Feb
2
Image via CrunchBase
Facebook filed for a $5 billion IPO on February 1.
“There are more than two billion global Internet users, according to an industry source, and we aim to connect all of them,” the company said in its S-1 form, published by the SEC.
Here are some of the best stats and facts from the S-1:
Jan
3
Steve Jobs never said it exactly this way, but we think he would have agreed that not all “Think Different” is created equal.
This seems to be true in the case of the year’s most epic technology flops.
While some products were fated for failure — more than one eyebrow was raised at the launch of a certain handheld 3D gaming console with a steep price tag and a slim catalogue of games — others seemed like more of a sure thing, at least in theory. (A wristband that keeps track of your health is a brilliant idea, as long as you can get the device to work.)
Both newbies and well-established companies are responsible for 2011′s most cringe-worthy fails. From giants like Netflix and HP to startups like Color Labs, these companies are responsible for poor decisions and surprise misses from the past 12 months.
Here are our picks for the year’s biggest tech failures (below).
Dec
15
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On Monday, Nielsen released the results of a study on the most popular smartphone apps in the Android market.The rankings were based on how many people had used the app during the previous 30 days. The data was collected through proprietary device meters that had already been installed on the participants’ phones as part of an ongoing smartphone study. The results were broken down by age groups: 18 – 24, 25 – 34 and 35 – 44. Several of the apps were similarly popular across all three groups. Facebook and Gmail, for example, had been used by at least 70 percent of all participants, regardless of age. Other apps showed more surprising results. Angry Birds was most popular among the oldest group, (35 percent of 35 – 44-year-olds had used it) and least popular in the younger demographic (22 percent of 18 – 24-year olds had used it).
When compared to the top free iPhone apps, the results indicate that Android users are somewhat less creative than iPhone users when it comes to their application choices. Six of the top seven most-used Android apps come pre-installed on Android phones, while none of the top seven iPhone apps come preloaded. Check out below to see the most used Android apps for people aged 25 – 34.
Dec
12
Google is rolling out a new feature called “Find My Face” to Google+ users allowing them to opt-in to a new facial recognition feature for photos shared on the service. Of course this isn’t the first foray Google has made into the facial recognition arena, they have offered the feature on Picasa Web Albums for a little more than three years. The feature is not available to all Google+ users yet , but Google has decided to alert users to the presence of the new feature instead of just turning it on.
Dec
10
Twitter on Thursday introduced a dramatic overhaul of its website and mobile apps.
Image via CrunchBase
The redesign focuses on simplicity and encourages participation from both established users and newbies who might not be familiar with the site’s modus operandi. A new emphasis on organization will streamline the site’s features. Bringing hashtags (#), @mentions and personalization into the foreground, Twitter has broken the site’s layout into four separate sections. A customized feeds will help users easily discover and interact with new content. Twitter has also created unique pages just for brands.
Dec
8
Facebook has released its Memeology 2011 review looking back at the year’s hottest trends on the world’s largest social
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network.
“Memology takes the pulse of this global community by comparing this year’s status updates to last year’s, unearthing the most popular topics and cultural trends – or memes – emerging on Facebook,” explains Facebook data scientist Jonathan Chang in a post on the Facebook Blog.
As Facebook’s usership soared to over 800 million this year, the rate at which breaking news spread across the network also increased. The company has released data on the news that spread the fastest across the site’s global population. A list of the top 10 hottest topics includes extreme weather, the deaths of three public figures, a royal wedding, the outcome of a huge sporting event and more. According to Chang’s post, the most-talked about topic on Facebook in 2011 accounted for “almost 10 percent of all status updates in English” on May 1.
