Question Raise From Facebook's Phone Will Fail

Facebook’s supposedly forth coming smartphone, reported by All Things D, paints the picture of a company that either thinks it can do no wrong, is feeling incredibly squeezed by Apple and Google.
The impression created is that Facebook is weaker and has more problems than most people imagine. Not good with an IPO supposedly around the corner.Since Walt Mossberg’s site gets all the best leaks, I am betting the report is as true a story as Facebook is willing to tell 12-18 months pre-launch. But if their story is a tad off, the alternate reality is more interesting and might be more successful.

The same sort of hubris that makes Facebook believe the world is clamoring for it to be in the smartphone business will eventually be its downfall. Facebook has more corporate ego than Microsoft could ever imagine and it will come back to haunt the company in the form of big legal challenges.


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Facebook denies losing users

Facebook has denied that it is losing customers, saying it is "pleased" with growth.

Figures from Faceboook monitoring site Inside Facebook suggested that during May, Facebook lost six million users in the US and 100,000 in the UK.

But the social network, which does not usually comment on third party statistics, questioned how it arrived at this figure.

Other net measurement firms said they had seen growth over the same period.

"From time to time, we see stories about Facebook losing users in some regions. Some of these reports use data extracted from our advertising tool, which provides broad estimates on the reach of Facebook ads and isn't designed to be a source for tracking the overall growth of Facebook," the firm said in a statement.

"We are very pleased with our growth and with the way people are engaged with Facebook. More than 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day," it added.

The figures from Inside Facebook claimed that 1.5 million Canadian users left the social network in May.

But overall it showed that Facebook was growing, to a total of 687 million users worldwide with many new customers coming from countries such as India, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Its figures on customer leakage do not appear to tally with those from net measurement firm comScore.

It told the BBC it had seen a 21% growth for US users on Facebook during May, while the UK gained 368,000 new recruits between February and May.

According to comScore, the average amount of time spent on the site was also up, from 21 minutes per day in December 2009 to 25 minutes per day by December 2010.

Measurement firm Nielsen said its figures also showed growth.

"There are months when figures dip but I'd be very cautious on calling a trend based on two months," said Nielsen spokesman Neil Beston.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13760244

Facebook Party Gets Out Of Control After German Girl Forgets Privacy Setting

A German girl who forgot to set her birthday party as a private Facebook event greeted 1,500 guests and about 100 police officers on Friday.


BERLIN -- Better check your Facebook settings before posting a party invitation online.

A teenage girl in Germany who forgot to mark her birthday invitation as private on Facebook fled her own party when more than 1,500 guests showed up and around 100 police officers, some on horses, were needed to keep the crowd under control.

Eleven people were temporarily detained, one police officer was injured, dozens of girls wearing flip-flops cut their feet on broken glass and firefighters had to extinguish two small fires at the 16th birthday party in Hamburg, police spokesman Mirko Streiber said Sunday.

The birthday girl, identified only as Thessa, went into hiding, Streiber said, but "nonetheless the party was a hit."

Thessa had initially only wanted to ask some friends over to her home in Hamburg-Bramfeld when she posted her invitation on Facebook, but mistakenly she published it so that everyone on Facebook could see it.

The invitation quickly went viral, and some 15,000 people confirmed online they would come to the party – without even knowing the girl, weekly paper Bild am Sonntag reported.

When Thessa's parents found out, they made their daughter cancel the party, informed police and hired a private security service to protect their home on Friday night.

Despite public announcements in Hamburg that the party had been canceled, some 1,500 teenagers and young adults showed up on the street in front of Thessa's home, Streiber told The Associated Press.

"We had cordoned off the house, some 100 police were on the ground, four of them on horses – but that did not keep the kids from celebrating," Streiber said.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/05/facebook-party-out-of-control_n_871473.html

Facebook-loving parents name their baby "Like"

Though we haven't seen any of the baby pictures, the newest daughter of Lior and Vardit Adler is hopefully cute as a button. Because, well, she's named after one — Facebook's cherished "Like" button, that is.

Yes, this Israeli couple decided, after naming their first child Dvash ("honey") and their second kid Pie that it was time to go digital, and turned to "one of the most famous icons in the world" for inspiration, according to Lior.

He told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Like could be a modern equivalent of the traditional Jewish name Ahuva, which translates as "beloved."

But isn't Like a weird name? "I believe there will be people who will lift a eyebrow," acknowledged Like's proud father. And to be fair, it's got a slightly nicer ring than "Facebook," recently bestowed upon a newborn girl in nearby Egypt


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http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2011/05/16/6656187-facebook-loving-parents-name-their-baby-like

Australian police attribute man's death to internet photo trend

A growing internet photo trend is to blame for the death of a 20-year-old Australian man, police in Queensland said Sunday, warning other fans of the dangers surrounding "planking."

The activity has been growing in popularity in Australia as more and more people post photos of themselves "planking" -- or lying prone in various odd or humorous locations -- on various social media sites. A Facebook page called "Planking Australia" has garnered nearly 90,000 "likes" and has inspired similar pages such as "Planking Ireland" and "Planking Norway."

"This morning we have seen a young man take this activity a step further and attempt to plank on a balcony," Deputy Commissioner Ross Barnett of the Queensland Police said Sunday. "Unfortunately he has tragically fallen to his death. Police fear that as planking gains popularity there may be more injuries and potentially further deaths."

The danger, according to police, is followers of the trend are trying to "outdo" each other by taking bigger risks on where they try to "plank."

"The potential disaster increases as more and more risks are taken to get the ultimate photo," a statement issued by the Queensland police said.

Acton Beale, 20, died when he lost his footing and fell from the balcony of a high-rise building while attempting to "plank," the country's public broadcaster, ABC, reported.

Last week, a man caught photographing himself face down on top of a Queensland police car was arrested and charged with trespassing on police property, police said, warning that others will be charged "if they attempt the activity in areas that constitute trespass or in dangerous locations."

The trend appears to have been started in 2009 on Facebook as the "Lying Down Game" before reappearing in recent months as "planking."

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http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/15/australia.planking.death/?hpt=T2

Facebook Could Block Content To Enter China

If Facebook is to gain entry into China and other countries, a representative of the social networking site thinks his company could wind up blocking certain content because it allows "too much, maybe, free speech" for some governments to handle.

"Maybe we will block content in some countries, but not others," Facebook lobbyist Adam Conner told The Wall Street Journal Wednesday. "We are occasionally held in uncomfortable positions because now we're allowing too much, maybe, free speech in countries that haven't experienced it before."

Facebook is currently banned in China. Earlier this month, a reported deal on a joint social-networking Web site between Facebook and Chinese search engine company Baidu apparently fell through when the site was taken down by Chinese authorities.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's eagerness to gain access to China's 420 million Internet users is such that he recently claimed he's learning the language.

"It's kind of a personal challenge this year, I'm taking about an hour a day and I'm learning Chinese," Zuckerberg told an audience during a recent appearance at Stanford University. "I'm trying to understand the language, the culture, the mind set—it's just such an important part of the world. How can you connect the whole world if you leave out a billion people?"

Zuckerberg visited China last year with his girlfriend, Priscilla Chan.

The Chinese government is increasingly concerned about Western social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter given their effectiveness as organizing tools used by protesters in the wave of popular uprisings that have swept across parts of the Middle East in recent months, according to the Journal.

Like Facebook, Twitter is also banned in China.

Conner's comments came ahead of President Barack Obama's town hall meeting on the economy at Facebook's Silicon headquarters scheduled for later on Wednesday.

Obama's former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs had reportedly been in talks with Facebook to take over the company's communications strategy, but those "have fallen apart," the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.

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http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383878,00.asp

Facebook twins appeal settlement ruling

The Winklevoss twins want more money.

San Francisco - The twins who claim that Marc Zuckerberg stole their idea for Facebook lodged an appeal Monday against a court ruling enforcing the terms of their 65-million-dollar settlement with the social networking billionaire.

Lawyers for the Winklevoss brothers, who were portrayed heavily in the movie The Social Network, asked the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear their case with a full 11-judge panel, after the court's three-judge panel ruled last week that the original settlement should stand.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss had claimed that Zuckerberg lied about the value of Facebook when they reached the 2008 settlement over their claims that Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook from them while all were students at Harvard University. Their shares are now worth more than 160 million dollars.

Judge Alex Kozinski ruled last week that the brothers had no right to renegotiate that settlement.

'The Winklevosses are not the first parties bested by a competitor who then seek to gain through litigation what they were unable to achieve in the marketplace,' Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote for the three-judge panel. 'At some point, litigation must come to an end. That point has now been reached.'

But their lawyer, Jerome Falk Jr, insisted that the decision was flawed.

'Courts have wisely refused to enforce a settlement obtained by fraudulent means,' he claimed in the new petition. 'The panel's decision shut the courthouse door to a solid claim that Facebook obtained this settlement by committing securities fraud. Our petition asks the full Ninth Circuit to reopen that door.'

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http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1633835.php/Facebook-twins-appeal-settlement-ruling

Facebook Could ‘Become a Credible Threat to Netflix,’ Says Goldman Sachs

NEW YORK - Facebook's decision to test digital movie rentals and purchases with Warner Bros. is no immediate threat to Netflix's streaming service, but creates a new potential longer-term online video competitor, Goldman Sachs analyst Ingrid Chung said Tuesday.

"Facebook’s foray into pay-per-view does not impact our Netflix estimates," she said in a report. "However, Facebook represents a new potential entrant that few in the investment community were concerned with prior to this announcement, so we believe it does indeed represent an incremental negative for Netflix shares."

She added that Facebook "could some day become a credible threat to Netflix."

For now, Facebook seems to position itself as a pay-per-view platform, "which is more of a threat to other forms of VOD (such as iTunes or Amazon)," Chung said. She added that the social networking site "lacks content, does not have wide distribution across devices that connect to the living room TV, has few people on the payments platform and does not have an incumbent business that is under threat from increasing online video viewership."

Longer-term, it could become a challenger and concern for Netflix, she argued, citing Facebook's more than 500 million active users, compared with Netflix’s 20 million subscribers.

"The “wisdom of friends” could be a bigger driver of movie viewership than the “wisdom of crowds"," Chung also said. Plus: "We believe that many of the issues outlined above could be fixed over time, including the gap to the living room TV."

Netflix shares had opened lower on Tuesday following the Facebook-Warner Bros. news.

Goldman earlier this year invested $450 million in Facebook.

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/facebook-could-become-a-credible-165335

Suicide girl’s dad slams web sickos

Natasha MacBryde, 15: Died under the wheels of a train

THE devastated dad of a bullied public schoolgirl who killed herself blasted internet ghouls yesterday.

Natasha MacBryde, 15, died after being hit by a train.

But just a week after the tragedy a sick hoaxer posted vile comments on a Facebook tribute page - and branded her "a whore".

A internet user, calling herself Pro Fesser, posted a picture of Natasha with a banner saying: "I committed suicide for the Lulz" (amusement).

Another poster wrote: "Natasha wasn't bullied, she was just a whore", while one declared: "I caught the train to heaven LOL."

A macabre video entitled Tasha The Tank Engine was removed from YouTube after her brother James complained to the website.

Natasha was killed near her home in Upton Warren, Bromsgrove, Worcs, on Valentine's Day.

Yesterday her dad Andrew, 47, demanded Facebook and other social networking sites do more to combat sick messages.

He said: "I am disgusted at these comments made by some seriously sick individuals. I am shocked that Facebook don't monitor these sites more closely."

A pal said: "It isn't enough that Tasha is dead, these evil bullies can't leave her in peace."

Facebook has removed the comments and disabled Pro Fesser's profile.

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http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3427677/Suicide-girl-Natasha-MacBrydes-dad-slams-web-sickos.html

Google exec 'missing' amid Egypt protests

Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa has gone missing after joining protests against the Egyptian government, according to report citing the exec's brother.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Wael Ghonim – who joined Google in late 2008 – has not been heard from since Friday at 6pm.

It should be noted, however, the Egyptian government has restricted internet and cell phone access within the country.

Ghonim attended Cairo University and the American University in Cairo, according to his LinkedIn page. And at Google, the page says, he was charged with "driving the growth of Google B2C/B2B products across MENA" and "evangelizing the Internet in the region, and help growing the Arabic content".

Earlier this month, Ghonim tweeted that he was traveled to Qatar for an "internet freedom forum" hosted by Al Jazeera, and last week, in a post to the microblogging site, he said he was joining the Egyptian protests against the wishes of some close to him. "Despite all the warnings I got from my relative and friends, I'll be there on #Jan25 protests. Anyone going to be in Gam'et Dewal protest?" the post reads.

"The Egyptian government started to take really stupid actions that will result in nothing but encouraging more people to protest," he said on January 26. "A government that is scared from #Facebook and #Twitter should govern a city in Farmville but not a country like #Egypt".

His tweets stopped the next day, just after he urged readers to pray for Egypt. "Very worried as it seems that government is planning a war crime tomorrow against people," he said. "We are all ready to die".

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company told the WSJ: "We care deeply about the safety of our employees."

Separately, with Egypt in mind, the company has unveiled a service that lets people tweet via a voice connection. Anyone can tweet simply by leaving a voice mail at one of these international numbers: +16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855. No internet connection is required, and the service will automatically add the hash tag "#egypt".

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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/31/google_exec_missing_in_egypt/

Facebook overtakes Google as most-visited in 2010

Facebook Inc.'s social networking site passed Google Inc.'s main site and Yahoo Inc.'s e-mail site as the most visited site on the Web in the U.S. in 2010.

Experian Hitwise published a report that said Facebook was the destination of 8.93 percent of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010. Google.com (Nasdaq: GOOG), which was ranked No. 1 the year before, was No. 2 this year with 7.19 percent of visits, followed by last year's No. 2, Yahoo Mail (Nasdaq: YHOO), with 3.52 percent of visits.

Google's YouTube video site moved up from No. 5 in 2009 to No. 3 this year with 2.65 percent of visits.

When you combine sites owned by companies, Google remained on top with 9.85 percent of all U.S. visits. Facebook's combined sites accounted for 8.93 percent, and Yahoo properties accounted for 8.12 percent.

Experian Hitwise estimated that the top 10 websites accounted for 33 percent of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010, up by 12 percent versus 2009.

The report also said that for the second year in a row, Facebook was the most-searched-for term on the Web in the U.S.


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http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2011/01/02/facebook-overtakes-google-in-2010-visits.html

Facebook's Zuckerberg To Give Away Half His Fortune

Just in time for Christmas, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to give away the majority of his fortune to charity.

"People wait until late in their career to give back. But why wait when there is so much to be done?" Mark Zuckerberg, cofounder, CEO and president of Facebook said in a statement. "With a generation of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic efforts."

It's the second major gift pledge by Zuckerberg this fall. On Sept. 23 the Facebook founder said he would give $100 million to help support Newark, N.J.'s ailing schools. That gift set a record for youthful philanthropy. Zuckerberg ranked No. 36 on the Forbes 400 list of Richest Americans, with a fortune estimated at $6.9 billion.


Zuckerberg is one of 17 wealthy Americans and their families who have recently taken the Giving Pledge, Bill Gates' and Warren Buffett's effort to get America's wealthiest individuals and families to commit to giving the majority of their fortune away. (This past summer 40 people or couples joined the Giving Pledge.) Other notable individuals whose names were released on Wednesday night are billionaires Carl Icahn, Ted Forstmann and Zuckerberg's former Harvard roommate and Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz, the world's youngest billionaire. Carl Icahn is the wealthiest of the new donors; his $11 billion net worth ranks him 24th on the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list. Of the 17 new donors, 13 are members of the Forbes 400; those 13 have a combined net worth of $43 billion.

To join the effort, wealthy individuals publicly agree to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes and charitable organizations of their choice, either during their lifetime or after their death. They must be willing to make a public statement and send a letter that explains their decision to pledge. So Zuckerberg and Moskovitz, whose fortunes are almost entirely tied up in Facebook, don't actually have to pony up a dime, at least for now.

In many ways, this feel-good pledge is all about generating positive press for charitable giving, and possibly too, for the world's wealthiest. Icahn said as much in his pledge letter:

"I made a commitment over 20 years ago that substantially all of my assets would be used to fund a charitable foundation. Until Bill, Melinda and Warren started this project, I never considered going public with my intentions. However, I certainly see the value of a project that encourages wealthy individuals to step forward and commit to use their wealth for the common good. I hope that by adding my voice with those who are supporting this project, we will all encourage others to participate."

That sentiment was echoed by several others, who said that they've been generously giving. Jones Apparel founder Sidney Kimmel, who ranked 365th on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans this year with a fortune of $1.1 billion, explained that he'd already given more than half of his wealth to charitable causes, primarily cancer research.

IMG's Ted Forstmann also said he'd been doing his own version of "the giving pledge" trying to help disadvantaged children around the world. "I've always believed that you don't really talk about giving; you just do it," he said, "However, Mayor Bloomberg convinced me that by lending my name to "The Giving Pledge" it would help encourage others to participate and would result in helping many needy causes. Forstmann ranks 252nd on the Forbes 400 with a $1.6 billion fortune.

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http://www.forbes.com/2010/12/09/zuckerberg-icahn-billionaires-business-giving-pledge_2.html

Facebook Scam: 'See Who Has Viewed Your Profile'

Curious to see who views your Facebook profile page?

You're out of luck. Status updates, Facebook groups, and pages claiming to let users see who has viewed their Facebook profile pages are scams, often linking users to ad-filled sites.

In recent days, for instance, you may have seen your Facebook friends speaking in bizarrely adolescent chatroom vernacular:

"OMG OMG OMG... I cant believe this actually works! Now you really can see who viewed your profile! on [LINK]."

"If you're tempted to click on the link, you're taken to a webpage that encourages you to go a little deeper and permit an application to have access to your Facebook profile," wrote Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos, in a blog post.

According to Sophos, over 60,000 people clicked into the claim in a few hours.

But as Facebook noted in July, there is no way anyone can see who has viewed their profile, and no way others can create such a function.

"We're working hard to block and remove websites, Pages, and applications that claim to do this. If you see one, don't be fooled, and report it to us immediately," the company wrote on its security page.

Clicking into these links usually directs people to ad-filled pages. Others might promise to exchange a profile-viewing feature if a user can generate enough likes and linkshares.

"If you've been hit by a scam like this, remove references to it from your newsfeed, and revoke the right of rogue applications to access your profile via Account/ Privacy Settings/ Applications and Websites," Cluley suggests.

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http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2373574,00.asp