Mobile Payments Competition: PayPal Here vs. Square

Fuente:http://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/mobile-payment-platforms-paypal-vs-square.html

Who will win? Doesn't matter--small businesses stand to gain as these mobile payment platforms try to out-innovate each other.

PayPal

PayPal has come out with guns blazing this week, announcing a new thumb-sized triangular credit card reader called PayPal Here that will let small businesses accept various forms of payment via iOS and (soon) Android devices. Sound familiar? It should—Square has offered similar—albeit square-shaped—technology for a while.

Now that PayPal is taking Square on head-to-head things are going to get interesting, but which company will come out ahead is a good question. A few things to consider:

Square Is Well-Loved by Users

 Square has been a darling of the start-up ecosystem since launching in 2009 because it lets anyone take a credit card payment from anyone else—all with a small card reader that plugs into an iOS or Android mobile device. It's so slick that even President Obama's re-election campaign has said it will use Square to process credit card donations.

There's no doubt Square has been disruptive. The company, co-founded by Twitter's Jack Dorsey and backed by billionaire Richard Branson, has been valued at $1 billion and is processing $11 million in payments per day via more than a million merchants using its platform. It also has scored retail agreements with Apple, Walmart, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Target.

Even so, ask around and there are going to be plenty of small business owners who still don't know about Square.

Brand Recognition, for Better and Worse

 And that's where PayPal may make serious headway—with its powerful brand recognition and 100 million users worldwide.

For years consumers have trusted PayPal to be the financial go-between online—in instances where you don't want to hand over your credit card to a party you may not be able to trust. And if some part of the sale goes bad—say your Ebay purchase never shows up–PayPal gets involved and will refund your money.

But it's that intermediary role that also has given PayPal a bad rap from some users who say that the company goes too far in protecting buyers, sometimes wrongly freezing seller accounts based on these disputes.

But for the vast majority of people who have used PayPal without incident, the new mobile payment solution will likely be a welcome one.

The blue PayPal Here reader and its accompanying app look impressive. Not only can you swipe credit cards using the thumb-sized reader and mobile app, you can also use your device's camera to scan cards and paper checks as well as pay for things using your PayPal account.

And PayPal is undercutting Square's 2.75% transaction fee by just a titch, setting its flat rate at 2.7% for card swipes and PayPal payments. PayPal Here users also get a business debit card with 1% cash back.

Who Will Prevail?

 Hands-down domination in this space isn't likely to be something we're going to see soon. For one thing, it's a humongous market and many big players are investing heavily in digital wallet platforms.

In addition to its new payment device PayPal this week announced that its digital wallet will be released in May. With it, you'll be able pick a credit or debit card to use for a transaction or set up rules that designate which account should be used to pay for purchases involving various dollar amounts. PayPal's wallet also will let you create virtual accounts in which funds can automatically be deposited to save up for things like vacations or holiday shopping funds.

Square and PayPal aren't the only ones to watch.

The Isis digital wallet platform is ramping up to be a major contender. Earlier this month VeriFone, Ingenico, ViVOtech and Equinox Payments announced they would be integrating Isis into their products. Other big names backing Isis include mobile carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

And then, of course, there's Google Wallet to consider.

Google recently announced Sprint would introduce at least 10 additional phones with Google Wallet on board. Already about two dozen of the largest U.S. retail chains now let people buy things using Google Wallet by tapping their phones onto MasterCard PayPass terminals.

Wallet is a big deal for Google. According to the Silicon Valley's Mercury News, Google has been strong-arming developers to use Google Wallet and has warned some of them that if they continue to use other payment methods such as PayPal that their apps would be removed from Google Play (its version of an apps store).

Regardless of which platform comes out on top, one thing is certain: Consumers and business owners stand to be the real winners as all these powerful players seek to out-innovate each other.

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Nearly 90 percent of tablet owners using them to shop

Fuente:http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2011/12/nearly-90-percent-of-tablet-owners-using-them-to-shop/

"Only two weeks into the 2011 holiday shopping season and it is clear that tablet commerce is a critical and emerging channel for retail sales. In addition to actively spending, our survey reveals the personalities and intentions of this holiday season's tablet shoppers so that innovative retailer and brand marketers can better create customized experiences for this powerful new segment of shoppers," said W. Sean Ford, COO and CMO of Zmags.

• 87 percent of tablet owners are holiday shopping using their tablets and will spend an average of $325.  An infographic illustrating the survey results can be found online here.
• Nearly a third of tablet owners like to shop on their tablets because it is convenient. Twenty-four percent of tablet owners also like how the tablet experience facilitates easy browsing and helps them discover products via retailers' sites, digital catalogs and apps.
• Clothing, toys and luxury categories are quickly joining electronics for strong tablet commerce prominence this holiday season. More than half of tablet owners are browsing for clothes on their tablets, with 38 percent buying them via their device. Toys are browsed by 43 percent of tablet owners, with 38 percent purchasing them on their tablets. Jewelry is not far behind, with several tablet owners admitting to purchasing expensive diamond rings, watches and bracelets using their tablets.
• Tablet owners plan to engage in couch commerce for the long term. Next year, 49 percent of today's tablet owners plan to shop even more using their tablets, whereas only 19 percent of smartphone owners say they will shop more from their smartphones.
• Other survey findings include:
  • Fifty percent of tablet owners say the couch is their favored location for shopping but they can also be found shopping in bed (20 percent), at the kitchen counter, in the mall and at coffee shops as well as on public transportation.
  • More than half of tablet owners say shopping makes them feel happy and more excited, indulgent and generous than other forms of online, mobile or in-store shopping.
  • Tablet shoppers see themselves as savvy spenders (52 percent), spontaneous splurgers (14 percent) and luxury buyers (9 percent).
  • Men are bigger spenders on their tablets than women this holiday season. Fifty-two percent of the men estimate they will spend between $201-500 via their tablets, compared to 37 percent of female shoppers.
• The survey of 1,500 online shoppers, including 238 tablet owners, was conducted by Equation Research for Zmags. A broader report studying the profiles and behaviors of tablet, smartphone and Facebook shoppers will be released inJanuary 2012.

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Google se prepara para 'pensar' como un humano

Fuente http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2012/03/15/navegante/1331813742.html

Google ultima una actualización que cambiará la estructura en su motor de búsqueda. El gigante de Internet trabaja para ofrecer mejores resultados gracias a la incorporación de la búsqueda semántica.

El motor de búsqueda de Google se reestructurará para seguir el ritmo de su competencia y poderse mantener por delante de ellos gracias a que someterán a un cambio a su sistema, según ha publicado el diario The Wall Street Journal. Google compite con una amplia variedad de empresas en este campo, como Bing, Live Search de Microsoft o el motor de búsquedas Wolfram Alpha.

En los próximos meses el buscador de Google no cambiará el sistema actual de búsqueda por palabras clave, pero proporcionará resultados más relevantes y más directos, y dará algo más que una lista de "enlaces azules". Estos cambios afectarán a millones de sitios web que dependen de la actual clasificación de Google de páginas de resultados. Además proporcionará más formas diferentes de anunciarse.

Incorporación de la "búsqueda semántica"

Un alto ejecutivo de búsqueda de Google, Amit Singhal, ha anunciado que incorporarán a su sistema de búsqueda una novedad tecnológica llamada búsqueda semántica. Con ello realizaran un proceso para entender "el verdadero significado de las palabras", lo que permitirá ver mejores resultados de las consultas.

La búsqueda semántica asociará las palabras que son diferentes entre sí por lo que traten de decir. Puede diferenciar entre palabras con más de un significado, como "Jaguar" de la marca del coche y el animal. Según agregó el ejecutivo de Google, el motor de búsqueda de Google "se parecerá más a cómo los seres humanos entienden el mundo".

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Google URL Shortener(goo.gl), ¿datos accesibles publicamente?

Al contrario que otros acortadores como Bit.ly (permite indicar si todas tus "transacciones" vinculadas con ellos son publicas o privadas) , Google NO nos da opcion. Es todo publico, y podemos observar tanto el origen del contenido, como la analitica de cada vez que se accede (ubicacion, browser,momento...). 

Una pequeña "ventana indiscreta" que recoge todo lo que es movido por los usuarios (no creo que muchos sean conscientes de esto) de sistemas google (que necesita ser acortado...vamos,casi todo si lo llevamos ...por ejemplo, aTwitter), y en tiempo real. Además nos da alguna informacion extra sobre los parametros usados en las  campañas de marketing online de empresas (abajo, ejemplo de Grupon)

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4 Tips For Getting More Site Conversions

Getting people to your Web site is one thing. Getting them to do something while they're there is another. And then, of course, getting them to do what you want them to do is another beast entirely. But, as a marketer, that's your job; to get someone to your Web site in order to take a desired action. So is there any way to increase your chances at a conversion?

Absolutely.

If you're finding that customers are landing on your site but are either leaving prematurely or are leaving without doing what you'd hoped they do, below are four conversion optimization tips to stop that from happening.

1. Promote Benefits, Not Features

Your Web site doesn't sell a product or a service; it sells a customer benefit.

It doesn't matter if your business is set up to sell life insurance or overpriced toasters, realize that it's not the item itself that your customer is paying for. No one is interested in the features of that new toaster. What they are interested in is the benefit it will have on their life.

The benefit may be a lazy Sunday morning breakfast at the table with their family or that they save 15 minutes every morning because that toaster cooks frozen waffles faster. It's not the features themselves they care about – it's the benefit to their lives and the story behind it.

And that's what you have to promote. By promoting the benefits to your customers you show them what's at stake and give them a story they can't pass up. Promote that, not your four heating options.

2. Remove Distractions

You know what path you want someone to take when they land on your product pages. You want them to add the item to their shopping cart and either continue shopping or check out. That's it. Two things. So why are you giving them 10 different options and directing them to a sea of non-buying distractions? When it comes to design, less is more. People can't handle having more than a few choices. If you show me you have 500 different pairs of sneakers on your Web site and you try to show me ALL of them, as well as all your other apparel, I'm going to run away screaming. I can't process that many choices. And (unfortunately for you) your customers aren't much different from me.

Take a look at your Web site, especially pages designed to convert, and get rid of anything that does not serve the intended purpose for that page. I shouldn't be able to get from your shopping cart to your home page in one click. All I should be able to do is finish my checkout. Give me something to distract from a purchase and I'm going to pick that every time. Don't give me something and I'll have nothing else to do but enter my credit card information.

3. Create a Clear Call to Action

You may know what you want customers to do on your Web site, but do they? If they don't it's because you're not creating clear (or compelling) enough calls to action to make them move. Encourage forward movement by using color, visual cues, and site hierarchy to lead people toward a particular action. Don't be afraid to tell someone what it is you want them to do – buy, click, read, subscribe, follow, friend, etc. Your customers don't know what they're supposed to do until you tell them with a call to action that grabs their attention and keeps them on course. Craft CTAs around these site goals.

4. Be Smart About Placement

Placement matters. In the olden days when people got their information from newspapers (I know, we're going way back), journalists were careful to make sure the most important information was above the fold because that was their best chance of their audience seeing it. On the Web, we have our own above the fold. It's everything a user can see before they have to scroll down the page. But we also know there are other hot spots that a user's eye is drawn to — like the golden triangle. When you're working up your calls to action, make sure you're placing them directly in a user's line of sight. Study how people navigate your Web site and place these conversion-heavy items where their eyes are going to be.

If you're noticing that people are landing on your site but not converting, it could be that you're going after the wrong traffic. Or, it could be that you're simply not doing a very good job moving the traffic you have. The four tips above can help increase the number of conversions happening your Web site by keeping customers on task and removing any unnecessary distractions.

Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmallBusinessTrends/~3/3rXHF_pJgxo/site-conversion-tips.html

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Un estudio de KPMG recomienda dejar libre acceso a las redes sociales en el trabajo

Un estudio de la consultora KPMG, basado en 4.000 entrevistas a ejecutivos de diez paíases, recomienda dejar libre acceso a las redes sociales en el trabajo, si bien marcando una política concreta de uso. "Bloquear o restringir severamente estas web puede crear más riesgos que los que elimina", concluye el informe, que aborda la utilización de los social media en las empresas desde diversas perspectivas

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Original Page: http://www.euskadinnova.net/es/enpresa-digitala/noticias/estudio-kpmg-recomienda-dejar-libre-acceso-redes-sociales-trabajo/8396.aspx?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=accesos_rss

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Top 5 Countries Where Expats Earn More Money

Top 5 Countries Where Expats Earn More Money

We examine where in the world expats are currently earning the most money and enjoying the highest disposable incomes

The global economic situation is far from positive and affluent at the moment, which means that many people are considering a move overseas in a bid to escape the worst of the financial doom and gloom in their own home country.  The only trouble with taking this approach is that you have to ensure you pick the right nation to relocate to, otherwise you could be in a worse situation if you're not careful!

Many of the world's countries have been affected – whether directly or indirectly - by a whole host of negative fiscal issues, therefore choosing the nation you relocate to next must be done very carefully indeed, if you are to prosper.

The good news is, if you have your heart set on moving to a nation where you can earn more and/or have greater disposable income, HSBC's Expat Explorer survey results for 2011 reveal the top 5 countries where expats currently earn more money, and have more money to spend and enjoy.  In this report we're going to take a look at each of the top 5 nations in turn…

1)  Saudi Arabia

Expats living in Saudi report having significantly strong disposable income: in part this is because their salaries are less eroded by taxation, and in part this is because many expats in Saudi still enjoy attractive employment packages. 

Such packages can include accommodation or money towards accommodation – and if you remove taxation and housing from your monthly wage, you're left with a lot more money to play with.

However, another reason why expats report having strong disposable income levels is because there is less for them to spend their money on locally.  Saudi is not a party capital like Dubai for example!  Which is also perhaps why the expats surveyed in Saudi report that a key way for them to enjoy their excess cash is from taking luxurious holidays elsewhere!

2)  Egypt

Interestingly Egypt scores exceptionally well in HSBC's Expat Economics survey, but it performs badly in their Expat Experience survey.  This is strongly attributed to the deterioration on the local political scene, and the knock on effects this has had nationwide for personal security for example.

Expats living in Egypt cite strong salary options, strong disposable income factors, and rather than splurging their excess wealth, they are far more likely to save their money.  Again, perhaps this is because of the instability that such expats live with in their day-to-day lives in Egypt at the current time.

It's also worth noting that there is quite a fast turn over of expats in Egypt – perhaps again because of the unstable landscape, it's not an environment where expats remain for the medium to long-term at the current time.

3)  Singapore

Singapore is a high paying, high earning location, where expats also benefit from lower levels of taxation.  They end up having more disposable income as a result but – and it's a big but – the cost of living in Singapore can be very high and demanding. 

What this means is that whilst Singapore reached number 2 in terms of the nations where expats' incomes are highest, it dropped down a place as soon as affordability was brought into the equation.

To enjoy a good standard of living, expats have to pay out a lot for the likes of accommodation and education…

4)  Russia

Russia scored particularly highly for income levels and disposable income levels, with expats reporting that on many levels, affording a decent standard of living in Russia was eminently achievable.  However, from our own research there is a very noticeable discrepancy between salary levels for jobs in different sectors.

Whilst this is of course the fact in any nation, in Russia even some of the sectors where expats might expect to find high paying jobs have limited salary options.  Therefore, if you're looking at Russia, ensure your salary expectations are realistic!

5)  Switzerland

Switzerland has a lot in common with Singapore for expats in terms of money matters.  It's a nation with high salaries and low taxes, where expats enjoy strong disposable income – but where that wealth is quickly eroded by the day-to-day cost of living for those who want to achieve a high standard of living.

No one should ever underestimate the cost of living in Switzerland – from accommodation to groceries, from education to healthcare, costs are universally high. 

Therefore, if you've been offered work in the nation and it appears to be exceptionally well paid, ensure you visit and examine what costs you could face as an expat before you commit to your relocation.

In Conclusion…

From the results of HSBC's Expat Explorer survey it's possible to compare the wealth enjoyed by expats in many nations around the world. 

The above detailed 5 nations come out on top in terms of countries where expats specifically earn more – but because the cost of living and the quality of life achievable overseas are of equal importance to many expats, you may want to concentrate your own research on where in the world offers you a perfect balance between all the critical aspects for your relocation.

The results of the survey are available online.

View full page: www.shelteroffshore.com/index.php/2/countries-where-expats-earn-more-11148

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Work/Life Balance Is A Myth; Here's What You Can Do About It

When I ask busy executives to describe a satisfying life, they often envision a scenario in which they work hard but dictate their own assignments. They want time to take part in important family events. They are eager to make real contributions to their organizations, and they also want breaks when they're tired. What they really need is control. But, frequently, what they think they want is balance--and that's where trouble starts.

Here's what I tell them: work-life balance is a myth. That myth compels many of us to view an ideal life as a set of perfectly level scales. On the tray on one side is your personal life. On the other side is your work life. With heroic efforts, you can keep both trays exactly level. If one starts to tip too far, you make some kind of nifty move that balances them again.

In reality, that perfect balance almost never occurs, except for those rare, fleeting moments when the trays pass each other on the way up or down--and we're too frazzled to appreciate that brief moment of self-actualization anyway.

There's always a lot of chatter in the media about the latest trends in work-life balance. As recently as last month, Reuters published a piece about Volkswagen agreeing to deactivate the BlackBerrys of German staff members when their shifts are over, so they can really go off the clock. Having followed articles like these for years, as well as through reflecting on conversations with clients and colleagues, I've noticed a couple trends of my own. First, when it comes to work-life balance, we often adopt a victim mind-set. Our lives are out of balance not through our own fault but because of something someone else--a preoccupied spouse, nasty boss, or needy kid--is doing, or not doing. Second, we want to believe there's a quick fix that we're somehow overlooking.

Among those supposed fixes:

Working from home gives you the best of both worlds: A decade or so ago, when my three boys were very young, I ran across one of those "you can have it all" articles that was accompanied by a laughable photo. A clean-cut, preppy guy sat in his home office in rays of sunlight, sipping coffee and joyfully pecking away at his laptop as he balanced a toddler on his knee. I had attempted a similar trick, under pressing deadlines, on numerous occasions. What did I learn? Doing what that guy in the photo was doing is impossible for more than a few minutes at a time. The only thing we had in common was a love of coffee, which would quickly be spilled on the laptop by my toddler. You can save yourself a ton of hassle by learning to say no: I tried this once back in junior high, when I took out the trash and mowed the grass at a cafeteria. The owner wanted me to do additional work in the kitchen, but I told him, no, I liked working outside more. The very next day he had me on a ladder with a paint scraper--and there I stayed for two miserable months. Lesson learned: don't say if no if you don't have any leverage.Getting more help around the house makes it all better: There's definitely something to be said for having someone clean the house or mow the lawn. In theory, it gives people more time to do what they want to do. In practice, however, what I've seen is that people often invest that free time in doing more work. And that points to another faulty assumption in the work-life debates--that everybody wants more time away from work. In fact, some people--and I've met many of them throughout two decades of working closely with leaders--don't really want balance. Their identity is rooted in work, and that's where they want to be. Outside of work, in the complex dance of family and community responsibilities, they lose their autonomy. Their professional expertise doesn't mean much. They no longer have control.

And control, in my view, is what we're really trying to get to with all the chatter about balance. We need better ways to manage work-life boundaries, understanding that we are subject to phases, often dictated by events out of our control, in which our work lives and personal lives ebb and flow in their demands. The more we assume actual leadership of our own lives, instead of waiting for someone else to do it for us, the better prepared we are to deal with this unending juggle.

Here are a few ideas for getting started:

Shore up the home front: A lot of stress in our lives, the kind that throws us way off balance, starts with relationship problems at home. Work on them. Get counseling, talk to your spouse and kids. If returning to your family after a day of work fills you with angst, that's a situation only you can repair. Take ownership of the problem, and you'll feel better for it.Quit complaining: If you feel overworked to the point that you complain about it constantly, how do you think everyone around you feels about it? It's trendy in many companies to run around with multiple, flashing digital devices strapped to our belts or spread out on the table, just so everyone can see how unbelievably busy and important we are. Reinvest that energy in reframing your career possibilities.Say "no" strategically: The best time to take control of a job is before you accept it. Once you accept it, your negotiating power plummets. So set some ground rules. Be clear on how your performance will be measured. Test the waters. Does everyone in this organization work constantly? If so, don't be surprised when that happens to you a few months later. If your boss loads you up with one more task, try to get an old one off your plate.

Forget about the even scales. It's a really bad analogy. Take control instead.

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El FBI cierra Megaupload,se enfrentan a 50 años de prisión

El Departamento de Estado de EEUU, junto al FBI y otras autoridades internacionales, ha liderado una operación contra la popular página web de intercambio de archivos Megaupload, que ha sido clausurada, y contra varios de sus responsables, que han resultado detenidos y acusados en el estado de Virginia (EEUU) de conspiración para cometer un crimen y violación de la propiedad intelectual.

El fundador del sitio, Kim 'Dotcom' es el principal acusado, y se podría enfrentar a 50 años de prisión

La operación se ha dirigido contra dos compañías, Megaupload Limited y Vestor Limited, y en estos momentos las páginas webMegaupload -intercambio de archivos- y Megavideo -visualización de vídeos en Internet-, ambas propiedad de las mismas compañías, se encuentran inaccesibles, como también lo están Megapix, Megalive y Megabox.

El Departamento de Justicia acusa a siete de los responsables de estas compañías de crimen organizado y asegura que son "responsables" de "piratería masiva en todo el mundo de diferentes tipos de obras protegidas por derechos de propiedad intelectual". Además, en la nota hecha pública se asegura que estas páginas han generado más de 175 millones de dólares en actividades delictivas y que han causado "más de 500 millones de dólares en daños a los propietarios de las obras protegidas".

Hasta 50 años de prisión

La denuncia contra los acusados se cursó el 5 de enero en EEUU, y los cargos concretos son participar en una conspiración de crimen organizado, cometer infracciones de derechos de autor de forma masiva, blanqueo de dinero y dos cargos criminales de violación de la propiedad intelectual. Así, cada uno de los siete acusados se enfrentan a penas de hasta 50 años de prisión entre todos los cargos.

El pirata informático Kim 'Dotcom', acomodado en el interior de su avión particular.

Así, la demanda de la administración estadounidense identifica al fundador de las compañías, el alemán Kim 'Dotcom', alias de Kim Schmitz como Kim 'Tim Jim Vestor', de 37 años y residente en Hong Kong y Nueva Zelanda, de liderar esta red criminal. Dotcom sería el director yúnico accionista de Vestor Limited, que sería la compañía utilizada para encubrir sus actividades en todas las páginas web afiliadas a la red 'Mega'.

El FBI ha incautado 50 millones de dólares en bienes y 18 dominios de Internet

'Dotcom' es un 'hacker' millonario alemán de 38 años residente desde 2010 en Nueva Zelanda aficionado a los coches deportivos y las mujeres, según un perfil publicado en la prensa neozelandesa. Considerado uno de las 10 personas más ricas del país, está casado y tiene tres hijos.

Además del fundador, han sido acusados el director de márketing Finn Batato, de 38 años y ciudadano de Alemania; Julius Bencko, diseñador, de 35 años y ciudadano de Eslovaquia; Sven Echternach, director de desarrollo de negocio, 39 años y ciudadano de Alemania; Mathias Ortmann, director técnico, cofundador y director, 40 años y ciudadano de Alemania; Andrus Nomm, programador, de 32 años y ciudadano de Estonia; y Bram van der Zolk, programador, de 29 años y ciudadano holandés.

De los acusados, Dotcom, Batato, Ortmann y Van der Kolk fueron detenidos de forma provisional en Auckland, Nueva Zelanda, a petición de EEUU. Bencko, Echternach y Nomm, por ahora, permanecen en libertad. Además, se han ejecutado más de 20 intervenciones de bienes en nueve países, con las que se han incautado alrededor de 50 millones de dólares. También se han intervenido servidores de la compañía en Virginia, Washington, Holanda y Canadá. Asimismo, se han retenido 18 dominios de Internet asociados con las compañías intervenidas.

Beneficios 'ilegales': 175 millones de dólares

En su nota, el Departamento de Justicia explica que durante cinco años estas compañías, a las que acusan de ser toda una red de "conspiración", han gestionado páginas web que "reproducen y distribuyen copias no autorizadas protegidas por propiedad intelectual en una escala masiva". Así, estima que Megaupload sumaba 150 millones de usuarios registrados, 50 millones de usuarios diarios y alrededor del 4% del tráfico de Internet. Con estos datos, se asegura, sin otra valoración, que el daño causado a las compañías propietarias de los derechos de propiedad intelectual es de 500 millones de dólares.

Asimismo, se establecen los beneficios "ilegales" logradas por los acusados en dichos años en 175 millones de dólares a través de publicidad y venta de cuentas 'premium'. Además, según la demanda, se les acusa de blanquear dinero "pagando a usuarios" a través de un sistema de incentivos a quienes publicasen archivos con más descargas y con pagos a otras compañías para alojar contenido que infringía la propiedad intelectual.

La demanda destaca que Megaupload 'ocultaba' el contenido protegido para no tener que eliminarlo

También se detalla el modo de funcionamiento de Megaupload, es decir, la posibilidad de 'subir' y descargar archivos y se asegura que el modelo de negocio de la compañía estaba "expresamente diseñado para promover la publicación de las obras protegidas más populares para que fuesen descargadas por millones de usuarios".

Así, se alega que el sitio estaba construido para desalentar a los usuarios de su uso para fines personales debido a que se eliminaban los archivos "que no eran descargados de forma regular". De la misma manera, se destaca que otro indicio del comportamiento delictivo es que se incentivaba a aquellos usuarios capaces de generar más descargas y tráfico en el sitio, y que se les pagaba en función de sus resultados aun cuando los propietarios eran conscientes de que para conseguirlo publicaban obras protegidas y las promocionaban en otras páginas web.

No es lo único que se utiliza para acusar a los propietarios de Megaupload de conspiración. Se destaca que la página no contaba con un buscador ni con otras formas de localizar contenido para que no fuesen fácilmente accesibles los archivos protegidos. Además, se alega que no se cerraban cuentas de usuarios infractores, como era obligación de la página, y que en muchos casos se retrasaba la retirada de contenidos protegidos y se tergiversaban los términos en que estaban protegidos por derechos de autor.

Un día después de las protestas contra la SOPA

Una operación que se produce un día después de que una serie de páginas web protestaran por la iniciativa SOPA, que busca promulgar una ley que, en EEUU, permita bloquear páginas web extranjeras que perjudiquen obras protegidas por derechos de autor.

Sin embargo, en ningún caso se vincula la operación con esta medida. Según la información publicada, la investigación está dirigida por el fiscal del distrito este de Virginia y la sección de propiedad intelectual del Departamento de Justicia de EEUU a instancia del FBI y el Centro Nacional de Coordinación de la Propiedad Intelectual (IPR en inglés).

En diciembre una serie de grandes artistas apoyaron a Megaupload por su utilidad

Megaupload es una de las más importantes páginas web de intercambio de archivos del mundo. Está en funcionamiento desde 2005 y permite 'subir' todo tipo de archivos que después pueden ser descargados en cualquier otro ordenador. Asimismo, Megavideo permite a cualquier usuario publicar vídeos que después pueden visualizarse en cualquier parte, como hace YouTube.

Ambas páginas web han sido habitualmente señaladas por las compañías de contenidos por facilitar la descarga y visualización de obras protegidas por derechos de autor. Ambos sitios, que muchos consideran centros de las descargas no autorizadas de música, películas, series o libros protegidos, ha sido perseguido por la industria del porno, las autoridades inglesas, francesas, italianas e incluso estadounidenses, Google y la RIAA a través de Mastercard, entre otras.

 

Hasta ahora, la compañía había resistido amparada en que, además de alojar contenido protegido por derechos de autor, había muchos usuarios que utilizaban el servicio de intercambio de archivos de forma legítima y privada. Además, no dudaba en eliminar todo el contenido susceptible de estar protegido que las compañías reclaman. El pasado diciembre, una serie de grandes artistas, de Will.i.am a Jamie Foxx apoyaron la página web con un vídeo en la que alababan sus bondades.

fuente: elmundo.es

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Cada minuto ocurren cosas increíbles en la Red

Cada minuto ocurren cosas increíbles en la Red

Un estudio ha puesto de relieve todo lo que ocurre cada 60 segundos; desde todo tipo de operaciones a través de internet hasta las ventas de dispositivos tech.

¿Qué supone un minuto en el día a día? Apenas un instante, imperceptible en muchos casos. Pero en la omnipresente red pueden ocurrir muchas cosas en 60 segundos.

Un análisis realizado por la firma GO-Glone ha dado a conocer lo que da de sí internet cada minuto. Así, por ejemplo, Apple vendió 925 iPhone 4S durante cada minuto el primer fin de semana que se puso a la venta. La firma vende además 81 iPads cada 60 segundos.

RIM vende 103 Blackberrys cada minuto, el mismo tiempo que le lleva a Amazon vender 18 Kindle Fires y a Microsoft 11 Xbox 360.

Más de 700 ordenadores son vendidos alrededor del planeta y 232 de los mismos son infectados. Once millones de conversaciones tienen lugar a través de servicios de mensajería instantánea y 2.100 personas comparten su ubicación a través de Foursquare.

Cada 60 segundos se cultivan 1.100 hectáreas en la huerta virtual de FarmVille y se gastan 219.000 dólares a través de pagos online, 10.000 de los cuales se realizan a través de dispositivos móviles.

Con tanta actividad no es de extrañar que cada minuto se creen 1.820 terabytes de información y que sean vendidos 4.000 USB.

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Original Page: http://www.theinquirer.es/2011/12/27/cada-minuto-ocurren-cosas-increibles-en-la-red.html

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SlingPlayer for Google TV is out of beta, still a web app

We don't know what the folks at Sling have in store for CES 2012 but they are finally checking items off of last years list, including announcing the launch of SlingPlayer for Google TV. Officially dubbed SlingPlayer for Logitech Revue (it works fine on the Sony hardware too) any Google TV owners can find a link to the web app under the "Spotlight" section of their menu, and only need to login to enjoy remote TV viewing. The connected device SlingPlayer experience here is similar to that of the one on the Boxee Box, however running as a web app has a few specific disadvantages. While it mapped some of the Google TV's remote functions (channel up/down, pause, FF, rew etc.) directly to the box being remotely viewed, doing a simple thing like hitting back takes you out of the webpage and app entirely without warning. One advantage over the standard Android app however is that this one's free to use, so if you have both kinds of boxes (Sling and Google) at your disposal, go ahead and try it out or check out a video preview embedded after the break.

Sling Player coming to Google TV

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Original Page: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/15/slingplayer-for-google-tv-is-out-of-beta-still-a-web-app/

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Dwolla Loans Users $500 to Make Instant Payments Through Facebook and Twitter

Online payment startup Dwolla has attracted more than 70,000 users with money transfers that are both less expensive and, it says, safer than traditional credit cards. Now, it's further challenging the plastic in your wallet by allowing you to make such transactions instantly — and on credit.

Dwolla users make payments through Twitter, Facebook, SMS and other virtual channels by connecting their bank accounts to their Dwolla accounts. The service integrates with social networks to alert payment recipients that there is money waiting for them in their own Dwolla accounts that can be transferred to their bank account. Payments of up to $10 are free and anything larger costs $0.25. Up until Thursday, however, there was no way to use Dwolla to make instant payments because the transfer between banks and Dwolla usually takes two or three days.

"Instant," the new opt-in feature Dwolla launched Thursday, solves this problem by spotting users as much as $500 when their accounts are empty. The feature costs $3 per month no matter how many times it is used, and late fees are $5 per month.

Sound like an instant target for scammers? Preventing it from becoming so is part of what Dwolla considers its secret sauce. One reason the startup is able to offer payment transfers with lower fees than big credit card companies is that purely digital transactions present fewer opportunities for data theft than physical swiping. In theory, Dwolla will deal with fewer expensive fraud cases than its traditional counterparts.

The startup is backed by financial services firm The Members Group, which deals with card processing, payment solutions and prepaid cards. The firm has been helping Dwolla develop screening methods that assess risk of new members before they're accepted.

Still not convinced? If Dwolla continues piling on transactions at its current rate, you might be soon. In December 2010, the company was processing about $500,000 of transactions per week. By June 2011, they were processing $1 million per day.

Original Page: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/AR0pNu1KQts/

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If Freemium Is In, Then Why Do Paid Apps Still Reign Supreme?

 

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Earlier today, we posted on some data from Pando Networks that shows that free-to-play online games, often overlooked in the hype around social and casual games, are growing just as fast and as furiously around the globe as their counterparts. Obviously, much of this has to do with the industry's transition from paid to freemium models — the examples of which are numerous not only in online gaming, but for web and mobile apps on the whole — and even startups and SMBs making their way in the consumer Web.

While many of us probably take the rise of freemium for granted by now, some new stats and a nifty infographic from Quixey show that we are still very much in a transitional phase. As app developers work out the best ways to monetize their free products via in-app purchases, mobile advertising, rewards, deals, offers, incentivized downloads, and so on, free apps still comprise less than half of all mobile apps — across top mobile platforms.

Of course, as you can see in Quixey's infographic below, apps that cost $50 and above only comprise about 0.3 percent of mobile apps, whereas apps priced between $1 and $50 make up about 32.6 percent of the app population. Considering 45 percent of apps are free today, that leaves the remaining some 22 percent of apps pricing between free and $0.99. So, upwards of 54 percent of mobile apps will cost you some real, hard currency to download.

And, in conjunction with this, it's interesting to see that 60 percent of the "most buzzed about apps" have the words "free" or "lite" in the title, which seems to point to the fact that app stores are becoming increasingly crowded and overpopulated, so the best way to reach eyeballs and attract downloads is to assure consumers that the app being presented is cheap — if not free.

If that's not enough to tip you off to the overwhelming increase of app developers jumping into the game (along with the hike in the total number of apps), the infographic shows that the top 50 app developers only produce about 5 percent of the content in app stores. Of course, potentially part of the reason that they're top developers is that they produce less content — or what content they do produce is of a high quality. This is where the drek comes into play, those "cr-apps" that are pumped out as if on an assembly line.

Of the hundreds of thousands of developers out there, few are having their voices heard, and it seems that overproducing and churning out apps (hence the over one million active apps now available on top mobile platforms) isn't helping their cause, either. The infographic poses some interesting questions for app developers — and app consumers. (Especially seen in tandem with Flurry's report earlier this week on developer adoption of Android vs. iOS.)

Check it out below and let us know what you think.

Original Page: http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/15/if-freemium-is-in-then-why-do-paid-apps-still-reign-supreme/

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Encuestas, la primera aplicación para los grupos de LinkedIn

La participación que se origina en los más de un millón de grupos que existen en la actualidad en la red social profesional LinkedIn se verá ahora reforzada con la primera aplicación creada expresamente para los grupos: Las encuestas.

Las encuestas son un nuevo medio de interacción para los grupos en las que se podrá votar algunas de sus opciones con total facilidad, además de generar más debate e intercambio de ideas sobre los asuntos profesionales que se tratan en cada uno de los grupos.

En la creación de las encuestas se siguen las mismas normas existentes para iniciar discusiones en los grupos, aunque existe un plus de control donde los usuarios podrán crear sus propias encuestas y enviarlas a la cola de moderación, salvo en aquellos grupos con menos interacción, donde los moderadores pueden decidir que sean sólo moderadores y administradores quienes las creen, configurándolo en las opciones de sus respectivos grupos.

Vía: Blog de LinkedIn

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Facebook rolls out Timeline feature worldwide, it's time to untag some old photos

Get ready for a This Is Your Life-style recap available online, as Facebook's Timeline feature is now out of beta and available to all users worldwide. Originally announced during the f8 conference back in September, it wraps up all the information you've posted, friendships you've made and embarrassing photos you were tagged in, in a neat, date organized package. If you're worried it may uncover some things better left private -- and posted years ago before you were more savvy about social media -- you can enable the feature and still wait a week before it goes public for viewing by others. Currently timelines are visible on the main site, via the recently updated Android client and the mobile version of the site. If you want to turn it on right way, head to the Introducing Timeline page and click Get It Now

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Three Key Business Investments to Make in 2012 - Blog

As this year winds down, it's time to think about where your business is headed in the New Year. Specifically, where will you invest in your business?

Some intriguing business trends are emerging, where an investment in the right place might yield terrific dividends in the coming year. Here are three key areas to consider prioritizing in 2012:

1. Ecommerce Apps. Amazon plans to eat small retailers' lunch this holiday season with its price-comparison app. With the app, iPhone users can wave their phone at your retail item's bar code and instantly find out what the same item costs on Amazon. Also, from last Friday night through Saturday, Amazon offered 5 percent off any item up to $5 off when shoppers ran a price-check on the app.

   What are you doing to counter this trend? It's never been easier to create your own app — the do-it-yourself tool platform appsbar now has 50,000 users, for instance. Next year, a whole new crop of shoppers will have mobile devices they got for Christmas. Will you be ready to connect them with your merchandise?
    

2. Paid search. Are you hitting the top of search results for your chosen keywords? More retailers are taking out ads to help them rank well on key search terms, data from research frim Performics found.

   This Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, paid search spending more than doubled from the same weekend in 2010, says Performics. And retailers aren't just spending on paid search — they're getting results. Click-through rates and sales jumped, too.
    

3. Brain power. Many companies have experienced serious brain-drain over the past few years, as staffers were laid off. Get a jump on your competition by hiring back some highly talented — and trained — workers.

   The National Federation of Independent Business's Small Business Confidence Index is rising again, and small business owners are reporting better sales growth. Get positioned for the upswing now by adding key staff, before your competitors figure out an upswing is here and snap up the top talent.

What investment will you make in your business next year? Leave a comment and let us know.

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Original Page: http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/222396

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7 Tips for Traveling Bloggers

Working remotely, on your own schedule, from wherever you want, can be a pretty sweet gig. But once you've nailed down an income that allows you to travel, being productive from your choice corner of the globe isn't as easy as it sounds.

To succeed, you need a solid Internet connection to the mothership, even if that mothership is your own blog. And while much of the world is now wired, travelers tend to find themselves in places that offer slow Internet connections or no access at all.

Whether you're logging the hours for yourself, or for a company that recognizes the power of flex-work, here are a few tricks for working online while traveling.

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1. Write With a Non-Web-Based Program.

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Whether you create blog posts, emails or reports, write in Microsoft Word, Notepad or a text editor that doesn't require an Internet connection to function, suggests Srinivas Rao, host of BlogcastFM, who recently spent six months in Costa Rica. Then, when you do gain Internet access, quickly cut and paste that text into your email or blog. This will also prevent lost drafts if you have connectivity issues while writing.

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2. Use Twitter for Mini-Updates.

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It may be difficult to respond to emails, upload photos or post updates to your blog when your connection is slow or intermittent, but getting a tweet live requires only a short burst of connectivity.

Rig your tweets to show up on Facebook (which can be impossible to load with a slow connection). And add a prominent Twitter widget to your blog sidebar, so readers can catch a quick update, even when a full blog post is unlikely.

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3. Get Organized.

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Determine what you need to accomplish on any given day, whether that means sticking to a blog schedule or creating a checklist for your client work.

"Knowing what you need to do is almost as important as doing it," says blogger Chris Guillebeau, who's on a mission to visit every country in the world. "I can write anything at almost any time as long as I know what's needed — so I try to select blog topics in advance, then work on them as time permits from the road."

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4. Take Advantage of Transportation Time.

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"Some of the best writing ideas I have are while I am sitting in a bus or train for hours on end," says lawyer-turned-world traveler Michael Hodson. "The arrival in a new destination is even sweeter when you have a [blog] post or three ready to be typed up and scheduled for publishing."

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5. Pack Smart Gadgets.

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When I backpacked through Africa in 2008, I carried an Asus Eee PC, a mini-laptop that didn't weigh down my pack, and allowed me to tune in whenever I happened to find a Wi-Fi connection. Now you can choose from even more tablets. For instance, Hodson swears by the Kindle 3G because it offers free Internet access in more than 100 countries.

Others rely on AirCards or portable hotspots, which can be expensive, but will save you hours when searching for a quality connection. Guillebeau likes Boingo for worldwide Internet access and the personal hotspot iPhone feature for domestic travel.

Remember to plan in advance — certain gadgets only work in certain countries. Whatever gadgets you decide to bring, carry them in a discreet case. If a bag looks like it holds a camera or a laptop, it's more likely to get stolen.

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6. Use Tools for Efficiency.

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You should be using these tools at home too, but if not, this is a perfect excuse to incorporate them into your routine. Twitter lists, for example, will help you quickly sort and pull out relevant tweets. Before leaving on your trip, create lists by people or topics that will help you decrease your computer time.

Hootsuite is another fabulous tool for increasing your Twitter efficiency. It's a web-based Twitter client, which means you can access your account even when you're not using your own computer.

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7. Set Up Ahead of Time.

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This may sound obvious, but travelers often overlook just how much they can accomplish before they actually leave. For instance, write and schedule blog posts and newsletters, set up online bill payments, and use your weekend hours to get ahead on client or company projects. This way, you'll have fewer must-do assignments on the road.

If you're blogging, become familiar with your platform months or at least weeks in advance of departure. The last thing you want to do in an Internet cafe with a slow connection is try to figure out how to put a border around a photo or approve a comment. Get into the groove before you go, so you can spend more time enjoying your destination.

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8. Be Smart About Wi-Fi.

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Upscale hotels usually offer a quality connection, even when the rest of the town is unwired. Even if you're not paying a pretty penny for a hotel, grab a drink at the bar or surf from the lobby while projecting an air that you belong.

You might also try the nearest McDonald's, Hodson suggests. "I despise eating American fast food while I am traveling," he said, "but in countries like Australia and New Zealand, with their very expensive costs for Internet access, you could regularly find me having a morning coffee or afternoon soft drink in a McDonald's, with my computer open and wired into the world."

And don't forget to check for Wi-Fi in places you might not expect it. Sometimes you'll discover a signal that belongs to a family or a university down the road – a discovery that will make working from the road that much easier.

Images courtesy of Flickr, Scott Ableman, shapeshift, Lee Jordan

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Original Page: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/V9BbWPRElf4/

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Earth 2.0 Is Out There. What Tech Will We Take?

Outer space seems a lot closer this month. Have you noticed?

December has seen a sudden flurry of starbound studies and new technology — from the NASA comet-wrangling harpoon to the space plane-rocket hybrid funded by a Microsoft co-founder, which cleverly marries designs from the world's top private space companies. Then there was the surprising news that Mars has more potential room for life than Earth does, albeit in caves below the surface. NASA's Curiosity Rover, currently en route to the Red Planet, would feel a childlike burst of excitement if it only could.

But for us humans, there was little to match the thrill of learning about Kepler 22-b, known to its discoverers as the Christmas Planet. Its unveiling last week marked the first time NASA has confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone around another star. There was talk of Super-Earths earlier this year, but now astronomers are starting to announce what science-fiction writers have long suspected: There really are other worlds we could settle on now, rather than (in the case of Mars) going through centuries of terraforming.

Granted, it would take centuries to get to the Christmas planet, even at the speed of light. But it seems only a matter of time before NASA's powerful Kepler telescope finds an Earth 2.0 within closer reach. And then the dreaming can begin in earnest — not just the dreaming of how to get there, but the dreaming of what we should build when we do.

Otherworldly colonies have already caught the modern public imagination — witness last year's all-time record-setting movie Avatar, set on the lush world of Pandora, not to mention the Fox show Terra Nova — technically set in Earth's distant past, but also centered around colonists in a strange world, hampered by the need to send resources back home. Two 2011 movies have dealt with the notion of another planet like ours suddenly appearing in the heavens: Melancholia and Another Earth.

But what if we didn't go there to mine precious minerals and harass the locals? What if we just set out in the same spirit as the Pilgrims and pioneers, with the simple desire to start afresh someplace new?

What would starting afresh look like? What tools, technology and infrastructure would we take from old Earth, presuming we didn't want to live like Luddites?

Naturally, we'd want to make sure we didn't make the same planet-despoiling mistakes as on Earth 1.0. All technology should be clean technology, powered by the one resource every planet on which we can live is bound to posses: sunlight. It's handy that we've already got the whole solar-powered plane thing figured out; we'd need to extend that to all forms of transportation and energy.

What about manufacturing the tools, furniture and housing we'd need, once our colonists' tents and space hotels wore out? No need for large, expensive, polluted factories — this giant 3-D printer has you covered. As for the raw material, there's no need for plastic. Many of today's 3D printers create their objects using a kind of corn starch, which presumably would be easy to synthesize from the local vegetation.

But there's one more crucial piece of infrastructure, mere decades old but already indispensable: the Internet. Not just for wireless communication, although you'd probably be able to blanket the planet with a handful of WiMax towers, but also for the entire repository of human knowledge contained within. Need instructions for how to start a campfire, or build a city? Every colonist would be carrying them around constantly, on solar-powered tablets.

We'd cache the entire Internet before leaving Earth. Not too much of a struggle — it's a task Google is already fully engaged in. Then we'd unpack it at the other end, and simply start a new fork: Internet 2.0 on Earth 2.0. Which means we'd see a whole new virtual land grab as our colonists rushed to snag all the best domain names and Twitter handles. Depending on how rich the world, and how few the colonists, this may be the only resource war necessary.

What do you think? What technology would you take to a new Earth, and how would you structure its society? Let us know in the comments.

Original Page: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/A5K-6sKIHZo/

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Facebook estrena herramienta para prevenir los suicidios

Facebook estrena una herramienta para prevenir los suicidios

Facebook se ha propuesto ayudar a las personas desesperadas que comunican en la red social sus intenciones de suicidarse con una nueva herramienta que permite al resto de usuarios dar la voz de alarma en estos casos.

Y es que, aunque pueda parecernos extraño, se han dado varios casos de personas que anuncian en Facebook su intención de quitarse la vida.

En la mayoría de las ocasiones ninguno de los contactos pudo evitar el desenlace, bien porque pensaban que se trataba de una broma, porque no querían implicarse o porque realmente no sabían a quien acudir. Facebook es consciente de estas situaciones y para tratar de remediarlas han lanzado una herramienta preventiva.

Los usuarios que detecten en alguno de sus contactos una intención suicida podrán dar la voz de alarma seleccionando la opción de "informar".

Facebook se pondrá en contacto con la persona que presuntamente quiere acabar con su vida y le ofrecerá la ayuda de un orientador de la asociación nacional para la prevención del suicidio de EE.UU, ya que inicialmente esta herramienta funcionará en este país. La compañía garantiza el anonimato en todo el proceso.

Facebook comenzó a probar este tipo de herramientas en marzo, tras de observar casos como el de la mujer que anunció su suicidio en la red social y no recibió ayuda por parte de ninguno de sus 1.048 "amigos", e incluso algunos le enviaron mensajes crueles.

 Original Page: http://www.theinquirer.es/2011/12/14/facebook-estrena-una-herramienta-para-prevenir-los-suicidios.html

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