Friday, February 28, 2014

New Aussie Weekend Newspaper Hits the Stands

New Weekend Newspaper Hits the Stands First Edition
A crisp new weekend newspaper has hit the stands in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne this morning, hoping to prove that print media can thrive in this digital age. The Saturday Paper is produced by property developer and publisher  Morry Schwartz - the man behind the influential Quarterly Essay and The Monthly - The Saturday Paper is edited by 25-year-young former Fairfax journalist Erik Jensen.

The Saturday Paper will be on stands each weekend in print, it'll also be published online and as a mobile app. Mr Schwartz has attracted some heavy hitting pens to the new paper, including former Fairfax journalist, author and social commentator David Marr :: Read the full article »»»»

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Facebook Snags Mobile Messaging Service WhatsApp

Facebook Snags Mobile Messaging Service WhatsAppThe socialnetworking site that is Facebook has announced it's buying mobile messaging service WhatsApp in a deal worth an $US19 billion, expanding its global footprint. WhatsApp is a cross-platform mobile app that allows users to exchange text messages without having to pay carrier charges.

The deal bolsters the social network - currently populated with more than 1.2 billion members - with the 450-million strong WhatsApp, which will be operated independently.

It's Facebook's biggest acquisition and comes less than two years after Mark Zuckerberg's firm raised $16 billion in the record breaking public stock offer. The WhatsApp deal includes $US12 billion in Facebook shares, $4 billion cash and $3 billion in RSUs - Restricted Stock Units - for employee retention.

Facebook said via it's blog the deal that "the deal supports Facebook and WhatsApp's shared mission to bring more connectivity to the world. The combination will help accelerate growth and user engagement across both companies. "

Unlike Facebook, WhatsApp is a slim operation, with less than 35 engineers - 1 engineer to 14 million users - it processes 50 billion messages a day, across 7 platforms. The attraction runs much deeper than popularity, WhatsApp will not only boost Facebook's international coverage, more importantly, it will add up to 350 million mobile users to Facebook's advertising offer :: Read the full article »»»»

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