Kevin Systrom
Today in Tech: How the Xbox blew it in Japan
December 17, 2012: 5:30 AM ETAlso: Why Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom's testimony doesn't add up; former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson on his startup.
Why Xbox failed in Japan [EUROGAMER]
Doing business in Japan is not the same as doing business in the US, and the Xbox team learnt the hard way. In the US businessmen meet, discuss a contract, terms, sign and then get to work. In Japan business is done based on the strength of a relationship, cultivated in the many restaurants and karaoke bars that litter Tokyo and other business centres. The Japanese want to get a sense of who they're dealing with before they sign on the bottom line.
Disruptions: Instagram testimony doesn't add up [THE NEW YORK TIMES]
Yet the accounts of several people close to Twitter and Facebook, and documents reviewed by The New York Times, contradict the statements he made under oath. Mr. Systrom and Mike Krieger, the other founder of Instagram, held several meetings as late as March with top Twitter executives, according to people on both sides of the talks, who requested anonymity because the talks were private and because they were concerned about legal repercussions. These people said the sides had verbally agreed weeks earlier on a price for Instagram of $525 million in cash and Twitter shares.
Apple stock takes investors on a wild ride [THE LOS ANGELES TIMES]
That performance affects just about anyone who has a 401(k) account or a pension. According to FactSet, a research firm that tracks investment funds, 2,555 institutional investors — mutual funds, hedge funds and pension funds, among others — owned stock in Apple, just behind the 2,590 that held Microsoft stock, as of Sept. 30, the most recent date funds had to disclose their holdings. However, the value of that Apple stock held by institutional investors on that day was $427 billion, compared with $172 billion for Microsoft, according to FactSet.
Former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is on the trail to redemption at new startup [SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS]
In his first interview with this newspaper since being booted from Yahoo, Scott Thompson said he's not trying to prove anything -- he's just "fascinated" by the challenge of whether he can grow a 60-person company into something big.
Two-year-old ShopRunner offers what Thompson called "Amazon Prime for everybody else." Users, who pay a $79 yearly membership fee, get perks like two-click shopping and free two-day delivery from dozens of online retailers, ranging from Toys R Us and Anne Klein to smaller merchants.
Washington Post moves Social Reader off Facebook [MASHABLE]
After several rounds of adjustments to Facebook's News Feed, which havedramatically decreased the amount of traffic sent to most publishers' apps, as well as user complaints about privacy settings, news organizations are no longer so enthused about the apps they developed for Facebook's platform. On Thursday, The Guardian announced it would no longer display articles in its Facebook app; instead, it would redirect readers to its website after clicking on a headline in the app.
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Social media: It's getting nasty out there
The latest dust-up between Instagram and Twitter will have lasting consequences.
FORTUNE – If your Instagram photos look wonky on Twitter, remember that's not by accident. It's by design.
Earlier this week, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom announced onstage at Europe's tech conference Le Web that the popular photo-sharing start-up was killing support for "Twitter cards." As Twitter explained in a post, this basically means when users click Tweets with an Instagram link, photos MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Dec 6, 2012 11:11 AM ET -
Today in Tech: Instagram kills Twitter integration
Also: why eReaders are on the decline; another look at the "mobile first" development philosophy.
Twitter loses ability to properly display Instagram photos [THE NEW YORK TIMES]
"We've decided that right now, what makes sense, is to direct our users to the Instagram Web site," Mr. Systrom said, noting that Instagram images will soon no longer be visible on Twitter. "Obviously things change as a company evolves."
Mr. Systrom did not say when images MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Dec 5, 2012 1:50 PM ET -
Today in Tech: Lenovo trash-talks Microsoft's Surface tablet
Apple's ongoing quest to conquer TV; a new survey reveals our increasing dependency on phones.
Apple's new front in battle for TV [THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]
Apple is in talks with some of the biggest U.S. cable operators about letting consumers use an Apple device as a set-top box for live television and other content, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks represent Apple's most ambitious crack at infiltrating the living room MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Aug 16, 2012 1:24 PM ET -
Today in Tech: Kindle Fire owns 54% of Android tablet market
Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day.
* According to a new report from comScore, Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle Fire now accounts for nearly 54% of all Android tablets in the U.S. Also: Amazon blew away estimates with its latest quarterly earnings: $13.2 billion in revenues and $130 million in net income. (Electronista and CNNMoney)
* Zynga (ZNGA) topped estimates MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Apr 27, 2012 8:45 AM ET -
Today in Tech: Is Facebook worth $104 billion?
Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day.
"Regardless of how you feel about digital ecosystems or about Google, please do not take the free and open internet for granted from government intervention. To the extent that free flow of information threatens the powerful, those in power will seek to suppress it." -- Google co-founder Sergey Brin (Google+)
* MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Apr 19, 2012 3:30 AM ETPosted in: Facebook, Google, Instagram, Kevin Systrom, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Sheryl Sandberg, Zuckerberg -
Today in Tech: Facebook buys Instagram for $1 billion, boosts mobile strategy?
Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day.
* In a surprising move, Facebook is buying Instagram for $1 billion. Did Instagram's latest round of funding cause Facebook to panic? More importantly, will the insanely popular photo-sharing app solve the social network's mobile problems? Also, a brief profile of Instagram founder and CEO Kevin Systrom. (Fortune and The Wall Street Journal)
* MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Apr 10, 2012 4:16 AM ET -
5 things that mattered at SXSW
Couldn't make it to this year's new media pow-wow? Here's everything you need to know in 500 words or less.
FORTUNE -- This year's South by Southwest Interactive may be remembered just as much for what happened outside the halls of the Austin Convention Center as what happened in them. Here's a look at the biggest news stories to come out of the five-day media free-for-all:
Homeless hotspots? Sometimes marketing results in MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Mar 14, 2012 9:22 AM ETPosted in: BBH Labs, CNN, Google, Highlight, homeless hotspots, Instagram, Kevin Systrom, mashable, Paul Davison, South by Southwest, SXSW -
Today in Tech: Instagram hits 27 million users, Android version coming
Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the weekend. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day.
* Instagram reported that it now has 27 million registered users."It's Facebook-level engagement that we're seeing," co-founder Kevin Systrom said at South by Southwest over the weekend. Also, the long-awaited Android version is coming very soon. According to Systrom, it will be better in some ways than the current iPhone version. (Mashable)
* Mega investor MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Mar 12, 2012 5:30 AM ET -
Today in Tech: Is Instagram worth $500 million?
Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day.
* Popular photo-sharing app Instagram may soon raise a new round of funding valuing the startup at up to $500 million. (The Wall Street Journal)
* A profile of Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka "Sabu." The online figure led a group of "hacktivists," and then when caught, contributed to their capture by becoming MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Mar 9, 2012 1:53 AM ET
