dst

Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad yet again had difficulty adjusting to daylight saving time.

Frustrated U.S. iDevice users on Facebook, Twitter, and Apple forums griefed over the weekend that their gadgets fell back an hour instead of springing forward.

This means many alarms went off went off at incorrect times yesterday and today, making people late for appointments, church, and whatever else people do on Sunday mornings (as for me, just don't wake me up).

"Thanks iPod Touch and iPhone for making me late to work! DST is not working properly," Twitter user iSiC_XXIII wrote.

Wrote Twitter user meemnoonwowrah: "Wife's iPhone needed a reboot to fix DST time switch. My Android phone was automatic. Even MS has that fixed. Come on Apple. Step ya game up."

The fix is easy, according to PCMag.com. "Either power the phone off and turn it on again, or go into the device's settings and switch Airplane Mode on briefly, then flip it off." … Read more

Digital Sky Technologies, a large Russian Internet company and a major investor in Facebook, has changed its name to Mail.ru Group.

Along with international media group Naspers, Mail.ru Group has been co-owner of Mail.ru, a Russian firm that offers e-mail, social-networking, gaming, and entertainment services. The switch in name from Digital Sky Technologies to Mail.ru Group reflects the changing nature and focus of its business, the company said late yesterday.

Mail.ru Group has already made a name for itself by pouring huge investment dollars into U.S. Internet companies, such as Facebook, Groupon, and Zynga. … Read more

AOL is reportedly in talks to sell its ICQ instant-messaging service to a Russian Internet investment group.

Digital Sky Technologies (DST) is in negotiations to acquire ICQ for between $200 million and $250 million, according to Russian newspaper Vedomosti. ICQ, which AOL purchased in 1998 for $400 million, has about 8.4 million unique monthly visitors in Russia and is the No. 1 instant-messaging service in that country, according to market researcher ComScore.

AOL, which was recently spun off from Time Warner, was rumored last month to have hired investment bankers Morgan Stanley and Allen & Co. to find a buyer … Read more

Updated at 8:30 p.m.: to correct that DST has no funding from the Russian government.

As reported earlier, Facebook is taking a $200 million round of funding from Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian investment company. While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a conference call Tuesday morning that Facebook revenue numbers were up, that the company was growing, and that Facebook was, "on track to creating a nice, self-sustaining business," he explained that at Facebook, "we're open to interesting offers."

With many companies wanting to invest in Facebook, what made the DST offer so interesting?

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told me that Facebook was "not actively seeking investments." DST input will be key to Facebook's Eastern European business growth, though. "This is an investment with a strategic partner. We're excited for the learnings," she said.

But a source familiar with DST laid it out for me a bit differently: if Facebook wants to be successful in Russia, DST can bring a lot to the table besides knowledge. DST is close to the government there, the source said, and while outright involvement (or obstruction) from the Russian government is highly unlikely, if Facebook wants its business to go more smoothly, DST can help.

For example, should Facebook want to hire Russians, a connected investor like DST could help. DST influence could be even more important if Facebook wanted to acquire companies in the region.

DST's Alexander Tamas told me his company is private and does not have many interactions with the government. There is no government funding in DST. Still, our source says that DST's connections to the government, subtle though they may be, are important because the Russian market is not friendly to outsiders. "It's a market where you want a partner," I was told.

DST's investment gives it no power over Facebook in the United States, and reportedly no control of the company nor access to U.S. customer data. But through this arrangement, Facebook will likely have an easier time growing its market share in Russia, of obvious benefit to its new investor. … Read more

Facebook announced on Tuesday a $200 million investment from Digital Sky Technologies (DST), whose social networks are market leaders in Europe.

Presuming Facebook is valued at $10 billion, DST's $200 million comes out to about a 1.96 percent stake, the companies said in a statement. DST would not have a seat on the board or hold special observer rights, the companies said.

DST also plans to offer to purchase at least $100 million of Facebook common stock from existing stockholders whose shares have vested. The details of the plan will be announced during the summer.

"This investment … Read more

When daylight saving time came two weeks early this year, there was concern that there might be a host of problems. There were some, but like the Y2K bug, there was not widespread mayhem and chaos as the movie-of-the-week industry might have hoped.

But Congress didn't just spring forward a little early this year. It's also is making us wait a week longer to fall back. Instead of changing this past weekend, we don't go back until next weekend. I thought most of the gadgets would know, but it appears not all of them got the message. … Read more

Dear Microsoft,

What the heck is wrong with you people?

Let me ask you the question another way. When I set up a birthday in Outlook, what makes you think that when the time zone changes, a birthday should move forward or back accordingly? But that's just what happened when I got my automated patch for the new daylight-savings time. Between March 11 and April 1, all my appointments moved back one hour. My father-in-law's birthday became a 24-hour event that takes place from 1 a.m. on March 21 to 1 a.m. on March 22. Since … Read more