Mad Computers

21 May 2012
Last updated at 21:53

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Facebook Inc.

Last Updated at 21 May 2012, 21:00

*Chart shows local time

Shares in Facebook closed well below the price at which they were floated amid doubts that the newly-listed company can live up to expectations.

The shares debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange at $38 each on Friday, but ended 11% down on Monday.

Some analysts said the shares would have fallen on Friday had not underwriters stepped in to buy stock.

Critics say Facebook’s advisers have set the price too high, although others argue that it is too early to tell.

The company’s shares fell about 12% immediately the Nasdaq opened, and hovered around 9%-10% down for most of the day until a late bout of selling.

Facebook’s offer price on Friday valued the social network at $104bn (£66bn).

One US-based analyst told the BBC that this valuation was too high. “The market is just not valuing what Facebook has to bring to the table,” said Patrick Moorhead, analyst at Moor Insights Strategy.

However, BTIG, the US-based global stockbroker, said it was too early to judge Facebook. “Valuing Facebook is more art than science at this stage of its development and the current state of both social and mobile advertising,” the firm said in a statement.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

For other technology firms hoping to follow Facebook on the road to IPO riches, any sign that the bubble may burst is deeply worrying”

End Quote

Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent

• Read more from Rory
• Facebook: Behind the likes and pokes
• Facebook feature growth timeline

The firm said it had confidence in Facebook’s long-term advertising prospects, forecasting that advertising revenues will rise to $8 billion in 2015 compared with an estimated $4bn for 2012.

Mixed fortunes

Strong demand in the run-up to the flotation had led the company to increase both the price and the number of shares available for sale.

Mr Moorhead said that meant the Initial Public Offering (IPO) had been a success for Facebook’s founders and early investors. Some of them managed to sell parts of their stakes for hundreds of millions of dollars.

But he said the share price fall could have long-term consequences for the world’s biggest social network.

“The challenge is this will sully the long-term brand of Facebook, and in five years time people will look back on the IPO and have a negative connotation and none of that is good for the Facebook brand and the Facebook service itself,” Mr Moorhead told BBC World.

Other internet companies have had mixed experiences recently when they have started selling shares.

Shares in business networking site LinkedIn more than doubled from their $45 offer price on their debut in May 2011. They peaked at $117 and are now trading around the $100 level.

Discount voucher firm Groupon’s shares jumped 30% on their debut in November. But they are now at about $12, well below their $20 flotation price.

Online games maker Zynga’s shares fell 5% on their first day of trading in December 2011. They are currently around $7, below their $10 offer price.

Google, however, is the star performer of the technology IPOs. Launched in 2004 at $85 a share, it is now trading above $600. It has yet to regain its pre-financial crisis peak of over $740, hit in 2007.

Sticky start

The start of trading in Facebook shares on Friday, one of the most high profile stock market IPOs in recent years, was delayed by technical problems on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Nasdaq boss Robert Greifeld said he was “humbly embarrassed” by the glitch.

Trading was delayed by about 30 minutes due to late order cancellations, and the shares closed on Friday at $38.23, having hit $45 earlier in the day.

“This was not our finest hour,” said Mr Greifeld. As a result of the glitch, a number of investors were unsure whether their buy and sell orders had actually gone through.

However, Mr Greifeld said that once the glitch had been fixed, trading had been “successful”.

More than 566 million shares in the company changed hands, a record volume for US market debuts.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18141990#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

As China’s mobile market continues to grow rapidly, the BBC meets the local entrepreneurs hoping to create apps to satisfy the needs of one of the world’s biggest mobile phone markets.

However, with most consumers reluctant to pay for mobile services – and with the constant threat of having ideas stolen – can Chinese businesses really hit the big time?

John Sudworth reports from Shanghai.

Special report: The Technology of Business

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18124991#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

21 May 2012
Last updated at 10:13

Damage to the cornea can impair vision

Two people have had stem cells transplanted into their eyes as part of a clinical trial to restore their sight.

The technique has been developed by Scottish specialists to reverse corneal blindness, and it is believed to be the first treatment of its kind in the UK.

Both have corneal blindness, and until now the only treatment was a transplant of cornea tissue from an organ donor.

Sylvia Paton, from Edinburgh was the first person to have the transplant.

It will be several months before doctors will know to what extent the procedure has worked.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “This pioneering new treatment could potentially restore sight and improve the lives of many patients, and it is vital that we continue to invest in innovative projects such as this one.

“Sylvia is a very real example of how corneal blindness can have a dramatic impact and this trial could potentially transform her life”.

She added: “If proves to be successful, we could see many more people benefit as a result.

The procedure – corneal epithelial stem cell transplantation – represents one of the first of a new generation of regenerative therapies.

Medical professionals believe these therapies could transform medicine over the coming decades.

The study which is funded jointly by the UK Stem Cell Foundation and Scottish Enterprise in partnership with the Chief Scientist Office (CSO).

The donor stem cells have been grown by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) and the trial is being run by SNBTS together with NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18137879#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

21 May 2012
Last updated at 18:52

Continue reading the main story

Facebook Inc.

Last Updated at 21 May 2012, 19:55

*Chart shows local time

Shares in Facebook have fallen in early trading on Wall Street to below the price at which they were floated.

On Friday, Facebook debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange at $38 a share.

Despite the wider market in a buoyant mood, Facebook slid 12% immediately at the opening bell. They are currently around the $33-34 range.

Analysts suggested the shares would have fallen on Friday, had it not been for underwriters stepping in to buy up stock.

The offer price valued the site at $104bn (£66bn).

“It’s early days yet but it doesn’t look good,” said BBC business correspondent Mark Gregory in New York.

“There’s talk that Facebook’s advisers set the price too high. And there are doubts about whether the firm can produce the revenues and profits required to justify its enormous valuation,” he said.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

For other technology firms hoping to follow Facebook on the road to IPO riches, any sign that the bubble may burst is deeply worrying”

End Quote

Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent

• Read more from Rory
• Facebook: Behind the likes and pokes
• Facebook feature growth timeline

One US-based analyst told the BBC that Facebook’s flotation price had been too high.

“The market is just not valuing what Facebook has to bring to the table,” said Patrick Moorhead, analyst at Moor Insights Strategy.

Mixed fortunes

Strong demand in the run-up to the flotation had led the company to increase both the price and the number of shares available for sale.

Mr Moorhead said that meant the Initial Public Offering (IPO) had been a success for Facebook’s founders and early investors. Some of them managed to sell parts of their stakes for hundreds of millions of dollars.

But he said the share price fall could have long-term consequences for the world’s biggest social network.

“The challenge is this will sully the long-term brand of Facebook, and in five years time people will look back on the IPO and have a negative connotation and none of that is good for the Facebook brand and the Facebook service itself,” Mr Moorhead told BBC World.

Other internet companies have had mixed experiences recently when they have started selling shares.

Shares in business networking site LinkedIn more than doubled from their $45 offer price on their debut in May 2011. They peaked at $117 and are now trading around the $100 level.

Discount voucher firm Groupon’s shares jumped 30% on their debut in November. But they are now at about $12, well below their $20 flotation price.

Online games maker Zynga’s shares fell 5% on their first day of trading in December 2011. They are currently around $7, below their $10 offer price.

Google, however, is the star performer of the technology IPOs. Launched in 2004 at $85 a share, it is now trading above $600. It has yet to regain its pre-financial crisis peak of over $740, hit in 2007.

Sticky start

The start of trading in Facebook shares on Friday, one of the most high profile stock market IPOs in recent years, was delayed by technical problems on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Nasdaq boss Robert Greifeld said he was “humbly embarrassed” by the glitch.

Trading was delayed by about 30 minutes due to late order cancellations, and the shares closed on Friday at $38.23, having hit $45 earlier in the day.

“This was not our finest hour,” said Mr Greifeld. As a result of the glitch, a number of investors were unsure whether their buy and sell orders had actually gone through.

However, Mr Greifeld said that once the glitch had been fixed, trading had been “successful”.

More than 566 million shares in the company changed hands, a record volume for US market debuts.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18141990#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

21 May 2012
Last updated at 08:57

Article written by
Rory Cellan-Jones

Technology correspondent

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So… what happened there? On Friday, after an all-night hackathon at Facebook’s Menlo Park campus, Mark Zuckerberg pressed a button to mark the start of trading in his company’s shares. Because that button had been “hacked” by some of his very smart engineers, his Facebook status was updated to “listed a company on Nasdaq”.

Then after a hiatus as Nasdaq’s systems struggled to cope – perhaps they need to hire some of those smart engineers – the share price began to soar from its already vertiginous $38 to $42. Then it began to sag, and by the time trading ended, it was just a fraction above the starting price, apparently only kept there by the efforts of the underwriters. Predictions of a first day “pop” had been confounded.

The expectation had been that small investors, intoxicated by the excitement surrounding the IPO, would rush to get in on the action, sending the value of Facebook to even more giddy heights.

Instead, it seems they were in a more sober mood, listening to people like the New York financial adviser we featured on the 10 O’Clock News on Thursday night. “We’re telling our investors to hold off,” Oliver Pursche told us. “We want to wait until we understand the business before we invest.”

Now there’s a message that tends to get obscured in bubble times – putting money into a company should involve a deep understanding of what it does now and where it is heading. And if you’re investing in a business at a price roughly 100 times its current earnings, all the more reason to be confident that it has a plan which will multiply those earnings many times over.

News of the wedding was only shared after the event

And one more reason why small investors should be cautious.

On Saturday, Mark Zuckerberg updated his status to “married”, as he wed Priscilla Chan in a surprise ceremony at his Palo Alto home. Nothing wrong with that – the couple have been together since their student days, and the pictures posted on Facebook of the shy groom – in a suit not a hoodie – and his bride were rather sweet.

But, hey Mark, why did you not do what you tell the rest of us to do, and share your plans with your Facebook friends a few months ago? If you’d made it an upcoming “event”, then you and your fiancee would have seen plenty of useful adverts from cakemakers, dress designers, florists and all the other wedding businesses which now find the social network a great place to market their services.

Of course he wasn’t going to do that – even if the “event” had only been visible to close Facebook friends, it would have been bound to leak out. But Mr Zuckerberg’s whole philosophy – and the future revenues of his business – revolves around the idea of the “frictionless sharing” of every detail of our lives. And if more of us decide, like him, that there is a downside to letting it all hang out, then the advertising cash may grow more slowly than the $104bn valuation implies.

For other technology firms hoping to follow Facebook on the road to IPO riches, any sign that the bubble may burst is deeply worrying. Last week, the day before the IPO, a package was delivered to my office. It was a pinboard – yes, an old-fashioned cork board on which you stick notes. Pinned to it was a press release announcing that Japan’s Rakuten had led a $100m investment round in Pinterest, the virtual pinboard social network. Pinterest is now valued at $1.5bn, though there is not much data around about its revenues.

So, an imaginative PR stunt – but perhaps more evidence of the investment bubble that Facebook has helped inflate. Now Pinterest, Spotify and other hot technology firms enjoying sky-high valuations will watch anxiously to see what happens to Facebook shares in the coming days.

For Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues, there’s not too much to worry about in the short-term – they’ve raised $16bn, whatever happens to the share price now. But perhaps we’ll look back on May 2012 as the month when the air started to leak from a technology bubble.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18142566#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

21 May 2012
Last updated at 13:18

According to a poll by Bemilo, 40% of children who own a mobile phone are sleep deprived

Parents will be able to control their child’s mobile phone thanks to a SIM card remotely managed from a computer.

The Bemilo system, to be run on the Vodafone network, offers a service for parents to prevent their children from going online, texting or calling during certain hours.

Unlike an app, a child will not be able to switch the service off.

The UK’s Family and Parenting Institute said the SIM would help protect children from mobile phone bullying.

To have the service, parents would need to buy a “safety pack” with a SIM card inside, install it into the child’s phone and use it on a pay-as-you-go basis, from £2.95 per month.

“It’s a SIM that is just like any other SIM you would buy for any other network, but it enables parents to have full control in the context of safety,” Simon Goff, founder and chairman of Bemilo, told the BBC.

“They can allow or disallow certain contacts to call them, and they can set the times of day the phone can operate.”

For instance, he explained, if parents wanted to switch off the phone during school hours, they could do so remotely from a website on their computer.

But even if nearly all the functions on the child’s phone are disabled, parents can always manage the handset in such a way that they are able to reach their children, and the child is able to contact them.

Parents would also be able to read their child’s texts, added Mr Goff.

Sexting threat

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Today’s generation of children are facing new pressures such as mobile phone bullying, and parents want help in protecting them”

End Quote
Katherine Rake
Family and Parenting Institute

The service could help prevent mobile phone bullying and “sexting” – when a child is subjected to unwanted phone calls or texts.

A recent report commissioned by the NSPCC has found that teenage girls were coming under increasing pressure to text and email sexually explicit pictures of themselves.

It could also prevent a child, especially a teenager, from visiting websites parents deem offensive.

But besides enabling parents to help ensure their children’s safety, they would also be able to control other aspects of their behaviour, said Mr Goff.

“If you put a child to bed, and we’re talking about young adults here, those who are just under 16 years old, the parents often think they’ve gone to bed – but then they find out that they’re texting very late into the night or accessing the web into the night,” said Mr Goff.

According to a survey of 2,000 parents conducted by Bemilo, 40% of children from eight to 16 who own a mobile phone are sleep deprived, and 25% have been subjected to mobile phone bullying.

The new service has been welcomed by a UK independent charity called the Family and Parenting Institute.

“Today’s generation of children are facing new pressures, such as mobile phone bullying, and parents want help in protecting them,” said Dr Katherine Rake, the organisation’s chief executive.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18144038#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

21 May 2012
Last updated at 09:58

After an initial spike in price, Facebook shares ended the day almost unchanged

Nasdaq boss Robert Greifeld has said he is “humbly embarrassed” about the technical glitch that led to a delay in trading of Facebook shares on the New York exchange on Friday.

Trading was delayed by about 30 minutes due to late order cancellations, reports suggest.

Facebook shares ended the day at $38.23, just above the company’s initial pricing of $38.

The offer price valued the site at $104bn (£66bn).

Disappointing

“This was not our finest hour,” said Mr Greifeld. As a result of the glitch, a number of investors were unsure whether their buy and sell orders had actually gone through.

However, Mr Greifeld said that once the glitch had been fixed, trading had been “successful”.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

For other technology firms hoping to follow Facebook on the road to IPO riches, any sign that the bubble may burst is deeply worrying.”

End Quote

Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent

• Read more from Rory
• How the other flotations fared
• Facebook: Behind the likes and pokes
• Facebook feature growth timeline

More than 566 million shares in the company changed hands, a record volume for US market debuts.

Investors will watch with interest as Facebook shares begin their second day of trading on Wall Street later on Monday after the disappointing 0.6% rise on Friday.

Some analysts suggested the share price would have fallen had it not been for underwriters stepping in to buy up stock.

Strong demand in the run-up to the flotation had led the company to increase both the price and the number of shares available for sale.

Other internet companies have had mixed experiences recently when they have started selling shares.

Online games maker Zynga’s shares fell 5% on their first day of trading in December 2011. However, shares in business networking site LinkedIn more than doubled on their debut in May last year, while Groupon shares jumped 30% on their debut in November.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18141990#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

21 May 2012
Last updated at 12:25

The talks are an attempt to end the legal action between Apple and Samsung

Apple and Samsung are holding two days of talks that will try to find a way to end the many legal rows between the rivals.

Over the last year, the firms have clashed in courtrooms around the world over who invented or has to the right to use particular technologies.

The talks have been ordered by a US judge as a way to short-circuit the ongoing legal action.

If the talks fail a trial over the competing claims will start in July.

Big gap

In legal filings, Apple claims that Samsung has used many of its patented technologies in its smartphones and tablets without getting the proper licences or permissions.

Apple has sought injunctions and import bans in a bid to stop Samsung selling gadgets that use these patented technologies.

For its part, Samsung has asserted that Apple has violated patents that it holds on third generation (3G) mobile technologies, and has sought sales bans on the iPhone in many different countries.

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Samsung and Apple meet over patent dispute

As well as facing each other in the US, Apple and Samsung are also locked in legal action in South Korea, Australia and many European nations including Germany, France and the UK.

If the talks prove successful, it would probably mean the end of all the legal actions around the world.

In the past, Apple boss Tim Cook has said he dislikes legal action and prefers to settle disputes rather than sue.

However, Samsung’s mobile boss JK Shin told the Reuters news agency before the talks started that the two firms were far from agreement.

“There is still a big gap in the patent war with Apple but we still have several negotiation options, including cross-licensing,” Mr Shin said before boarding a flight to the US.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18145487#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

21 May 2012
Last updated at 11:23

Jeff Bezos described Waterstones as the UK’s premier bookseller

UK bookseller Waterstones is to sell Amazon’s Kindle book-reader and launch other Kindle digital services.

Waterstones says the deal will dovetail with its current store refurbishment scheme, which is creating dedicated areas for digital books, free wireless internet and new coffee shops.

With almost 300 stores, Waterstones is the UK’s biggest bookseller.

Last month, US bookseller Barnes and Noble teamed up with Microsoft to develop its digital book reader.

Microsoft invested $300m (£185m) in the venture which could make Barnes and Noble’s e-book reader, the Nook, available to millions of new customers.

Key competitor

As well as selling the Kindle device, Waterstones will allow Kindle users to digitally browse books and take advantage of Waterstones’ special offers.

In a statement, James Daunt, managing director of Waterstones, said: “The best digital readers, the Kindle family, will be married to the singular pleasures of browsing a curated bookshop.”

Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and chief executive, said: “Waterstones is the premier High Street bookseller and is passionate about books and readers – a dedication that we share deeply.”

Analysts say that Waterstones has little choice but to ally itself with Amazon.

“If readers are increasingly downloading books, then it is better for Waterstones to embrace that behaviour than to try and work round it,” said Douglas McCabe from Enders Analysis, told the BBC.

“Kindle has a massive market share of digital book reading in the UK, and Waterstones will start to take a cut of it.

“However, for all its success, Amazon does not have a solution for ‘discovery’ in physical or digital [books] that even comes close to the merchandising skills inside a branch of Waterstones,” Mr McCabe added.

Last month, US retail giant Target said that it would stop selling Amazon’s Kindle.

Analysts said Target’s move reflected concern that Amazon is becoming a serious competitor in areas outside of books.

Last year, Amazon launched a mobile application which allows users to scan products in-store and shows Amazon’s rival price.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18141399#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

It is travelling 8,000 miles and being carried by 8,000 runners – the Olympic torch has already set off around the UK and the BBC plans to broadcast every moment of its journey before it ignites the Olympic Games in London at the end of July.

But covering a continuously moving object is no easy task and involves some new broadcasting ideas, as technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones has been finding out.

Click here for full coverage of the torch relay

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18143886#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa