Nike fails to fuel its FuelBand dream: What really went wrong

Rumors of Nike exiting the wearable device market for good have been circling the Internet for quite some time. However, these rumors have intensified after Nike fired most of its FuelBand team due to the failures of the device in the marketplace.

As per the person who is familiar with Nike's decisions, the company plans to exit the wearable device business and stick solely to software, mainly improving the Nike+ app for the iPhone, thus having no idea if Nike plans to launch the app on other devices, or if the company is interested in creating more apps in the future.

"As a fast-paced, global business we continually align resources with business priorities," Nike spokesman Brian Strong said in an email. "As our Digital Sport priorities evolve, we expect to make changes within the team, and there will be a small number of layoffs. We do not comment on individual employment matters."

To prove how terrible the FuelBand performed, Cnet has reported that as many as 55 people were fired from the 70-man team behind the wearable device on Thursday. This alone could be signs that Nike has no intention to return to the wearable device market, but we might be getting ahead of ourselves.

Nike gave the impression that the company is not yet ready to leave the wearable device market just yet.

"The Nike+ FuelBand SE remains an important part of our business," Strong added. "We will continue to improve the Nike+ FuelBand App, launch new METALUXE colors, and we will sell and support the Nike+ FuelBand SE for the foreseeable future."

The big question though, why is Nike firing over 80 percent of the FuelBand's workforce? Well, the device did not perform up to expectations in the marketplace and based on an anonymous post via the app Secret, a social network for gossip centered on the tech industry, problems could lie with the execs.

"The douchebag execs at Nike are going to lay off a bunch of the eng team who developed The FuelBand, and other Nike+ stuff. Mostly because the execs committed gross negligence, wasted tons of money, and didn't know what they were doing."

It is clear that wearable devices are bound to take off with the amount of top technology companies entering the space. It would be wise for Nike to return to the drawing board, and then bounce back again before the market is too crowded.

Source:

www.techtimes.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 12:08 AM in 80 percent, FuelBand, marketplace, Nike fails, Nike+, Secret, social network, spokesman, technology, wrong

Facebook Paper now with more Facebook

People who use the Paper iPhone app browse an average of 80 stories each day, but they told Facebook that they were missing essential daily information.

More cowbell, anyone?

Facebook on Friday released the latest installment of its Paper application, throwing in familiar aspects, like birthday and event reminders and photo comments, for members who can't seem to live without these social-networking mainstays in the separate application.

Paper is Facebook's two-month-old iPhone application for reading the news, or rather "preparing for your day," as product manager Michael Reckhow would say. The app is meant to be the archetype of the company's new standalone app strategy -- one app for every desire: News Feed, messaging, photos, groups -- and gives people an entirely different perspective on the social network's stream of content. People who use Paper browse an average of 80 stories each day, Reckhow said.

The updated release, version 1.1, introduces reminders for birthdays and events, updates that are sandwiched in the notification menu atop the screen and now just one tap away. The point here was to give early users more of what they want, Reckhow told CNET, and they really wanted these helpful nuggets of information.

"A lot of people have said that when they're in Paper they want to make sure...that [birthday and event] information is at hand," he said.

Also topping users' must-have list are photo comments so Paper now comes with a camera button to post photos in comments. "Photo comments are something we added to Facebook not too long ago and we found that it's now something people can't live without," said Reckhow.

On the more mundane side of things, people will notice that when navigating to their list of groups, Paper now displays the number of unread stories per group.

Facebook

With Facebook's unbundling strategy in full swing, Friday's updates seem a little counterintuitive. Paper now provides more of the standard Facebook app experience, not less. Indeed, the new features, all based on requests, suggest that Paper users are treating the application like a Facebook replacement.

Reckhow cautioned against drawing that conclusion, saying that the updates we're all designed to give people quotidian information essential to their days. Paper is meant to provide you with what you need to know before you leave your house, he said. It's something you want to check in the morning for news, sports, great photos, or the events you have on deck.

Just how many people are reading Paper each day is a mystery. The social network is not talking about the size of its audience, instead relying on the 80-stories-per-day engagement metric to prove the value of its.

Source:

www.cnet.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 11:42 AM in 80 stories, application, counterintuitive, engagement, Facebook Paper, Paper application, sandwiched, social network, two-month-old

WhatsApp Now Facebook?

In late February Facebook paid $19 billion to acquire the start-up company WhatsApp, just five years after its initial launch in 2009. WhatsApp is a full, cross-platform mobile-messaging phone service. It works by using a phone’s contacts folder as its “prebuilt social network” and now allows users from different manufacturers to exchange messages. Users login with their own phone number and real name.

WhatsApp focuses on its utility, simplicity, and quality of service. Their personal brand is to private maintain and keep a history of current relationships and chats, not hooking up with someone. Using real names allows friends to find one another. It also builds the business because of the network that is developed: the more people who join, the more likely it is that users will draw in others.

Facebook’s newly purchased company is highly successful. Typically, in excess of 18 billion messages are sent through its network, and this amount is increasing exponentially. From December 2013 to January 2014, there was an additional surge of two billion messages. Moreover, some messages go to multiple recipients, potentially doubling the amount sent. The number of active monthly users of WhatsApp totals now approximately 450 million and another million are added each month, which is what made the company so attractive to Facebook.

WhatsApp is a global company. Initially it was free and business was brisk – 10,000 downloads a day. Price containment was part of the initial design. In developing countries texting prices can be very high. The company added picture messaging, and moved to a one-time download fee. Currently, they have an annual subscription cost after the first year of use: $1.00 … or £1.00 … or €1.00. And, they offer advantages over older messaging services, such as Skype and AOL’s AIM.

The company was created by Jan Koum, 38, who came from modest beginnings. He didn’t even have a computer until he was 19, but he did have an abacus. His family didn’t have money to frequently call family back home to Ukraine, where they had emigrated from when Koum was 16. Thus, it makes sense that Koum would found an organization based on phone-based communications. And, that built into the system is privacy in the form of encryption between the client and the server. All chat histories are stored on the phone, not the server.

Both Koum and his cofounder Brian Acton, 42, worked at Yahoo! since the late 1990s before launching their own business. When Koum began WhatsApp, he set up three rules: First, there would be no advertising. This concurred with his Soviet upbringing. Second, citizens’ privacy would not be at risk. And, third, the user experience would be accessible and reliable. The three rules are set as a company mantra: No ads, no games, and no gimmicks. For this reason, privacy groups have now raised concerns about Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp.

Before the acquisition by Facebook, Koum and Acton expressed their own concern about working in a large company and spoke about the importance of maintaining their three rules, as a promise to their users. Privacy advocates have taken this to heart: two groups recently filed a complaint with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to block Facebook’s purchase. They want to know how Facebook will use the data. The allegation is that the purchase may be “an unfair and deceptive trade practice” because of WhatsApp’s promise to its users that it not collect data for advertising purposes.

The charge is that Facebook will break that promise because its record indicates that it regularly integrates data from companies it acquires. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that, following the acquisition, nothing will change for WhatsApp users and that the business will continue to operate separately. Facebook claims that its sole intent is to allow more connectivity and to deliver core Internet services more affordably and efficiently.

Facebook has questions to answer in its acquisition of WhatsApp. A lot of users may be shaking their heads at the possible discord between WhatsApp’s three promises of “no ads, no games, no gimmicks” and Facebook’s history including prior lawsuits due to their profiting from user’s information. Users may now well be asking Facebook, “WhatsApp?”

By Fern Remedi-Brown

News Source: guardianlv.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 10:29 AM in $19 billion, 1990s, Brian, brisk, Facebook, platform, social network, Ukraine, Users login, WhatsApp