63.5 millions of Facebook users in China

Facebook Inc. (FB) and Twitter Inc. have millions of users in China in spite of bans on the social-networking services, Bloomberg News reported Friday.

Facebook grew to 63.5 million users in China in the second quarter, a survey shows. That is an increase from 7.9 million two years earlier, London-based researcher GlobalWebIndex said, according to the report.

Twitter users tripled to 35.5 million from 2009, the report said.

China users can access blocked sites using proxies that connect Internet surfers to overseas servers allowing them to visit the filtered pages, the report explained, quoting Tom Smith, founder of GlobalWebIndex. "The Great Firewall is actually much more porous than the Chinese government would like to admit," Mr. Smith said in a blog post.

The Bloomberg report said that in spite of their rapid growth, the two social networks are smaller than sites operated by Chinese companies Tencent Holdings Ltd. (0700.HK) and Sina Weibo.

Light sensitivity of: Lumia 920 vs iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X

we have seen first hand how well the Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone cameraperforms in low light, we are seeing more signs that the Pureview Camera really shines when lighting is limited.

A Lumia 920 prototype, like the one we saw in the iPhone 5 video comparison, was put up against the HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S III and the iPhone 5 in a low light test. Lights were dimmed to 5 lux on a static scene. Generally speaking, a city street lamp illuminates the area with about 10 lux. So five lux isn't much brightness.

Not only did the Lumia 920 shine in the low light conditions, it also captured the test image sharply and with little noise.

Even outside the controlled conditions of the test lab, the Lumia 920 shined in low light conditions when compared to other smartphones. Seeing comparisons like these just makes us want the Nokia Lumia 920 sooner than later.

Unlocking the new iPhone5 has now become easier

The jubilant news was confirmed on Wednesday. The Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone5s which were purchased from AT&T, paid in full freight, without a contract, could be unlocked fairly easily without the hassles which the unlocking procedure previously came with. The phones can now be unlocked through a simple procedure through the iTunes reset.

This process was first discovered by TechCrunch, and the whole process is far easier than the earlier, troublesome method of an online form submission, faxing letters, and waiting for a week for a restore procedure. TechCrunch, along with AT&T technical support, showed the one-step procedure through which the unlocking could be done.

After following the restore settings in the iTunes, the user will get a prompt message for the unlocking and in order to gain access to T-Mobile’s network, one will simply have to trim down their SIM cards which are compatible, in order to fit into the nano SIM tray provided by the phone. Cal

iPhone 5 lights up China online grey market

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese gadget fans are scouring the Internet grey market to locate Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) new iPhone 5, giving an early indication of robust demand in Apple's second-biggest global market.

Although smuggled iPhones are available offline, it is online, on platforms like Taobao Marketplace where about 150 million people shop, that is drawing the most interest.According to Reuters calculations based on the Taobao Index, the consumer research data website of Alibaba Group ALIAB, the iPhone 5 over the past six days had an average turnover value of 713 compared with the iPhone 4S that had an average turnover value of 314. A higher turnover value indicates more transactions done on Taobao for an item.

This indicates strong demand for the yet-to-be-officially released iPhone 5 on the mainland, where Apple is losing market share to smartphones running Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Android system. But while demand is strong, constraints on smuggled supplies are limiting sales online and a rough calculation shows sales of only about 4,000 units via Taobao.

Apple's latest iteration of its popular phone officially went on sale last Friday in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK. It took little more than five hours for the first iPhone 5 to go on sale in China after being smuggled across the border from Hong Kong.

"We smuggle our iPhone 5s from Hong Kong to the mainland. You don't need to worry about fake ones," said one online seller on Taobao Marketplace, whose shop has sold more than 700 units.Demand for smuggled iPhones is strong in China because the release in the mainland usually happens months after the product's release elsewhere.

Local media reported on Wednesday that the iPhone 5 has received approval from China's product quality certification centre, but the phone still needs telecom network approval from the government before it can be officially launched.

Facebook new iOS SDK 3.1 for iOS 6

FACEBOOK INC. (NASDAQ:FB) on Tuesday declared the launch of its iOS SDK 3.1, which manages the core characteristics of iOS 6 like normal login and sharing.

The Facebook SDK 3.0, which was integrated with the iOS 6 recently, conveys native UI controls and faultless login throughout iOS versions, along with an enhanced API support, session management and ad analytics.

Facebook’s Eddie O’Neil said the updated SDK integration brings new opportunities for mobile app makers as it allows them to simply create the foundation for a social app, Facebook login and sharing functionality.

The SDK is made to enhance Facebook’s existence in iOS by providing developers an easy route in integrating the features into their upcoming apps.

Facebook and Dropbox offer Integration for File Sharing

Social networking site Facebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) and file sharing site Dropbox on Wednesday announced the integration of their cloud storage service.

With this facility Facebook users can share files among their groups using Dropbox.

The `Add File' feature is under the Groups tab and appears as an option to choose a file from Dropbox. For the first time this requires connecting the users Facebook and Dropbox accounts, like they would do with any other application or account.

Then the document, file, images and videos can be shared and this will show up on the wall of those users with whom the files have been shared.

These files can be edited and these will do as updates.

Like all other file sharing applications or services, only the particular file which is being share can be viewed and not all the contents of the Dropbox of the person who is sharing the file.

Those with whom the files have been shared can further share it with their friends and groups by copying the link and forwarding it.

At present Facebook doesn’t have any file sharing mechanism and images or videos are uploaded on the walls of users which can then be viewed by those who are permitted to view them. Dropbox had previously allowed Facebook users to share files but the two platforms were not integrated.

At present Dropbox is offering about 2GB free storage but more storage can be either purchased for fees starting at $9.99 or can be obtained by referring friends to use the service.

A Technology that Facebook can rake in Billions

Ladies and gentleman, we’d like you to put your hands together for….(drum roll please)….Facebook Connect.

Facebook Connect is the oft-used program that lets users sign into their favorite third-party websites with their Facebook login, and is on every domain name under the sun, from the e-analytics site Alexa, to the real estate information site Zillow Inc. (NASDAQ:Z). Released four years ago to relatively little fanfare, Facebook Connect is the bastard son of the company’s API and Platform programs, which were introduced in 2006 and 2007, respectively. On the official Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) blog, the company states that Connect allows its users “to take their identity and friends with them around the Web, while being able to trust that their information is always up to date and always protected by their privacy settings.”

Besides being a convenience for web surfers, Facebook Connect is also boon to websites that integrate the platform into their login systems. Take music streaming database Spotify, which is a Napster-ish version of Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P), as an example of how Connect integration can be taken to the nth degree. Since making it a requirement for users to login to its system through Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) last September, Spotify has added roughly 5 million users – a total representative of 25% of its user base.

Other third-party sites implement a less extensive version of Connect, though its biggest benefit is that it is free. In its first year of operation, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) reported that roughly 80,000 sites had integrated with the service; this total had grown to 2 million by the end of 2010. In the 20-plus months since, Zuckerberg and Co. have estimated that 10,000 sites a day are syncing their login systems with Connect. Doing a few back of the envelope calculations, this means that Facebook Connect must have upwards of 8 million partner sites currently, with this total expected to reach 12 million by the end of next year.

Though there are no perfect comparisons for Facebook Connect, we can make a few indirect conclusions about the potential of the service, if Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) decided to start charging third-party sites. LinkedIn Premium currently charges subscribers $24.99 a month; it is notable that this premium pricing program experienced similar, but lesser growth than what is expected of Facebook Connect. As of its most recent annual report, LinkedIn reported having close to 25 million premium subscribers. LinkedIn Premium has been in existence since 2003, and it’s worth noting that in its seventh year (2010), the service garnered a little over 10 million subscribers. In Facebook Connect’s seventh year (2015), it is projected to have 15 million integrated sites.

Google’s social network, Google+, allows users to remain logged into its bevy of sites, ranging from Gmail to YouTube, though this integrated functionality only exists under the company’s banner, so to speak. Likewise,

Microsoft Company (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s new social network “So.cl” allows its users to integrate their Bing search history into its platform, but offers little else at the moment.

Thus the question remains: is it reasonable for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to charge third-party websites for the usage of its Connect service? When answering this question, it’s important to keep in mind that most sites are now developing their platforms to seamlessly  integrate with Connect, making login quick, smooth, and easy for users. If the social media company did choose to slap a price tag of, let’s say $24.99 a month, on the service, third-party sites would have little choice but to comply. Any site bold enough to resist this charge would risk losing the fraction of their user base that was signed up exclusively through Connect. In today’s rough-and-tumble e-marketplace, we’re willing to bet that this is a setback that no site, large or small, could afford.

If Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) does choose to start charging for Connect, it would realize an additional $4.5 billion in annual revenues by the end of 2015. Considering the fact that current estimates from Wedbush Securities and eMarketer expect the company to finish 2012 with close to $5 billion in revenues, we can immediately see that any monetization of Facebook Connect would be material to the company’s bottom line.

Staying consistent with a price tag of $24.99 a month, we can then estimate that Connect monetization would add close to 50 cents to Facebook’s 2015 EPS, which current estimates place in the range of $1.50 a share. When taking this forward-looking estimate into account, Facebook’s Forward P/E drops to 26.5X, while its earnings multiple without Connect monetization rests at 35.2X. This differential is important, because if Facebook does choose to start charging third-party websites for Connect, its valuation suddenly looks more attractive in comparison to tech peers like LinkedIn (111.8X), Google (16.0X), and Microsoft (9.2X).

While it remains to be seen if Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) will explore the scenario discussed in this article, it’s clear that investors might at least want to consider the possibility. Facebook Connect appears to be a perfect “secret weapon” for the company’s woes related to revenue diversification. After all, it is not unreasonable to expect the company to monetize a service that permeates the online environment in its entirety.

Twitter in no hurry for an IPO

According to Twitter’s chief executive officer, Dick Costolo, the popular social microblogging website is in no hurry to announce an initial public offering.

It’s really no surprise that Costolo is taking his time deciding when to announce his company’s IPO to the public, especially considering how it really wasn’t all that long ago when Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) launched their IPO and it turned out not to be as successful they initially thought it would be. Mark Zuckerberg set Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s initial public offering at $38 per share, the third largest IPO in the history of the United States.

Costolo recently sat down with CNBC, where he told Julia Borstein that there are no external influences that could sway his decision to put Twitter up. He also mentioned that he doesn’t have any desire to sell his company.

When Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) released their IPO to the public in 2004, there was a total of 19,605,052 shares, each of which was worth $85 a share. Obviously, I doubt that Twitter (or even most big tech companies for that matter) could have the same amount of success that Google had with their IPO, but that’s not to say that they couldn’t have better luck with it than Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).

I’m pretty sure that Twitter will one day release their IPO to the public, but when that will happen still remains unknown. The fact that they’re even talking about it indicates that something could be brewing. If this is true, perhaps Costolo doesn’t want it to happen and that’s why he stated what he did.

Twitter is a very popular social media platform, and although it certainly isn’t quite on the same level that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) or Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is, it certainly doesn’t mean that they’re not immune to change. Something could, and probably will happen,   and it will probably happen sooner, rather than later.

More Speculation Emerges On iPad Mini With wider display screen

Speculation has become more intense over the exact design of the iPad Mini - a cheaper version of the current iPad, which Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to launch sometime in October.

Most of the discussions are about the display size of the iPad Mini and the screen size. The wider display screen size of the iPhone has led to expectations that the iPad Mini would have a wider display.

At the moment all the speculation is more of a wish list of what they would like it to be.

The Next web has written that the screen ratio should be around 16:9 compared to the current ratio of 4:3 for the standard iPad.

Tablets like the Google Nexus has come with a narrower screen ratio and while it works for an Android device it might network very well for an iOS operating system.

The Examiner spoke to industry analyst Paul Mueller about his thoughts on the issue.

"I have talked to at least three people close to Apple who say that there are new iPad prototypes that have a 16:9 aspect ratio. They aren't talking about the upcoming iPad mini either," Mueller says. He will have more information in the next couple of weeks.

The whole design issue would center on whether iPad users like using their device in the portrait or landscape mode.

Most people do tend to use it in the standard portrait mode, rather than the other way around, except when they are watching videos or movies.

Nokia latest strategy, rely on iPhone Patent Royalties?

Recent reports on Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) generated such strong feedback that a Nokia Corporation (NOK) stockholder shared with us an article about how Nokia gets €8 in royalties per iPhone sold due to a patent dispute that was settled last year. After reading that article contributed to us, we think that we have the ideal two-step solution to increase shareholder value for Nokia's long-suffering shareholders.

Step 1, Fire the CEO Stephen Elop!
Step 2, Sell or Close all of Nokia operations with the exception for the entity that owns the patent that generates royalties from the Apple iPhone.

In H1 2012, Nokia has seen Apple sell 61.1M of its widely popular, cutting-edge iPhone smartphone devices. Nokia operates on a calendar year fiscal year and Apple's fiscal year ends on September 30th. For the six-month period ending June 30th, Nokia has received €488.8M from Apple due to patent license fees based on iPhone sales. Nokia received €280.5 from Apple in its Q1 2012 period and €208.3M in its Q2 2012 period.

When we consider the fact that Nokia generated only €93M in device revenue in North America for Q1 2012 and €128M for Q2 2012, we see that the €221M in North American device revenue pales in comparison to the nearly €489M in patent revenues it received from Apple. We can also see that the patent revenue it received from Apple generates a much higher gross margin than the revenue from its proprietary devices, since there are no marginal costs of goods sold associated with collecting royalty revenue from Apple, unlike with the production and distribution of Nokia's devices.

We also see that there are no marginal operating expenses associated with collecting royalty revenue from Apple, unlike with the production and distribution of Nokia's devices.

The reason why Nokia needs to sell off its ailing business units to stronger firms is because Nokia is losing tremendous money operating these businesses. While Nokia bulls plead that Nokia was free cash flow positive in the second quarter, we have to roll our eyes back and say "That weak, whack argument is the best you can come up?!"

Nokia generated €102M in Operating Cash Flows during the quarter, spent €115M in CapEx and salvaged €35M from the disposal of business assets. We're going be generous and calculate its annualized cash flow/equity ratio using ending period equity balances but even so, Nokia's annualized cash flow/equity ratio is maybe 1.2%. We used to think that Nokia's stakeholders could do better than 1.2% annually, but now we're not so sure.

Since Nokia can only eke out €23M in free cash flows per quarter and since Nokia can only do this by cutting its capital expenditures by 27% and by selling off assets, we think that it would be prudent for Nokia's CEO Steve Elop to realize his limitations and to begin salvaging what he can for Nokia's long-suffering shareholders.

iPhone 5 camera causing 'purple halo' in photo

With every new edition of its iPhone, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)  improves the quality of the camera. iPhone 4 and 4S both had amazing cameras and paired with Instagram, they became took image sharing to a whole new level.

Apple Inc (AAPL)’s iPhone 5’s camera was supposed to outdo both its predecessors. Unfortunately, as many users are now discovering, the new camera takes pictures that have a purple halo effect, if there is a bright light source just outside the frame. But camera flare is normal, right? Generally, yes. But iPhone 4 and 4S both didn’t have this issue. And camera flare is generally not purple either.

The camera issue is not present in all Apple Inc (NASSDAQ:AAPL)’s phones, but it is wide-spread. It was reported for the first time on AnandTech’s forums and from there onwards, lots of users have come forward reporting it. While the actual cause of the problem is unclear, the popular theory is that the Apple Inc’s  iPhone 5 camera’s Sapphire lens. The Sapphire lens comes in a number of colors and the halo effect may be due to light refracting through the colored lens.

Another theory by iPhone camera enthusiasts is that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) may have changed the noise on photos from speckles to smearing which is causing the purple halo. Apple Inc (AAPL) has so far made no comment on the matter.

If you want to test your iPhone 5’s camera, point to it a bright light source then move the camera so that the light source is out of the frame. Look for a purple halo or haze originating from the direction of the light source. If it isn’t there, you’re good to go. If it is, hang in there because Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is bound to comment on this soon, and possibly with some solution as well.
 

Google's 360 tour of the deep blue sea

A diver from the Catlin Seaview Survey team captures footage on the specially-designed, tablet-operated SVII camera.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been opened to an audience of more than one billion people worldwide as Google launches avirtual tour of one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Users can log on to Street View on Google Maps and Google Earth and explore high-resolution, 360-degree images of the reef that are being gathered as part of the Catlin Seaview Survey, which documents the health of coral reefs around the world.

"The project is as much about the engagement as it is about the science," project director Richard Vevers told Fairfax from Monterey, California, where he officially launched the survey at the Blue Ocean Film Festival in front of an audience of scientists and filmmakers that included James Cameron.

The images - there are currently 15,000 and will eventually be up to 50,000 - were captured using the world's first tablet-operated underwater camera, the SVII, which incorporates three individual cameras that sit on an underwater scooter operated by a diver.

"It's a completely unique piece of technology," says Vevers. "On a typical run we'll take over 1000 panoramas, which are then stitched together to produce this virtual dive experience."

As well as bringing the reef to life on screens for the general public, the survey also aims to discover if coral reefs around the world will be able to survive climate change.

"The possibilities of what we will discover about coral reefs are almost endless,'' said the project's chief scientist, Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg from the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland.

"Right now, information on how these endangered ecosystems are responding to climate change is incredibly important, given that almost 25 per cent of marine species live in and around coral reefs."

The images made available today come from the shallow reef survey, which uses technology to assess the amount of coral cover and other marine life living on the reefs. The deep reef survey, which explores reefs at a depth of 30 to 100 metres, could hold clues as to whether coral reefs can survive rapid climate change, and may even discover new species.

"There are so many species that are yet to be discovered in this zone," says Vevers. "We'll be going to places that no one has ever seen before or visited before - it's a very exciting area to research."

The partnership between Google and Catlin takes advantage of the billion unique users of Google Maps every month. People can view footage captured on the reef in Hangouts on Catlin's Google+ page, which has 1.4 million followers. The first live nighttime dive will take place on Thursday at 3.30am Australian Eastern Standard Time.

How does Google Maps works?

understanding what the user is searching for is only half the battle for Google Maps. Once the service understands where the user wants to go, the next challenge is to find the easiest routes to get them there, whether by car, foot, or public transit.

So how does Google Maps figure out the best route for a user to take? How does it know which streets are marked ‘one way’ only, where there are left turn restrictions and which roads are separated by dividers or streetcar tracks?

The attempt to answer these questions led Brian McClendon, vice-president of Google Earth and Google Maps, and his team at the Mountain View, Calif.-based search titan, to launch Ground Truth in 2008, built on the back of the company’s Street View project.

“In 2008, we were in a situation where we were licensing third-party data and organizing it with search as best we could, but we weren’t able to do what we wanted with the data,” Mr. McClendon said in an interview.

“So we made a fundamental decision to go out and make our own maps and have our own data and be able to improve it in terms of both quality and detail. This has been a huge investment for us, focusing on both the data and the search quality.”

To create its digital maps, Google relies on all sorts of data from third-party providers, from satellite imagery and census data to bike trails from riding associations. With the Ground Truth project, Google has steadily been incorporating GPS data and images collected by its fleet of Street View cars, which have covered more than five million unique miles of roads in 3,000 cities in 40 countries.

With Ground Truth, Google has been busy teaching its computers to comb through its vast collection of Street View photos and has developed technology which enables them to recognize street signs, turn restrictions and the locations of businesses. Google combines that information with GPS data to help align the road information.

“It’s actually good GPS data and we make it much better by using computer vision to connect different photos to each other,” Mr. McClendon said. “We then run these computer vision algorithms to do extraction of street signs, speed limit signs, addresses and business logos, and then run these through automated recognition.”

These data can be uploaded immediately to the company’s road database, but if there’s a discrepancy, Google will send a Street View car operator to confirm what’s in the photos.

“The combination of heavy automation, with final human verification of the ambiguous pieces gives us a very high-quality data set that is derived from Street View imagery,” Mr. McClendon said.

Google Play’s Store celebrates its 25th Billions Download

With an impressive 15 billion apps and games downloaded in the past year alone, Google has every reason to celebrate reaching the 25 billion apps milestone. And so do Android gamers, as a celebratory sale delivers titles like Angry Birds Space Premium and NFL Kicker 2013 for a quarter of a dollar.

With more than 675,000 apps and games on Google Play and shiny new Android phones and tablets reaching more hands every day, 25 billion is a number that should shoot up like a rocket by next year, so the five-day sale in the Google Play store is something you should hop on right now, rather than wait for next year’s dollar event.

The selection of games and apps available at the celebratory price will rotate each day for five days, so frequent checking is encouraged. Along with the sale apps, Google play will also be offering special 25 item media collections, such as 25 banned books.

Twenty-five billion is more than twice the distance, in miles, that the Voyager 1 spacecraft has travelled since its launch 35 years ago. It’s the amount of time, in minutes, that have passed since some of our earliest ancestors began to set foot in Europe. And now, thanks to all of you, it’s a Google Play milestone. We look forward to the next 25 billion.

snippets of the 1st day selections of offered apps for a quarter of a dollars:

and a purchase being made at a quarter of a dollar by me,

MySpace Pips Apple Inc to Music app Patent

Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL), as we know, is paranoid about its intellectual property rights and makes sure that anything it makes or does is patented or trademarked so that it can sue anyone else who tries to copy them.

However this time it has been quick off the mark. Its attempts to patent its Music app icon have been stymied by MySpace that has already trademarked a similar icon for its music app.

Though the two apps have the musical note on an orange background as their icon, it can be quickly differentiated from one another even at a cursory glance since the perspectives are different.

However the judges, who allow the trademarks, felt that the icon filed by Apple was too similar to that of MySpace and have disallowed it.

The judges made this report: In view of the facts that the marks are similar, the goods and services are related and are encountered by the same classes of consumers, we find that applicant’s double musical note and design for “computer software [..]” is likely to cause confusion with the registered mark comprising a double musical note and design [..] for listening to MP3’s and for sharing MP3’s and music playlists with others.

Social networking site MySpace had obtained the logo when it bought music service iLike, the original owner of the icon.
Apple killed off its iPod app on its iPhone and replaced it with the Music app, separating music and videos into standalone apps.

Yahoo CEO's new plan, named new CFO, Ken Goldman

SAN FRANCISCO

(Reuters) - New Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) CEO Marissa Mayer laid out broad goals for the Internet giant in her first companywide address Tuesday, and received an enthusiastic reception from a workforce that has faced years of uncertainty and management turmoil.

Mayer mainly sketched broad visions rather than concrete details for her turnaround strategy, according to several people familiar with what was said in the tightly controlled meeting.

But her personal credibility as a long-time senior Google Inc (GOOG.O) executive, combined with some recent morale-boosting moves such as providing new iPhones and free food for employees, have had a dramatic and positive impact on the "vibe" at the company, one of the people said.

Speaking at Yahoo's Sunnyvale, California headquarters, Mayer stressed the importance of personalizing Yahoo's Web services and adapting the company's products to mobile devices, AllThingsD reported. Although her speech touched on frequently mentioned industry themes, Mayer's delivery nonetheless won spontaneous applause from the workforce, according to a second person with knowledge of the company meeting.

"It was some of the same types of lines that had been said before, but people believe it now," said the person, who declined to be identified because the information is private.

After a steady stream of occasionally embarrassing reports, Yahoo in recent months has clamped down firmly on leaks to the press. Attendees at Tuesday's assembly were instructed to shut their laptops during Mayer's address.

Yahoo declined repeated requests for comment.

Mayer first presented her strategy to Yahoo's board in meetings last week, outlining plans to bring back advertisers and expand the company's user base, said a third source, who declined to be identified because the information was not public.

Yahoo also announced that it appointed as its new chief financial officer Ken Goldman, formerly CFO at cybersecurity software firm Fortinet.

The appointment comes two months after Yahoo's board tapped Mayer to restore a household Internet name overshadowed by rivals like Facebook Inc and Google in recent years.

Yahoo remains one of the world's most popular websites, with more than 700 million monthly visitors who use products like its email service and read its news pages, according to the company. But Yahoo's revenue has stagnated as online display advertising prices have fallen and as it faces competition from Facebook and Google.

Mayer, Yahoo's third CEO in about a year, arrived after a tumultuous period in the company in which former CEO Scott Thompson resigned after less than 6 months on the job over a controversy over his academic credentials. Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang had also stepped down as CEO, and an internal reorganization eliminated thousands of jobs.

Companies Indirectly Dependant on Apple Inc’s Success

By Adam Satariano

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the most successful company in smartphone industry but its success drive success for all those firms which are indirectly dependent on Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s success.

Suppliers of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in U.S whose are riding their success story by sitting on the horse of Apple are worth mentioning here.

ARM Holdings plc (ADR)(NASDAQ:ARMH)

Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone 5 processor is based on ARM (ARMH) architecture which is manufactured by Samsung. Stocks of ARM Holdings plc (ADR)(NASDAQ:ARMH) slipped-1.97% to $ 27.41 in current trading session.

Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS)

Apple is getting power amplifier modules and antenna switch modules from Skyworks (SWKS). Skyworks has topped the expectations of work required in iPhone 5 but is losing in non AAPL business. Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) stocks dropped -0.64% to $23.36 in current trading session.

QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Qualcomm (QCOM) is a qualified firm as the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5 supports LTE using the company’s parts, which includes RF transceivers and baseband processors. QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) stock slid-0.73% to $62.28 in current trading session.

Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)

Apple Inc. (AAPL) gets audio codec and audio amplifier from CRUS. CRUS are a momentum stock that has just gone through a massive short squeeze. Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) stocks fell -1.02% to $ 27.55 in current trading session.

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM)

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is getting touchscreen controller supplies from Broadcom (BRCM). BRCM stock is reasonably priced. Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM) stocks slid -1.07% to $ 34.19 in current trading session.

Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is getting battery displays and secondary camera modules supply from Sony (SNE), stocks of Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) slumped -1.58% to $11.86 in current trading session

Barnes & Noble Inc unveiled first hi-definition tablets

(Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc's (BKS.N) first hi-definition tablets, unveiled on Wednesday, w ere well received by analysts wh o said the devices keep the bookseller in the fight with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Google Inc (GOOG.O) - for now.

The largest U.S. bookstore chain introduced a $199 7-inch Nook HD tablet that will go up against similar, recently launched products by Google and Amazon.com this holiday season.

The company also unveiled a $269 9-inch Nook HD+ tablet that will compete with the Apple iPad.

"The devices are in improvement in important ways over the previous generations of the Nook, and they one-up Amazon in some areas," Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps told Reuters.

While the new products , thinner and lighter than their rivals, come a few months after Microsoft said it would invest $605 million over five years in Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader and college business, the bookstore chain still faces a daunting task.

"Barnes & Noble is the smallest player trying to do the software and the hardware development, and they don't have the financial means beyond what Microsoft has already fronted them to keep up in the arms race," said Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom.

Barnes & Noble staked its future on success in the growing e-books industry as the face of declining sales of physical books that led to last year's bankruptcy of the Borders bookstore chain.

In many ways, Barnes & Noble, which operates nearly 700 stores, has defied expectations. It beat Amazon to the marketplace with touchscreen devices and a color reader in recent years, and won plaudits from reviewers this year for its glow-in-the-dark Nook that allows someone to read with the lights off so as not to disturb others.

Since the chain launched its first Nook device, a basic e-reader, in 2009, it has won a s much as 30 percent of the U.S. e-books market. A mazon is the leader with about 60 percent.

This race has proven expensive and, so far, unprofitable. The battle with Amazon is taking a toll. Barnes & Noble reported lower Nook sales last quarter, after earlier quarters of torrid growth, hurt by price cuts to fight Amazon's aggressive pricing.

"Barnes & Noble must continue to invest to introduce new products with enhanced features at prices that are the same as or lower than older, less-sophisticated devices," Barclays Capital analyst Alan Rifkin wrote in a research note. The problem is that hurts profits and margins, he said.

But the company's chief said the Nook devices are essential to helping it generate sales of digital content. "We're growing the digital content portion of the business, and that's where we envision making our economics," Barnes & Noble William Lynch told Reuters at a media event on Tuesday.

The tablet market is among the fastest-growing sectors of the technology industry. Research firm Gartner forecasts that sales will almost double this year, to 118.9 million units.

Barnes & Noble is in some ways at a disadvantage. Amazon can use its Prime shipping service and amazon.com site to draw users to its Kindle tablets, and Apple, which has sold tens of millions of iPads, and has an indisputable "cool" factor.

So Barnes & Noble needs to focus on its natural customer: the reader that comes to its stores to buy books.

"A key growth area is to get their existing customer base onto the digital platform," Forrester's Epps said, adding that the new devices would help.

For these new devices, Barnes & Noble added features that allows each member in a family to share a Nook tablet, b ecoming the first tablet to let ea ch user create a home page and customize preferences.

There are also parental controls that can prevent kids from a dult content or going shopping.

The company hopes a new video-streaming and download service for Nook will help narrow the gap with Amazon and Apple, which offer more content on their devices.

Barnes & Noble emphasized features such as image resolution and page-turning technology given the needs of its basic customers, book and magazine readers.

"We are playing in the tablet space, but reading is at our core," Lynch said.

The 7-inch tablet weighs 11.1 ounces. Its larger sibling is 18.2 ounces, making it lighter than the iPad and making them both more appropriate for reading, he added. The iPad weighs about 23 ounces.

Barnes & Noble's new devices, available for pre-order on Wednesday, will ship in October and be in U.S. stores in November. They will be on sale in Britain beginning in late November at chains including Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

Amazon goes Green with Vine.com

Amazon is going green. Or rather it is facilitating shopping for those who are environmentally conscious.

The online retailing giant has launched a new site called vine.com which will sell products that are green or non-polluting. They include all kinds of products such as cleaning supplies to baby accessories, beauty supplies and clothes.

Amazon acquired Vine when it bought Quidsi in 2010 that has properties such as Dipaers.com, Wag.com and YoYo.com.

The criteria for green are rather strict according to the standards set by Vine.

Products must fall into one of the following categories: they must be designed to remove toxins, energy-efficient, natural, organic, powered by renewable energy, reusable, made of sustainable materials or water-efficient, a blog in the New York Times reported.

Examples of such product are - bamboo-cutting boards, reusable cloth diapers, organic cotton bedding, low-flow shower heads, and water filter pitchers and so on.

According to Josh Dorfam, who is the site leader, “This is a site that is not necessarily about saving the planet, though we feel the products are useful in that regard. 

“It’s really saying to mom, ‘If you care about raising safe and healthy kids and you feel green products without chemicals can help along the way, we’ve figured out ways to help you do that.’”

Vine has also asked it vendors to make sure that the products they supply meet all its standards and do not contain any banned substances.

In order to ensure a better deal for customers Vine is also stocking products which are fair trade or are mad within 100 hundred miles of shoppers.

Texas Instruments rethinks future on Mobile processors

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Texas Instruments Inc. became an important player in mobile computing with its OMAP application processor, used in some of the most popular smartphones and tablets, including Amazon.com’s Kindle Fire.

But now TI TXN -0.90%  is rethinking its future in a fast-growing but unpredictable market.

Apple-vs.-Google smartphone war
Google's popular mapping application likely won't migrate to Apple's iPhone 5 anytime soon, according to the search giant's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt.

The Dallas-based chip giant on Tuesday said it plans to de-emphasize efforts aimed at building the OMAP position in the smartphone and tablet market.

Those markets are big and are expected to get bigger, led by manufacturers such as Apple Inc. AAPL -1.27%  and Samsung Electronics Co. SSNLF +5.36% , and search giant Google Inc. GOOG +0.57% with its dominant Android operating system. Even online retailer Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -1.11% , with Kindle Fire, and bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. BKS +6.00% , with the Nook, jumped into the fray. Both, in fact, use TI’s OMAP.

Facebook looks be to improving with ads - TBG

TBG Digital, a leading Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) focused advertising agency, is constructive on the company’s future. According to a report from Bank of America, TBG, whose client list, which includes the big names like Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), and Neftlix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), has experienced a positive ROI in proportion to their targets as “some advertisers targeting visits to FB pages or “likes”, others targeting off FB purchases or subscriptions.” The advertising agency asserted that mobile product development and monetization of sponsored story ad format on mobile devices are the main focus for Facebook currently.

As per the report from BOA, TBG which allocates $200mn+ in annual social media spending is most optimistic on demand for “Sponsored Story mobile inventory” and “the pricing uplift opportunity” from Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s ad exchange, among the many new ad formats introduced by the company. Though the advertising agency believes that mobile revenues may eat away some revenue from PC spending, it expects the social networker to post a double digit quarterly growth in the client’s ad spending for the coming quarters.

TBG’s double digit growth expectation for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s spending is higher than the 7 percent spending growth estimate by BOA, and a general perception of around 4 percent. For the fourth quarter, TBG expects a growth of 20 percent in the client spending, against the 19 percent quarterly growth estimates by BOA. The TBG growth numbers are backed by “very big commercial business actively investigating how much to switch away from TV to Social” and also a big spending in the fourth quarter from US political advertising, which is expected to shift from traditional advertising platforms and invest “incremental retail dollars to the Internet.”

Commenting on each of the recent ad formats introduced by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), TBG said, ‘Sponsored Stories’ ads provide higher ROI. On ‘Ad Exchange’, the agency remarked that though the inventory is limited, it could drive higher pricing. TGB views ‘Promoted Posts’ to be more focused on small and medium sized businesses. Expressing concerns on ‘Facebook Offers’, the agency suggested it “should be renamed and needs strong compliance monitoring for consumers and businesses, as coupon redemption has been a problem.” According to TBG ‘Sponsored Results’ does not enjoy the same traction as other ad formats, as “users are not searching for brands in a similar manner to how they search on Google.”

For the third quarter, TBG’s total mobile ad budget for FB is only about 5 percent, but in the long run, it is expected to grow to over 50 percent of ad spending. However, the report from BOA considers ‘FB inventory limitations’ and ‘possible cannibalization of desktop spend’ to be a major issue that requires some fixing from the company side.

TBG considers ‘FB Ad Exchange’ a big opportunity for the company. As of now, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) restricts exchange inventory to one ad per page, but the report expects around 50 percent of the ads “could be served from the exchange in the future.” Report is optimistic on the potential growth of Facebook’s annual ad revenues per user, which is currently at $4.40, against $6.30 for Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO). However, the report expresses concern over “limited visibility on the impact of the user transition to mobile devices and mobile advertising revenue trends.”

Facebook Inc releases new SDK for iOS6

There is good news for Apple developers. Facebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) has just released its SDK 1.3 for iOS 6 that allows developers to code their apps so that users can easily sign in through their Facebook IDs. It is a single sign-on process.

This means that if the app allows users to sign in using their Facebook accounts then they no longer have to enter their email IDs and passwords, like they would normally do while signing in.

It would just require a single tap on the iOS 6 and they can be immediately logged in without having to go through the cumbersome process.

Other features of the SDK are -

Ready-to-use UI controls: The SDK includes several pre-built user interface controls.

Friend Picker to help apps easily pick your friends. Say as a user you want to share your photos with a specific group of friends then use the friend picker feature to choose friends to tag in an Open Graph action.

Places Picker so that apps can easily integrate with Facebook places. Subscribers can use this picker to let users include a place with their posts.

Profile Picture control so your app can easily show the profile picture of a user, their friends, places, or other kinds of Facebook objects.

Login controls for easily building login and logout experiences.

Another important development is the new ad analytics feature so that marketers can understand the effective of the mobile Facebook ads.

Facebook Inc’s CEO Plans to Create Silicon Valley Styled Park in Russia

by Thomas Vedder

Facebook Inc’s (NASDAQ:FB) owner Mark Zuckerberg has decided to visit Russia in the initial week of October to have meeting with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and visit the Skolkovo Innovation Center, planned for creating a Silicon Valley-style technology development park just exterior to Moscow a representative for the project reported on Wednesday.

Mr. Zuckerberg would also talk with billionaire industrialist Viktor Vekselberg, who acts as president of the Skolkovo Foundation, which will be in charge for completing the project, Leonid Gankin, spokesperson stated

Facebook Inc. Goes to Russia, With Love? Or An Agenda?

By DAVID WOODBURN

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been a world traveler already, but this next trip just might be one of the most dynamic yet – and may be one to set the tone for Facebook’s future. Next week, Zuck will be in Russia, first to host a “Hack” marathon with local developers, but he will also be there to see some tech sites – perhaps on a fact-finding mission. After all, for all of Facebook’s global reach (900 million-plus users), Facebook is not the dominant social-networking site in the former Eastern Bloc.

Zuckerberg is scheduled to meet with Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, who apparently is very tech-savvy for being a world leader, and in fact is credited with the development of a technology incubator called the Skolkovo Foundation – the Russian Silicon Valley. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), which has been conducting a World Hack Tour in several international cities – Berlin, Barcelona and Buenos Aires have already hosted these app-development marathons – and it will be making a new stop in Moscow this week.

Zuckerberg is in Moscow for other reasons, though, as well. He likely will be checking out the Skolkovo Foundation as well as the Russian social-networking scene to serve a couple of purposes – one, to perhaps locate some new talent for Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), and also to figure out why the most-visited social-network site in Russia and the former Soviet Union is VKontakte with 40 million users – four times more than the Russian version of Facebook.

“Most of the winners in Russian internet are local players and social networks are no exception,” said Dmitry Alimov, founder of Frontier Ventures, to

Financial Times. “In Russia, Facebook is way behind Russian social networking sites. Key reasons include late market entry and limited understanding of the local internet ecosystem.”

On the other side of the coin, Russia may try to recruit Zuckerberg and Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) to invest in Russia through the Skolkovo Foundation, which has support from International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO).

How productive this venture will be for Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) remains to be seen, but having Zuckerberg himself tour the area and ask questions of successful social networks in Russia could certainly lead to some valuable intelligence to take back to Menlo Park.

Windows 8 to be unveiled by Microsoft next month, is not completely ready. - Paul Otellini

Chief Executive Officer at Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), Paul Otellini told Intel’s staff that Windows 8 operating system which is going to be unveiled by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) next month is not completely ready, said a person who participated in the company’s event.

Speaking at Intel’s meeting held in Taipei yesterday, Otellini stated that there is still room for improvement in the software, said a person who requested not to be identified because the meeting was confidential.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is keen to launch its Windows 8 operating system as soon as possible in order to compete with Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad. Windows 8 will be Microsoft’s first version of flagship software which will be compatible with tablets as well. Otellini said that launching Windows 8 before it is fully ready is the right step as Microsoft can cover the shortfalls in the software following its shipping.

Yahoo, Google & Bing are being warned of Bad "Search Engine Optimization" Practices By Movers

By Aman Jain

Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, John D. Rockefeller, dispatched letters to the major search engine companies late Tuesday, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), asking them to examine how some moving services are using “bait-and-switch” tactics on customers who find them through search results. The senator informed the companies, due to their search engines affected consumers lose personal possessions and pay thousands of dollars to the dodgy moving companies, which promote one service, but deliver another.

The letters addressed to Matthew Cutts at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG); Shashi Seth, SVP at Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO); and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s president of online services Qi Lu, inform that the moving companies are “gaming the system”, using SEO (search engine optimization) techniques like paid links from thousands of bogus sites, to come up higher in search results for unwitting consumers.

The letter from the senate said, “ In our review of hundreds of consumer complaints…they very consistently reported that they had found these Internet moving brokers after entering general search terms (e.g., ‘Miami Movers,’ or ‘long distance moving Las Vegas’) into an Internet search engine such as yours. In their attempt to shop for the services of a reputable moving company online, these consumers, instead hired companies that misrepresented their services and caused them serious financial harm…

My staff has conducted a number of test searches using your company’s search engine. Frequently, Internet moving brokers identified in the investigation, which received high numbers of consumer complaints, ranked highly in the search results…It appears that some of these companies may be “gaming the system” in order to boost their search rankings. These companies appear to be using paid links to inflate their popularity. For example, one company had tens of thousands of external links to its website and, upon closer review, these links proved to be largely irrelevant. They included abandoned blogs, link directors for unrelated topics, and college student groups and organizations, such as the Cornell Gymnastics Club.”

The alert letter comes in response to a year-long review to address consumer complaints related to misleading moving companies. The Committee has also alerted the Department of Transportation as a result of the investigation, and since the origin of the problem starts with search engines it was only logical to alert the related companies. The investigations by this committee focus in particular on two carriers and two brokers: Able Moving (carrier), Best Price Moving & Storage (carrier), Nationwide Relocation Services (broker), and Budget Van Lines (broker)

A Google spokesperson replied to the questions by TechCrunch, saying, “We make more than 500 improvements to our search algorithms every year to make them more useful, including a significant update this past April to combat practices like link schemes. We’re always looking for ways to make it harder for scammers to trick consumers, so we appreciate the specifics the Committee provided. Senator Rockefeller’s concerns point out how important it is that search engines continue to have the ability to constantly and quickly improve our results for our users.”

The top three search engine companies, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Bing, and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), have been known for juggling with search engine algorithms in the past. In fact one, of the fine examples is the changes made to Google Panda, which demoted “content farms” and “link farms” in its search results.

Play Books gets brand new updates to enhance the experience of reading online

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Play Books, the Android service has gotten new features added to it, which is sure to make reading that much more fun and pleasurable. The improvements are not trivial. They are pragmatic as well as aesthetic. For those who have been using the application to read books on the go, through their smartphones, the improvements are sure to make them feel better about reading online copies.

One can now search for the locations which may be mentioned in the text being read. The name of the place will be taken up by the application, and its physical location will be shown on Google maps. Also, if you want to know more about the place, you can opt for the Wikipedia article based on the place.

You can use the translation feature to help translate certain words, sentences or phrases. The application will use Google’s translation application to help get the meaning from one language to another. The updates also include facilities for annotations.

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Highlighting part of the text which you may find important, or which you may like, can now be done and stored for further reference. Also, the new features include the ability to take notes near the margins. You can now jot down important thoughts and opinions on the text, near that part of the text itself.

The application has now availed support for Japanese texts. Texts in the Japanese language can now be read by users of this application, which is sure to bring in more readers, and linguist enthusiasts.

The new updates to the Google Play Books application are very exciting because they will sync themselves into smartphones which have the application. One does not have to manually do syncing, and one does not have to ask for the updates specifically.

The aesthetic updates include a 2D animation service which gives one the illusion of turning pages of a book, and there is also a sepia reading mode, which gives a very nostalgic touch to the e-books, especially classics. The updates on Google Play Books is sure to get more fans.

War Heats up on Apple Inc, Google Inc and Samsung executives To Meet This Week

In a first step towards acknowledging the patent wars that have been raging between Apple Inc.( NASDAQ:AAPL) and Android-power devices, Google Inc(NASDAQ:GOOG) and Samsung executives are meeting to discuss the fallout of the patent legal battles.

According to a report in the Korea Times Samsung Electronics chief Shin Jong-Kyun will be meeting with Google’s Eric Schmidt this Thursday in Seoul.

The paper said that a Samsung executive confirmed the meeting although he did not say anything about the topics which were to be discussed.

The report speculate that Apple was most likely to be the topic of conversation between the two companies since Apple's most virulent cases have been reserved for Samsung, which it has alleged has been copying the designs of its mobile devices.

In a recent trial between Apple and Samsung in a federal court in San Jose in the United States, the court ruled in favour of the Cupertino company and awarded it a billion dollars in damages saying that the Korean firm had copied its designs and infringed on its patents.

The late Steve Jobs had gone on record to his biographer to say that Android was a copycat product.

Google has so far downplayed the disputes between Apple and Samsung saying that the patents under dispute did not relate to the core Android operating system.

Apple hasn’t ever directly attacked Google anywhere but the entire tech world is aware that these legal disputes between Apple and Android devices are a proxy war between the iPhone maker and the Internet search giant.

Google's Android is the most-used operating system in the world and the main rival to Apple's iOS.

Google Price Target Raised To $850

By Canaccord Genuity

Analysts from research firm Canaccord Genuity boosted their price target for search engine giant Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) from $700 to $850 per share.

Canaccord analysts Michael Graham and Shawn Rassouli cited that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s upward momentum will continue due to the following reasons: better cost-per-click (CPC) trends creating an upward bias on revenue estimates in the periods ahead, continued dissipation of Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MMI) related apprehension, and multiple expansion.

Graham and Rassouli observed the search engine giant’s CPC continues to show signs of expansion or stabilizations. The research firm’s CPC tracker indicated that the company’s overall CPC slightly increased in July and August, pushed by higher desktop CPC, moderating shift to mobile and flat mobile CPCs. They think mobile ad rates will increase across the industry, beginning in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year, on to 2013, due to the fact that other media platforms, including Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P), are encouraging advertisers to embrace mobile advertising.

Google Takes Wind Out of Data Center Criticisms

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
has been nothing if not an alternative-energy warrior, working tirelessly to use alternative and renewable sources of energy whenever possible – especially when it comes to its data centers, which have been notorious for using up large amounts of energy simple because those centers contain the servers that an online company must have online and functional 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Data centers in general have been criticized recently for their energy consumption, most notably in a New York Times piece. And that story has been criticized itself, and at the very least questioned by people like Rick Needham, who directs the energy and sustainability division of Google Inc. (NASDA:GOOG).

He said, “There was no distinction between smaller companies running their own server closet, which really isn’t very efficient, versus cloud service providers like Google. (Also,) there was really no mention about renewable energy (and) actually sourcing your power itself from a renewable source.”

Renewable energy has been a focal point for Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) for a few years now, and the company has been moving ahead with linking to wind power for energy sources at a couple of data centers. The most recent step for Google in this area is a 10-year deal with the Grand River Dam Authority in Oklahoma to provide 48 megawatts of wind-generated power to its data center in Mayes County, Okla. This power will come from a 300-megawatt wind farm currently being built just outside Oklahoma City and due to go online by the end of the year.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has done these wind deals before, but it had been an energy broker – paying utilities for the power, then selling wholesale onto the grid to replace the energy the company uses in its data centers. This recent deal, however, is the first for the company where it s getting energy directly from a utility. “We’ve been building very efficient data centers for a very very long time,” Needham said. “But efficiency is just one part of what we do.”

Alternative energy is expensive and takes significant investment, but Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) sees value in its investments.

Google Inc. Jumps To 5th Most Valuable US Company, Closing In On Microsoft

BY Moran Zhang

Google Inc (Nasdaq: GOOG) has jumped to the 5th biggest U.S. company by market capitalization from 10th place, where it was on July 14.

Google’s market cap has ballooned by more than $60 billion in that time period to roughly $245 billion. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is just barely behind Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) at $251 billion and Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) at $257 billion, according to data provided by the Bespoke Investment Group.

Another 5 percent gain for Google’s stock would make it the third-largest company in the U.S. just behind Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) at $644.59 billion and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) at $424.25 billion.

While Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is now the most valuable company in the world and its stock is up about 65 percent year-to-date, it has shed a few percentage points from its all-time-high of $705.07 hit on Friday, after the recently released iPhone 5 missed sales expectations.

Meanwhile, counterpart Google set a new 52-week high during Tuesday’s trading session when it reached $764.89 per share. Google is trading at heights it hasn’t hit since November 2007.

Google, which generated $38 billion in revenue last year, has surged roughly 36 percent since mid-June, compared with the Dow Jones Industrial Average's roughly 7 percent gain and a 10 percent rise on the Nasdaq.

Google’s lucrative search advertising business, as well as its efforts to expand into display and mobile advertising, have helped the Internet behemoth maintain robust revenue growth.

Google, owner of the world's largest search engine, dominates the Internet search market with a 67 percent market share, while its Android dominates the smartphone landscape, owning 68 percent of the global market in the second quarter -- exactly four times the 17 percent share Apple's iPhones held. Google is expected to become the leader in the U.S. for display advertising this year, including banner ads, replacing Facebook Inc (Nasdaq:FB).

Citi analyst Mark Mahaney boosted his price target for Google to $850 from $740 on Monday, citing signs of growth in search advertising revenue and a particularly promising rise in mobile pay-per-click revenue. Deutsche Bank currently has a price target of $890 for Google.

In its next earnings report, due on Oct. 10, Google is expected to report its fastest sales growth in five years. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predict sales growth of 59 percent, with earnings of $10.55 per share on sales of $11.95 billion.

Google's surging stock price comes about a year-and-a-half after co-founder Larry Page returned to the chief executive's role, replacing Eric Schmidt, who had the helm of the Internet company for the previous decade.

Page has attempted to pare Google down, sacrificing underperforming projects, bolstering its core businesses and, above all, trying to reorient the entire company behind a comprehensive social strategy.

Google traders are motivated by stocks new high

Call players flocked toward Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG - 751.60) on Tuesday, after the company announced plans to launch its Nexus 7 tablet in Japan -- news that may have helped push the stock to a new record high of $764.89. By the time yesterday's closing bell rang, 155,000 calls had crossed the tape, which was almost triple the security's average daily call volume.

Most popular proved to be the October 800 strike, where close to 13,600 calls were exchanged at a volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of $8.35 per contract. However, a significant portion of these options traded at or below the bid price, suggesting they were sold.

Open interest at this strike surged by 10,732 contracts overnight, pointing to the initiation of new positions. This option now holds peak call open interest of 18,911 contracts. Because these calls are currently out-of-the-money, some of Tuesday's traders may have been shareholders writing covered calls with the expectation that the equity will trek closer to the $800 mark (without moving above it) by front-month expiration and hope to generate some extra income on their stock positions. These covered-call players may feel this century mark could act as a ceiling in the short term.

GOOG has seen its fair share of call buying, as well, according to data from International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). At last check, the security sports a 20-day call/put volume ratio of 1.28, confirming that calls bought to open have outpaced puts during the past four weeks.

iPhone 5 review: users complaints

By: Doug Gross CNN

Apple's iPhone 5 broke records over the weekend, selling more than 5 million units.

Most of those new owners, many of whom lined up at Apple stores and other retailers, are presumably happy with their new gadget, which has been praised for its bigger display screen, lighter and thinner form, and faster processor.

But, as with many new tech products, there have been glitches, too. As the new iPhones get road-tested, buyers have taken to the Web to complain about issues ranging from the fixable to the unfortunately final.

The doozy has been a spotty maps application. For the first time, Apple's latest operating system replaced rival Google's mapping service with its own. As many people got their first look at it with a new phone, they've found huge chunks of the world missing, or locations showing up in the wrong place. (Apple said the app is a work in progress and will be fixed.)

Plenty has been written about that issue. But other gripes have emerged as well. Some sound legitimate. And, given the hyper-intense nature of the tech world's "love-hate" relationship with their gadgets, a couple just sound downright silly.

After a few days of putting the new smartphone through its paces, here are five gripes people have with the iPhone 5.

1. Scratches

Apple prides itself on making products that aren't just functional but beautiful as well.

But users are reporting that after having their iPhone 5s for only days, or even hours, the sheen on the sleek, aluminum phone is getting scratched up.

Melissa Jenna Godsey at iFixIt.com posted a YouTube video of her 2-year-old daughter hitting and scratching the phone's aluminum rear case with a set of keys, creating visible scratches and dents. Similar scuffing of the iPhone 4S revealed little, if any, damage.

"I know this is kind of an extreme case, but she's not the strongest two-year-old," Godsey said. "And this all just happened, so I can only imagine what this is going to look like after a couple of weeks of solid use."

Answering an e-mail from a user, Phil Schiller, Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing, downplayed the issue.

"Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color," Schiller said in the e-mail, reported and verified by Apple-centric blog 9to5 Mac. "That is normal."

Translated on Twitter by PC Mag writer Sascha Segan: "Apple: iPhones Aren't Chipping, They're Just Shedding Their Skins To Become Beautiful Butterflies."

2. Lightning dock connector

The tech world is nothing if not full of change. But many longtime Apple users are irked at the company's decision to use a smaller connector port, called Lightning, on the iPhone 5 and new iPods. With one fell swoop, that meant both a need for new power cords and that the new products won't connect with older speaker systems, alarm clocks and other accessories.

The fix? A $29 adapter (which costs $39 if you want a new cable with it). And even then, the adapter doesn't support video or "audio out" for iPods.

"Day 3 of having the new iPhone and I already lost the power cord #thanksapple," wrote one Twitter user.

"It's time to gouge our customers for a ton more money," Disqus commenter dawsg4ever quipped.

A Lightning-to-USB cable costs $19 and, according to Apple's website, currently has a one- to two-week wait time to be shipped.

3. The phone's too light

We told you some of these are kind of weird.

One of Apple's selling points for the new phone is that it's the lightest smartphone ever.

One of the emerging complaints? That it's the lightest smartphone ever.

To some users, a phone without the usual heft feels suspiciously cheap, toylike. Gizmodo rounded up some of the gripes under the headline, "The Weirdest Thing People Hate About the iPhone 5."

Those, culled from Twitter, included these nuggets:

- "Can I be honest and say I wish the iPhone 5 was slightly thicker and heavier. Hate thin phones!"

- "Held the iPhone 5. Way too light for this spazz-attack. I need a heavier phone so I don't completely destroy it."

- "This new iPhone is way too light. I feel like its gonna just fly outta my hand with the slightest breeze #firstworldproblems"

4. Screen issues

OK ... there are 5 million new phones in the wild now, so inevitably there are going to be some lemons. It's hard to know how widespread it is, but a handful of problems with the phone's touchscreen are bubbling up, too.

One YouTube video shows what appear to be weird bubbles showing up on one part of the display screen when the user touches another.

Threads on the Macrumors site also were filling up with people who said their screens started flickering just hours after getting their new phone.

5. Leaking light

Phones aren't supposed to leak. But users on multiple forums are reporting that light from the screen appears to be showing through gaps around the iPhone 5's antenna and power button.

Boy Genius Report said it's happening on one of its phones and shows light streaming out of a small crack beneath the power button.

The report said the leak is only visible in low light. Users said Apple has been offering replacements.

Apple Inc. Alert: Samsung’s new Galaxy Note goes on sale.

The Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 5 is set to get competition - and it’s none other than from its bitter rival Samsung Electronics.

The Korean handset maker launched its new Galaxy Note 2 earlier in the day and expects that it sales will get off to a strong start, even surpassing that of the Apple phone.

The new Galaxy Note 2 will sell three times faster than the previous version of the Note, with more network carriers tying up with the handset maker, head of Samsung's mobile business, J K Shin told reporters in Seoul.

The device went on sale in 128 countries including South Korea on Wednesday.

Samsung is the world's largest seller of smartphones, having overtaken Nokia and Apple earlier this year.

A variety of galaxy devices are being offered, powered by Google's Android operating system. Last week on Friday Apple's new iPhone 5 went on sale and in three days a record 5 million phones were sold as consumers had pre-ordered the phone while thousands thronged Apple stores and other outlets to be among the first to get the phone.

The new Galaxy Note will be sold along with the Galaxy S smartphones that are bestsellers. The new Galaxy Note 2 was unveiled at a Berlin Electronics Fair in August, right after a federal court in San Jose had found it guilty of violating patents and copying Apple's devices.

Apple has sought a sales ban on a range of Samsung's devices in the United States and elsewhere. The case will be coming up for hearing later this year.

The new Galaxy Note has a 5.5 inch screen, has a faster processor and is equipped with a digital pen that recognises handwriting.

5 stocks Billionaires are crazy about - Insider Monkey

Apple Inc (AAPL) is the most popular stock among hedge funds and billionaires, and it is performing spectacularly. Despite Apple Inc’s successful performance hedge funds are underperforming the market third year in a row. The reason is simple. Equity hedge funds usually hedge around 50% of their long exposure. It just doesn’t make sense to compare them to the S&P 500 index which is 100% long.

The index is based on the 13F disclosures of billionaire hedge fund managers and prominent investors. It is composed of the 30 most popular stocks among billionaires and each stock’s weight is proportional to its popularity. We update the index around 50 days after the end of each quarter to give ourselves enough time to process the filings. I can hear you questioning whether there is any value in imitating hedge funds’ stock picks two months after they are known to be holding these stocks. Some may argue that they may have sold or even started to short these stocks during this two month delay. Technically it is possible but we don’t think it is probable.

Since the beginning of this year Insider Monkey’s Billionaire Hedge Fund Index returned 25.3% vs. a gain of 18% for the S&P 500 including dividends. Of course an average equity hedge fund didn’t return 25.3% so far this year because hedge funds aren’t usually 100% long and they charge hefty fees. Our index avoided these shortcomings and managed to beat the market by 7 percentage points despite using “stale” data.

1. Apple Inc. (AAPL, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Apple is the most popular stock among billionaire fund managers. More than 40% of the billionaires had a large position in Apple at the end of June. Apple is also the most popular stock among other hedge fund managers. Apple has been an obvious value play for a very long time. At the beginning of 2011 the market valued the stock as if it was a low growth utility stock. By the end of the summer of 2011, low growth utility stocks had even higher multiples than technology stocks like Apple Inc and Microsoft Corporation. Investing in Apple was really a no brainer. It is still very attractively priced despite returning 73.6% so far this year. Billionaires Ken Griffin, David Einhorn, and Stephen Mandel are extremely bullish about the stock.

 
2. Google Inc. (GOOG, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Google Inc is the second most popular stock among billionaire hedge fund managers. The stock gained 13.6% so far this year. We are optimistic about Google as well. The stock’s 2013 forward PE ratio is less than 15. It is slightly more expensive than Apple but the stock is the undisputed leader of the search business. It is expected to increase its earnings by nearly 20% per year over the next few years. We expect that Google will outperform the market over the next five years. Chase Coleman and Ken Fisher have large positions in Google.

 
3. Qualcomm Inc (QCOM, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Qualcomm is the third most popular stock among billionaire hedge fund managers. The stock returned 18.9% since the beginning of this year. Qualcomm is also a fast growing stock with relatively low earnings multiples. Qualcomm increased its revenues by 28% and its EPS by 19% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter in 2011. The company has a trailing PE ratio of 19. David Tepper and Leon Cooperman are bullish about the stock.

4. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Microsoft is the fourth popular stock among billionaire hedge fund managers. It should be clear to you by now that billionaires have been very bullish about tech stocks and they still are. Apple and Microsoft have been among the 5 most popular stocks for at least two years. The stock returned 22.6% since the end of 2011. Jim Simons, Ray Dalio and David Einhorn have been adding to their Microsoft holdings during the second quarter.

5. News Corp (NWSA, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): News Corp is the fifth most popular stock among billionaires. When several investors were selling News Corp at below $15 in the summer of 2011 after the scandal, billionaires started buying the stock. There are several positive developments for the stock this year. It is an election year and both candidates are fund raising machines. News Corp also announced that it will be splitting the company which is usually enough reason for hedge funds to initiate positions. This stock outperformed the market with a 41% return so far this year. Billionaires Dan Loeb, Paul Singer, and Stephen Mandel initiated brand new positions in the stock during the second quarter.

Hedge funds’ top 5 stock picks performed even better than the rest of their stock picks. These five stocks had an average return of 33.9%, beating the market by more than 15 percentage points. Our billionaire hedge fund managers became billionaires because of their stock picking ability. Their recent performance shows that they still have their magic touch.

Apple still is a Conservative Investor's Paradise.

Apple Inc is the most popular stock among billionaires. No company receives as much attention as Apple Inc, a fact that, in itself, is a cause for pause among investors. Despite the common sentiment that Apple dominates every segment that it occupies, some frontiers of the technology world are yet to be claimed decisively. Unclaimed territories are opportunities for growth, as well as defeat.

Apple is already choosing its battles and, in fact, does not need to win all of them. Unlike many potential growth bets, Apple does not need miracles in order to ascend into investment paradise. In our view, conservative investors should be interested in Apple just as much as growth investors, if not more interested. Why?

The iPhone is a margin beast. As we noted elsewhere, the iPhone is a 49 percent margin product, compared to 23 to 32 percent for the iPad; the iPhone is a dream product in that regard. The iPhone 5 sold 5 million units since its launch last Friday, but this was not as high as the most bullish estimates of 6 million to 10 million units. We are not very concerned about this alleged shortfall.

Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig, who has pegged a $850 price target on Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), noted that supply limitations were the primary reason for the disappointment. When taking into account the September 29 second-wave roll out of the iPhone, Craig thinks that every 1 million iPhones sold translates into an additional $0.15 earnings per share.

Apple is number one in notebooks. Apple has the privilege of both jeopardizing the future for the notebook market with the iPad while, at the same time, monopolizing the notebook market. Sure, the company sold 17 million iPads in the second quarter, more than any other company sold of its entire lineup.

Aside from that, though, Apple’s notebook market share has increased to 68 percent from 62 percent last year. Additionally, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) does a good job of giving its customers ways to connect tablet, mobile, and notebook devices, increasing the likelihood that consumers will want two or all three.

Sergey Brin, Claims Robotic Cars In 5 Years

By Joshua C. Rarrick

According to reports, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s cofounder, Sergey Brin, made some profound statements concerning not the future of search engines, but the future of the automotive industry. Brin made an announcement today that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), of all the companies in the world, will have robotic cars, which completely control themselves, within 5 years.

In his statement, he said, “You can count on one hand the number of years it will take before ordinary people can experience this.” This statement was made at a bill signing ceremony for SB 1298, which is a bill regulating the highway safety and performance for computer controlled cars on California’s public roadways.

This new bill aligns California with Nevada and Florida, which already have similar laws in place. It will allow a licensed driver to test the new car on public roads. There was some opposition regarding this bill, in its early stages. The opponents were afraid that it would not provide enough oversight into the development of the car, and that it didn’t truly guarantee the safety of the vehicle on the road. However, after discussing the matter, and making a few revisions, the bill did pass through the state Legislature.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has already begun development of their robotic cars, and in fact, have a model on which they have acquired 300,000 miles of drive time. Brin said the company is still working to improve the sensors in the vehicle, and also to ramp up hardware failure support systems, to improve safety. He likened the vehicle’s operation to airplane flight, saying that it would be subject to similar equipment failures, which they were hoping to foresee and prevent from happening.

He says that equipment failure is part of a “long list of things humans have coped with in the past,” and seemed to be sure that Google would overcome its obstacles.

As if Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) didn’t have enough mountains to climb in its ongoing war with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the tablet market, now it seems they wish to conquer the automobile market as well.

Ford, GM, and Chrysler are sure to take offense to this, as are many of the foreign automakers, such as Nissan and Toyota. Oh well, at least if Google offers in car navigation, you won’t get lost, as you might in an Apple designed vehicle.

iPhone 5 Received Mandatory Regulatory Certification In China

September 26, 2012. By Nicholas Maithya

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5 has received a mandatory regulatory certification in China, which mean that it can now sell in the Asian nation. This is a being step forward for Apple’s new device as it seeks to avail it in the country, which boasts nearly 1.5 billion people in population.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched its iPhone 5 in 9 countries including China and Hong Kong, but had to postpone the deliveries of the product to the two nations owing to supply constraints. Nonetheless, October, the time when the device should be finally available in China, is almost here, and securing the regulatory certification is therefore a good milestone for iPhone 5 in China.

Reports indicate that two models of the new iPhone 5,  A1429 and A1442 received the certification on Sep. 24, 2012, which are set to expire in 5 years. The model A1429 corresponds to China Unicom’s WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) network, consistent with Hong Kong’s iPhone 5 version, while the model A1442 corresponds to the CDMA2000 (IMT-CDMA Multi-Carrier) telecommunications network.

It is also noted in a Chinese technology publication that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may have submitted another separate model number for China Telecom’s CDMA2000 network, as the current A1429 iPhone 5 model does support it.

Elsewhere, another carrier network, China Unicom has revealed that as long as iPhone 5 gets regulatory approval, then the device will be available in its network within three months of launching.

China Compulsory Certification (3C) is a mandatory requirement that must be met be devices looking to retail in the country.

Apple Inc. Should Take On The TV Industry With iTV

By MARSHALL HARGRAVE
Published: September 25, 2012 at 4:37 pm

With the release of the iMac in 1998, the iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007, then the iPad in 2010, what’s next? iTV in 2013? Here is why we think this is a must for
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).

There has long been speculation of an Apple TV, with recent suggestions that Apple could release something in 2013. The company has slowed R&D spending as a percentage of its revenue, decreasing from 3.1% in 2009 to 2.7% in 2010, then down to 2.2% in 2011. This could be because the company is growing revenue faster than it can find projects worthy of R&D capital, or it could be that the historically higher levels of R&D were going toward the development of the mysterious Apple TV, with a slowing R&D burn rate suggesting Apple is getting close.

The one hesitation that Apple may have is the margins of the TV industry. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) currently enjoys gross margins on its iPhone of 49%, iPad of 40% and computers of 24%; however, TV manufacturers’ gross margins average around 20%. The question then becomes does it make sense for Apple to build a full-blown TV or a product that will compliment current TVs?

Apple already revolutionized two key devices that most people use everyday: the personal computer and mobile phone. The company has introduced another device that has also become a big part of people’s lives: the tablet. The next big step for the company is changing another device that people use everyday: the television. Next to mobile devices, the television is one of the most widely owned and used devices. Over 99% of U.S. households have at least one television, with the average being over two TVs. The average time spent watching TV per day is over 5 hours, with 67% of people watching TV while eating dinner.

Like Apple’s other key devices that are an integral part of our lives, the TV makes the most sense for the next industry the company should reinvigorate. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) really does need another big catalyst to meet future growth expectations and the TV opportunity is too great. The company has grown earnings at a 73% CAGR for the last five years, mainly due to continuous innovation.

At a time when Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to break earnings records, we cannot help but look to the future to see where Apple’s projected 5-year EPS growth of 23% will come from. Apple has seen tremendous demand for its new iPhone 5 and is setting record sales data, yet the stock typically falls on the slightest news of a bottleneck.

This is perhaps because the company has too much riding on its iPhone brand. Of Apple’s four key device categories, it derives the most revenue from mobile sales at 63%. Although tablets are still in their infancy stage relative to computers and phones, the tablet device will undoubtedly continue to eat into computer sales and be cannibalistic to Apple’s computer segment. An Apple TV could give the company a different dynamic.

The TV market is estimated to be worth about $23 billion. Granted this is below the computer industry’s size of $30 billion, which Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) owns 19% of the market share, but it presents some of the greatest potential for penetration. Unlike the computer and tablet industry that has a variety of products and unique differentiations, there is much less of this when it comes to TVs. Two companies with the largest market share in this industry are

Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE)
and Panasonic Corporation (NYSE:PC).

Sony owns about 8.2% of the market, while Panasonic owns 5.2%.

Both of these companies have been flailing of late, mainly due to a saturation of the U.S. market and a faltering economy. Neither company has a measurable trailing P/E due to repeated negative earnings. Sony posted negative ADS of $0.31, versus $0.19 estimates for the most recent quarter. Sony trades at a forward P/E of 94. Panasonic saw a 6% decline in sales last quarter from the same quarter a year ago, and beat ADS estimates of $0.4 by posting $0.7. The company trades at a forward P/E of 8.3, but has a long road back from the negative $4.23 ADS it posted last fiscal year.

If Apple does go the route of developing a full-blown TV, it would indeed have an advantage over other companies that are infringing upon the TV industry with secondary devices. One of the companies making TV more interactive is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

. Although Microsoft has no plans of manufacturing an actual TV, they are making it a more interactive device with its Xbox console. A new console, called Xbox 720 by the media, has been speculated to be ready for launch by Christmas 2013. Xbox so far has introduced motion control and partnerships with streaming video providers Netflix and Hulu. The company broke out of its sub-$30 trading pattern earlier this year, in part thanks to its new initiative to find new high-growth markets. Microsoft is expected to grow next year’s EPS at 10%, and trades at a discount to its peers with a 9 forward P/E.

It has been rumored that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) might be in the process of entering the television market as well. While Apple and Google compete in a couple different segments, Apple has long been in the hardware and device industry, and we believe Google should stick to its forte of advertising. We believe the company will have its hands full integrating the Motorola Mobility acquisition that it completed for $12.5 billion in May, which should prove beneficial to Google. The company trades at a trailing P/E of 23, versus a forward P/E of 15.

We believe that if Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) can put together even a complementary product for the TV, it can quickly generate a strong presence in this market. Regardless of what Apple does, whether they build their own TV or form strategic partnerships, the ability to tie in its other devices, such as the iPhone and iPad, could be monstrous for cross-selling.

Samsung sees stronger start for Note 2

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) expects sales of its new Galaxy Note 2 smartphone to get off to a stronger start than its predecessor even after Apple Inc. (AAPL)
sold a record number of the latest iPhone in its debut weekend.

The model will probably sell three times faster than the previous Note did in the first three months, as more carriers are set to offer the product, J.K. Shin, head of the mobile business, said at a briefing in Seoul, without giving a projection. The device goes on sale in 128 markets through 260 operators, starting with South Korea today, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a statement.

Samsung, the world’s largest mobile-phone seller, is offering a variety of Galaxy devices running
Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android operating system to cement leadership in the global smartphone market. More than 5 million iPhone 5 handsets were sold in the first three days, surpassing a record set last year by the previous model, Apple said on Sept. 24.

Samsung is marketing the pen-equipped Note devices alongside its best-selling Galaxy S smartphones after the first model sold more than 10 million units and helped Samsung regain the lead in global smartphone sales from Apple this year.

Samsung first unveiled the Galaxy Note 2 at the IFA consumer-electronics fair in Berlin last month. The model has a 5.5-inch screen, larger than its predecessor, and runs the latest version of Android. The device is loaded with software that recognizes handwriting from a digital pen.

Digital Pen

The updated digital pen will allow consumers to hover over the screen to preview content and will be available for third- party applications.

In the second quarter, Samsung controlled about 35 percent of the global smartphone market, followed by Apple with about 18 percent, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics.

Samsung is introducing new devices as a patent dispute with Apple deepens.