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Pinterest is an image sharing and social media service. Pinterest is designed to enable saving and discovery on the internet using images, and on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos. Things saved on Pinterest are organised in the form of pinboards. Pinterest feels very much like a classic web 2.0 service. Pinterest seems to have managed to sidestep IP related issues. Originally it skewed female in usage with wedding planning, fashion, hairstyles and interior design being popular. Pinterest has tried to broaden its base including Pinterest commerce integration and advertising.
The latest news seems to indicate Pinterest usage has topped out. This could be one off numbers or Pinterest seasonality.
Pinterest: An Introductory Guide for Marketers – Search Engine Watch (#SEW)
Pinterest’s Hype Bubble Has Burst, And Now It Is Actually Losing Users – Business Insider – losing the hype but probably keeping engaged audiences
Consumer behaviour
Nielsen: APAC consumers most confident | Market-interactive.com – not terribly surprising compared to the western hemisphere
The Invisible Borders That Define American Culture – The Atlantic Cities
Brand Survey Shows Economic Diversity in Asia, Affinity for Apple, Nokia | Tech in Asia
Harris Interactive: Harris Polls > Fewer Americans “Thinking Green” – interesting that green fatigue sets in. I believe that part of the problem is economic and part of it is NGO hectoring. People want solutions not relentless criticism and organisations like Greenpeace have slogans not answers
Monocolumn – Nation of queuers [Monocle]
Culture
Why U.S. Businesses Are Nervous About Losing Boomer Retirees | TIME.com – interesting the generations X&Y are categorised as lazy, illiterate and rude
Wong Kar-wai releases Ip Man film | SCMP.com – I can’t tell you how psyched I am that The Grandmasters is finally getting released (paywall)
Design
De’Longhi and Procter & Gamble have reached an agreement for the perpetual… – PRNewswire – DeLonghi going to make kitchen appliances under the Braun brand: this will either be the return of iconic product design or a hideous crime against quality
Economics
Rmb discontents: where’s Europe? | FT.com
Why the Wealthy Are Worried About the Economy – WSJ
What ageing Asia can do to attract talent | SCMP.com
Romano Prodi warns of European revolt over austerity – RTÉ News – sounds like Prodi expects Europe to burn
U.S. Standard of Living Has Fallen More Than 50%: Opinion – TheStreet – which explains why credit took off
Delevering in Europe Remains a Threat to World Economy | Mother Jones
CPI Conspiracy Theories Persist Even With Broad Checks – Businessweek – quality of data in US consumer price index in dispute
Finance
Millionaires More Bearish Than Their Advisors – WSJ
Dearth of Investors: Plan to Set Up European Rating Agency Under Threat – SPIEGEL ONLINE
Paying with smartphones to outpace credit cards by 2020, experts say – IDG
FMCG
Weird flavors rule: BLT chips, birthday cake Oreos, bacon milkshakes – USATODAY.com – is this more adventurous tastes or desperate product differentiation and brand extension?
In the news: General Mills launches Atari-themed cereal! | myGLOSS
Hong Kong
Retirement crisis looms for civil service | SCMP.com – two thirds of Hong Kong’s top civil servants will retire in the next decade due to a compulsory retirement age of 60 (paywall)
Harbour authority could soon become a reality | SCMP.com – looking forward to exciting architectural development in Hong Kong’s harbourside area (paywall)
Ideas
How adidas.com got designed in a user centered way | adidas Group blog
Excapite: The signal in all the noise
Innovation
Now Europe wants you to prove how old you are online — European technology news
Is Stanford Too Close to Silicon Valley? : The New Yorker
Microsoft Hires 14 Yahoo Researchers to Kickstart New NYC Research Lab – AllThingsD – its a smart move
Yole: Sony, Silex, Dalsa shine MEMS foundry ranking
Liquidmetal Inventor Atakan Peker: Apple Will Use It In A ‘Breakthrough Product’ – Business Insider
Manufacturing: The third industrial revolution | The Economist
Ireland
47 percent of Irish people have less than $130 expendable income per month | Irish News | IrishCentral – so no luxury sales there then
Japan
Japan ‘no longer a rich country’ by 2050: think tank ‹ Japan Today – due to globalisation and population change
euronews | ‘Made in Japan’ engineers find second life in China – interesting that older Japanese engineers are getting jobs with Taiwanese and domestic manufacturers in the Pearl River delta
Japan launches social network site for hooligans | Japanator.com – WTF
Luxury
Amazon Leaps Into High End of the Fashion Pool – NYTimes.com
The luxury pricing problem | FT.com – is it really surprising that Chinese consumers look for arbitrage opportunities on luxury goods? I know I do
Luxury CEOs reveal fears for future | FT.com
Digital Watch: LVMH Engages Chinese Influencers With Nowness
VW’s Audi Buys Ducati for US$1.12 Billion – Luxury Insider
Malaysia
Crisis or opportunity as factories withdraw from Shenzhen｜WantChinaTimes.com – interesting that Malaysia is picked as a new site instead
Marketing
Brand Building and the Impact of Social Media
Local auto brands struggle in China: News from Warc.com – after-sales service an issue
Media
Walmart’s Vudu plans big int’l expansion – Variety
European Digital Trends – Shifting Consumption Habits – comScore, Inc
Europe’s digital chief hopes France can liberalise digital copyright — paidContent
BBC News – The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK ISPs, court rules – and so it begins
Open source Data Journalism Handbook launched
Does “Mastered for iTunes” matter to music? Ars puts it to the test
Bing Strips Down Results Page To Make Google Look Like “Search Overload” | TechCrunch
McClureMusic.com | Japan music sales stay steady in first quarter
Hollywood Goes to China with bad results
In UK, Time Spent Reading Newspapers Online Vastly Varies by Household Income
Why Should eBooks Cost $15? | Disruption: David Pakman’s Blog
How will Chinese co-production change Iron Man 3?
Facebook Advertising: Rates Go Up as Clicks Come Down
Online
Is Facebook 2012 The Same As AOL 2001?
LinkedIn Spends $119 Million on SlideShare, the YouTube of Slideshows
Prezi zooms past 10M users, releases PowerPoint import tool | VentureBeat
bboy tracks home – download now – cool independent online music store for B-Boy breaks
CEO Scott Thompson To Cut 50 Properties: “Yahoo Has Been Doing Way Too Much” | TechCrunch
The Big Doubt Over Facebook’s IPO – WSJ.com
London Mayor Uses Sina Weibo to Win Over Voters | TechNode – going for the Chinatown vote
Revealed: How Twitter’s secret offer for Instagram made Facebook pay $1B | VentureBeat
YouTube will incorporate Google+ commenting as the company builds walls around its garden | The Wall Blog – oh the irony of Google worrying about the open web and yet trampling on it
Microsoft Touts $479M Online Loss in Q3 As Improvement
How over-reliance on social signals could ruin online recommendations | ExtremeTech
Retailing
Is F-commerce a Flop? Why Retailers Aren’t Sold on Facebook – Search Engine Watch
It’s official: Target will phase out all Kindle-branded products this spring | The Verge
Samsung Behind Apple Store Protest Telling People to ‘Wake Up’? – makes no sense to me
Starbucks China Has A Problem, Customers Won’t Leave And Often Don’t Buy Anything
Why Locals Are Lounging in the Lobby at the Ace and the Public Hotels – WSJ.com – lobbies are the new coffee shops
Security
Insanity: CISPA Just Got Way Worse, And Then Passed On Rushed Vote | Techdirt
home – help.riseup.net – some interesting technology experiments in privacy
Software
Getting started with Linux commands | ExtremeTech
Old Software Downloads for Windows, Mac, Linux and Abandonware Games | Old Version.com
Flipboard for Android exclusive to Galaxy S III, wider availability in the ‘coming months’ (update) | The Verge – I had originally been discussing this deal on my blog because a loud-mouthed Flipboard executive I sat behind whilst I had breakfast during a stopover in Seoul. Looks like Flipboard may have not managed to do the content bundling part of the deal that they hoped to have in it
Kingsoft Network Begins Recruiting Beta Testers For Chinese Web Browser – ChinaTechNews.com
OS X Mountain Lion update adds helpful ‘Do Not Disturb’ option for notifications | 9to5Mac
Google BigQuery — Google Developers
InfoCuria – SAS Institute vs World Programming Limited – software APIs cannot be protected by copyright in Europe
Report: UK open standards bungle led to U-turn – The H
LG To Pull Away From Windows Phone’s Loving Embrace, Refocus On Android | TechCrunch – thought that this had been announced a while ago?
The Dawn of Haiku OS – IEEE Spectrum – attempt to reincarnate BeOS with an OS built around handling multiple processors
Skype Reveals Remote and Local IP Address Of All Online Users
Flashing: Where the real money is in China’s phone market｜WantChinaTimes.com – software installation on phones is more lucrative than making phones – think of it as kind of like affiliate marketing by services for customer acquisition
Conflict of interest forces Open Standards consultation extension – The H
Sources: current Windows Phone devices will not get ‘Apollo’ upgrade | The Verge
App Store – SayHi Translate: Use Your Voice to Speak a New Language like a Pro
Windows Phone marketing manager quits after five months | The Verge
Technology
Apple puts quality before commodity | guardian.co.uk
Pivoting’ Pays Off for Tech Entrepreneurs – WSJ.com – changing direction and fast failure
When Investors Decide It’s Time to Take Profits on Apple, Everyone in the Market Feels It | TIME.com
Foxconn to give employees chance to work close to home: Gou｜WantChinaTimes.com – part of move inland by industry
I, Cringely » Blog Archive By 2015 IBM will look like Oracle – more in IBM’s business. Moving from services and consultancy to self-service and the cloud
Into The Wild: Lost Conversations From Steve Jobs’ Best Years | Fast Company
Apple: Greenpeace’s Cloud Math is Busted » Data Center Knowledge – Greenpeace picking the wrong fights
Telecoms
Watch out Cisco. Huawei’s coming! — Cloud Computing News
John Lewis touts own-brand broadband • The Register – if it has John Lewis’ attention to quality and customer service it could be a viable alternative for freelancers and small companies to business ISPs
Web of no web
Opinion: The Problem with the Tupac Hologram – The Juice | Billboard.com – seems to have hit uncanny alley
Microsoft forges ahead with new home-automation OS | CNET News – not necessarily Windows for coffee machines
Monocolumn – Are wellness and technology a healthy mix? [Monocle]
Wireless
Do Kids Care If Their Robot Friend Gets Stuffed Into a Closet? – IEEE Spectrum
Communities Dominate Brands: Big Bloated Billions Blog – The Preview to Mobile Stats in Year 2012 (plus freebie gift) – 7 billion mobile subscriptions this year
TelecomTV | News | Nokia’s outlook is BB+. Bloody and bleak with worse to come
Update: Is RIM behind the embarrassing Wake Up stunt? – Macworld Australia
Quantenna raises astounding $79M round so you can have wire-like wireless networks | VentureBeat
FOSS Patents: Google to court: Galaxy Nexus code is closed just like that of the iPhone
Nokia’s Windows Phone “bear hug” is choking the Mighty Finn | CNET UK – former Nokia employee analysis on the company
S.&P. Cuts Nokia Rating to Junk – NYTimes.com
RIM turnaround could take up to 5 years, Watsa says | Reuters
Mobile operators unconvinced by Nokia’s revival bid | Reuters – interesting looks as much about negotiating a better deal by the carriers
China Mobile Internet User Age Distribution | China Internet Watch
Moody’s lowers Nokia to brink of junk level on lower phone sales – Moody’s also said Nokia has maintained a strong liquidity position and capital structure.
China at heart of Nokia’s miserable first quarter – Rethink Wireless
iPhone Again Represents Over Half of Verizon’s Smartphone Sales in 1Q 2012 – Mac Rumors
Google CEO: Android Not a Critical Asset – Search Engine Watch (#SEW)
Conflcting economic issues in China: inflation and economic contraction – the contraction mentioned is relative and part of it is structural as low margin businesses move inland or move offshore
Analog Still Rules: An Interview With Record Store Day Co-Founder Michael Kurtz | Motherboard – The digital experience is insular and individual. The record is more a communal thing
Hong Kong’s Breath of the Dragon « Flickr Blog – great pictures of Hong Kong
Google Seeks Billions by Boosting Mobile Internet Speeds – Bloomberg
Android Is Suddenly In A Lot Of Trouble – Business Insider – the title is overly dramatic but the article is a good analysis of the challenges that Android faces
Megaupload Trial May Never Happen, Judge Says | TorrentFreak
Facebook, Google Could be Told to Set up India Servers
General purpose technologies: The revolution to come | The Economist
Foxconn to produce low-priced Baidu smartphones｜WantChinaTimes.com – the interesting thing about this is the impact it will have feature phone sales