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Apple overtakes HP as biggest PC-maker

The late great Steve Jobs may have declared it the “post-PC era,” but Apple just became the biggest maker of personal computers in the world. Apple pulled ahead of Hewlett Packard in the fourth quarter of last year to become the largest vendor of personal computers, due in large part to the extraordinary demand for its iPad. According to a report by market research firm Canalys, Apple shipped more than 15 million iPads and 5 million Mac computers in the quarter ending 31 December 2011 – representing 17 per cent of the total 120 million client PCs shipped globally in Q4. The client PC market – including desktops, netbooks, notebooks and pads – grew 16 per cent year-on-year; however, take away pads from the equation and the PC market declined by 0.4 per cent. Of the other top five PC vendors, only Lenovo managed to increase its market share – growing by just two points in comparison to Apple’s six-point gain. Acer, Dell and HP all lost market share. Now the second largest PC vendor, HP was the hardest hit as the company struggles to keep up with competitors following the end of its Touchpad. “Currently, HP is pursuing a Windows strategy for its pad portfolio, producing enterprise-focused products, such as the recently launched Slate 2, until the launch of Windows 8,” said Canalys Analyst Tim Coulling in the company’s official press release .

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Apple overtakes HP as biggest PC-maker

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Technology and the Invasion of Privacy Snatchers – A SPN Exclusive Article

On February 5th, 1956, a science fiction movie titled “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was released in the US. The movie is about a small-town doctor who discovers that the population of his community is being systematically replaced by emotionless alien duplicates. Fast forward to today, and life is imitating art, with a real life version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers being played out. But it’s not just happening in one small town. It’s happening in cities and towns all across America. Only it’s not bodies that are systematically being snatched, it’s our individual right to privacy

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Technology and the Invasion of Privacy Snatchers – A SPN Exclusive Article

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Renaming Wi-Fi networks stops Google snooping

Users who want their Wi-Fi hotspot locations ignored by Google now have that option. Google recently announced a way for owners of Wi-Fi networks to be removed from Google’s crowdsourced geolocation database. To opt out, users must visit their access point’s settings and change the wireless network name (or SSID) so that it ends with “_nomap.” For example, if the SSID is “HeyGetOffMyNetwork,” it would need to be changed to “HeyGetOffMyNetwork_nomap.” “As we explored different approaches for opting-out access points from the Google Location Server, we found that a method based on wireless network names provides the right balance of simplicity as well as protection against abuse,” Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counsel, wrote on the Google blog . “Specifically, this approach helps protect against others opting out your access point without your permission.” The opt-out scheme is meant to address privacy issues raised by Google’s location tracking as part of their Street View services. When Google’s camera-cars were sent out to take photographs they also logged the location of every Wi-Fi hotspot they passed. That data was used as part of the search company’s location-based services for mobile devices. The controversial program that didn’t just map Wi-Fi networks, however, but also gathered personal information transmitted over those networks. Since the practice was made known, Google has faced mounting pressure, particularly from European officials, to either kill the mapping service or let people opt out.

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Renaming Wi-Fi networks stops Google snooping

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iPhone misses the mark in Apple quarterly results

Apple has fallen short of Wall Street expectations but easily beat their own forecasts, according to quarterly results . Despite selling 17.1 million iPhones in the past quarter, an increase of 21 per cent on the same quarter last year, sales failed to live up to those from Apple’s last quarter, where iPhone sales were above the 20 million mark 37 million mark. Apple users’ hopes were dashed when the iPhone 4S was unveiled in early October, featuring several internal upgrades to the existing smartphone model, rather than an entirely new product. Still, even in spite of the disappointing arrival of the iPhone 4S – and not, as many had expected, the iPhone 5 – the iPhone still lead the way in overall unit sales for the Cupertino capers. The technology giant also revealed record sales on its popular iPad tablets and Mac computers, with 11.1 million iPads shifted during the last quarter – a 146 per cent increase. The company posted quarterly revenue of $28.2 billion (

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Blogger haven Tumblr takes in $85m investment

Tumblr is the latest social outlet to see a surge in spending cash, as venture capitalists – including Sir Richard Branson – poured $85 million into the start-up. First reported by the New York Times and subsequently confirmed by the company itself, Tumblr found the financing through Greylock Partners, Insight Venture Partners, the Chernin Group, Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures and Sequoia Capital in addition to Branson. “This additional capital allows us to continue to scale our business and give real focus to the further development of Tumblr,” chief executive and founder David Karp said in an email. Tumblr launched just under five years ago as a more social alternative to traditional blogging services. Incorporating features such as simple ‘reblogging’ – similar to retweeting, only on a larger scale – the site has grown to become a powerhouse in the social media sphere. A report published by Nielsen earlier this month confirmed the surge of the social standout, saying it had nearly tripled its number of unique US visitors in just one year – and purely on word of mouth advertising. The New York-based firm also recently eclipsed 10 billion total posts, based on nearly 30 million unique blogs, and all signs lead to an IPO for the company some time in 2012

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Blogger haven Tumblr takes in $85m investment

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Beyond Expectations – Getting the Most out of Facebook Like and Share

People long have loved to find new and innovative uses for the most innocuous technologies and advances. In the late 19th century, “moving pictures” were a nickel-arcade novelty. Today films such as Avatar are made on budgets comparable to military-grade hardware investments. Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone could barely call from one room to another; now the average iPhone has more uses and computing power than all the computers used in World War II combined. This trend is repeating itself with the rise of social media network marketing practices. What started as socialization programs only slightly more complex than the average e-mail client has grown into one of the newest and most promising marketing niches in the entire world

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Beyond Expectations – Getting the Most out of Facebook Like and Share

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Yahoo! says bye-bye to Bartz

Carol Bartz has been fired from Yahoo! as chief executive officer. She will be replaced by Yahoo!’s chief financial officer Tim Morse, effective immediately. In a press release , Yahoo! said: “The Board of Directors has appointed Timothy Morse interim chief executive officer, effective immediately, replacing Carol Bartz, who has been removed by the Board from her role as chief executive officer.” “The board is commencing a search for a permanent chief executive officer and expects to engage the services of a nationally recognised executive search firm to help it identify candidates for the position as expeditiously as possible.” Bartz was named CEO in 2009, taking over from Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang, but her tenure was marked by struggle and, despite job cuts and a management team shake up, the company was unable to regain lost ground against search giant Google . Rumours about a potential management switch-up began circulating in Silicon Valley months ago and came to a head at Yahoo!’s annual shareholder meeting in June. When asked to address reports that Yahoo! was looking for new leadership, chairman Roy Boystock denied rumours and reiterated that the board was “very supportive of Carol and the management team.” Following the news of her departure, Yahoo! shares jumped 6 per cent in after-hours trading, an increase of 81 cents to $13.72 According to the New York Times , Bartz sent an email to employees informing them of her departure: “I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo!’s chairman of the board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.” After rejecting a $44.6 billion cash-and-stock offer from Microsoft to buy the search engine in 2008, rumours are beginning to circulate about Yahoo! putting itself up for sale hot on the heels of Bartz’s departure. According to the Wall Street Journal , a company insider said Yahoo! is “open to selling itself to the right bidder.” The board of directors is expected to initiate a strategic review to evaluate the company’s current situation and discuss the possibility of acquisitions and partnerships in future

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Yahoo! says bye-bye to Bartz

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Internet Marketers – Proposed Legislation Wants to Appoint You as Tax Collector

Proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress, if passed, will essentially make online merchants tax collectors, forcing them to collect sales taxes for all purchases. This is the latest attempt by cash-strapped states to collect sales tax revenues from online sales. The Main Street Fairness Act (MSFA), introduced by Senator Dick Durban (D-IL), would change the current law which requires merchants to collect sales tax only when the merchant has a physical presence in the state. The effect of MSFA on online merchants, particularly small merchants, could be huge. The Current Sales Tax War The general rule regarding sales taxes is that merchants are required to collect sales taxes on the sale of tangible property to purchasers located within the merchant’s state. For sales to purchasers outside the merchant’s state, the merchant is required to collect sales taxes only for sales into a state where the merchant has a “nexus”, meaning a physical presence.

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Internet Marketers – Proposed Legislation Wants to Appoint You as Tax Collector

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Why Are 95% Of Internet Marketers Unsuccessful?

It’s an unnerving fact, but of all potential internet marketing wannabees, only 5% go on to sell products and make a success of their ventures. There is a huge drop-out rate with the vast majority failing to make it even past the first hurdle. Why do so many people give up before they’ve barely begun? These figures are in stark contrast to those published for more traditional business start-ups. According to statistics published by the Small Business Administration (SBA), seven out of ten new employer establishments survive at least two years and 51 percent survive at least five years. This is a far cry from the previous long-held belief that 50 percent of businesses fail in the first year and 95 percent fail within five years. So why the big difference?

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Why Are 95% Of Internet Marketers Unsuccessful?

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The Low-Down on Local Places Listings

Though the World-wide-web is often praised as the foundation for globalization, and links us across countries and continents, new developments have shown the relevance of emphasizing the local places listings and other local aspects of internet marketing. How to SEO is Over. Local Places Listings are in. Facebook Check-in, the rise of Foursquare and Yelp, and the popularity of Google Places listings and Google Maps establish this point. There are several main aspects to your local business listings: local directories and your business address; the content of your local listing and customer reviews. Let us look at each of these in greater detail.

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The Low-Down on Local Places Listings

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