let the game begun!!

It is amazing how quickly our friends on other side has caught up with Apple's coolest newest user-friendliest feature in their latest and greatest iPhone yet...

I think all these things are well known, and assuming that even password protection must be breakable by intelligent friends. No one can deny that any system can be hacked. However, there has to be balance between usability and security requirements. I think, iPhone 5S users will decide on their own. Off-course, all these news do make significant impact on user's choices, still, knowing Apple, I know for sure that most of the users will use this cool feature which will make life so much easier.. Especially any one using enterprise emails on iPhone, where they put stringent requirement on password and locking time.


Hackers beat iPhone fingerprint

German group finds way around biometric sensor

By Frank Jordans

Associated Press

BERLIN — The fingerprint- based security system used to unlock Apple’s latest iPhone can be bypassed using a household printer and some wood glue, a German hacking group has claimed. A spokesman for the Chaos Computer Club said the group managed to fool the biometric sensor in the iPhone 5s over the weekend by creating an artificial copy of a genuine fingerprint.

“It was surprisingly easy,” Dirk Engling told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday, a day after the group announced the exploit on its website. A member of the Chaos Computer Club going by the pseudonym Starbug took a high-resolution photograph of a fingerprint left on a glass surface, printed it onto a transparent sheet and smeared the pattern with liquid latex or wood glue. Once the glue set, it could be peeled off and placed on another finger to mimic the genuine print, Engling said. “We used this method 10 years ago and didn’t have to change much for the iPhone,” he said. “The hardest bit was getting hold of one of those new iPhones because they are chronically sold out.”

Engling said the Chaos Computer Club, which has a long history of finding security flaws in soft- and hardware, documented the procedure with several videos so independent experts could verify it.

David Emm, a senior security researcher at Kaspersky Labs, said the German group’s claims exposed the flip side of biometric security systems designed to replace passwords or PIN numbers commonly used nowadays.

“If my passcode becomes compromised, I can simply replace it with a new one — hopefully one that’s more secure. But I can’t change my fingerprint — it’s part of what I am and so I’m stuck with it,” Emm said.

Engling suggested that Apple could have made its fingerprint system more secure, but that this might have caused problems for users if they didn’t swipe their finger across the miniature scanner properly and thus got locked out of the device after repeated failed attempts.

“Apple had to strike a balance between security and user-friendliness,” he said.

Apple didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.

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ANDY WONG/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The iPhone 5s lets a user configure the device for fingerprint recognition as a security check. A German group says it used wood glue to beat the technology.

and.. the iPhone 5S/C saga continues..

Whatever critics might say about new iPhone, public seems to love it.. Kudos to Apple to continue delivering such a great product which keeps on meeting expectation or I should say keeps on beating expectations of critics and every common sense..

It is amazing to see how quickly these phones evaporates or seems to evaporate.. I am sure this is also Apple's marketing strategy to make them evaporate.. but that is minor or small part of all the story..

Bigger piece of story is Apple's pricing strategy.. Everyone was hoping for cheaper iPhone as part in iPhone product line up.. but in my view, Apple has done exactly opposite.. they have increased price  (or at least margins) on so called older generation phone.. To understand this, you have to compare last year's launch.. Till last year, Apple used to reduce price of previous generation iPhone by $100. This year, they officially removed previous generation (iPhone5) and instead of launched iPhone5c. Which in-fact is iPhone5 from inside. Only thing different is that it has now even cheaper plastic back (though in beautiful bright colors) thus reducing cost of manufacturing of this so called iPhone5.

Essentially, Apple has launched same phone but increased price realization. So, Apple's strategy is very simple:

1. They are NOT going to launch cheaper iPhone. They will maintain their premium pricing position in market. 
2. They are NOT going after mass market or volume. They are trying to increase profitability. At the same time, they are solving supply chain issues.. 5c will use different back covers and hopefully, it will cost less to manufacture.. 
3. They are going after new segment - kids of affluent parents and young crowd with iPhone5c. Instead of iPod touch, these kids will get iPhone5c. Normally, in US these kids often used to get hands down iPhone from parents. Now, these kids will demand iPhone5c as it is more likely not to break with robust use.. 
4. They have in-fact created teaser price for Adults as well. All agree that there is no quantum difference between 5s and 5. To avoid iPhone5 cannibalizing their 5s market, they shut down new iPhone5s and created relatively speaking inferior 5c for same price they would have offered iPhone5. 
5. Regarding low cost alternative, Apple is simply going to rely on their exchange program. They will get lot of exchanged phones, probably change their battery and push it to emerging cost conscious market. I am guessing that duties on these returned/re-furbished phones will also be substantially lower helping them keep costs and prices low in those markets. 

In my view, it is brilliant pricing strategy and it will continue Apple as true leader in smartphone space.. They may not be leader by volume but I am sure they will continue their lead by other metrics such as actual usage and apps/music/videos etc..

Nevertheless, people are enjoying their new iPhones.. I am guessing this next quarter is going to be stellar quarter for Apple with significant jump in their profitability leading to significant jump in their share prices!!

PALO ALTO’S APPLE STORE

Shortage of iPhones mutes buying frenzy

CEOCook greets legions of Bay Area Apple fans; devices quickly run out

By Heather Somerville

hsomerville@bayareanewsgroup.com 

PALO ALTO — For the first time ever, Apple released two iPhones simultaneously, but fans did not get double the choice, as a widespread shortage kept supplies low in stores.

The dual iPhone release finished out a tumultuous couple of weeks for the tech giant, which took a hit on the stock market, rebuffed backlash over the pricing of its low-cost iPhone option and discovered a security glitch in its new operating system. The pressure was on for Apple to post big sales of the new iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, and assure consumers and investors that the Cupertino company still had something revolutionary up its sleeve.

Apple fans turned out in droves to stores across the Bay Area, many camping in line for days in hopes of getting one of the coveted iPhone 5S, the company’s new flagship device loaded with Apple’s latest and greatest. On Palo Alto’s University Avenue, fans got another surprise when the store opened Friday morning — an upbeat Apple CEO Tim Cook, who shook hands, posed for pictures and joined the crowd for a few celebratory cheers. 

Cook then paid a visit to the store at Stanford Shopping Center and later sent his first tweet: “Seeing so many happy customers reminds us of why we do what we do.” 

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JANE TYSKA/STAFF PHOTOS

CEO Tim Cook celebrates the release of the new iPhones as he leaves the Apple Store on University Avenue in Palo Alto.

---

Dorothy Arndt, left, and veteran Bob Younger, of San Jose, showed up in Palo Alto along with a group from Gift A Vet, an organization supporting veterans in need. Arndt left the store with an iPhone 5S to give to a 53-year-old disabled Santa Clara County veteran.
==========================================================================

Spectrum of colors 

First in line to meet Cook and get the new iPhone was a group from San Jose-based Gift A Vet, an organization dedicated to supporting veterans in need. Dorothy Arndt said she had been camped out since Monday, trading 12hour shifts with vets and colleagues. She left the store with a 16GB iPhone 5S in “space gray” to give to a 53-year-old disabled Santa Clara County veteran struggling to make ends meet on public assistance. 

The iPhone 5S rolled out in metallic colors and with super-speedy processing power and upgraded camera features, and the lower-cost, heavier iPhone 5C is offered in a spectrum of candy-coated colors. Along with the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the U.K. launched the iPhone 5S and 5C on Friday. But Apple released only a limited number of the coveted iPhone 5S for the worldwide launch and only a handful of those in gold — the color that most fans were lusting after. “Everyone wanted gold,” said Benjamin Smith of Sunnyvale, who settled for gray at the University Avenue store. The iPhone 5C was more plentiful, but few fans were willing to pull out their credit cards for what some have called a repackaged version of the older iPhone 5, dressed in colorful plastic. It starts at $99. 

Megan Davidson, 21, arrived at the Sprint store in Palo Alto at 3:45 a.m., where she avoided the crowd at the Apple store and was first in line for the 5S. “I think the 5C is more geared toward kids and cheaper,” she said. “I want the legit Apple phone.” 

Gold is first to go 

Shortages of the iPhone 5S were apparent in stores across the Peninsula, with websites showing shipments delayed until October. The location at Stanford Shopping Center ran out of unlocked units — phones sold without the software code that limits them to work only on one wireless carrier — before 9:30 a.m. An employee said the gold phones were first to go and the store had “a very limited number.” The Best Buy on Almaden Expressway in San Jose had 28 units of the 5S and sold out before 11:30 a.m., said store manager Mark Fragoza. The store had more than twice as many phones when the iPhone 5 launched last year. The picture wasn’t much better on the other side of the pond. Carriers in the U.K. told the BBC there was a severe shortage of the iPhone 5S, and customers in Asia and Australia were told they’ll have to wait until October. 

“Demand for the new iPhones has been incredible and we are currently sold out or have limited supply of certain iPhone 5S models in some stores,” Apple spokesman Bill Evans said Friday. 

Opening sales crucial 

Opening-weekend sales are crucial for Apple after about a year without releasing a new device while rivals have begun to chip away at Apple’s dominance in the smartphone market. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a note to investors he expected Apple would sell 5 million to 6 million iPhones, including pre-sale orders that started Sept. 13. BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk wrote that he was encouraged because “lines were the strongest we have seen at both Apple and carrier stores” but wouldn’t know until Monday if unit sales would meet his expectations of 6 million during launch weekend. Apple has reportedly asked its suppliers to increase production of the gold-colored iPhone 5S by an additional one-third after seeing strong demand, people familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. What remains unclear is whether there are still manufacturing constraints that may keep supplies low. Apple did not respond to questions Friday about production. 

Contact Heather Somerville at 510-208-6413. Follow her at Twitter.com/heathersomervil. 
===================================================
 

JANE TYSKA/STAFF 

Hoa Tran, of San Jose, leaves with a new iPhone at the Apple Store on University Avenue in Palo Alto on Friday. Customers were lined up around the block. 

It is still not too late to move to bay area!!

Job market is still booming and expected to continue to boom.. not sure about rest of the california, however, SF/SJ and surrounding bay area counties are booming and if you have good skills in technology, it is still good time to move in.. Agreed, that housing has gone to the roof again, but that is expected to stabilize or get some minor correction when mortgage rates come off from their historical lows.

Come on friends.. it is great time to be back in valley!! and build or help build new FBs..

AUGUST HIRING

Growth in jobs gaining steam

South Bay labor market has best month in 13 years, while Bay Area overall gains 12,700


By George Avalos

gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com 

The Bay Area job market boomed in August, adding 12,700 jobs for its best one-month performance since October 2012, state labor officials reported Friday.

Santa Clara County did even better, adding 8,500 jobs, the best one-month performance for the county in more than 13 years. Those gains accounted for two-thirds of the jobs added in the Bay Area and more than one-fourth of the jobs gained in California last month, this newspaper’s analysis of data from the Employment Development Departmentshows. “The South Bay knocked one out of the park in August,” said Scott Anderson, chief economist with San Francisco-based Bank of the West.

The strong gains in August were a sharp contrast to July, when the Bay Area lost 4,400 jobs, sparking fears among some analysts that the region’s economy had begun to sputter, and the rebound might falter. 

The most recent results show that the tech sector, primarily in Silicon Valley, continues to serve as the foundation of a rebound that is gaining strength in a range of other industries across the Bay Area. 

“The tech sector is definitely doing well,” added Jordan Levine, director of economic research with Beacon Economics. “Companies are still investing in software, equipment, and intellectual property.” 

The East Bay, consisting of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, added 2,300 jobs in August, the EDD figures showed. The San Francisco- San Mateo-Marin region added 1,900. 

California added 29,100 jobs during August, labor officials reported Friday, in a second straight month of robust employment gains statewide. The statewide and Bay Area numbers were all adjusted for seasonal factors. 

The statewide jobless rate worsened to 8.9 percent, the EDD reported, from 8.7 percent in July. That can occur because the jobs data and the jobless rate are compiled in separate surveys. 

Improving rates 

In contrast, unemployment rates improved throughout the Bay Area in August, according to a Beacon Economics analysis of the EDD figures. The Alameda County-Contra Costa County jobless rate was 7.1 percent, versus 7.4 percent the month before. The Santa Clara County-San Benito County jobless rate was 6.6 percent, compared with 6.9 percent. The San Francisco-San Mateo- Marin August jobless rate was 5.3 percent, better than the month-before rate of 5.5 percent, the Beacon analysis showed. During the one-year period that ended in August, job totals expanded by 1.9 percent in the Bay Area. The U.S. job market expanded by 1.6 percent and California by 1.5 percent over the same period. 

“The Bay Area is growing more robustly than California and the nation as a whole,” said Jon Haveman, chief economist with Marin Economic Consulting. And, he added, “it is creating more jobs with better wages” than the nation and the state. 

Strong sectors 

The strongest industry in Santa Clara County during August was the tech-focused professional scientific and technical service sector, which gained 1,500 jobs. Another tech sector, information services and products, gained 900. But manufacturing added 1,200, administrative support was up 1,100, retail gained 800 and construction added 700 jobs, according to Beacon. 

“Tech is still the economic engine for Santa Clara County, but the majority of the new jobs that were added were outside of tech,” said Michael Bernick, a research fellow with the Milken Institute and a former director of the state EDD. “You are seeing real diversity in the Santa Clara County job market.” 

The strong gains during August aren’t an anomaly, said Steve Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy “The trend in the Bay Area is real,” Levy said. “Very strong job growth is building. You see expansion everywhere from San Jose to San Francisco, and now the East Bay has turned modestly positive. Because of tech, the Bay Area will continue to do well. You have Google, Apple, LinkedIn, Microsoft and other companies expanding their office space because they are hiring employees.”Contact George Avalos at 408-859-5167 or 408-3733556. Follow him at Twitter.com/georgeavalos. 

Anybody interested in this interesting job?

Seems really interesting job.. It will be really challenging and fun job!!! Once electric cars become commodity, Autonomous cars are going to be next battlefield for Car manufacturers.. Essentially, this could become great potential job creator in Silicon Valley. Google is already in lead in this area and with TESLA jumping this bandwagon, it will force all these traditional Car manufacturers to further augment there silicon valley labs with this autonomous driving system development..

What is Apple doing? It will be interesting to see them coming to this area.. They are king of User Experience.. moreover, if Google takes lead into these Autonomous Driving Systems they will embed Android into it.. Come on Apple.. you also need to do something in this next big thing.. They can atleast start with integrating their iPhone/iOS into rudimentary Vehicle control and display systems..

TESLA HIRING ENGINEER FOR AUTONOMOUS PUSH 

Tesla Motors has an interesting job description on its website: “Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Controls Engineer.” The full-time job, based in Palo Alto, seeks an engineer responsible for “developing vehicle-level decision-making and lateral and longitudinal control strategies for Tesla’s effort to pioneer fully automated driving.” In May, CEO Elon Musk told Bloomberg that he was talking to Google about “autopilot” systems. Tesla also has the ability to constantly update Model S features. Tesla’s chief technical officer, J.B. Straubel, is working on a “sensor suite” of safety features for the driver, which could include pedestrian detection, collision avoidance technology and additional cameras to monitor blind spots or obstructions while driving. 

Not up your alley? There are 836 jobs listed on the Tesla website. — Dana Hull 

Is independent Internet possible?

By name itself, Internet in network of networks.. how can you make it independent? I guess, you can only do it by creating island and controlling gateways for inbound and outbound traffic from your country to another if there is any such well defined things..

I totally understand President Dilma's anger on US. Is she also angry at China (her biggest buyer of raw materials) and Russia and many other countries/nations who do it all the time? Instead of getting angry at US, she should focus on more emphasis on technological build up in Brazil... then she can launch her counter offensive against any country she would like to as most of the other countries do it to her country..

Build infrastructure in your country so Google/facebook like companies are created in your own country rather than relying on silicon valley for all such critical to time passing applications and infrastructures.. Attack at fundamentals.. don't try to dress up the fact that your country let go the golden time of minting money on your natural resources without fixing core issues like infrastructure and education.. Now that you are facing the anemic growth music again, you are creating issues out of almost non-sense issues..

Work on fundamentals.. rest nature will take care of you..

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Angered over espionage, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is postponing a visit to Washington.


Brazil seeks online independence

President angered over revelations of U.S. spying

By Bradley Brooks and Frank Bajak

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil plans to divorce itself from the U.S.-centric Internet over Washington’s widespread online spying, a move that many experts fear will be a potentially dangerous first step toward fracturing a global network built with minimal interference by governments.

President Dilma Rousseff ordered a series of measures aimed at greater Brazilian online independence and security following revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency intercepted her communications, hacked into the state-owned Petrobras oil company’s network and spied on Brazilians who entrusted their personal data to U.S. tech companies such as Facebook and Google.

The leader is so angered by the espionage that on Tuesday she postponed next month’s scheduled trip to Washington.

Internet security and policy experts say the Brazilian government’s reaction to information leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is understandable, but warn it could set the Internet on a course of Balkanization.“The global backlash is only beginning and will get far more severe in coming months,” said Sascha Meinrath of the Washington-based New America Foundation think tank. “This notion of national privacy sovereignty is going to be an increasingly salient issue around the globe.”

While Brazil isn’t proposing to bar its citizens from U.S.-based Web services, it wants their data to be stored locally as the nation assumes greater control over Brazilians’ Internet use to protect them from NSA snooping.

The danger of mandating that kind of geographic isolation, Meinrath said, is that it could render inoperable popular software applications and services and endanger the Internet’s open, interconnected structure.

The effort by Latin America’s biggest economy to digitally isolate itself from U.S. spying not only could be costly and difficult, it could encourage repressive governments to seek greater technical control over the Internet to crush free expression at home, experts say.

In December, countries advocating greater “cyber-sovereignty” pushed for such control at an International Telecommunications Union meeting in Dubai, with Western democracies led by the United States and the European Union in opposition.

U.S. digital security expert Bruce Schneier says that while Brazil’s response is a rational reaction to NSA spying, it is likely to embolden “some of the worst countries out there to seek more control over their citizens’ Internet. That’s Russia, China, Iran and Syria.”

Brazil is now pushing more aggressively than any other nation to end U.S. commercial hegemony on the Internet. More than 80 percent of online search, for example, is controlled by U.S.-based companies.

Most of Brazil’s global Internet traffic passes through the United States, so Rousseff’s government plans to lay underwater fiber optic cable directly to Europe and also link to all South American nations to create what it hopes will be a network free of U.S. eavesdropping.

This is only going to kill innovation in France..

Come on France.. What's wrong with you... what are you thinking? this is nuts.. you don't want your "ONLY" successful start-up to an American Company? How stupid you can be? One success story like (including sales to Yahoo) this will create hundred other start ups in your country.. there is no better motivation for innovation than money.. pure and simple money.. lots of money..

Moreover, this Daily-motion is distance second cousin to YouTube . I really don't see any major innovation (feel free to educate me if there are any major innovation ideas in Daily-motion)... it is surviving because some people are afraid of Google.. that is it.. There can be ten other companies like this who can really scale and do better than it.. it is, at the best ME-TOO version of YouTube which is popular in your country somehow.. and generated some good traction which resulted in $300M valuation.. I am sure it was peek.. or not.. nevertheless, let capitalism take its own course and if you want innovation and growth in your country try not to interfere with business.. just leave them alone..

Overall, I feel that Yahoo shareholders are lucky that they were spared few hundred million dollars from this acquisition.. which I see as buying users at the best.. I don't think that they will miss anything..

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-30/yahoo-discussions-over-dailymotion-stall-french-official-says.html

Are you ready for Virgin Galactic Space Trip!!

Seems that dream of commercial space flight is nearing!!! If everything goes well, we should be able to buy ticket to space trip and have fun and come back to our beloved earth.. Just pay 200K and you will be added to the waitlist of 530 already registered for this flight. I don't know how soon they will be able to clear this waitlist. Passenger capacity is 6.. So theoretically if they take one flight per day they could fly 1800 passengers per year (assuming 300 flight days per year) with just one single Galactic spaceship.

Will they take my airline miles? If not, then either I need to start buying lottery or make some couple of millions fairly quickly.. or my company' stock goes to $100 or may be $500 or so.. $100 still won't cut in ;-)

200K!! Wao.. it is lot of money for few hours of fun trip but then I am sure it will be well worth it..

Branson’s tourist spaceship a step closer

Test pilot breaks sound barrier in rocket motor craft

By W.J. Hennigan and Adolfo Flores

Los Angeles Times

British billionaire Richard Branson’s commercial space venture Virgin Galactic got one step closer to carrying tourists into space Monday when a test pilot cracked the sound barrier over the Mojave desert.

For the first time, the company’s SpaceShipTwo engaged its rocket motor, sped to Mach 1.2 and reached 56,000 feet in altitude.

The flight is the latest — and largest — milestone in Virgin Galactic’s testing of technology it hopes to use to carry scores of paying customers into space multiple times a day.

“The first powered flight of Virgin Spaceship Enterprise was without any doubt our single most important flight test to date,” Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, said in a statement. “Today’s supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion of the spaceship’s powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year’s end.”

The test flight took place shortly after sunrise Monday beginning on the desert runway at Mojave Air and Space Port, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. During the test, SpaceShipTwo was taken to about 46,000 feet by a carrier aircraft and dropped like a bomb.

After a short free fall, test pilots Mark Stucky and Mike Alsbury engaged the hybrid rocket motor, powered by nitrous oxide and a rubber compound, for 16 seconds, at which point SpaceShipTwo reached Mach 1.2 speeds.

The idea of Virgin Galactic routinely taking passengers to space this way was developed by retired maverick aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and his Mojave company, Scaled Composites.

Until now, astronauts have reached space packed tight in a capsule or shuttle attached to a high-powered rocket.

Instead, Virgin Galactic will use a WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft that will fly with the reusable Space-ShipTwo rocket plane under its wing to 50,000 feet, where the spaceship will separate and blast off.

When the rocket motor engages, it will power the spaceship to nearly 2,500 mph and take the pilot — and up to six passengers — to the edge of space, or more than 60 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Once they reach that suborbital altitude, passengers will experience weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth. Then they will re-enter the atmosphere and glide back to the runway. The price for the experience: $200,000.

Virgin Galactic, founded by Branson, hopes to make its first passenger flight sometime next year from Spaceport America in New Mexico, where the company plans to conduct routine operations. The company said it has taken about 530 reservations for the ride.

The WhiteKnight-Two carrier aircraft, which resembles a flying catamaran because it has two fuselages, and SpaceShipTwo are still in the midst of a test-flight program that will continue in Mojave until Virgin Galactic believes it can begin commercial operations.

Virgin Galactic’s commercial space launch system is based on Rutan’s SpaceShipOne, the world’s first private manned spaceship, which successfully flew a test pilot to space and back three times during 2004 to win a $10 million X-Prizepurse.

The War of Next Big thing Between Apple and Samsung

As per this article on WSJ.. nothing extra ordinary.. WSJ Author/reviewer in-fact urges customers to check out HTC-one instead defaulting to S4!!! That is biggest slap in a way for S4.. especially from my perspective.. couple of months back I had written off HTC as a company all-together.. Now.. it seems that HTC is emerging back.. So far I have heard great reviews about HTC One.. yet to read any single bad or below average review about HTC One..

In fact HTC was one of the first good, cheap smartphone manufacturer.. even before the launch of iPhone.. iPhone really spoiled their market.. But it seems that they are going back to their roots and building great phones and capturing some market back from both Samsung and Apple. I think even their alliance with FB is also helping them.. I am definitely going to test it.. one of my very good friend has bought HTC One recently and I would definitely borrow it for few hours... I am sure many of my friends will also get S4 as well :-)

Good news is that, this smartphone market pie is so big that there is room for many players at the same time and they can satisfy different type of customers with varied needs.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323735604578440824138699526.html

However, USA Today's review seems to be much more favorable.. Author/reviewer liked in particular Dual Action camera mode.. Capturing your own reaction for the event happening and also some drama mode where you can focus and follow one particular person..

Seems that they have fixed Display issue.Apparently, S3 had little bit dimmer screen.. This time S4's display has all the great reviews..

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2013/04/24/samsung-galaxy-s4-review/2104959/

Both the authors complain that S4 has lot of features and it seems overly complex and confusing. I think in a race to compete with iPhone, Samsung is injecting all kinds of features into their flagship phone.. Which may be true and applicable to many customers.. especially in Asia.. which is still solid stronghold of Samsung. They have really made it big screen and I would love to use it more as iPad mini kind of.. If I go with S4 or its equivalent, my primary reason would be screen size which I can use it as my iPad mini replacement.. So far I am okay..

However, in race to prove themselves better than iPhone.. they miss the whole point of iPhone's popularity.. it is simple and whatever feature they put in there.. it works and it works beautifully.. and most of the customers (including your truly!!) love it.. I am sure there must be many other customers who like all kinds of features offered by Samsung and HTC.

So far, I am still iPhone fan and have no plans to go back to Samsung or Android for that matter. However, I am really happy to see great phones from iPhone's competitors.. as it definitely raises bar for iPhone 5S and I hope to see super great iPhone 5S in near future..

Twitter Music - Interesting Use Case

Seems interesting app from Twitter.. finally looks good use case for monetization of such a great service. I am personally not a great music fan and read about this app in newspaper only. Out of curiosity downloaded it. First glace really liked it.. It is quite easy interface and lets you play lot of popular music. I think it can be used easily used as DJ type of application. If you have Spotify and Rdio then complete song otherwise just preview of song from iTunes store..

However, some of the pages were more or less blank for me as I wasn't following any singer yet.. and worse case was that none of my followers or people whom I was following were following any singer.. so it was total blank.. I hope that this service will bootstrap this singer followup more and more and will ultimately result in even better following on twitter..

Good job Twitter!!

#NOWPLAYING

Twitter launches music service

Social net work ’s app on iTunes with plans for Android

By Heather Somerville

hsomerville@bayareanewsgroup.com 

Twitter’s new #music service made its public debut Thursday when the app appeared on iTunes and the company pulled back the curtains on music.twitter.com.

The service, the latest offering from Twitter that aims to give its 200 million active users a more engaged multimedia experience, uses Twitter activity to highlight popular tracks, introduce new songs and emerging artists, and connect fans with their favorite musicians. According to a company blog post, users can tweet songs directly from the app and view suggestions for new tunes. A #NowPlaying feature lets users view and listen to the same songs their friends are tweeting about.

The official launch ends a week of speculation after Twitter released the service “by invite only” and posted a static #music Web page April 11. A select group of celebrity Twitter users got first access to build hype, and “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest did his part by promptly tweeting that he had used the app to start a dance party. 

The free service is now available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. While the app is currently only for the iPhone, Twitter said it has plans to bring it to Android as well. 

The service was welcomed by musicians, who get another platform to promote their work. 

Other big winners are music services Spotify and Rdio, which Twitter has integrated with for the musicplaying portion of the service. Users have the option to play either a few-seconds clip of a song on iTunes, or to use the service with Spotify or Rdio to play the full track and an entire playlist. 

Anthony Mullen, an analyst with Forrester Research, said the new service is “an astute move” and will appeal across the board to music newbies, DJs and performing artists. 

“Twitter’s ability to personalize has always been there, but with the music recommendation service they can really begin to get going,” Mullen wrote. “Twitter has the big data skills to do something good here.” 

But Russ Crupnick of The NPD Group cautions that the music service landscape is already pretty crowded. From Pandora to Grooveshark and Rhapsody, consumers have plenty of options, and Twitter may have a battle to pull ahead of the competition. 

Contact Heather Somerville at 925977-8418. Follow her at Twitter.com/ heathersomervil. 

This is Innovation!! even though it is forced one..

Even though it seems crude old way of watching over the air streams of TV on your iPhone or any other smart phone.. it is decent option and if improvised, it could result in great alternate viewing experience.

Aereo is real great innovation on it's own. But the path looks tough as they are going to get hard time from broadcasters who are feeling tricked and left out. Aereo's service is real killer when it comes to process innovation and providing great service at the expense of broadcasters.. Broadcasters are in kind of soup I feel.. slowly, they are loosing their bargaining power. If and IF.. Aereo is validated by Supreme Court, where it will go sooner or later.. Then only alternate for these guys will be to move most of the good content to paid Cable Channels forcing people to dump over the air altogether. Don't know how it will pan out in future.. Here are some of the pics of Aereo antenna which clearly explains concept.. Third image is screen shot from Aereo's web site for future plans. Right now they are limiting to NYC area only.

Coming back to these Dongles.. they may be quite a good alternative to watch these shows.. However, if they just stick to live broadcast then they will have very limited usability. If somehow, they can leverage iPhone or iPad's local storage to automatically record over the air content and then allow app on iPhone/iPad to watch it later with skipping ads etc.. that would be killer deal.. In this case, I would not take a second to switch to Android devices where I can plug in my SD card and store and play as  much content on my mobile/tablet device. May be it is already there.. I need to check detailed specs of these dongles..

Yeah.. it is there.. They have DVR type of feature.. though there are some issues on quality of video and also specs are not clearly outlined on their sites.. Most of the local channels over the air have HD quality.. though it depends on your location and type of antenna.. I don't know how well these miniature antennas will perform for these HD signal.. It is matter of time before they will also mature..

It could be ideal if Apple or Google can include this antenna in iPad/iPod/Nexus 7 as built in feature.. just like 3G/4G/LTE  mobile radio this could be another option.. As these external dongles have two minor issues.. #1 you have to carry yet another device.. #2 and this is more important.. you can't charge your iPad/iPhone while watching this over the air video, unless these guys comes up with plug in option for their device and use that power and even pass it on to iPad/iPhone..

Interesting.. Though, I will still go for Aereo type service.. where I not only get my own antenna in cloud but also cool DVR. Which is independent of my location. I guess, internet access is going to be ubiquitous and won't be any problem in very near future..







‘Dongles’ battle video service

TV broadcasters back device in fight with upstart Aereo

By Ryan Nakashima

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — The key weapon in TV broadcasters’ fight with Internet video upstart Aereo is something inelegantly known as a dongle.

The miniature TV antenna picks up free, mobile broadcast signals. It attaches to iPhone and iPad power ports and extends about 7 inches, allowing users to view live local TV channels at not-quite-highdefinition quality.

The device scans the airwaves for signals with the help of an app. The antenna doesn’t sap a user’s data plan or rely on Wi-Fi signals, but it does need to be recharged. “If you’re at a ball game or a Starbucks and everyone’s trying to access the news, you’re not going to get (video stoppages),” says Karen McCall, a marketing representative with Dyle Mobile TV, the venture backing the devices.

The dongles are on display at the annual gathering of broadcasters, the NAB Show, taking place this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Dyle says it plans to release units for Android devices soon.

Dyle is actually a coalition of 12 major broadcasters including Fox and NBC. Those networks, along with ABC and CBS, are waging a legal fight against Aereo, a service that pulls down broadcast station signals with thousands of tiny antennas and sends the signal to mobile devices or computers over the Internet. Aereo users don’t require a dongle, just a wireless Internet or cellphone connection.

Broadcasters contend that Aereo illegally steals signals from the air without paying for the rights before reselling them to customers. Aereo has prevailed so far. It won a preliminary ruling in an appeals court last week that allowed it to continue offering its service in the New York City area. It plans to expand to Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington and 18 other U.S. markets this spring.

Dyle began selling its dongles, made by companies such as Elgato and Escort, late last year on Amazon. com.

Elgato’s EyeTV Mobile sells for $83.98 or more, while Escort’s Mobile Digital TV lists for $119.99.Compared to the $8-amonth streaming service by Aereo, the price seems high, but the dongles have the backing of major broadcasters.

The Elgato and Escort devices were designed before Apple reduced the size of the power ports on its newer iPhones and iPads. As a result, people who use the latest iPad and iPhone 5 will need to employ an adapter, which can make the contraption extend somewhat precariously.

The gadgets receive signals only from stations that specifically broadcast to mobile devices. So far, the dongles will work for the signals from 116 stations in 39 markets including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Signals come from affiliates of NBC, CBS, Fox, Univision and Telemundo among others.

Story of Best Home Entertainment System and Bad CBS!!!

In general, I am happy with Dish's DVR. Even though with older models, May be, I am used to it.. Even though with older models, I am fairly happy. This new system seems to be even better than the current model I have...

Though there may be some issues with them on pricing and other customer support side.. but still much better experience than many other cable service providers..

Best part of Dish is that they keep innovating and they try to use technology for better user experience of their customers. I enjoy their sling adapter based remote viewing any how.. This Auto Advertisement skipping feature is another example.. which CBS is really offended about. I am sure CBS executives will soon learn their lessons and won't be able to force their will on customers. I love CBS shows, but at the same time, they need to understand, unless they make their content so compelling that I am forced to watch moment it is broadcast-ed.. I should have free choice of skipping or playing their content which ever way I like..

If CBS things, that their shows are so great.. then may be they should ask Dish and all other service providers to some how enhance their DVR to stop recording CBS shows.. They know very well what a backlash they will get from not only Service providers but also from Customers.. Basically, there is no way they can enforce their will on the content which is broadcast-ed and more or less becomes my property. Well at least in terms of ways of viewing it.. People will find other easier ways to skip their commercials. Which could be even more brutal for CBS..

I any how skip all the advertisements when watching my recorded shows. What is wrong with Auto Skipper? If Dish won't do it, some one else will come with mechanism or process to put it in place. In any case, their are very few years left to watching our shows we watch today. CBS should be thankful to Dish to extend that period by making life of their customers better, who also happen to be CBS customers..

Let us see.. where this all goes.. Nevertheless, I am looking for upgrade from Dish soon..

Dish’s Hopper with Sling steals the show

Its commerical-jumping DVR went from ‘Best of CES’ toamess for CBS

As always, there were several stunning, very large TVs with five figure prices, but I always try and focus my efforts on finding things that the average consumer can afford and enjoy.

By far the biggest story of the show this year also involves one of the neatest products. Dish unveiled their Hopper with Sling, a whole-house DVR system that allows you to view your DVR recordings and live TV on your mobile device from anywhere with an Internet connection. It also features PrimeTime Anytime, to simultaneously record all the PrimeTime programming on all the major networks, AutoHop, which automatically skips commercials, TruVolume to keep volume from blasting during commercials, a Dish Explorer app that links your iPad to the Hopper, and a host of other features that make it the industry’s class-leading DVR. You can see it at www.dish.com.

The editors of huge technology website CNet were as impressed as I was and nominated the Dish Hopper with Sling as a “Best of CES” candidate. The nomination is an award in and of itself and Dish personnel were on their way to accept it when executives at CNet’s corporate owner, CBS, told CNet’s editors to disqualify Dish Hopper with Sling and give the award to someone else. CBS does not approve of the commercial-skipping feature and is involved in litigation to ban it.

CNet protested in the name of editorial and journalistic independence, but ultimately backed down and issued a statement on its website. Resignations from CNet occurred as a result of CBS’ heavy-handedness and it was later leaked out and confirmed that the Dish Hopper with Sling was not only a “Best of CES” candidate, it had actually won the “Best of Show” award as the best product introduced at CES this year. The end result has been a lot of good publicity for Dish, a perceived loss of credibility for CNet through no fault of its own, and a lot of bad publicity for CBS as it has endured universal journalistic scorn from many news outlets. What I find most frustrating is the media companies fight new technology to keep it from being introduced and when they eventually lose the fight they reap immense profits from it afterward. They fought the home VCR all the way to the Supreme Court and after they lost they made billions selling home movies on VHS and later on DVD. They fought and sued over online music until finally making billions from the iTunes music store and other downloading services.

They don’t always lose, though they usually do. If you have ever wondered why it has become so hard to record programming and store the recordings on tape or disc you can thank the media companies. It would be child’s play to design satellite and cable boxes with FireWire connections to Blu-ray recorders so subscribers could easily save their full-quality recordings on disc. This is the standard in many parts of the world such as Japan, where Blu-ray recording is ubiquitous. This standard was originally proposed for North America as well but the media companies would not allow it.

Next week I will have more neat stuff from the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show! Contact Don Lindich at www.soundadviceblog. com and use the “submit question” link on that site.

SOUND ADVICE

DON LINDICH

iPad Mini.. mixed reviews..

There are so many reviews of iPad mini. Mostly it seems great product, other than some dissatisfaction about display. I was happy with even original iPad and iPad so no personal complains. However, once you make your customers addicted to something better, it is difficult to reposition something older. There is/was bound to be that reaction.. Off-course.. Apple's product managers have to have jobs.. without roadmap of retina display in next release they will be out of job..

It will be interesting to see if they can continue to keep this price point. Especially, now Google Nexus 10 is almost in same price range.. Knowing Google, it has to be great product and it has potential to take away market share from both iPad and mini as well. $399 is really great price point for 10 inch tablet and within next one or two iterations it can easily be iPad killer.. We need it do well.. without that Apple is not going to reduce mini's price.. Though I have very strong feeling that Apple will do another refresh of iPad lineup sometime early next year. There is so much action in tablet area that they will have to abandon their yearly refresh cycle and move half yearly cycle..

As we can see with iPhone5 that Apple's quantum leap era is over. They have very few new and really innovative and disruptive ideas left. Apple is left with minor enhancements in processing power, speed and size/form-factor. Honestly, only difference between, iPhone 4S and 5 is screen size. Which, to be honest, I liked from 4S better. That doesn't mean that I am going back to 4S. I think it is just nostalgia.. I will get over soon. There were big differences between iPhone 4 and 4S.. but in my view nothing major between 4S and 5.

I think, iPad mini is going to be super hit any how.. or it is already.. but Apple really needs to work with major disruptive improvement in their current line ups. That includes everything.. Form factor is one aspect.. but they need another iPhone or iPad type of product. It could be software or hardware.. doesn't matter.. At the same time continue to focus on quality of their products and details of each aspect. They simply can't let that aspect go away.. I have been hearing and noticing a lot about quality degradation.. In short term it will not impact them, but if they continue this trend, they will soon become another microsoft..

Here is the best link from WSJ which summarizes most of the decent iPad mini review.. enjoy!!


This link summarizes iPad Mini's review:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/10/31/ipad-mini-review-roundup/

iPad Mini Review Roundup

By Matthew Lynley

AFP/Getty Images

Does the iPad Mini outmatch the other smaller tablets?

The decision is in on the iPad Mini.

So far, reviewers across the Web have praised the size of the device, saying it is more comfortable to use and has an excellent build quality.

However, it comes at a price — a low-resolution screen that is more on par with the iPhone 3GS than the newer iPads, which pack a “retina” display.

“Ew, the screen is terrible,” Apple blogger John Gruber wrote, citing his wife — and saying his initial reaction matched hers.

Here’s the general consensus of reviewers around the Web:

Display

This is the chief complaint, but it’s to be expected given the downgrade from the current larger iPads. The iPad Mini has a 1,024 by 768-pixel display, compared to 2048-by-1536 pixel resolution in the larger iPads. “It feels like an iPhone 3GS display cut to iPad size, including the fact that the pixels seem deeper from the surface of the glass,” Gruber writes.

“Since Apple AAPL -1.44% is the company that’s gotten our eyes used to the hey-look-no-pixels trick of the Retina display, it’s hard to take a step back and not notice,”The Verge’s Josh Topolsky writes. “I don’t think the lower resolution is a deal-breaker in this product, but it is a compromise you have to be aware of. It simply doesn’t look as clear as other products on the market.”

“If you’re an obsessive over crisp text, you’ll notice the fuzziness,” CNET’s Scott Stein writes. “Yes, the non-Retina Display means text that’s less sharp. It feels like a disconnect on a device so clearly targeted at reading. Yet, hold the iPad Mini back a foot and increase the font size, and you probably won’t notice.”

Size

In contrast, the size — a few inches shorter than the traditional iPad — is cited as a massive strong point, making it feel more comfortable than the traditional iPad. “The Mini with the Smart Cover1 on is almost exactly as thick (or as thin, if you prefer) as an iPad 3 or 4 without a cover,” Gruber writes. “Combine that with the weight and it’s just plain fun to hold.”

In terms of app usage, ” 99 out of 100 times while using it, this wasn’t an issue, but it did take some getting used to in places,” Topolsky writes.

Still, the iPad Mini might be a bit too big to hold one-handed, writes Engadget’s Tim Stevens. “This editor, who wears XL gloves, had no problem palming the littler iPad, but when we handed it to other, dainty-fingered people they sometimes struggled to hold it securely. The scrawny bezels on either side actually exacerbate this issue to some degree, as those who must loop a thumb around the front of the device when holding it are forced to put that thumb right on the display.”

Build

“But the iPad Mini is a far classier, more attractive, thinner machine. It has two cameras instead of one,” writes The New York Times’ David Pogue. “Its fit and finish are far more refined. And above all, it offers that colossal app catalog, which Android tablet owners can only dream about.”

Still, the build of the device might be a little unwieldy with the Smart Cover built in, says Topolsky. “I actually had a little trouble holding onto the device when I wasn’t using the Smart Cover due to the back being as smooth as it is, and the frame being so thin.”

“Regardless of your feelings of the Mini’s price, or its A5 processor and non-Retina 7.9-inch display, here’s what you’ll notice when you pick it up: it’s really shockingly nice to hold,” Stein writes.

For reading

Given that it’s around the size of a Kindle, there will be some similarities drawn — especially when it comes to reading. “For reading, all of these apps work great on the iPad Mini. Font sizes on some websites can be a little small (tiny type that is legible on retina displays is just smudgy on non-retina ones), but most sites look just fine,” Gruber writes. “The Mini feels optimized for reading.”

Apps

While the price is a little steep, “The App Store is Apple’s great gold mine, and the iPad Mini’s price seems to be banking on you knowing that. And, in that sense, the iPad Mini may be worth its price,” Stein writes. This is pretty much what users should expect from Apple, since it’s a favorite among app developers.

Performance

The iPad Mini uses a chip that’s a couple generations old, and its specs are about on par with the iPad 2. Nevertheless, it still packs a punch, according to reviewers. “I’d say iPad 3-caliber performance in a $329 radically smaller device is pretty good,” Gruber writes. “I was not expecting iPad 3 performance in the Mini. But it’s there, and that makes the iPad Mini great for games.”

The trade-off is that it has a better battery life, though. “Apps do load more slowly but most are still up and running within a second or two and when it comes to general web surfing tasks the iPad mini easily kept up with our taps and swipes,” Stevens writes. “So, perhaps not the greatest performance in the Apple lineup, but there is one place where it bests the rest: battery life.”

The final verdict

Dan Gruber, Daring Fireball: For anyone else — those who own an older iPad 1 or 2, and those who have yet to buy their first iPad — the iPad Mini’s display will garner no complaints. I prefer the Mini over the full-size iPad in every single regard other than display resolution, and though I (and many of you) obsess over display resolution, it’s not an issue in the mass market.

Josh Topolsky, The Verge: The iPad mini hasn’t wrapped up the “cheapest tablet” market by any stretch of the imagination. But the “best small tablet” market? Consider it captured.

Scott Stein, CNET: If you want the full, polished Apple tablet experience in a smaller package, the iPad Mini is worth the premium price. Otherwise, good alternatives are available for less money… If the iPad Mini had a Retina Display, a newer A6 processor, and a slightly lower price, it would be the must-have Apple gadget of the year. Even without that, it’s still incredibly appealing. Its $329 price still makes it one of the least-expensive iOS gadgets Apple makes.

David Pogue, New York Times: Over all, the Mini gives you all the iPad goodness in a more manageable size, and it’s awesome. You could argue that the iPad Mini is what the iPad always wanted to be.

Walt Mossberg, WSJ: Every app that ran on my larger iPad ran perfectly on the Mini. I was able to use it one-handed and hold it for long periods of time without tiring. My only complaints were that it’s a tad too wide to fit in most of my pockets, and the screen resolution is a big step backwards from the Retina display on the current large iPad.

Tim Stevens, Engadget: This isn’t just an Apple tablet made to a budget. This isn’t just a shrunken-down iPad. This is, in many ways, Apple’s best tablet yet, an incredibly thin, remarkably light, obviously well-constructed device that offers phenomenal battery life.

New Crop of Monstrous 4K TVs

Another series of TVs which will take home entertainment to another level!! are you ready for it? Saw this in  newspaper.. seems really nice.. so does the price.. Will you be ready to spend this big amount on TVs.. probably same amount as cars like Accord/Camry!!! Depends on your priorities.. How much time you spend on your cars vs in front of TV.. or do you like more comfort and safety while going to office or you care about more bigger better experience in the evening while watching games or movies..

On the other hand.. assuming 8 years of life for such TVs... it will cost you 3K per year.. Assuming you watch them 300 days of year... it will be $10 per day just the cost of display.. which is not that much.. Obviously, you will be spending another 4-5 dollars on content, electricity..  Let us say $15 per day.. for $15 two people can go and watch movies in theatre.. Live games can cost more.. may be you will have to sacrifice a weeks worth of super TV.. Ideal thing would be to enjoy all sort of things without worrying about these small things like $10-15 per day.. but for that our economy needs to grow much more faster and everyone needs to make much higher income levels..

then I am sure there will be 240K or 2.4 million dollar worth TVs as well.. what would be next to 3D/4K TV? May be something like a entertainment room where you will be sitting right in the middle of actual content.. theater kind of experience.. only difference would be that you will be right on the stage and you can probably roam around with holograms adjusting themselves so you get best viewing angle and you can change your view to top view, bottom view and what not.. just kidding.. but you never know if someone is already working on these type of TV or entertainment system sets..

there is no end to it as innovations will continue to drive new things and new prices.

Zynga's demise.. sad but nothing unexpected

I feel bad seeing such a great talent pool going away... but this is one company.. for which I never had any sympathy.. Honestly.. I couldn't understand their games.. neither their business model.. In my view it was at the best a fad.. which is either reached maturity level or just simply going away. Their business model was to make money by selling virtual goodies in games.. how lame anyone could go.. that is simply beyond my comprehension.. Why on earth any sensible person will spend money on these virtual goodies.. I can not empathize neither with their players nor with the company which created these super moronic games..

Then, finally, company is making biggest blunder by firing employees.. at this time of crunch.. if they want to save their company they should be hiring more and come up with innovative games which  can bring back life to the company.. I would prefer to take a shot at revival rather than committing a definitive but slow suicide by firing my talent pool.. But all this non-sense is due to fact that management has to report numbers to wall street and they have to show SOME actions to prove that they are still in control and have plan to revive company.. But does it matter at this stage.. Wall Street should be last thing which they should be worried about. They should worry about innovation and their customer.. Customer is king and god for you.. you do whatever you can to please your king and / or god..


It’s no game: Zynga is falling fast

Revenue is decent, but company losing fans, firing workers

By David Streitfeld

New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — Zynga is putting all its chips on a game called survival.

The company, which practically invented the notion of using Facebook as a games platform, is firing employees, shutting games and losing fans. Its reversal of fortune since going public less than a year ago has been steep, raising the specter of Internet companies like Pets.com and theglobe. com that dazzled investors briefly a dozen years ago.

That earlier crackup was part of a broad-based downturn that took everything tech along with it. This time around, the bubble is bursting selectively, one promising but overvalued outfit at a time. Groupon, Netflix and, most visibly, Facebook have all been hammered in recent months as investors began to realign their rosy expectations with cruel reality.

Zynga is by far the most embattled of this select group. Even as its partner Facebook staged a tentative revival Wednesday — its shares rising 19 percent on the heels of better-thanexpected third-quarter numbers — Zynga’s own earnings report, released after the market closed, was grim.

The good news: It was not the apocalypse some investors were apparently anticipating.

Revenue was $317 million, an improvement over the $300 million to $305 million the company had forecast in early October when it warned that tough times were ahead. Revenue was significantly higher than the $256 million that cautious analysts had expected.

But revenue was up only 3 percent over the third quarter of 2011. That is not the sort of success story Wall Street had been looking for.

Zynga makes most of its money by selling virtual goods to committed players. These bookings, at $256 million in the third quarter, were in line with the company’s lowered expectations. In the third quarter of 2011, bookings were $288 million. Wall Street, which had expected outright disaster, reacted positively to the news. Zynga shares fell slightly in regular trading Wednesday to $2.12 but spiked 12 percent in afterhours trading. Zynga went public in December at $10.

Zynga began this week to implement some measures designed to salvage its chances. It is dismissing about 5 percent of its 3,000 employees and turning off 13 older games that never had much popularity. But that is unlikely to be enough, said Arvind Bhatia, an analyst at Sterne Agee.

“The Zynga model was flaky to begin with,” Bhatia said.

He noted that it was heavily dependent on Facebook, on a few hit games like FarmVille and CityVille, and on just a few players who were willing to buy virtual goods to speed their play.

“If they could find a hit, maybe things could turn around,” he said. “But the recent track record doesn’t give you a lot of confidence.”

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STEPHEN LAM REUTERS

General Manager Manuel Bronstein speaks during the Zynga Unleashed event in San Francisco in June.