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One Theory On Why The iPhone Is Dominating Flash Sales Site Traffic
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/one-theory-on-why-the-iphone-is-dominating-e-commerce-2012-5
At Fab.com, a flash sales site, 95 percent of its mobile visits (which make up a third of its overall visits) come from the iPhone.
At OneKingsLane, another designer flash sales site specializing in home decor, iPhone and iPad owners stand far above other mobile devices among mobile shoppers (who make up more than 20 percent of OneKingsLane’s revenue).
Why?
We sat down with Doug Mack, CEO of OneKingsLane, to find out why. Here’s one theory:
- Before the iPad came out, very few shoppers came from the iPhone — or any mobile device. Very few of the site’s sales came from the iPhone just 18 months ago. There wasn’t enough screen real estate to trigger a shopper to buy something on OneKingsLane, Mack said.
- After the iPad came out, mobile sales shot up like crazy across the board. They now account for more than 20 percent of OneKingsLane’s revenue. There’s more screen real estate on the iPad, so it removed a mental block on shopping on a mobile device.
- iPad owners are probably more likely to own an iPhone. So it’s natural to expect that the sales would translate to the iPhone from the iPad. The iPad version of the website is now the second-most visited version of OneKingsLane, behind the desktop website.
There is a little bit of cross-over for OneKingsLane’s audience, though, since most of its users use Mac computers, Mack said.
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Hacked Twitter Passwords Reveal Lots of Spam Accounts
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5908700/its-okay-to-look-through-these-hacked-passwords
If you’ve ever wanted a Twitter account that has around 10 followers, a randomly generated username, and is following thousands of random people, today is your lucky day. Earlier today, an anonymous hacker dumped 55000 usernames and passwords onto Pastebin. Normally, this would be a real inconvenience—and a worrisome breach—but all the affected appear to be spambots with randomly generated passwords and email addresses.
It’s easy to tell that these are spambots, because almost all of the accounts have the type of passwords that are easy for a robot to remember but easier for an actual person to forget. Many of the accounts affected no longer exist, and even if the passwords weren’t leaked, Twitter still regularly shuts down spambots. Most likely, few of these accounts will exist in a week. But if you were itching for a catchy computer -enerated Twitter handle like @Jesicawuaqg or @Pamulakmqxl, well, you’ve got thousands to choose from. Unless your name really is Jesica Wuaqg. Then you might have a problem. [AirDemon via TheNextWeb]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5902583/how-hulu-grew-into-a-network-tv-challenger
Compared to many TV streaming services, Hulu is a mature technology, created five years ago by some of TV’s biggest players. Now, the New York Times suggests it’s coming of age—and that events this week will see it truly become a network TV challenger.
The Times reports that, this Thursday, Hulu will pitch advertisers on its new, original programming. That might not sound like a big deal, but it is in fact an annual ritual called “upfronts”—usually reserved for cable channels and network broadcasters.
The fact that Hulu is sidling up alongside the big players of the TV world is a huge milestone for online TV. In the same week, Hulu will also announce that it now has more than two million subscribers for its $8-a-month Hulu Plus service.
So, Hulu’s first piece of original programming, Battleground, wasn’t great. And, sure, the firm has to put up with its parental companies feuding most of the time. But that doesn’t seem to matter too much when Hulu is pitching at the same meetings as the biggest national TV providers. [New York Times]
Expired Groupons Are Valid Again After Court Ruling
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5898699/your-expired-groupons-are-valid-again-thanks-to-85-million-court-ruling
Remember that deal you purchased on Groupon—$30 for a $50 laser hair removal? It expired, and your unibrow has grown out of control. But you’re in luck. Groupon has agreed to pay an $8.5 million settlement in a class action lawsuit claiming that expiration dates are illegal. Better yet, the court also ruled that you can use all those Groupons you bought that expired last year. Mulligan!
Your coupons are still good if they were purchased before Dec. 1, 2011. Most future Groupons won’t expire so quickly, either. The company agreed that for the next three years, no more than 10 percent of its coupons will carry a use-by date that is less than 30 days after the date of issue.
The settlement is a result of the consolidation of 17 lawsuits in a San Diego district court, which allege that Groupon is violating consumer protection laws. Shoppers feel like an expiration dates force them to buy something, the suit argues.
Groupon didn’t immediately respond to questions about how you can cash in on your bygone coupons. We’re also investigating how you can get in on the settlement. We’ll update when we have the info. [Bloomberg]
Update: Groupon told us if you have expired Groupons, you can redeem them in the normal way. Print out the coupon or load it up on your smartphone, and the merchant should honor it as usual.
Update 2: Groupon says your coupons are valid for the purchase price post-expiry. For example, if you paid $20 for a $40, you’d get the $20 credit. It also noted that this is not a new policy, nor was it dictated by the settlement.
The New iPad is Hot Because Its Processor is 310 Percent Huger
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5895299/maybe-the-new-ipad-is-hot-because-its-processor-is-310-huger
Apple’s unapologetically selling a new iPad that’ll go up to 116 degrees in your hands while playing a game. Maybe they should have done something about that, yeah. But the tablet’s new processor is so massive, we shouldn’t be surprised.
Chipworks, which compared the new hotness (am I right?) on the right to the first iPad’s A4 processor on left, has a pretty striking comparison on its hands:
The Apple A4, which by all accounts is still commercially viable given the price of used Apple products on craigslist, measured in at 53.3 mm². Only two (and a half?) generations later, we have the Apple A5X weighing in at 165 mm² – a whopping 310% larger.
It’s worth noting that the A5X is still built using a 45 nm fabrication process—which in human English refers to the size of the tiniest parts each chip is made out of. The smaller the number, the more transistors can be packed onto a processor, which generally translates into a more efficient, cooler chip. Apple didn’t make its CPU more sophisticated in order to crank out more retina display-filling power—it just made it humungous. [Chipworks via Cult of Mac]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5894743/google-calls-shenanigans-on-mpaas-dmca-interpretation
The MPAA has a well-earned reputation for, shall we say, “molding” their facts. But with its latest lawsuit against Hotfile, the group has apparently gone too far for Google’s tastes The search giant has just filed an Amicus brief objecting to the MPAA’s “distortion” of the DMCA.
An Amicus brief is a court document filed by a third party in a case—neither the plaintiff or defendant—that volunteers information that may be relevant to the proceedings and would not have been discovered otherwise. In this case, Google’s brief provided a legal opinion that the MPAA is full of shit in regards to the Safe Harbor provisions.
“Google is particularly concerned by some of the arguments offered by the plaintiffs, which distort the meaning of the statute and, if accepted, would unduly narrow the important protections those provisions give online service providers,” the company wrote.
Google pointed to its own case against Viacom a few years back in which the search company successfully used the provisions as a defense. While the case has already been in progress for a over a year, the MPAA’s sudden request for a summary judgement has apparently spurred Google to action. Looks like the MPAA’s ploy to quietly cajole its lawsuit to fruition backfired. [Scribd, Amicus Curiae Wiki via Electronista - Image: Pakhnyushcha / Shutterstock]
This is What Three Years of GPS Data Looks Like
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5893151/this-is-what-three-years-of-gps-data-looks-like
There are plenty of cool GPS data projects in existence, but this is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen: three whole years of location data, taken from an iPhone.
To make it, Aaron Parecki collected the location from his iPhone every few seconds for over three years. Then he turned his data into a map—it’s Portland, if you’re trying to work it out. He explains:
“Approximately one GPS point was recorded every 2-6 seconds when I was moving, and these images represent about 2.5 million total GPS points. Collectively, they represent a data portrait of my life: everywhere I’ve been and the places I’ve been most frequently. The map is colored by year, so you can see how my footprint changes over the years, depending on where I live.”
The result may be nothing new, but it sure is pretty. It’s also well worth clicking on the image above to see the full, high-res version. [Aaron Parecki]
No Netflix for You! Come Back, Never! [NetFlix]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5892105/comcast-no-netflix-for-you-come-back-never
![medium No Netflix for You! Come Back, Never! [NetFlix]](http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17fykpbrwzqvljpg/medium.jpg "Comcast: No Netflix for You! Come Back, Never!")
Comcast has issued a strongly-worded statement clarifying its position in those discussions Netflix was rumored to be engaging in earlier this week: not us, not our devices, not ever.
In Tuesday’s reports, Netflix hinted that at least one provider was willing to trial it by year’s end. Comcast would like everybody know that it isn’t them. “We have no plans to offer access to Netflix to our customers through our Xfinity TV service, no matter what device,” Comcast spokeswoman Alana Davis told FierceCable.
Instead, Comcast is exploring the possibility of allowing access to its On-Demand library through TiVo Premiere DVR’s
The provider has also developed its own video subscription service called Steampix. It’s designed to compete head to head with Netflix—allowing Xfinity subscribers to access TV series and movies wirelessly and remotely—but includes the conventional bits of flair we’ve come to expect from cable like an bundled channels. Because who doesn’t want to pay through the nose for content they don’t watch? [Fierce Cable via BGR]
No Netflix for You! Come Back, Never! [NetFlix]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5892105/comcast-no-netflix-for-you-come-back-never
Comcast has issued a strongly-worded statement clarifying its position in those discussions Netflix was rumored to be engaging in earlier this week: not us, not our devices, not ever.
In Tuesday’s reports, Netflix hinted that at least one provider was willing to trial it by year’s end. Comcast would like everybody know that it isn’t them. “We have no plans to offer access to Netflix to our customers through our Xfinity TV service, no matter what device,” Comcast spokeswoman Alana Davis told FierceCable.
Instead, Comcast is exploring the possibility of allowing access to its On-Demand library through TiVo Premiere DVR’s
The provider has also developed its own video subscription service called Steampix. It’s designed to compete head to head with Netflix—allowing Xfinity subscribers to access TV series and movies wirelessly and remotely—but includes the conventional bits of flair we’ve come to expect from cable like an bundled channels. Because who doesn’t want to pay through the nose for content they don’t watch? [Fierce Cable via BGR]
Twitter’s Revenue From The Start Of Last Year Leaks, And It’s Ugly
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-twitters-early-business-financials-2012-3
Ryan Tate over at Gawker got his hands on some of Twitter’s financial numbers for 2010 and early 2011 — and they aren’t pretty.
In the first quarter of 2011, Twitter brought in $23.8 million in revenue and lost $49.2 million — with a net loss of $25.8 million for the quarter.
2010 doesn’t look that great, either: the company brought in $28.5 million and had a net loss of $67.8 million.
It’s important to note that this is all before Twitter really got serious about advertising. It’s revenue should have grown nicely through the year. But, the company doubled headcount, so it could still have serious losses.
Here’s the breakdown from the Gawker piece, according to Tate’s source who “has knowledge of the company’s finances”:
Jan. 2011 – Apr. 2011
Revenue: $23.8 million
Cost of revenue: $18.7 million
R&D cost: $13.1 million
Sales and marketing cost: $5.4 million
General administrative cost: $12.0 million
Total costs and expenses: $49.2 million
Loss from operations: $25.4 million
Loss from interest and other: $404,000
Net loss (non GAAP): ($25.8 million)
Jan. 2010 – Dec. 2010
Revenue: $28.5 million
Net loss: ($67.8 million)
Assets: $221.5 million (as of Dec. 2010)
Liabilities: $221.5 million (as of Dec. 2010)
We’ve reached out to Twitter for comment, but haven’t heard back yet.
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See Also:
- Dick Costolo Tells Twitter’s Rank And File, We’re Not IPOing For Years, We Need To Get Better Earnings
- The State Of Twitter, The Startup That Can’t Kill Itself
- Leaked Internal Memo Reveals The Number One Worry For Twitter’s Employees
About Me
Dr. Augustine Fou is an advisor on digital strategy and social media marketing, with over 16 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience. He provides client executives with objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI with digital insights.
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