Why Apple shut down it's Ping and whats next?

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) officially shut down its music-centric social network on September 30th, a date that will live in infamy for only the most dedicated fanboys. The network, called Ping, was originally announced in the fall of 2010 by an always-inspiring Steve Jobs. In his announcement speech, Jobs described Ping as “a social network for music, sort of like Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter meet iTunes.” In a format originally made popular by MySpace and perfected by, well, Mark Zuckerberg’s brainchild, Ping allowed law-abiding music lovers to follow their favorite artists and friends within the framework of iTunes itself.

From Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s standpoint, the primary purpose of Ping was to promote content discovery. Despite most in the blogosphere branding the network a “fail” and “a rare blemish” for the company, the original premise of Ping was quite masterful. Upon its launch, Ping was available to the majority of iTunes users, which numbered in the 160 million range at that point. While most think that
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)‘s Google+ coined the term “circles” as groups that social media friends could be organized into, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s platform actually introduced a similar concept with the release of Ping.

Within Ping’s circles, users could create a fully integrated music sharing environment, where they and their friends could perform a number of tasks including: (1) listen to friends’ playlists or song previews if the tracks weren’t purchased, (2) discover music others are downloading, (3) customized song and album charts based on popularity amongst friends, (4) track and order concert tickets, and of course (5) it was available on iPhone and iPod Touch.

At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be any striking flaws associated with Ping, until one considers it’s social media connectivity, or lack thereof. In the same way that Spotify is connected through Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) (as discussed here), Jobs’s original plan was to integrate Ping with the world’s largest social network. While this seems like a no-brainer, a partnership between the two failed to materialize, as Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s late CEO simply cited that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) wouldn’t budge on “onerous terms that we [Apple] could not agree to.”

Though Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) did not regularly discuss Ping’s user data, it did report having 1 million subscribers within the first 48 hours of launch, and by the start of this year, over 200 million iTunes users had access to the platform. Determining what percentage of iTunes used actually employed Ping on a regular basis is impossible to determine, but the overall breadth of its network compared favorably to peers like

Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) at 150 million users, Spotify at 20 million, and Last.fm at 40 million.

Understandably, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) fanboys and trolls alike may wonder what reasoning the company would have to shut Ping down. Tim Cook may have shed some light on the decision last month when he shared that they “tried Ping and the customer voted, and we [Apple] said, this isn’t something I want to put a lot of energy into,” also stating that “some customers love it, but there’s not a huge number that do.” Most likely, Apple now understands that the majority of their iTunes users are already using Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter, and realized that these third-party networks can promote content discovery for the company, making Ping superfluous. With networks of 1 billion and 500 million respectively, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter are best if they’re utilized by Apple instead of ignored.

While the iOS’s newest iteration includes deeper social media integration within iTunes and the App Store, there may be more significant developments on the horizon. As the Wall Street originally reported last month, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is rumored to be working on a streaming music service a la Spotify and Pandora. Early speculation is that the service will be more similar to the latter, offering free streaming radio channels and paid advertisements. If the rumors are true, this may be the primary reasoning behind Apple’s decision to shut down Ping. As Cook said above, the company doesn’t want to put energy into a flawed platform, so it’s possible that they are focusing on another way to stimulate content discovery.

With the global music streaming industry expected to generate $1.1 billion in revenues this year – up 40% from last year – it is understandable why Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is looking to make a play. Ditching social media for streaming music will likely prove easier to monetize, as Cook and Co. are busy working on contractual agreements with the industry’s biggest record labels.

It’s worth noting that since rumors of an Apple streaming music service surfaced in early September, shares of Pandora have fallen 16.2%. With three iTunes users for every two Pandora subscribers, it’s easy to see why investors have been skittish. Any industry that Apple Inc typically moves into – with the exception of social media ironically – tends to shift around the competitive landscape. Throw in the fact that deep Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter integration are all but a certainty for such a service, and one can see the warning signs for Pandora quite clearly. Spotify, with it’s current linkup via Facebook Connect, looks to be in a better position to compete with Apple in this arena.

In 2011, Pandora reported $274 million in total revenues, and we estimate that Spotify can make close to $300 million by the end of this year in subscription revenue alone, though it’s hard to estimate exactly what an Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) streaming service would make without royalty specifics. The company’s iTunes platform is expected to make close to $8 billion by the end of 2012, though it does cost an approximated $1.3 billion a year to run. Perhaps a streaming service will do what Ping could not do for Apple – allow it to have its cake and eat it too. In short, by monetizing a content discovery service.

Breakdown of Facebook Inc 1B Users, Whats Next?

The world’s largest social media site now officially has 1 billion monthly active users. Yes, one billion. The company had earlier projected reaching this mark by the end of 2012. Now, one out of every seven humans has a Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) account. The company’s founder, chairman, and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said in a personal letter:

“This morning, there are more than one billion people using Facebook actively each month. If you’re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you. Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling, and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life. I am committed to working every day to make Facebook better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able to connect the rest of the world too.”

Along with his statement, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) issued a fact sheet which says that the site reached the milestone on September 14 at 12:45 PM PST. Since its inception, Facebook has seen 140.3 billion friend connections, 1.13 trillion Likes, 17 billion location-tagged posts, and more than 62.6 million songs that have been played 22 billion times. That’s not all, 219 billion photos have been uploaded on the site so far.

Earlier, the company had announced plans to have 955 million active users as of June 30. Of them, 543 million logged in to the site via mobile. Of course, Facebook passed the 1 billion mark a while ago, but the latest announcement is believed to be based on the number of genuine accounts that are being actively used. Well, who is an active user anyway? The company considers any Facebook account active if the user logs in to the account though Web or mobile, or shares something with their friends via a third-party Website that has Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) plug-in.

Half of Global Internet Users are on FB Monthly. At 1b users, 45% of global Internet users and 15% of the world’s population are active on FB monthly, per data from IDC.

The figure accounts for fake and bogus accounts (according to a Topeka report today), which is estimated to be 8.7 percent of the total Facebook users. That would equal approximately 87 million accounts. The 1 billion figure of “active monthly users” is a great mark, because there are millions of users who open their accounts but never come back.

Facebook also noted that the top five countries where users connected at the time were Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the U.S. The inclusion of the U.S. to this list was surprising to us and partially refutes a bear thesis that growth has reached a saturation point in the mature markets. The 1b user mark is also significant in that Facebook is reporting this figure even while cleaning up the user base for fake or duplicate accounts.

According to TheNextWeb, there are 600 million active users, who access the site through a mobile device, and a large portion of them access the social network only from mobile. It poses some challenges for the company, because Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is still not able to fully monetize the mobile network.

Despite the growing user base of Mark Zuckerberg’s baby, the company’s stocks have plummeted since its IPO in May 2012.

Google add Chrome Benefits for App Subscribers

By DAVID WOODBURN

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
has had some good response from enterprises and others with its pay Google Apps service. However, the company is unveiling some new benefits for those Apps subscribers who generally use the Chrome browser. Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) just announced in a recent blog post that it will now provide both phone and e-mail support to paying Google Inc. (GOOG) customers who use Google Apps through the Chrome browser. This may be part of encouraging users to move more into a proprietary ecosystem.

“The Chrome browser helps businesses get onto the web securely and quickly – and today, we’re adding phone and email support for Chrome for Google Apps customers,” wrote Google’s Fred Beckebanze in the Google Enterprise blog Tuesday. “Moving forward, Google Apps for Business, Education and Government customers may contact Google via phone or email to receive support on Chrome installation, functionality, security, browser policy settings and Google Apps interoperability for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.”

The Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Apps for Business accounts start a $5 a month or $50 a year, and the phone and e-mail support is not available to anyone using the free Google Apps services. Those who use Google Apps through Chrome will have access to features like offline document editing, receiving notices on the desktop and access to apps on the homescreen. However, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced that those who use Internet Explorer 8 by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will not be allowed to access Google Apps after November 14, due to Microsoft’s announced release of IE10 in late October.

“As we announced last year, we support the latest version of Google Chrome (which automatically updates whenever it detects that a new version of the browser is available) as well as the current and prior major release of Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari on a rolling basis,” Google officials said in a blog post. “Each time a new version of one of these browsers is released, we begin supporting the update and stop supporting the third-oldest version.”

Would Warren Buffett take A piece of Apple Inc. Byte?

There was a time when Warren Buffett said, “Technology is just something we don’t understand, so we don’t invest in it”. This time was 1998. Fast forward 13 years later, and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) reveals a 5.5 percent stake in International Business Machines, which was expanded according to the last 13f SEC filing of Q2 2012. IBM is not the only tech company that Buffett has owned, one other is Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), the stake was sold in last quarter.

Whitney Tilson of T2 partners likes to draw an analogy between Warren Buffet and Steve Jobs of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). We are more interested in the chances of taking this ‘relationship’ a step further. Is Buffett going to own Apple stock in the near future? Does the company meet Buffett’s high standard, or is it still too far behind and too risky. Till a few months ago, Buffett did not like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), at least not enough to buy it.

But what changed for technology stocks, so that BRK started buying them. It is likely that Buffett and Charlie Munger (VC of Berkshire) have expanded their horizons, and now understand how these tech companies work, but what is more plausible is that the attraction lies within the company.

Buffett likes solid brands with a defined structure, take the example of  The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG). Intel and IBM are not much different in that respect, they don’t act like your everyday tech giants, by relying heavily on a single product.

Both companies make products whose demand is likely to sustain over the long run, and is less dependent on ambiguous metrics, like public sentiment and the number of hits. Stocks like Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) are too intensely invested in public sentiment and reliance on advertising and search engines. Do similar headwinds affect Apple? Not really, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a line of strong products. It has iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Macs. The recent showdown of Apple vs Samsung has made it evident that the supremacy of Apple, whether in its iOS or design, is undefeated.

When Buffett talks about his favorites, like The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), he says things like, “If you gave me $100 billion and said, ‘Take away the soft-drink leadership of Coca-Cola in the world,’ I’d give it back to you and say it can’t be done.” Drawing on the same argument, Apple, which is the largest company by market cap, has no competition that it has not managed to defeat yet. Buffett would probably agree that Steve Jobs’ empire has flourished by far more than anyone imagined, even after his demise, and is quite singular in its stardom.

Berkshire is profitable and Buffett has the extra cash , plus Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is not exactly an expensive buy, and the dividend yield is an added plus. Among all these good signs, what is stopping Buffett from buying it? Buffett already owns two of the top three global brands, KO and IBM, Apple holds the second spot, and Buffett likes a well-branded company. But brand perception is not everything. 

We just witnessed how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) went above 700 and then dove below 670 in a matter of days. The company is still too vulnerable and hits lows and highs frequently, and we know when Buffett owns a stock, he likes to stick to it indefinitely, “Our favorite holding period,”  says Buffett, “is forever.” So no Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for Buffett anytime soon.

Apple seek SoC Modelling Architect / Lead

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reportedly posted a job ad for an ‘SoC Modelling Architect / Lead’, which probably provided many an insight into what the Cupertino giant may have planned for the future. The job post demanded a “unique and highly visible role” where the winning applicant will be placed at the center of a chip design effort interfacing with all disciplines.

Apple Inc. is looking for a candidate with as low as 10 years of SoC (System-on-a-Chip) design and micro-architecture experience, with key job on performance modeling, and with expertise in SoC level performance models such as CPUs, GPUs, memory systems, and power modeling. So, a question arises that where Apple Inc. (AAPL) wants to go with this?

The most important is that Apple is seeking somebody to look after its A5 and A6 processor designs, and bring such advancements to take these into the future. Several devices including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch use these processors, and these devices are now large cash contributors for the Cupertino giant, accounting for billions of dollars every quarter.

Zuckerberg announced 1billion user on Facebook

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Yes, it's finally happened: Facebook has exceeded one billion users.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday that his social media site had reached the major milestone.

"This morning, there are more than one billion people using Facebook actively each month," he said. "Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life."

Facebook Inc ( FB) stock edged up 1.6% in premarket trading.

Topping the 1 billion mark means that Facebook now reaches one out of every 7 people on the planet.

The ubiquitous social media giant that was famously created in a Harvard dorm room hasn't had much trouble attracting new members. While its growth in North America and Europe has leveled off, Facebook continues sucking in new users throughout Asia and the developing world. It has a presence in more than 200 sovereign territories, according to stats tracked by All Facebook, which draws on data Facebook provides to advertisers, and an empire that stretches from a mere 20 users in Vatican City to more than 166 million in the United States.

It took Facebook six years to hit the 500 million user mark and barely two to double it. Facebook's total membership grew nearly 30% over the past year, but in hot regions like Brazil, its membership doubled. (Sorry, Orkut.).

Less than 20% of Facebook's users live in the U.S. and Canada, but those users account for 48% of the $992 million in advertising revenue that Facebook took in last quarter. Facebook makes an average of $3.20 each quarter in revenue off its North American users, versus just 55 cents from those in Asia.

Increasing those figures is one of Facebook's top corporate priorities. Investors remain leery of Facebook, whose shares have fallen more than 40% since the company's rocky public debut in May.

The company is also scrambling to increase its foothold in the mobile world, the next big battleground for social networks. By the end of this year, there will be more mobile devices on Earth than people, according to forecasts from Cisco ( CSCO, Fortune 500).

Half of Facebook's users access the site at least once a month through mobile devices, and a whopping 102 million users -- more than 10% of the site's membership -- only use Facebook's mobile site.

Apple CEO offer 2million to its SVP

An interesting story regarding the corporate sector at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was recently revealed in a special report in Bloomberg Businessweek.

Earlier this summer, it was reported that tech Senior Vice President, Bob Mansfield wanted to retire. Three people that worked under Mansfield, who were not at all pleased about the pending replacement Dan Riccio, sent complaints to CEO Tim Cook. They thought that Riccio wasn’t ready to take over the vice president position and so Tim Cook talked Mansfield into staying. It’s reported that he offered him an impressive amount of $2M a month. In August, it was announced that Mansfield decided to stay with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in order to help them create future products.

It’s true that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will never be the same without Steve Jobs, but Tim Cook proves that the company can survive without the legend. It’s been a year since Jobs passed away and a lot has changed. The company has become more valuable this past year, with Cook at the helm.

The company just released the iPhone 5, and although it’s proven to be a huge success, it still had a few glitches, namely the maps application. Despite all of that, Apple’s sixth generation smartphone is still a big success and will continue to sell.

Next week, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to introduce the iPad Mini, a smaller version of their popular tablet computer that was designed to compete directly with the likes of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s Kindle Fire HD and Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS)’s Nook Tablet. The iPad Mini reportedly features a 7.85 inch screen, retina display, and 3G connectivity.

Apple has begin manufacturing iPad Mini

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s new product launch date is near and there are no rumors; that’s next to impossible. So according to the already heated up rumors, production has already started on the unannounced tablet although there is no official confirmation to it.

The Wall street journal quoted the people familiar with the matter saying that mass production has already been started in Apple’s Asian component suppliers who make the iPad mini’s parts.

Sources quoted that the iPad’s smaller version will come with a resolution lower than Apple’s third generation iPad (may be sacrificing retina display in contradiction to earlier rumors) bearing a 7.85 display. The new device is hugely anticipated to ditch older 30-pin connector on current iPad and is predicted to bear a lightning connector following the steps of iPhone5.

It is highly probable that new iPad will resemble a lot with large iPod touch, only to be different in terms of operating system matching the standard iPad.

It may not be too long to wait for the real product as sources have come to know that invitations will be sent to media on October 10th and actual event is expected to take place on October 17th and that whatever the product name, it is likely to hit the stores on Friday October 26th, a week later than the announcement date.

After experiencing the supply shortages for its latest iPhone5, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is more likely to given go-ahead signal to its suppliers to start making the so called”iPad Mini” in order to save the company from further embarrassment at global stage.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) has already faced criticism for its shortage of supply but more embarrassing is its introduction of beleaguered maps. Apple’s Maps is so intelligent being dubbed as iMap by few, that it can swing 2.7 KM long Golden Gate Bridge in Gibraltar within no time.

But beside all the criticism of maps, the application still have a feature which beats Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), and that is its less consumption of data. It consumed 20% of the data as compared to Google Maps in a series of analysis test performed by Onavo. Test results show that Google Maps, on average, used 1.3 Mb data whereas Apple Maps downloaded only 271 Kb.

Users normally refer to maps when they are out and about, using 3G or 4G networks usually eating up users’ data plan but it is not considered a problem on Wi-Fi connections.

But this comes into play only when data can deliver reliability in which Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Maps lack.

Apple Inc. Maps take on Google Inc Maps in China

The only place where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Maps seems to be successful is in China; in fact some people say it is superior to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Maps.

While local mapping service providers may be doing a better job than Apple, so far as the Cupertino company is concerned, it is Google that it has to surpass.

The Internet search giant has been having a tough time in China, here is has been continuously sparring with the government there for access to data.

China does not easily allow foreign companies to take photographs or undertaking extensive imaging of its country on grounds of security and this has been a sore point with Google.

The data for Apple Maps has been provided by a local Chinese company, where such services are licensed by the government.

Google has strained relations with the Chinese government ever since it objected to the censorship there and tried moving its services to Hong Kong and asked Chinese users to visit it there.

China blocked the company's services from being accessed and Google returned to China. However it is an uneasy relationship between them.

Apple has gone about working with the Chinese government in a better way. It has co-operated with the authorities and has been law-abiding and used local companies for assistance. More important, it has provided jobs and modern technologies.

The iPhone maker has made its foray into China with one eye to the potential that the market represents. China is the world’s largest and fastest growing mobile phone market. By February 2012, there were one billion mobile phones in China, up from 500 million five years earlier.

More Chinese are buying new cars and with that will come demand for more mapping applications.

Gisele Bundchen into bad girl mode

Gisele Bündchen posted a new snapshot of herself to Facebook on Monday, and let's just say you'll need to do a double take! The supermodel sported sleeve tattoos on her arms, dark bangs with a blond ponytail, and very motorcycle-chic attire.