Facebook Acquires Gowalla

Facebook Acquires Gowalla

Author JoeDigital | 20.12.2011 | Category Technology

Facebook announced this week the purchase of Gowalla, a geo-social networking site that allows users to tag their locations and tell friends what they are doing by “checking in.” Gowalla is similar to Foursquare, its more popular competitor.

In a blog post, Gowalla’s founder, Josh Williams, announced that the site was shutting down and that none of its user information was being transferred to Facebook. Effectively, then, this means that Facebook is purchasing Gowalla’s talent and its capabilities – not its data or its product.

Gowalla was founded by Williams and Scott Raymond in 2007. In addition to letting users identify their location and seek out the location and current activities of friends, Gowalla further provides a Passport feature where users can share the locations of places they have visited and collections of photos from those places. It differentiates itself through this focus on “social travel.” With Gowalla, instead of using a site like Anywho.com to see where your friend is calling from, all you need to do is log on and see if they’ve checked in. Although Gowalla’s membership was dwarfed by that of other social media sites, the company had received $8.4 million in funding two years ago and is reported to be profitable and growing. Nevertheless, it will cease operations in January as part of the Facebook deal.

Facebook, for its part, has tried multiple times in the past to harness geo-social capabilities. Last year, it tried to buy Foursquare but could not arrive at a deal. Foursquare later received an injunction of venture capital money and continues to independently operate. Facebook also tried last year to start its own geolocation service: Places. That service no longer exists. These days, the networking site allows for location tags when making status updates or uploading photos, but there is no stand-alone geolocating feature.

Facebook’s acquisition of Gowalla doesn’t immediately change this, however. Since, as aforementioned, the social networking giant is planning to shut Gowalla down and not take any of their user data (likely due to privacy concerns), Facebook’s true intention here is talent; Gowalla’s founders and top talent are all switching jobs as part of the deal.

The talent involve here seems to ultimately be key, making this move less of an acquisition and more of a hiring spree. In recent weeks and months, Facebook has been quite public about its search for top talent. It has sent CEO Mark Zuckerberg on an East Coast recruiting tour, opened up an engineering office in New York, and announced its intent to hire thousands of new workers in the next year. Facebook is growing, and it wants the best and the brightest. Add in the ability of Gowalla’s team to track user locations for advertising means – a talent much sought-after in the industry – and Facebook has itself a pretty good deal.
The two companies refrained from disclosing any financial details of the acquisition.

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“Suicidal Astronaut Wanted” says Craiglist Ad

Author cobster | 17.10.2009 | Category Technology

Craigslist ad seeks

Just because there’s a recession, it doesn’t mean you can’t find your dream job. So allow me to direct your boundless ambition toward an ad on Craigslist’s Calgary site.

While many people scour Craigslist to see if Starbucks or Bed, Bath and Beyond might be seeking additions to their cheery teams, the poster of this ad is searching for an altogether more adventurous type, proudly announcing “Astronaut Needed (Northern Alberta).” Is that the cough of a million scoffs I hear? Perhaps. But this is truly an interesting opportunity, to say the least. Just look at the first, enticing sentence of the ad: “Astronaut needed for experimental flight to Titan.”

Perhaps you might be concerned that this ad was not, in fact, placed by NASA. Please, let me put your mind into horizontal mode. The advertiser assures all applicants that he has been “working on this project for near 40 years.” Indeed, the only reason he is seeking an Armstrong for his flight is that he himself seems to have weaker limbs now that the years have passed.

You might also be wondering what kind of craft will shuttle you into orbit. Well, again, I can be your Xanax. The advertiser declares that his secret craft is “the result of my professional experience and imagination while serving the U.S. military in advanced aeronautics as a scientist.” You see, this man is a veritable expert in his field. This spaceship enjoys “a revolutionary propulsion system and its fuselage is fabricated with the most advanced material.”

Surely, you can have no more concerns. Surely, you are ready to reply to this advertisement, beaming at the idea that you will soon be beamed into the great beyond. Well, in the interests of full disclosure, let me draw your attention to some of the finer details. In the advertiser’s own persuasive and humane words: “I am certain you will make it safely to Titan but there will not be enough fuel to get home. This is for someone unique that has always wanted to see the universe first-hand and has perhaps a terminal view on life here at home. Here’s your shot at romantic history.”

Yes, that’s right. You won’t be coming back. At all. Ever. So perhaps you might want to check what the nightlife is like on Titan. Because that might be the only way you could really create romantic history.

Should I have failed to deter you from applying for your life’s (and death’s) dream, do note that the job specs declare that you should be no taller than 5 feet 10 inches and “relatively slim.” One imagines that any appearances in a Ralph Lauren advertisement might enhance your chances of being chosen.

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IBM boosts ’09 guidance again even as sales slump

Author cobster | 15.10.2009 | Category Technology

SAN FRANCISCO — IBM Corp. has jacked up its profit guidance for the second time this year, a sign of the company’s confidence that it can uncork more profit from its business despite falling sales.

The company’s third-quarter results, reported after the market closed Thursday, show that corporations are still reluctant to spend on some kinds of technology. IBM’s sales fell 7 percent, and all its major divisions suffered declines.

But IBM keeps making more money — net income was up 14 percent — largely because it has been focusing on outsourcing and other services that save clients money and are more profitable for IBM than selling hardware. That has been the key element of IBM’s transformation from a hardware company on the brink of collapse in the 1990s to a one-stop technology shop that rivals are trying to emulate.

Nearly a fifth of the company’s revenue still comes from hardware, however, and IBM’s chief financial officer, Mark Loughridge, said in an interview that a significant help in the quarter came from market share gains in servers at the expense of Sun Microsystems Inc.

IBM has exploited uncertainty about Oracle Corp.’s proposed $7.4 billion takeover of Sun, the world’s No. 4 server maker, to steal customers. That deal still needs antitrust approval in Europe.

IBM says 2009 earnings should be at least $9.85 per share, ahead of analysts’ forecasts for $9.78 per share, according to Thomson Reuters. IBM had raised its guidance before, in July, to at least $9.70 per share.

Despite IBM’s optimistic forecast, some investors apparently expected an even greater increase. IBM shares fell 3.7 percent in extended trading after closing the regular session at $127.98, down 37 cents.

“A lot of us thought you might get even better than this,” said Peter Misek, an analyst with Canaccord Adams. “But these results are solid.”

The recession has made it hard to win new business. Corporations have coped with evaporating revenue by canceling or delaying big technology projects. Indeed, the value of services contracts that IBM signed in the quarter was $11.8 billion, a decline of 7 percent from the same period in 2008.

One sign of the lingering distress came this month in disappointing guidance from the Accenture consulting firm, an IBM competitor. It hesitated to predict the timing for a full recovery in business spending. Another technology bellwether, Intel Corp., has been talking up a recovery in personal computer sales, but warned this week corporate spending would likely remain weak until the new year.

In IBM’s third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, net income was $3.2 billion, or $2.40 per share, ahead of analysts’ expectation for $2.38 per share. In the same period last year, IBM’s profit was $2.8 billion, or $2.04 per share.

Sales were $23.6 billion, slightly better than the $23.4 billion expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Revenue would have been down 5 percent instead of 7 percent if it were not for currency fluctuations. A weak dollar means deals IBM does in other currencies translate into more greenbacks.

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The Consumer Electronics Association has bought a stake in Global Inventures Inc.

Author cobster | 13.10.2009 | Category Technology

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The Zune by Microsoft

Author itzco | 02.06.2009 | Category Technology

The Zune by Microsoft, features reflect an effort to compete with the traditional iPod touch that has a touch screen. With this device we can find out that Microsoft is working to incorporate its different platforms for computer and mobile phones into the Xbox environment.

Zone Hd has a Hd receiver with a better quality sound than the traditional radio.
It has an Oled touch screen that offers a possibility to browse playlists, movies or other items in an easier way.
HD/compatible output allows users to play video in 720p to an HDTV through an optional HDMI docking station.
Also include an internet browser and obviously a Wi-Fi connection.

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‘3D Sensor Table, Air Touch’ for Next Generation of Multi Touch??

Author Ciel501 | 04.05.2009 | Category Technology

Lots of products with multi touch function have already been released these days and next generation of multi touch seems to come now. That is 3D sensor table which Northeastern university students have developed. The point of this innovative product is controlling without touch. Static electricity detects the location of hands it is not necessary to use a specific controller. Many copperplates are hidden under the black blanket and they are generating static electricity.
Here is cool video which shows how it works and what you do using it.

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New Cell Phone Not Necessary to Charge Is Coming

Author Ciel501 | 22.04.2009 | Category Technology

Samsung Electronics and KEUM-O engineering university developed transparency Flexible Nano electronic power generator. They have researched ‘new mobile energy storage technology using ZnO nano sticks’ since last year.

Nano electronic power generator uses the strong pressure effect of of ZnO Nano sticks. So when you bend, push or shake it, it generates electronic power.

If the material is installed on LCD display, you just push it and use it without charge.

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Star Defense for iPhone

Author Karoken | 21.04.2009 | Category Gadgets, Technology, Video Games

Star Defense is a unique defense game by Ngmoco set to launch early May 2009 for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The game boasts multi-touch controls, stunning 3D environments and a cunning alien AI.

Star Defense features gameplay similar to a “tower defense” game, making this a treat for any gamer on the go. Players will have to battle across 7 alien worlds using 15 different weapon types to unlock “Commendations” and earn medals.

So if you’re a fan of spraying aliens into meaty chunks, or just wan’t to waste some time, Star Defense is definately worth a look.

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Samsung LED TV

Author Ciel501 | 31.03.2009 | Category Technology

Samsung LED

CNET, What Hi Fi, WSJ and Focus are unstinting in their praise of Samsung LED 7000 Series.
LED TV adds a general LCD TV to LED named of ‘lighting semiconductor’.
If a general LCD TV’s video quality is a fluorescent lamp, new LED’s video quality is a natural light.
And it has a thickness of just 29mm comparing with 10cm of LCD TV. power consumption will be reduced 40%.
Users can see movies and TV series saved on their computer with wireless and download from internet. They also can enjoy internet news, weather forecast, stock information and UCC with Widget while they are watching TV.

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Philips ipill

Author Ciel501 | 30.03.2009 | Category Innovation, Technology

Phillips developed a innovative pills. It is a tiny robot capsule with super small camera and navigation system. After it passes a digestive organ, it disembogue medicine into proper points.
It measures 11 mm in diameter and 26mm in length. Medicine is fiilled at the top and it is equipped with pump, battery, wireless transmission system and tiny microprocessor at the bottom .
The most important adventage for ipill is that it can reduce side effects. Crohn’s disease and colitis are treated with steroids. But there is no way to disembogue into the point where needs treatments so far,  doctor has to overdose. But they can disembogue into only some points using ipills.

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