Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Tablet: Finally Some Competition for Apple’s iPad?

Atlanta, GA 6/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) has cemented its dominance in the tablet market, but that hasn't stopped competitors from trying to chip away at the iPad's market share and fight for the runner up position. The latest entrant, Microsoft's (Nasdaq:MSFT) "Surface," was introduced last week with strong fanfare. But its time in the spotlight may be short-lived as Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) is expected to unveil their own tablet, the Nexus 7during this week's I/O developer's conference.

"For Google this is certainly a big opportunity," says David Garrity of GVA Research, adding that the tech behemoth may be better positioned to beat out Microsoft due to its history across software and hardware, especially after acquiring Motorola Mobility.

"Google I think could potentially have a product that does pose a threat. However, that said, Apple is still the name to beat in terms of the space," says Garrity. He points to Apple's unparalleled momentum and years of brand equity as primary reasons why Google and just about any other competitor will have trouble making significant dent in the tablet market.

As for Microsoft and the aforementioned Surface, Garrity suggests they may not even be competing for the same customers. He predicts the company's foray into hardware (Xbox not withstanding) will put the Surface more in line with Ultrabooks in terms of pricing rather than slightly cheaper tablets. Garrity says Microsoft won't "throw over a business model that has served them reasonably well for about the last 30 years to come out and transform wholly into an integrated provider of hardware and software." Rather, in his view the Surface is a product that will highlight the strengths of Windows 8 and what the platform is capable of.

With Apple, Google, and Microsoft leading the tablet pack, Garrity reminds us not to discount the old guards like Dell (Nasdaq:DELL) and Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ). He argues both have perfectly good reasons to enter the fray, but whether or not they do depends on Microsoft loyalty for Dell and whether Meg Whitman can, or even wants to, succeed in a market that her HP predecessors clearly avoided.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Google Vs. Vringo: Vringo (AMEX: VRNG) Delivers A Knockout In Round One

Northern, WI 6/19/12 (StreetBeat) -- Today, several news services interpreted that Vringo (AMEX:VRNG) received four out of six positive construction Markman rulings in its cases against tech giants; Aol (NYSE:AOL), Google (Nasdaq:GOOG), and Target Corp (NYSE:TGT).

Background:

This case involves relevance filtering technology used in the search engine industry. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the amount of content (e.g., web pages) available on the Internet was relatively small compared to today. Users would frequently access Internet web pages by visiting portal sites, which presented content categorized directories through which the users could select links to available pages. The leading portal sites of the time (i.e., AOL, Lycos, etc.) used manually maintained content catalogs.

As the Internet expanded its reach, manual logs presented both accuracy problems, as well as difficulty in maintaining substantially larger amounts of information. After working together on several products, Plaintiff's Lang and Kosak developed technology that would provide more accurate search results to users by combining content-based data and collaborative feedback data from other users to satisfy a particular user's query or search request.

On September 15, 2011, I/P Engine filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleging that the Defendants use I/P Engine's technology on various sites to provide advertising and search services.

New Relevant Information:

Vringo has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Innovate/Protect, Inc. (I/P Engine, Inc.) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Innovate/Protect, Inc.

On June 15, 2012, the Court issued a Memorandum Opinion & Order relating to the Markman hearing on June 4, 2012 in connection with the lawsuit captioned I/P Engine, Inc. v. AOL Inc. et al., Civ. Action No. 2:11-cv-512, filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division on September 15, 2011.

A copy of the Memorandum Opinion & Order is available on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) electronic public access service at www.pacer.uscourts.gov/ , and will be filed by Vringo, Inc. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Vringo is a provider of software platforms for mobile social and video applications. With its award-winning video ringtone application and other mobile software platforms, including Facetones(TM), Video Remix and Fan Loyalty, Vringo transforms the basic act of making and receiving mobile phone calls into a highly visual, social experience.

Vringo's video ringtone service enables users to create or take video, images and slideshows from virtually anywhere and turn it into their visual call signature. Vringo's Facetones(TM) application creates an automated video slideshow using friends' photos from social media web sites, which is played each time a user communicates with a friend using a mobile device.

News That Was Released Today:

As reported by Dow Jones reporter; Ben Fox: Judge Sides With Vringo on Most Definitions in Patent Suit

A U.S. district court sided with video-ringtone company Vringo Inc. regarding four out of six issues in an ongoing patent case it has against a handful of major companies.

Intellectual-property firm Innovate/Protect, which agreed to merge with Vringo in March, filed a patent suit against AOL Inc. , Google Inc. , IAC/InterActiveCorp. (Nasdaq:IACI), Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE:GCI) and Target Corp. last year. The company acquired eight patents from Lycos involving relevance-filtering technology and claims two of those patents were infringed.

A hearing, known as a Markman hearing, was scheduled to define the specific meanings of a handful of disputed terms in the suit, such as "collaborative feedback data" and "a scanning system." A judge on Friday sided with four out of six of Vringo's definitions, and sided with the defendants on the other two.

Shares, which were halted midday, closed Monday up 9.5% at $4.02 amid the Markman ruling. The stock has quadrupled this year, after tumbling in 2011, amid the merger deal, as well as an investment from tech investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Currently, in after hours trading VRNG has traded as high as $4.59 and may move higher on the opening Tuesday on possible short covering?

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) lead rush for new Web real estate

Northern, WI 6/13/12 (StreetBeat) -- An unprecedented land grab for new Web addresses began in earnest on Wednesday with fierce competition for new internet real estate including .app, .blog and .web from applicants hoping to break the near-monopoly of the .com top-level domain.

The ambitious plan to liberalise internet addresses attracted 1,930 applications, almost half of them from north America, with Web giants Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) applying for dozens of domains including .cloud, .buy and .book.

The liberalisation of top-level domains beyond the fewer than two dozen in existence - dominated by .com, .org and .net - is intended to stimulate competition and innovation by giving organisations more control over their Web presence.

Critics say the new suffixes are unlikely to catch on, and some trademark owners have complained that the move is causing them unnecessary expense - at $185,000 per application plus running costs - to defend their online turf.

Previous small-scale experiments in liberalising domains led to low take-up of suffixes such as museum, .jobs and .travel.

"At the highest level, this is all about creating competition to .com," said Jonathan Robinson, non-executive director of internet registry services company Afilias, which has applied for more than 100 new domains on behalf of clients.

"That's where short, memorable, distinctive three-letter type terms become very interesting," said Robinson, whose organisation already provides key infrastructure for .org, .info and .mobi.

Competing applications were received for 231 domain names. The most popular were .app with 13 bids, .home with 11, and .inc with 12.

Technology giant Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) claim to .apple was uncontested by the Apple music label or anyone else.

"The big names of the Internet have either invested massively or not at all," said Stuart Durham, European sales director for Melbourne IT, which has handled 150 applications on behalf of clients.

"There appear to be no applications from Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) or Twitter. There are different strategies in play here and some big gambles."

Just 17 applications were received from Africa, and 116 for names in non-Latin alphabets. Expanding the Internet beyond the Latin alphabet was one of the original reasons behind the liberalisation drive, which began seven years ago.

ICANN will now spend the rest of the year assessing the applications, with contested domains going to auction where more than one party has a legitimate claim. The first new domains are likely to come online in the first half of 2013.

Some critics, including senior figures at Google, have warned that the liberalisation risks effectively privatising the Internet by giving already powerful Web players more scope to control portions of it.

"Our concern is that this could lead to more Facebook-style walled gardens as big brands seek to keep you in their own areas of the Internet," said Stephen Ewart, marketing manager for Names.co.uk, a British domain-name registrar.

"Make no mistake, this change to the domain name world will lead to more competition and consumer choice, but it could also be viewed as a silent privatisation of the Web - for better or worse," he said.

The project is a key test for U.S. non-profit organisation the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), whose authority to administer the Web's naming systems is being challenged by emerging nations who say it is too U.S.-centric.

"The plan we have delivered is solid and fair," ICANN Chief Executive Rod Beckstrom told journalists at a news conference in London. "It is our fundamental obligation to increase innovation and consumer choice."

Nations including China, Russia and Brazil are pushing for ICANN's functions to be transferred to a body such as the United Nations, in which governments would have more control.

ICANN is set to net some $350 million from the liberalisation project - about five times its annual budget.

Beckstrom said the organization had priced the applications to cover its costs and that the use of any surplus would be decided by its community - which includes Internet companies, governments and ordinary citizens.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Options Reveal a Bullish Case for Facebook (Nasdaq: FB): Najarian

Atlanta, GA 6/1/12 (StreetBeat) -- In the off chance Facebook (Nasdaq:FB) shares didn't give you enough bang-for-the-buck in terms of risk, you can now play Facebook via the options market. To help ponder the idea of trading options on a stock that does nothing but fall Breakout welcomed the OptionMonster himself, Jon Najarian.

Like most other market watchers, Najarian is baffled by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his company going radio-silent after the IPO debacle. The stock has lost 1/3 its value in 10 trading days and Facebook has yet to issue a public statement of any sort, which actually may be for the best.

In that light, FB options are relatively cheap at a volatility of 60. By comparison Facebooks options' vol is about 3x that of Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) and 2x Google (Nasdaq:GOOG). Another stock with options volatility near that of FB is Research in Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM); a fact certain to irritate fans of either stock.

Whatever the vol, Najarian says $25 strike puts can be had for a whopping $2, meaning they would have no intrinsic value until FB dropped under $23, a full $5 below where the stock was trading at the time of our conversation. "Not a lot of people are betting on the upside right now for Facebook," he deadpans.

There is a bullish case to be made for the shares and Najarian is willing to make it, albeit with atypical caution. With huge trading volumes as the stock fell, outsized demand for puts and other signs of longs getting flushed out "maybe you're getting to some sort of place where finally it's oversold."

If and when such a bounce happens, Najarian says Facebook could make its way back into the $30s by July options expiration. Assuming, of course, the company deigns to grace the market with some sort of comment regarding a revenue plan for mobile and Mr. Zuckerberg returns to the office.

It's not much for the bulls to cling to but given the way FB has traded in its brief history anyone still long should welcome anyone willing to stick their neck out on behalf of the shares.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM), Struggling, Ponders a Dim Future

Orlando, FL 6/1/12 (StreetBeat) -- After rejecting the idea of a sale for months, Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) acknowledged on Tuesday that it was considering "strategic business model alternatives" - or in banker's speak, RIM, which makes the BlackBerry, said it was pondering a potential deal for all or parts of the company.

But did it wait too long?

A year ago, RIM, a Canadian company, became the subject of takeover rumors, after Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility. Then, analysts believed that RIM would draw interest from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) or any number of Chinese phone manufacturers who could afford what would have been a pricey deal.

The company's executives rebuffed the idea, arguing that RIM was on the verge of a turnaround. New phones were coming that combined touch-screens with BlackBerry's e-mail and security features. And the PlayBook, with an industrial-strength operating system, could stand toe to toe with the iPad.

But RIM's prospects have withered since. In March, the company disclosed that its quarterly sales had plunged 20 percent from the previous quarter, as customers migrated to iPhones and Android devices. The company warned on Tuesday that it expected another loss.

The weakness is reflected in the stock's sharp decline. RIM's market value is just $5.4 billion, down roughly 76 percent from a year ago. Its share price fell slightly on Thursday, to $10.33.

"Buying this stock is like going to the casino," analysts at National Bank Financial wrote in a research note on Wednesday.

Now, executives appear to be reluctantly admitting they need to make a change. On Tuesday, the company said that it is conducting a strategic review. As part of its effort, RIM tapped JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and RBC Capital Markets to help assess its potential options.

Those efforts may not lead to a sale, but instead partnerships with other companies or the licensing of BlackBerry software. Earlier this year, RIM's chief executive, Thorsten Heins, disavowed any need to consider "drastic change."

Ehud Gelblum, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, wrote in a note - entitled "No Happy Ending in Sight" - on Wednesday that he did not believe RIM was seeking to sell itself as a whole, but may consider outsourcing its network operating center or selling off parts.

That may be the best option. Earlier this year, the sales prospects for RIM did not look promising. A few analysts believed that RIM did not have "much to offer" a potential buyer.

The company's prospects may have deteriorated in the intervening months. Some analysts indicate that RIM may only be worth the total value of its patents and its cash, roughly $1.8 billion. It is unclear what the patents may fetch, though analysts at Jefferies estimated last fall that the intellectual property could bring $1 billion to $2.5 billion.

Should RIM put itself on the auction block, it may find the universe of potential buyers remains fairly small. Microsoft, long considered a possible suitor, has been focused on its new Windows operating system and its tie-up with Nokia. Amazon.com has cast its lot with a version of Google's Android. And buyers in China and India may face complaints from important BlackBerry customers like the United States and Canadian governments.

And patience isn't necessarily a virtue in deal-making.

Take Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), which Microsoft offered to buy for nearly $45 billion in 2008. The talks quickly cratered, and a deal never panned out. Yahoo has since run through three chief executives and cast about for a new business model.

It has agreed to sell about half of its stake in the Alibaba Group of China, a move that will generate cash that can be paid out to investors. And it has revamped its board.

But it is unclear whether such efforts will make up for Yahoo's 58 percent drop in value since Microsoft's takeover attempt.

Then there is Palm Inc., which is often compared with RIM at this stage. Having failed to gain traction with a series of devices built on its own smartphone operating system, the company began a sales process several years ago, drawing in five bids.

One suitor, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HP), was pressured into raising its offer by 20 percent, and ultimately paid $1.2 billion to win the bidding. The deal represented a 23 percent premium to the smartphone maker's closing price from the day before the offer was announced in 2010. Yet by that point, Palm's stock price had dropped 50 percent over the previous 12 months.

Still, there's some hope left for RIM. Motorola Mobility had largely been left for dead by August 2011, trailing Samsung and H.T.C. in the race for Android device dominance. Then Android's creator, Google itself, arrived with a bid carrying a whopping 63 percent premium, spurred by the valuable patents that Motorola held.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) Tries, Tries Again on a Smartphone

Northern, WI 5/29/12 (StreetBeat) -- Can a software company build its own smartphone? We may find out soon.

This past week, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) completed its acquisition of the hardware maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, which could lead to the search giant's making its own smartphone. But another software titan might be getting into the hardware game as well: Facebook (Nasdaq: FB).

Employees of Facebook and several engineers who have been sought out by recruiters there, as well as people briefed on Facebook's plans, say the company hopes to release its own smartphone by next year. These people spoke only on the condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing their employment or relationships with Facebook.

The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said.

This would be Facebook's third effort at building a smartphone, said one person briefed on the plans and one who was recruited. In 2010, the blog TechCrunch reported that Facebook was working on a smartphone. The project crumbled after the company realized the difficulties involved, according to people who had worked on it. The Web site AllThingsD reported last year that Facebook and HTC had entered a partnership to create a smartphone, code-named "Buffy," which is still in the works.

Now, the company has been going deeper into the process, by expanding the group working on Buffy, and exploring other smartphone projects too, creating a team of seasoned hardware engineers who have built the devices before.

One engineer who formerly worked at Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and worked on the iPhone said he had met with Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, who then peppered him with questions about the inner workings of smartphones. It did not sound like idle intellectual curiosity, the engineer said; Mr. Zuckerberg asked about intricate details, including the types of chips used, he said. Another former Apple hardware engineer was recruited by a Facebook executive and was told about the company's hardware explorations.

When asked Friday, Facebook did not deny or confirm that a project to build a smartphone existed, but pointed to a previous statement it gave to AllThingsD last year that said in part, "We're working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers."

For Facebook, the motivation is clear; as a newly public company, it must find new sources of revenue, and it fears being left behind in mobile, one of the most promising areas for growth.

"Mark is worried that if he doesn't create a mobile phone in the near future that Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms," a Facebook employee said.

Facebook is going to great lengths to keep the phone project a secret, specifically not posting job listings on the company's job Web site, but instead going door-to-door to find the right talent for the project.

But can a company that is wired as a social network learn how to build hardware? Mixing the cultures of hardware and software designers is akin to mixing oil and water. With the rare exception of Apple, other phone makers aren't very good at this.

The biggest names in consumer electronics have struggled with phone hardware. Hewlett-Packard tried and failed. So did Dell. Sony has never done very well making phones.

"Building isn't something you can just jump into," explained Hugo Fiennes, a former Apple hardware manager for the first four iPhones who has since left Apple and is starting a new hardware company,Electric Imp. "You change the smallest thing on a smartphone and you can completely change how all the antennas work. You don't learn this unless you've been doing it for a while."

He added, "Going into the phone business is incredibly complex."

Facebook also faces hurdles, often of its own making, on mobile. Twitter, for example, is fully integrated into the Apple iPhone and allows people to seamlessly send Twitter messages with photos or article links. Facebook, which has had a contentious relationship with Apple, is still not integrated into iOS.

One Facebook employee said the phone project had been rebooted several times because Facebook originally thought it could figure out hardware on its own. The company has since learned that it needed to bring in people with phone-making experience, several people said. So it is hiring hardware engineers to work with a phone manufacturer and design the shape, style and inner workings of a Facebook phone.

Despite the difficulties, Facebook seems well positioned in certain ways to enter the smartphone market. It already has an entire operating system complete with messaging, calendar, contacts and video, and an immense app store is on its way with thousands of highly popular apps. There's also that billion-dollar camera app, in the form of Instagram.

If Facebook fails with its own team of engineers, it could buy a smartphone maker. The company took in $16 billion from its bumpy I.P.O. It could easily scoop up an infirm company like Research in Motion, which is valued at less than $6 billion, and drop a beautifully designed Facebook operating system on top of RIM's phones. HTC, which is upset with Google for buying Motorola, is worth about $11.8 billion and becoming cheaper by the day.

Facebook would not necessarily challenge Apple if it entered the smartphone marketplace. Instead, it could be Facebook vs. Google, which makes the Android operating system, with both companies going after a huge number of buyers of lower-priced smartphones.

"When you offer an advertising-based phone, you're targeting all the users on prepay that are budget-conscious of their communications costs," said Carolina Milanesi, a vice president and analyst for the Gartner Group.

Ms. Milanesi said that at a mass market level, both companies could take the same approach as Amazon, offering low-cost hardware, like the Kindle, and subsidizing some of the costs through advertising.

After all, both Facebook and Google make their money through advertising. If the companies have the opportunity to continually put ads in front of people on a smartphone screen, you would think the only question left would be to pick the right ringtone that makes that ka-ching sound.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Samsung's (Pinksheets: SSNLF) Galaxy S3 gets head start on rival iPhone

Atlanta, GA 5/29/12 (StreetBeat) -- Samsung Electronics (Pinksheets: SSNLF) launched its top-of-the-range Galaxy S3 smartphone in Europe on Tuesday, aiming to outsell the previous model that helped the South Korean company topple Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) s the world's largest smartphone maker.

The Galaxy S3, which tracks the user's eye movements to keep the screen from dimming or turning off while in use, hits stores in 28 European and Middle East countries, including Germany and Britain, as Samsung aims to widen the gap with Apple months ahead of its rival's new iPhone, expected in the third quarter.

In the kind of anticipation that has become the norm for Apple gadget releases, about 50 customers queued outside the BASE mobile phone shop in Berlin on Monday night eager to be the first to lay their hands on the S3.

The smartphone, running on Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android operating system, boasts a 4.8-inch screen, one of the largest on smartphones ever, and much bigger than the 3.5-inch display on the iPhone 4S.

Top global carriers - from Britain's Vodafone to Singapore's SingTel - have started to aggressively promote the S3, fuelling speculation the smartphone could top its predecessor, the GalaxyS2's 20 million sales worldwide.

"In the two years that we've been offering pre-orders, it's the most pre-ordered Android device we've had in our line-up," said a spokesman for Vodafone UK, declining to disclose exact numbers. "It's on track to meet, if not exceed, the level of pre-orders we expected by the time it actually launches."

Samsung itself has said it expects the new flagship model to outsell its predecessor.

Samsung introduced its first Galaxy in 2010, three years after the iPhone's debut, to counter Apple's roaring success in smartphones at a time when the demise of bigger rivals Nokia and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion had started.

Samsung sold 44.5 million smartphones in January-March - equal to nearly 21,000 every hour - giving it 30.6 percent market share. Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones, taking 24.1 percent market share.

"The Galaxy S3 is a real challenger to the upcoming iPhone," said Francisco Jeronimo, an IDC analyst based in London. "This is likely be one of the most sold smartphones this year, though the real test will come when the next iPhone is launched."

The race for global smartphone supremacy comes as Apple has accused Samsung of copying some of its products. The South Korean company counter-claims that Apple has infringed its patents. Both have denied the allegations, and a long-running court saga continues.

Apple plans to use a larger screen on the next iPhone, according to people familiar with the situation. The current iPhone 4S model was introduced last October.

Samsung launched its own music service on the Galaxy S3, putting itself head-to-head with Apple. It has previously rebranded existing music and video services.

"Samsung is not known for our content services; we make good hardware products but we haven't done much in the content space but that's changing," T.J. Kang, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics' Media Solution Center, said.

"We are doing it to create a better experience for our users. There are things we could do better if we have complete control over all of the service."

MORE ROUNDED

In a departure from its predecessor, whose look and feel became the main subject of the legal dispute with Apple, the latest Galaxy has a more rounded outline. It also has voice recognition, dubbed S Voice, which will inevitably be compared with Apple's Siri, and image recognition software that can tag and share photographs.

Prices vary depending on the contract. A model with 16 gigabytes of memory costs up to 189 pounds ($300) under a 12-month contract with Vodafone. A similar package for the iPhone 4s costs 159 pounds, but comes with a more expensive monthly data plan.

Samsung said it will release the S3 via 296 carriers in 145 countries by July.

Profit from Samsung's mobile division nearly tripled in January-March to $3.6 billion, accounting for 73 percent of operating profit.

Samsung - whose shares have gained 82 percent since late-August, beating Apple's 58 percent rise - is now banking on an aggressive marketing campaign ahead of the summer London Olympics to further drive sales. It has said its mobile market share in China doubled after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"The S3 is supported by an unprecedented promotional campaign," said Geoff Blaber, an analyst at CCS Insight in London. "Samsung's timing with the Galaxy S3 is perfect."

($1 = 0.6396 British pounds)
($1 = 1185.3500 Korean won)

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Social Media Companies Compared

Atlanta, GA 5/24/12 (StreetBeat) -- Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD), Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), CrowdGather Inc. (OTCBB: CRWG) and other social media companies have a wide array of valuations in the public markets. In this article, we’ll compare those valuations to determine the most underpriced and overpriced plays in the burgeoning industry.


* Data from Google Finance and Yahoo! Finance; Revenue Growth % for CRWG represents increase in Q3 FY 2012 revenue compared to Q3 FY 2011.

CrowdGather: The Most Undervalued Play

CrowdGather Inc. (OTCBB: CRWG) appears to be the most undervalued play in the sector, with solid revenue growth and a low price-book ratio. Currently, investors can purchase the stock for slightly less than the value of its assets minus its liabilities, and benefit from strong revenue growth that could translate to profitability on the bottom line over the near-term.

Aside from these statistics, the company has also seen a number of other qualitative factors that could make it a good buy. The firm’s CEO, Sanjay Sabnani, has been a consistent buyer of the stock and has even retired a significant number of shares. In fact, the insider’s cost basis for acquiring these shares is significantly higher than the current share price.

From a growth prospective, CrowdGather also has a lot more blue-sky potential. It’s far easier for a $16.88 million company to double its size and deliver outsized investor returns than it is for a $5.1 billion or $92.8 billion company to do the same. As a result, investors may find that this stock has greater upside potential than many other more popular players.


Popular Forums Owned by CrowdGather Inc.

High Multiples Could Benefit Smaller Stocks

Many companies in the social media space trade with lofty price-earnings multiples, such as Facebook’s (NASDAQ: FB) 108.4x and LinkedIn’s (NYSE: LNKD) 604.3x multiples. While these are higher than other tech companies, such as Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) 18.44x or Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) 13.84x multiples, they are very positive signs for smaller companies that are approaching profitability.

For instance, CrowdGather is rapidly narrowing its net loss, and with high price-earnings multiples throughout the industry, the company could see its share price significantly higher if it were valued along the lines of the other Internet company multiples once it achieves profitability. And this could mean outsized returns for shareholders.

These multiples are largely driven by recent mergers and acquisitions in the space, such as Zynga’s buyout of the private company OMGPOP at a lofty price or Facebook’s purchase of Instagram for around $1 billion. Meanwhile, venture capital investments at similarly high multiples are also driving valuations higher throughout the sector.

Investing in the Social Media Sector

Many social media companies have experienced strong run-ups in valuation thanks to new IPOs, venture capital investments and M&A. However, some investors believe that these valuations may eventually prove too high to justify, especially in an industry that constantly changes. As a result, investors may be better of seeking undervalued plays with similar growth prospects.

CrowdGather Inc. (OTCBB: CRWG) is an owner and operator of a network of online communities that generate hundreds of millions of page views each month. With a market capitalization of just over $16 million, investors can purchase this stock for less than the value of its net assets and still benefit from the growth in the social media space.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

It's a Smocial Ad World

Northern, WI 5/15/12 (StreetBeat) -- Figures released by BIA/Kelsey this morning shows that social media advertising revenues are expected to rise from $3.8 billion in 2011 to $9.8 billion in 2016, for a 21% compound annual growth rate.

The local social story is even better: there, BIA/Kelsey predicts that advertising revenues will grow from $840 million in 2011 to $3.1 billion in 2016, for a CAGR of 29.8%.

Such numbers go far in explaining how it is that Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) managed to overcome dashed investor expectations and suspicious prodding by regulatory authorities with its pretty amazing quarterly earnings report and why companies such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and American Express (NYSE: AXP), just to name three, are trying to horn in on the market that is widely believed to be oversaturated. The numbers also explain why local merchants keep coming back to the daily deal model, despite its numerous drawbacks (for them at least). Simply put, there are few other digital ad channels that not only can so effectively reach a local community and also wear well when translated into the mobile and social formats.

Social Commerce’s Slow Crawl

Social media commerce, meanwhile, is still a statistical blip on the radar. According to the IBM (NYSE: IBM) retail economic indicator, shoppers referred from social networks generated 1.1% of all online traffic over Q1 2012, identical to the 1.1% seen in 2011.

More promising is IBM’s finding that shoppers referred to retailer sites from social networks generated 2.4% of all online sales, over Q1 2012, an increase from the 1.7% seen over this period last year.

That jump is statistically significant, says Jay Henderson, strategy director of IBM Digital Marketing, but it is still a relatively small increase.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Ahead of the Bell: Demand Media (NYSE: DMD) shares surge

Atlanta, GA 5/9/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) surged before the market opening Wednesday after the Internet content company brightened its outlook for the year, calming some long-running concerns about its reliance on Google (NYSE: GOOG).

Citi Investment Research analyst Mark Mahaney lifted the company to "Buy" from "Hold" on Tuesday night, saying Demand Media looks set to ramp up revenue and profit growth. The company predicted that revenue growth will accelerate in the current quarter for the first time in more than a year.

Mahaney said Demand Media's eHow.com website is less dependent on Google for its revenue than it was a year ago and noted more than a year has passed since Google made changes to its Internet search engine that had diminished visits to Demand Media sites. Mahaney also sees growth coming from its YouTube presence as online video becomes increasingly popular.

In 2012, the company expects earnings, excluding one-time items, of 33 cents to 35 cents per share, topping analysts' prediction of 30 cents. It expects revenue of $361 million to $367 million. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $354 million. Demand Media's results in the January-March quarter and its forecast for the current quarter, posted Tuesday after the market close, also topped analyst estimates.

In February 2011, Google changed the way it ranks websites in an effort to weed out low-quality content. That hurt traffic to Demand Media sites such as eHow.com and Livestrong.com, which contain articles written by the company's thousands of freelancers. Lower traffic gave the company fewer opportunities to show ads, which generate most of its revenue. The company's shares took a beating, bottoming at $5.24 in October. Demand Media went public at $17 per share in January 2011.

But the stock has recovered since then. Demand Media posted a 2012 outlook in February that was better than analysts had expected, and business seems to be improving further — it lifted that forecast Tuesday.

The company has been trying to adjust to Google's change by putting more emphasis on longer, more in-depth articles that are more likely to rank high on Google's search results. It is also producing more video on channels it has set up on Google-owned YouTube.

From January to March, Demand Media said eHow posted its second straight quarter of revenue growth.

Shares of the Santa Monica, Calif., company jumped $1.60 to $9.53 in premarket trading. The stock has gained 19 percent this year, although it's still down 53 percent over the past 12 months.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Tries Again with Google TV

Northern, WI 5/8/12 (StreetBeat) -- Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is, once again, making a push into your living room.

It's an effort the search giant tried-and failed-to do when it first debuted its Web-enabled Google TVs in 2010. The goal then, and now, is to bring Google's search and YouTube services to Internet-enabled television-and capture a share of television advertising spending, which still commands the lion's share of advertising budgets.

But Google TV never lived up to its hype. Reviewers called it "chaotic," major television networks blocked their online content from streaming to Google TVs and consumers complained the system was too slow and flaky to justify the price tag. Less than a year after its debut, Logitech, one of Google's initial manufacturing partners, abandoned the effort, called the partnership a "mistake" and said it cost Logitech $100 million in operating profits.

But with Apple widely expected to debut its own full-fledged Apple TV-- one blog reported that a prototype has been floating around -- Google isn't giving up. It is determined to replicate the success of its Android operating software for smartphones on television screens. This time the search giant has partnered with set-top manufacturers LG, Samsung, Sony and Vizio. It announced those partnerships at the Consumer Electronics Show last January, butconsumers weren't told when they would become available or how much they would cost.

Today, LG confirmed it would ship two Web-enabled Google TVs, a 47-inch screen (47G2) and a 55-inch screen (55G2), to the United States and that they would go on sale later this month. The TVs will cost $1699 and $2299, respectively.

John Taylor, a vice president at LG Electronics USA, said LG was unfazed by the failure of first-generation Google television sets. "We think the next generation of Google television is the marriage of improvements from Google and enhancements from LG," he said in an interview Monday.

LG said the TVs will run faster than first generations of Google TV because of a new dual-core processor that improves loading speeds. Another improvement is LG's so-called "Magic Remote." The first generation of Google TVs were controlled by a clunky keyboard. Now consumers will be able to control their set-top boxes with gestures and voice-enabled search. Users can swoop the remote to change channels, the volume or play games. To search for content, they can tell the remote what shows they are looking for and search for things like "Clint Eastwood films."

Google said it upgraded its TV software last October to simplify the user experience, enable more content and improve search capabilities. The search giant said it aims to give television watchers "the guide of the future"-an effort that will allow consumers to search for television content-whether it be shows, movies, live concerts or Internet videos-regardless of whether that content comes from Netflix, live television or YouTube. Google TV will also harness consumers' viewing history to make content recommendations.

In the future, Google hopes to use the television sets to beef up the audience for its Google Plus social network. Google Plus will be integrated into future iterations of Google TV so that viewers can recommend content to friends and do Google "Hangouts"-Google's group video chat service-with their friends via television.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Turnaround Story Continues at eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY); Trading +13%

Atlanta, GA 4/19/12 (StreetBeat) -- eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) reported first quarter earnings of 48 cents including share based compensation, which exceeded the Zacks Consensus by 5 cents. Earnings excluding SBC came in at 56 cents, better than estimates. The quarter was a good one for eBay, driven by a strengthening marketplaces segment and solid payments business.

Revenue

Gross revenue of $3.28 billion was down 3.0% sequentially and up 28.7% year over year, exceeding consensus expectations of $3.15 billion and eBay’s guidance range of $3.05-3.15 billion Improved customer experience seems to be having a positive impact on results.

Nearly 86% of total revenue was transactions-based, while the remaining 14% came from marketing services. Seasonality impacted both transactions-based revenue (down 2.5% sequentially) and marketing services revenue (down 6.1% sequentially). Growing 26.7% and 41.8%, respectively, both contributed to the upside versus guidance.

Revenue by Segment

eBay reports revenue under the Marketplaces and Payments segments. The Marketplaces segment essentially refers to the revenue earned from the sale of goods available on eBay properties. The Payments segment refers to revenues generated through Paypal. Consequently, both segments derive revenue from transactions, as well as marketing services.

eBay’s core gross merchandise volume (:GMV) during the quarter excluding vehicles volume was down 1.7% sequentially and up 11.8% year over year. The increase from the year-ago quarter was helped by fashion, parts and accessories, and ticket sales, all of which were up double-digits. Additionally, both fixed price (64% of GMV) and auction (36%) grew in the last quarter. Vehicles GMV did not do so good, declining 9% from last year.

eBay’s Paypal remains the star performer, generating total payment volume (:TPV) growth of 1.5% and 22.5%, respectively from the previous and year-ago quarters. TPV on eBay properties was up 18%.

Management has a three-pronged growth plan here, targeting the online, mobile and offline segments. Opportunities abound in the first two areas, while they continue to unfold in the offline segment as well. The company’s POS solution took off in the last quarter, with the first adoption at The Home Depot (NYSE:HD) stores. eBay also introduced a solution for small businesses called Paypal Here.

eBay’s mobile business touched $4 billion in 2011, having grown very strongly from $2 billion in 2010. Management stated that there were 12 million downloads of eBay mobile apps in the last quarter. The Paypal Mobile Express Checkout system and the Zong acquisition are expected to boost mobile payment volumes going forward. eBay currently expects total mobile payment volume to increase to $7 billion in 2012.

Marketplaces revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% sequentially and up 11.2% from the year-ago quarter. The sequential revenue decline was the net impact of a 1.3% decline in transaction revenue and a 7.9% decline in marketing services revenue. The year-over-year increase was due to a 10.9% increase in transaction revenue and a 12.8% increase in marketing services revenue.

Marketing services continued to benefit from the addition of GSI in the June quarter. Active users in Marketplaces were 102.4 million, up 2 million during the quarter. Marketplaces generated 53% of total revenue.

eBay’s top-rated sellers now account for around 50% of GMV in the U.S., with same store sales growing 22% year over year, outperforming the market. Therefore, sellers are gaining from coming to eBay and driving more traffic to eBay properties. Technology improvements and deduplication of listings are helping the process.

Payments revenue increased 5.6% sequentially and 31.9% from the year-ago quarter. Revenue from transactions was up 5.1% sequentially and 29.0% year over year. The revenue per user declined sequentially and increased significantly from the year-ago quarter.

The revenue per transaction was flat sequentially and down significantly from last year. The trend indicates that customers showed a preference for a larger number of lower-value items. Revenue from marketing services was up 12.1% sequentially and up 87.4% from the year-ago quarter. The Payments segment generated 40% of total revenue.

GSI - Last year, eBay closed the acquisition of GSI, which brought in the remaining 7% of revenue, down 34.8% during the quarter. However, sales grew strongly from last year, with same store sales at GSI customers increasing 26%.

Revenue by Geography

Around 48% of total revenue was generated in the U.S., representing a sequential decline of 5.1% and a year-over-year increase of 38.6%. The balance came from international markets, which were down 1.1% sequentially and up 20.7% year over year.

eBay’s Asia/Pacific business, particularly China and Korea strengthened in the last quarter. The U.S. and U.K. also strengthened, while Germany stabilized.

Margins

The pro forma gross margin for the quarter was 70.6%, up 66 bps sequentially and down 105 bps year over year. Volumes were a positive in the year-over-year comparison. However, eBay sold more low-value items, which resulted in a slight negative. The take rate was up strongly in the Payments segment however, helped by lower transaction expenses and partially offset by a slightly higher transaction loss rate.

Marketplaces margins are generally much higher than Payments margins. However, 64% of transactions in the last quarter were under the fixed price format. The share of the fixed price format has been more or less stable to slightly growing for the last four quarters, which basically means that the company is now much more exposed to the severe price competition in the online retail market.

Operating expenses of $1.56 billion were higher than the previous quarter’s $1.51 billion. The operating margin was 23.1%, down 229 bps sequentially and 199 bps from the year-ago quarter. The sequential decline was higher expenses as a percentage of sales, which witnessed a seasonal decline. The year-over-year decline was mostly on account of higher cost of sales.

Excluding the impact of amortization of intangible assets, accretion of note receivable and loss on divested business on a tax-adjusted basis, the pro forma net income was $632.0 million or 19.3% of sales, compared to $676.2 million or 20.0% in the previous quarter and $531.1 million or 20.9% in the year-ago quarter.

Including the special items, the GAAP net income was $570 million ($0.44 per share) compared to $1.98 billion ($1.51 per share) in the December 2011 quarter and $475.9 million ($0.36 per share) in the March quarter of last year.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

The company has a solid balance sheet, with cash and short term investments of $5.87 billion, down $58.4 million in the last quarter. eBay generated $531 million in cash from operations and spent $242 million on capex, netting a free cash flow of $289 million (up from $691 million in the last quarter). eBay also spent $240 million on share repurchases.

Outlook

Management expects second quarter 2012 revenue of $3.25-3.35 billion (flat sequentially and up 19.6% year over year at the mid-point), which was below consensus expectations of $3.36 billion. The company expects to generate a GAAP EPS of 49 to 51 cents and a non-GAAP EPS of 53 to 55 cents. The EPS guidance is below the Zacks Consensus of 46 cents.

For 2012, management expects revenue of $13.8-$14.1 billion, GAAP EPS of $1.91 to $1.96 and non GAAP EPS of $2.30 to $2.35.

Conclusion

eBay’s business continues to show all signs of a turnaround. Both Payments and Marketplaces are showing improving trends versus the year-ago quarter, an indication of the changing business profile.

We think eBay has taken all the necessary measures, beginning with the fixed price format, moving on to wooing big sellers and customers, and then improving the technology and navigation of its properties.

To this, the company is adding key capabilities through acquisitions. For instance, GSI brought fulfillment services, while Zong brought capabilities in online payment systems.

At the same time, we remain concerned about increasing competition from major online retailers, such as Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN), as well as many other smaller players. Additionally, Google Inc (Nasdaq:GOOG) has been making some plays in the online retail space that potentially increase competition for the company. While eBay’s payments business shows great promise and innovation has been very strong here, competition is not far behind.

All things considered, we are impressed with eBay’s strategy and execution and expect investors to be willing to pay a higher multiple for the stock. Our sentiments are reflected in the Zacks Rank of #2, which translates to a Buy rating in the short term (1-3 months).

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) suit vs. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) over Android hits trial

Palm Beach, FL 4/16/12 (StreetBeat) – Jury selection in a high-stakes dispute over smartphone technology between Oracle Corp (Nasdaq: ORCL) and Google Inc (Nasdaq: GOOG) is set to begin here on Monday morning, kicking off a trial in which both companies' chief executives are set to take the stand.

Oracle sued Google in August 2010 over seven patents and copyright claims for the Java programming language, which Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems. According to Oracle, Google's Android operating system tramples on its intellectual property rights to Java.

Google says it doesn't violate Oracle's patents, and that Oracle cannot copyright certain parts of Java.

Early on, damages estimates ran as high as $6.1 billion. But Google has narrowed Oracle's claims so that only two patents remain, reducing the possible damages that could be awarded. Oracle is seeking roughly $1 billion in copyright damages.

The trial before U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco is expected to last eight weeks. Alsup had told both companies last month that if they intended to settle the case, they should do it by April 13 at noon, in order to save potential jurors a trip to the courthouse. That deadline passed on Friday without any announcements.

Both Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Google CEO Larry Page are listed on Oracle's list of potential witnesses. Oracle said in a court filing on Sunday that it anticipated Ellison and Page would be among its first witnesses.

Ellison is no stranger to the courtroom, having testified in a 2010 trial involving copyright claims that Oracle brought against SAP.

Ellison would testify about Oracle's reasons for acquiring Sun Microsystems, the importance of Java to Oracle's business, and the harm Android has caused Oracle, according to the witness list.

Page is a much more reclusive figure than Ellison. His testimony would include details about Google's business plan and marketing strategy for Android, including Google's recent acquisition of Motorola, the witness list shows.

The trial will be divided into three phases: copyright liability, patent claims and damages. Page could also testify about revenue and profit projections for Android, including advertising revenue, the witness list said.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Oracle America, Inc v. Google Inc, 10-3561.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) New Privacy Policy: Are You Being Violated?

Chicago, IL 3/1/12 (StreetBeat) -- If you find yourself on Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Youtube, Gmail or any of the internet giant's various properties today, they won't look or feel any different than they did yesterday, but behind the scenes there's a change impacting all 2 billion users.

The company just implemented a new privacy policy streamlining dozens of separate policies under one gigantic umbrella, despite calls from critics and regulators to hold off.

From Google's standpoint, the new policies are part of an evolutionary process needed to keep pace with growth and changes in the internet business, particularly among mobile users. However, from a consumer watchdog point of view, the new rules are merely an attempt to define how Google collects, stores, and sells your information, rather than reducing it. In the words of one observer, the privacy policy changes simply allow Google to keep "even more detailed digital dossiers."

"You don't go to a spa and then complain afterwards that people saw you naked in the sauna. Of course they're going to violate your privacy," my co-host Jeff Macke says in the attached video.

Interestingly (or perhaps fittingly) Google rival Facebook held its first-ever marketing conference yesterday in New York City. The social networking king will likely tweak its own user experience so its paltry $4 billion revenue base better reflects its massive 800 million person user base.

Basically, they're looking to serve up more advertisements on your page and in your newsfeed. While the extent is unknown, the outcome is clear: Facebook is looking to make more money off its users. Bigger, flashier, more targeted, and more mobile ads are coming our way.

In the words of one executive from the soon-to-be-publicly traded company, Facebook is going to be a "big, fat story-telling canvas" for advertisers.

It remains to be seen whether this new, more intrusive Facebook experience will cause users to leave, but observers say at least for now, there's really nowhere else to go.

Even so, Macke's believes Google has a public relations problem whereas Facebook must contend with a business model problem. "To me the question is, as a Google shareholder, you weren't doing that already?," he questions. "And if not, why not?"

Are Google and/or Facebook violating your privacy? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Ku6 Media (Nasdaq: KUTV) Announces Partnership with YouTube; Shares Jump 132%

Orlando, FL 1/17/12 (StreetBeat) -- Chinese online video portal Ku6 Media Co Ltd (Nasdaq: KUTV) said it tied up with Google Inc's (Nasdaq: GOOG) YouTube to showcase its videos on a new channel operated by the Internet giant, sending its U.S.-listed shares up 132 percent on Tuesday.

Ku6 shares rose $1.83 to $3.21 early on Tuesday on the Nasdaq in heavy trading.

The company expects the partnership to expand its content offering into the international market.

Ku6 also plans to recruit a team to operate this channel to help grow its user base and revenue in the international market.

The company competes with Tudou Holdings Inc (Nasdaq: TUDO), Youku.com Inc (NYSE: YOKU) and Qiyi.com, a firm partly owned by Baidu Inc (Nasdaq: BIDU).

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Twitter criticizes Google+ (Nasdaq: GOOG) content in search results

Palm Beach, FL 1/11/12 (StreetBeat) -- Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) recently announced changes to its formula which push Google+ and Picasa content to the forefront of search results. Twitter soon expressed its dislike for the search changes in an official statement.

Unofficially, Twitter’s general counsel and former Google employee, Alex Macgillivray, criticized Google’s move in a tweet earlier today, saying it was a “bad day for the Internet.” He also remarked that there was probably “dissension” over at Google regarding search being “warped.”

Officially, Twitter sent out a statement which contained a large measure of disappointment over Google’s lack of integrity, saying, “for years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results.” The Twitter statement raised concerns that breaking news on Twitter itself would be harder to find due to the search changes. The micro-blogging service concluded by saying “we think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.”

The “Search, plus your world” move by Google is an attempt to promote and make Google+ a central product. It basically personalizes search results; popping up Google+ content from user’s network based on relevant keywords.

Previously, Google and Twitter had a deal that fed tweets into Google’s real-time search results. However, that contract expired in July, and without the Twitter feed, Google was forced to put real-time search on a hiatus. At that time, Google said real-time search would most likely integrate Google+ content once it came back from its hiatus.

According to TechCrunch, Google seems to have responded to Twitter’s criticism with a post on the official Google+ page: “We are a bit surprised by Twitter’s comments about Search plus Your World, because they chose not to renew their agreement with us last summer, and since then we have observed their rel=nofollow instructions.”

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Zynga IPO Values Company as High as $9.04 Billion

Tallahassee, FL 12/2/11 (StreetBeat) -- Zynga Inc plans to sell an 11.1 percent stake in a scaled-back initial public offering that would value the Facebook game maker at as much as $9 billion on a fully diluted basis. The leading social games maker plans to sell 100 million new shares at between $8.50 and $10 each, according to a U.S. regulatory filing on Friday. At the midpoint price, the IPO could raise $925 million, which would make it the largest from a U.S. Internet company since Google Inc (Nasdaq:GOOG) raised $1.7 billion in 2004.

Five-year-old Zynga made its name on viral games such as "FarmVille," among the most popular on the Facebook social network. While Zynga's games are free to play, the company makes money from selling virtual items -- such as tractors and weapons -- that players then use.

Based on a fully diluted share count of 904 million, which includes existing shares and stock options, the IPO price values Zynga at $7.7 billion to $9.04 billion. In a filing two weeks ago, the company said a third-party analysis had valued it at $14.05 billion. While the valuation has been cut, Zynga would still be among the largest publicly traded U.S. game developers after it debuts on Nasdaq under the "ZNGA" symbol.

Video game developer Activision Blizzard Inc (Nasdaq:ATVI) currently has the industry's highest market value of $14.2 billion, followed by Electronic Arts Inc (Nasdaq:ERTS) at $7.7 billion.

Zynga's debut will follow IPOs this year from Groupon Inc (Nasdaq:GRPN) and LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), which helped revive a market that had sputtered in recent years. Facebook is gearing up to go public next year.

Mark Pincus, a serial entrepreneur before he founded Zynga, will hold a class of shares with 70 times more voting power than the regular stock that will be sold in the offering.

Google, one of the early investors in Zynga, will be offering about 1.7 million shares, according to a regulatory filing. Other companies selling shares include Institutional Venture Partners and Union Square Ventures. Deep-pocketed rivals from Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) to Electronic Arts are starting to muscle in on Zynga's turf.

The company said its IPO represented 14.3 percent of 699 million common shares, excluding restricted stock.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly