marketing

Facebook stock drop: Zuckerberg no longer in world's richest 40

So far this month, Facebook's stock has fallen some 7 percent. The biggest loser is, of course, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The damage has cost the 28-year-old his spot on the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index of the 40 richest people in the world.

This drop won't affect Zuckerberg's day-to-day living. In fact, he just refinanced the mortgage on his $6 million home in Palo Alto, Calif., with a 30-year adjustable-rate loan starting at 1.05 percent.

The rates available to individuals with a high net worth (Zuckerberg may have lost some value, but he's … Read more

Nexus 7 leaves Google with razor-thin profit margin

Google's first branded tablet was bound to rouse the interest of analysts across the globe, as well as appeal to consumers. Combine that with a bargain-rate price of $199 and curiosity becomes surprise.

Can Google make a fair profit margin on the device, which was announced last week for preorder? Or is the price tag on the Internet giant's first tablet model, the Nexus 7, based on gaining a customer base rather than profit margin?

This is where hardware specialists come in. Research firm UBM TechInsights recently came up with a preliminary cost estimate of $184 per device, … Read more

The dark side of QR codes

There's a pretty good chance you've scanned a QR code with your smartphone. QR is short for "quick response." Hidden in those lines are embedded code only your smartphone can read that points it to a new location on the Web. Online marketing gurus are singing the digital praises for the inexpensive cost with maximum return on investment.

The real estate industry is one example. Agents are able to market their hottest properties and themselves by embedding QR codes into their signs and brochures. QR design companies say they're seeing exponential growth in their business … Read more

Windows 7 on majority of PCs for the first time

Windows 7 has taken the majority of the global operating system market for the first time, according to figures from web analytics company StatCounter.

Microsoft's latest operating system till the impending arrival of Windows 8, Windows 7 had 50.2 percent of the OS market for the month of June, while Windows XP -- the second most popular OS -- trailed behind at 29.9 percent of the world's PCs, the figures show.

Windows 7 was launched close to three years ago in October 2009 but, despite receiving a warmer reception than its predecessor Vista, it's been … Read more

Million Dollar Vacuum on sale now for only $999,999

Shameless marketing stunts are a dime a dozen, but that doesn't mean there isn't unmined territory out there. When the goal is to draw attention to a product, company or cause, all that is needed is a good idea and the internet. And a million dollars of gold plating.

The Million Dollar Vacuum (model number GV62711 from GoVacuum in case you are interested in purchasing), takes one of the most recognizable of household appliances and gives it a shiny new coat of bling. Why? To make it clean better, of course. (No, not really; 24k gold plating has … Read more

Facebook's stock is bouncing back -- for now

Don't look now, but Facebook shares have been on the rise for the last three trading days. Last Wednesday, the social network's stock stood at $27.24. It closed today at $31.41, a 15 percent rise in less than a week.

So far, Facebook has recovered more than $10 billion of the $35 billion in market capitalization it blew off following its disastrous IPO. Facebook's painful low of $25.52 -- just 12 days ago! -- is now starting to fade a bit.

There are many possible reasons for Facebook's recent rise. The company has … Read more

IDC forecast: iPad up, Android down, BlackBerry irrelevant

IDC has updated its tablet forecast, raising Apple's iOS share at the expense of Android, while RIM's Blackberry fades to irrelevance.

IDC now expects iOS to grab 62.5 percent of the tablet market in 2012, up from 58.2 percent in 2011. Meanwhile, Android's share will slip to 36.5 percent from 38.7 percent in 2011.

And where does that leave BlackBerry? Virtually nowhere. RIM's tablet platform fades to 1 percent of the market in 2012, down from an already-tiny 1.7 percent share in 2011.

The market researcher is not currently forecasting Windows 8 or Windows RT tablets … Read more

One upside to Nokia's shake-up: An end to its lame ads

Perhaps one silver lining to Nokia's massive shakeup is an end to its poorly thought out "smartphone beta test" campaign for the company's flagship Lumia 900 smartphone.

You've probably seen one. Following the Lumia 900's launch in April, the commercials were everywhere.

They were also ineffective and likely hamstrung the phone's potential. The ads did little to highlight what made the Lumia 900 unique: its fresh look, powerful camera, competitive price, and the still little-used Windows Phone operating system.

It's no surprise that after a strong start, sales of the Lumia 900 fizzled, … Read more

HTC: Low-end smartphones would spoil our brand

In the pot of struggling smartphone makers, it seems like a logical move to push towards the emerging market.

The rapidly-expanding population centers make Brazil, Russia, India and China -- BRIC countries -- an attractive point of interest for smartphone makers when they fall on hard times. Research in Motion made a push with low-end smartphones, and Nokia always has. There's a trend emerging.

As the third musketeer in the dwindling smartphone sales race, HTC is taking a different move by signalling a full-throttle-ahead approach in its existing high-end smartphone markets.

The Taiwan-based smartphone maker said it wants to … Read more