a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

The Intercept, the first online publication from eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, is now live

Feb10
by on February 10, 2014 at 7:21 am
Posted In: Around the Web

photo 520x245 The Intercept, the first online publication from eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, is now live

Pierre Omidyar, the billionaire founder of eBay, has made his leap into online publishing after The Intercept, an online site from his First Look Media (FLM) network, went online today featuring a big-hitting story about the NSA and drone attacks.

An introductory post explains that the publication will cover numerous industries and topics as part of its mission is to “to hold the most powerful governmental and corporate factions accountable.” The Intercept is described as being the first of “numerous” digital publications that will launch under the FLM banner, though there’s no indication of the areas that these additional sites will focus on.

Former Guardian writer Glenn Greenwald is on board as editor of The Intercept, as had been expected after he announced his union with Omidyar last year. The twelve person team includes film-maker Laura Poitras and investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, both of whom have been prominent names in the continued coverage of NSA leaks and stories, which were kicked off by Greenwald last year.

Initially, the publication will focus on reporting more disclosures from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, but it will focus on wider independent journalism over the longer term:

Our longer-term mission is to provide aggressive and independent adversarial journalism across a wide range of issues, from secrecy, criminal and civil justice abuses and civil liberties violations to media conduct, societal inequality and all forms of financial and political corruption. The editorial independence of our journalists will be guaranteed, and they will be encouraged to pursue their journalistic passion, areas of interest, and unique voices.

The first two stories are live:

Omidyar announced his foray into online news last October. The entrepreneur landed Greenwald as his ‘star’ signing, and says he is putting $250 million behind the First Look Media initiative.

└ Tags: , ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

HTC is focusing on cheaper smartphones as it aims to revive its struggling business

Feb10
by on February 10, 2014 at 6:42 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Mobile

153655122 1 520x245 HTC is focusing on cheaper smartphones as it aims to revive its struggling business

Last week, HTC revealed that it is planning to launch a wearable device this year. That probably wouldn’t have helped reverse the struggling Taiwanese firm’s fortune — but with a little more realism, the company now says it is focused on developing a compelling range of cheaper smartphones to revive its struggling business.

“The problem with us last year was we only concentrated on our flagship. We missed a huge chunk of the mid-tier market,” HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang told Reuters.

That blinkered approach, and the fact that much-praised high-end devices like the HTC One didn’t shift in huge quantities, have seen HTC fall. IDC reports that its global market share was just two percent of all shipments, while revenue from sales was down year-on-year for every month in 2013.

The scatter-gun approach of releasing numerous devices at different price points has proven particularly effective for Samsung — the world’s top smartphone-maker based on market share — although margins are lower, making revenue-generation as challenge, as we pointed out about Samsung’s business in China.

Reuters notes that just two of the 53 devices that HTC sells in China are priced below $150, which is the category with the most growth in the country. Just releasing devices into the crowded market doesn’t guarantee success, and HTC will need to get its creative juices flowing to market its phones, not to mention balance price and quality.

➤ Chastened HTC turns to cheaper smartphones in search for profit [Reuters]

Image via Mandy Cheng/AFP/GettyImages

└ Tags: ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

HTC is focusing on cheaper smartphones as it aims to revive its struggling business

Feb10
by on February 10, 2014 at 6:42 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Mobile

153655122 1 520x245 HTC is focusing on cheaper smartphones as it aims to revive its struggling business

Last week, HTC revealed that it is planning to launch a wearable device this year. That probably wouldn’t have helped reverse the struggling Taiwanese firm’s fortune — but with a little more realism, the company now says it is focused on developing a compelling range of cheaper smartphones to revive its struggling business.

“The problem with us last year was we only concentrated on our flagship. We missed a huge chunk of the mid-tier market,” HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang told Reuters.

That blinkered approach, and the fact that much-praised high-end devices like the HTC One didn’t shift in huge quantities, have seen HTC fall. IDC reports that its global market share was just two percent of all shipments, while revenue from sales was down year-on-year for every month in 2013.

The scatter-gun approach of releasing numerous devices at different price points has proven particularly effective for Samsung — the world’s top smartphone-maker based on market share — although margins are lower, making revenue-generation as challenge, as we pointed out about Samsung’s business in China.

Reuters notes that just two of the 53 devices that HTC sells in China are priced below $150, which is the category with the most growth in the country. Just releasing devices into the crowded market doesn’t guarantee success, and HTC will need to get its creative juices flowing to market its phones, not to mention balance price and quality.

➤ Chastened HTC turns to cheaper smartphones in search for profit [Reuters]

Image via Mandy Cheng/AFP/GettyImages

└ Tags: ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Between, the social network for couples, cozies up with Japanese mobile games firm DeNA

Feb10
by on February 10, 2014 at 6:19 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Asia, between, couples, Japan, South Korea

shutterstock 132049748 520x245 Between, the social network for couples, cozies up with Japanese mobile games firm DeNA

As chat apps evolve to become platforms, a social network for couples is also embarking on the same route.

VCNC, the company behind Between, an app that originated from South Korea for couples to share their moments in a private social network, has just landed a strategic investment from billion-dollar Japanese mobile games firm DeNA. VCNC notes that the investment, which is of an undisclosed amount, “will be made to form a business alliance to grow Between into an open platform and later support the opportunities to monetize Between.”

The move hints that an array of other services including mobile games and e-commerce, which DeNA is best known for, could soon land on Between as it seeks to make money from its platform for couples.

In an indication of such plans, Between has already been working with a variety of industries, including restaurants, movies, jewelry, wedding, travel, baseball teams and so on through its current channels — “Event Box” and “More Tab” — as it seeks to make such third-party purchasing services available to its users.

Between 2.0, the first major update released in December since the app’s official launch in March last year, also features a shared calendar so users can plan their dates, and keep track of special events such as birthdays or anniversaries. Cue the entrance of e-commerce opportunities.

en2 iP5 Between, the social network for couples, cozies up with Japanese mobile games firm DeNA

Between co-founder Edward Lee says, however, that there aren’t any specific details to share on what DeNA will be working on together with VCNC, though he believes that they can “receive support with growth in Japan” — which is Between’s second-biggest market after its home turf of South Korea — as well as get “help on how Between should monetize.”

Our goal is to make Between a platform, where third party services can help us add value to our users…

We will continue to work with other businesses and think of many other ways to provide for couples. And to do this we need more development resources, which is where we plan to execute our investment.

Between 2.0 marked one of the company’s strongest pushes to grow its global userbase, but it is facing stiff competition.

Y Combinator-backed Pair arrived on the scene in March 2012. It won investment from Path founder Dave Morin, SV Angel, Crunchfund and others, going on to acquire UK-based Cupple and rebrand to Couple — another competitor is Avocado, which was started by ex-Googlers. Equally private social networks like 23snaps and Everyme cater for select groups, which could range from friends and extended families, to couples.

Lee notes that it may be “difficult” for Between to scale so rapidly like the way Facebook and WhatsApp have done so — since it does not have a “network effect” like them.

However, he also observes that there is a “great scaleability in the business aspect, since this segment has the highest spending.”

Isao Moriyasu, the president and CEO of DeNA, says that “purpose-specific social networks like Between are rapidly gaining popularity worldwide, following the massive adoption of general social networks and communication tools.”

DeNA started off with games on mobile browsers and found success monetizing its service with virtual items and other tactics, but it has struggled to adapt to the dominance of app stores, which smartphone owners worldwide now use to access mobile content.

The company is therefore increasing its focus on new distribution models, such as its mobile messaging app Comm and Japan-only music service Groovy – and manga has become its latest focus. As DeNA seeks such new ways to capture its audience, startups such as ‘themed’ social network Between could very likely help it gain new insights and benefit its own business eventually.

With DeNA’s wide range of services, it will also be interesting to see Between evolve into more than just a private space for couples with this latest investment — there could be much more creativity in terms of commerce and entertainment offerings, for example — and this could just very well help it stand out among the competition it is facing.

Already, the team behind Between says the app has seen a more than two-fold increase in daily user acquisition after its major update in December — and the amount of time spent a month per user has risen to 510 minutes currently, from 300 minutes a year ago. The app has also just passed 5.92 million downloads.

Headline image via Shutterstock

└ Tags: , ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Between, the social network for couples, cozies up with Japanese mobile games firm DeNA

Feb10
by on February 10, 2014 at 6:19 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Asia, between, couples, Japan

shutterstock 132049748 520x245 Between, the social network for couples, cozies up with Japanese mobile games firm DeNA

As chat apps evolve to become platforms, a social network for couples is also embarking on the same route.

VCNC, the company behind Between, an app that originated from South Korea for couples to share their moments in a private social network, has just landed a strategic investment from billion-dollar Japanese mobile games firm DeNA. VCNC notes that the investment, which is of an undisclosed amount, “will be made to form a business alliance to grow Between into an open platform and later support the opportunities to monetize Between.”

The move hints that an array of other services including mobile games and e-commerce, which DeNA is best known for, could soon land on Between as it seeks to make money from its platform for couples.

In an indication of such plans, Between has already been working with a variety of industries, including restaurants, movies, jewelry, wedding, travel, baseball teams and so on through its current channels — “Event Box” and “More Tab” — as it seeks to make such third-party purchasing services available to its users.

Between 2.0, the first major update released in December since the app’s official launch in March last year, also features a shared calendar so users can plan their dates, and keep track of special events such as birthdays or anniversaries. Cue the entrance of e-commerce opportunities.

en2 iP5 Between, the social network for couples, cozies up with Japanese mobile games firm DeNA

Between co-founder Edward Lee says, however, that there aren’t any specific details to share on what DeNA will be working on together with VCNC, though he believes that they can “receive support with growth in Japan” — which is Between’s second-biggest market after its home turf of South Korea — as well as get “help on how Between should monetize.”

Our goal is to make Between a platform, where third party services can help us add value to our users…

We will continue to work with other businesses and think of many other ways to provide for couples. And to do this we need more development resources, which is where we plan to execute our investment.

Between 2.0 marked one of the company’s strongest pushes to grow its global userbase, but it is facing stiff competition.

Y Combinator-backed Pair arrived on the scene in March 2012. It won investment from Path founder Dave Morin, SV Angel, Crunchfund and others, going on to acquire UK-based Cupple and rebrand to Couple — another competitor is Avocado, which was started by ex-Googlers. Equally private social networks like 23snaps and Everyme cater for select groups, which could range from friends and extended families, to couples.

Lee notes that it may be “difficult” for Between to scale so rapidly like the way Facebook and WhatsApp have done so — since it does not have a “network effect” like them.

However, he also observes that there is a “great scaleability in the business aspect, since this segment has the highest spending.”

Isao Moriyasu, the president and CEO of DeNA, says that “purpose-specific social networks like Between are rapidly gaining popularity worldwide, following the massive adoption of general social networks and communication tools.”

DeNA started off with games on mobile browsers and found success monetizing its service with virtual items and other tactics, but it has struggled to adapt to the dominance of app stores, which smartphone owners worldwide now use to access mobile content.

The company is therefore increasing its focus on new distribution models, such as its mobile messaging app Comm and Japan-only music service Groovy – and manga has become its latest focus. As DeNA seeks such new ways to capture its audience, startups such as ‘themed’ social network Between could very likely help it gain new insights and benefit its own business eventually.

With DeNA’s wide range of services, it will also be interesting to see Between evolve into more than just a private space for couples with this latest investment — there could be much more creativity in terms of commerce and entertainment offerings, for example — and this could just very well help it stand out among the competition it is facing.

Already, the team behind Between says the app has seen a more than two-fold increase in daily user acquisition after its major update in December — and the amount of time spent a month per user has risen to 510 minutes currently, from 300 minutes a year ago. The app has also just passed 5.92 million downloads.

Headline image via Shutterstock

└ Tags: , ,