Skip to main content

Latest by Francis Bea

monetizing graph search

Here’s how Facebook could make money off of Graph Search

Facebook announced Graph Search, but monetization schemes haven't been discussed. Here's how we think Facebook will make money from its search engine.
mega landing page

What to expect from Kim Dotcom’s Mega, launching tomorrow

Kim Dotcom is ready to release Mega, his second file storage and sharing platform, to the world tomorrow. Here's a snippet of what you should expect.
instagram icon

Instagram fights back, releases performance stats for the first time

For the first time in its short history, Instagram published statistics to stymie the bearish reports on its health.
facebook memory

People remember Facebook posts better than faces and book excerpts

Researchers have discovered that our minds are better equipped to recall the conversational style of Facebook status updates than faces and book excerpts.
yelp health score

Yelp creates LIVE standard to unify restaurant hygiene scores

Yelp has launched a unified health code standard for venues in San Francisco and New York called LIVE.
stileeye

StileEye’s image-based search engine is a personal stylist in your pocket

StileEye is a mobile search engine that takes the photos of clothes you love and finds you similar styles based on its ever-learning, image-based algorithm.
Twitter transparency report

Landmark case may set grounds for fair use over photos shared on Twitter

Three publishers have been embroiled in a lawsuit over unlicensed use of a Twitter user's photos, which could set a precedence for Twitter photo rights.
digisocial landing

With features for your eyes, ears, and… fingers, Digisocial wants to be your all-in-one social network

Digisocial is a mobile social network for sharing and messaging friends with audio embedded photos.
gobank

Post Loopt acquisition, Green Dot announces Gobank, the first mobile-only bank

Green Dot, a pre-paid debit card provider, announced and teased its first ever mobile-only banking solution, Gobank.
new myspace

The new Myspace opens up its doors – and throws in a new single from Justin Timberlake

The new Myspace is out of invite-only beta and now anyone can sign up and start sharing content or discovering new music.
facebook followers module first iteration

Facebook finally begins replacing ‘Subscribers’ with ‘Followers’ in the U.S.

Facebook started replacing the "Subscriber" module with "Followers" ahead of its press event, and we also noticed that it was testing a new time stamp.
pulse social media update

Pulse update adds deep social integration, wants to be an all-in-one platform for consuming content

Pulse updated its mobile apps today to add a deeper integration with popular social networks including YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, Facebook, and Tumblr.
Twitter bird locked in a cage

Twitter’s TweetDeck again fails to file accounts, risks being shut down in U.K.

TweetDeck, the Twitter acquired third-party client, has for a second time failed to file its accounts with the U.K. Commons House and risks being dissolved.
foursquare checkin details snippet

Foursquare update to check-in pages on mobile Web, adds more details

Foursquare announced a redesigned check-in page today to its mobile Web app, which has design elements from social photo apps like Instagram.
field trip scoutmob

Field Trip, Google’s “tour-guide” app, adds ScoutMob to serve local, location-based deals

Field Trip, Google's "tour-guide" app, announced a partnership with Scoutmob today, to serve users better location-based local deals.
skype messenger

Microsoft Messenger to shut down March 15 and will be replaced by Skype

Bid Microsoft's Messenger a farewell on March 15. That day marks the first day that Skype officially replaces the instant messaging client.
linkedin 200 million user milestone members

LinkedIn celebrates 200 million users, and counting

LinkedIn celebrated reaching its 200 million user milestone today, but the social network isn't done yet. It's growing at a rate of 2 new users per second.
chnl

CHNL partners with Groupon, LivingSocial to curate more than the social Web

CHNL partnered with LivingSocial and Groupon to curate not only social media posts, but now also daily deals.
twitter

Real-time search is Twitter’s priority, even if mere humans are used to power it

Twitter's search engine, thanks to its human evaluators and today's update, now surfaces contextually relevant search results.
thenextweb facebook timeline redesign

New Facebook Timeline redesign released to New Zealand shows single-columns, inline About tabs

New Zealand was the first country to see the newly improved Facebook Timeline design, which emphasizes a single column of posts, and inline About tabs.
fixing yahoo social media

Yahoo Mail exploit by lone hacker sends malicious emails to victim contact lists

If you use Yahoo Mail, don't open up any suspicious links even if it's from your known contacts. An exploit is spreading malicious emails like wildfire.
Skype video call

Researchers find a way to send secret “silent” messages through Skype

Polish researchers discovered a secret way to send encrypted messages through Skype during the silent moments of your conversations.
Facebook

This week in Facebook: How to ‘kill’ your friends’ profiles, earn $10, and cure your loneliness

All the Facebook news you may have missed this week, including how to get $10, its global domination, and why updating your status is good for you.
spotify

Spotify’s music download option indefinitely shelved worldwide

Spotify shelved its music download feature worldwide, and sources say the move was due to a lack of user interest.
maybe an accelerator at sea isnt so unreasonable

Maybe an accelerator at sea isn’t so ‘Unreasonable’ after all

11 entrepreneurs will set sail on Unreasonable at Sea's accelerator with the goal to break into a global market and solve the world's most pressing problems.
ebay

eBay is testing out new shipment and selling systems to help you clean out that closet

EBay is in the process of testing out new selling services for amateur sellers or sellers with little time on their hands.
voip fb

Facebook adds VoIP and voice messaging features to Messenger – for Canadians only (for now)

Facebook Messenger has been updated with VoIP and voice messaging, predictably inspired by messaging competitors LINE, WeChat, and Nimbuzz.
twitter whale money

Twitter may eye 2014 IPO and a $11 billion valuation

What the IPO tech world has been anticipating might come in 2014 say analysts, and could be based on an $11 billion valuation.
snapchat cached videos

This is how users can save your secret Snapchat videos

There's a loophole in Snapchat and Facebook Poke that enables users to save temporary videos to their computer.
social media job hunt

What you should know about how job recruiters use social media to hunt you down

lycos

Lycos planning a comeback in 2013

Lycos is planning on making a Web comeback in 2013, but won't be taking on search engine giant Google, says Lycos CEO Rob Balazy.
Regifting

Digital re-gifting: The Internet wants your ugly sweater

If you're planning on celebrating National Regift Day, here are some steps you need to take using the Internet to successful regift your unwanted gift.
facebook science

Everything science had to say about Facebook this week

Social media is all fun and games... until scientists dive in and tell you what it's all actually doing to your mind.
pearltrees example one

[Exclusive] Visual curation platform Pearltrees now lets you customize your pages

Pearltrees announced an update to its platform today that will allow users the limited personalization of icons and backgrounds for their pearls.