BlackBerry 10 Mengumpulkan 15000 Applikasi dalam 2 Hari

Research in Motion (RIM) menawarkan insentif $ 100 untuk pengembang aplikasi dan host dua Port-a-thons, di mana BlackBerry dan Android pengembang porting aplikasi mereka sebelumnya ditulis untuk BlackBerry 10. Hasilnya adalah 15.000 kekalahan aplikasi hanya dalam dua hari.

Portathon ini diselenggarakan pada tanggal 18 dan 19 th Januari dan sekitar 37 jam yang panjang. Terlepas dari insentif 100 dolar untuk aplikasi disetujui, pengembang dengan lebih dari lima entri yang dimasukkan ke dalam undian untuk perangkat BlackBerry 10 Alpha Dev. Perangkat itu kemudian diberikan kepada 200 pengembang. Sebuah PlayBook gratis juga ditawarkan kepada pengembang pertama yang disampaikan antara dua dan lima aplikasi.

Portathon ini dibagi menjadi dua sesi, yang pertama terkonsentrasi pada port aplikasi Android, sedangkan sesi kedua didedikasikan untuk port dari platform lain. Para pengembang juga berjanji bahwa jika app membuat lebih dari seribu dolar, RIM akan membuat perbedaan antara apa yang diusahakannya dan 10.000 dolar. Dengan begitu banyak insentif yang ditawarkan, para pengembang porting 15.000 aplikasi di 37 jam yang telah menjadi semacam rekor dunia.

Hal ini sedang berspekulasi oleh beberapa analis bahwa BlackBerry 10 adalah dalam kompetisi langsung dengan Google Android, dan keuntungan hanya dimiliki oleh Google adalah jumlah yang lebih besar dari aplikasi yang tersedia. Itu semua bisa berubah sekarang bahwa 15000 aplikasi telah ditambahkan ke aplikasi BlackBerry store hanya dalam waktu dua hari.

BlackBerry 10 akan keluar dalam beberapa hari, dan orang-orang sudah menyebutnya pesaing RIM terbaik untuk Android dan Apple iOS. Ada beberapa ratus ribu aplikasi yang tersedia di Apple dan Google app toko, maka BlackBerry 10 akan memiliki banyak mengejar lakukan. Namun, produk baru ini diharapkan untuk menempatkan BlackBerry kembali ke jalur, seperti yang telah perlahan-lahan kehilangan pangsa pasar pesaing selama setahun terakhir.

Jika BlackBerry 10 berhasil, tidak hanya akan pertanda baik bagi RIM, tapi itu akan menjadi besar untuk industri smartphone secara keseluruhan. Pesaing yang lebih berarti produk baru yang inovatif dan harga yang lebih rendah. Diharapkan BlackBerry akan ideal untuk UKM yang perlu membekali karyawannya dengan smartphone.

via TechBeat

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2014 Corvette Stingray debuts with rev-matching 7-speed

DETROIT--Chevrolet has pulled the covers back on what is easily the most hotly anticipated (and worst-kept secret) of the 2013 Detroit auto show: the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.

Only three Corvette models have ever borne the name Stingray: the mid-'60s second-generation model, the third-generation car produced through the '70s and into the '80s (arguably the most iconic), and now the seventh-generation (C7) 2014 model. Chevrolet states that it's reviving the name for the 2014 model year because it is the best 'Vette ever. Well, it's not like Chevy would claim anything less of its newest halo car, but the automaker does seem to have the numbers to back it up.

The new 6.2-liter, direct-injected V-8 will make an estimated 450 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. The automaker is estimating a 0-60 time under 4 seconds and over 1G of cornering grip. Making use of cylinder deactivation technology, Chevrolet is also claiming better fuel economy than any generation of Corvette before it.

Power flows through a seven-speed manual transmission that uses an Active Rev Matching technology similar to that of the Nissan 370Z's. As the driver moves the shift lever into a gear, the 'Vette's computer blips the throttle to match the wheel speed for a smooth ratio change when the clutch pedal is released.

Power flows to the rear wheels via a new seven-speed manual transmission.

(Credit: Chevrolet)

The new Corvette also makes use of lightweight materials, helping to keep the sports car light on its toes. The chassis is an aluminum frame that is 57 percent stiffer than the previous generation and about 99 pounds lighter. The hood and roof are made of carbon fiber, shifting the center of mass lower and rearward, and the body and aerodynamic elements make use of composite materials. Even the seats use magnesium frames to shave valuable grams.

Technology plays a larger role in the new Corvette as well. A five-position drive selector lets drivers adjust 12 vehicle systems, including throttle control, magnetic adaptive suspension, and exhaust sound, to for economy, comfort, sport, track, and poor weather driving. Changing driving modes also changes the configuration of the Corvette's 8-inch LCD instrument cluster, displaying information relevant to the chosen driving style.

We expect that even the base-level Corvette Stingray model will be a capable sports car, but drivers itching for a sharper track tool can opt for an announced Z51 package that adds an electronic limited-slip differential, a dry-sump oiling system, upgraded cooling systems for the differential and transmission, an upgraded aero package that boosts high-speed stability.

The specifics of the 'Vette's infotainment system have not been discussed by the automaker, but we're expecting some version of Chevrolet's MyLink system to make an appearance on the 8-inch color touchscreen that occupies the center of the dashboard. Will it the the Best of CES winning MyLink 2.0 system? All signs point to "yes."

The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will be roll onto dealers' lots in Q3 of 2013. Pricing and packaging have not yet been finalized or announced.

Sources : http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31229_7-57563819-257/2014-corvette-stingray-debuts-with-rev-matching-7-speed/

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4 Strategies for Avoiding Twitter Hashtag Hijackings

Every couple of months or so, another story about a Twitter hashtag campaign gone awry infiltrates the Internet, and we all feel sorry for the poor saps who gave it the green light. You can’t help but wonder how they didn’t see the potential hijacking disaster that lay ahead, but it’s not as easy to predict as one may think.

Brands spend millions to promote their hashtags through various channels. The most successful implementations however, are from companies that have made sure to cover all their bases before taking the leap. Here are a few tips to help avoid the worst case scenario, and to keep your hashtag campaign on the right track.

1. Consider Every Single Thing That Could Go Wrong

“Ignorance is bliss” is not the mantra to adapt when trying to create viral hashtags. Don’t assume your campaign will bring out the best in humanity; take some time to consider every single way the hashtag could be twisted into something inappropriate, critical or even damaging. If you’re finding your list is a rather long one, it’s best to change your approach.

Starbucks’ failed “#SharetheCheer” is one example of a hashtag campaign gone wrong — it happened just last week in the UK. It provides good insight into how a seemingly harmless hashtag can leave a lot of wreckage. The hashtag was intended as an uplifting holiday campaign, but UK were fans enraged by Starbucks’ controversial interpretation of tax law; the company paid only £8.5 million in UK taxes in a year when it earned £3 billion in profits. As a result, the hashtag was used as a platform to share sarcastic comments about Starbucks’ taxes.

2. Stay Away from Controversial Topics

Politics and hashtags aren’t typically known for functioning peacefully alongside each other, yet they’re still being utilized on a somewhat frequent basis to encourage the public to voice its opinion. The White House recently created the #My2K hashtag (seen above), asking middle class Americans what they would do with an extra $2,000 they could potentially save in taxes. Some people did use the hashtag as it was intended, but many people also took it as a chance to criticize current and potential government policies.

This is a good reminder that hashtags give people with negative feelings or sarcastic mindsets the opportunity to speak out — unfiltered. Corporations and businesses should be especially wary of voicing political opinions (see: Chick-fil-a) — it almost guarantees you’ll alienate customers, and probably even lose some.

3. Be Realistic

Sometimes the general public sees a brand differently than the brand sees itself. It’s completely normal to have an optimistic point of view of your business, but by no means does this mean everyone shares the same feelings. Companies with an unstable reputation are better off completely staying out of the hashtag campaign arena altogether.

Even the most seemingly fail-safe campaign can go wrong if your brand is going through a rough patch, such as with the case of Blackberry’s “#BeBold” campaign. Research in Motion (RIM), the creators of BlackBerry, have been on a steady decline for the past few years and its something consumers are well aware of. According to Mashable, RIM launched the hashtag last year on New Years Eve during Dick Clark’s Times Square countdown, asking for consumers’ New Year’s resolutions through the #BeBold hashtag. However, it quickly morphed into a chance to mock RIM’s superhero-themed campaign, lack of marketing skills, and steady decline into irrelevance.

4. Avoid Asking Open Ended Questions

All of the above examples have one thing in common: they all used very vague, open-ended questions in their copy that left a ton of room for contortion and misappropriation. If you eliminate this ambiguity in your campaign, the chance of your hashtag being hijacked drops dramatically. David Berkowitz, of the digital agency, 360i, gave a great example in Mashable: “If Delta does a campaign to win a free flight and uses #flydeltafree, it won’t be attacked in the same way as if it uses #whyilovedelta that invites sarcasm.”

Asking yourself if the potential ROI outweighs the risk can also help you decide if a hashtag campaign is right for your brand. What is the ultimate goal of the campaign, and is there a safer or more relevant alternative?

Know of any other classic hashtag hijacks, or how to avoid them? Let us know in the comments.

[Image credits: Jimmy Snell, Ryan Milani, News by SproutSocial]

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New Year, New Rules: Facebook Updates Its Cover Photo Policy

There are many things marketers need to be aware of when managing Facebook Pages, and the social network has just added one more item to your checklist.

Facebook is changing its policy about text overlay on cover photos and News Feed ads. Starting January 15th, text will be limited to no more than 20 percent of an image’s area. Keep in mind that text within logos will count toward this limit.

Previously, the company deterred the use of calls to action and price/purchase information in photos to prevent advertisers from sharing images that looked like traditional banner ads. However, the policy was vague and rarely enforced.

Facebook added that it’s preparing a grid-based text overlay detection tool to identify non-compliant images. Beginning January 15th, all images from Page Post Ads eligible for News Feed will be reviewed for text overlay. A version of this tool will be available in Power Editor to help you know in advance whether your image will be approved.

To clarify, you’re still allowed to post images with more than 20 percent text as long as you don’t plan to promote them in News Feeds. They can, however, be turned into ads that appear in the sidebar. As for cover photos, there are several rules that still apply in addition to the new text limit. You can read more about them under section three on the Facebook Page Terms document.

[Via: Inside Facebook, Image credit: Dominic Alves, News credit: http://sproutsocial.com]

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Oscar Nominations 2013

"Lincoln" is leading the way to the 2013 Oscars. This morning, the biopic about the 16th president picked up 12 Academy Award nominations, including best director for Steven Spielberg and best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis.

Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" followed close behind with 11 nominations. "Les Miserables" and "Silver Linings Playbook" tied for third place, with eight nominations each.

The Academy also named its eldest and youngest best actress nominees ever. "Beasts of the Southern Wild" star Quvenzhané Wallis, 9, is up for best actress along with "Amour" lead Emmanuelle Riva, 85.

See who made the cut below, and weigh in on who you want to win with Oscar.com's My Picks, an interactive and social Oscar ballot that allows you to pick who you think will win in each category. You can compete with your Facebook friends when the Academy Awards air on Feb. 24.

FULL COVERAGE: The 85th Annual Academy Awards

Best Picture:

"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

"Silver Linings Playbook"

"Zero Dark Thirty"

"Lincoln"

"Les Miserables"

"Life of Pi"

"Amour"

"Django Unchained"

"Argo"

My Picks: Create an Oscar Ballot and Play With Friends

Best Supporting Actor:

Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"

Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"

Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"

Alan Arkin, "Argo"

Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"

PHOTOS: 2013 Oscar Nominees

Best Supporting Actress:

Sally Field, "Lincoln"

Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"

Seth MacFarlane, Emma Stone Discuss Oscar Nominations Watch Video

2013 Oscars: The Surprise Nominations Watch Video

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Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook"

Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"

Amy Adams, "The Master"

RELATED: Oscar's Likely Winners

Best Director:

David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"

Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"

Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"

Michael Haneke, "Amour"

Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Actor:

Daniel Day Lewis, "Lincoln"

Denzel Washington, "Flight"

Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"

Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"

Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"

Best Actress:

Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"

Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"

Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"

Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"

Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Original Screenplay:

"Zero Dark Thirty"

"Django Unchained"

"Moonrise Kingdom"

"Amour"

"Flight"

Best Adapted Screenplay:

"Lincoln"

"Silver Linings Playbook"

"Argo"

"Life of Pi"

"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Animated Feature:

"Frankenweenie"

"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"

"Wreck-It Ralph"

"Paranorman"

"Brave"

Best Foreign Feature:

"Amour"

"A Royal Affair"

"Kon-Tiki"

"No"

"War Witch"

Best Visual Effects:

"Life of Pi"

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

"The Avengers"

"Prometheus"

"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Cinematography:

"Skyfall"

"Anna Karenina"

"Django Unchained"

"Life of Pi"

"Lincoln"

Best Costume Design:

"Anna Karenina"

"Les Miserables"

"Lincoln"

"Mirror Mirror"

"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Documentary Feature:

"Searching for Sugar Man"

"How to Survive a Plague"

"The Gatekeepers"

"5 Broken Cameras"

"The Invisible War"

Best Documentary Short:

"Open Heart"

"Inocente"

"Redemption"

"Kings Point"

"Mondays at Racine"

"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Film Editing:

"Lincoln"

"Silver Linings Playbook"

"Life of Pi"

"Argo"

"Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

"Hitchcock"

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

"Les Miserables"

Best Music (Original Score):

"Anna Karenina"

"Argo"

"Life of Pi"

"Lincoln"

"Skyfall"

Best Music (Original Song):

"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"

"Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"

"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"

"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"

"Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"

Best Production Design:

"Anna Karenina"

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

"Les Misérables"

"Life of Pi"

"Lincoln"

Best Short Film, Animated:


Seth MacFarlane, Emma Stone Discuss Oscar Nominations Watch Video

2013 Oscars: The Surprise Nominations Watch Video

Oscar Nominations Buzz: Prediction Watch Video
"Adam and Dog"

"Fresh Guacamole"

"Head over Heels"

"Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'"

"Paperman"

Best Short Film, Live Action:

"Asad"

"Buzkashi Boys"

"Curfew"

"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)"

"Henry"

Best Sound Editing:

"Argo"

"Django Unchained"

"Life of Pi"

"Skyfall"

"Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Sound Mixing:

"Argo"

"Les Misérables"

"Life of Pi"

"Lincoln"

"Skyfall"

Source :  Oscar Nominations 2013: Full List

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ANALYST: 'Foursquare Will Fail By The End Of 2013'

A new PrivCo report says Foursquare will fail by the end of 2013.

According to PrivCo's sources, Foursquare is missing venture capitalist's projections, and even its own projections, quarter after quarter. PrivCo thinks investors will get tired of this and sell their shares by year-end for less money than they initially invested.

Specifically, PrivCo thinks Foursquare will be acquired for less than $50 million by the end of 2013, significantly less than the $71.3 million investors have pumped into it.

Its reasoning is this:

Aside from missing quarterly projections, PrivCo says Foursquare has struggled to raise a new round of financing for "nearly a year."

More so, it says Foursquare's existing investors have "made it clear to Foursquare management including CEO Dennis Crowley that they will not be investing additional capital into Foursquare either." PrivCo says it's their way of warning Crowley that he must find a sustainable business model quickly.

We have to assume the investors PrivCo is talking about are Union Square Ventures, a long-time investor in Foursquare, and Andreessen Horowitz, which led Foursquare's last round of financing and helped value the company at $550 million in July 2011.

As further proof, PrivCo reads between the lines of a recent blog post written by Union Square Ventures' Fred Wilson, which stressed frustration with startups. Wilson wrote, "So if I can give entrepreneurs a single piece of advice for 2013 it would be to deliver on your promises. Not just to your investors but also to your team and ultimately to yourself. This is no time to be in denial. That is a lethal attribute in times like these."

Union Square Ventures opted not to comment on PrivCo's report or its satisfaction with Foursquare's performance to date.

We should note that Fred Wilson isn't the USV investor involved in Foursquare though. It's his partner, Albert Wenger, who is on Foursquare's board.

PrivCo also used Foursquare's flat web traffic as a sign of bad times ahead. It says its website has hovered  between 2.2 million and 2.5 million monthly uniques for the past year and a half.

"This shows that not only is Foursquare's audience too small for a consumer-oriented Internet company to attract meaningful ad dollars, but its web traffic numbers are flat, with no reversal on the horizon; this is a likely death spiral for a consumer social network," PrivCo writes.

Of course, Foursquare is first and foremost a mobile app and it hasn't pushed particularly hard to increase monthly uniques to its website. The report does note that Foursquare's users logged 1.9 billion minutes on the app in 2012, up 15% from 2011 according to Nielsen. Foursquare also added 15 million new accounts this year, bringing its total users to nearly 30 million. There have been more than 3 billion check-ins to date on the app.

What to make of it all?

It's true that investors aren't keen on investing at the moment.

It's also been reported that Foursquare only generated $2 million this year, which we have to assume is a big miss for both investors and the company.

But in the report, PrivCo made some blatant errors. For one, it incorrectly named Dennis Crowley's co-founder, Naveen Selvadurai, "Naveen Jain."

PrivCo makes money selling the business and financial research it collects on private companies. One way it seems to be making a name for itself is by publishing very negative reports about startups. It did this with Groupon and Facebook. (Then again, some of those reports proved to be accurate.) 

If PrivCo is right, it means the investors that will take the biggest hits are Union Square Ventures, O'Reilly Alphatech Ventures, Ron Conway and David Lee's SV Angel, Bijan Sabet's Spark Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz. But they'll receive cash back before common stockholders see a dime.

The person who would obviously get hit the hardest is Dennis Crowley, who's spent his entire life trying to solve one problem: finding his friends who are nearby.

Foursquare declined to comment for this story.

(PrivCo is a company that collects business and financial data on private companies)

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/analyst-foursquare-will-fail-by-the-end-of-2013-2013-1#ixzz2HkskUo4E

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