Twitter CEO Costolo no longer alone on hotseat

SAN FRANCISCO -- Twitter earlier this month unveiled a look designed to be friendlier to new users, hoping to broaden the appeal of the social media site.

But after issuing a financial report Tuesday that shocked Wall Street, the San Francisco-based micro-blogging site may soon need more than additional users.
To regain the confidence of investors, the company may very well need a new executive team.

The redesign made Twitter's site look similar to Facebook, a main rival (along with Google) in the burgeoning market for mobile advertising.
Twitter has been trying to boost user numbers amid investor worries about the company's growth.

Those worries had depressed the company's stock price (TWTR) for most of last year and put CEO Dick Costolo on the hot seat.

Yet Twitter shares had surged 40% this year as shareholders got more comfortable with the growth plan put forth by Costolo and CFO Anthony Noto, a former Wall Street analyst.

Source: USAToday

10 of the Most Creative Billboard Ads From Around the World

Yes, you read that correctly. I just used the adjective "creative" to describe billboard advertisements.

I know, it’s hard to believe that there could be anything original about such a tired form of advertising.

That said, I am willing to bet that if you passed by these billboard ads as you were moseying along in your daily travels, they wouldn’t just catch your attention, they would capture it.

But don't take my word for it. See for yourself ...

The Most Innovative Billboard Ads From Around the World

1) Nationwide Insurance - USA

Source: Coloribus
Believe it or not, this billboard is NOT an advertisement for paint. This ad is actually part of the Nationwide Insurance “life comes at you fast” campaign. This billboard uses the paint to drive the slogan home. As you can see, the paint looks as if it flowed right off of the billboard, covering the side of the building, the parking lot, and even a couple of cars below.

2) Allstate Car Insurance - Marina Tower, Chicago

Source: We Love Ad
Yes, the car dangling from the side of the Marina Tower parking lot is part of the advertisement. Whoever that car belongs to is certainly not “in good hands.”

3) Formula Toothpaste - Indonesia 

Source: CreativeCriminals
This billboard was created to highlight the idea that Formula Toothpaste “builds strong teeth.” As you can see, rather than using a pretty model with pearly whites, the billboard shows a man whose teeth are so strong that he is actually pulling the advertisement off of the structure, metal and all.

4) Oldtimer - Austria 

Source: Inboxity
How often do you notice the billboard advertisements on the side of the road when you're speeding along on the highway? Well, anyone driving through this tunnel in Austria can’t possibly miss this billboard. Drivers on this highway literally have to drive right through the ad.

5) Tylenol - Toronoto, Canada

Source: namify
This billboard is designed to suggest that Tylenol can help you overcome a headache and “get back to normal.” Through the creative use of a wrecking ball, this billboard definitely makes the severity of this man’s headache and the strength of Tylenol clear.

6) Panasonic - Indonesia

Source: AdsoftheWorld
In order to advertise Panasonic’s nose hair trimmer, this billboard was displayed directly behind power lines. It uses the cables to show how desperately this man needs Panasonic's nose hair trimmer while also adding some comedic value to the billboard.

7) The Economist - UK

Source: AdsoftheWorld
This billboard can actually sense when a person passes under the lightbulb, causing it to turn on as if to suggest that reading The Economist will expose you to great ideas.

8) Maker's Mark Whiskey - USA

Source: Business Insider
Here you can see a bottle of Maker’s Mark Whiskey pouring its contents from the bottle, off of the billboard, and into an 18-wheeler stationed below -- that's right, you need an entire 18-wheeler full to feel satisfied. Drink responsibly.

9) Nike - Toronto, Canada

Source: AdsoftheWorld
The caption, “Ready for your :45?” refers to the average amount of time that a hockey player spends on the ice per shift. The billboard is obviously being pulled by the tugboat, but the image on the billboard suggests that this man is actually pulling the tugboat. In other words, he has been training with Nike gear and is ready for his :45 ... are you?

10) Adidas - Vienna

Source: AdsoftheWorld
This billboard was displayed just prior to the start of the 2008 EuroCup soccer tournament in Vienna. The man is goalie Petr Cech and the billboard is stationed directly in front of the Prater ferris wheel. As a result of the positioning, it looks like Peter Cech is actually supporting the wheel.

Article Source: Hubspot

Asus Zenfone 2: World's First 4 GB RAM Smartphone Launched In India, Starts At Rs. 12,999

Taiwanese PC maker Asus launched the Zenfone 2 in India today, the smartphone was unveiled at CES 2015, and is the first to boast of 4GB RAM.

 The Zenfone 2 will be available in four variants, starting from Rs 12,999 to Rs 22,999.

The lowest end variant of the Zenfone 2 (ZE550ML) comes with 2GB of RAM, 16GB storage. It has a 1280x720 pixel resolution HD IPS display. The next Zenfone 2 variant (ZE551ML), is priced at Rs 14,999 is identical to the former, but sports a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920x1080) display.

Two 4GB RAM variants, available in 32 and 64 GB options are priced at 19,999 and 22,999 respectively. They are powered by a 2.3 GHz quad-core Intel processor.

Standard components on the ZenFone 2 include 13 and 5 megapixel cameras, the phones supports two SIM cards. The Zenfone 2 has a non-removable 3000 mAH Li-Polymer battery, and supports 4G LTE networks on the first SIM card slot. 

Asus claims that the Zenfone 2, which runs Zen UI layer on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop, has a 60 ms touch response time.

The Zenfone 2 is available in five colours - black, white, red, gray and gold. Flipkart has listed the phone on preorder, with deliveries starting on 4th May.

Source: Huffingtonpost

Google Launches U.S. Wireless Service

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc on Wednesday launched a new U.S. wireless service that switches between Wi-Fi and cellular networks to curb data use and keep phone bills low.

The service, Google's first entry into the wireless industry, will work only on the company's Nexus 6 phones and be hosted through Sprint Corp and T-Mobile's networks, Google said in a statement.

The service, called Project Fi, will automatically switch between the two networks and more than 1 million open, free Wi-Fi spots, depending on which signal is strongest.

The service will cost $20 a month plus $10 per gigabyte of data used. Customers will get money back for unused data.

Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of products, said at a Barcelona conference last month the company was preparing to experiment with a mobile network, but that it did not intend to disrupt the wireless industry.

The service will be available on only one device and has limited carrier coverage, so it will not make Google a major wireless industry player, said Brian Blau, research director at Gartner.

If successful, however, Google's service could pressure wireless providers to further lower prices and better adapt to the rise of tablets and wearable devices, Blau added. Though some carriers, such as T-Mobile and AT&T Inc, allow unused data to roll over, most mobile plans require customers to pay for a set amount of data each month.

But Google first has to "test out features they think are going to differentiate themselves," Blau said, such as being able to transition from network connectivity to Wi-Fi.

If Google is able to provide those features, "it's very possible they could become a major wireless player in the future," Blau said.

Phone numbers will live in the cloud so that consumers can talk and text on any connected tablet, Google said.

The company already has a strong presence in the mobile market through its Android operating system, which hosts some of the most popular apps, such as Gmail and Google Maps.

Google shares rose 1.27 percent to $549.81 at mid-afternoon.

5 simple spring cleaning tips for your Facebook account

For many people, spring cleaning is an annual tradition that helps you get your house in shape for the rest of the year. After a long winter spent crammed indoors (unless you live in Phoenix, naturally), your house could probably use it.

To help you out, I've rounded up sites that tell you how to clean anything you might encounter, and you should also know that you can make money on the items in your closet. However, spring cleaning isn't only a good idea for your house.

Your online accounts could benefit from a good cleaning as well, and today I'm going to focus on Facebook. You might not realize it, but over time Facebook can get cluttered and crammed just as badly as your garage. Fortunately, it's a lot less work to clean out and there are fewer spiders.

Whether you only have a few minutes to spare or an hour, here are some handy tricks you can use to make Facebook more secure and nicer to use. I'll also tell you how to find information hidden away you might not realize you had. Between us, if you only do one tip from the list, make sure it's number 5.

Source: Komando

Only 6 Percent Of Americans Plan To Buy An Apple Watch

SAN FRANCISCO, April 15 (Reuters) - About 6 percent of U.S. adults plan to buy Apple Inc's smartwatch according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, with men twice as likely as women to purchase Apple boss Tim Cook's first new major product.

The poll showed the watch, marketed by Apple as a high-fashion item as well as a new frontier in technology, appealed to fewer than 4 percent of women compared with 9 percent of men.

Ipsos polled 1,829 U.S. adults online between April 8 and 14 about the watch, which opened for preorders last week. The poll had a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

If calculated based on 2014 U.S. Census projections, and excluding younger teens, this could mean potential sales of about 15 million watches, if those who said they intended to buy follow through with an actual purchase.

Wall Street estimates had varied widely between 10 million and 32 million worldwide sales in 2015. Van Baker, an analyst at tech research firm Gartner, said the Reuters poll results indicated a "pretty high percentage" was interested in buying.

"It should serve Apple well if they can even get close to that," he said.

As far as overall interest in the watch as opposed to intending to buy it, the poll showed that 18 percent of respondents were "very" or "somewhat" interested versus 76 percent who showed no interest.

Highest interest at 34 percent was among men aged 18 to 28, the same age and gender bracket that gave the watch the highest "cool factor" at 53 percent, compared with an overall 42 percent.

People around the world flocked to Apple stores on April 10 to try on the watches, which go on sale officially on April 24, and online orders quickly outstripped supply, with most customers facing at least a month's wait.

"I already have the iPhone, the iPad, pretty much everything that Apple offers," said poll respondent Sefu Grady, a 37-year- old counselor living in Clinton, Mississippi.



He said he was buying a basic Sport model for himself and a mid-range one for his wife for Mother's Day.

Apple has not yet said how many watches have been ordered, but CEO Cook described sales as "great." Shopping data firm Slice Intelligence and brokerage Cowen and Co estimated preorders on the first day at about 1 million in the United States.

Samsung Electronics, Sony Corp and LG Electronics have all released their own smartwatches, many of them powered by software developed by Internet company Google Inc.

None have given sales figures but independent researcher Smartwatch Group estimates that 6.8 million smartwatches were sold worldwide last year, led by Samsung with about 1.2 million units.

The Apple Watch, priced from $349 for a basic Sport model to a $17,000 gold timepiece, lets users check email, listen to music and make phone calls when paired with an iPhone. Reviews have generally praised its style but criticized battery life and slow-loading apps.

According to the poll, adults aged between 30 and 39 were the most likely buyers, with 13 percent saying they planed to buy an Apple Watch, followed by 10 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds.

Just under a third of respondents said they already own an iPhone.

Not surprisingly, iPhone owners are more likely to spend money on the new Apple gadget, with about 15 percent saying they planed to buy.

Among those polled who do not own an iPhone, 8 percent said they would consider switching to an iPhone in order to purchase an Apple Watch.

Baker at Gartner said many potential buyers will end up holding off until the second version of the watch, likely to appear next year.

"We may see a high level of interest. Apple will sell a few million fairly quickly, but then things might flatten out a little," he said. (Editing by Dina Kyriakidou and Matthew Lewis)

Source: Huffingtonspot

This iPad sold for $30,500 because of the Pope

You can buy the latest Apple iPad for less than $500, but this particularly special iPad has just sold for $30,500 at auction. Why? Because it once belonged to Pope Francis, and has an elaborate inscription on the back, and comes with a certificate verifying its authenticity.

The auction took place at the Castells auction house in Montevideo, Uruguay, but the identity of the new owner is being kept a secret. The tablet was originally a gift to Pope Francis, and was subsequently given to Gonzalo Aemilius as a gift last year. He told Reuters the pope said, "May you do something good with it," as he passed it on.

Related: Our review of the latest Apple iPad Air 2 tablet
Thankfully, Aemilius didn't take this as a hint to install a Reddit client, or play Candy Crush Saga. Instead, he donated the tablet to the Francisco de Paysandu high school for the poor located 230 miles outside of Montevideo, where the iPad was put up for auction. Now the tablet has been sold, the proceeds will go to improving the school. We'd say Aemilius definitely did some good.

On the rear of the iPad is an inscription which reads, "Su Santidad (His Holiness) Francisco. Servizio Internet Vaticano, March 2013." This makes the tablet a 4th generation model, and some images show the device having a Lightning connector rather than the older charge and sync connection. It also comes with a certificate from the Pope's personal secretary, proving its authenticity.

The Vatican is no stranger to using an iPad to communicate on social media. Back in 2011, the first tweet posted on the official Vatican account was sent via an Apple tablet. The Pope has also auctioned off personal belongings in the past, and last year a Harley Davidson motorcycle -- of all things -- that was given to him as a gift was sold for more than $250,000. We doubt he had much of a use for it.

Article Source: Foxnews