Paper Business Cards Live On, Defying Technology; Actor Damon Wayans Promotes an App to Let Users Share Contacts Phone to Phone

Paper Business Cards Live On, Defying Technology

Actor Damon Wayans Promotes an App to Let Users Share Contacts Phone to Phone

RYAN KNUTSON

March 2, 2014 7:53 p.m. ET

Actor Damon Wayans last week in Barcelona, where he was promoting an app that lets users create and share digital business cards. Ryan Knutson/The Wall Street Journal Read more of this post

Tesla Convertible Debt Electrifies Long-Term Investors

Tesla Convertible Debt Electrifies Long-Term Investors

MATT JARZEMSKY And TELIS DEMOS

March 2, 2014 5:58 p.m. ET

Tesla Motors Inc. TSLA -3.06% is showing that when it comes to Wall Street, it is more than just a plaything for day traders and ardent believers in electric cars. Read more of this post

Comcast would consider a spinoff of subscribers: source

Comcast would consider a spinoff of subscribers: source

Fri, Feb 28 2014

By Liana B. Baker

(Reuters) – Comcast is considering spinning off the 3 million subscribers it has offered to divest as part of its proposed $45.2 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable, into a publicly traded company, according to sources familiar with the matter. Read more of this post

Tip for media firms: Go digital big-time or go bust

Tip for media firms: Go digital big-time or go bust

Sunday, Mar 02, 2014

Janice Heng

The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – For media firms to survive, they must go digital in a big way – from becoming “big data” experts to even becoming online retailers. Read more of this post

Facebook-WhatsApp Deal Haunted by Past Web Merger Flops

Facebook-WhatsApp Deal Haunted by Past Web Merger Flops

By Sarah Frier on 10:01 am March 2, 2014.

San Francisco. Facebook investors who pushed the company’s shares to a record after it unveiled the $19 billion deal for WhatsApp would be well served to remember — every Internet takeover of more than $10 billion has flopped. Read more of this post

E = MC2 (Eating = More Choices Squared) ; GrubHub and Seamless take a 13.5% cut of their average delivery order

GrubHub and Seamless take a 13.5% cut of their average delivery order

By Zachary M. Seward @zseward 11 hours ago

GrubHub and Seamless charge an average commission of 13.5% for restaurant orders placed through their websites and apps. And restaurants pay more to appear higher in search results, which isn’t apparent to diners. Read more of this post

Telepresence machines may soon become inexpensive enough for more everyday use, as a conduit for virtual visits among family and friends

The Rolling Robot Will Connect You Now

By ANNE EISENBERGMARCH 1, 2014

A few years ago, the introduction of remote-controlled robots on wheels brought a new dimension to Internet video chats, keeping the conversation going as people moved from room to room. But their costliness has made them a rarity in real life. Now that is changing, and the robots are becoming inexpensive enough that they may soon have many practical uses. Read more of this post

The workplaces of Facebook, Twitter, Google may look whimsical. But each design is calculated to mirror its company’s values and culture. “The harder we work, the more important it is to have space to get away from the chaos for a while”

The Monuments of Tech

By QUENTIN HARDYMARCH 1, 2014

Big Internet companies love to talk about how they are “disrupting” one thing or another, but they still want what big companies have always wanted: workplaces that memorialize their products and values. Read more of this post

Business television shows have a vital role to play in driving future economic growth in the UK; They are a very effective way of inspiring more young people to become entrepreneurs

Business television shows have a vital role to play in driving future economic growth in the UK, says Claire Young

They are a very effective way of inspiring more young people to become entrepreneurs, the former Apprentice finalist tells Rachel Bridge

Television shows have made entrepreneurship exciting, says Claire Young

By Rachel Bridge

6:00AM GMT 24 Feb 2014

Business reality television shows have been a really positive influence on young people and have encouraged many of them to start businesses who might not otherwise have done, says Claire Young. Read more of this post

Meet the seven people who hold the keys to worldwide internet security

Meet the seven people who hold the keys to worldwide internet security

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction: seven keys, held by individuals from all over the world, that together control security at the core of the web. The reality is rather closer to The Office than The Matrix

James Ball

The Guardian, Friday 28 February 2014 13.00 GMT

‘Each of the 14 primary keyholders owns a traditional metal key to a safety deposit box, which in turn contains a smartcard, which in turn activates a machine that creates a new master key.’ Photograph: Laurence Mathieu for the Guardian Read more of this post

Now or Naver: At home, South Korea’s biggest web portal has thrashed Yahoo and kept Google at bay. Now its owner plans to conquer the world with its messaging service

Now or Naver: At home, South Korea’s biggest web portal has thrashed Yahoo and kept Google at bay. Now its owner plans to conquer the world with its messaging service

Mar 1st 2014 | SEONGNAM | From the print edition

DOWN jackets are typically stuffed with duck, not chicken, feathers. Why? “Ask Naver”. So ran an ad in 2003 for a South Korean web portal of that name featuring an innovative, crowdsourced question-and-answer service. In spite of such features, Naver’s chances looked slim as it was launched into a crowded market dominated by Yahoo of America and Daum, another South Korean company. Read more of this post

Telecoms in Mexico: Carlos Slim faces the biggest challenge yet to his dominance in telecoms, and a golden opportunity to break into television

Telecoms in Mexico: Carlos Slim faces the biggest challenge yet to his dominance in telecoms, and a golden opportunity to break into television

Mar 1st 2014 | MEXICO CITY | From the print edition

THERE is nothing that better illustrates Carlos Slim’s ambition to muscle into Mexican television than football. In December the boss of América Móvil, the country’s biggest telecoms firm, watched his new investment, León, march to victory in Mexico’s national league, defeating América, owned by Emilio Azcárraga, a broadcasting mogul. Mr Slim was lucky to see the first leg of the final. Most Mexicans couldn’t. Mr Slim had sold the transmission rights to Fox Sports, not to Mr Azcárraga’s Televisa, Mexico’s biggest broadcaster. For the first time one leg of the two-match final was not shown on nationwide free-to-view television. Read more of this post

Meet TuShare, the start-up using technology and logistics to tap into the sharing economy

Caitlin Fitzsimmons Online editor

Meet TuShare, the start-up using technology and logistics to tap into the sharing economy

Published 27 February 2014 09:15, Updated 28 February 2014 11:56

James Bradfield Moody says the biggest waste stream is the proliferation of unused items in households. Photo: Nic Walker

Sydney-based entrepreneur and futurist James Bradfield Moody wants you to dig out the items gathering dust on your shelves and give them away – it could make him a profit while saving the world. Read more of this post

Bitcoin mania worse than tulip craze

Bitcoin mania worse than tulip craze

Liu Xinyong

BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) — The global bitcoin community was rocked this week by a pair of tragic mishaps.

MtGox, a leading bitcoin exchange headquartered in Japan, shut down deals on Tuesday. On Friday, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan, with its chief executive saying it had lost around 850,000 bitcoins “due to weaknesses in the system.” Read more of this post

Alibaba partners with retail chain to gain edge in O2O market

Alibaba partners with retail chain to gain edge in O2O market

Staff Reporter

2014-03-01

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has teamed up with several retailers in the real world as they further explore business models that connect online and offline operations, the Shanghai-based China Business News reports. Read more of this post

Do it like a software developer; Can other workplaces learn from technology company practices?

February 26, 2014 3:41 pm

Do it like a software developer

By Lisa Pollack

Software developers: probably our new overlords. Or at least it can feel that way in our increasingly digital lives. The past few years have brought a steady flow of initiatives – such as the “Hour of Code”, the “Year of Code” and “Code Year” – that seek to make us all a bit more “developer”. Read more of this post

Apple software to drive smart Ferrari

February 28, 2014 10:15 pm

Apple software to drive smart Ferrari

By Henry Foy and Daniel Thomas in London

First the mobile phone, now the car. Having revolutionised personal communication Apple now wants to change the way we drive. Read more of this post

Regulators are coming under pressure to improve pre-flotation disclosure of information to investors, following this week’s controversial listing of AO World, when shares in the online retailer jumped 33% on its first day of trading

Last updated: February 28, 2014 10:05 pm

Regulators under pressure over AO listing

By Andrew Bolger, Andrea Felsted and David Oakley

Regulators are coming under pressure to improve pre-flotation disclosure of information to investors, following this week’s controversial listing of AO World, when shares in the online retailer jumped 33 per cent on its first day of trading. Read more of this post

Apple’s television division, long dubbed a “hobby” by its executives, is now a billion-dollar business

Last updated: February 28, 2014 11:40 pm

Apple chief turns up TV ambitions

By Tim Bradshaw in Cupertino

Apple’s television division, long dubbed a “hobby” by its executives, is now a billion-dollar business, Tim Cook told investors at an annual meeting on Friday. Read more of this post

New enthusiasm for biotech

February 28, 2014 6:40 pm

New enthusiasm for biotech

By Andrew Ward, Pharmaceuticals Correspondent

A cure for cat allergies might not sound like the most promising starting point for the next stock market boom.

Yet many in the UK biotech industry are hoping the planned flotation this month of Circassia – a specialist in anti-allergy drugs – will mark the return to favour of a sector long shunned by British investors. Read more of this post

Some Puzzling Questions about Innovation in the Digital Economy

February 28, 2014, 12:32 PM ET

Some Puzzling Questions about Innovation in the Digital Economy

By Irving Wladawsky-Berger

Guest Contributor

This semester I am teaching the innovation half of a course on Entrepreneurship and Innovation at New York University’s new Center for Urban Science and Progress. Teaching forces you to take a fresh look at the subjects you are covering, so I find myself revisiting questions I’ve long been thinking about:  What is the essence of innovation in the digital economy and how does it differ from the industrial age innovation of the past 200 years? Read more of this post

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Has ‘High Customer Empathy,’ Says Former Boss

February 28, 2014, 3:57 PM ET

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Has ‘High Customer Empathy,’ Says Former Boss

By Clint Boulton

Reporter

When Microsoft Corp.’sMSFT +1.19% board picked Satya Nadella as the company’s next CEO, many people talked about his 20-plus years at Microsoft, his engineering skills, and his success building the Azure cloud business. But CIOs might like to know that the company’s new chief, who succeeded Steve Ballmer on Feb. 4, has a good ear for customer needs, says a former boss. Read more of this post

The Job After Steve Jobs: Tim Cook and Apple; From the moment he became CEO of Apple, Tim Cook found himself in the shadow of his boss

The Job After Steve Jobs: Tim Cook and Apple

From the moment he became CEO of Apple, Tim Cook found himself in the shadow of his boss

YUKARI IWATANI KANE

Feb. 28, 2014 8:40 p.m. ET

Author of “Haunted Empire, Apple After Steve Jobs”, Yukari Kane discusses what she’s learned about Tim Cook, Apple’s evolving relationship with its suppliers, and whether or not she believes Apple has lost it’s way since Steve Jobs’ death. Read more of this post

Apple CEO promises new products, says Apple TV no longer a ‘hobby’

Apple CEO promises new products, says Apple TV no longer a ‘hobby’

4:27pm EST

By Alexei Oreskovic

CUPERTINO, California (Reuters) – Apple Inc sold more than $1 billion of Apple TV set-top boxes in 2013 and is investing heavily in the next generation of products, Chief Executive Tim Cook said at the company’s annual meeting on Friday. Read more of this post

Autodesk Has Designs on New Business Model: The shift to subscription-based pricing should pay off in the long term.

Autodesk Has Designs on New Business Model

The shift to subscription-based pricing should pay off in the long term.

By Andrew Lange | 02-28-14 | 06:00 AM | Email Article

After fully digesting  Autodesk‘s (ADSK) fiscal 2014 results, we have taken a fresh look at the firm’s strategic business model transition and what it ultimately means for the company over the long term. While the company’s financial performance will be underwhelming (relatively speaking) in the short term given revenue recognition changes, we think Autodesk is well placed to benefit from its shift to more subscription-based, higher long-term value pricing models. We expect revenue growth to converge with 12% billings growth in fiscal 2018. Additionally, we forecast considerable operating margin expansion given the business model transition, with 30% non-GAAP operating margins in fiscal 2018, in line with guidance. In all, we have rolled our financial model forward one year, have become more confident in Autodesk’s ability to migrate clients to subscription-type pricing models, and see good spending across the company’s core markets. As a result, we have increased our fair value estimate to $51 per share from $38 and retain our Wide Economic Moat Rating. Read more of this post

Taking on the tele-garchs: Just as America bust its trusts a century ago, so Mexico needs to take on its near-monopolies in TV and telecoms

Taking on the tele-garchs: Just as America bust its trusts a century ago, so Mexico needs to take on its near-monopolies in TV and telecoms

Mar 1st 2014 | From the print edition

IN HIS second year in office President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico is admirably keen to develop a reputation as a cartel-killer. In December his reforms stripped Pemex, the state oil firm, of its 75-year monopoly. Last month he sent a bill to Congress raising the maximum jail sentence for anticompetitive behaviour to ten years. (He has even made some headway against the relentless drug cartels, as the capture on February 22nd of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Mexico’s most-wanted kingpin, attests—see article.) Read more of this post