Archive for September, 2009
Twitter Gets New Round of Funding New Backers
Twitter received $100 million in funding on Friday, valuing the company at $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, as investors bet that the Web company’s explosive growth will yield actual revenue or a lucrative deal.
Investors including mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price and private equity firm Insight Venture Partners took part in the latest round of funding which closed on Friday, according to Twitter. Twitter did not give the amount of the funding. Analysts and industry executives say the involvement of T. Rowe Price and Insight set the stage for an eventual IPO or acquisition, and illustrated how private equity and investment fund houses were increasingly getting into tech start-ups. But the three-year-old Internet microblogging company has yet to figure out how to make money from the free service. Executives have cited premium features and advertising as key initiatives to make money, though co-founder Biz Stone told Reuters this week that Twitter would not take advertising this year, despite widespread speculation that it would. While the heady valuation for a company without revenue may, for some, recall the unbridled exuberance that defined the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s, others argued that Twitter was a special case. “I wouldn’t take this as a sign that the entire market has become frothy now and that every entrepreneur can get funding,” said Raj Kapoor, a managing director at the Mayfield Fund. Most start-ups raising capital still need to prove that they have real revenue opportunities, Kapoor said. “If Twitter gets a pass, it’s because it has “pierced the mass market,” he said. “It’s become a verb.” Twitter, which lets people send, or tweet, 140-character text messages to groups of “followers,” is one of the fastest-growing Internet social media companies.
Worldwide visitors to its site hit 44.5 million in June, up 15-fold from a year earlier, according to comScore. IT’S A VERB Twitter announced it had closed a “significant” round of funding on the company’s official blog on Friday, with existing backers Institutional Venture Partners, Spark Capital and Benchmark Capital also participating. A person familiar with the matter, speaking anonymously because the deal terms were not public, said the investors contributed $100 million in new funding, granting the company a $1 billion valuation. The amount of financing and the investors was reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. A February round of funding in Twitter, led by Institutional Venture Partners and Benchmark Capital, had valued Twitter at just about $250 million. The pair jointly invested $35 million in Twitter during that round. Some analysts believe Twitter could eventually be acquired by one of the established Internet companies such as Google Inc, Yahoo Inc or Time Warner Inc’s AOL. Google CEO Eric Schmidt called Twitter a “poor man’s email. The company however has said it intends to remain independent, and in Friday’s blog post, Chief Executive Officer Evan Williams said the new investment partners “share our vision for building a company of enduring value.” The investment in Twitter by T. Rowe Price, a mutual fund known more for investments in public companies than in start-ups, stirred speculation that Twitter could be moving toward an eventual public offering. Martin Green, Chief Operating Officer of online messaging service Meebo, said large funds are increasingly looking to invest in late-stage private companies. Analysts say they are chasing higher returns with a still-acceptable level of risk, given the small amounts invested, usually for preferred shares. “When we did our funding round 18 months ago we ended up talking to a bunch of those kinds of firms as well,” Green said. The big funds offer insight into the public markets and can help lay the groundwork for an eventual IPO. But “it speaks more of their (Twitter’s) aspirations, than it speaks to proximity to an IPO,” he said.
Bharti Airtel Launches New Plans for US Callers to India
Mobile operator Bharti Airtel Sunday announced two schemes enabling cheaper calls from the US to India as part of a festive season offer.
Under the first scheme, users will get 1,353 minutes of calls for $24.99.
It also comes with a validity of six months so a user can buy the plan during this festive season and can use it till the Holi festival in March next year.
Under the second plan, people can on any toll free number in India from the US at 2.50 cents per minute and will get 400 minutes of talk time for $14.99. This plan has a 30 day validity.
Mobile Working Just Got Lighter on HP Laptops and Notebooks
Working on the go is a lot easier if you’re not lugging around more notebook than you need. If you’re looking for a lightweight companion that you truly can take anywhere, the HP Mini 5101 might be just the solution for you. At less than 1.2 kg (1) and hardly bigger than a hardback novel, this new mini notebook PC helps you stay connected and work where you want, when you want. Here are just a few of the features that make it the ultimate on-the-go tool.
Type, don’t text
If you think that a mini notebook PC means hunting and pecking on a tiny keyboard, think again: the Mini’s keyboard is only five percent smaller than the standard QWERTY keyboard, and comes with a touchpad with two mouse buttons.
Don’t compromise on the display
The HP Mini 5101 has two different display options: the 10.1” diagonal LED-backlit WSVGA display (1024X600 resolution), or the 10.1” diagonal LED-backlit 16:9 HD display (2).
Powerfully small
The notebook is powered by the tiny Intel® Atom™ processor to run cooler, use less power and improve battery life.
Connectivity options that suit your life
HP Mini 5101 gives you a wide array of connectivity options, from optional integrated HP Mobile Broadband powered by 3G Gobi technology to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ WLAN (wireless LAN). HP Mobile Broadband allows you to gain high-speed access to the Internet wherever you can get a mobile phone signal, while integrated WLAN allows you to connect at wireless hotspots. (3)
Store more
For such a small PC, the Mini 5101 can support a huge hard drive: up to 250 GB in a 2.5”, 7200 RPM hard disk drive. Alternatively, you can opt for a 128 GB SSD (Solid State Drive). SSDs are quieter, use less power, and are more responsive, as well as having no moving parts.
Run longer
You can prioritise between light weight and long battery life with a choice of batteries from HP. The standard 4-cell battery is lighter, but the optional 6-cell will keep you going longer.
Style matters
Choose the HP Mini style that suits you: a durable and lightweight anodised aluminium display enclosure in a brushed aluminium finish, or a stylish laser-etched pattern in the display enclosure.
Different Ways to Work Faster when Your Internet Connection is Slow
When it comes to the “information superhighway”, we’ve been in the fast lane for years.
But while we take our fast Internet speed for granted, there are many situations in which a slow connection is a problem. You might be using a computer in another part of the world, or trying to connect wirelessly while travelling. Your computer’s health can contribute to a slow connection too: spyware and viruses, add-on programs, and the amount of memory and hard disk space the computer has can all affect your connection speed.
With all of these potential scenarios, it’s good to know a few tricks to keep you productive when your connection is slow:
1. Compress your e-mail
Reducing your e-mail file sizes can help you send them more quickly. When sending large or multiple files, use a compression tool like WinZip. And if you’re sending an e-mail to multiple people, try creating a distribution list instead of listing each recipient separately – this is faster and more efficient. Finally, you can reduce your e-mail file size by ensuring your e-mail signature doesn’t contain any graphics, videos, stylised fonts or other content.
2. Work offline if you can
Working offline can help spare you the pain and frustration of a slow connection. And there are lots of tasks you can do without being online; for example, you can use an RSS reader to download articles for offline reading. For offline webmail, install an e-mail client such as Mozilla Thunderbird to download your messages for offline reading and responding (it actually has a built-in RSS reader as well). Outlook users can work offline using Cached Exchange Mode, which stores a copy of your mailbox on your computer.
If there is a web page you frequently reference for information, you can save it to your computer rather than load it over and over again. Here’s how to save a web page in Internet Explorer:
- 1. Go to the Web page you want to save.
- 2. On the File menu, click Save As.
- 3. In the Save As type drop-down menu, select Web page, complete.
- 4. Click Save.
3. Block or disable unnecessary content
Web pages that contain heavy graphics or videos take longer to load, so turning them offcan speed your Internet browsing. Here’s how to disable these elements in Internet Explorer:
1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
2. In the Internet Options dialogue box, click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Settings box, scroll down to the Multimedia section. Clear the following boxes:
- a. Play animations in Web pages
- b. Play sounds in Web pages
- c. Play videos in Web pages
You might also want to install an application that blocks annoying, bandwidth-consuming ads that make pages load more slowly.
4. Use tabbed browsing
Tabbed browsing doesn’t just reduce clutter on your desktop, it also helps you work more efficiently with a slow connection. When browsing through multiple pages, click your mouse scroll wheel or Control/Command click to open up each page in a new tab. This allows you to read one page while waiting for others to load, saving you time. You can also open a number of pages in multiple tabs, then disconnect and read offline.
While a slow connection can be annoying, you can help reduce frustration – and boost productivity – by knowing how to make your online activities more efficient. These tips should help you get more done, even when the Internet doesn’t move as fast as you do!
Vodafone Launches Internet Service in Data Battle
Vodafone launched a Web service meshing social networks, contacts and entertainment in a bid to fend off stiff competition from Apple, Google and Nokia.
Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile phone operator by revenue, said on Thursday its Vodafone 360 service would launch on two tailor-made Samsung phones and four Nokia phones in eight European countries by Christmas. Vodafone 360 will allow users to store contacts from social networks such as Facebook and other Internet accounts in one place and will automatically synchronise to users’ computers. The carrier is aiming to boost customer loyalty and data revenues in the face of fierce competition from Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s Blackberry and Google’s Android platform, which all offer applications such as games and music. Analysts at CCS Insight described it as a radical move. “Vodafone is hoping that it can seize the initiative back from Google, Nokia and others in the land-grab for the mobile Internet services space,” Shaun Collins said. “Its challenge will be to offer consumers something compelling enough to stand out in such a crowded market.”
A catalogue of over 1,000 applications will be available at launch and non-Vodafone customers will be able to access some of the services. The two new Samsung phones will use LiMo’s operating system, in a boost for the platform based on open-source Linux software that can be used and modified for free, unlike proprietary systems such as Microsoft’s Windows Mobile. The focus of the cellphone market has been shifting to software development since Google and Apple entered the mobile market, with phone vendors and operators increasingly looking for open-source alternatives such as LiMo to cut costs. The backing of Vodafone and Samsung, the world’s second-largest phone maker, is seen as crucial for LiMo, which has so far been used by smaller handset vendors. “Battle lines are being drawn — operator-friendly LiMo versus handset vendor-friendly Android,” said Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics. “Expanding into Western Europe with Samsung and Vodafone will help LiMo to grow scale and spread risk. LiMo hopes to benefit from its focus on giving greater say over software development to telecoms operators. Also, it does not compete with operators by offering services. “LiMo allows Vodafone and other major operators to change the basis of their dialogue with Google,” Morgan Gillis, the head of LiMo, said in an interview. The Nokia phones will be based on Symbian, the world’s most popular smartphone platform, and Vodafone said it planned eventually to roll out 360 to as many platforms and handset models as possible.