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BetaNews.Com (8 non lus)

Career Factor: Microsoft's online reality show where IT meets the social web

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 11:16pm CET par Joe Wilcox

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Microsoft is using social media as foundation for a web-based reality show following the career quests of nine participants. You can follow their exploits online (e.g., at work when the boss isn't looking), no television required. The Career Factor website went live last week, but the nine participants only started updating their quests yesterday.
The website describes itself as an "online reality show based on the experiences of nine IT personalities. Each of our candidates have set a professional goal for themselves, and have invited you to follow their every step along the way." Each participant has a personal page where "you can explore their backgrounds, learn from their experiences and share your findings. You'll find videos, links to learning resources, tips and updates via their blog and various social media outlets."
It's rare enough to see someone talking about or using social media to advance IT anything -- let alone careers or learning -- so I was interested to see what Microsoft hoped to accomplish and what benefits there would be to participants and those people following their quests.
"In early November Microsoft Learning issued a casting call for the nine different story arcs, where candidates sent in an application accompanied by a video introduction of why they think they would be good for the show," a spokesman for Microsoft explained. "The participants were selected in mid-December and started prepping for the launch."
People can follow each participant on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and the icons are quite prominently placed. Each participant's page offers tabs to view "status," "video," "blog" and "bio." Videos are posted to YouTube, and there are additional social sharing options on participants' blogs.
Who are these people:
Steve is an unemployed job seeker from Brisbane, Australia. His career goal: "Update skills and certifications to find a new job."
Tim is a senior IT architect from New York City. His career goal: "Transition skills to Exchange and Active Directory."
Kevin is a student from Dallas, Texas. His career goal: "Find a job after graduating from college."
Bojan is an "aspiring Microsoft Certified Master" from London. His career goal: "Complete the MCM: Exchange Server 2010 course."
Eddie is a barista from San Diego. His career goal: "Transition back into the IT industry and obtain TS and PRO level certifications."
Rabeb is a student from Tunis, Tunisia. Her career goal: "To develop and release a Windows Phone 7 app to the Marketplace."
Neil is a "senior software development engineer" from Dublin, Ireland (he is moving to Terrace, Canada). His career goal: "To learn how to develop an application on Windows and SQL Azure."
Simon is a principal software engineer from Chester, UK. His career goal: "Get team certified to meet Microsoft Partner competency requirements."
Caroline is a student from Calgary, Canada. Her career goal: "Train to compete and succeed at the 2011 Certiport Worldwide Competition on Office."
Not all the participants have posted content. As I write, there were none for Neil, Simon and Caroline. Considering this is only officially Day 2, they can be excused. :)
Microsoft couldn't have foreseen the political upheaval in Tunisia, which piqued my interest in following Rabeb. In a blog post dated today she writes about the important responsibility she feels participating in Career Factor and her family's pride in her. "Moreover, it's the perfect opportunity to show the world that Tunisia is a small country that holds a great nation," she writes. "My country is going through big changes these days. So, my duty is to help build it and show the world that we have innovative people, great minds and brilliant ideas."
Career Factor is an intriguing concept because it's not some amorphous learning or certification site but real people looking to IT learning/training to improve their lives. Microsoft's challenge will be garnering interest in the participants -- or, better, that the self-described reality show goes viral among IT professionals.
This is just the beginning, but where does it all end? "Career Factor will continue through TechEd North America between May 16-19, where the participants will meet each other in person for a reunion video (or it should be a union video I guess, since they have never met in person)," the spokesman for Microsoft said.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Starbucks expands mobile payment service to all US stores

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 8:34pm CET par Ed Oswald

By Ed Oswald, Betanews

Starbucks expanded its mobile payments program to more than 7,500 of its US stores on Wednesday, following a successful pilot program in 1,000 company-owed stores plus all of its Target in-store locations. The offering allows customers to use their smart phones to show a barcode that is linked to their Starbucks Card accounts without carrying the actual card.
The coffee retailer initially began offering the app last year as a method to check card balances, reload the card, and check previous transactions. A pilot program for the mobile payments system was later launched in all Target stores as well as select locations in New York, Seattle, and across northern California.
Starbucks' app would also allow for reloading of the card and viewing past purchase history. Once the card is used, the balance is automatically updated on the card's home screen. Company-owned stories will be the first to support the mobile app, which is currently only available for iOS and Blackberry. Blackberry 8800 series, Bold, Curve, Storm, Storm2, and Tour devices are supported.
An Android version of the app is still in development, the company said. The functionality should be available immediately to customers.
"Today, one in five Starbucks transactions is made using a Starbucks Card and mobile payment will extend the way our customers experience and use their Starbucks Card," Starbucks Card and brand loyalty chief Brady Brewer said in a statement.
Users can download the app for free from either the App Store or Starbuck's website. While a card can not be purchased through it directly, customers can pick up a physical card from any of Starbucks' locations.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
How many LivingSocial users can Amazon buy for $10?

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 7:16pm CET par Joe Wilcox

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Deal site LivingSocial has got a helluva bargain today: A $20 Amazon gift card for 10 bucks. Who could resist that? I could. Should you?
LivingSocial specializes in half-price deals, typically specific to larger cities -- assuming you live there. I went to the site for the first time early this afternoon. By Internet magic, most likely IP address, LivingSocial correctly detected my city as San Diego. I clicked through to see the big deal, the aforementioned half-price Amazon gift card.
So what's the catch? There's always a catch. LivingSocial gets your email address -- and also credit card number to purchase (What? There's no PayPal)? It's a "let's get 1 million email addresses in a day" deal. There aren't many marketing promotions better than this. People actually pay you to take their email address. "We email our deals daily. We keep your email safe with us," LivingSocial qualifies. I don't doubt the sincerity of the privacy policy, but it's still selling my email address for 10 bucks.
The site qualifies that "Amazon.com is not a sponsor of this promotion," which technically is true. So why does this post's title say "can Amazon buy?" In December, Amazon invested a cool $175 million in the Washington, DC-based startup, which began as a "Pick Five" app on Facebook. Besides, the Amazon gift cards are doing the buying.
So, will you give up your email address for $10. I'll keep mine, thank you.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Kno invites college kids to become 'Digital Textbook' pioneers

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 7:10pm CET par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Silicon Valley startup Kno Inc. on Wednesday began accepting submissions to a new pilot program for its education-focused, dual touchscreen 14.1" tablet, also called the Kno. The program is open to qualified undergrad and graduate school students who have submitted a resumé and their list of required reading to Kno.
When accepted into the program, students don't get anything for free. But, they get a 50% discount on either a single-screen or dual-screen Kno tablet. And since these devices carry an MSRP of $600 and $900 respectively, a decent amount of money is saved.
Of course, becoming an "Ambassador" for Kno means having to participate in weekly online marketing meetings, having to conduct demos and surveys, and having weekly "missions" assigned to the student. This constitutes the latter stages of development for the device, which Kno created in conjunction with panels of both students and educators.
"College students are the future leaders of America and we want to help them gain real-life experience that they can use after college to help them have a successful career," David Straus, Vice President of Product at Kno, Inc. said in a statement on Wednesday.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Five lessons you should learn from Apple's $26.7B record quarter

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 6:19pm CET par Joe Wilcox

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Apple's record fiscal 2011 first quarter will be the Starbuck's coffee talk of Wall Street today. Apple beat analysts' revenue consensus by about $2.3 billion. Behind the numbers there are lessons to learn about the company and economic opportunities that competitors, non-competitors and partners should be aware.
I've chosen five things, which are presented in no order of importance. As usual, I expect to get whacked aside the head by Apple worshippers who balk at the slightest criticism. For some people, there's only one side to every argument.
1. Apple selectively timed CEO Steve Jobs' medical leave announcement to protect the stock. On Monday, with markets closed, Jobs revealed that he was taking indefinite medical leave. Investors couldn't react until yesterday. Apple shares closed at $340.65 yesterday, off the previous close -- a then 52-week high -- of $348.48.
Andy Zaky, who has one of the best track records predicting Apple quarterly results (typically better than Wall Street analysts), puts some sense to the timing. Yesterday, he observed that "since 2007, Apple has always chosen to report earnings during the last week of the month...If you go back at least 14-16 quarters, Apple has reported during the last week of the month in every one of those reporting periods."
I wondered about the timing last month, when Apple set the date about two weeks earlier than usual. "Now that we have the Steve Jobs news, the reporting date makes a whole lot of sense. Moreover, the fact that Apple chose to release its earnings right after a 3-day weekend in order to give investors time to soak in the news of Jobs' indefinite departure lends support to the idea that Steve Jobs has been planing to take a leave for a very long time."
I've long accused Apple of timing product announcements or leaking information to influence the share price -- that is keep it gong up, up, up. The same could be said about Jobs' last medical leave, which started simply with an announcement he wouldn't keynote Macworld 2009 and ended with the official news about a month later. It's all about managing perceptions. From one perspective, the approach is sensible because every public company's first obligation should be to the real owners -- the shareholders. Apple top executives knew they had bang-up quarterly results to announce. They strategically chose timing the medical leave to minimize share losses before delivering the good news that could boost the stock.
"Apple manipulates even when Steve's health hangs in the balance," rrode74 writes in Betanews comments.
2. China hugely matters to Apple. During last night's earnings conference call, Apple executives couldn't talk enough about China generating $2.6 billion during fiscal first quarter, which compares to $3 billion for all fiscal 2010. The number was repeated several times. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer also explained that the company's four retail stores in China generated more foot traffic and sales than any others. So nearly 10 percent of the quarter's revenue came from the one market. By comparison, the Americas and Europe generated so much more: $9.22 billion and $7.26 billion, respectively. That said, in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes China, revenue grew 175 percent year over year and unit shipments by 65 percent, more than any other region.
International markets accounted for 62 percent of Apple revenue during fiscal Q1, up from 57 percent three months earlier. The numbers strongly suggest China is one major factor driving up international sales. Two years ago, Apple didn't even break out Asia-Pacific as a demographic region. Now Asia-Pacific is growing fast, with China accounting for more than half the revenue generated in the region.
"Several years ago, we identified China as our top priority, and we put enormous energy into China," COO Tim Cook told financial analysts yesterday. The results of that have been absolutely staggering." That's an understatement.
3. Contrary to persistent rumors, maybe Apple isn't working on a 7-inch tablet. Cook responded to a question about iPad competition, which he put into two categories: Bulky devices with shorter battery life running Windows and smaller Android tablets. He largely dismissed Android competition in part because the operating system wasn't designed for the form factor. But it was how he expressed the sentiment that reveals something important about Apple's -- or at least his -- perspective on 7-inch tablets.
"You wind up having a size of a tablet that is less than what we believe is reasonable or even one that would provide what we feel is a real tablet experience," Cook said. "Basically, you wind up with kind of a scaled-up smartphone, which is a bizarre product in our view." Same could be said of a 7-inch iPad, should Apple choose to release one.
4. Wall Street analysts cow before Apple, or they did yesterday. Surely investors want to know: How long does Jobs plan to be on medical leave? Will he realistically return? Is there a succession plan? If I were an Apple investor and one of these analysts represented me and was on that conference call, I'd want some answers. But no one asked. Perhaps analysts were just too awe-struck by the quarter's results.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster came closest to asking the right question: "In terms of the long-term business planning, there have been a lot of questions how far out you actually plan?" He continued: "Is it a one-year plan, a five-year plan? Any sort of insight would be helpful." Jobs is seen as Apple's visionary. Munster knows that products like iPad don't just come to market overnight. What he really asked, ever so subtly, is how long before Jobs' absence would affect the product pipeline.
"That's part of the magic of Apple," Cook replied, indicating the magic is a trade secret. "In my view, Apple is doing its best work ever...The team here has an unparalleled breadth and depth of talent and culture of innovation that Steve has driven within the company -- and excellence has become a habit. We feel very confident about the future of the company." Maybe, but Cook didn't answer the question.
5. The cloud is Apple's Achilles Heal. By far, Apple's greatest strategic vulnerability remains the cloud, and nothing during yesterday's conference call -- including the questions (or lack of them) -- changed the perspective. Apple still depends on Google for maps and search on its iOS devices. Sync is convoluted, being anchored to the desktop but partially available from the cloud. Using Cook's words about Android tablets, Apple sync is a "bizarre product." There's no over-the-air-updating of iOS devices, unlike Android. I could go on and on with examples.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Nintendo's new 3D handheld launches worldwide March 27

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 4:07pm CET par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Nintendo 3DS, which proved to be a real scene-stealer at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2010, will be launching in North America, Europe, and Australia on March 27, and will cost $249 at retail. It hits the market approximately one month after the device launches in Japan.
At a press event held by Nintendo on Wednesday, the company showed off a few more titles expected to be available when the console launches, including Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Kid Icarus Uprising, Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs & Cats, Steel Diver, Dead or Alive Dimensions, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, Super Street Fighter IV: 3D edition, Starfox64, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, Resident Evil: Mercenaries, Asphalt 3D, Combat of Giants: Dinsaurs 3D, Ridge Racer 3D, Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and a new Madden football title.
In total, Nintendo says more than 30 games will come to retail between the March launch date and E3 2011 on June 7.
The system's integrated software will include: Mii Maker (turns photographs into avatars), Web browser, 3D video player and media player, pedometer, and an augmented reality gaming engine.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
AMD unveils Fusion G-Series, Geode's de facto successor

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 6:01am CET par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

AMD Wednesday unveiled the newest member of its Fusion APU family called the G-Series, designed for use in embedded environments, and primed to be the eventual replacement to the long-running Geode line of embedded processors.
Like the Fusion APUs for consumer PCs that AMD unveiled just prior to CES 2011, the G-Series incorporates an x86 CPU with a DirectX 11 capable GPU and an integrated DDR3 memory controller all on the same die.
These, however, are based upon the "Bobcat" low-power CPU, which can be configured with single or dual cores with either a 9 Watt or an 18 Watt TDP and speeds up to 1.6 GHz with 1MB L2 cache. The GPU core can be configured in one of two performance settings, and includes a dedicated graphics memory controller, 2D and 3D acceleration, OpenCL 1.1 support, OpenGL 3.2 and 2.1 support, dedicated hardware for H.263 and MPEG2 decode.
AMD has about ten different markets it serves with its embedded processors: thin clients, POS and kiosk systems, digital signage, game machines, medical imaging, single board computing, industrial controls, SMB-to-enterprise grade storage, ruggedized/military systems, and telecommunications/networking. Those markets used to be served by AMD's Geode line, but AMD ceased development on Geode back in 2006 and plans to sunset the chips by 2015. But as Geode fades away, AMD expects the G-Series to witness a 350% growth in 64-bit embedded computing in the next five years.
AMD may anticipate such dramatic growth because it is launching the G-Series APU with more partners than its embedded platforms have ever launched with before: Advansus, Compulab, Congatec, Fujitsu, Haier, iEi, Kontron, Mitec, Quixant, Sintrones, Starnet, WebDT, Wyse and others are expected to launch their G-series solutions in the next few weeks. Their products will include casino games, digital signs, and PC-compatible connected set top boxes, to name just a few.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Adobe to beef up Web analytics offerings with newly acquired Demdex

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 12:51am CET par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Adobe on Tuesday announced that it had acquired audience and data management company Demdex, growing Adobe's Web marketing platform further as the online advertising business continues its evolution.
Just over a year ago, Adobe acquired Omniture, a leader in web analytics and audience management that formerly acted as a partner for Adobe. Since the acqusition, the software formerly known as Omniture Online Marketing Suite has become Adobe Online Marketing Suite powered by Omniture.
DemDex's new behavioral data tracking and ranking technology will be integrated into Adobe and Omniture's solutions and optimized for Media companies, advertisers, and e-commerce outlets.
"With the addition of Demdex, the Adobe Online Marketing Suite will enable advertisers to be smarter with their advertising spend and publishers to leverage their audience data to generate more revenue," said Brad Rencher, vice president and general manager, Omniture Business Unit, Adobe. "With audience optimization, Adobe is literally changing how online ads are bought and sold."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010