Games are always known as the best friend for children. And once the bond forms, it last for whole life – atleast for most of the people I know. But with the latest facts and figures from this infographic has surprised me till core and left me to learn that Adults are also equally connected with Games and an average age of a Gamer is 34!
This infographic, by GameRant, throws some of the interesting facts on Gamers and Gaming Industry which has literally changed my view towards the ecosystem of Games. An Industry worth $10.5 billion in 2009 can’t be considered only from the “fun” stand point, it’s a serious business now.
How many of you know that the average Facebook users will change their profile photo 18 times this year? That’s three times as often as in 2006. Check out these interesting stats about Facebook profile photos!
Here is an interesting infographic, by Pixel, combines pretty interesting information that details some interesting statistics about Facebook user behavior as it applies to their profile photos. Check out the stats compiled from the company’s more than 500,000 Facebook users below.
Successful business models can always en-cash opportunities and if it’s at the cost of competitor or from their products/services – nothing can be better than that. A year back when Microsoft made an agreement with HTC that entitled it to royalties for all HTC Android phones, no one (probably including Microsoft) ever predicted that it will pay-off so huge in the favor of Microsoft. Today, Microsoft is standing on a cash-pile worth $150 million and is much bigger than what company gained by selling its own Windows Phones 7 mobile operating system in 2010.
According to a calculation, done by Asymco’s Horace Dediu, Microsoft’s gain of $150 million from HTC Android phone is a result of an agreement which forces HTC to shell out $5 for every Android phone company makes. Considering that HTC has sold around 30 million Android phone, Microsoft has gained $150 million from HTC-Android business.
Microsoft sold only 2 million Windows Phone 7 licenses to manufacturers till January and with an estimate of $15 per license fee, Dedie figures that company made only 30 million from Windows Phone 7 last year.
However, the benefit for Microsoft doesn’t end here. The agreement between HTC and Microsoft is based on the claim which accuses Android for infringement Microsoft’s Intellectual property. And if Microsoft rolls on winning streak, a massive cash inflow will happen from various other mobile manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Sony or Acer who are betting high with the enormous growth of Android.
More than 240 million Android phones have been sold in 2010 alone. If we assume that minimum 70% Android phones have been sold through third part hardware manufacturers, like Samsung & LG, it will not be much difficult to calculate benefit of Microsoft even if the company settles down with an agreement, with other manufacturers, identical to HTC.
And with the constant growth of Android and surging sales of Smartphones, we can only assume the massive cash figure which will benefit Microsoft. An Interesting scenario to watch out !!!!!!
The incredible growth of social media is showing sign to slow down. Titans of Industry are constantly appreciating their reach as well as their market value. Latest, Facebook has improved market valuation to $87.5 billion – assuming company still holds 2.5 billion outstanding shares – when its stock closed at $35 in an auction on SharesPost.
Compare to last auction held in April this year, Facebook share price has been improved by $3. Undoubtedly, this will only blow the susceptible Tech bubble further. Recent market response of LinkedIn IPO, which almost doubled the company valuation over night, has already triggered the discussion over the possible threat of another Tech bubble under ‘incubation’.
Last year, Facebook decided to postpone its IPO for 2012 and if the growth of the company as well as Industry remains the same, certainly Facebook will be worth $100 Billion or more when it will hit the IPO floor. Also, with 685 million users currently, company is expected to celebrate 1 billion users mark by end of this year.
Last week, we had unveiled a comparative infoghraphic on growth, valuation, market share and reach of few much appreciated online companies like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. One message which was very clear and loud – “Most (I would say “All’ rather) of those companies are overvalued. Consequently, debate has been fired on “Is another Tech bubble is shaping up?”
SharesPost sent the following email to members about the auction:
We are writing SharesPost members like you who indicated they would like to occasionally receive news from SharesPost.
We would like to inform you that SharesPost’s affiliated broker-dealer completed its auction of 100,000 shares of the Class B Common Stock of Facebook, Inc. yesterday, May 26th. A clearing price of $35.00 was established at the auction. Members submitting Qualifying Bids at or above the clearing price will be contacted shortly with instructions on next steps for completing this transaction.
SharesPost members who wish to be informed of and be eligible to participate in future auctions of private company securities must first be qualified by our affiliated broker-dealer as an accredited investor under the securities laws. To get qualified, please click on the green button below. We look forward to serving you at SharesPost in the future.
We are leaving on you to decide and give you verdict on whether we are heading for another bubble blast or is it’s a serious growth ?
It’s no brainer to see that social media is here to stay for good. Given vast variety of the existing channels to choose and stick with, it’s time for such a hot space to enter into a new category. There is a need for a portal to provide a quick and intelligent decision for both the consumer and the enterprise about their online connections.
A Platform to Help us to Distinguish Our Quality vs. Quantity Friends, Fans, Followers, and Companies.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Flickr and others have done a decent job of providing additional marketing exposure and even in some cases, additional revenue. However, as more and more social networking sites pop up, it’s going to be a daunting task for companies to manage their brand across all these channels? Maybe more importantly, which one of these sites should companies select as the one that will help them best reach their target audience?
This glut of information reminds me of the early 90’s when WWW was adopted broadly by the general public. Every company rushed to have a presence, to the point it became literally impossible to find the right information on the Web. That’s when a better generation of search engines – at first the Yahoo! and then Google – entered the market and helped us find the most relevant information by just typing simple keywords in their search box.
Then came Web 1.0 & 2.0 – Youtube, Flickr, myspace, Facebook, Twitter and countless others have turned everyday people into content producers, influencers and experts. We basically tripled down on the information overload how do you know which channels to select for deploying your social media strategy? How do you know which one is the right channel to let your fans and followers to find you, your products, and services? Most importantly, who is Joe Smith that is recommending that person, that company, that product?
Next generation Social Media intelligence companies like www.awesomize.me can accomplish such a mission. Such online properties are not showcasing just another social networking platform. Sites, like awesomize.me, are the portal to all your existing social media channels. Its platform helps you, your fans, your potential clients to make an intelligent decision as to which company to connect to or follow via which social media channels and why?
People who have thousands of fans or followers just can’t resist the fact of being lost in the oversize network. Over a period of time everybody has started realizing the need of ‘tool’ which can guide them to connect with people who can benefit each other substantially rather adding non-responsive entities. The emergence of social media intelligence properties, like www.awesomize.me, is the result of constant growing frustration among people towards managing their non progressive network. And the beauty is: Still It’s free!
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This is a Guest Post from Elias Shams. He has been a serial entrepreneur in telecom and social media space for past 12 years. Two of the greatest Washington, DC based companies he worked for and very proud of are Yurie Systems which was sold to Lucent in 1998 and telezoo.com that he founded in 1999.
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In the world where male dominance is quite high and most of the businesses are driven by male body, the existence and contribution of women can’t be neglected. Infact, there are companies which have been re-managed and re-organized for business by female leaders when these were just few inches away from bankruptcy. Though, debate will always remain intact whether women can have significant contribution in corporate world, there are indeed few advantages for women-owned-businesses.
A latest infographic, by MBA Online, claims that despite of proven fact and performance by women in corporate world, only 3% of women hold “C” level positions. Surprisingly, this infographic also exposes some hidden facts on how women have been differentiated in various geographic in terms of salary or educational success.
I am sure, women out here like me, would love to know such facts and will work towards higher-ratio contribution in business boundaries.
Recently, professional networking website LinkedIn went for initial public offer (IPO) and the overwhelming response – which doubled the company’s valuation over night – has only boosted the confidence of other Internet ventures. However, the developed scenario is forming a much hyped tech bubble where every Internet venture – especially social networking properties – have got significant contribution.
Companies are securing more and more funding, revenue is surging with steady pace and growth rate is appreciable but fails to create ‘WoW’ effect on revenue books. Though there are few which have full potential to justify its valuation, many are also over-valued just because of brand value. And Twitter leads this way.
LinkedIn, which accounted $200 million in revenue last year, secured $9 billion valuation just few days back when it went for Initial public offer – probably the highest price and revenue ratio in the world.
Interestingly, Twitter cut the celebration cake with the highest price and revenue ratio – though it has not been tested on public interest. With just $150 million in revenue last year, Twitter is currently being valued worth $7.7 billion in private market – an obvious over-valued company ever.
Here is an interesting infographic from GPlus, which highlights the top Internet properties’ growth, revenue and current valuation. With so much of money to pour, an obvious debate has been triggered “whether another tech bubble is taking shape” and much more important “Are we ready for another Internet bubble blast similar to 11 years back?”
You are the best to judge the same and react. Here is a competitive analysis on few major Internet ventures which will have a major contribution in future of Internet.
Enormous growth of Social Media is empowering many countries to absorb the advantages of Internet with full capacity. Online communication has been competent to a level where messages are flowing almost instantly among people. Not so different than other countries, India has got significant impact of social media and people are leveraging more on social media networks than emails for information sharing and communication.
As per the latest study on social media usage in India, by Neilson in collaboration with AbsolutData, nearly 30 million Indian Internet users are connected with social networking websites and about two third of them spend one hour on these social media sites every.
Interestingly, study has found that people in India are spending more time on social media sites than emails. Almost the same number of people is spending less than an hour on social media sites and email every day. However, only 8% are spending between an hour to three hours on personal email every day compare to 20% who stay connected with social network sites for same duration.
“Social media is now ingrained in the way tech savvy Indians live their lives. With its ability to play multiple roles in an individual’s life by enabling shared experiences, creating linkages between communities and satisfying the need to be networked, its role in creating a deeper engagement is a boon to marketing,” said Adrian Terron, Vice President of Global Communications and Marketing for Nielsen.
The growth of social media in India is quite rapid. People are becoming more tech savvy, so the social. The trend is going to continue and every day near about 45,000 Indian users are going to join some social network site for next six months.
Brand Engagement on Social Media
The study, conducted over 2000 people across all five Indian metros and Tier 1 cities, also reveals the strong brand collaboration with people over social network. Every forth online user was able to connect themselves with brand through social media. Also, a group of people in small ratio committed to follow brands over social media.
67% of people who are on Web use the online survey results to form their opinion about brand and get influenced while buying process. At the same time, 60% of social media users from India are open for brands to communicate with them to reduce the expectations-production gap.
The study reveals that the relationship between consumer and brand is much more active and stronger die to two way communication using social network. Companies can get instant reviews, feedback and complaints about their product from majority of people with the help of social media. Vise-versa, expectations of people are also riding high as they want companies to pay attention and act towards their comments and words.
All-and-all, social media is emerging as one of the most powerful collaboration tools in India which is not only helping to reduce the communication gap but is also allowing companies to engage millions of people through single platform. Surely, Online marketing in India is moving towards a new unified ecosystem of branding and marketing mix.
It’s looking that next level of mobile handset war in India has been re-initiated. After Airtel’s announcement to open Apple’s revolutionary iPhone 4 booking at 50% discount rate In India, it was Samsung who has announced the pre-booking of –arguably – world’s fastest Android phone Samsung Galaxy S II in New Delhi today. The pre-booking is going to start from 26 may 2011.
Interestingly, company has tagged the new Samsung Galaxy S II with Rs. 32,890/- which is comparatively lower than US and UK market. Samsung is expecting to swipe away new sales session with Galaxy S II. Company has already recorded more than 3 million pre-booking orders worldwide by the end of April this year.
Galaxy S II is has 1.2 Ghz dual core processor beating its closets and traditional competitor LG who has also launched Optimus 2X recently in India. Galaxy S II has 4.2 inch Super AMOLED display running on Android’s latest version Gingerbread (Android 2.3).
The 8 mega-pixel rear camera with LED flash and 2 mega-pixel front cameras definitely put Galaxy S II ahead than any other Smartphone currently available in market. It has 16 GB of internal storage which can be upgraded till 32 GB.
Here is an official specification after this break:
Recent debacle of Sony’s Playstation network affected more than 77 million users worldwide. After unscheduled reboot detection of Playstation servers and possible leak of credit card information, company had to shut down the whole network which left all gamers in lurch.
A six day long down time not only left users out of show but also thrown Sony to face huge revenue losses. Playstation really screwed up and their customers are not happy campers. However, many of us didn’t follow the whole episode due to continuous outrage and frustration towards Playstation. Also, Sony has lot of learn from this.
Whilst Sony desperately tries to woo back its understandably wary customers with packages of free services and games — or a “customer compensation package” as Sony calls it — industry analysts on the other hand are now looking at what the effects, both long and short-term of this shutdown have been, and will be.
Here is an interesting infographic from Promotionalcodes which covers the incident by Title “anatomy of the most significant digital theft in history”.
Yes, it’s very much true. Telecom companies are gearing up to launch much appreciated Apple’s revolutionary iPhone 4 in India – mostly in a week from now! And hold down, that’s not all; People who stayed away from iPhone due to exorbitant cost till date, can grab the latest version of Smartphone – iPhone4 – at 50% discounted cost.
Apple’s iPhone 4 is going to be available in two flavors – 16 GB and 32 GB – with factory unlocked mode. Generally, you will need to shell out approximately Rs 35,000/- for 16 GB and Rs 41,000/- for 32 GB version of iPhone 4.
However, if you are a proud Airtel customer and your bill exceeds Rs. 2,000/- every month, you can take away the same iPhone at 50% discounted price. At the time when cut-throat competition is on among telecom companies to establish “wow” factor, Airtel is expecting to see huge surge in its subscriptions through this lucrative offer, as per few sources.
iPhone 4 comes with 3.5 inch LED backlit capacitive touch screen with 16 M colors. Phone is loaded with 1 Ghz ARM Cortex-A8 processor with Apple A4 chipset inside. Besides 512 MB Ram and 16 Gb/ 32 GB data storage capacity, iPhone 4 has 5MP rear camera with 2592 x 1944 pixel resolution with LED flash.
Like U.S., Airtel has opted the marketing mix strategy which allows people to own the handset with bare minimum cost but with minimum monthly commitment for their bill. Indeed this makes sense for Indian consumers as they always been very selective towards shelling out their hard earn money. Also, Apple has not been very successful in re-creating the charm towards iPhone in India. The earlier version of iPhone didn’t pickup much traction in India due to price as well as huge gap between available infrastructure and phone’s capabilities.
Though, Apple had to go through various challenges and criticisms with iPhone 4 in early launch days but Steve Jobs managed to play down such issues by attacking competitors.
Now, with the availability of 3G network and discount pricing strategy, Airtel is, apparently, becoming bullish on iPhone 4 sales and the brand wagon of Apple will surely lift this up.
Update: Aircel has just announced the launch of iPhone 4 in India at Rs 34,500/- and Rs 40,500/- for 16 GB and 32 GB respectively. As per press released, iPhone sales will be on from 27th May 2011.
Despite of intense pressure and competition from Android, Apple’s iOS is constantly adding numerous features in its crown. Latest, Apple’s App store has reached to 500,000 approved unique apps for iPad and iPhone users. Though, the numbers of official apps which are available on App store are considerably lower than half a million but a hard-count will settle down little more than 500,000 apps. It’s been just three months Apple celebrated 10 billionth app download.
This difference can be justified against few apps which has either been rendered or pulled obsolete. However, many Apple’s apps contributors have decided to celebrate this event gorgeously. Three major app development companies of iOS platform – game maker Chillingo, app search engine Chomp and app blog 148apps- have created an infographic which highlights some of the interesting and important aspect of iOS app ecosystem.
The numbers presented by them are indeed much interesting especially when we evaluate these figures against the fact that it been just three years when Apple launched its App store.
Finally, the hidden stone has been thrown in the public – probably mistakenly – and the whole world is reacting on this within their best capacity. On Monday, speaking at Microsoft developer Conference in Tokyo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer went on quoting the words “Windows” and “Eight’ together first time. It didn’t surprised many as the Cat was already out of the bag for few months and people were aware about the release of next version of windows sometime in 2012.
Though, people, close to upcoming initiative from Microsoft, have been tight-lipped about any relative development, preferring to keep the thing under wraps. But “unfortunately” Steve Ballmer couldn’t control his emotions and word “Windows 8” slipped out of his tongue without being allowed by his conscious mind. Perhaps, his unconscious mind was driving him at that particular time frame!
Ballmer said” We’re obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows. Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year. We’ve done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand new user interface. We’ve added touch, and ink, and speech. And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there’s a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors”
To all my surprise, he mentioned Windows 8 slate and Tablets as to different form factors. Does that mean there is still lot to come out form Microsoft on Tablet battle field? Shucks!
People are holding high expectations from Head of Windows Steven Sinofsky who will speak next week at the AllThingD conference and speculations are out that he may show off an internal build of Windows 8.
Besides, As a usual exercise, Microsoft is expected to provide testers with a first tech preview of beta of Windows 8 in mid-September during the company’s developer conference in Anaheim, Calif.
However, As a new twist, Microsoft spokesman has responded to Ballmer’s statement with few clarified strings:
“It appears there was a misstatement. We are eagerly awaiting the next generation of Windows 7 hardware that will be available in the coming fiscal year. To date, we have yet to formally announce any timing or naming for the next version of Windows.”
How should we take this statement further? Shall we interpret that the next version of Windows will be nothing but a same old wine in a new bottle? OR company wants to hold all cards to avoid any jerk-breaks before its release? At this point we can only guess leaving on you to judge the best!
Ok, so you are among the ones who are fascinated towards mobile gadgets but are unable to find a strong justification of owning all of them due to almost same functionality and advantages. This may help you -atleast till certain extent! A recent study in US has revealed that mobile gadgets, like Tablets, Smartphones and eReaders, are helping people to do multiple tasks at the same time.
A latest study, by Neilson, claims that people in US like to involve in multiple activities with the help of their mobile gadgets. Study, which has conducted over 12,000 connected device owners, reveals that Tablets and Smartphones are the most preferred devices for people to engage with while watching the TV.
Nearly 70% of Tablets users have accepted the fact of using Tablet while watching TV. Smartphone users are no different from Tablet owners. 68% of Smartphone owners have committed to use their mobile phones while watching TV. However, most of the users have different habitual attitude when they go for bed. 61% people prefer to use eReader on bed compare to just 35% while watching TV.
Interestingly, study also reveals the overall engagement duration while performing different activities. Most of the Tablet users remain committed to their device while watching TV. Around 30% of their overall Tablet usage duration in a day get consume while watching TV compare to 21% while on bed.
Similarly, eReaders use the device at maximum level while being on bed. eReader users spent 37% of their overall usage duration while they are on bed to sleep compare to 15% while watching TV.
Though, Smartphone usage is at best while watching TV and other activities, other aspects of the day, like being with friends, waiting for someone or attending any meeting, have also got sizable usage duration by Smartphone users.
Study has one clear but interesting indication. People don’t like to engage with any actionable devices while their body is in non-functional mode. On bed – when body needs rest – people don’t prefer Tablets or Smartphones which stipulate to perform various set of activities. However, usage of eReader at the same situation allows them for multi-task without actually being involved in any type of functional activities either physically or mentally.
LinkedIn, the professional social network titan, has recently started trading its shares in open market. With in no time company’s valuation increased by four-folds than pre-IPO valuation. As per latest and last update, company’s shares were trading at little over than $92 per share at NYSE with overall valuation worth $8 billion.
LinkedIn success is not a result of over-night or over-hyped setup. Founded in 2003, company’s five co-founders – Reid Hoffman (CEO), Allen Blue, Konstantin, Eric Ly and Jean-Luc – were determined to set up an ecosystem designed for corporate and professionals. Today, after 8 years of incorporation, company has more than 100 million users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
With more than 1000 employees across the globe and $161 million as revenue by September last year, LinkedIn has covered many milestones before it went for IPO. Though, the debate has already been triggered whether company has been over valued or it’s just an impact of pre-crash bubble.
Here is an interesting infographic, by Creditscore, which showcases company’s road to IPO from the beginning. Indeed it’s an informative presentation of all major milestones and achievements LinkedIn gone though in last 8 years.
