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Exclusive: Mozilla CEO John Lilly to Step Down and Head to Greyl

Exclusive: Mozilla CEO John Lilly to Step Down and Head to Greyl

The State of the Internet Operating System I’ve been talking for years about “the internet operating system“, but I realized I’ve never written an extended post to define what I think it is, where it is going, and the choices we face. This is that missing post. Here you will see the underlying beliefs about the future that are guiding my publishing program as well as the rationale behind conferences I organize like the Web 2.0 Summit and Web 2.0 Expo, the Where 2.0 Conference, and even the Gov 2.0 Summit and Gov 2.0 Expo. Ask yourself for a moment, what is the operating system of a Google or Bing search? On a standalone computer, operating systems like Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux manage the machine’s resources, making it possible for applications to focus on the job they do for the user. But peel back the covers and remember that there is an enormous, worldwide technical infrastructure that is enabling the always-on future that we rush thoughtlessly towards. But wait. Your phone knows where you are. Keep following the plot.

Intel promete lançamento do Centrino 2 ainda na próxima semana Tecnologia Novo processador melhora desempenho da bateria, conexão wireless e até os gráficos, que nunca foram o forte da Intel. IDG News Service, EUA 11 de julho de 2008 - 17h18 página 1 de 2 inShare0 A Intel deve lançar a plataforma móvel Centrino 2, na próxima segunda-feira (14/07). Em maio, a Intel havia adiado para agosto o lançamento do Centrino 2 para resolver problemas relacionados ao chipset gráfico e à antena. O Centrino 2 possui suporte para rede wireless 802.11n e banda larga WiMax, para o usuário se conectar sem fio com alta velocidade e alcance, afirmou o porta-voz da Intel, Elvin Ong, em um post. A plataforma incluirá chips Penryn, fabricados sob a arquitetura de 45 nanômetros, com três dos novos processadores rodando a 25 watts, mais eficientes energeticamente que os Centrinos anteriores, de 35 watts, escreveu Ong. Outra vantagem do Centrino 2 é o aprimoramento dos gráficos, segundo Nathan Brookwood, analista do Insight 64.

Hell No, Tumblr Users Won’t Go To Yahoo! We’ve all by now heard about how Yahoo is trying to get some “cool” with a supposed $1 billion purchase of hip blogging platform Tumblr, but it may be a moot point if Tumblr’s users fail to stick around post-sale. Microsoft and Facebook may be trying to make a move ahead of Yahoo, Tumblr may be inching ever closer to running out of cash, and (despite that) may not be afraid to play a little hardball. But here’s something you’re not hearing much about: Tumblr’s users are almost universally unhappy with the news that the site might get sold to Yahoo. And they may let their fingers do the talking, and the walking. Do a search on Tumblr for “yahoo” and you get a stream of distress, interspersed with the occasional bit of helpless resignation, and some calls for activism. (Daddy!) It’s a problem that extends to some of Tumblr’s oldest users. “If Tumblr goes to Yahoo, I will seriously consider moving my personal blog to Medium, if that’s possible,” Alexia, co-editor over here at TC, told me.

Dell buyout deal could happen Monday -- Reuters | Internet & Media Dell may be close to a deal that would take the PC maker private, Reuters reported this morning. Citing "two people familiar with the matter," the news service reported that the company could announce an agreement as early as Monday. Expectations are that Dell would be bought out by a group led by its CEO and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. Later in the day, Reuters published a separate report, also citing two people familiar with the matter, saying that Michael Dell and partners were negotiating with the company at a price of $13 to $14 per share. That's the same valuation given two weeks ago in a story in the Wall Street Journal. Rumors of the impending move have swirled ever since the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported on the possibility. Assuming the speculation is credible, CEO Michael Dell could kick in equity financing of $500 million to $1 billion along with his 15.7 percent share of the company.

Salesforce Radian6 Launches Insights to Make Sense of Social Data Like a guy looking at a double rainbow, marketers have been staring at their brands’ social data and asking themselves, “What does this mean?!” The job of CRM giant Salesforce’s social analytics arm Radian6 is to help them find an answer, especially since the volume of social data has skyrocketed from companies dealing with a few thousand social conversations per month to 100,000 or more, said Rob Begg, vp of marketing at Salesforce Radian6. To help brands deal with all the social content being lobbed their way, the company’s built the Salesforce Radian6 Insights in order to siphon social data into a dashboard. “People talk about Big Data kind of loosely, but if you really look at the huge volume of social conversations out there, that really is Big Data and it’s real-time Big Data and it’s really hard for companies to be able to find truly actionable and truly insightful content on it,” Begg said.

Private equity It’s the time of year when a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of deductions and write-offs. One select group of Americans, though, has a more pressing tax-season task on its mind: preserving a lucrative loophole in the I.R.S. code. The provision allows money managers at privately held partnerships—like hedge and private-equity funds—to treat most of the money they make as capital gains rather than as ordinary income. That means that their income is often taxed at fifteen per cent, a much lower rate than it otherwise would be. In a typical private-equity fund, the managers get paid two per cent of assets as a regular fee, plus twenty per cent of the fund’s profits. Opponents of reform have suggested that it will have a “chilling effect” on investment at a time when the economy needs all the help it can get. The tendency toward legislative inertia would be harmless if the outside world moved as slowly as Congress does.

Apple sofre com o iPhone 3G e seus companheiros Antes de ganhar muito dinheiro com as vendas do iPhone 3G , a Apple passa pelo inferno do lançamento mais confuso da história da empresa. Todos os produtos que cercam a chegada do firmware 2.0 e do novo celular surgiram com problemas. Primeiro foi o Mobile Me. Há dois dias está com soluços. Funciona, mas por pouco tempo, causando frustração geral nos que querem conhecer o sucessor do .Mac. Consegui me cadastrar à tarde para o teste de 60 dias, mas não passava da tela inicial. O Mobile Me impressiona pela interface, mas falha na sua origem. O firmware 2.0 foi descoberto ontem num link escondido da Apple e lançado hoje oficialmente, numa versão ligeiramente diferente. Para os usuários do iPhone original, o firmware 2.0 até instalou, mas o último passo na comunicação com a Apple não aconteceu, deixando o aparelho inutilizável. Para tentar conter o mal maior, a Apple permitiu em alguns casos a ativação em casa. Quem não quer saber de celular também está em maus lençóis. Não há desculpas.

Tumblr Community Responds to Yahoo Bid Facebook Twitter Google+ Save E-mail Share Print Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A social media Web site sells to a large company that then plans to make money by placing ads against users’ content. The people on the social Web site revolt . Just as users rioted online after Instagram sold to Facebook last year, Tumblr users were not happy Sunday when they awoke to the news that their beloved Tumblr blogs would now belong to Yahoo. A fake mockup shows what Yahoo could do to Tumblr, including placing ugly banner ads all over the service. Let’s just say they weren’t exactly posting animated GIFs of dancing cats to celebrate. “So this is what it feels like to have one of your parents sell you,” wrote one distraught user. Some compared Yahoo to Nickelback, the most derided rock band of all time. Others got aggressive: “Dear Yahoo, We bite. “Yahoo, please don’t make tumblr normal,” wrote another Tumblr faithful. ”We like it like this.”

Sorry Apple, the BlackBerry Z10 Is Hotter Than the iPhone Weather Channel, Lufthansa Take Advantage of Foursquare's Enhancements Lufthansa "Badge" earned by flying on the A380 Of the slew of branded third-party apps that Foursquare revealed yesterday, The Weather Channel (TWC) and Lufthansa stood out. TWC will offer weather forecast information to Foursquare users if they frequently check in to certain establishments, businesses or public areas around the country. Zarrilli said the Foursquare effort represents his Atlanta-based company's first major play on the geo-social app, while also underscoring TWC’s increased focus on what he calls “next-step content” marketing. “We are trying to insert our brand into existing paths of usage in terms of consumers and their devices,” he said. Lufthansa, on the other hand, is using Foursquare’s open source software tools to pitch campaign badges dubbed “Early Bird” and “To The Moon.” And according to BoardingArea.com, loyalty points will be earned and coupons will be awarded based on class of travel (i.e., first/business/coach) and, in some cases, the seat on the plane.

Facebook Cofounder Dustin Moskovitz Backs California Pot Legalization While Facebook Blocks Pot Campaign Ads UPDATE: Napster founder Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook, has kicked in $100,000 to back marijuana legalization in California, according to Sasha Horwitz, a spokesperson for Proposition 19. Parker's contribution follows a $50,000 donation from cofounder Dustin Moskovitz. While Facebook's cofounders are backing the initiative, Facebook the company is blocking ads from Just Say Now, an organization backing the same proposition. A Facebook spokesman says that the image of a pot leaf violates its advertising terms. "Our advertising policies prohibit the paid promotion of illegal content, and when we find this, we take action as necessary," said Facebook's Andrew Noyes. Facebook has recently blocked ads supporting the legalization of marijuana, but its cofounder Dustin Moskovitz has contributed $50,000 to the organization leading the effort in California on behalf of proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana.

Aplicação do Google Mobile para iPhone O Google disponibilizou hoje para os usuários do iPhone e iPod Touch uma aplicação nativa do Google Mobile que permite realizar buscas no Google de forma fácil e divertida. Segundo a empresa, a aplicação combina os serviços poderosos do Google e uma interface eficiente, possibilitando ao usuário procurar informações de forma ainda mais rápida, tudo através de uma única caixa de texto para seus contatos e buscas na web. Uma das funcionalidades interessantes do Google Mobile App é a possibilidade de visualizar sugestões de pesquisas enquanto você digita. O Google Mobile App, assim como as aplicações do Google Maps, possui a funcionalidade de detecção da localização atual do usuário e exibe as empresas próximas no mapa. Can Yahoo Ignore Tumblr's Dark Side? When my daughter begged me a few years ago to go on Tumblr so she could engage with Harry Potter fandom, I said no. I was worried about what else she might encounter on the vast blogging service. You know what I’m talking about. I feared she’d stumble onto porn. Tumblr, which Yahoo is buying for $1.1 Billion is not a porn site, far from it. Spend any time on the spotlight page and you see it’s a vast sea of insightful and entertaining posts on every topic imaginable. One user aptly described it this way: Tumblr user: Don't do it. Yet, like any vast, largely unmoderated social platform, it’s also got a lot of porn (by some measures at least 10% ), and a fair amount of potential phishing sites. Don’t Ever Change As rumors of Yahoo’s plans began to leak last week, Tumblr users grew more and more nervous. Many used history as their guide. Those concerns prompted Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to start her acquisition announcement in a most unusual way: “We promise not to screw it up.”

Street underestimating Samsung smartphone volumes: Crédit Suisse Reuters Crédit Suisse analysts on Thursday raised their price target for Samsung Electronics Co. shares, saying the market may be underestimating the likely upside from the company’s smartphone strategy. The analysts said Samsung /quotes/zigman/189457 KR:005930 /quotes/zigman/189458 /quotes/nls/ssnlf SSNLF is pursuing a “much more aggressive” plan for smartphones in 2013 than they had previously estimated. They believe the twofold strategy aims to improve the product mix by selling more high-end smartphones (including the Galaxy Note 2 and the upcoming Galaxy S4 models), and by introducing new mid- to low-end smartphones to displace ordinary-feature phones. The moves would improve the smartphone business’s average selling price, as well as operating profit margins, the analysts said. They retained their outperform rating on Samsung and raised the stock’s price target to 1.9 million won ($1,743) from an earlier target of 1.72 million won /quotes/zigman/4868138/sampled USDKRW . – V.

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