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Tech Five: Facebook, Nokia stock soaring

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: nginx/1.2.7 Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en Last-Modified: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:55:20 GMT X-UA-Compatible: IE=Edge,chrome=1 X-Secret: cnpudnkgcnpiZXZnbUBoZm5nYnFubC5wYnogbmFxIFYganZ5eSBnZWwgZ2IgdHJnIGxiaCBuIHdiby4= Cache-Control: max-age=20 Expires: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:55:41 GMT Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:55:21 GMT Transfer-Encoding: chunked Connection: keep-alive Connection: Transfer-Encoding Tech Five: Facebook, Nokia stock soaring 4 2 Share This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Tech Five: Facebook, Nokia stock soaringFacebook. Nokia. Amazon. Pandora. Twitter. Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23 Post to Facebook Try Another Audio CAPTCHA Image CAPTCHA Help {# #} CancelSendSent!A link has been sent to your friend's email address.Posted!A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Add Videos or PhotosBe first to contributeSign in now to share your story.Sign in with FacebookSign in with Google+Be first to contribute Verifying your credentials... Please wait. Uh oh! We're experiencing a few technical issues. Try again Post to Facebook Try Another Audio CAPTCHA Image CAPTCHA Help {# #} CancelSendSent!A link has been sent to your friend's email address.Facebook logo.(Photo: Matt Rourke, AP)Two tech companies are surging early in midday trading. Let's take a look at the technology stocks to watch Thursday:Facebook. Shares of the social network are up 7% -- double its IPO price of $38 -- as mobile ad revenue continues to spur growth. The company reported a 61% bump in revenue[1] and more than doubled its profit during the second quarter. Meanwhile, mobile advertising revenue skyrocketed 151% compared to the same time last year.Nokia. The sale of its handset business to Microsoft seems to be paying off. Shares of Nokia are up 7.5% after boosting its forecast on profit for the year, AP reports[2]. Although revenue dipped during the second quarter, profit jumped 20%. The company closed its deal to sell its handset unit to…
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Yahoo scoops up analytics firm Flurry

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: nginx/1.2.7 Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en Last-Modified: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 04:51:36 GMT X-UA-Compatible: IE=Edge,chrome=1 X-Secret: cnpudnkgcnpiZXZnbUBoZm5nYnFubC5wYnogbmFxIFYganZ5eSBnZWwgZ2IgdHJnIGxiaCBuIHdiby4= Cache-Control: max-age=20 Expires: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 04:51:56 GMT Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 04:51:36 GMT Transfer-Encoding: chunked Connection: keep-alive Connection: Transfer-Encoding Yahoo scoops up analytics firm Flurry 8 1 Share This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Yahoo scoops up analytics firm FlurryMarissa Mayer's flurry of acquisitions has resumed. Yahoo announced will scoop up the analytics firm Flurry, the 40th startup acquired by the CEO since she assumed the company's top position in July 2012 Post to Facebook Try Another Audio CAPTCHA Image CAPTCHA Help {# #} CancelSendSent!A link has been sent to your friend's email address.Posted!A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Add Videos or PhotosBe first to contributeSign in now to share your story.Sign in with FacebookSign in with Google+Be first to contribute Verifying your credentials... Please wait. Uh oh! We're experiencing a few technical issues. Try again Post to Facebook Try Another Audio CAPTCHA Image CAPTCHA Help {# #} CancelSendSent!A link has been sent to your friend's email address.Yahoo HQ(Photo: Yahoo)Marissa Mayer's flurry of acquisitions resumes.Yahoo announced it will scoop up analytics firm Flurry, the 40th startup acquired since Mayer took over the company's top job in July 2012.Flurry -- which launched in 2008 -- specializes in mobile analytics, helping app developers track data and monetize through ads. Financial terms were not disclosed."Our acquisition of Flurry will be a meaningful step for the company and reinforces our commitment to building and supporting useful, inspiring and beautiful mobile applications and monetization solutions," said Scott Burke, Yahoo's senior vice president of advertising technology, in a statement[1].The Flurry deal follows last week's second quarter report from Yahoo[2], which showed…
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Surf Report: Why so many apps are free

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: nginx/1.2.7 Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en Last-Modified: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:33:17 GMT X-UA-Compatible: IE=Edge,chrome=1 X-Secret: cnpudnkgcnpiZXZnbUBoZm5nYnFubC5wYnogbmFxIFYganZ5eSBnZWwgZ2IgdHJnIGxiaCBuIHdiby4= Cache-Control: max-age=20 Expires: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:37:49 GMT Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:37:29 GMT Transfer-Encoding: chunked Connection: keep-alive Connection: Transfer-Encoding Marc Saltzman, Special for USA TODAY 3:54 a.m. EDT July 19, 2014 Fashion Star Designer is free to download and play.(Photo: XMG)One of the most desirable features of a smartphone has nothing to do with the hardware itself.Rather, it's all about the apps, which truly customize the experience with your mobile device and unlock its full capabilities.The best part? A good number of apps are free.Great for the end user, you're thinking, but how do companies bring in revenue when they're giving away their software at no cost? There are a few different ways they're able to make money in this new age of software delivery.'FREEMIUM' MODELOne approach is to give away the app for free, but offer in-app purchases for more premium features. In the industry, it's referred to as a "freemium" model."People are willing to invest their time — rather than money — to try out a new app," explains Ross Dixon, executive producer at developer XMG Studio. "And if they like it, some will pay for additional content."For example, XMG's clothing-design game Fashion Star Designer is free to download and play, but users can purchase "cards" — the in-game currency — for real money, ranging from 99 cents for a "cardholder" to $99.99 for "stacks" of cards. Or, in XMG's Totally Amp'd! — billed as the world's first mobile and interactive TV series — the first episode is free, but those who want more can pay $1.99 for the full season.Dixon says fewer than 5% of customers will pay for additional content, but…
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Murdoch goes large as media landscape gets tougher

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: nginx/1.2.7 Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en Last-Modified: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 04:27:17 GMT X-UA-Compatible: IE=Edge,chrome=1 X-Secret: cnpudnkgcnpiZXZnbUBoZm5nYnFubC5wYnogbmFxIFYganZ5eSBnZWwgZ2IgdHJnIGxiaCBuIHdiby4= Cache-Control: max-age=20 Expires: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 04:29:03 GMT Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 04:28:43 GMT Transfer-Encoding: chunked Connection: keep-alive Connection: Transfer-Encoding John Shinal, Special for USA TODAY 7:40 p.m. EDT July 16, 2014 Rupert Murdoch in 2012.(Photo: Josh Reynolds, AP file)SAN FRANCISCO -- Rupert Murdoch's audacious $80 billion bid to add Time Warner's media properties to his Fox empire provides a glimpse into the future of the news and entertainment industry.It's looking like one where huge content owners such as Murdoch will vie for power and profit against massively-large distributors such as cable giant Comcast -- with little oversight from Washington, D.C.The landscape of the decades-old struggle between content and distribution has shifted markedly in favor of Comcast and its rivals since January, when a federal court tossed aside Net Neutrality rules.With Comcast, Cox, AT&T and Verizon now free to charge market rates for delivering digital entertainment into consumers' homes, the carving up of the growing online media pie will be a red-meat feast.As low-cost Internet shows increase competition -- even as traditional entertainment production costs climb from New York to Hollywood -- Murdoch knows that future distribution negotiations in a less-regulated market will require an even stronger hand.If anything, it's perhaps surprising that Murdoch didn't act even faster in courting Time Warner and its decades-long expertise in producing movies, news and TV shows.Comcast CEO Brian Roberts wasted far less time in making his $45 billion bid for Time Warner Cable, a deal that if approved by the FCC will create a dominant cable company in the U.S.Roberts pounced soon after the January appeals court ruling made clear that a fully-deregulated telecom market would set future distribution…
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This tricked-out cooler just raised $4M on Kickstarter

Despite glossy stickers advertising longer-lasting cold and more rugged construction, coolers haven't really changed much in the past half-century. Short of a full-blown solar-powered portable fridge, there just isn’t much room for improvement. Unless, that is, you think outside the box. Ryan Grepper’s ridiculously successful Kickstarter project[1], the Coolest, is not an exercise in hyperbole. It is almost certainly the coolest cooler ever built. Why? Because it packs everything you’d need for a trip to the beach, park, or campground into one compact, well-designed unit. All you need to add is your food or drink of choice. This thing has it all: A USB charging port, a cutting board, 60 quarts of storage space, a bottle opener, an LED lid light, a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, and—best of all—an 18 volt rechargeable blender. That’s right: a blender. If that’s all a bit too much for you to handle at once, let’s go through this glorious contraption one gadget at a time. Blender Grepper claims on his Kickstarter page that the blender can “power through 6 gallons” of beverage on a single charge. Eighteen volts doesn’t sound like much power, but remember: It’s attached to a cooler! Even if the thing fails on you, you still have a pretty awesome summertime fun machine. Bluetooth Speaker When you're out having fun in the sun, you've gotta have some sweet tunes. But what happens when you don't have a power outlet, or even a nearby car to blast Daft Punk? Grepper's cooler has the solution: a removable, waterproof, Bluetooth-enabled speaker. In Grepper's promo photos, the speaker looks like a standard Jawbone Jambox, but the final product may differ. USB Charger The same battery that powers the blender also lets you charge your phone, tablet, or camera via a waterproof USB port. Who knows... when…
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'Yo' creator: Building a business one Yo at a time

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: nginx/1.2.7 Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en Last-Modified: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 04:13:31 GMT X-UA-Compatible: IE=Edge,chrome=1 X-Secret: cnpudnkgcnpiZXZnbUBoZm5nYnFubC5wYnogbmFxIFYganZ5eSBnZWwgZ2IgdHJnIGxiaCBuIHdiby4= Cache-Control: max-age=20 Expires: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 04:13:52 GMT Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 04:13:32 GMT Transfer-Encoding: chunked Connection: keep-alive Connection: Transfer-Encoding Yo founders Or Arbel, left, and Moshe Hogeg.(Photo: Yo)SAN FRANCISCO — The 'Yo' app may deliver a fleeting message but its creator is hoping it can be the base of a budding business.The app[1], available for Apple, Android and Windows Phone devices, lets you connect and communicate using the word "yo."From you: "Yo." To you: "Yo."That's it.The app blew up on social media a couple of weeks ago. It has surpassed 2 million users (1 million of them in one heady four-day period) and attracted $1.5 million in funding from investors.Already, Stephen Colbert has mocked it [2]and outside developers are finding new uses for it. There's even a companion app for it on the Pebble smartwatch.Now, creator and CEO Or Arbel is setting up shop in San Francisco to expand and market the service to corporate brands and keep the Yo user base growing. The Yo app.(Photo: Yo)"Getting a 'Yo' basically means someone is thinking about you," he says, but it can mean many other things. In his blue sky vision, companies like Starbucks might embrace it. You could "Yo" your local Starbucks to order your favorite cuppa Joe, and it would "Yo" you back when your drink is ready.But it's still very early days in the life of this simple app with the silly reputation, which first launched in Apple's App Store on April 1 (that's no joke).The background: Or created Yo in about eight hours while working in his native Israel with co-founder Moshe Hogeg at Mobli, a social mobile photo and video-sharing website…
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