales — it looks as though Apple’s iPad business emerged unscathed. Read on for more. Following Apple’s first-quarter earnings report, which was the most profitable quarter ever reported by a technology company, CEO Tim Cook stated on the company’s earnings call that the Kindle Fire had no impact on iPad sales whatsoever. Cook said that he looked very carefully


01/25/12--06:19: 3 Secrets To Recruiting Tech Talent In Tough Markets (chan 1592482)



Running a tech company and looking for Ruby developers? Got a “great idea” for a startup, and all you need is a programmer? Congratulations! You’ve just joined the 10,000 other geeks in the same coder-starved boat, especially if you live in a technology hub like Silicon Valley or New York City.

Many founders mistakenly believe money or perks are the answer to hiring programmers. Fortunately for the cash-strapped startup, that’s not the case.

Hunch founder Chris Dixon (one of the investors in my company, Contently) writes that the most important thing about recruiting programmers is understanding what motivates them: interesting challenges, talented coworkers, and working on software that gets used by a lot of people. Money and free Cheetos are great, but they come last.

But even if you can motivate, the fact is, good programmers are in high demand. Competing with the Googles of the world doesn’t make it any easier.

With a fresh $50 million, Foursquare’s 80+ person team just moved to New York’s Soho neighborhood, into an office seven times the size of its old one--and no doubt, they intend to fill it up. There go the rest of the city’s programmers. 

But maybe that doesn’t matter.

Despite the developer gold rush in New York, my own, cash-conscious company, Contently, has managed to hire the tech talent we’ve wanted, when we wanted it. Every time.

Here are the three secrets we hire by: 

Target Out-Of-Staters Willing To Relocate

Of Contently’s core team, only one of us actually lived in New York to begin with. One came from Vegas, two from Philadelphia, and we’re continually pulling in developers from Chicago, the Carolinas, and Washington, D.C.

The bottom line is this: Not every talented programmer in the world is from a city with “Silicon” in its nickname. But many of those programmers would love to live in one.

Getting to them is easier than you think. We post job descriptions in local markets, big cities with good universities but no big tech scene. We advertise in Forrst and StackOverflow Careers, specifying interest in people willing to move. We work our out-of-state college and friend networks, and offer to pay for relocation.

When you find good people, contract them remotely for a couple of weeks, then fly them in for a week in person. This tryout before commitment creates goodwill with your future employees, and reassurance that the relocation is a good move.

The best thing about the out-of-towner strategy is market salary in a place like San Francisco is a big upgrade compared to Boise, Idaho. Even with increased cost of living, a pay bump is a nice psychological reward. 

Train Junior Devs Through Paired Programming

Startups are incredibly conscious (or should be) of the impact their hires make on the company roadmap and culture. They want A players who are motivated and autonomous.

Consequently, many companies interview dozens and hire zero, then complain about a lack of available talent. The self-taught coder with six months of experience rarely makes the cut. But those Level 1 developers can become your easiest source of talent yet--if you’re willing to be patient. 

Josh Knowles, managing director of the Ruby on Rails shop Pivotal Labs, employs some of the most sought-after developers in New York City. His dev teams code in agile development-style pairs, two programmers sharing a computer and coding together. That’s not only how he increases productivity and reduces bugs, but it’s also his secret to building an army.

Rather than spending months searching for a white whale, take those eager, ubiquitous junior developers you’d normally pass over and pair them with your senior developers. In three to six months, Knowles says, they’ll start adding value, and you’ll be able to rotate them out into autonomous roles. Cycle in more junior devs to keep the factory growing.

Use HireLite To Speed Up Interviews

The final method I use for finding tech talent is a site called HireLite, which accelerates our interview process by an order of magnitude, and helps us find remote programmers who don’t suck. It’s essentially speed dating, only it’s okay to talk about shards and NoSQL databases.

HireLite aggregates job-hunting coders and puts them in front of hirers in rapid succession via Skype. There’s a pre-screening questionnaire, then 10-minute webcam interviews. There are HireLite sessions for local markets as well as for “remote,” U.S.-based programmers, whom you can hire from a distance or lure to wherever you’re located. 

Rather than spending hours scheduling appointments, making applicants sit awkwardly in your waiting room clutching a resume, and wasting time on pleasantries, you get down to business with a dozen developers in one evening.

And pants are optional.

Related: 

Why Digital Talent Doesn't Want To Work At Your CompanyWant To Keep (And Motivate) Your Best Employees? It's Not About The MoneyHow To Discover Amazing Talent For Your Startup

For more leadership coverage, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

[Image: Flickr user Stefan]









01/25/12--06:35: Unmasking A Digital Pirate On Amazon (chan 1592482)

A Kuwaiti national using fake names and selling others' copyrighted stories in the Kindle Store sheds light on black hat hacker forums--and the theft, taboo sex, and swindles festering in the recesses of Amazon.

Editor's Note

Want more on digital piracy? Read Fast Company's ongoing coverage of the federal crackdown on file-sharing site Megaupload and the arrest of its playboy founder Kim Dotcom. Also, read more on SOPA, PIPA, and Congressman Darrell Issa's plans for combating piracy.



Then there's the problem of proving infringement. "Copyright is a Federal statute," says Jane Shay Wald, a partner emeritus at Irell and Manella, and a former president of Los Angeles Copyright Society. "No company can make a finding of copyright infringement that's binding on the alleged infringer. That's the job of a judge and jury."

She envisions a number of scenarios in which someone could believe he owns the copyright but doesn't. He might have inadvertently acquired the copyright to a work that had been copied previously. Maybe he had transferred ownership to another party or been employed by someone else who holds the copyright. Or the copyright might be invalid for a number of technical reasons. Amazon could tie up any potential litigant in court for years. 

Now you likely know why Amazon--and Google, Reddit, Wikipedia, and many others--have been so adamant in their opposition to the Senate's heavy-handed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the House's sister bill, the Protect IP Act (PIPA). If made into law both could have armed copyright holders with weapons to do battle with websites that host infringing material. In theory, without the hassle of attaining a court order, a single complainant might have been able to force credit card companies to suspend Amazon's financial transactions, Google and Bing to erase it from search results, and DNS providers to cloak the site so users couldn't easily find it. One slip up and the impact on a site like Amazon could be devastating.    

The vehemence and widespread popularity of anti-SOPA/PIPA protests, which caught senators and congressmen by surprise, effectively hobbled chance of passage. Instead, Amazon continues to act under the oft-maligned Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which under its "safe harbor" provision puts the onus on the infringer, not the platform. Amazon is in the clear as long as it makes a good-faith effort to remove material that might violate someone's copyright. 

"One could try to formulate a claim against Amazon based on the fact that it kept these 'ill-gotten gains," Brown, the technology attorney from Chicago, says. "That case might fall under the heading of 'unjust enrichment.' But I think a case like that would have some problems, likely being tossed out by a court for being preempted by federal copyright law."

Meanwhile, David Springer says he's thinking of contacting Luke to demand compensation.

As for Luke, he just wants to forget the whole thing. "I'm putting this behind me," he says, "chalking" the money he spent on the bogus books "down to experience." 

Adam L. Penenberg is a journalism professor at NYU and a contributing writer to Fast Company. Follow him on Twitter: @penenberg

[Image: Flickr user Bart Heird; Thumbnail: Flickr user Kaptain Kobold]









01/25/12--07:00: Nokia announces sale of its 1.5 billionth S40 handset (chan 1592482)

Nokia announced on Wednesday that it has officially sold its 1.5 billionth S40-powered cell phone since the first S40 device — the Nokia 7110 — was released in 1999. A 21-year old Brazilian woman made the historic purchase in São Paulo, the company said, noting that the woman purchased a Nokia Asha 303 from a Magazine Luiza store. “We are incredibly proud to reach this milestone,” said Mary McDowell, Executive Vice President for Mobile Phones at Nokia. “Having 1.5 billion Series 40 devices sold is a hard-to-reach mark, let alone one attainable in a single line of products. At a time when we are maintaining our commitment to connecting the next billion customers around the world – it is gratifying to consider


01/25/12--07:45: Q4 iPhone sales reportedly topped all Android phones combined (chan 1592482)

Apple’s monster holiday quarter is the talk of the tech world, with the technology giant having just reported the second most profitable quarter ever among U.S. companies. The company’s $13.06 billion in fiscal first-quarter profit on revenue that surpassed $46 billion is staggering, and iPhone shipments that surpassed 37 million units played a huge role in Apple’s record-setting quarter. While market share is a statistic many deem unimportant, another impressive entry in Apple’s laundry least of first-quarter feats may be one of its most impressive yet: with just three models currently available, Apple’s share of the smartphone market may have surpassed that of Android in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011. Read on for more. According to new data from analysts at


01/25/12--08:14: Here's Why You Should Care (A Lot) About The Supreme Court's GPS Ruling (chan 1592482)

You might not be suspected of trafficking cocaine and your car might not have a warrantless GPS placed in it by police. But the legal issues raised by the Supreme Court matter for everything you do online (and off).



When discussing constitutional law, it's become a cliché to mention how the founding fathers didn't have newfangled modern technologies. GPS systems, computers, atomic bombs... none of those existed in the era of Franklin, Washington, and Madison. Like many ideas, this is a cliché because it's true.

In a ruling earlier this week (United States vs. Jones), the Supreme Court decided that attaching GPS trackers to vehicles without warrants violates the Fourth Amendment. The Court decided in a majority opinion that the use of GPS trackers without a warrant impinges on our right to be free of unreasonable searches... but, here's the kicker: a minority of justices, headed by Samuel Alito, argued that long-term GPS tracking--with or without a warrant--violates privacy expectations.

In other words, every justice on the Supreme Court has reservations about using GPS tracking as a law enforcement tool. As the disruptive technology boom of the past twenty years matures, the Supreme Court will be seeing many more cases like this. GPS systems, smartphones, unmanned aerial vehicles, cyberattacks, online commerce, and digital copyright law are all on the cutting edge of law--and how the Supreme Court (and others) interpret them will set the stage for decades to come.

Antoine Jones, a Washington D.C. nightclub owner, was at the center of United States vs. Jones. District police believed Jones was linked to a cocaine-trafficking operation. The police, without obtaining a proper warrant, hid a GPS tracker in his wife's car that was monitored for a month. The GPS device pinged district police every 10 seconds with location info on the car. Evidence gathered from the GPS tracker was used to help convict Jones of conspiring to sell cocaine; he was subsequently sentenced to life in prison, though the decision was later overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C.



Ever since GPS trackers became easily available on the commercial market, sales have boomed for the law enforcement market. Police departments and federal agencies love GPS trackers; they are relatively inexpensive and provide valuable data on the whereabouts of suspects. Jones, of course, was not the only suspect whose GPS location was monitored for a long period of time without a warrant. United States vs. Jones consolidated and affected a number of similar cases. These range from Arab-Americans in northern California with no criminal history suddenly finding GPS trackers in their cars to bank robbers and other people suspected of serious crimes.

Law enforcement use a variety of methods to get GPS trackers into vehicles; these range from old-fashioned scrambles to hide a device under a car to amazing air guns used by the LAPD that literally shoot GPS-enabled darts into the open windows of passing vehicles. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), police in Arlington and Fairfax (Virginia) used GPS trackers 229 times between 2005 and 2007.

According to Marcia Hoffman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), “This is an important ruling for all Americans […] The Supreme Court has unanimously confirmed that the Constitution prevents unbridled police use of new technologies to monitor our movements.”

But while the EFF is happy, the billion-dollar question is what the future of GPS tracking will be. The majority opinion gives the green light for long-term GPS tracking via warrant, but Alito mentioned something very interesting in his concurring opinion for the Supreme Court: "Dramatic technological change may lead to periods in which popular expectations are in flux and may ultimately produce significant changes in popular attitudes.”

We are in the middle of a period of massive technological disruption right now. The concurrent rise of the internet, smartphones and miniaturized technology is causing changes--and not just in the United States!--as dramatic as those set into motion by the printing press, the automobile, and the airplane. For the next few decades, judges and legislators will be trying their best to apply a massive body of jurisprudence to newfangled technologies.

For example, the DEA and police departments nationwide apply algorithms to satellite imagery in order to find meth labs. In a Colorado District Court case, the United States ruled that suspects may be forced to give up encryption passwords to law enforcement. Just last week, Anonymous launched a massive DDOS attack on the Justice Department after the MegaUpload bust. Back in November, unknown hackers managed to sabotage railway lines in the Pacific Northwest by disrupting automated safety signals. The FBI routinely buys massively detailed consumer information [PDF] in bulk from commercial aggregators to get around restrictions that prohibit them from spying on American citizens. Meanwhile, law abiding citizens find that hackers--often armed with ludicrously simple tools--manage to steal their credit card numbers from poorly defended commercial sites on a seemingly weekly basis. All of these issues will cause significant challenges and headaches for American jurisprudence.

In his concurring opinion, Alito implied that it was up to Congress--not the Supreme Court--to enact legislation to properly regulate newly emergent technologies. The current Congressional law covering most computer activities was enacted in 1986, back when the author of this article was in kindergarten. Meanwhile, the furor surrounding SOPA and PIPA revealed that most of Congress is shockingly poorly informed about technology (and, incidentally, made Facebook and Google realize that they must lobby like MPAA/NRA hell for their own commercial benefits). The judicial and legislative decisions of the next 20 years are going to determine how you use the internet, conduct business, how you use your phone... even how you watch television. Here's hoping our lawyers, lobbyists, and elected officials are up to the challenge.

Related Story: CSi: Crime Scene iPhones Yield Forensic Evidence, Confusion About Data Handling

[Image: Flickr user davidsonscott15]

For more stories like this, follow @fastcompany on Twitter. Email Neal Ungerleider, the author of this article, here or find him on Twitter and Google+.

 

 









01/25/12--08:30: Hasbro Is No Has-Been: Board Games Surge In The Digital Age (chan 1592482)

Risk has come to Facebook. Scrabble is one of the top iPhone apps. And several board games are enjoying a long life on game consoles. In the digital age, you better be ready to Hasbro-down.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away families had a game night--once a week they'd pull out a stack of boxes from a closet and everyone would flex their knowledge of trivia (Trivial Pursuit), vocabulary (Scrabble), or even their real-estate management skills (Monopoly, natch). You can check the :30 second mark of this clip from The Royal Tenenbaums to remember what  a game closet looked like.

With the rise of cable TV and video games in the '80s, that tradition waned in the U.S. But in Europe, board games just evolved into complex worlds of strategy and resources. Eventually, such games gained a niche following in the U.S--games like Settlers of Catan, Carcassone, and Ticket to Ride. And now with this plethora of board games appearing on digital platforms, board games are making a comeback. "This is a renaissance of board gaming that you are seeing," says Chip Lange, the general manager of Hasbro Studios for Electronic Arts, the division within EA that adapts Hasbro's board games. "People love to sit around with their families and play board games. When they are on the go they take their passion for board games with them on their mobile devices."

One of the most recognizable games from the past is Risk. For many, fond memories of long nights spent conquering continents and breaking alliances remain. Hasbro, the publishers of Risk tried ten years ago to bring Risk to video games. But it, and many other of their board game adaptations, did not find success. And so Hasbro sold off their digital business in 2001. Since then, Hasbro has reinvented the game of Risk. "Instead of you taking over the whole world, you've got to complete 3 objectives from a pool of objectives, and the first one to do that wins. So that was a sea change for us, and we said, 'Great! We're gonna do that,'" says Spencer Brooks, the producer of the digital versions of Risk for Electronic Arts.

In 2010, EA brought this quicker version to Xbox and PlayStation with an approachable cartoony art style as Risk: Factions. In mid-January, Risk: Factions debuted on Facebook, its armies of zombies and cats getting new functionality like special weapons, and bases where players create more troops and stronger weapons. Brooks said, "I think we nailed it with keeping true to the brand mechanics, keeping true to the feel of the fictional brand that we had built on the Xbox version, and also adding this sense of persistence that is so important to Facebook games."

Risk is just one board game that has seen a surge in popularity under this Hasbro/EA partnership. Despite strong competitors in the digital realm--Words With Friends or any of the other thousands of word game apps--Monopoly, Scrabble, and the Game of Life have all taken off: all 3 games were in the top 20 for paid iPhone apps in 2011, and Monopoly and Scrabble made the top 20 paid iPad apps as well. Other classic games, like Sorry and Connect Four, have flourished as part of EA's Family Game Night releases--a series so successful, Family Game Night 4 was recently released and a television game show of the same name was created. "When we were looking to make a major investment into the world of casual social gaming in 2007, as opposed to doing it in one-offs, we decided that there was no stronger library of family loved brands that had the kind of range and diversity that Hasbro did," said Lange, who manages the relationship between Hasbro and Electronic Arts. With Hasbro and EA working together, these board game classics are now all over consoles, smartphones, and social networks.

One such European company who has capitalized on the board game renaissance is Days of Wonder. Their game of building train routes, Ticket to Ride, has sold 1.8 million copies since its release in 2006. "Unlike the music industry, where for the most part it has been transitioning to digital, for board games the two experiences are complimentary," said Days of Wonder's CEO Eric Hautemont. Where Hasbro has found success in the last few years with the EA partnership, Days went it alone. They built an online version themselves--over 27 million games have been played online, with a new game starting every 4 seconds. After a few years, they brought the game to Xbox. And last year they released it for iPad and then iPhone.

Hautemont says, "It's because we have an install base of 1.8 million board-game players that got the iPad app off to such a good start." Hautemont has discovered that success can be found, not by releasing a tide of products every year--some board game companies release 20 to 30 games a year--but by focusing your offerings to one new game a year that gets the company's full attention. "We live and die by word of mouth. Our entire marketing budget is in the box when you buy it," said Hautemon. "We spend more money than anyone with the game components. People are like, 'How can you afford to do that?' And I am like, 'How can you afford not to do that?'"

Beyond European board games taking on the big boys with their games, the individual game designers are trying to make names for themselves in the digital arena. Reiner Knizia, one of Germany's celebrated board-game designers, has taken success into his own hands. He creates board games for multiple game distributors: everything from Lord of the Rings, to Ingenious, to Tigris & Euphrates, to a Star Trek game tied to the last film. And he has embraced the digital age in the same way, releasing dozens of games on Facebook and on iOS through several publishers. "In order to be successful, you need to be relevant to our times," said Knizia. "You need to go where the people are, and the people are certainly on smartphones and tablets. It was very challenging and exciting to go there too." And while not every single one has had sales success, he has learned a lot from translating the games to mobile. "The app store has very easy access, so almost everybody can put something in there. But just putting something in there, just doesn't do it. So how do you get seen? What you need is a good license or a strong name. That's how you differentiate yourself," says Knizia. "It was a big, exciting time to learn how these markets work. It was also very exciting to see how various game mechanics work."

Whatever approach is used to adapt these games to digital spaces, once the app is thriving there, it creates a situation unique to board games. Mainstream game players try the app, then buy the board game so they bring back the tradition of Game Nights to their household. Or a group of diehard board gamers all grab the iPad app, so they can play tournaments from the comfort of their individual homes. The migration is not one way, but a back-and-forth that increases sales for both mediums. Lange said, "Nobody understands the game mechanics that customers love and the brand development like Hasbro does. Obviously there's a number of great marketing type partnerships that we can do. You turn over any board game that Hasbro's got and you see a big promotion for EA's interactive site. We have done a lot of great collaboration."

But such reciprocal marketing and sales can complicate things. "People that buy the iPad version of a game that did not know about it before are then purchasing the board game," says Hautemont. "So when you have a relationship like you have with the Hasbro-EA relationship, how do you make sure that both parties are happy and satisfied with the terms? How do you divide who gets what?"

Beyond marketing and sales issues, bringing board games to digital platforms brings its own set of creative challenges. "With digital adaptations of board games, the little details make a very big difference," said Hautemont. "You don't see people face to face, but you see their score all the time, so you pay more attention to their scores than you do with the regular game where there is more body language." According to one designer, the choice in game to adapt is the first detail to nail down. Knizia said, "The first challenge is to pick the right games that are convertible and makes sense on the new medium. And then it really depends on the initial discussion, if a 1 to 1 transfer makes sense, or if you need a campaign mode or a solitaire game mode."

With the inevitable changes to digital versions of games, do new features ever make the jump from digital to physical games? Chip Lange was cagey over whether a cartoony version of Risk featuring cats and zombies would ever come to cardboard, but then he pointed to a past example. "Our Trivial Pursuit game on the console a couple of years ago had a really fun mechanic in it, in which not only did I have to answer the question but also, you guys had to bet on whether or not I would get it right," says Lange. "Trivial pursuit came out in the packaged goods form called 'Bet You Know It' the year after and that used a very similar mechanic."

Do companies take that to the next extreme and change physical games before they are even released, in preparation for a digital version? Knizia says, "Trying to do everything up front doesn't work. I want to make a game perfect for the board gaming world, for its target market, and only if it is successful do I think about taking it somewhere else."

And this board-game renaissance won't stop here. As time has shown, as tech evolves, so will the games. Scrabble players are already flicking tiles from their iPhones to the board on the iPad. And what lies beyond tablets and online gaming? There is no doubt that augmented reality board games will emerge, voice-controlled games for smartphones and tablets aren't far off, and entire replications of the board-game experience on touch-enabled tables are inevitable--prototypes for Microsoft's Surface already exist.

"I think it's exciting, all the changes in our world," Knizia says. "You can see them as threats. I see them as fun, exciting, stimulating. It keeps the industry fresh. But you need to be willing to go with the times. For me it is a very natural step."

Follow the author (@khohannessian) or Fast Company on Twitter.

Read More: How Words With Friends Beat Scrabble At Its Own Game Redesigning Monopoly, Clue, And The Ouija Board To Evoke A Bygone Era Game Inventor Kim Vandenbroucke Talks Design Process, Board Game Renaissance









01/25/12--08:34: AT&T’s Q1 2012 roadmap: Nokia Lumia 900 to launch March 18th for $99.99 (chan 1592482)

We just received a portion of AT&T’s 2012 roadmap from a trusted source, and it looks like AT&T isn’t playing around this year. There are some heavy hitters lined up for the first quarter of 2012, and one of the biggest smartphone launches of the quarter is currently scheduled to take place in mid-March. According to our source, the Nokia Lumia 900 is set to launch on March 18th, which has been rumored before. The phone hasn’t yet received technical acceptance however, so that date could change. The bigger news is the phone’s price: AT&T and Nokia are planning to launch this flagship smartphone at just $99.99 on a two-year contract. That price point would make this sleek smartphone an


01/25/12--09:06: The State Of The Union Address Is The Ultimate Master Class In Public Speaking (chan 1592482)

Learn advanced--yet simple--speaking techniques likes anaphora, anapest, and chiasmus by breaking down last night's State of the Union address (don't worry, we'll explain).



After listening to President Obama’s State of the Union (SOTU), I am once again reminded of how powerful delivery skills can be. We can debate whether style trumps substance or vice versa all we want. The truth is that leaders--political and business--who are able to connect emotionally with their stakeholders will win hearts and minds and those who don’t, won’t.  

Candidates who come across forcefully, who look and sound like they believe what they’re saying, who display passion, will get our attention and, ultimately, our votes.

It means is that Obama has a huge advantage going into this year’s election, as he did in 2008. It means that Newt Gingrich will continue to appeal to primary voters. And it means that Mitt Romney has a lot of work to do. 

But it isn’t only presentation skills that make for good speech. Rhetorical devices and flourishes also have a big role in fostering connection, increasing impact, and helping us remember what has been said. In fact, if you examine my previous paragraph, you’ll note my use of a rhetorical device known as known as anaphora, the repetition of an opening word or phrase in successive sentences. The effect is mesmerizing, even hypnotic. Obama used anaphora repeatedly in the SOTU:

No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We bet on American workers. We bet on American ingenuity. (See parallelism below.)To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn. (See parallelism below.)It was wrong. It was irresponsible.  (See parallelism below.)I will not back down from protecting our kids from mercury poisoning, or making sure that our food is safe and our water is clean. I will not go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny your coverage, or charge women differently than men. And I will not go back to the days when Wall Street was allowed to play by its own set of rules. We will stand against violence and intimidation. We will stand for the rights and dignity of all human beings. We will support policies that lead to strong and stable democracies and open markets, because tyranny is no match for liberty. And we will safeguard America’s own security against those who threaten our citizens, our friends, and our interests.  

(Note: Anaphora works best in series of three, and for some reason, many of Obama’s uses occurred in twos, leaving us hanging, waiting for that third one.)

Here are some of the other rhetorical “rules” the President followed:

Anapest is a form of metrical foot, a pattern of word and syllable stress that creates a rhythm of one stressed word or syllable followed by two unstressed words or syllables: “The opPOnents of ACtion are OUT of exCUses." Tricolon is a series of three parallel words or clauses: “No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts.” This phrase also incorporates anaphora and a bit of anapest and alliteration.Chiasmus is a verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed. “Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed.” (This is a clear rip-off of JFK’s famous “Ask not...” line, but not nearly as clever or effective.)Antithesis establishes a contrasting relationship between two ideas: “It is time to turn our unemployment system into a reemployment system…” and “It’s time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America.”Metaphor uses a familiar or tangible image to represent something else: “…none of this can happen unless we also lower the temperature in this town.”Parallelism is a recurring syntax that equalizes the importance of each phrase: "We bet on American workers. We bet on American ingenuity." And, "It was wrong. It was irresponsible."

These are only a few of the many rhetorical devices that can make a speech much more effective and persuasive. We may like to think of ourselves as purely rational, only influenced by policy prescriptions or metrics, but that thinking is precisely what trips us up when it comes time to vote. To make the right decision, to select the best candidate for this incredibly important job, we must have the best information. Sharpening our understanding of how they say what they say will only add to our ability to decide.

Related: 

Why Newt Gingrich And Elizabeth Warren Are So Damned PersuasiveHow Nonverbal Communication Gives Our Words MeaningPreparation Is The Magic Bullet To Public Speaking Success5 Best And Worst Slides From The Presidential PowerPoint

For more leadership coverage, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

[Image: Courtesy Whitehouse.gov]









01/25/12--09:22: Apple's Earnings By The (Holy S*%#!) Numbers (chan 1592482)



Over $13 billion in profits. A hop-skip-and-a-jump shy of 50% profit margins. $4 billion in pay-outs to app developers. Revenues up 73%. 37 million iPhones sold. One new CEO and an armload of competitive and legal threats easily waved away... That's a précis of Apple's earnings reported late yesterday. But these huge numbers don't exactly leap off the page do they? Let's leap aboard the breathlessly-blown-away-by-Apple bus (which we've admittedly bought a ticket for ourselves) and look at how people are trying to illustrate these figures with some meaningful context.

Apple earned more in profits than it was worth in terms of market capitalization just eight years ago. Impressive. If you had a time machine to really get to grips with the context of this idea"Apple nears incredible milestone, coming just shy of $100 billion in cash on hand. Hoard is worth more than all but 52 companies on Earth." So everyone else owning a company, in hundreds of nations, should just give up, eh? And are many of those 52 tech firms, or is it all old-school manufacturing or oil industry? That would be more illuminating.Apple sold more iPhones per day than babies were born. That's pretty impressive, and means Junior should line up for his iPhone right now! Until you remember that maybe Lego sold more than that, or that the number of toilet rolls sold each day could reach the moon and back (or other equally odd comparisons)"Apple now worth more than projected Singapore economy (318 billion) in 2016." Okay, which means it beats Singapore's economy already...Unless the small nation's economy is in some kind of decline? Which is clearly not the case."$AAPL's cash is worth 2,000 tons of gold. (please forgive me @Morgan_03)" Call in Scrooge McDuck--we're ready for some cash pile diving! But since a ton of gold is a cube just over 14 inches on a side, it wouldn't really be that big a pile.Apple's profits are also about 30% bigger for the last quarter than Google's entire revenue.

You can play with numbers til the cows come home--it's a job that many people behind the scenes in the current Presidential race do, for what you could imagine is a lot of money. By massaging the figures, trying to illustrate them in clever ways, or just playing silly buggers with how you say things like "200%" growth (meaning the figure is actually three times bigger than the one you're comparing to--a way of presenting this stat that confuses many writers, readers and others) numbers can look like anything you want.

Let's cut through this and sum it up. Apple's numbers are crazy. Crazy to the point they make some people crazy.

[Image: Flickr user Photo Giddy]

Chat about this news with Kit Eaton on Twitter and Fast Company too.









01/25/12--09:35: AT&T’s Q1 2012 roadmap: Samsung Galaxy Note, Rugby Smart and AT&T Fusion launching Feb 18 (chan 1592482)

In addition to news that AT&T is planning to launch the Nokia Lumia 900 at an earth-shattering sub-$100 price point, we have street dates for another highly anticipated smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Note, along with two unannounced Android devices AT&T is currently prepping. AT&T’s phablet is set to hit store shelves on February 18th for $299.99. The Samsung Rugby Smart, which appears to be a entry-level Android smartphone with HSPA+, and the AT&T Fusion will both launch on February 18th as well for  $99.99 and $124.99, respectively. The nation’s No.2 carrier has a big first quarter planned, and while Nokia’s Lumia 900 is shaping up to be the star of the show, Android fans will still have plenty of new


01/25/12--10:01: WotWentWrong App Gathers Big Data From Bad Daters (chan 1592482)

Finally, an app that systematically destroys your self-esteem!



No romcom has meant more to my life than He's Just Not That Into You, Ken Kwapis' 2009 magnum opus about how, sometimes, there's just no better explanation for why a relationship didn't work out. But for many, that explanation never cuts it--especially for developer Audrey Melnik.

This week, she's launching WotWentWrong, a web app that solves the "mystery of why promising new romances ended unexpectedly or successful first dates vanished." Rather than let the one-time affair just fade away--which can cause "lasting damage to someone's self-esteem and future relationships"--Melnik has created a method of learning customized feedback about what went wrong. “WotWentWrong is the breakup app for couples who never really broke up,” she says. “We’re providing a socially acceptable way to tie up the loose ends, learn from what happened and improve your dating Zen for the next relationship--no stalking required.”

Normally, when women return my calls or texts after a first date (which isn't a normal occurrence at all), the responses vary. "You kept insisting you were the 11th-place finisher on the 14th season of Survivor--which isn't that impressive, and, I just found out, not even true," one dissatisfied customer told me. Other explanations range from, "It was weird that you repeatedly pointed out how your second cousin was Wade Boggs' former publicist," to "Why did you keep boasting about how you have Central air conditioning? It was the dead of Winter."

Now, WotWentWrong can automate these unjustified justifications for me in one slick user interface. Features on the site include the WotWentWrong List, a set of pre-defined explanations for breaking up with someone; Proactive Feedback, a tool that enables an ex to provide detailed suggestions for future dates; and Anonymous Stats, a data aggregation service that will stack your romantic success against others online.

"To encourage exes with answering feedback, the process is incentivized with survey results to questions about how attractive the person found them, how good a kisser, dresser or conversationalist they are," the startup said in a statement.

Because nothing can boost your self-esteem like discovering what an unattractive, bad kisser you are, with poor fashion taste and even poorer conversation skills.

[Image: Flickr user Terren in Va]









01/25/12--10:29: Obama Breaks Out Industrial-Strength Imagery To Rebrand His State Of The Union (chan 1592482)



Nearly four decades ago, our 38th President quipped “I’m a Ford, not a Lincoln.” Gerald Ford could perhaps be forgiven for setting diminished expectations. America was in the doldrums, his predecessor had just been chucked out of office for covering up a burglary, and there was a certain practicality in aspiring to the workaday reliability of a family car rather than the grandiosity of a luxury vehicle. Besides, his name was Ford, he was from Michigan, and not even his most fervent supporters were reserving him a space on Mount Rushmore.

Last night, when President Obama downshifted the branding of his State of the Union from last year’s soaring “Winning the Future” to the more prosaic “Built to Last,” the move seemed much more contrived.

The content of the speech retained the President’s trademark optimism and grandiloquence. There was the same litany of center-left economic policies, exhortations to national greatness, paeans to the heroes in uniform and the ordinary Americans who succeeded against adversity that we’d heard in years past. But this time the message was wrapped in rhetoric meant to recall America’s heritage as an industrial powerhouse at least as much as to prepare the nation for the uncertainties of a post-industrial future.

The president’s clear focus in the speech was jobs. The legacy of his administration and its future both depend on reversing the economic downturn he inherited when he took office and bringing unemployment down below 8% by the November election. Everyone understands that, which twists the politics into an uglier configuration than usual. Even if Republicans fundamentally agreed with the President’s policy approaches--which they most assuredly don’t--they have little incentive to help him succeed. In fact, the more likely the President’s proposals to create jobs and economic growth, the more determined his opponents are to block the legislation in Congress for fear of granting him any kind of victory.

This dynamic has hamstrung the administration (and the country) for years, even as unemployment has remained persistently high. There are signs of improvement, but most of the progress has been concentrated at the top: the stock market is back, corporate profits are surging, the job market is turning around for skilled workers and college graduates.

That’s good, but not good enough. The president’s electoral chances rest on the recovery spreading beyond the lofty heights to the mainstream of America. “Jobs” in this context means manufacturing and construction--industries decimated by economic forces beyond the control of individual firms or workers such as outsourcing and the housing finance crisis. Communities that depend on these jobs to support middle class family incomes have been the most hard-hit in the downturn, and their political preferences are likely to decide the next election.

This constituency is not interested in winning the future if it means losing the present. The opportunities of the global knowledge economy are vaporous abstractions to a laid-off construction worker. The rhetoric of hope and change and competitiveness only resonates if it is accompanied with a paycheck.

If President Obama is unable to make tangible progress because of political obstruction, he at least needs to create an emotional connection to America’s working middle class--something that has not always come as naturally to him as to his two immediate predecessors. He is fortunate in that neither of his presumptive opponents is blessed with the common touch, but he needs to use both his office and his oratory skills to create a favorable context for his message.

Thus, “Winning the Future,” a slogan fit for a world-beating biotech or software company, gives way to the Ford-ish (in both senses) “Built to Last.” Like one of Detroit’s hot-selling hybrids that packages Silicon Valley smarts into a body of classic American industrial design, Obama is counting on a combination of innovation and rebranding to lead a rust-belt resurgence before his administration ends up on the scrapheap.

Related: 

5 Best And Worst Slides From The Presidential PowerpointThe State Of The Union Address Is The Ultimate Master Class In Public SpeakingPolitical Leadership Is More Than Just TalkHow To Craft A Killer "State Of Your Life" Address

Rob Salkowitz is author of Young World Rising: How Youth, Technology and Entrepreneurship are Changing the World from the Bottom Up. His new book, Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture, will be published by McGraw-Hill in 2012.

[Image: Flickr user stevoarnold]









01/25/12--10:30: AT&T’s Q1 2012 roadmap: HTC Titan II coming March 18th; Sony Crystal tablet, Xperia Ion launch later (chan 1592482)

While AT&T’s Nokia Lumia 900 could be an excellent option for someone in the market for a 4G LTE Windows Phone, there’s also the HTC Titan II — which we exclusively revealed — that will soon be available as well. AT&T is currently planning to launch the HTC Titan II for $199.99 with a two-year agreement on March 18th. The carrier is also getting ready to launch a Sony tablet for $409.99 called the Crystal, though it will feature HSPA+ and not 4G LTE. Rounding things out for the latter part of the first quarter is the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD, the Samsung Exhilarate and Sony Xperia ion, though pricing and availability are still unknown.


01/25/12--11:45: Next-gen iPhone reportedly ready for production, may launch this summer (chan 1592482)

Apple’s next-generation iPhone is currently nearing production, according to 9to5Mac. The report cites an unnamed source at Foxconn in claiming that various sample devices, which vary slightly from one another, are already floating around. Each device is said to feature a 4-inch or larger display and a unique form factor unlike the iPhone 4 and 4S, though the teardrop-shaped design that was previously reported is nowhere to be found. None of the prototypes are said to feature Apple’s final launch design, but 9to5Mac reports that the next-generation iPhone could be on track for a summer launch. Read


01/25/12--12:40: HP outlines the future of webOS, move to open source finished by September (chan 1592482)

HP cut its losses last month and announced the company’s webOS mobile operating system would move to an open source model. On Wednesday, HP released a roadmap detailing the open source future of webOS. The company said it expects the software to be fully open-sourced by September, at which point it will be known as Open webOS 1.0. “HP is bringing the innovation of the webOS platform to the open source community,” said Bill Veghte, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at HP. “This is a decisive step toward meeting our goal of accelerating the platform’s development and ensuring that its benefits will be delivered to the entire ecosystem of web applications.” The second-generation Enyo framework, which debuted on the TouchPad,


01/25/12--13:15: Motorola Mobility sues Apple, says iPhone 4S infringes on its patents (chan 1592482)

Motorola Mobility has filed a patent lawsuit against Apple in a Florida federal court. The phone maker is accusing Apple of infringing on six patents related to messaging, antennas, software and data filtering with its mobile devices, Reuters said. Motorola also argued that Apple’s iPhone 4S specifically infringes on one of its patents. Just two weeks ago, the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Motorola’s handsets did not infringe three Apple patents. The Mannheim Regional Court in Germany also ruled to ban sales of various iPhone and iPad models in December, although Apple has been given the opportunity to remove the infringing technology from its devices to avoid a ban in the country. Read


01/25/12--13:43: Inside The Online Matchmaking Industry's Giant Blind Date (chan 1592482)

How eager young geniuses of love like the founder of TheComplete.me plan to disrupt Big Relationship at the annual digital dating conference in Miami.

One guy says he can compute your "energetic compatibility" by punching the birthdates of you and your mate into an algorithm. When asked what information the algorithm takes into account, he shoots back, "Oh I can't reveal that!" And then whispers: "It's like our oracle." Another guy insists he can predict your "mate value" by gauging facial characteristics, like the space between your eyes, apparently unaware that such dogma was discredited decades ago. The pleas and promises come fast and ardent: We can eliminate deception in online-dating! We can catch romance scammers! We have The Next Thing!

Welcome to Miami. The online-dating industry conference, an annual three-day affair, hosts a diverse mix of the date-o-sphere's rich and poor. You've got the big corporate players (Google; Bing; and IAC, owner of Match and OkCupid); the geek-outsiders-cum-major-industry-disrupters (Plenty of Fish, Grindr); the pious marriage specialists; the purveyors of deviance; the upstart wannabes and the unabashed snake-oil salesmen. Some are too confident to brag or sell themselves. Others are too desperate or disillusioned not to.

Everyone thinks they've got a line on the future, a special sauce that will really "hit" in the coming year. It's going to be all about free dating! Paid dating! Users want more privacy! Less privacy! It's about leveraging the social graph! The interest graph!

In 2012, with a third of America's 90 million singles dating online--not counting those who hook up through Facebook and other social-media sites--it's easy to forget the recent bygone era, when "Internet dating" was considered a seamy, almost unspeakable underworld, where the web's most troglodytic misfits sought weird companionship.

Yet past, as the poets say, is prologue. So it was a rather perspective-enhancing move, on the part of conference organizers, to kick off Day One with a keynote address from a congenial, awkward, and unassuming man, the original weirdo, Gary Kremen. Seventeen years ago, Kremen, now 48, secured the domain-name "Match.com" from the government (when such was still possible), opened a small office in San Francisco's South Park neighborhood, bought a $750,000 server on credit from Sun Microsystems, and launched what would become the Internet's first mass-market dating site, a subscription-based service that promised, as the young Kremen reportedly put it at the time, "to bring more love to the planet than Jesus Christ."

The exuberance was short-lived, however. In 1997, investor infighting over whether to make Match available to gays forced a sale to Cendant, a consumer-services company, for $7 million, of which Kremen walked away with a fraction. Eighteen months later, Cendant flipped Match--by then on its way to becoming one of the largest dating empires in the world--to Barry Diller's IAC, for $50 million. "It's difficult, giving up your baby like that," Kremen told the conference audience. "I should've made the $50 million."

It might be some consolation: all these years later, Kremen's stamp is still very much evident, in at least one major way. Like its progenitor, most of the sites that followed Match guaranteed anonymity. You ponied up a picture and a written profile, but you didn't reveal your actual identity until you wanted to. It was a stigmatized business, after all. What if your boss finds out!?

Today, though, everyone's doing it. So, what if your boss finds out? Who cares?

In 2007, Alex Mehr and Shayan Zadeh noticed that the younger generation's conception of dating was more closely described by a social-networking site like Facebook than by a traditional dating site. Online-dating seemed neither novel nor extreme to a generation that grew up online, nurturing social networks and watching each other's lives play out in a cascade of relationship-status updates and Twitter news feeds. Privacy was something old people fussed over.

So Mehr and Zadeh launched Zoosk, a third-party dating application for Facebook. Zoosk allowed users to transfer their personal information over from Facebook. It had all the features of a social-network. You add people to your network. If they accept, then you can exchange messages with them and see their news feeds and photos. You nurture your network, chat via Zoosk's messaging system, date some or all of the people in your network, and perhaps start a relationship. Zoosk, Mehr says, "is for a social life--with dating in mind." By 2010, Zoosk had shot to the top of the U.S. rankings of online-dating sites, with nearly 5 million unique visitors.

Is the Match model dying? One of its former employees, who spoke to a packed conference room in the afternoon, believes that Match and its kind--i.e. traditional dating sites, which, by the way, currently account for most of the industry--have seen their day.

Brian Bowman used to be a product manager at Match. Now he's taking them on with a new dating application the called TheComplete.me. According to Bowman, the pay-to-communicate format established by Match in the mid 90's resulted in a lack of innovation. Why? Because the business model Match spawned required anonymity. By limiting the amount of "real-world personal information" in profiles--i.e. Twitter handles, Facebook pages, etc.--a dating site can keep users on for longer. "Anonymity is a good thing when a person wants it," Bowman said. "It's not a good thing when it prevents someone who that person might like from understanding who that person really is." Personhood can't be captured in a simple database. You're more interesting than that. You're richer. You deserve better.

Rather than a static profile, TheComplete.me will "tap into the sites that consumers use every day"--such as Netflix and Amazon--to create "a more dynamic interest graph." It's one thing to say you "like comedies," "love to read," "live for travel." It's another to show potential mates that your Netflix queue is full of Chevy Chase films, that you just bought you and your father copies of the latest Stephen King novel, or that your Picasa album has been updated with pictures from Peru. In Bowman's vision, as Internet use rises, and people define themselves increasingly by where they go and who they talk to and what they post and buy--online--their dating profile evolves with them. "The first version of the Internet," recalls Bowman, "was based around 'It'--an index of linked websites that were interesting to most people, like Yahoo directories. Web 2.0 was based around 'We'--me and my human relationships, my social graph. Facebook won that round. The next iteration will be about 'Me'--who I am, my interests at this time, based not on what I say but on what I do." As daters navigate the date-o-sphere, they'll take their identities with them.

It's a big change from the days of Gary Kremen. And the sort of transparency that TheComplete.me contemplates (slogan: "It's okay, be yourself.") may make people uncomfortable. But that's okay. Privacy, as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has said, is a social norm that evolves. It also bears mentioning that many of online-dating's problems--such as deception, and the time that an honest dater wastes by chatting up someone who turns out to be married, or twenty years older than their photo--stem from the privacy norm.

If online-dating culture advances to the point where the person you're hoping to date has an expectation of transparency, or, in Bowman's words, "authenticity," openness will become the new norm. Privacy, as a trait or value, gets selected out. Zuckerberg was right. Morality may be divine but it's also fickle. It shifts as the means of technology make new things possible.

Dan Slater is writing a book about the online-dating business and what technology means for the future of relationships, to be published by Penguin (Portfolio) next year. Slater is the founder and editor of The LongForum, a website that promotes the best of long-form journalism.

Check back here for part two of this report from Miami, a look at the sketchier side of the online dating industry, coming later this week.

Related: 

WotWentWrong App Gathers Big Data From Bad Daters

[Images: Flickr users Faint Sanity, Moominmolly, Foxtongue]









01/25/12--14:00: Xbox 720 may be six times more powerful than the Xbox 360 (chan 1592482)

The Xbox 720, which BGR exclusively reported will likely be unveiled during E3 this summer, could be six times more powerful than the current generation Xbox 360. IGN broke the news earlier this week and said that the production of the Xbox 720′s graphics processing unit (GPU) is scheduled to begin by the end of this year. IGN said the GPU will be based on ATI’s Radeon HD 6670 GPU and should offer support for 3D technology, 1080p HD output, multiple displays and DirectX 11. Microsoft has also filed a patent that suggests the console will also offer DVR support, which has raised questions of whether or not the company will release two versions of the console, one with DVR support and


01/25/12--14:05: Netflix adds 610,000 DVD subscribers, beats Q4 estimates (chan 1592482)

Netflix on Wednesday announced its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011. The company noted $876 million in revenue, up 47% from the same quarter last year, and earnings per share of $0.73. Analysts had pegged the company to report revenue in the ballpark of $857.4 million and EPS of $0.54, Barron’s relayed. Netflix also said it added 220,000 new subscribers, a far cry from the 800,000 it lost during the third quarter, and now serves 21.67 million streaming customers in the United States. The company has 24.4 million U.S. customers signed up for DVD subscriptions and that figure jumped by 610,000 during the quarter. Netflix serves 1.9 million international streaming customers and added 380,000 new subs during the quarter. “We


01/25/12--14:34: Insert Coin: 50-Dollar Follow Focus (chan 1592482)

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.





If you've watched HD video footage captured by a DSLR, you've probably wondered why, despite the fact that you own the exact same model, your clips lack the fluid feel of a professional production. One culprit may be the lack of a steady support system to maintain balance as you shoot, like the rather complex Steadicam. That's just part of the equation, however. What you're also missing is the precision handling of an external follow focus. As its simplistic name implies, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus is a cheap and effective solution.

Made of CNC-machined aircraft-grade aluminum, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus includes two belts and two pulleys to accommodate a variety of lenses, and with the exception of your DSLR and a pair of support rails, everything you need to get started ships in the box. Author Wiley Davis teamed up with The Robot, his in-house CNC mill, to develop some early prototypes, before bringing the project to Kickstarter and launching a campaign to raise $10,000 in order to buy supplies in bulk and invest in a more efficient production system. The result looks very slick, and while it adds some bulk to your DSLR rig, the size tradeoff seems to be worthwhile. Ready to buy your own? Hit up the Kickstarter link below to make your pledge, and keep an eye on that mailbox -- these are expected to ship in March. You'll find a video demo just past the break.

Continue reading Insert Coin: 50-Dollar Follow Focus

Insert Coin: 50-Dollar Follow Focus originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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01/25/12--14:40: Samsung Galaxy S III’s MWC debut reportedly canceled (chan 1592482)

The highly anticipated follow up to Samsung’s Galaxy S II will not be unveiled at next month’s Mobile World Congress, according to The Verge. The Galaxy S III was rumored to be debuting in Barcelona next month, however it has reportedly now been delayed. The reason for delay was not disclosed, although it is still slated to be released “before summer” according to the report. The Galaxy S II was announced at last year’s Mobile Wold Congress, but Samsung is said to have been uncomfortable with the long delay between the global launch and availability in the U.S., where it is the most popular Android vendor. The company will still feature “interesting stuff” in place of the Galaxy S III, perhaps an updated Galaxy


01/25/12--15:25: Apple appeals ITC’s ruling in HTC patent case (chan 1592482)

Apple recently filed to appeal a December 19th ITC ruling that found HTC was infringing on just one of Apple’s patents. Patent expert Florian Muller of FOSS Patents said that Apple filed for the appeal on December 29th, and that it is likely Apple wants a more favorable ruling on the original case that includes a judgement on whether or not HTC is infringing on a real-time API patent. “It’s clear that Apple’s appeal of the ITC ruling at least aims to broaden the scope of the import ban by including the ’263 patent,” Muller explained. “If Apple succeeded, this would greatly increase the business impact of the import ban.” The original ban, which involved patents related to “data tapping,” is set to


01/25/12--16:00: Microsoft may be working to offer Xbox Live games on Android and iOS (chan 1592482)

A Microsoft spokesperson recently suggested that the Redmond-based firm is working to bring its Xbox Live games to other platforms. Microsoft’s Xbox Live titles are currently limited to the Xbox and the company’s Windows Phone mobile platform. “While the Xbox Live experiences and games always work best on the Windows platform, we understand that some Xbox fans may be using other types of devices,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Forbes. “To satisfy that need, we are working to extend a few of our Xbox experiences and titles to other platforms.” Microsoft didn’t come out and say specifically that it’s going to target Android and iOS, but it would make sense for Microsoft to target the two largest mobile platforms. Read


01/25/12--16:55: RadioShack to launch ‘Mobile Low Price Guarantee’ program on January 29th (chan 1592482)

RadioShack is looking to launch a new price-matching program for smartphones on January 29th, according to Sprintfeed. The “Mobile Low Price Guarantee” program will give RadioShack employees the ability to match smartphone prices advertised by competing retailers. Similar programs have already been in place at retailers such as Target, Walmart and Best Buy. With more users turning to smartphones each year, a price-matching program will only benefit the consumer. RadioShack currently carries smartphones for AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless.  Read


01/25/12--17:22: Reed Hastings Expects Television To Become More Like Netflix (chan 1592482)



For as long as Netflix has existed, there's been widespread theories and speculation that the subscription-based service is a primary cause of cord cutting. But today, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made it clear--as he has tried to before--that he's not interested in stealing customers away from cable TV.

"To the degree that we try to be a substitute for cable networks," Hastings said, "[that's when] we get into a cord cutting battle that's not really in our interest. Our view is to be complimentary."

Hastings made the comments during an earnings call Wednesday, when the company announced earnings above Wall Street Q4 expectations, adding 600,000 U.S. subscribers and hitting revenues of $876 million. But here are the real numbers to watch: Netflix lost 2.76 million DVD subscribers, suggesting its traditional disc business is fast declining, whereas its streaming business is steadily growing again. Members consumed over 2 billion hours of streaming content during the quarter, an indication of just how important original and licensed content has become to Netflix's future. Today, Hastings gave some insight into what that digital future might look like.

When asked whether Netflix would bid on current seasons of television content, Hastings said he's less interested in "catch-up TV," and more so interested in offering "complete prior seasons." In other words, don't expect to watch new episodes of Mad Men anytime soon. Hastings insisted he had no interest in getting into a "cord cutting battle" with the cable networks; rather, he wants a larger on-demand offering. "We're comfortable with with that partitioning because our segment is very broad and big at a low price point," he said. "So no, we're not bidding on any current seasons [of TV]."

That thinking will translate into how Netflix delivers original content, such as the $100 million House of Cards series that the company has licensed to much fanfare. Hastings hinted that rather than string out new episodes week after week, as is common practice for traditional television networks, Netflix would essentially offer it all at once. "The Netfix brand for TV shows is really all about binge viewing," he said. "The ability to get hooked and watch episode after episode. Our release strategy ... is to get [you] hooked rather than get strung out."

To measure a program's success, Netflix won't look at pilot ratings (it's already licensed the show for two seasons) or how it's doing up against other traditional television shows (after all, it won't be competing for a particular time slot). Instead, Netflix said it will measure its original content by total views versus total costs; how much it attracts new subscribers; and whether or not it bolsters the Netflix brand.

It's always been assumed that Netflix wants to be more like television--in actuality, Hastings implied today that he expects television to become more like Netflix. Rather than have the most up-to-date content, like traditional television, Netflix is interested in having the largest array of backlogged content; and rather than try to build suspense for a show over a traditional season's length, Netflix indicated it is willing to let its subscribers binge on all episodes at once.

It's a mindset that plays into the larger perspective for where Netflix thinks television is heading. As per the company's letter to shareholders today:

Over the next few years, UIs will evolve in astounding ways, such as allowing viewers to watch eight simultaneous games on ESPN, color coding where the best action is in a given moment or allowing Olympics fans the ability to control their own slow-motion replays. A decade from now, choosing a linear feed from a broadcast grid of 200 channels will seem like using a rotary dial telephone.

Just as broadcast networks have substantially transformed themselves into cable channels over the last twenty years, both broadcast and cable networks will effectively also become Internet networks like Netflix. As a pure-play we have many advantages, however, just as cable did over broadcast. We are 100% on-demand and highly-personalized. Our brand is broad, rather than niche, so we can combine the benefits of multiple channels into one service. Additionally, our Internet culture enables us to create and drive social TV, recommendations TV, and other Internet innovations faster than our cable and broadcast network competitors.

As cable networks developed, they were able to both compete with broadcast networks, and to bolster broadcast networks economics through syndication. Today it is accepted practice for networks to license parts of their content to other networks, if they get paid well enough. That is the world of content licensing in which we live. In that sense, we are just another network competing for viewing time with, and licensing content from, other networks.

ESPN, are you listening?

[Image: Flickr user Gbaku]









01/25/12--17:50: Asus Transformer Prime bootloader unlock tool landing in February (chan 1592482)

Asus recently confirmed on Twitter that an official tool for unlocking the bootloader on the Transformer Prime will be made available in February. The company didn’t give an exact date for when the tool would be released, but the good news is Transformer Prime owners have just a few weeks to wait until they can unlock the bootloader on the quad-core tablet. Asus originally promised that the tool would be made available after upset customers lashed out in January. An unlocked bootloader allows Android users to install custom ROMs and kernels, but it does come with several consequences. As we noted earlier this year, unlocking the bootloader will void Asus’s warranty and some services, such as Google’s video rental application,


01/25/12--18:55: Apple sells record 1.4 million Apple TVs in Q4; 85 million users now on iCloud (chan 1592482)

During the company’s earnings call on Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple TV is “doing extremely well.” The Cupertino-based company sold a record 1.4 million units in the December quarter, though Cook says the product is still just a hobby. “We still classify this as a hobby, but we continue to add things to it,” he said. “I couldn’t live without it. We think it’s a fantastic product and we continue to pull strings and see where we can take it.” Cook also revealed that the company’s iCloud service now has 85 million users. “We’re thrilled with iCloud and the response from customers has been incredible,” he said. “It was a fundamental shift, recognizing that people had numerous devices and wanted


01/25/12--20:00: Sony ST25i ‘Kumquat’ reportedly to launch as ‘Xperia U’ (chan 1592482)

Earlier this week, an image of Sony’s upcoming ST25i “Kumquat” smartphone leaked onto the Internet. The Android-powered device is rumored to feature a 3.5-inch qHD display with a 1GHZ dual-core processor and 5-megapixel rear camera. It is also rumored that the handset will debut at next month’s Mobile World Congress in Spain. According to a document found on the website of Indonesia’s telecom authority (similar to our FCC), the ST25i Kumquat is listed as the “Sony Ericsson Xperia U” —  although by the time it is officially unveiled, it will likely drop the Ericsson label and be known simply as the Sony Xperia U. [Via GSMArena] Read


01/25/12--21:15: LG: More than 1 million Optimus LTE phones sold (chan 1592482)

LG announced on Wednesday that it has sold more than 1 million Optimus LTE handsets. A version of the device landed in the United States as the Nitro HD on AT&T, although it’s unclear if that phone is figured into the count. “The combination of LTE connectivity with LG’s True HD IPS display has resonated with the public regarding the potential of LTE technology,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. LG said it sold 600,000 Optimus LTE units during the first three months the phone was available. The company also sold 8,500 units in Japan on the phone’s launch day. The Optimus LTE features a 4.5-inch 1280 x 720-pixel True HD IPS display, a 1.5GHz


01/26/12--00:04: Rhapsody Nabs Napster International To Battle Spotify In Europe, Knocks Competitor Facebook "Growth" (chan 1592482)



"When it comes to competing against Spotify," says Rhapsody president Jon Irwin, "the name of the game is: Go big, or go home."

To this end, the popular subscription-music service, which boasts more than 1 million paying subscribers in the U.S., today expands overseas with the acquisition of Napster International. "It's a significant addition to our customer base," says Irwin, of Napster's operations in Germany and the UK. But those aren't Rhapsody's only international stops--it plans to use this acquisition as a launching pad to take on arch-competitor Spotify in the European market.

The acquisition of Napster International is as much for talent as it is for logistics, a similar strategy Rhapsody followed last november when it merged with the U.S. version of Napster. The German and UK Napster teams will join Rhapsody to introduce a co-branded product--think, "Napster, powered by Rhapsody"--and expand on domestic partnerships overseas. "It's a tremendously efficient way of us to enter the international market," Irwin says. "I'd much rather start out with a team that knows the market, biz-dev contacts, distributor partners, and has relationships with wireless carriers, ISPs, and auto manufacturers--as opposed to technically starting there from zero [on our own]."

But Rhapsody isn't launching in Europe simply to inflate its user base--Irwin was clear on the company's focus: "How can we add members to the service that are going to be paying subscribers?"

That's what differentiates Rhapsody from every other service, Irwin agues. The company does not offer an ad-supported freemium service like Spotify; rather, Rhapsody offers a completely free 14-day trial of its service, with access to mobile listening. But after that trial is done, you'll have to fork over up to $9.99 per month to continue.

It's partly why Rhapsody hasn't seen significant success on Facebook's new Open Graph platform. "I think the success that Spotify's had on Facebook--well, Spotify has a very tight relationship with Facebook in terms of the development of their implementation," Irwin says. "And it's seen significant growth in its number of users--and I emphasize number of users on the service, who are not necessarily subscribers."

But the "game and goal" of the service, he says, is to get paying subscribers--not just free users.

"We've had some success on Facebook. Obviously it provides great awareness for subscription music," Irwin adds. "But the question remains whether it's effective in converting people to being paying subscribers versus, say, music transients who want to just listen to music for free and move onto the next allotment of free music they can get."

[Image: Flickr user thomas zasso]









01/26/12--03:17: Google Adds Public Alerts To Maps, Angry Birds Joins Facebook On Valentines Day, Wii Successor Expected Late This Year (chan 1592482)

Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day.



Google Adds Public Alerts To Maps. When natural disasters strike, the Google Crisis Response team is usually prompt with a response. For smaller scale U.S. emergencies, the group has launched a permanent alerts feature, Public Alerts, on Google Maps. Information from the National Weather Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will feed into location searchers, bringing up weather, public safety and earthquake alerts. --NS

Angry Birds On Facebook On Valentines Day. A match made in app heaven, Facebook and the blockbuster mobile game Angry Birds are finally joining forces. Rovio has announced via a Facebook event page that the game will make its Facebook debut on Valentine's Day. According to the note, the fun begins at 6pm. --NS

Wii Successor Expected Late This Year. Nintendo has forecast lower sales and bigger losses this year, as gamers on tablets and smartphones crowd the handheld games space. The company has forecasts an annual operating loss of $575 million, almost ten times as much as analyst expectations, Reuters reports. Nintendo plans to release a successor to the Wii-- the Wii U-- in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia before the end of the year. --NS

--Updated 6:00 a.m. EST

[Image: Flickr user mseckington]

Yesterday's Fast Feed: Google Privacy Changes To Unite User Tracking Info, Yahoo Posts Tepid Q4 Earnings, Obama Announces Trade Practice Monitor, and more!









01/26/12--03:41: Jot Once, Remember Anywhere: The Best Tools For Universal Note-Taking (chan 1592482)

Your notes to yourself are a precious thing. These tools let you write quick and find ideas later, wherever you are.



Our phones can give us turn-by-turn directions to the highest-rated Ethiopian restaurant in any city on Earth, based on a voice command. Yet to jot down a thought, we all too often send ourselves email. Ubiquitous, simple idea capture and writing spaces aren’t given to us by default, but they’re pretty easy to set up.

The ideal setup involves a tool that you almost always have available, so you can take down your thoughts when you’re standing in line at Shake Shack, or having drinks with your clever friend, or wherever. You should be able to search and index those thoughts and must-do items from any device you’re working with. And their should be almost no friction and delay between your brain and the idea as it gets written--so Microsoft Word and other standard word processors are out.

What works best for you will depend on what kind of gear you have and where you like to work. You might already have a system that works for you, and it might just be a trusty notebook, but you might find a tip here that adds a bit more versatility to your scribblings. Here are the best systems for universal jotting we know of.

Dropbox-based text files

Why Dropbox: Because you already stash your important documents and files in Dropbox, and because plain text files can be edited on pretty much any computer on Earth.

Where you can write: On your computers with Dropbox installed, on the web with apps like TextDrop, on your smartphone with any number of apps (though Epistle for Android and iA Writer for iPhones and iPads come highly recommended.

Works offline?: On computers, or on mobile devices, but only if you’ve opened Dropbox recently.

What can go wrong: Writing on out-of-date files can cause sync conflicts, but Dropbox saves multiple versions and deleted files for 90 days, so you’re generally in the clear.

Apple’s iCloud system

Why iCloud: Because it requires nothing on your part to keep going. When you have a few Notes files going on your iPhone, or a Pages document on your Mac, it automatically saves itself as you edit, and opens the newest version of each file on your Mac, iPad, or iPhone.

Where you can write: Anywhere you can get at your Apple device, which for most people is everywhere, all the time. But there’s no access outside your devices, without some export-and-import moves.

Works offline?: Yes, on Apple devices.

What can go wrong: iCloud is definitive and generally smart about versions and syncing, and smooth all around. But if you want to jot a longer note, you’ll need your Mac, or at least an iPad with keyboard, on-hand at most times.

Evernote

Why Evernote: It’s available for every device out there, it has robust tagging and search, and if you want to occasionally attach a picture or your voice notes, go ahead.

Where you can write: On any device with Evernote running, or the web, or through email and SMS. You can also snap a picture of something you’ve written by hand for eventual transcription (with varying results).

Works offline?: Yes, assuming you’ve recently synced.

What can go wrong: Because Evernote is many notes, not just one, and geared toward all kinds of captures, labeling and finding your important notes is on you.

Microsoft OneNote

Why OneNote: Because your office is on the Microsoft platform, or because your note-taking style is truly split between handwriting and typing.

Where you can write: In OneNote on your desktop, in the browser-based web app, on a Windows Phone, or on your iPhone. You can write by hand, too, and either let OneNote translate into written text, or cleverly manipulate your scratchings in chunks.

Works offline?: On the desktop or mobile apps, yes, if you’ve recently synced.

What can go wrong: If your computer is hosed and you’re not good about online backups, you’re in a good bit of trouble.

Google’s cloud (mainly Docs)

Why Google: It’s reliable, available on any device that has a browser, and you’re logged in whenever you’re logged into Gmail.

Where you can write: Anywhere you’ve got an internet connection, really, but the full web version is definitely superior to its mobile counterparts.

Works offline?: Depends. The Android apps sync well enough, and you can take Docs offline in your browser, but it’s only for reading, not writing. There are other syncing apps, but most are meant for desktops.

What can go wrong: Not too much, because Docs provides robust version copies. But offline access is far from a certainty.

Hand-written notebooks

Why hand-written: Because it’s fast, always available, and doesn’t need a special format or web connection. It empowers your mind to capture ideas, break down big tasks, and remember to-do items. And you can set up your own system for making it productive and easily search-able.

Where you can write: Anywhere you have a pen, notebook, and just enough light.

Works offline?: Inherently. Note, though, that you can also scan your decent handwriting into systems like Evernote or OneNote for image-to-text conversion.

What can go wrong: Losing a notebook, writing on the wrong page, and drink spills. But notebooks are notably less costly than an off-contract smartphone.

[Image: Flickr user MV Jantzen]









01/26/12--04:30: Nokia reports huge €1 billion Q4 loss, says over 1 million Lumia phones sold (chan 1592482)

Nokia on Thursday reported earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011, revealing its third straight quarterly loss. The company saw revenue slide 21% year-over-year to €10 billion, and profit dropped from €884 million in the fourth quarter 2010 to a €954 million operating loss last quarter. Smartphone revenue dipped 38% compared to the same quarter in 2010 to €2.75 billion, and mobile phone sales were off 23% to €3.04 billion. Nokia shipped 113.5 million feature phones, down 8%, and 19.6 million smartphones, down 31% from the same quarter a year earlier. The company said it has shipped “well over” 1 million Windows Phone-powered Lumia smartphones to date. “Overall, we are pleased with the performance of our mobile phones business, which benefited in Q4 from sequential


01/26/12--04:51: AT&T reports best-ever quarter for smartphone activations; 7.6 millon iPhones activated (chan 1592482)

AT&T reported its fourth quarter 2011 results on Thursday and noted that it achieved record mobile broadband and smartphone activations during the quarter. The company reported consolidated revenues of $32.5 billion, up 3.6% or $1.1 billion from the same quarter last year. AT&T attributed 76% of its revenue growth to wireless, wireline data and managed services, which represented 76% of overall revenue, up 7.5% from last year. The carrier sold 9.4 million smartphones during the quarter, a record that was 50% more than its previous record and more than twice the number of smartphones that were sold during the last quarter. AT&T added 717,000 postpaid customers, the largest increase in postpaid in five quarters, and 2.5 million total net wireless


01/26/12--05:29: Photo Archive App Shoebox Fills In Your Facebook Timeline, Starting At Birth (chan 1592482)

Starting today, the app from 1000memories lets users conveniently start digitizing the world's 4 trillion paper snapshots and slapping them on Facebook. Genealogy freaks, swoon.



The iPhone app ShoeBox helps preserve your browning family Polaroids from the '80s while rendering obsolete your clunky old scanner from the '90s. And now the app is partnering with Facebook to integrate directly with Timeline and fill out that dead zone between "Birth" and the invention of Facebook. 

Along the way, the service plans to collect a treasure trove of data (photos=1,000 words, remember), and maybe even send shivers up the spines of big online genealogy services. 

As every bit of analog info in our world undergoes an electronic transfiguration, the digitization of the world’s paper photos was inevitable. And its in this endeavor that the ShoeBox shines. It finds photo edges and adjusts for level and tilt, making it easier than ever for Facebook’s 800 million+ users to preserve their pasts.



Shoebox was created by 1000memories, a social network for past memories whose home page looks like a Pinterest for awkward family photos. Launched in 2010 out of San Francisco’s Y-Combinator startup accelerator program, 1000memories originally focused on helping people posthumously tell loved ones’ life stories, after Cofounder Rudy Adler experienced the “Facebook death problem” through a close friend’s passing. “After someone passes, it inspires people to go into their closet and pull out their life story,” Adler says. “But,” the company soon realized, “they also pull out other life stories.”

Last March, 1000memories announced a shift away from strictly memorials, billing itself a wider, “past-tense social network.” It began to support photo tagging, so users could share and discover old photos of themselves and loved ones.

“We have our most cherished memories in our closets sitting all alone, and if there’s a fire, they’re the first thing we want to grab,” Adler says.

The inspiration for ShoeBox came when Adler’s team noticed users taking iPhone pics of their paper photos instead of dismantling their scrapbooks to fit in a desktop scanner. The appeal of mobile scanning is obvious: no need to remove photos from their decorative frames, no danger of having to plop a brittle black-and-white face down on glass.

The release of Shoebox in October 2011 immediately turned heads at Facebook HQ.

“Facebook Timeline launched a month before we launched Shoebox.” Adler says. “We ... got a lot of good response, including an email from Zuck saying he was really excited.”

With today's announcement that Facebook Timeline will help kickstart the archiving of the world’s photos, 1000memories hopes it’s on its way to building an enormous memory database.

“We estimate there are 4 trillion paper photos out there,” Adler says. “Compared to Flickr, which has something like 50 million.”

He envisions ShoeBox and 1000memories being used to archive every paper photo in history, “so they can live on.”

The current business model, Adler says, is to open up a freemium version in which users can pay for more space or--ingeniously--for backups of their most precious memories.

While Adler was vague on how his company could harness the enormous data contained in digitized versions of four trillion paper photos, it’s not too hard to imagine the possibilities it would open up. The treasure trove of crowdsourced photos could seriously disrupt the online genealogy industry.

“We have a lot of genealogists on the site, because there’s not a great photo sharing site for them,” Adler says, then hesitates and says they’re going to wait to see if it’s an need for which they can help solve.

Adler’s being humble. Anyone with a genealogy freak for a mother knows of the ravenous appetite for data that exists in the family history space--especially for photos and documents. Ancestry.com, for example, makes $300 million a year from the thousands of seniors pecking at keyboards in Salt Lake City, Utah, and gallivanting through Europe hunting for tombstones. Once 1000memories starts connecting the dots in its photo archive, it may be in for a crazy, old time. (This all benefits Facebook, too, whose massive database of profile pics and other images and associated tags is a valuable trove of data, one that could power face-recognition tech and more.)

“The innovation for genealogists is they’re really obsessed with family history,” Adler says, a total understatement. “And this gives them a little cred.”









01/26/12--06:00: Microsoft’s Windows Phone dowry to net Nokia billions (chan 1592482)

Nokia’s fourth-quarter earnings report painted a grim picture of the Finnish phone maker’s business last quarter, but amid the red numbers peppered throughout Nokia’s earnings release, the high-level terms of its agreement with Microsoft were revealed. In exchange for royalty payments estimated to reach into the billions over the life of the agreement, Microsoft makes quarterly “platform support payments” of $250 million to Nokia according to the vendor’s earnings report. Read on for more. “Our broad strategic agreement with Microsoft includes platform support payments from Microsoft to us as well as software royalty payments from us to Microsoft,” Nokia stated in a press release. “In the fourth quarter 2011, we received the first quarterly platform support payment of USD 250 million


01/26/12--06:55: Apple’s grip on tablet market said to be loosening as Android shipments tripled in Q4 (chan 1592482)

Apple sold more iPads in the fourth calendar quarter than it has ever sold before in a single three-month period, but the 15.4 million tablets it managed to move weren’t enough to keep Google from gaining ground. Market research firm strategy analytics on Thursday released its tablet estimates for the three months ended December 2011, and Google’s Android partners seemingly managed to triple tablet shipments during the holiday quarter last year. Read on for more. Strategy Analytics estimates that Apple’s 15.4 million iPads shipped was good enough to capture 57.6% of the tablet market in the fourth quarter last year. In the same quarter a year earlier, Apple shipped 7.3 million tablets and accounted for 68.2% of the global market.


01/26/12--07:06: The 2-Minute Move That Will Elevate Your Personal Brand (chan 1592482)

When it comes to building your own personal brand, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn get all our digital love. However, for the majority of business professionals, the hundreds of people you're emailing day in and day out make up the most important social network you have.    

Tools like Smartr help personalize the inbox experience, assigning photos, titles, and email history to names. Tout offers you the tools and templates you need to track and schedule your messages. What's missing for most people in this day-to-day email equation is a helpful and memorable email signature.

This precious real estate at the bottom of every message is often filled with either too much or too little information (or, worse, dead space). Sifting through my own inbox, there are few signature stand-outs among thousands of contacts.

As I stare at my own signature, I hang my head in shame. I probably send out 250 messages a day, so ignoring this simple marketing tool is wasted opportunity. My not-so-bold sign-off consists of a couple of boring lines pointing people to my book, website, and company. While not offensive, it certainly isn't something to write home about (no pun intended).

 

In my quest for a better email signature, I've determined that within a few simple steps it's easy to further your brand and reflecting your personality while still giving your contacts the content they need to find you online and offline.

Here are my ABCs of email signature success.

Add Social

When you are building your own personal brand, it's a good idea to attach your active social media sites to your email signature. Although many email experts recommend you keep your signature to four to six lines maximum, you should be able to add your networking handles and keep your more traditional contact info without going beyond this limit. If you want to use icons to represent these sites, do so, but don't let your signature get too cluttered with too many colors and images. I've seen email signatures with half a dozen social sites included, which is just too much for the average person to sift through. Focus on two or three key online profiles you want to highlight and leave it at that. However, before including any social networks, make sure that your accounts are in fact optimized for a professional audience; in other words, don't link to your Facebook page if your barhopping photos from Tahiti are still public.

Be Original

Taylor Jones, the founder of the popular blog DearPhotograph.com, gets creative with his mobile signature.  While it doesn't include a lot of information (which is pretty standard on smartphone sign-offs), it reflects his site's overall vibe.  "Sent from the palms of my hands," is a simple statement that is indicative of of Jones' brand--simple and straightforward, always with a human touch. While not every professional has the freedom to write a witty message in his signature, there are opportunities to stand out from the crowd. 

If you have something new to promote, change up your signature to reflect a different link. There is nothing to say you can't modify your sign-off on a regular basis (if you're in a corporate environment, you will want to check with your company's email policy before making any significant changes). If you want to get even more creative, use a tool such as WiseStamp to spice up your email messages with dynamic content like your latest tweet or your most recent blog post (again, just remember to keep it clean and uncluttered).

Create Context

 Most email signatures provide various ways to get in touch, but they lack information about the best way to get in touch.  Best-selling author and entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki encourages his recipients to interact with him on Google's social network, Google+.  More importantly, below his address info (which we've deleted to protect his privacy), he cites his email as the best way to contact him. Instructional language beside these contact areas gives readers context insofar as how to best find Guy. For example, when I redo my signature to add my social networks, since I spend a lot more time on Twitter than I do on Facebook, I should advise my recipients to tweet me for a fast answer (versus relying on Facebook, which I only check a few times a day).

As Sarah Prince (@missprincen) says on Twitter, "The state of hard copy business cards is questionable but email signatures are here to stay!"

Take a few minutes today to spruce up your sign-off to give your personal brand an instant mini-makeover, no fee required. 

Related: 

Ditch Your Business Cards For These AppsU R What U Tweet: 5 Steps To A Better Personal Brand5 LinkedIn Apps For Power NetworkingYour Business Card Is A Billboard For Your Brand--What Does Yours Say?

For more leadership coverage, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.









01/26/12--07:35: RIM’s 2012 roadmap: 3G PlayBook, Curves, and possible London delay (chan 1592482)

We reported on RIM’s 2012 release schedule earlier this week and now we’re back to paint a more complete picture with RIM’s full 2012 roadmap, which is loaded with information. The deck provides details on everything from the company’s upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook with built-in 3G, to the new Curve lineup including the BlackBerry Curve 9220 and BlackBerry Curve 9320, to new features like Wi-Fi media server sharing and more. From the calendar in the document, it looks like the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone, codenamed London, is currently scheduled for release in late September, but could be pushed to October based on the roadmap, which is a long way off considering we’re looking a a relatively slow three quarters leading up


01/26/12--08:30: Android accounted for less than 19% of Q4 smartphone sales at AT&T (chan 1592482)

Apple’s share of the global smartphone market reportedly topped the market share of all Android vendors combined in the fourth quarter last year, and nowhere was the iPhone’s lead more dominant than at AT&T. The nation’s No.2 carrier on Thursday reported its earnings for the December quarter, stating that smartphone activations totaled 9.4 million units. Apple’s iPhone lineup accounted for 7.6 million activations, or 81% of all smartphones AT&T activated during the three months ended in December. Considering the handful of Windows Phones the carrier sold last quarter, all of AT&T’s Android phones combined were likely responsible for just under 19% of the carrier’s smartphone sales. Android handsets continue to proliferate globally and with a number of stunners due to be unveiled


01/26/12--09:25: BlackBerry PlayBook and EVO View 4G to be phased out at Sprint (chan 1592482)

Sprint has updated the company’s end-of-life list to include two of its tablets. Shipments of the carrier’s BlackBerry Playbook and HTC EVO View 4G will come to a halt and supplies will run down within the coming weeks, according to the EOL list obtained by SprintFeed. Both tablets will be phased out by the end of of January, possibly leading to the announcement of an LTE tablet from the Overland Park-based company. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Sprint announced two new LTE-powered smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and LG Viper, which will launch some time this spring. The company is looking to roll out its 4G LTE network by mid-2012 in select locations.  Read


01/26/12--10:00: Showtime's David Nevins On What It Takes To Make Sexy, Gripping TV (chan 1592482)

Showtime won big at the Golden Globes, taking home three awards, including best drama series for "Homeland." Nevins spoke with Fast Company about the rapidly changing world of cable TV and how he stays on top in a world where audience tastes evolve at an ever-accelerating pace.



In the early '90s, most networks turned down the idea for the television show that would become ER. Not David Nevins. Nevins championed the show, and was instrumental in making the series--which turned George Clooney into a star--one of the biggest hits in TV history.

Later, Nevins angled to get 24 on the air. And in his roles as an executive at NBC, FOX, and as president of Imagine Television, he helped bring a slew of commercial and critical hit shows to TV, including Will & Grace, Arrested Development, and The West Wing.

"Most adults get their most nourishing cultural enrichment from cable television."

Since taking over as president of entertainment for Showtime Networks about a year and a half ago, Nevins has been strategically nurturing Showtime's current hits and finding future gems. He has focused as well on deepening the audience engagement around all the network's shows. Showtime's roster now includes Homeland, which premiered last fall, House of Lies, which premiered earlier this month, and returning shows like Shameless and Episodes, which will resume later this year. Showtime scored big at the recent Golden Globes, taking home three awards, including Best Drama Series for Homeland. Nevins spoke with Fast Company about the rapidly changing world of cable television and how he stays on top of the game as an innovator in the entertainment world where audience tastes evolve at an ever-accelerating pace.

Fast Company: As someone who has been on different sides of the television business for more than a decade, what's your assessment of the television landscape right now?

David Nevins: I think it's an incredibly creative time in television in general and particularly at the higher end of cable. We're at a moment where independent film is really struggling and there aren't a lot of movies getting made. Movies that do get made need to be $100 million "tent pole" movies. As a result, a lot of films simply can't get made. So you've got the crème de la crème of great actors and great writers who are now interested in doing television. With the exception probably of the top 10 male and female box office stars, pretty much everybody else is fair game for television. Everything that we've ever done--and that I've ever done as a producer--has been script driven; these projects have never been developed for a specific actor. The idea is to get the best writer and develop a great script. Actors tend to be very smart readers. That's what gets people like Don Cheadle, Claire Daines, and Laura Linney to say yes to television. So it's a very exciting time creatively and it's where adults go for programming. Most adults get their most nourishing cultural enrichment from cable television.

Aside from having a great script, what is your sell to the directors and actors as to why they should come to Showtime?

The generic sell is that it's only 12 episodes a year, which is a four-month window--or one movie slot--if you are a movie actor or director. We also don't tend to cancel shows, so you know where you'll be for the next several years for that four-month window, which can be very desirable for a lot of actors. For Showtime, we try very hard to be the place of the most adventurous storytelling. We tend to push limits and be the place that is pushing the medium of television forward. I think people tend to be attracted to a place where they feel like they are able to do creatively adventurous work.

The medium and format allows you to take more of a risk. How do calculate your risk when you are thinking about a new show?

When it comes to storytelling, not taking risks is riskier than swinging for the fences. I have very simple ambitions when it comes to taking risks in storytelling and programming. I try very hard to avoid the expected. So much of television is incredibly predictable. You watch the first five minutes and you know where it's going to go. If you can just create an element of surprise in both the storytelling and tone of a show, you're going to be way ahead of the pack. I don't tend to think of it in terms of risk-taking. I ask more basic questions: Is there an element of surprise to this? Is this going to be entertaining? Is there any surprising reveal of humanity here? Those basic elements have driven writing for thousands of years. Storytelling is always moving forward, but the basic elements of what an audience is looking for haven't really changed.

A year ago when you left Imagine TV to come to Showtime, some people were surprised since the network was in such good shape. What attracted you to Showtime?

I love being a producer and I think I essentially still operate as a producer even though I now have control of marketing and the ability to greenlight shows--something every producer wants but that they don't get! I feel like I'm essentially doing the same job as when I operated primarily in the broadcast network ecosystem as a producer. I was always pushing up against the limits of the medium. 24 finally broke through and became a big hit, Arrested Development and Friday Night Lights both had great critical admirers but never quite broke through to mainstream hit status. I think I'm now in a place where those kinds of shows can really thrive. The 4.5-5 million people a week who watched Homeland on cable makes that a really big hit. The 4.5-5 million people who watched Friday Night Lights on a broadcast network prevented that from being a hit. I love being here where you get rewarded for the shows that challenge the status quo of the medium. Generally in television there's only a leadership transition when things go wrong, but in this case, Showtime was in a good place and I think in the last year we've gone to an even higher level. Winning best series at the Golden Globes this month was sort of a breakthrough moment for this network. It's really a new plateau.

Last year HBO won that category with Boardwalk Empire. HBO has long been viewed as the leader in pay cable. What do you have to do to take them on?

I really do think that we can both exist very well. The dirty little secret is that our businesses are actually quite tied together. Because of the way that cable gets sold, people just sign up for the premium package which often bundles HBO and Showtime together. The way we distinguish ourselves is largely a matter of original series. I try very hard to do shows that feel like they are about the world that we live in, that have real relevance. I think one of the reasons why Homeland and House of Lies have drawn big audiences is because they've resonated in the culture. House of Lies is about business and the people who run it and everything messed up therein. Homeland is about where we are 10 years after 9/11. They're both very much about where this country is today.

Homeland obviously shares a number of elements with another show you worked on: 24. I'm curious from your perspective what the differences are in the ways people respond to 24 and Homeland.

Obviously the DNA strands between Homeland and 24 are strong. The two shows share three of the same writers, and me. But in Homeland we were interested in telling a more psychologically complex story. There is less of a clear-cut hero than in 24. The effort in Homeland was to try and humanize all sides of the story, which was probably less of priority with 24. There, the primary driver really was adrenalin. Both shows really speak across the political spectrum. People from the left and people from the right are both able to take things from the shows that support their political views. I find that fascinating. When you do shows with multiple characters with well developed points of view, you can speak outside the political ghetto of right and left.

A famous Hollywood producer once said, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union." You talk about wanting to make shows that are relevant to our world. How do you strike a balance between dealing with issues that are relevant to our world and making entertaining programming?

You have to make it all rooted in very human characters with understandable human traits but who aren't too simple. I also like to be a bit of a provocateur. With Showtime being a premium network, I think it pays to be a little bit provocative. I try to be polite about it, but I like to tweak people's assumptions about a character, a situation, or a concept.

How are the changes in platforms and the way people consume TV changing the way you tell stories?

I think every year the audience gets more sophisticated and more demanding in terms of the amount of information and narrative that they can process. I like things that are full and stuffed and go in a lot of directions at once. I like stories with a collision of disparate tones. Look at Shameless or House of Lies. They go from big, silly, and comedic to very real dramatic moments in the wink of an eye. I think audiences more than ever are willing to go there. I think you just have to remain interesting and try really hard not to be boring. We also have some of the deepest engagement shows anywhere in the media business, Dexter, for one example, Homeland, for another. The fans of these shows have an incredible hunger for new content. Some of the comedy content that has been done to support House of Lies has been outrageously funny. Ben Schwartz comes out of the Funny or Die world, Kristen Bell has done some amazing comedy pieces as well, and we have a pretty distinguished House of Lies app. We have a whole division that's making games around Dexter. You have to constantly feed the beast and give people fresh new high-quality material. That's a challenge when your primary business is making A-level expensive programming for television. You have to support the TV experience with engagement experiences that can continue between and after episodes.

In the past few months there's also been a lot of buzz about high-quality TV shows being developed for the online-only market ...

We are dipping into that. I think we're well positioned to do it because we have such a strong brand that people associate with the cutting edge of programming. I think we are also looking at some point at doing some original stuff that is not tied to our A-level network programming, I think that's absolutely a possibility. But for the foreseeable future, that's not going to be a driver of our business.

Earlier this month you talked about how the next two seasons of Dexter will probably be the last. How do you replace a big show like Dexter that has been so central to your lineup?

After Dexter--which is still very high-rated--the next highest rated shows are all shows we've added in the last year: Shameless, Homeland, and House of Lies. That's a rare thing among networks. Most networks tend to hang on too long and don't use current hits to seed future hits. We very deliberately used Dexter to seed Homeland. Our shows tend to take two or three years to reach critical mass. Shameless attracted a lot of viewers after its initial run went off the air, that's what led to a 50% rise in audience for this year's premiere over last year.

And I just have to ask...what can we expect from Episodes when it returns later this year?

Episodes is going to be a big promotional priority this season. Last season we had a very short order, this season we have nine episodes. I think it took a while for the show to get its characters established last year. This year, the show is established. It's now a full-fledged ensemble with six characters. This can be the funniest show on television and I hope by this time next year that's what people are going to be saying about it. I went to London for the table read of all the episodes. We did them all in one day. It was probably the funniest day of table reads I've ever been in, and I've been involved in some pretty funny shows. Merc's blind wife plays a prominent role and becomes involved with Matt LeBlanc's character in really funny, surprising ways. We start seeing what's going on with the mirthless comedy executive. It becomes an ensemble that is firing on all cylinders. I think we're going to make a lot of noise with it.

Note: This interview has been edited for content, clarity, and length.

[Photo by Sam Christmas]

[Main Image: Patrick Ecclesine/SHOWTIME; Top Image: Flickr user Beacon Radio]

Read more Fast Talk

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David D. Burstein is a young entrepreneur, having completed his first documentary 18 in '08. He is also the founder & executive director of the youth voter engagement not for profit, Generation18. His book about the millennial generation will be published by Beacon Press in 2012.









01/26/12--10:20: Apple looks to build simplified universal remote control (chan 1592482)

Apple, the company that simplified computers, smartphones and tablets, is now looking to build a simplified TV remote according to a new patent discovered by Apple Insider. The patent, which is titled “Apparatus and Method to Facilitate Universal Remote Control,” describes a touchscreen-based controller that would eliminate the clutter found on today’s universal remotes. According to the application, Apple is looking  to use fewer buttons for a simplified experience. “The controls that are not normally used clutter the remote control and can cause confusion to the user when trying to locate a seldom-used feature,” the filing notes. Apple’s proposed solution is a remote that would include a “discovery mechanism” to discover available appliances for the device to control, eliminating complex codes and programing of


01/26/12--11:17: MasterCard Emerging Payments Chief Hints Apple Looking Into Smartphone Contactless Payments (chan 1592482)



"We're rapidly moving to a world beyond plastic," says Ed McLaughlin. "In many ways, plastic is just convenient packaging."

McLaughlin heads up emerging payments at MasterCard, and he's tasked with thinking big on the future of transaction technology. His group has dreamed up loads of creative ways to accept payments, from hacking an Xbox Kinect to pay-by-hand motion, to implanting NFC tech in ultrabooks, to scanning irises to prevent credit card fraud. But while many may find the wild future of post-plastic payments interesting, most consumers have just one question which they desperately want answered: When, oh when, can I start to pay via smartphone?

To be clear, NFC and other contactless payment technologies do exist. Many Android phones come equipped with Google Wallet, for example, and MasterCard says more than 150,000 merchants offer its PayPass tap-to-go systems. But on the whole, the technology is far from reaching critical mass, despite articles dating back years claiming This Will Be The Year of NFC. Anecdotally, I've spoken with many merchants throughout New York that accept Google Wallet, but who have never had a customer take advantage of the system. When asked why they would feature the system, one merchant said, "Because Google gave it to me."

McLaughlin acknowledges the technology's scale is still in its infancy, but he's unsurprisingly bullish. "There's a Faulkner line: Things happen 'A little at a time, then all at once,'" he says. In Canada, for example, roughly 10% of transactions are contactless, according to McLaughlin ("It was really, really important that we have terminals in all those Tim Horton's," he says), and MasterCard is starting to see traction in Poland and Australia too.

But when asked to give an estimate for when smartphone payments would become commonplace (in other words, would 2012 be the year of NFC or contactless tech?), McLaughlin demurred--and may have dropped a hint about Apple's future in the industry.

"The timeline is always as rapid as it makes sense for consumers," he says. "That's a combination of having a critical mass of the merchants, which is what you're seeing right now, and getting devices into the hands of consumers. I don't know of a handset manufacturer that isn't in process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready."

So that would include Apple then?

"Um, there are...like I say, [I don't know of] any handset maker out there," McLaughlin says. "Now, when we have discussions with our partners, and they ask us not to disclose them, we don't."

Apple, of course, has the magical ability to transform whole industries. No one paid for music digitally before Apple unveiled iTunes; virtually no one listened to MP3 players, or carried smartphones, or played with tablets before Apple entered the markets. I asked whether the contactless payments industry needs Apple to hit critical mass.

"Well, anytime someone with a major base moves forward, it advances what you're doing. So of course," McLaughlin says.

But how important is it that Apple in particular enters the game?

"I look at it the other way," answers McLaughlin, who did not mention "Apple" even once by name. "I think as merchants provide these better interfaces for consumers--a better way of transacting--I think any consumer-focused technology provider would want to take advantage of it."

Still, however bullish MasterCard and tech pundits are about the technology, it's clear the industry is still a long way from replacing credit cards.

Acknowledges McLaughlin, "Until the last restaurant or bodega doesn't take plastic, I may still have it in my pocket,"

[Image: Flickr user Aurimas Needoptic]









01/26/12--11:25: HTC to focus on ‘Hero’ smartphones moving forward (chan 1592482)

HTC said recently that it will focus on the quality of its top-of-the-line “Hero” smartphones moving forward instead of pumping out a large number of devices across multiple price points. “We have to get back to focusing on what made us great – amazing hardware and a great customer experience,” HTC’s UK head Phil Roberson said in an interview with Mobile Today. “We ended 2011 with far more products than we started out with. We tried to do too much… We make great phones, but it is hard to do that when the portfolio is spread too much.” Roberson also noted that he wanted each customer to be purchasing “something special” when he or she buys a new HTC device. The company


01/26/12--11:49: Disaster Alerts Help Google Grow Its Competitive Ad-Vantage, Strengthen The Brand (chan 1592482)

Google's new Public Alerts are a continuation of the role Google took in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011. However, instead of simply providing ad-hoc portals to collated and relevant data post-disaster, Google's Crisis Response Team, a new release says, will work to "surface emergency information through the online tools you use every day, when that information is relevant and useful." Meaning if there's a hurricane headed your way, Google will make sure you know it somehow. But how much of this is about altruism?

Some, for sure. But mostly this is about Google. Specifically it's about how all of Google's recent moves, including this one, are actually about concentrating on becoming the search portal for everything to everyone, and alongisde this delivering its core targeted advertising.

The new Alert tools draw information from "meterological and other sources and displays them on Google Maps" with the option to click on "more info" on individual alerts to reveal extra detail, and an on-link to the source of the information. That means data from NOAA, the National Weather Service, and the USGS, among others, will be presented in a structured way so that you can tell if something bad is on its way, when it may happen and what "resources are available to help" (perhaps the most important part of this equation).

It's potentially an incredibly useful system with far-reaching consequences in terms of publc safety and education. Just as Google's tools proved very helpful in earlier disasters, it's likely that by collating them in a more organized way they'll be even more useful in the future. They may even save lives.

But there's a slight niggling worry exposed by this thought. This is Google we're talking about, after all. The same Google that pretty much dominates the world's Net searching habits. It's also the same Google that just the other day, while the world's attention was focused on Apple (how convenient) revealed its broadest, most dramatic and perhaps most controversial privacy changes yet. In the guise of streamlining privacy policies and making better use of all the data its various services collect about every user's habits--currently penned up in different boxes in its servers--it's going to collate everything together in one place.

Undoubtedly this will exponentially increase Google's power to understand its clients needs and behavior, but it's not optional and if your thoughts are even slightly aligned with some conspiracy theorists', then you'll be uncomfortable that the subsequent file Google has on you may be more detailed than any the CIA could pull together.

This factor has resulted in a backlash, reaching even to international governmental levels.

Just the other week, Google splashed across headlines as its latest financial reports weren't quite as stellar as everyone had hoped--with what Reuters calls a "surprise drop in [its] search advertising rates in the fourth quarter" leading to discomfort on Wall Street, and analyst cries of unease with Google's vague direction. Because, though it is of course primarily a search engine, nearly all of what Google does in the way of providing services is designed to funnel data into its hugely lucrative targeted advertising business.

And yet we may speculate that Android isn't quite the new direction Google had hoped for, and though it too dominates its smartphone markets, gains by rivals like Apple could imply that consumers are wising up to this too. Android, for all its headline-grabbing power, may even be making more money for Microsoft than Google itself (thanks to labyrinthine IP issues). Google's Google+ Your World is also still stirring controversy because in its efforts to push its own social network, Google seems to be promoting it at the expense of its rivals, and these companies have even cried foul on the whole scheme, implying it's actually a disservice to search customers.

And while all this is going on, Google tries some new Disaster Alerts--a fringe business at most. That does all look terrible.

But Google is actually refining itself. After it ditched some of its extraneous research schemes, it's now aligning its privacy policies, super-powering its customer habit databases, lighting a match beneath its social networking system, and dressing its offerings up with politician-friendly efforts like Disaster Alerts. All of this will firm up its core business, and allow better ad generation.

So is Google really moving in a highly nebulous fashion, a symptom of which is that it actually owns a Crisis Response Team among its employees ready to, perhaps incongruously, save people from death? No. Google is sensitive to its pseudo-monopoly in search. Domination like this is hard to maintain, especially in an economic environment where continuous growth is all but demanded by shareholders.

Looking at the bigger picture you can see that Google's actually trying to be smaller (in some ways), tighter, smarter, and more efficient--sensitive to its search-related advert miss. It's a classic business maneuver, and it aligns with CEO Larry Page's recent use of the world "beautiful" to describe what Google does. That's an epithet that wouldn't apply to a sprawling, lazy firm with a weak sense of direction and purpose. Google is not nebulous at all, and analysts may be better off not worrying it has a lack of direction. It definitely does.

[Image: Flickr user David Blackwell]

Chat about this news with Kit Eaton on Twitter and Fast Company too.









01/26/12--12:30: iPhone 4S accounts for 89% of all iPhone sales, study suggests (chan 1592482)

Most new iPhone buyers are choosing the iPhone 4S, according to a new report. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) released data on Thursday that suggests Apple’s latest iPhone model accounts for 89% of all Apple smartphones sold since the iPhone 4S was released in October. We’re a bit surprised by the figures; the new iPhone offers beefier specs and a better camera than previous generation models, but the iPhone 3GS is free on a contract with AT&T and the iPhone 4 is still available at a discount in several markets. Still, those devices accounted for just 4% and 7% of all iPhone sales, respectively, since October according to CIRP. The research firm told AllThingsD that the 16GB iPhone 4S was the


01/26/12--13:25: Samsung Galaxy Nexus now just $99.99 from Amazon (chan 1592482)

The world’s first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphone is currently on sale at a huge discount from retail giant Amazon. The company’s wireless arm is currently offering Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone for as little as $99.99 with a new Verizon Wireless contract, and Amazon is even throwing in free two-day shipping for good measure. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for Samsung’s sleek pure Google phone, and it is only available while supplies last according to an Amazon spokesperson. BGR reviewed the Galaxy Nexus this past November and we called it our favorite Android device in the world at that time. The handset features a massive 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display with HD 720p resolution, 4G LTE, a 5-megapixel camera and


01/26/12--14:00: Motorola posts $80 million Q4 loss; ships 10.5 million mobile devices including 200,000 tablets (chan 1592482)

Motorola Mobility on Thursday announced the company’s results for the fourth quarter last year. The vendor managed $3.4 billion in revenue but posted a net loss of $80 million, or $0.27 per share. Motorola posted a profit of $0.27 per share in the same quarter a year earlier. For the full year, the company’s revenue totaled $13.1 billion, up 14% compared to 2010, and it reported a net loss was $0.84 per share compared to a loss of $0.29 per share in 2010. Motorola shipped 10.5 million mobile devices in the fourth quarter, including 200,000 tablets, and full-year device shipments totaled 42.4 million units. Motorola Mobility’s full press release follows below. Motorola Mobility Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Financial Results


01/26/12--14:16: With A $12M Cash Infusion, Bluefin Labs Heads Into The Eye Of Social Media Storms (chan 1592482)

The social media analytics company Bluefin Labs figures out what people are saying about TV on social media--now they'll try to figure out why they're saying it.



Pretend, for a moment, that popularity can be quantified. Like, with numbers. The more social-media comments about something, the better. In practical terms, that means we care a lot more about American Idol and football than we do the Republican primaries.

But why? 

Fast Company recently reported on Bluefin's ability to group comments into positive and negative. Now they're moving into advance sentiment analysis--not just if they like something or not, but that illusive why. “If positive-negative is one dimension, then excited-bored is another,” Bluefin CEO Deb Roy says. “You could, for example, hate something and be excited about it.” Besides getting actual people to agree on what counts as excited and what counts as bored, Bluefin has to, of course, teach its machine-learning algorithms to recognize the emotions too.

With a just-announced $12 million in series B funding led by Time Warner Investments, Bluefin can fund a lot of lessons. For a glimpse of what’s to come, Bluefin gave us an analysis of the most recent Republican debate. Their algorithms “figure out” actual topics in tweets--not just basic keywords. And they show what exactly people were talking about most: Ron Paul’s controversial newsletters, followed by the fact that Jon Huntsman can speak Mandarin (the meaning of that is left up to the reader to glean).



Still, the ability to organize social-media users’ complete conversations isn’t quite there yet. Now the company can, for instance, group the most common words people use on social media to talk about a specific Diet Coke commercial--and reveal the shows those people prefer, creating a sort of tv-show-Diet-Coke Venn Diagram. But to figure out why people are drawn to those things using something more nuanced than single words, you’d have to sift through and read the comments. “It’s still a manual process,” Roy says.



Teaching computers to do that for us will reveal “that there’s actually some main events that happened that drive the conversation,” Roy says, which is a boon to brands that want to get people talking not just about the right things but also in the right way. To get there, Bluefin engineers have to figure out how to get past the ambiguity of language in online comments, whose length limits and slang make them tough for computers to understand ("bad" can mean "good," and sarcasm, the go-to dialect of social media, is tough to pin down). One solution, Roy says, is having the machines look at a person’s comment relative to what that person’s said in the past.

Aside from using its new cash for developing technology, Bluefin will also use it to expand its sales and clients services team. “Our primary motivation is to accelerate taking Bluefin Signals into the marketplace,” Roy says, and, at the same time, making sure Bluefin stays ahead: “Our system is as good as anything you’ll find in the analytics industry, but we think we can do a lot better.”

[Image: Flickr user Beacon Radio]









01/26/12--14:45: Hands on with Cablevision’s upcoming Optimum App for Laptops (chan 1592482)

Last summer, Cablevision was one of the first cable providers to release an app for watching live TV on mobile devices. The Optimum App for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch allows Optimum subscribers to watch live television when connected to their home networks. Cablevision is now testing the Optimum App for Laptops, which transforms a user’s laptop into an additional TV when connected to a home network. A beta version of the application is currently available to select customers for a limited time and we managed to put it through the paces on Thursday. Check out our hand-on photo gallery below and hit the break for some quick impressions. After installing Microsoft Silverlight, we were able to jump right into


01/26/12--14:50: Spotify Growing By 8,000 Subscribers Per Day, More Than Netflix, Sirius XM (chan 1592482)



Spotify just hit 3 million paying subscribers, the Financial Times reports. That may sound like an impressive milestone for the popular on-demand music service, but how impressive is it really?

Only about 64 days have elapsed since Spotify announced it reached 2.5 million subscribers in November. That means 500,000 users have signed up to pay for the service in that time--or, from another perspective, a back-of-the-envelope calculation reveals that 7,000 to 8,000 users are subscribing to Spotify each day, on average. And remember: These are global statistics from a service that has been touted by the record labels and media, and boasts the powerful backing of Facebook's Open Graph.

That may not sound like a lot, but compared with other digital subscription services, Spotify is certainly growing at a fast clip. Netflix, for example, added 610,000 users this past quarter, while Sirius XM added just 334,000 in Q4, meaning Spotify is gaining subscribers at a faster rate. (Interestingly enough, Netflix grew from 2.5 million members to 3 million members in about the same time frame back in the early aughts.)

Still, to reach Netflix's and Sirius XM's 20-plus million subscriber counts, it would take Spotify roughly 7 to 9 years at this rate, though user ship figures are likely to increase faster the more popular the service becomes.

Spotify's growth gives weight to evangelists of Facebook's Open Graph, which enables third parties to create apps on top of the social network. Earlier this week, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg highlighted Spotify's success, saying that Facebook has helped add more than 7 million users of the service.

It also helps silence critics. Only today, Rhapsody president Jon Irwin questioned whether Facebook was helping to add freeloaders or paying subscribers. "I think the success that Spotify's had on Facebook--well, Spotify has a very tight relationship with Facebook in terms of the development of their implementation," he said. "And it's seen significant growth in its number of users--and I emphasize number of users on the service, who are not necessarily subscribers...But the question remains whether it's effective in converting people to being paying subscribers versus, say, music transients who want to just listen to music for free and move onto the next allotment of free music they can get."

Spotify gave some defense of its freemium-to-premium conversation today, showing how 20% of its active users are now paying subscribers, compared with just 15% last year.

[Image: Flickr user Leo Reynolds]









01/26/12--15:30: Spotify surpasses 3 million paid subscribers (chan 1592482)

Spotify said Thursday that it now serves more than 3 million active paid subscribers per month, up from the 2.5 million subscribers it was serving in November. More than 20% of its active users pay for premium monthly access, the Financial Times said, which allows users to listen to an unlimited songs without ads or use Spotify on a smartphone. “We have achieved some pretty great results in terms of the ratio of paid users,” Spotify’s chief content officer and US managing director, Ken Parks said in an interview with the Financial Times. “We have an enormous internal effort to drive conversion and engagement with the service. We are very focused on growing in our existing 12 markets as well as expanding in


01/26/12--16:25: Nintendo cuts 3DS sales forecast, will report first annual loss (chan 1592482)

Nintendo recently published a note in which it said it will report an annual operating loss of 45 billion yen ($575 million) for the December quarter. Analysts had expected the Japan-based gaming giant to report a 4.2 billion yen loss, Reuters said Thursday. The company now expects to ship 10 million Wii consoles, instead of the original 12 million projected, and 14 million units of its portable 3DS gaming consoles, down from 16 million units. ”We had higher expectations for the year-end season, but failed to meet them,” President Satoru Iwata said while speaking to press in Osaka, Japan. Three analysts speaking to Reuters all agreed that Nintendo needs to rethink its strategy and understand that consoles could be a thing of the past. ”Their


01/26/12--17:10: Samsung’s Q4 delivers record $4.7 billion in profit on $42 billion in revenue (chan 1592482)

Samsung on Friday reported record earnings for the fourth quarter last year. In line with the company’s estimates as reported earlier this month, Samsung recorded an operating profit of 5.3 trillion won, or approximately $4.72 billion USD, on sales of 47 trillion won, or approximately $42 billion USD. Samsung had never reported a profit of more than 5 trillion won in a single quarter and its 5.3 trillion won profit represents a 76% increase over the holiday quarter in 2010. Samsung’s mobile business registered an operating profit of 2.6 trillion won in the fourth quarter thanks to mobile phone shipments totaling a record 35 million units, and operating profit from its semiconductor business accounted for 2.3 trillion won. The company’s


01/26/12--18:15: Verizon Wireless to launch DROID 4 for $199.99 (chan 1592482)

Verizon plans to launch the DROID 4 for $199.99 on contract, according to a recent MAP list obtained by Droid-Life. The pricing shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, however — we were told as much by a Verizon representative when the device was unveiled at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Verizon has been known to launch 4G LTE devices at $299.99, however, the recently launched LG Spectrum debuted at the lower $199.99 price point as well. The DROID 4 packs a roomy 5-row keyboard and measures just half an inch thick. The smartphone features a 4-inch qHD display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel camera and 4G LTE connectivity. Thanks to upcoming network enhancements, the DROID 4


01/26/12--19:10: Official Steam app released for the iPhone, iPod touch and Android (chan 1592482)

Valve on Thursday released mobile versions of Steam, the company’s digital game distribution platform. The mobile app is available for both iOS and Android devices. Games cannot be played through the app for obvious reasons, however users will be able to access to the store and connect with friends. ”With the free Steam app, you can participate in the Steam community wherever you go,” read the app’s description. “Chat with your Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, read the latest gaming news and stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales.” Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve. The software was first released in 2003 and as of January 2012 and


01/26/12--20:05: Intel to buy 190 patents and video codec software from RealNetworks for $120 million (chan 1592482)

Intel and RealNetworks announced on Thursday that Intel will purchase video codec software, 190 patents and 170 patent applications from RealNetworks for a total of $120 million. “We believe this agreement enhances our ability to continue to offer richer experiences and innovative solutions to end users across a wide spectrum of devices, including through Ultrabook devices, smartphones and digital media,” said Renee James, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group. The two companies also agreed to work together on future advancements in video codec software. “RealNetworks does not anticipate that the sale of the approximately 190 patents and 170 patent applications and next generation video codec software will have any material impact on its businesses,” the


01/26/12--21:00: ZTE Optik Honeycomb tablet coming to Sprint for $99.99 on contract (chan 1592482)

The ZTE Optik Honeycomb-powered Android tablet is coming to Sprint for $99.99 with a two-year agreement, according to documents obtained by SprintFeed. The 7-inch Optik features a 1.2GHz dual-core processor with 16GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM. The device also contains a microSD slot and a 4,000 mAh battery, but unfortunately it is a 3G-only tablet and does not feature LTE or WiMAX connectivity. With quad-core beginning to hit the market, Sprint will almost certainly be pushing the Optik’s low and very appealing price tag as its key selling point. The Optik will be available online on February 5th, and in stores by March 11th according to the leak. Read


01/26/12--22:45: Apple to offer employees a $500 discount on Macs, $250 off of an iPad (chan 1592482)

Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly said during an Apple Town Hall meeting on Wednesday that Apple employees will receive a generous discount on Apple products in return for their hard work. Employees typically receive a 25% discount off of hardware, but they will soon be able to purchase a new Mac computer at a $500 discount or an iPad with a $250 discount, 9to5Mac reported. Employees must have worked with the company for a minimum of 30 days and can only take advantage of the deal once every three years, and they should be able to take advantage of the new deals beginning this June. Read


01/27/12--00:00: iPad owns 96% of enterprise market and iPhone share climbs to 53%, study finds (chan 1592482)

Enterprise mobile vendor Good Technology published a new study on Thursday revealing iOS’s massive market share in the corporate world. The iPad accounted for 96% of all tablets in the fourth quarter according to the firm, while the iPhone accounted for 53% of all smartphones activated by more than 2,000 companies using Good’s services in the fourth quarter. Good provides push messaging, device management and security products for corporate mobile users, competing against RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The company supports Windows Mobile, Symbian, iOS and Android. Apple’s iOS platform rose from 65% to 71% of Good’s business in the fourth quarter, and the iPhone 4S led the way, accounting for 31% of all smartphone models. The top Android device was Samsung’s


01/27/12--02:58: Twitter Can Block Tweets By Country, Cook Defends Apple On Worker Standards, Legislators Call For Google Privacy Probe (chan 1592482)

Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day.

Tim Cook Defends Apple's Worker Safety Concerns. Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent a letter to his staff, responding to a detailed report in the New York Times that described dangerous worker conditions at Apple's supplier factories in China. In the letter, leaked to 9to5Mac, he stressed that Apple would not "stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain." Earlier this month Apple released a report describing an audit of labor and human rights, environmental procedures, and health and safety standards of its suppliers. --NS

Twitter Can Censor Tweets By Country. Twitter can now block tweets from certain countries while keeping them visible in others. The reason, Twitter explained in a blog post, was that certain "countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression." To abide by those policies (keep everyone happy), in the past, Twitter was forced to block content globally. Twitter says it will be "transparent" about when content is blocked. --NS

Legislators Want Google Privacy Probe. Republican and Democratic lawmakers are calling for a closer look at Google's latest privacy changes, to check if they violate the agreement Google signed with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission late last year. Under its new privacy settings, Google will pool together user information it had collected from most of its different services--something, the lawmakers believe, could make it difficult for users to protect their private data. --NS

--Updated 5:45 a.m. EST

[Image: Flickr user APM Alex]

Yesterday's Fast Feed: Visual Revenue Gets $1.7 Million Funding Boost, Airbnb Records 5 Million Bookings, Grows Globally, Google Adds Public Alerts, and more!









01/27/12--03:36: Why Big Data Won’t Make You Smart, Rich, Or Pretty (chan 1592482)

If 2012 is the year of Big Data, it will likely be the year vendors and consultants start to over-promise, under-deliver and put processes in motion that will generate insights and potential risks for years to come.



This year will be the year of Big Data. The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI) reported that 90 percent of the IT professionals it surveyed said they were familiar with big data analytics. And 34 percent said they already applied analytics to Big Data. The vast hordes of data collection during e-commerce transactions, from loyalty programs, employment records, supply chain and ERP systems are, or are about to get, cozy. Uncomfortably cozy.

Let me start by saying there is nothing inherently wrong with Big Data. Big Data is a thing, and like anything, it can be used for good or for evil. It can be used appropriately given known limitations, or stretched wantonly until its principles fray. For now, the identification, consolidation and governance of data is an appropriate step, as Forbes's Tom Groenfeldt recently documented with Michigan’s $19 million in data center consolidation savings. Dirk Helbing of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich is more ambitious. His €1-billion project, the topic of the December 2011 Scientific American cover story, seeks to do nothing less than foretell the future.

The meaningful use of Big Data lies somewhere between these two extremes. For Big Data to move from anything more than an instantiation of databases running in logical or physical proximity, to data that can be meaningfully mined for insight, requires new skills, new perspectives, and new cautions.

The Big Data Dream

Dirk Helbing seeks a system that is akin to Asimov’s Psychohistory as imagined in the Foundation series. In broad swaths, it would anticipate the future by linking social, scientific, and economic data. This system could be used to help advise world governments on the most salient choices to make.

Reading the article in Scientific American reminded me of a science fiction story by Tribble-inventor David Gerrold—When Harlie Was One. In this book, Harlie, which stands for Human Analog Robot Life Input Equivalents, decides that he needs answers, and that he isn’t sophisticated enough to solve his own problem and therefore keep the corporate interests that built him interested enough to keep him plugged in. So he designs a new computer, the Graphic Omniscient Device, or GOD, as a proof of his value. GOD will answer all questions submitted to it. Unfortunately, as the human engineers building GOD eventually realize, the processing capacity is so vast, that GOD will not be able to provide an answer to any question during the lifetime of a human. Harlie, of course, knew this all along. He needed the humans for three reasons: to keep him running, for engineering labor to build GOD, and to ask the questions that GOD will answer.

Given the woes of Europe, spending €1-billion on such a project will likely prove wasted money. We, of course, don’t have a mechanical futurist to evaluate that position, but we do have history. Whenever there is an existential problem facing the world, charlatans appear to dazzle the masses with feats of magic and wonder. I don’t see this proposal being anything more than the latest version of apocalyptic sorcery. It’s not that a big science project can’t yield interesting outcomes, but if you look at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC), late of Austin, Texas, we find Cyc, a system conceived at the beginning of the computer era, to combat Japan’s Fifth Generation Project as it supposedly threatened to out-innovate America’s nascent lead in computer technology. Although Cyc has yielded some use, it has not yet become the artificial human mind it was intended to be, able to converse naturally with anyone about the events, concepts and objects in the world. And artificial intelligence, as imagined in the 1980s, has yet to transform the human condition.

As Big Data becomes the next great savior of business and humanity, we need to remain skeptical of its promises as well as its applications and aspirations. 

Existential Issues With Big Data

Determinism teaches that what will be, will be. Existentialism deals with a humanity in the throes of chaos. Big Data can be seen as either a lens through which determinism is revealed, or a tool for navigating an existential world. As a scenario planner, I take the existential position and see a number of existential threats to the success of Big Data and its applications.

Overconfidence:  Many managers creating a project plan, drawing up a budget, or managing a hedge fund trust their forecasts based on personal abilities and confidence in their knowledge and experience. As University of Chicago professor Richard H. Thaler recently pointed out in the New York Times (The Overconfidence Problem in Forecasting), most managers are overconfident and miscalibrated. In other words, they don’t recognize their own inability to forecast the future, nor do they recognize the inherent volatility of markets. Both of these traits portend big problems for Big Data as humans code their assumptions about the world into algorithms: people don’t understand their personal limitations, nor do they recognize if a model is good or not.  

When learning happens:  Even in a field as seemingly physical and visceral as fossil hunting, Big Data is playing a role. Geologic data has been fed into a model that helps pinpoint good fossil-hunting fields. On the surface that appears a useful discovery, but if you dig a bit deeper, you find a lesson for would-be Big Data modelers. As technology and data sophistication increases, the underlying assumptions in the model must change. Current data, derived from the analysis of Landsat photos, can direct field workers toward a fairly large, but promising area with multiple types of rock exposures. Eventually the team hopes to increase their 15-meter resolution to 15-centimeter resolution by acquiring higher-resolution data. As they examine the new data, they will need to change their analysis approach to recognize features not previously available (for more see "Artificial intelligence joins the fossil hunt" in New Scientist). Learning will mean reinterpreting the model.

On a more abstract level, recent work conducted by ETH Zurich looked at 43,000 transnational companies seeking to understand the relationships between those companies and their potential for influence. This analysis found that 1,318 companies were tightly connected, with an average of 20 connections, representing about 60 percent of global revenues. Deeper analysis revealed a “super-entity” of 147 firms that accounts for about 40 percent of the wealth in the network. This type of analysis has been conducted before, but the Zurich team included indirect ownership, which changed the outcome significantly (for more see "The network of global control" by Bitali, Glattfelder and Battiston).

If organizations rely on Big Data to connect far ranging databases--well beyond corporate ownership or maps of certain geologies--who, it must be asked, will understand enough of the model to challenge its underlying assumptions, and re-craft those assumptions when the world, and the data that reflects it, changes?

Complexity:  I was sitting with the CIO of a large insurance company in Portland. We were talking about generational hand-offs when he raised the issue of an Excel spreadsheet used to evaluate commercial property underwriting. He said one of the older members of the organization owned that spreadsheet and he was the only one who knew how it worked. The hand-off issue was not one of getting the older employee to collaborate with the younger employee, but one of complexity. That spreadsheet was complex and tightly woven into the employee's world view. Although the transfer could theoretically take place, it is unknowable how long it would take, if the new employee would stay or how the process would change as multiple world views collided. Combining models full of nuance and obscurity increases complexity. Organizations that plan complex uses of Big Data and the algorithms that analyze the data need to think about continuity and succession planning in order to maintain the accuracy and relevance of their models over time, and they need to be very cautious about the time it will take to integrate, and the value of results achieved, from data and models that border on the cryptic.

Feedback Loops:  Big Data isn’t just about the size of well-understood data sets, it is about linking disparate data sets and then creating connective tissue, either through design or inference, between these data sets. At the onset of the great recession, we experienced a feedback loop failure as David X Li’s famous Gaussian copula function, a seemingly well-tested approach to analyzing financial risk, failed to anticipate the risks lurking outside of its models. People kept trading, assuming their risk analysis was still meaningful. No feedback loop existed to inform the bond markets that their credit default swaps were an inverse pyramid teetering on bed of miscalculation.

Algorithms and a Lack of Theory:  It is not only algorithms that can go wrong when a theory proves incorrect or the assumptions underlying the algorithm change. There are places where no theory exists at any level of consensus to be meaningful. The impact of education (and the effectiveness of various approaches), how innovation works, or what triggers a fad are examples of behaviors for which little valid theory exists--it’s not that plenty of opinion about various approaches or models is lacking, but that a theory, in the scientific sense, is nonexistent. For Big Data that means a number of things, first and foremost, that if you don’t have a working theory, you probably don’t know what data you need to test any hypotheses you may posit. It also means that data scientists can’t create a model because no reliable underlying logic exists that can be encoded into a model.

Confirmation Bias:  Every model is based on historical assumptions and perceptual biases. Regardless of the sophistication of the science, we often create models that help us see what we want to see, using data selected as a good indicator of such a perception. Take a recent debate about how to price futures. Future events are typically discounted using an exponential model that creates a regular discount rate that eventually leads a value of zero for far-flung events. Exponential discounting takes a deterministic view. A more existential view comes from the proponents of hyperbolic discounting, which creates a preference for rewards that arrive sooner than later. With hyperbolic discounting, discounts of future events fall more gradually, leading to what might be called “irrational behavior.” Another version is called the declining discount rate.

This “discount” debate points out that even when a model exists that is designed to aid in decision making about the future, that model may involve contentious disagreements about its validity and alternative approaches that yield very different results. These are important debates in the world of Big Data. One group of modelers advocates for one approach, and another group, an alternative approach, both using sophisticated data and black boxes (as far as the uninitiated business person is concerned) to support their cases. The fact is that in cases like this, no one knows the answer definitively as the application may be contextual or it may be incomplete (e.g., a new approach may solve the issue that none of the current approaches solves completely). What can be said, and what must be remembered is, the adage that “a futurist is never wrong today.” Who wins these debates today may be meaningless because the implications have no near-term consequences, but companies that accept one approach over the other may be betting their firm’s future on wishful thinking and unwillingness to admit what they don’t know.

The World Changes:  We must remember that all data is historical. There is no data from or about the future. Future context changes cannot be built into a model because they cannot be anticipated. Consider this: 2012 is the 50th anniversary of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. In 1962, the retail world was dominated by Sears, Montgomery Ward, Woolworth, A&P, and Kresge. Some of those companies no longer exist, and others have merged to the point that they are unrecognizable from their 1962 incarnations. Also in 1962, thousands of miles away, a small company opened its first location in Rogers, Ark.--the Wal-Mart Discount City. Would models of retail supply chains built in 1962 be able to anticipate the overwhelming disruption that this humble storefront would cause for retail? Did Sam Walton understand the impact of Amazon.com when it went live in 1995?

The answer to all of the above is "no." These innovations are rare and hugely disruptive. They are far from doomsday scenarios except for firms so entrenched in their models that they can’t adapt. And there is the problem for Big Data. As with Li’s risk analysis algorithm, when the world changed, the model did not. Feedback loops are important as a way of maintaining relevance through incremental improvement, but what happens when the world changes so much that current assumptions become irrelevant and the clock must be started again. Not only must we remember that all data is historical, but we must also remember that at some point historical data becomes irrelevant when the context changes. 

Motives:  In a recent BusinessWeek article (Palantir, "The War on Terror's Secret Weapon"), Peter Theil is quoated as saying: “We cannot afford to have another 9/11 event in the U.S. or anything bigger than that. That day opened the doors to all sorts of crazy abuses and draconian policies.” Theil, characterized in the article as a libertarian, sees the analysis of data as a positive for civil liberties. That position is debatable as groups like NO2ID.net form to campaign against not only the use of Big Data, but its creation. Given the complexity of the data and associated models, along with various intended of unintended biases, organizations have to go out of their way to discern the motives of those developing analytics models, least they allow programs to manipulate data in a way that may precipitate negative social, legal, or fiduciary outcomes.

Acting on the Model:  Consider crime analysis. George Mohler of Santa Clara University in California has applied equations that predict earthquake aftershocks to crime. By using location and data and times of recent crimes, the system predicts “aftercrimes.” This kind of anticipatory data may result in bastions of police flooding a neighborhood following one burglary. With no police presence, the anticipated crimes may well take place. If the burglars, however, see an increase in surveillance and police activity, they may abandon planned targets and seek new ones, thus invalidating the models' predictions, potentially in terms of time and location. The proponents of Big Data need to ensure that the users of their models understand the intricacies of trend analysis, what a trend really is, and the implications of acting on a model’s recommendations.

Where Big Data Will Work

Some of the emerging Big Data stories don’t test the existential limits of technology, nor do they threaten global catastrophe. The worst outcome in dinosaur fossil hunting is not finding dinosaur bones where you expect them, and the worst outcome of a crime prediction is a burglary that doesn’t take place.

Big Data will no doubt be used to target advertising, reduce fraud, fight crime, find tax evaders, collect child support payments, create better health outcomes, and myrid other activities from the mundane to the ridiculous. And along the way, the software companies and those who invested in Big Data will share their stories.

Companies like monumental constructor Arup use Big Data as a way to better model the use of the buildings they build. The Arup software arm, Oasys, recently acquired MassMotion to help them understand the flow of people through buildings. MassMotion can model the intimacy of a coffee shop or the flow of hundreds of thousands through a terminal or metro system using its agent technology. His models are informed from data about traffic patterns, arrival and departure times for various forms of transportation and the environment, such as shopping locations and information desks where people might stop or congregate.  The result is a model, sometimes with thousands of avatars, pushing and shoving, congregating and separating--all based on MassMotion’s Erin Morrow and how he perceives the world.

Another movement oriented application of Big Data, Jyotish (Sanskrit for astrology), comes from Boeing’s research cener at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. This application predicts the movement of work crews within Boeing’s factories. It will ultimately help them figure out how to save costs and increase satisfaction by ensuring that services, like WiFi, are available where and when they are needed.

Palantir, the Palo Alto-based startup focused on solving the intelligence problem of 9/11, discovers correlations in the data that informs military and intelligence agencies who, what, and when a potential threat turns into an imminent threat. With access to data models and data across government silos, Palantir may well make its hero case more often than not in individual cases. They have to be cautious about applying their ideas to different domains where underlying rules might not be so clear or data so well-defined.

For some fields, like biology, placing large data sets into open source areas may bring a kind of convergence as collaboration ensues. But as Michael Nielsen points out in Reinventing Discovery, scientists have very little motivation to collaborate given the nature of publication, reputation, and tenure.

I seriously doubt that we have the intellectual infrastructure to support the collaborative capabilities of the Internet. We may well be able to connect all sorts of data and run all kinds of analyzes, but in the end, we may not be equipped to apply the technology in a meaningful and safe way at scales that outstrip our ability to represent, understand, and validate the models and their data.

A Telling Story

In the Scientific American article, Helbing relates an old story. A drunk man is looking for his keys under a street lamp. When asked why, he responds, “that's where the light is.” To Helbing, it appears that he wants to use Big Data to create a brighter light so that scientists can peer beneath if for insight. Scenario planners tell that story too, but we do so to make the point that while one is looking for keys in the light, they aren’t paying any attention to the darkness. The future of Big Data lies not in the stories of anecdotal triumph that report sophisticated, but limited accomplishments--no, the future of Big Data rather lies in the darkness of context change, complexity, and overconfidence.

I will end, as Thaler did in his New York Times article, by quoting Mark Twain: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

For more leadership coverage, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

[Image: Flickr user Purplemattfish]









01/27/12--03:48: Make Room At The Meeting Table--For Your Customer (chan 1592482)



Do your customers really trust your company? Ask yourself: if you were the customer yourself, would you trust your company?  

A few years ago I was hired to deliver a talk to some big corporate customers of Siemens AG. We gathered in a fine hotel near Berlin's Brandenburg Gate for a user conference underwritten by the company. Siemens wanted me to impart some lessons the attendees would find useful for dealing with their own customers--how to be more customer-centric, how to coordinate and integrate the customer-facing functions, and how to foster an employee culture that would support more customer-friendly initiatives.    

To my delight, however, I got a lesson of my own at this event, and it has stuck with me ever since. Only a few minutes before I was scheduled to take the stage, one of Siemens’ senior executives took me aside and asked if I had ever heard the story of “the man with the folding chair.” Seeing my blank look, he proceeded to relate it to me:

One day during the go-go '90s, a top Siemens executive had been on his way to sit in on an internal sales meeting at one of the division offices in Germany, when he encountered the division’s sales manager carrying a folding chair with him into the meeting. Curiosity aroused, the exec asked what was going on.  The manager replied that his chair would change the whole character of the discussion at the meeting. “Just watch,” the manager said, as they both entered the conference room. Several people, including sales reps, were already gathered in the room when the manager came in with his chair, unfolded it, and set it down empty next to his own chair. 

“Who are you expecting to join us?” asked some of the sales reps. “Shouldn’t we just get some more chairs brought in here?” others asked, as they leaped up to see where more chairs might be found. 

“No,” the manager replied, “this is my customer’s chair. I brought it to the meeting so my customer can sit right here and listen to our discussion.” Then, with a nod to the empty chair, the manager said the meeting could begin. But, as he had predicted, the character of the discussion was indeed quite different from the typical sales gathering. Several times during the meeting, participants found themselves asking whether a particular point would be made in the same way if the customer were actually sitting there and listening. Would we say this in front of our own customer? What would the customer think of our plan for dealing with this issue? How do we think our customer would interpret this new policy? Would our customer agree with us that this is a good idea, or not?

In the corridors of Siemens this sales manager soon became known as “Der Mann mit dem Klappstuhl,” or “the man with the folding chair.” But there’s a lesson in the story for each of us: We should be putting the customer’s perspective into every discussion we have and every decision we make. Nothing is more important to the long-term health of our business than the trust of our customers.  

Moreover, the e-social revolution continues to make it more and more likely that customers will find out exactly what is said and how it is said, whether they are present in the room with us or not. New technologies mean that transparency is on the rise, and transparency is like a disinfectant for business: it will purify things and help start the healing, but first it’s going to sting like hell.  

Extreme transparency means that customers will soon be demanding Extreme Trust. They will be looking for vendors that are proactively trustworthy--businesses that look out for their interests at all times, just as if they had been in the room with them during the internal discussion of terms, capabilities, or problems.

The simple fact is that your customers couldn’t care less how your systems work, or how complicated your distribution structure is, or what your business challenges are. Nor do they care why you can’t manage to get it together to do what works best for them. They just want what they want when they want it, with no hassle, no unnecessary effort, delivered at a fair price with no tricks, no gimmicks, and no hidden costs or charges. Above all, customers want to take comfort in the idea that they can trust the companies they buy from to respect their interests, even when they aren’t there to watch out for themselves. So ask yourself:

If one of your salespeople could make a sale by taking advantage of a customer’s lack of knowledge, would he or she do so? For example, if an employee knows that a product or service is not actually appropriate for a customer, but he sells it anyway because he still gets a commission, what would the company do, if anything?Do you trust your employees, generally, to do the right thing for your customers? If so, how far down in the hierarchy does this trust extend? What steps would you have to take to extend it even further?If an employee discovered a genuine mistake or problem in a product or service, or if he discovered that “we did something wrong,” is it more likely that this would be concealed to avoid getting anyone into trouble, or that it would be reported to management quickly, so the problem could be resolved and future problems avoided?

Try to remember the last time you had an internal meeting to review the sales pipeline, the latest product offering, or the upcoming marketing plan. Now imagine that your customer had actually been in the room with you, at your company’s offices, listening in. If your customer’s presence would have changed the discussion at that internal meeting, either in substance or tone, then for the next meeting I suggest you consider bringing a folding chair of your own.

For more leadership coverage, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

[Image: Flickr user MyDigitalSLR]









01/27/12--03:49: The Serial Entrepreneur's Guide To Reinvention (chan 1592482)



As the owner and COO of Sugarleaf Vineyards, the years spent creating and managing every aspect of the brand and watching it become nationally recognized was exhilarating. Mission accomplished: I created a highly regarded, consistent and profitable business. The business building was done, the branding was solid, the product was respected, sales were strong; the marketing plan was in place and effective--now what?

I knew the things I loved most about building Sugarleaf--developing the brand, marketing the company, devising growth strategies, driving sales, creating partnerships and speaking publicly about marketing and my entrepreneurial journey. This was enough to motivate me to make the transition into my newest venture, as a branding and marketing consultant that would allow me to replicate similar success stories for other companies. I wanted to help brands create their marketing strategy with a youthful and entrepreneurial perspective.

The list of motivating factors for professional transitions are endless--whether it's the impulsive pursuit of a dream, outgrowing your business or job title, a burning the desire for a change in scenery or workplace culture, or the result of natural professional progression. People generally advance beyond the boundaries and grow beyond the skills that once defined them. Corporate culture would refer to as "working your way up the corporate ladder" but in the entrepreneurial world it's called reinventing yourself and launching your newest venture. Serial entrepreneurs have to re-appropriate their skills and relevant experience to suit the needs of the new company and oftentimes wear multiple hats in the process.

Making the decision to choose and pursue a different path is easy. Getting beyond that point and actually making the transition is, without a doubt, the hardest part. There are a few things you should keep in mind if you want to succeed in making a professional transition:

1. Build a comprehensive support system. Surround yourself with a support system of peer mentors who understand you, your business and where you are in life. Develop and maintain relationships with successful high-level proven business people that you respect, admire, and aspire to be like professionally to help you navigate and execute your plan. Bring a trusted personal advisor onboard to be a sounding board. Hire a business coach or life coach if necessary.

2. Evaluate your strengths and skills. List the business skills that were required in your last position and the successes that you achieved. Determine if your experiences at your most recent company qualifies as hands on education to help you launch your next venture. Many of your skills should carry over to your new venture, so be sure to identify any additional professional areas of expertise that may be needed and seek counsel.

3. List your priorities. Be clear about what's important to you and what you value most. Make sure that you can achieve your goals and objectives while maintaining work-life balance throughout your transition. Your business should work for you, and not against whatever equilibrium you create to ultimately make the transition manageable.

4. Clarify your vision. Create a mission statement for your business. Know your market's demographics and how you will reach them. Immerse yourself in the industry you've set your sights on, soak up as much knowledge as you can and form a professional network within that industry. Create your step-by-step action plan.

5. Know when to take the plunge.  Timing is everything. Make sure that you plan (and accomplish) your exit strategy when transitioning. Keep in touch with your network and make sure that your transition is as seamless as possible. Make sure you understand the risk involved with changing jobs or creating a new business. Know the downside and be comfortable taking the plunge without having all of the answers, but also be comfortable asking for help, the upside will outweigh your fears!

Lauren Maillian Bias is the Founder and CEO of Luxury Market Branding, a strategic marketing and branding consultancy where she brings her firsthand knowledge, expertise and passion for marketing to her clients. She is a member of The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment and underemployment and provides entrepreneurs with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of their business's development and growth.









01/27/12--04:15: BlackBerry users are older and wealthier than average smartphone users, study suggests (chan 1592482)

BlackBerry owners tend to be older and wealthier than other smartphone users according to a new report released this week. Data from comScore Data Mine suggests BlackBerry users are “more likely to have a household greater than $75,000 when compared to average smartphone owners.” BlackBerry owners were also more likely to have at least part of all of their monthly mobile bill paid for by their employers. We’re not surprised, taking into consideration the vast number of enterprise users that still own a BlackBerry for work. “BlackBerry users over indexed in all age segments 35-64 in November 2011, with the 55-64 age bracket showing the highest index of 120,” comScore said in its report, which found the fewest number of


01/27/12--05:10: German court dismisses second Samsung patent suit against Apple (chan 1592482)

One week after dismissing Samsung’s first German patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, a German court has also rejected a second suit, reports Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents. Judge Andreas Voss of Germany’s Mannheim Regional Court on Friday addressed Samsung’s argument that certain 3G and UMTS technology in Apple’s iPhones infringes the South Korean company’s patents. The Judge dismissed these claims early Friday morning, however he did not immediately offer an explanation for his decision. Mueller, who attended the pronouncement, says the outcome of Samsung’s suit may be based on the validity of the specific patent in question, in which case Samsung could still prevail in any of its three other 3G/UMTS-related patent complaints it filed against Apple in Mannheim. Samsung


01/27/12--06:05: Forget QR Codes: Pongr Easily Turns Your Photos Into Brand Rewards (chan 1592482)

When brands ask consumers to snap a product photo and text or email it in, Pongr recognizes the image and replies. Is that really better than QR codes? We asked its president.

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Fast Company: We interacted not long ago. Jamie Thompson: We did? In real life?

No, on Pongr. I wrote "Dew" on a piece of paper, and texted a photo of it to Pongr this morning. I got an auto-response complimenting the picture, and it was posted on Pongr.com's Mountain Dew page. Then you commented, "cute." Oh! We're constantly trying to figure out what's working, what's not working. I definitely pay very close attention.

There were like 16,000 photos of Mountain Dew there. You look at all of them? No, I don't. I look at a lot of them, but I don't look at all of them. I'm pretty sure we've got the world's largest collection of Mountain Dew photos. Certainly, user-generated photos, which makes it quite unique.

The reason I did that is because your company is image-recognition, and I wanted to see what would happen when I submitted an image it couldn't recognize. But as a user of Mountain Dew, what did I get out of that experience? When you say "a user," you didn't have any real Dew in the picture.

No, but that was the point: Even if I did, the same thing would have happened, right? No, not at all. We originally were doing this horizontal form of photo capture, whereby all the photos would go into one place, and if we recognized it, we could respond affirmatively, to say, "Hey, great Mountain Dew pic," or Nike pic, or whatever. But if we didn't recognize it, we would say, "We're sorry, no match found." That was a very clinical and early way to work on the core science behind it. But it became clear immediately that, if a brand is paying money for a campaign, "We're sorry, no match found" isn't good enough.

In this case, you got the new "no-match" response. If you'd taken a photo of a certain Mountain Dew bottle with our Call of Duty promotion, you'd have earned yourself some Double XP points. We want to create a good experience, but the other side of the coin is, brands don't want to pay for someone who's gaming the system. We're in business to make money, so we have to do everything we can to verify purchase, encourage real purchase, as opposed to responding to everyone with total freebies.

Pongr In Action  

1 Fan photographs self with Michael Jackson's Immortal, sends it to mj@pongr.com.

2 Pongr's image-recognition software identifies album in photo.

2 Fan is entered in contest to see premiere of Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson show.

Major clients: Intel, Mountain Dew, Pepsi, X Factor

In some ways I feel like brands today are like 11-year-old boys: A girl will come up and talk to them, but they don't really know what to say back. That's an interesting way of putting it. Which is why another reason why there's no substitute for authentic, generated user content. Some brands are stuck in the mindset of this old-fashioned data-sampling model, where they think their customer might be the guy on the panel, because some data company has painstakingly and very expensively created a panel for them. Yet the reality is, there's 100 million other people out there that they don't know, that they're not looking at, and they're not slicing into that correctly.

So get the user to share real information with you, so that you know who they are. And sometimes you do it in a way that is designed to get them to want to send you photos, and sometimes you do it in a way that you just want to see what the baseline is. Then you can encourage them to post those photos on Facebook.

So why not just cut you out, and brands can ask fans to post photos on Facebook? First of all, with image recognition, you can vary the response depending on what's sent in. It gives the brand a level of intelligence that they otherwise wouldn't get. There's also a huge data motivation here. We're entering this wave of so much user-generated content out there, yet so little is actually known about who the customers are. We do all kinds of computer-related intelligence, both on photos coming into Pongr and across the web. There is a huge data motivation for brands--pockets of data coming in by region. They can ask, How is our product actually doing in the store? How is our product doing in people's homes? What are people taking photos of, and is it good stuff, or bad stuff? Do we need to adjust our message in real time, our calls to action in real time? It's much more than that direct response into a website.

We both agree that QR codes are really ugly. Yeah. I hate them.

But the one thing they have accomplished is becoming a symbol of "engage here." If you remove that and replace it with this system, you have to replace it with a step-by-step explanation of what to do, right? Certainly, brands that use Pongr have to put up a pretty nice call to action. But when it's done right, and when it's done well, the experience can be controlled, the experience can be much better, and the value of the data is so much greater that I think it's worth doing.

What do you think a brand wants more: People taking photos of brands because of promotions, or people doing it organically and posting to Twitter? Both. They want both. If people are doing it organically, that's great. The next step, though, is to figure out how to make sense of all that data, and how to factor it into everything else you're doing. If you leave it alone and do nothing, you're potentially leaving valuable marketing opportunities on the table.

Ask The Photo Takers

In addition to running contests, Pongr gives clients a report on who posts photos of their brands across the web. Is that useful? We had Pongr gather tweets of Fast Company covers, then we reached out to the tweeters and asked, "Do you want to hear from us?"



Behrouz Hariri / @BEHROUZ_HARIRI Founder of Creative Mornings in Toronto

.

"I wouldn't be engaged if you simply thanked me. That would appear designed to engage my network rather than me personally. I'd rather hear back an insight on what I said, a joke or a background story that adds value to my relationship with you."



Jaclyn Gordyan / @JGORDYAN Associate Creative Director at Upshot, in Chicago

.

"Absolutely. It feeds a strange narcissism we all have. But I wouldn't want to be sold anything. Reaching out as a sales drone is as appealing as a salesman showing up at your door."



Vojtêch Vrbka / @vojtechvrbka Student at Technical University of Ostrava, in Czech Republic

.

"It could be a little creepy if I knew that a company was watching all of my tweets. I think the most important thing is I must feel as if a real person is contacting me, not some script. Maybe I would be most happy with some small gift."

Follow Jason Feifer @heyfeifer and @fastcompany on Twitter.

A version of this article appears in the February 2012 issue of Fast Company.









01/27/12--06:05: Apple reclaims No.1 smartphone spot in Q4 (chan 1592482)

Apple is once again the top smartphone vendor in the world by shipment volume according to a report released late Thursday. Market research firm Strategy Analytics noted that total fourth-quarter smartphone shipments grew 54% year-over-year in 2011 to hit 155 million units. After losing the No.1 spot to Samsung in the third quarter last year, Apple once again shipped more smartphones than any other company in the December quarter, earning it 24% of the global market. Read on for more. Apple shipped 37 million smartphones last quarter, narrowly edged Samsung out of the top spot. According to Strategy Analytics’s estimates, the South Korea-based consumer electronics giant sold 36.5 million smartphones into distribution channels during its huge fourth quarter, representing a


01/27/12--07:00: Apple CEO: ‘We care about every worker in our supply chain’ (chan 1592482)

The New York Times recently published an article discussing the unsafe working conditions in the factories Apple employs to build its products. It’s no secret that several factories belonging to Apple’s ODM partners have harsh working conditions; there are rumors of anti-suicide pledges that Foxconn workers have to sign, and safety is obviously a concern following multiple preventable explosions at Foxconn plants. While much has reportedly been done to improve working conditions at these plants, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently assured his employees that the Cupertino-based company does care about the workers in each of those factories. Read on for more. “Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly,” Cook said in a letter


01/27/12--08:01: New RIM CEO admits Apple and Google are winning, says change is coming (chan 1592482)

Investors had been clamoring for Research In Motion co-founders Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis to relinquish their co-CEO and co-chairman roles, and the company finally announced this past Sunday that Balsillie and Lazaridis were out, replaced by new chairperson of the board Barbara Stymiest and new chief executive officer Thorsten Heins. RIM’s stock plunged more than 13% when Heins introduced himself as the company’s new CEO, due in large part to a video interview during which he essentially told the same story RIM’s former chiefs have been telling for more than a year. The new CEO has since backed away from the company’s old it’s OK, we’re OK message while speaking to the press and analysts, however, and it is no coincidence that


01/27/12--08:52: Gravitational Pol: What President Gingrich And His Moon Base Would Mean For U.S. Innovation (chan 1592482)

Newt Gingrich's bold plans for a moon base dominated last night's GOP debate. If he did get elected president--it could happen!--here's how Newt's bigger take on innovation and science would change America.



Newton Leroy Gingrich--Newt to you and me--would most certainly write this post differently. Likely with more bluster, a dab of controversy and some tough language--because he is, in his own humble opinion, a "grandiose thinker." But still, looking at some of the things he's said in the past and more recently as he's campaigned around America, here's a look at how the former history teacher (with a PhD in modern European history!) may transform American innovation, science, and techology if he somehow secured the Oval Office hot seat.

Shooting For The Moon

"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon, and it will be American" is the bold statement Newt made this week. That means that by 2020 he will have injected enough cash into the U.S. space effort to develop the necessary launch vehicles, trans-global spaceships for astronauts and cargo, landing craft and habitation landing craft/permanent installations as well as to develop all the necessary training, ancillary science such as food production and backup services, like a reliable and continuous resupply chain. 

But Newt wouldn't do this wholly via NASA, which he views as overly bureaucratic and deserving of funding cuts. Instead he'd distribute the cash via $10 billion "prizes," something akin to the X-Prize that drove the first private human space launch via SpaceShipOne.

He's apparently "sick of being told we have to be timid," and "sick of being told we have to be limited to technologies that are 50 years old." And he'd apparently be determined to push ahead alone, in a spacecraft painted red, white, and blue (and maybe silver, 'coz that unfiltered sun in space is darn hot), even if it meant shunning recent overtures from Russia and the EU to develop a multinational effort to create a moon base. But wait--didn't Neil Armstrong plant that flag for "all mankind"?

A Changing Position On Climate Change

Newt has been accused of being a bit... undecided about climate change. With the U.S. as a rampant consumer of oil, coal, gas and with a populace whose rabid consumer habits generate megatons of waste, the nation has quite the climate-damaging reputation to make amends for (and even President Obama is a bit slapdash with his statistics on current efforts).

So, back in 2000 Newt told Science that he'd advocate more spending on science and research, particularly on NOAA's efforts at climate reasearch. Other pro-science efforts, including action on acid rain, have illuminated his earlier political career in a pretty positive light.

But then in November 2011 he told Bill O'Reilly: "I think the evidence is not complete, and I think we're a long way from being able to translate a computer program into actual science." Which we can read not exactly as global warming denial, but as a reconsideration of the importance of climate change and efforts to both understand it and act to fix it. And then recently he reportedly cut a chapter on climate change from his upcoming book.

Are Newt's political ambitions, in cahoots with the Repubican Party's larger political agenda, getting in the way of his pro-science thinking on this topic?

Blinding Us With Science

According to his 2003 book Saving Lives and Saving Money, Newt is very much in support of science and mathematics education--a system that needs to be "fundamentally changed" if more scientists and mathematicians are to hit the job market, and drive R&D. He would also dramatically increase funding to the National Science Foundation, find money to pay for "large-scale marquee projects" that radically push frontiers of knowledge, prioritize the CDC, and "mobilize a movement in favor of scientific research."

That last bit actually sounds like it would make the most difference, though he'd have to tackle pro "intelligent design" politicians, counteract bad-mouthing of geeks and nerds, and actually find ways to spend money on science over other traditionally well-funded GOP institutions, such as the military.

But Newt also loves some space research, nanotechnology, and what he recently dubbed "brain science"--a large-scale effort to map the brain and see how it works and to tackle diseases like Alzheimer's. This last initiative would lead to thousands of jobs and require the nurturing of "50 to 70 Steve Jobses in biology."

So as well as digging science, Newt is fond of those lovely people in white coats: Scientists, or shall we get chummy and call them boffins? Except, that is, unless they're Iranian scientists working on nuclear matters. In which case, they should be shot.

This Great Innovation Nation

Speaking during his nationwide tour in November, Gingrich gave an indication that innovation is how he thinks the United States can move forward into the future, undoing the mistakes of previous administrations.

[Innovation's] the path America has followed for almost all of American history, it's doing new things differently, it's finding better outcomes. The answer to the stage coach turned out not to be better horses or better axle grease. It turned out to be the automobile. No government committee studying stage coach improvement could've come up with automobiles.

Very innovative thinking. Or is it?

[Thumbnail Image: Flickr user Helder Silva, Other Space images provided by NASA]

Chat about this news with Kit Eaton on Twitter and Fast Company too.









01/27/12--09:00: Future iPhone and iPad may feature MagSafe ports, wireless charging (chan 1592482)

The magnetic MagSafe connectors Apple uses on its MacBook laptops was first introduced in 2006 and it has become a signature design element used across all Apple notebooks, but MagSafe technology is about much more than just aesthetics, of course. Rather than using cable and port combinations with male and female connectors that can wear down or pull a notebook computer off a desk when a cable is accidentally stepped on, Apple’s solution marries the power cable and MacBook charger port using small magnets that hold the connector in place. New patents uncovered by Patently Apple reveal that Apple is working on expanding its use of magnets across several product lines, and we may soon be introduced to a variety of new


01/27/12--09:21: Former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein leaves HP (chan 1592482)

Jon Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm, has left HP. AllThingsD broke the news Friday afternoon, noting that Rubinstein had served his promised 12-24 month tenure with the company before leaving. “Jon has fulfilled his commitment and we wish him well,” HP spokeswoman Mylene Mangalindan told AllThingsD. Rubinstein led the team responsible for the original iPod and left Apple in 2006 to eventually join Palm as CEO in 2009. While at Palm, Rubinstein was responsible for, among other projects, the development of the Palm Pre and Palm’s webOS mobile operating system, both of which were transferred to HP in 2010 When it acquired Palm for $1.2 billion. HP has since open-sourced the mobile operating system after failing to gain traction with its


01/27/12--10:20: Google addresses concerns over new privacy policy (chan 1592482)

Earlier this week, Google announced that the company would combine individual privacy policies from a variety of its products into one main policy. The idea behind it was to provide users with a “more intuitive Google experience.” Critics of the change are worried that Google is now collecting more data than ever, however, leading members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee to demand answers. Read on for more. The search giant claims that it is not collecting more data and the new terms merely clarify how existing data is used to improve the Google experience. “We’re making things simpler and we’re trying to be upfront about it. Period,” said Google’s policy manager Betsy Masiello in a blog post.


01/27/12--10:35: Facebook reportedly plans IPO filing for Wednesday (chan 1592482)

Facebook plans to file for its initial public offering as soon as Wednesday next week according to multiple reports from Dow Jones Newswires. Morgan Stanley is expected to win the deal to lead the highly anticipated IPO, and Goldman Sachs is also reportedly expected to play a role. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Facebook is currently looking at a valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion. Following next week’s anticipated filing, it will still be several months until the company goes public. The initial offering is expected to raise as much as $10 billion, which would make it the biggest U.S. Internet IPO in history. The record currently stands at $1.9 billion, achieved by Google when it went public in


01/27/12--11:20: Apple, Google and others face antitrust lawsuit over secret no-poaching agreements (chan 1592482)

Apple, Google and five other technology companies must face a lawsuit for violating antitrust laws, according to a federal judge. The two companies, along with Intel, Adobe, Pixar, Intuit and Lucasfilm, are accused of entering into agreements to not recruit each other’s employees. U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh in San Jose, California said on Thursday that even if the claims were dismissed, she would give the plaintiffs a chance to amend their complaint and refile it, reports Bloomberg. “They still have an antitrust claim that’s going forward so I don’t want to see any obstruction on discovery,” she told lawyers during a hearing. The judge’s decision will result in each company being required to provided a detailed account of


01/27/12--11:53: Artists: SoundExchange Has Free Money For You, No Nigerian Princes Involved (chan 1592482)



Since its inception, SoundExchange, the organization that collects royalty payments from digital music services like Pandora, has brought in more than $900 million--$292 million of which it collected last year alone. But how much of a cut does SoundExchange take for itself? Nothing, other than for operating and administrative costs.

SoundExchange is a non-profit that's rapidly growing to become one of the most important organizations in the music industry. For many labels, it's the No. 2 source of digital revenue only behind iTunes. And for president Michael Huppe, it's now more important than ever that organizations at the center of collecting and distributing so much artist revenue--from satellite and Internet streaming services--are non-profits, especially as Google enters the field with its acquisition of RightsFlow last month. "Believe me, there's many a day that it would be great to just have our staff vested in options," Huppe says. "But that's not we do. We're a non-profit because we want to do the right thing, and because we're not solely driven by whatever maximizes our bottom line. You don't come to a non-profit to get rich."

Huppe's main mission is to track down rights holders and distribute royalty payments--a surprisingly difficult mission. Though registering with SoundExchange is a simple and free process, many artists have not claimed their royalties--one very famous R&B artist, says Huppe, had unclaimed royalties in the six figures just waiting to be collected. But after reaching out through myriad channels, the artist repeatedly avoided collecting his or her earnings. "You wouldn't believe what we do to find artists, and there are a lot of folks we have found, and for whatever reason, they haven't registered. I can't tell you why you wouldn't register to get free money," Huppe says. "We see people, call them up, and say, 'Hey! We have money for you!' Maybe we sound like a Nigerian bank scam?"

The organization has an outreach team devoted to delivering royalty payments, whether by contacting labels or managers, take advantage of its board members' connections, or working with other royalty payment services. At the annual SXSW festival, for example, SoundExchange gets an advanced list of the artists slated to play, and then matches the lineup against its database of unregistered artists. "We put posters all around saying, 'Hey, do any of you know these bands? Send them to our booth--we got money for them!'" Huppe says.

Still, despite the organization's efforts, tens of millions of dollars are left unclaimed--which is the exact reason why it's important for SoundExchange to operate as a non-profit. Technically, SoundExchange is only required to hold onto unclaimed funds for three years. "If after that they haven't come forward and signed up, we can release the funds to offset our costs," Huppe says. "But we've repeatedly put that ability off to give artists extra time."

Huppe believes a for-profit entity would not act so altruistically. "Imagine if we were a for-profit entity. Do you think we'd be delaying the release of money? Hell no," he says. "Imagine if we're not obligated to do this outreach, and we're a for-profit entity. Do you think we'd be spending all this money on outreach? Hell no."

So with Google's acquisition of RightsFlow, a small company that similarly processes royalty payments, SoundExchange is paying close attention to the search giant's plans. It's assumed Google will use RightsFlow to help manage royalty payments from YouTube. "i don't know what it means for the industry," Huppe says. "I certainly think the scale of Google is probably bigger than anything the RightsFlow platform has dealt with before, but it's not surprising that Google wants to get into the space."

Pandora cofounder Tim Westergren feels similarly about the acquisition. "I don't know yet [what it means]. It doesn't totally surprise me," he told Fast Company recently. "Google has danced around music for a while, and wanted to get involved in transactions in some fashion. They of course are constantly wrestling with rights and payments and ownership and so on."

SoundExchange just wants to make sure artists are getting paid.

"To the extent that we having any influence over it," Huppe says, "when Google is out there profiting off the blood, sweat, and tears of our artists and labels and rights owners, we want to make sure they're getting their fair share."

[Image: Flickr user Chaval Brasil]









01/27/12--12:05: Samsung rumored to announce next-gen tablet at MWC (chan 1592482)

After the rumored cancellation of Samsung’s Galaxy S III debut at next month’s Mobile World Congress, we were left wondering what the South Korean company will unveil instead. Samsung promised “interesting stuff” in place of the Galaxy S III, according to Android And Me a new Galaxy Tab featuring the updated Exynos 5250 processor may be just that. The next-generation tablet will reportedly feature a dual-core 2GHz Exynos 5250 processor, a display larger than 10 inches with WXQGA (2560 x 1600 pixels) resolution and will run the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. The rumor apparently stems from a prototype tablet the site’s staff spotted during this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. The Exynos 5250 processor, which was announced last November, is the Samsung’s


01/27/12--12:42: Jon Rubinstein, Force Behind TouchPad, WebOS, Leaves HP: "We Ran Out Of Runway" (chan 1592482)



Jon Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm and the man behind WebOS, has left HP.

It's hard to imagine that only about 19 months ago, HP acquired Palm for $1.2 billion and brought on Rubinstein to reinvigorate the company. In that short span, HP embarked on an aggressive plan to produce smartphones and tablets running WebOS--before deciding to kill that original strategy due to poor sales, spin off its PC business, change CEOs, and radically pivot toward acquiring enterprise services company Autonomy for $10 billion.

Now Rubinstein joining a slew of recently departed executives--including Phil McKinney and Richard Kerris--though Rubinstein is perhaps the most high-profile of the bunch. The former Apple executive who oversaw the creation of the iPod, Rubinstein was tapped to breathe new life into HP, but has now become a symbol for all the dramatic and bumpy transformations HP has undergone over the past few years.

"We ran out of runway, and we ended up at HP and HP wasn't in good enough shape on its own to be able to support the effort," Rubinstein said an interview with The Verge. In a discussion with AllThingsD about why the TouchPad failed, he added, "Well, it wasn’t exactly given much time."

Rubinstein's comments echo the sentiments of many critics of HP and its handling of WebOS. Just weeks after the technology company axed the TouchPad, Phil McKinney, then-CTO of HP's $40 billion personal systems group, which oversaw the TouchPad, laid down the "7 Immutable Laws of Innovation" on his blog. It seemed that HP had violated every single one of the laws, especially the laws of resources and patience. "The organization must take the long view on innovation and avoid the temptation and resist the pressure for short-term adjustments," McKinney wrote. Offering a prescient warning, McKinney also said of his laws, "If you violate any one of them, the consequences can be disastrous."

But Rubinstein had more on his mind than just improving HP's bottom line. When he left Apple and later ended up at Palm, Rubinstein joined a direct Apple competitor--an act of treason in Cupertino. "I'm definitely off the Christmas list," Rubinstein once said of Steve Jobs's reaction to his decision. Not only did Rubinstein alienate his former boss, but he set out to prove that he could produce just as innovative products as Apple. Rubinstein had frequently clashed with Jobs and designer Jony Ive over manufacturing costs and hardware issues; leaving Apple and later joining Palm to build WebOS became an opportunity for Rubinstein to prove his former colleagues .

Unsurprisingly, Jobs's had very harsh words for Rubinstein, arguing in Walter Isaacson's biography that HP's efforts had failed. "Hewlett and Packard built a great company, and they thought they had left it in good hands...but now it’s being dismembered and destroyed," Jobs told Isaacson.

"In the end, Ruby’s from HP,” Jobs added, a one-two punch that both insulted Rubinstein for lacking Apple's innovative DNA, and insinuated that HP has declined into a second-rate technology company.

Still, seems ready to let bygones be bygones. When The Verge reached him in Mexico, Rubinstein was about ready to head off for a job or a swim or maybe to grab a margarita. When asked about what happened at HP, Rubinstein had a Zen-like response.

"I don't think it really matters at this point," he said. "It's old history at this point."

[Image: Flickr user Zach Stern]









01/27/12--13:00: Twitter announces ability to censor content by region (chan 1592482)

Twitter announced recently that it now has the ability to, and will begin to, censor content on the social network by country. “As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,” the company said in a blog post Thursday. “Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there.” Twitter gave France and Germany as examples, two countries that ban pro-Nazi rhetoric from being posted on the Internet. Previously, Twitter would have had to delete specific content worldwide in order to prevent it from being visible, but it can now remove content on a country-by-country basis. Read on for more. The company’s


01/27/12--13:40: This Week In Bots: Roboplayers, Robodancers, Robowarriors, And The Delicate Ethics Of Robosex (chan 1592482)

Would you love your Roomba more if it had rat-like whiskers? How about if it saved people's lives in post-disaster situations? Yeah, us too.



Robohockey

Teaching robots to play sports is a clever way to advance the science of robotic movements, environment sensing, and artificial intellgence all in one swoop. That's because a game or sport has a predetermined set of rules so it's simpler than the "real" world. Enter UPenn's Design of Mechatronics Students with their robotic hockey players. 

[youtube 7njq2hFbw14]

See how instructive programming those little beasts must've been? They're not allowed to be controlled or communicated with once they're in the ring, so there's a pretty good amount of AI in them, as well as good situational awareness sensing. They're not as massive or powerful as the droids seen on the big screen in Reel Steel, but they are way cuter. And, as Automaton blog points out, in the dark the lighting on the machines makes for some surprisingly good art in long-exposure photos.

Roborats

Search and rescue robots are a regular feature here at TWIB headquarters, probably because there's considerable momentum behind the R&D--the opportunity to save lives with robotic tech that can access dangerous areas in post-disaster scenarios is just so exciting. Lots of research is needed to develop sensitive, smart, and perhaps unusual robots to perform the various tasks demanded of a SAR robot, which is why the work of University of Sheffield is so interesting. Working with exsiting Roomba robot carcasses, the British engineers are again visiting the idea of using rat-like whiskers as sensors for search and rescue purposes--they work in the dark, they don't damage any victims they brush over, and they're a bit sacrificial in case the robot blunders into a truly risky environment. But the Sheffield team is also adding another animalistic trait to their robots: the design of monkey brains.

The idea isn't to strap a nicely chilled monkey brain into a Roomba, but rather to build a software model of how monkey brain neurons let monkeys make a decision, and use that to drive the robot's AI. It's known that individual monkey neurons speed up the rate at which they fire when faced with a decision about which way to move--driven by visual cues. The Sheffield team thus followed some earlier research into monkey neurons and reprogrammed their Roomba. The upshot was a whisker-powered sensor that could correctly identify the type of flooring it was moving over, in an all but flawless way.

This kind of sensitivity could be vital for a SAR robot as it would need to make sure it wasn't maneuvering onto dangerous or slippery terrain in search of survivors, and it's also likely got medical, military, and other uses too.

Robozapper

Watch Star Wars, Red Dwarf or countless other movies or TV shows and you'll see small service droids beetling around the corridors under their own power, presumably engaged in vitally important missions. If you popped into Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass., over the last year you may have been stunned to see something pretty similar. CNN Money is reporting on the experiment the hospital's been running with a Xenex droid for a year, and how it's been incredibly effective. Pleasingly the machine even has a kind of R2-D2 vibe. 

The droid is empowered to seek and destroy, you see. Not alien invaders, but germy invaders. As it patrols the corridors and rooms, it maneuvers around to flash bright UV light into as many corners and surfaces as it can reach--with the light actively killing off any bugs that are hanging around there. The hospital thinks it's likely saved five lives and prevented two colostomies from happening--since it's suppressed the "winter vomiting disease" C. diff infection rate by about 70%.

Expect more droids like this sooner rather than later.

Robodancers

What better way to show off Chinese robotic prowess than to welcome in the Chinese Year of the Dragon with a celebratory dancing robot spot! Fourteen droids shook their lovely robo-lumps to a remix of a traditional Russian song on the hugely popular Big-Show on television.

[youtube mF97isnJ3Xc]

No uncanny valley crossing here, just plain old robot excitement.

Robowarriors

More and more we see headlines about "drone airstrikes" in places like Afghanistan, not without controversy, of course. And now the robot army is getting a serious boost: The Pentagon's new budget sees the slashing of some 80,000 soldiers and 20,000 marines...but the boosting of Army and Navy drone forces by quite considerable sizes. More money is also being shuffled into the Air Force's future long-range bomber plan--a system that won't necessarily have a pilot aboard at all times.

Fewer pensions, fewer losses and costs due to injury and death, potentially more precise and stealthier mission delivery...these are but a few of the reasons why these decisions are being made. Check out a fuller story on the moves at Wired. 

Robosex (SFW)

So we know that robots are already sliding deeper into our everyday lives. And this'll only happen more so as the years pass. Which is why Yale Daily News ("The Oldest College Daily"!) has an interesting article today, predicting a near-ish future where... well, where human's sexual tastes have swelled to include human-machine interfacing of a much more intimate nature. If your tastes and work environment permit, it's a fascinating and slightly explicit read. Light-hearted as the matter seems, this technology is actually already here in a way (for an example, here's another NSFW link about one man's quest for robot love), and when it becomes more common and sophisticated then all sorts of moral and legal issues are bound to pop up. 

Chat about this article with Kit Eaton on Twitter (he's not a robot) and Fast Company too.









01/27/12--14:05: Apple’s mobile web share reportedly slid in Q4 as Android took No.1 spot (chan 1592482)

Although Apple outsold all Android vendors in the fourth quarter, the Cupertino-based company’s share of mobile internet usage is reportedly beginning to slide. An analysis of last year’s Internet usage shows that in the United States, the proportion of Android mobile web visitors overtook Apple users by the end of the year, according to 51Degrees.mobi. The share of Apple’s iOS web traffic in December fell to 34.1%, while Android increased to 36.6%. In Europe, Apple remained ahead with 42.6% however, despite an increase in Android traffic that pushed the platform to 25.5% by the end of 2011. RIM’s BlackBerry devices remained stable in both regions with roughly 9% of all mobile web usage. “The battle for mobile operating system dominance is far


01/27/12--15:00: Nokia still top vendor as global handset shipments reached 1.6 billion in 2011 (chan 1592482)

Global mobile phone shipments grew 14% annually to shatter the previous shipment record in 2011. Market research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that 1.6 billion cell phones were shipped last year, representing more than one-fifth of the world’s total population, which surpassed 7 billion in late October last year according to the Population Reference Bureau. An earlier report from the GSMA estimated that there are now more than 6 billion total mobile connections worldwide. Read on for more. Handset shipments grew 11% to reach 445 million units globally last quarter according to Strategy Analytics, 155 million of which were smartphones. Nokia retained its No.1 position globally with mobile phone shipments totaling 113.5 million units, and Samsung followed with 95 million units. With just


01/27/12--16:05: DROID RAZR MAXX customers won’t have to wait for custom ROMs (chan 1592482)

Verizon released the DROID RAZR MAXX on Thursday for $299.99 with a new two-year agreement. The device features a massive 3,300 mAh battery and a slightly thicker frame than its predecessor, the DROID RAZR. Other than that, the handsets are identical. Droid-Life confirmed on Friday that both devices run the same exact software, in fact — the Android version on both devices features the same build number, same kernel and same baseband version. We have seen similar products in the past (DROID 2 and DROID R2D2), but they all carried slightly different software versions to accommodate various changes. With the DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX however, it looks like everything is interchangeable, so savvy users already have a wide range custom ROMs to


01/27/12--17:00: Microsoft and Asus may be working on Kinect-enabled Windows 8 laptops (chan 1592482)

Asus is reportedly working on Windows 8 laptops that are equipped with Microsoft’s Kinect technology. The Daily recently reported that it was able to “check out” two different prototype laptops that “appeared” to be made by Asus. The Kinect sensor was built into the area where a notebook’s camera would typically reside, and The Daily also noted a set of LEDs below the screen. Microsoft reportedly confirmed that the notebooks were Kinect-enabled prototypes. As The Daily points out, a Kinect-enabled notebook could allow a user to interact with Windows 8 or play games using motion controls, much like Xbox 360 Kinect users are able to do now. It is unclear when, or even if, the notebooks will ever be released. Read