Facebook sales, driven by mobile, shoot up nearly 60 percent

<b>Facebook continues to reap rewards in mobile, growing its crucial ads business in large part due to ads placed on smaller screens, the company reported Tuesday.</b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTO7jWR2Jw6DMShc9pjGQ-PsFoGTFdLgyb1myRYPsE_eJn_AZTRSRZR84u1_mOU3qo95_7TEZtcU7vqGhNXiX_hSKS9oAyGuiZU0ZAoHpLvZUZ3jRVrJq7Qi8KNH3zZkXHLLF4Z1-TuAx/s1600/Facebook-sales-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Facebook sales, driven by mobile, shoot up nearly 60 percent" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTO7jWR2Jw6DMShc9pjGQ-PsFoGTFdLgyb1myRYPsE_eJn_AZTRSRZR84u1_mOU3qo95_7TEZtcU7vqGhNXiX_hSKS9oAyGuiZU0ZAoHpLvZUZ3jRVrJq7Qi8KNH3zZkXHLLF4Z1-TuAx/s1600/Facebook-sales-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Facebook sales, driven by mobile, shoot up nearly 60 percent" /></a></div> <div> <b><br /></b>Total sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 amounted to US$3.2 billion, up 59 percent from the same period last year, and beating consensus analyst expectations of $3.12 billion, as polled by Thomson Reuters.<br /><br />Roughly two-thirds of sales, or 66 percent, came from ads placed on mobile devices, Facebook reported, up from just under half of all revenue coming from mobile a year ago.<br /><br />Facebook’s ability to monetize its site with ads on smaller screens was in previous years a concern to investors, but the company has demonstrated considerable progress there.<br /><br />Facebook also reported decent gains in growing its user base, a critical element in attracting and retaining advertisers. The number of users who logged in at least once a month clocked in at 1.35 billion, Facebook said, up 14 percent.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the number of users who logged in daily—another important metric—rose by 19 percent to 864 million.<br /><br />Facebook stock was at around $79.99 in after hours trading following its earnings report, down slightly from its close of $80.77, possibly signaling lingering investor concerns over Facebook’s progress toward growing its audience.<br /><br />Facebook nearly doubled its net income for the third quarter, to $806 million.<br /><br />The company’s adjusted earnings per share was $0.43, above analyst estimates of $0.40.<br /><br />CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in Facebook’s announcement, called the results “strong,” showing a “good quarter.”<br /></div> <div> <br /></div>

Facebook sales, driven by mobile, shoot up nearly 60 percent

Facebook continues to reap rewards in mobile, growing its crucial ads business in large part due to ads placed on smaller screens, the compa...

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Will.i.am's Puls wristband has its own 3G, support from AT&T

<b>Will.i.am has just revealed the Puls at Dreamforce 2014, a smartwatch that doesn't need to be tethered to a phone to send texts, emails or make and take phone calls. </b><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCHmOGSCzZRao2beVsGgRmxa8YvjLgu3fl-7z6UC59FUJsxagJZSuaSALABggccP_UEvfMcBo3xwOnNUUs67f5Vkc1xCYCDr0iuB29maqOx4Z-5Vd_Oll9xWxL2cRWwM7J89QgIcT2-ty/s1600/Will.i.am-Puls-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCHmOGSCzZRao2beVsGgRmxa8YvjLgu3fl-7z6UC59FUJsxagJZSuaSALABggccP_UEvfMcBo3xwOnNUUs67f5Vkc1xCYCDr0iuB29maqOx4Z-5Vd_Oll9xWxL2cRWwM7J89QgIcT2-ty/s1600/Will.i.am-Puls-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Will.i.am's Puls wristband has its own 3G, support from AT&T" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will.i.am's Puls wristband has its own 3G, support from AT&T</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div> <div> In fact, Will kept saying it's not a watch, because smartwatches don't typically come with SIM cards, which the Puls does have (it presumably shares your phone number), along with speakers and a touchscreen display that curves along with its body, making the device look more like a cuff than a traditional watch. The Puls (a product out his wearable tech company, i.am+) has 16GB of storage onboard, 1GB of RAM, GPS, a battery that goes around the bracelet, pedometer and accelerometer, all powered by an Android-based platform and a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It connects to the internet not only via WiFi, but also via 3G, which means it has carrier partners: the Puls works with AT&T in the US and O2 in the UK.<br /> <br /> As we've mentioned in the past, the watch comes with a music streaming service baked into it. It also has a voice assistant (another Siri rival, if you will) that can remind you to call people or of an event, wake you up, among other tasks similar programs can do, as well as a fitness app that monitors your workouts. Other than the watch itself, Will.i.am and his team have also designed accessories to go it: a jacket with battery packs that can charge the Puls so long as it touches the sleeve (each jacket can provide two-and-a-half days of power), and a backpack with speakers that also weighs you and tells you how many steps you've taken in a day. The musician/entrepreneur didn't mention how much the Puls and its accessories will cost, but the wristband itself will be available this holiday season in select AT&T stores.</div> </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div>

Will.i.am's Puls wristband has its own 3G, support from AT&T

Will.i.am has just revealed the Puls at Dreamforce 2014, a smartwatch that doesn't need to be tethered to a phone to send texts, emails ...

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Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really

<h2 style="text-align: center;"> <span style="color: blue;">Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really</span></h2> <b>According to a report, the rumored 8-inch “Surface mini” tablet is indeed real—although Microsoft has no plans to ship it. And that’s probably because you wouldn’t be interested in buying it, anyway.</b><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHit-LoMNYjGTDBkdnbTOfAxxEAK2T2H8iA5u22Ad3hqu20aWSi3xN4vxBcWpo8XXlAedtSZoEyFXGrzEuxuynQKUnP7L2KlaflzHzVH1brJdyMyVCSRDJ77w2B3SeKLvoadTTPYElfPZP/s1600/Microsoft's-Surface-mini-tablet-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHit-LoMNYjGTDBkdnbTOfAxxEAK2T2H8iA5u22Ad3hqu20aWSi3xN4vxBcWpo8XXlAedtSZoEyFXGrzEuxuynQKUnP7L2KlaflzHzVH1brJdyMyVCSRDJ77w2B3SeKLvoadTTPYElfPZP/s1600/Microsoft's-Surface-mini-tablet-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div> Although Microsoft has marketed the Surface line of tablets as productivity devices, the Surface mini is powered by Windows RT, running on top of just 1GB of RAM. Those specs were provided by Neowin, which said it's actually held and tested as Surface mini—although Neowin's source forbade photographs.<br /> <br /> That would essentially make the Surface mini a device for consuming content—and in limited fashion, as there simply aren’t too many applications written specifically for Windows RT these days. Any available apps would have to run on that anemic 1GB of RAM, which is less than what you’ll find in some smartphones these days.<br /> <br /> The cut-down specs are also less powerful than what other tablet manufacturers announced earlier this year. At CES, for example, Asus announced the VivoTab Note 8, powered by an Atom processor, Windows 8.1, and 2GB of RAM, and costing about $250 online. Since then, however, the trend has been to use Intel’s Atom Z3735G processor on tablets like the Acer Iconia Tab 8W, which supports only 1GB of RAM. Although per-application performance may not suffer, there are sure to be limits on how many tabs or apps you can have open at any one time.<br /> <br /> The problem for hardware makers, however, is that even with Microsoft’s decision toeliminate licensing fees for sub-9-inch devices, Windows tablet makers face steep competition from Android tablet makers, who aren’t afraid to use inexpensive ARM processors to reduce prices further. <br /> <br /> Finally, there’s there the issue of demand. Lenovo recently discontinued its 8-inch Windows tablets in the U.S., noting stronger interest in larger-size models. The company emphasized it wasn't pulling out of the category permanently, so that could indicate a retrenchment. Other manufacturers, including Microsoft, could also be reassessing their options.<br /> <br /> A Surface mini wouldn’t be a single-purpose device, although Neowin approvingly mentions that a Surface mini would be an excellent OneNote machine—and it comes with a stylus, too. Netflix has written a version of its app for Windows RT machines, and web apps would make up for other deficiencies. Still, a small screen, limited memory, and the Windows RT OS would make for a tough sell. And with Microsoft’s recent efforts to trim the fat, it would seem that killing the Surface mini would be one of Microsoft’s easier decisions.<br /> <br /> Microsoft representatives declined to comment. </div>

Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really

Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really According to a report, the rumored 8-inch “Surface mini” tab...

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