Facebook IPO

Facebook has hiked up the price of what it wants to sell its shares at. They have moved it from 28$-35$ a share to 34$ - 38$ dollars a share making the company worth over over the $100BN mark.

The company has cited the high demand for the shares which are going to be started to trade on friday. Facebook will be trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol "FB."

Mark Zuckerberg will still control 57.3% of the companies shares. people are getting excited about the initial public offerings (IPO) that they are cashing in all they have.

At the moment More than 85 percent of its more than $4 billion in annual revenue comes from ads on Facebook. This is where there s that little ad in the side column of your news feed. Facebook are also testing other revenue raising ideas like charging users to charge check this out in an earlier post.

We feel this flotation may seam great at the start and almost give Zuckerberg the license to print money but in the long run the markets will cool down after the honeymoon period is over and then the real work starts.

Apple due to release a new Macbook at WWDC

When we say "new Macbook", we mean that Apple's next generation of MacBook Pros will be unveiled at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference

Adding to claims made by 9to5mac yesterday Bloomberg now says Apple will be unveiling thinner Mac notebooks that feature Retina Displays and Flash memory which is common place in the iPad and the Macbook air.

Citing multiple unnamed sources, Bloomberg alleged that the new MacBook Pros will be less than 0.95 inch thick and come bearing Intel's third-generation Core series chips, Ivy Bridge.

 Earlier today Apple blog 9to5mac said Apple was "putting the finishing touches" on a version of its 15-inch MacBook Pro with a facelift. It will include higher-resolution display and USB 3.0.

Several rumors stated that Apple would unveil new Mac notebook models last month which would mean that they would coincide with the release of Intel's latest installation of chipsets. The last time Apple updated the MacBook Pro was late last year when a speedier processor, more storage, and upgraded graphics capabilities were all thrown in. 

It's been a a longer wait for the MacBook Air, which was refreshed mid summer 2011, which was the same time as the release of Apple's Lion OS X software update.

Alongside the Bloomberg story, reports from The Verge, and ABC News say that the updated notebooks will stock graphics chips from Nvidia instead of AMD(who released their ‘Trinity’ chipset today).

Bloomberg noted, via a source, that next month could bring a release date for Apple's next OS X release, dubbed Mountain Lion. Applegave us a sneak peak of that OS in February, giving developers time to ready their apps ahead of its release, promised in "late summer."

Apple's WWDC is on 11th of June in San Francisco. Like last year, Apple has promised it will show developers "the future of iOS and OS X." The show is also rumored  unveil an upgraded iCloud service.

Windows 8 coming to a computer(or tablet) near you

The first wave of Intel-based Windows 8 tablets are expected to start being sold in November of this year.

Windows 8, like Windows 7 before it, is due to be powered by chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices and will be able to run older, so-called "legacy" applications.

A separate release from Microsoft, Windows RT, will land on devices powered by ARM chip suppliers Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments. RT will not run older Windows applications.

Intel also has a chip called "Bay Trail" in the works -- the company's future 22-nanometer follow-up to Clover Trail.

"It is a gigantic performer, with similar battery life to Clover Trail. It will also have a lot of security features built in and Infineon [3G/4G] silicon inside," according to Techradar.

When that chip will arrive isn't clear yet.

Microsoft have been promoting tablet computers for the for nearly a decade, and seeing the success of the iPad I'm sure will make them very upset.

But Microsoft are persistent as we have seen before, and windows 8  tablets will be released later this year. An example of this, was seen at CES from Lenovo - called the Yoga - is a wrap-around convertible tablet that becomes an ultraportable laptop. Hands on: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga review.

Microsoft has now released the Consumer Preview of Windows 8, so you can see what you think.

The Windows 8 release date is late 2012, so let's see what Windows 8 tablets will have in store for us. 

After it confirmed that it was to keep making PCs in late October 2011, HP also said it would be making Windows 8 tablets. Its not the only one - techradar even said that there will be 32 Windows 8 tablets by the end of 2012.

Entry level slates are rumored to cost around $300 - although not everybody believes that price point would make sense.

What's the best tablet under £300?

"We're not leading the charge on Windows 8, but as we become comfortable that [Windows 8] is a viable ecosystem [and] that the quality of innovation and quality of services and quality of capabilities [are] being delivered there, we will certainly be open to that," he said in response to a question.

All fun and games at Yahoo

Yahoo seam to be going through CEOs like toilet roll first there was Jerry Yang, Carol Bartz, and now Thompson. More management uncertainty now awaits. All the excitement swirled around Scott Thompson a few days ago, Thompson, hired from PayPal in January to reinvigorate the business, lied on his CV to say he had a computer science degree. 

The previous Yahoo chief executive, Carol Bartz,decided to poke fun at the down and out Ex-CEO and told some of the media: "You know, I actually do have a computer science degree."Bartz was fired last September, to her fury, over the phone by chairman Roy Bostock. Ross Levinsohn(who was Yahoo's global media leader), took over today as Yahoo's interim chief executive, replacing Scott Thompson.

Roy bostock has now been replaced and Fred Amoroso who is now chairman of the board at Yahoo. Also added to the board was activist investor Daniel Loeb.Loeb was the one who brought the resume embellishment to light and notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission of it.

Loeb said in a statement. "We are confident this board will benefit from shareholder representation, and we are committed to working with new leadership to unlock Yahoo!'s significant potential and value."

So will all this movement steady the yahoo ship that media reports to have gone into a “death spiral”? Tweet us and let us know what you think!

Facebook 'Pay to post' tool

Facebook has started testing a system that lets you pay to highlight or promote posts.

 The social networking giant, reportedly, is testing the new "highlight" feature that allows you pay a nominal fee to promote your posts, thereby making those posts more prominent in your friends' news feeds.

Everyone cows that one friend who will spend a little more than everyone else on nights out and is always wearing designer gear, well they can now do it on Facebook too...

What is going on???

According to Digital Trends and Stuff, Facebook is currently testing a new feature that'll allow users to highlight posts by paying a small fee of around $1.80 with Paypal or a credit card. Their status update will then stay stuck at the top of the news feed for a specific amount of time meaning even more people will see it.

"The feature is being trialled and was chanced across by a Facebook user in Whangarei (New Zeland) who initially assumed it might be a scam," reported Stuff. The man form Whangarei said that he was given the option of paying to highlight status updates and picture posts with a yellow background when he came across this new feature.

Facebook spokeswoman Mia Garlick, in a conversation with Stuff, confirmed the tests: "We're constantly testing new features across the site. This particular test is simply to gauge people's interest in this method of sharing with their friends," she also said, "Facebook was trialling the feature at a range of different price points, including offering it free." This means that during the trial users may be asked to pay different amounts, or nothing at all, to use the new service.

According to The Verge, an American technology website: Facebook last year earned $1.14 billion in revenue, about 85 per cent of which is from ads.

And if Facebook rolls out this new feature to users' profiles, then this would be the first time that the company attempts to make money from posts.

So how does this new feature work then?

Only those who are in the test group will be able to see this feature. On posting a status update, the "Highlight" option will appear next to the Like and comment buttons. If you click, you will be prompted with the (picture below).

As Facebook is testing the feature at a range of different price points, you might have to pay anything fo,,)$0 to $2 to make your posts more visible on the site.

Reportedly, Highlighted posts may appear higher in the news feed and stay visible for a longer period.

Will you guys be opening your wallets to the social network??

Comment and let us know.

Bing to be a bit more sociable

  Bing search engine is now introducing a search interface that offers social search results in a separate column to the right of the search results, Microsoft said on Thursday.

During a press demonstration at Microsoft's San Francisco offices Bing representatives described the new interface, 

"We're moving beyond the pages into entities. Those entities are people, places, things and their relationships," said Qi Lu, Microsoft's president of online services."In the real world that's how it works: We use search, then we talk to people," Lu said.

Using the new interface, query results for seafood restaurants in Dublin city center, for example, include a grey column along the side that displays a 'people you know who may know' section, with content on the subject shared by the searcher's social network connections, and a 'people who know' section that highlights experts on the topic you searched for across networks across social networks.

You can add your Facebook, Twitter and Google+ with the new social side bar. The company expects to bring in LinkedIn, Quora and Foursquare as well. You can interact with Facebook directly from the social sidebar. For instance, you can post a question about a restaurant and tag one of your friends who may have commented on it. The resulting Facebook posts include a link back to Bing's search page. Twitter interactions take the user to a Twitter interface, the company said.

A center 'snapshot' column allows you to interact with businesses from the search page. If you search for seafood restaurants and hover on a link to a particular restaurant, the column pops up, offering a map, available reservations and links to reviews. Integration with OpenTable.com allows you to make reservations without leaving the search page.

The 'people who know' section of the sidebar will explicitly rank people by their expertise in a particular area. Company representatives reiterated numerous times how difficult a task that is, but emphasized that the social content will continue to improve over time.

"The experience won't be perfect, but the most important thing is that we make the leap and then the feedback cycle begins," Lu said.

Bing is also unsure as to how well the interface will work on a smartphone. The company previewed a "stacked" display of the links, snapshot and social sidebar for a mobile screen, but indicated that it expected to move to an interface that relies more on swiping.

Microsoft officials did not give a timeframe for the public beta release of the new interface, saying that it would be available "very soon."

Dublin starting up again..

Wayra has to date received over 9,000 submissions and provided financing to 100 startups around the world..... Which is great news for Ireland because O2's parent Telefonica has announced the launch in Ireland of its global technology accelerator programme, marking a multi-million Euro investment by Telefónica in Irish-based start-ups.

Wayra, (part of Telefonica’s global digital unit) which means ‘wind' in spanish is  aiming to become an accelerator for the development of future ‘Silicon Valleys' in the countries where Telefónica (or O2 to you and me) is present.

Ireland becomes the 10th country in which Wayra has launched and the Dublin Academy will be the 11th in the world. 

 If your a budding technology entrepreneur in Ireland you can submit your project ideas at www.wayra.org/en/ireland with the 10 best ideas each receiving an investment of up to €50k and access to a "state-of-the-art workspace" in O2's Dublin docklands headquarters. After 6 months in this workspace you will be introduced to a group of venture capitalists and set free into the world to make room for 10 more start ups. nothings free in this world i hear you say. 

Well......In exchange for initial financing Telefonica takes a 10% stake in your business and also receives first refusal rights to offer products and services developed by successful projects to its 300 million global customers, though it does not require the entrepreneurs to give it exclusivity. small price to pay if the banks won't give you a cent to start your company. 

Gonzalo Martin-Villa, global director for Wayra, said: “Our growing international network of entrepreneurs, spanning ten countries and two continents, will benefit from Ireland being part of this, and we believe that Irish entrepreneurs will also benefit from being part of this global community”

An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny said: "I very much welcome this investment by Telefónica and Wayra in Ireland. Wayra's decision is a significant vote of confidence in Ireland and reflects our strong reputation on the international stage. The Wayra initiative, like the Government's Action Plan on Jobs, places innovative businesses right at the heart of the drive to accelerate jobs growth and economic prosperity" ..... good man Enda

The closing date for submission of ideas or projects is 24 June so get your ideas in quick..