Facebook’s power play
Facebook’s business is built on fun and games and the childhood belief that sharing is caring, but there’s nothing cute about its lobbying operation: Its D.C. shop has been built for battle.
Founded in 2004, Facebook has put in place a sophisticated policy and political support network to wage war on potential privacy regulations — one of the greatest risks to the company’s post-IPO future.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/75974.html#ixzz1uCeKhxTB
Zynga sues Microsoft-backed social gaming startup Kobojo over ‘PyramidVille’ game
Last week, social gaming juggernaut Zynga filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against one of Europe’s leading social games companies, venture-backed Kobojo.
The Paris, France-based social games studio last year released a Facebook game called PyramidVille, and, in partnership with a company called BulkyPix, brought the game to mobile devices (PDF) at the beginning of this year.
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/05/06/zynga-sues-microsoft-backed-social-gaming-startup-kobojo-over-pyramidville-game/
Warren Buffett advised Mark Zuckerberg, won’t buy Facebook shares
Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently asked Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett for advice. Although the two men talked for hours, Buffett doesn’t plan to invest in Facebook.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/warren-buffett-advised-mark-zuckerberg-wont-buy-facebook-shares/12610
AT&T to launch $49.99 Focus 2 Windows Phone on May 20th
Samsung and AT&T on Monday announced the Samsung Focus 2, a budget-friendly Windows Phone launching on May 20th for just $49.99 on contract. The handset features a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, a 5-megapixel camera, Windows Phone 7.5 and 4G LTE connectivity. “AT&T offers our customers the broadest Windows Phone portfolio of any carrier, with three 4G LTE Windows Phones – the only 4G LTE Windows Phones in the U.S. – now at a variety of price points and form factors,” AT&T SVP of devices Jeff Bradley said. “The Samsung Focus 2 brings the people-first Windows Phone interface together with AT&T’s fast 4G LTE network for an unbeatable experience.” Samsung’s full press release follows below.
http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/07/samsung-focus-2-att-49-99-may-20/
Pirate island attracts more than 100 startup tenants
Over 100 international tech companies have registered their interest in the floating geek city, Blueseed, which will be launched next year in international waters outside of Silicon Valley.
The visa-free, start-up friendly concept launched late last year aims to create a fully commercial technology incubator where global entrepreneurs can live and work in close proximity to the Valley, accessing VC dosh and talent as required.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/06/floating_geek_cruiser_recruits_aussies/
The venture capital model is broken, and this damning report explains why
Industry watchers have been talking for a long while now about how the venture capital industry is broken,highlighted by poor returns that in many cases don’t even exceed that of the major stock indices.
Now, thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation — which has invested in nearly 100 venture capital firms across the country over the past 20 years — we’re getting an inside look into the problems rattling the industry.
http://www.geekwire.com/2012/venture-capital-model-broken-damning-report-explains/
Google Gets Deeper Into the Content Business, by Putting Money Into Machinima
Google has been handing out money to video makers so they’ll make more stuff for YouTube. Now it’s putting money into a video maker itself.
The search giant is set to invest in Machinima, one of the most popular networks on YouTube, via a funding round that should close within a month. Machinima focuses almost exclusively on YouTube videos for and about videogame players, and generates more than a billion views a month.
http://allthingsd.com/20120507/google-gets-deeper-into-the-content-business-by-putting-money-into-machinima/
LG Electronics to launch Google TV in U.S. in late May: executive
LG Electronics Inc, the world’s No.2 TV maker, plans to launch Internet-enabled TV based on Google’s platform in the United States in the week of May 21, as the South Korean firm seeks to gain a larger share of the emerging Internet TV market, a senior LG executive said on Monday.
The move reflects an aggressive push by the duo to defend against a potential threat from Apple Inc, which reshaped the handset market with its iPhone smartphone and is widely expected to unveil a full-fledged TV product later this year or early next year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/07/net-us-google-lg-idUSBRE84602Y20120507
Why Publishers Don’t Like Apps
By the time Apple released the iPad in April of 2010, just four months after Steve Jobs first announced his “magical and revolutionary” new machines in San Francisco, traditional publishers had been overtaken by a collective delusion. They believed that mobile computers with large, colorful screens, such as the iPad, iPhone, and similar devices using Google’s Android software, would allow them to unwind their unhappy histories with the Internet.
http://www.technologyreview.com/business/40319/
Apple reportedly to release US$799 MacBook Air in 3Q12
Apple is reportedly considering responding to the upcoming second-generation ultrabooks by launching a US$799 MacBook Air in the third quarter of 2012, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
Although Acer has recently reduced its ultrabook shipment target, Intel continues to aggressively push ultrabooks and is aiming to have the devices priced at US$699 in the second half of the year. However, if Intel is unable to bring down ASPs to its goal, the price gap between ultrabooks and the US$799 MacBook Air may further postpone the time ultrabooks become standardized, the sources noted.
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20120507PD214.html
