19 new stories on The Next Web today |  |
- Souq.com Kills Auctions in Favor of Fixed Prices
- Facebook and Twitter appeals help locate missing London teenager
- 10 European Startups To Watch in 2011
- Amazon’s Appstore Developer Program goes live, now ready for Android apps
- The iPad 2 Preview [cartoon]
- Asus Confirm Honeycomb Will Be Android 3.0
- The emerging problem of overpowered tablets
- LG Optimus Chic could be coming to Bell Mobility next week
- 5 Essentials For Your Laptop Bag
- TrafficTalk turns an iPhone into a crowdsourcing, audio, travel trouble, aid
- Fling Joystick offers new design for iPad gamers
- Newest Apple patent shows off improved search and hardware options for Apple TV
- The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises
- The first round of Windows Phone 7 updates is almost here, the second is looking massive
- How Restaurants are using the iPad
- Meet the homeless man with the perfect radio voice [video]
- Own an iPad? If you need a stand or case, TabGrip has you covered
- 7 Reasons Quora Could Be The Breakout Star of 2011
- Want to play Angry Birds on your laptop? Now you can.
- Leaving Microsoft Hell
| Souq.com Kills Auctions in Favor of Fixed Prices Posted: 05 Jan 2011 03:40 AM PST
The decision comes as a shock to many as Souq.com which opened its doors to the public in 2005 and has since launched in 5 countries in the region, has always been portrayed as the eBay of the Middle East. At least in terms of online auctions, not anymore. “We (and most of our sellers) want to offer the best online shopping experience to users in the region, and this is one step along the way to support this goal.” said CEO and Founder of Souq.com Ronaldo Mouchawar in an email about the recent shift. This change, as most in life, will have its supporters and detractors. The good thing is, it looks like a only slim minority might end up annoyed. To illustrate the above, lets say you’re a painter and you work out of home during your spare time. Although I’m one of those who believe art has no price, but since it’s good to have paint to create priceless masterpieces, putting the occasional price tag on your work isn’t entirely evil. The only problem with that is how do you put a price tag on art in the first place? Van Gough considered giving money for art is as important as being an artist yourself. That’s where auctions come in strong. By putting up a painting to sell through an auction, the seller allows the highest bidder to give her as much it takes to win the auction, or otherwise ask to ‘Buy Now’ according to a price the seller sets. Will this shift be good for those who realistically don’t know how much their work is worth? I would say no. On the flip side regional retail stores tend to invest large amounts of money to put their products online on their own, and usually fail miserably. Many factors come into play, but the most obvious are a large user base and an easy to use website to buy from. This reality encouraged Souq.com to build a platform for merchants and retail stores to offer their products on Souq through fixed prices (almost all the time), and through Souq Stores which are customizable online outlets for retailers such as UAE’s Jacky’s Electronics & Egypt’s Diwan Books, within the Souq.com ecosystem. “Over the past year our sellers have enjoyed healthy growth in the Fixed Priced, which enabled Souq.com to be the leading online shopping site in the region for branded and new products, and we kept developing features to support this growth, such us search, checkout, ease of payment, combined shipping etc.” added Mouchawar. According to Souq, most buyers in the Middle East prefer to buy immediately without having to wait for the auction to come through. Shipping, bulk purchases, and payment complications all factor in on this matter in the Middle East. That means most users don’t even want to see auction results when searching within a certain category or browsing through offers. For that purpose removing auctions entirely will definitely improve the user experience. According to Mouchawar “The fixed priced format gives us better search relevance and sort (based on match not time to close) , Quick checkout capability, combining orders from similar or multiple sellers, ability to provide price comparison, Product reviews , mobile version and so on”. Another interesting fact that separates Souq from its foreign counterpart eBay is that it doesn’t charge a listing fee. It only makes money if an item is sold. Which means if auctioneers aren’t making money, Souq is actually losing money as a result. Will this move have a ripple effect on the e-commerce scene in the Middle East? Does this mean novelty items without a clear fixed value still aren’t interesting enough for Middle Eastern users to buy online? I’m saying yes. What do you think?Image |
| Facebook and Twitter appeals help locate missing London teenager Posted: 05 Jan 2011 02:55 AM PST
Serena Beakhurst, who had gone missing in Wandsworth, South London and was last seen catching a bus on December 15, was found in the same area in the early hours of this morning. Celebrities had helped spread news of the girl’s disappearance, prominent Twitter users Stephen Fry, Sarah Brown (wife of the former prime minister), Rio Ferdinand, Matt Lucas had retweeted messages urging members of the public to provide information on her whereabouts. Miss Beakhurst’s family have expressed thanks to those who supported the campaign, highlighting the power of social media. In an interview, her cousin Jame Andrew noted:
On Monday, the Metropolitan Police had said it had “exhausted normal lines of enquiry” and that it was looking to reinterview friends before the girl was found in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The news helps demonstrate the power of social media in modern society, networks like Twitter and Facebook can help generate huge amounts of publicity for certain events, help spread the word of someones disappearance, connecting people separated by many miles.Image Credit |
| 10 European Startups To Watch in 2011 Posted: 05 Jan 2011 02:28 AM PST When you hear Silicon Valley discuss the European startup scene it’s often negatively. Some say that the investors aren’t brave enough, some say the entrepreneurs aren’t bold enough. Whether there’s any truth in these accusations or not, the fact is that there are startups across Europe that are brimming with original ideas and creativity. Following on from our 10 Exciting European Startups from 2010, here are 10 startups to look out for in 2011. Pearltrees
Pearltrees makes organising groups of links to content incredibly easy. Each link is a 'Pearl' and can be connected to other related content to create 'trees'. What's more, it's easy to explore the trees and pearls created by others, and to drag individual links or whole trees into your own creations. Recent additions to the service include real-time group collaboration and a touch-screen based interface which will be ported to the iPad soon. Planely
Based around the idea that there may well be interesting people worth meeting on the same flight or at the same airport as you, Planely is a flight-focused networking tool. By entering your flight numbers into the service, you get the see other users who you might want to meet while you’re in transit. Founder Nick Martin sees his service as part of a “Social flying revolution” and says that Planely’s mission is to allow travellers to factor networking opportunities into the flights they choose to book so that they can get the most out of their travel time. Geomium
The London-based company’s CEO Michael Ferguson describes Geomium as "A platform created to help improve your social life”. The service, which launched in September, lets you see where your friends are on the iPhone app’s map along with information about local attractions, restaurants and the like. CEO Michael Ferguson tells us that the team is aiming to become the number 2 social app in the UK, behind Facebook, although the service works worldwide. Geomium version 2 is due in a couple of months’ time and the startup is working on commercial partnerships that it hopes to finalize soon. LikeOurselves
The idea behind this mobile and Web app is that it helps you find strangers with similar interests when you’re out and about in public. Users can select the type of people they'd like to meet based on categories like 'Students', 'Hobbies' and 'Spontaneous date'. A series of tags for each category help narrow down potential matches. A "dual opt-in" system helps ensure that both people are happy to meet. In 2011, LikeOurselves plans to add future planning options, so users can see who else intends to be at, say, the same bar in three hours’ time. Users will also be able to chat anonymously online before they meet for real, helping participants get to know each other without compromising their privacy. Storific
Aiming to make eating out a less frustrating experience, users of Storific’s mobile app can view the menu of the restaurant they’re in and place orders in their own time without having to wait for staff to be ready to see them. Storific tells us that the app considerably increases the number of orders made by a single table and thus has a direct positive impact on restaurants' takings. Currently in private beta testing at a small number of restaurants, the app will be opened up for wider use in early 2011. Datasift
Allowing incredibly deep analysis of Twitter and other social media data, this service is most easily thought of a “Yahoo Pipes for Twitter”. While it’s a little complicated to be widely accessible, its potential for creating complex searches such as "People in New York with over 200 followers who have mentioned Barack Obama in a positive way with no swearing in the past day" give it huge potential for the commercial and academic sectors to gain deep insight into who’s saying what, when, where and why. Currently in private alpha, Datasift is slowly opening up to more users to try so it’s worth applying for an invite if you you want to try getting to grips with it. Among its plans for 2011, look out for a graphical user interface, making it much easier to mine data from all the social chatter out there. SuperMarmite
Aiming to offer a low-cost and potentially more healthy alternative to takeaway food, enthusiastic cooks can offer up their food via the SuperMarmite website. Users can then see what’s on offer near them using a mobile app, including the price, number of portions on offer and the time it will be ready. It’s a bold idea that caught the eye of the judges at LeWeb’s startup competition last month and we look forward to seeing how it develops this year. Viewdle
The Viewle Desktop software, currently in private beta, instantly tags your friends and uploads all of your photos and videos to Facebook straight from the folders on your desktop. Face recognition is being done by a lot of other companies too of course, with startup Polar Rose having recently been bought by Apple and Facebook doing its own face recognition. Still, with a recent Series B investment of $10 million from a group including big names like Best Buy, BlackBerry Partners Fund and Qualcomm, Viewdle is definitely worth looking out for this year. Screach
So, TV talent shows could let viewers vote for contestants and display the result in real-time in an app, while perhaps a museum could let users control an interactive display using the same app. Reward vouchers are built-in, meaning that developers can use the app for competitions and winners can redeem a prize immediately in some cases. Shutl
This startup looks to bring delivery times for products ordered online down to as low as 90 minutes. Yes, 90 minutes - impressive stuff for impatient internet shoppers. Shutl will offer its service, which aggregates capacity across local courier companies into a single web-service, to retailers. Currently being trailed in the London area, with major UK retailer Argos. The startup’s CEO, Tom Allason tells us that from December Argos started offering Shutl for free for orders over £50 and that orders increased tenfold during Christmas week – proof that a Shutl’s service can be especially useful for late or forgotten present purchases. For 2011, Shutl will be concentrating on expanding its clientbase, with big announcements promised as the year progresses. |
| Amazon’s Appstore Developer Program goes live, now ready for Android apps Posted: 05 Jan 2011 01:59 AM PST
Jason Kincaid spoke with the people responsible for bringing yet another application marketplace to Android (a number of mobile operators around the world already bundle their own offerings with new Android devices) with the aim of clearing up what the Amazon Appstore would actually bring to the platform. It’s apparent that Amazon doesn’t want to reinvent the wheel, this means that you will not find any core Android applications offered via the service. Amazon wants to loosen the constraints on developers, providing them with a service that doesn’t impose any major restrictions (like Apple with its iOS application approvals), a similar process to how Google currently runs its Android Market. Amazon’s Appstore will run on Android 1.6 and upwards, accounting for around 93.7% of the Android devices currently in use. Developers will be able to submit the same applications to Amazon’s Appstore and Google’s Android Market, there are no exclusivity rights, developers will simply be able to advertise their apps wherever the money is.
Speaking of money, app pricing is a weird art. Instead of allowing developers to set the pricing they would like, Amazon will control over the pricing of applications. Developers will submit their application, set what is known as a “List Price” (which is the price the developer would normally sell it at), it’s then up to Amazon to decide what it wants to do with its pricing with 70% of the money made from each sale going to the app creator. If Amazon drastically discounts the app or gives it away for free, the developer gets 20% of the List Price regardless. Basically, Amazon says it will use its experience in retailing to maximise your profits. A bit of a step away from marketing your own app on the Android Market, isn’t it?! Amazon will allow customers to buy the applications online which will then sync to the device. It isn’t an automatic push, instead Android users will have to open the Amazon app on their Android device which will then download the applications you have purchased. This is all served, of course, using Amazon’s powerful e-commerce platform, recommending applications whilst shoppers browse the website. If anything, the Amazon Appstore will complement the Android Market, not replace it. Amazon are due to launch the platform “this year”, only then will we be able to see the power of the retail giant in the apps space.Image Credit |
| Posted: 05 Jan 2011 01:38 AM PST The Joy of Tech did another take on the iPad 2 preview we did a few days back. How could I have missed the hoverboard functionality!? It makes so much sense! Tsk.
via Joy of Tech. Here is a video mock-up done by fast company, from the earlier post. Realistic enough? The only questions left to ask is; will you buy the new iPad? |
| Asus Confirm Honeycomb Will Be Android 3.0 Posted: 04 Jan 2011 11:46 PM PST
Putting all of our minds at rest Asus has confirmed that the tablet-centric operating system update will officially be Android 3.0, revealing the news as part of a press release for its new line of tablet devices demonstrated at CES 2011. The press release reads as follows:
There you have it. We are sure it’s not going to affect anything going forward but it does show that Google’s tablet friendly OS will most likely be completely rewritten to perform optimally on a tablet, not a small version update and a minor version increment. Asus will debut three Android 3.0 powered devices in the coming months; the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, the Eee Pad Slide and the Eee Pad MeMo. Expect more details on Google’s Android Honeycomb firmware to come out over the next few days, manufacturers will be literally falling over themselves to educate people as to what the new update will be able to handle on their new tablet devices.PocketLint, Image Credit |
| The emerging problem of overpowered tablets Posted: 04 Jan 2011 10:25 PM PST
The most impressive one that we’ve seen, in matters of performance, comes from Asus. The Eee Slate EP121 is a 10-inch version that runs Windows 7 on a Core i5 Intel chip. It’s reportedly powerful and still maintains a level of comfort that we’ve come to expect from a tablet device. Aside from the need for a stylus (and yes, when the demos are all done with a stylus, that means you need one) it seems to be a great idea — except for the fact that it’s representing what’s wrong with the market. You see, there’s a reason why the iPad has been so successful. For that matter, there are a number of reasons, but one manages to stick out above the rest — simplicity. The iPad isn’t meant to be a full-scale production machine. Apple has played its cards smartly by realizing that you’d likely pick up your iPad to take it to a meeting or maybe lay around on the couch with it. We can all live with a touch keyboard for very short periods of time. We simply don’t need an overpowered workhorse of a tablet if it can’t be cheap and battery-savvy. Oh sure, there’s a wow factor involved with being able to run Photoshop while you’re playing a movie in the background, but would you ever really do that? Even if you would do that, would you give up literally over 60 percent of your battery life to be able to do that? I’m going to bet that you won’t, and yet we’re about to be inundated with tablets that are focused on power instead of usability. The manufactuer’s, however, are betting that a game of one-up the competition will have you clamoring to buy something that you don’t really want. They are, in essence, answering the question that nobody has asked. Thinking back, I haven’t once heard anyone complain about the iPad being underpowered. For that matter, even my experience with the Galaxy Tablet wasn’t a matter of lack of power, rather it was only a lack of use-case. The question of how to place a foot into the tablet race is one that’s easily answered. It’s all about the hardware, at this point. Obviously, nobody save for Apple is going to come out with a (legitimate) iOS tablet. The competition has to rely on Android or some version of Windows in order to make things work. There’s only so much room to work, with the OS, so the rest is all about the hardware. And so the wishlist will continue. 7-inch tablets? We’ll have plenty, and nobody will have to whittle their fingers to use them. 10-inch versions? Lots of those, too. Want to stand out? Find a way to squeeze 12 hours of battery life, Netflix streaming and a few gigs of native storage into your device. Beyond that, the tablet market is pretty easy to please. Just stop doing the insane. It’s a tablet, not a portable desktop. |
| LG Optimus Chic could be coming to Bell Mobility next week Posted: 04 Jan 2011 07:50 PM PST
LG's Optimus Chic is a sexy-looking Android device that sports a 3.2 inch HVGA multi-touch display, 5 megapixel camera and comes with a 2GB mirco-SD card. It also supports DLNA & WiFi, and is equipped with a 600 MHz processor. When you compare it to devices like the Samsung Galaxy S and HTC Desire Z, also Android devices available at Bell, you'll see within its specs that the biggest benefit of buying the LG Optimus Chic is the price. While the Samsung Galaxy S has a faster processor (1GHz) and the HTC Desire offers a fantastic flip-out keyboard, there's a price difference of about $250 (no contract) when compared to the Chic. The LG Optimus Chic will reportedly be offered for $249 with no contract and if this memo is legit, it will be available as of January 14th, 2011. What do you think Canadians, will you buy one?
BGR, Image: LG Chic, Image: Girl with Chics |
| 5 Essentials For Your Laptop Bag Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:57 PM PST
For Mac owners I’d add a couple of additions:
Of course I have a few other things I like to carry in my bag and while they aren’t essential they are handy when I need them.
Other stuff? I’m sure you might have a different set of 5 things as well as the 5 extras that I put in, so sound off … What are the 5 essentials in your laptop bag? |
| TrafficTalk turns an iPhone into a crowdsourcing, audio, travel trouble, aid Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:15 PM PST
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| Fling Joystick offers new design for iPad gamers Posted: 04 Jan 2011 05:22 PM PST
Fling’s Joystick designed by Ten One Design offers iPad gamers a tactile joystick that possibly adds a better degree of directional control. It also provides force-feedback and due to its translucent design, throughout the gameplay, as the iPad becomes illuminated, the Fling Joystick disappears so you don't miss any action. This iPad add-on will work with any iPad game that features a direction pad and virtual joystick but they specifically recommend you use it with Meteor Blitz, Across Age and Super Megaworrm. It works by positioning the Fling over the directional pad within the iPad game you're playing and then pressing down to stick the suction cups securely on the screen. And, gamers can use a Fling for each thumb depending on whether the game itself supports the functionality. The Fling tactile game controller for iPad is available for pre-order on the Ten One Design site for $24.99 or as a two pack for $38.00. Overall the design appears to be bang on although we'll need to get our hands on it first before we can make a proper judgment. We'd like to hear your thoughts, is this something you think you'd buy? |
| Newest Apple patent shows off improved search and hardware options for Apple TV Posted: 04 Jan 2011 03:26 PM PST
When we first envisioned what the next generation of set-top boxes would be like, we aimed high, naively imagining that entertainment boxes like Google & Apple TV would seamlessly pipe in content — more than we'd ever be able to consume. Sadly, in the last year we've realized that major networks aren't ready to play ball just yet. A fact that has limited devices like GoogleTV and has literally squashed our dreams of these future-systems. And with Apple TV, many users were surprised that it restricted users to their own content including Netflix and iTunes rentals — no iOS app market, no amateur hour, no full page web browsing of the web. We can't be sure if this patent mean anything for the future, however, by the looks of this new patent, it sports "advanced broadcast TV menus and search options for programming". As PatentlyApple mentioned, Apple could be doing away with the box altogether and may even develop a cable card that runs on Apple software. And, this Apple branded cable card could possibly be inserted into media devices. The patent also highlights multiple search functions that may include a metadata search engine capable of extracting information from a metadata content providers such as Tribune Media Services. A service that is used by many DVR systems to send information to the DVR. On a side note, Microsoft may be announcing its new TV box at CES this week, another major player setting the groundwork for the ultimate entertainment system.
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| The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises Posted: 04 Jan 2011 03:18 PM PST This has been sitting in a tab for a few hours now and for the life of me I can’t remember who originally shared it. Whoever you are, thank you, while not the most comprehensive book of bodyweight exercises, it is a start and will hopefully convince geeks the world over to get off their back sides and exercise (myself included). You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises |
| The first round of Windows Phone 7 updates is almost here, the second is looking massive Posted: 04 Jan 2011 03:01 PM PST
Writer and developer Paul Thurrott has unleashed a whole wave of leaks surrounding the future of the Windows Phone 7 OS, and they are both on par, and in some ways contrary with what we had previously learned. As we have said many times: cut and paste is just around the corner, and the update that contains it, called “NoDo,” should be finished this month. Expect carriers to push it to users February once it gets their nod. Testing aside, this bit of WP7 code is pretty much a done deal. What comes next is the interesting part. We have long been expecting a second update to come after the first minor release, but what Mr. Thurrott has to say is even more than we had previously expected. To quote him, this is what the ‘Mango’ update should bring:
What is interesting is that ‘Mango’ is only a part of what should be coming, opening the door for even more goodies to be dispersed by Redmond, something that will surely whet the imagination of every WP7 fan. For now we are stuck (again) waiting for Ballmer to get on stage tomorrow and tell the world just what Microsoft has been up to. Cross your fingers.WindowsPhoneSecrets, WMPowerUser |
| How Restaurants are using the iPad Posted: 04 Jan 2011 02:43 PM PST
Chicago CutChicago Cut, a Chicago-based restaurant is bringing its customers an interactive dining experience through the use of the iPad and a virtual cellar app. Using their wine app, diners can flip through an assortment of wines and make an educated decision. Customers can spin one of the 750 bottles around to view the back label along with reading reviews, viewing the vineyard on Google maps and can search wine by price or region. Mobile apps such as Hello Vino are great for recommendations however when you're at a restaurant, you're limited to the bottles the restaurant has on hand –the reason Chicago Cut's app is so useful.
Global Mundo TapasA restaurant called Global Mundo Tapas located within North Sydney Rydges Hotel in Austrailia has replaced its old school paper menu's with the iPad and its own menu app. Similar to the foodie apps like Epicurious, diners can flip through images of the dishes prior to ordering and they've additionally included information on pairings so each dish can be beautifully matched with the perfect vino. On the back-end, the app ensures customers aren't ordering dishes or wines that are out of stock. This smart feature automatically removes any item from the menu that is no longer available.
4FoodNew York City restaurant 4Food, is a burger joint with a very digital twist. Customers are able to order and customize burgers through the use of an iPad (within the store) or through its interactive website. 4Food has embraced the digital age like no restaurant I've seen before. One of the coolest things about 4Food is the ability to save the burgers you've made to the food system. After giving your custom burger a title, it saves your burger to the 4Food system and rewards you with a 25 cent credit every time the burger is ordered. Free WiFi, power outlets at every seat coupled with a social feature to "like" food, pretty much makes this restaurant an ideal hang-out for the super-connected foodie.
The Bottom Line:In the next few years, we may see tablets becoming a common fixture within restaurants and it will no doubt add a level of awesomeness to dining out. And that's good news for mobile developers, consumers and restaurants that could even implement social networking tie-ins (marketing opportunities) to the experience. "I just ordered pizza at …" |
| Meet the homeless man with the perfect radio voice [video] Posted: 04 Jan 2011 02:39 PM PST |
| Own an iPad? If you need a stand or case, TabGrip has you covered Posted: 04 Jan 2011 01:46 PM PST
My iPhone is uncased, as its previous brothers were as well. My iPad is likewise unclad. Why bother to buy Apple products if you are going to make them fat with a case? So when the case, called ‘TabGrip,’ did actually arrive, I was skeptical to say the least. However, my pre-impressions were wrong, I am actually impressed with what TabGrip has put together. Their piece of plastic is both a very minimalist case and stand combined, killing two birds on my desk with one stone. My current iPad stand I made out of a coat hanger (you can too), and does a rickety and lame job of holding the slate up. To help you understand what it looks like, here are two press shots:
You can actually extend all four legs and make an iPad table of sorts that will stand so long as you don’t press down too hard. The TabGrip is the first iPad accessory that I have played with (aside from keyboards) that does not impede normal iPad use. It is neither too bulky nor too heavy, meaning that it just adds to your experience at little cost. TabGrips are running for around $35, which feels pretty fair to us. Have an iPad? This may be for you. |
| 7 Reasons Quora Could Be The Breakout Star of 2011 Posted: 04 Jan 2011 01:24 PM PST
I find it fascinating to watch a site go mainstream in front of our eyes; it reminds me a lot of the rush of users to Twitter after it had been around for a just over a year. This huge rush of users can mostly be attributed to lots of high profile blog coverage, some prominent Twitter users tweeting its praise and the old reliable friend importer. One thing that shouldn’t be taken for granted is that Quora has the potential to become the biggest break out service of 2011. Only 4 days in to the New Year and they are off to a flying start. Here’s why I think Quora has huge potential: It's Polluting My Twitter Stream
Tech Blogs And Non Tech Blogs Are Hyping ItOne of the main reasons for the explosion over the last few weeks has to be the blog coverage that it has been getting. It's one thing for niche tech blogs to write about a start up but big media outlets like the New York Times and LA Times have also been writing about the “underground service” for months. And our friend Robert Scoble recently wrote a post titled, “Is Quora the biggest blogging innovation in 10 years?” Time To Filter Email AlertsWhen you first sign up for a service and only a couple of people are there it's nice to receive email alerts and see who is joining but just like when Facebook and Twitter started getting popular they just get too noisy so you have to filter them out or switch them off. Quora was quiet at the start but my inbox has been bursting lately with requests, replies and general update emails. There’s no surer sign that the site is getting popular as when you have to go and restrict your e-mail settings. Quora ItselfOne of the biggest ironies about the growth of Quora is that the best place to read about the growth of Quora is on the site itself. It has hosted a small but passionate tech community since it launched, and you'll find tons of interesting questions and answers on the site about its growth and signs that it has been taking off. I found the following graph on Quora which shows the growth up until December and if anything that hockey stick will have accelerated massively in the last couple of weeks.
All The Hacks Are ThereThere is a very predictable hype circle that goes something like the diagram below. It happened with Twitter and although it took the journalists a long time to join the party, once they did they were the biggest users and the loudest promoters of it. Mainstream coverage of Quora has been limited to date but you can be sure it is on it's way in the next month and once that happens it pushes the site out to a whole new audience.
Quora is Invite Only AgainQuora started as a private invite only service when it originally launched. They soon they ditched that and opened it up to the public in July of last year so anybody could have a look. But now, they’ve made it invite only again and I can only guess that it is down to the sheer volume of traffic that the site is seeing and the fact that they want to keep the servers up and running for it's initial users in these crucial early days. Being forced to make your site invite only is a very good problem to have. Ashton Kutcher Is ThereThis is very tongue in cheek but I'm not sure if Kutcher is an "actor" or just hangs around social media like the rest of us. He does have a knack of hanging around new social media sites though (remember his race to a million followers with CNN?). What I would ever learn from questions answered by him I have no idea and the sooner he moves on to the next site the better. You might find this little Quora thread interesting asking who invited Kutcher to Quora?!
Things spread so fast online and the buzz is infectious. What will be interesting to see though is if all the new users start actively using the service from day 1 or if it's more of a Twitter where users sign up, have a look around and come back a few weeks later to start engaging with it. At the moment it feels like there is a serious hype around Quora and people don't want to be missing out and need to sign up at all costs to see what all the fuss is about.
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| Want to play Angry Birds on your laptop? Now you can. Posted: 04 Jan 2011 01:23 PM PST In the name of killing what’s left of our productivity, the Rovio team has just released Angry Birds into the Intel AppUp store. Now, instead of only swiping, dragging and tapping the birds on your mobile device, you’ll be able to do it on any Windows XP or Windows 7 system of your choosing. While it had previously been released in Finland, the rest of the world can finally get a piece of the action.
The ferocious feathered ones will cost you a few dollars extra, though. The AppUp store presently has a sale going for $4.99, but soon the prices will raise to $9.99/£5.99/€7.99, depending on from where you’ll be making your purchase. So how does it compare? At first blush, things seem to be almost identical to the mobile version. Purchasers will also get upgrades, just as the mobile versions have:
So why are you still reading this? Even if you don’t have an iPhone or Android device and you’ve never played Angry Birds before, it’s high time that you start. Get downloading and let us know your thoughts. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2011 12:06 PM PST
But I didn’t do it alone. And I must say, it took far, far more skill and adroit actions than the average computer user would possess or be able to execute to rectify my situation. If you missed yesterday, you can read the original post here. In short, I returned from a working vacation to find my main computer utterly destroyed and bent by a virus that, despite my years and years of Windows experience, beat me. Every single safeguard the OS had failed, and I ended up with a full computer that I could not restore, reinstall, or boot normally in any way without facing an immediate Blue Screen of Death. I sat there in safe mode and picked at my teeth. I was in a pickle that was hard to get out of. The most common suggestion that I received yesterday was to create a bootable USB drive with a fresh Windows 7 ISO, and reinstall. That was tricky, as I was not allowed to redownload Windows 7 from the place that Microsoft had sold it to me (odd), but a friend had a spare copy that he tossed onto a server for me to nab. I am not sure if I broke the law there, but I already bought the dang OS, right? Anyway. I dropped that onto my newly prepared USB drive (turns out I can walk in the land of CMD and leave unscathed), and tried to boot from it. Like hell, my computer said, I shall not. I suspect that my motherboard is not compatible with USB booting (some are not), leaving me again in the lurch. I cracked my knuckles and tried to find another way in. By a stroke of luck one of my roommates (thank you Steve) had an old Vista disk in our kitchen (of all places) that allowed me to get out of Safe Mode in Windows 7 and into something less ravaged, although going back to the land of Vista left a bad taste in my mouth. If you recall, I was worried that the DVD/CD drive on my computer didn’t work. I was wrong, it does. From there I put the USB boot drive back into the computer and managed to make the hop from Vista back to Window 7. I then promptly deleted every single file that I had in my newly created Windows.old folders to clear the threats. I am still checking the computer from top to bottom for anything malicious, but this new fresh install seems to work. Still, if I had been an average guy without reader emails, smart associates, helping tweets, a friend with a Windows 7 ISO, my old codes, the budget to buy the USB drive that I needed to use and so forth, I would have no computer. I am no longer in Microsoft hell, and one trip through was enough. I was lucky though, I back up all my files online. I have 115 gigs of fresh data that is about to rain down from the heavens (what the cool kids call the cloud) to my newly empty hard drive. So, there you have it. I still love and prefer Windows 7, but I am forever adding a caveat to that statement: when it works.Top Image Credit: Last.fm |
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