Facebook raises IPO price as offering nears

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• Facebook raises IPO price as offering nears
• Poll: Half of Americans call Facebook a fad
• Honda unveils new Segway-like vehicle for indoors
• How electronic payment services are earning cabbies an extra $144 million in tips every year
• In-Flight Calling: Coming Soon to an Airplane Near You
• Saverin dumps US citizenship ahead of Facebook IPO
• Early Facebook employee has memoir deal
• Color me SNL! Color for Facebook to show backstage footage of season finale
• GM to drop Facebook ads due to low consumer impact
• Facebook amends offering, seeks $93 billion to $104 billion valuation for IPO
• Facebook boosts IPO size by 25 percent, aims for $15 billion
• Lack of trust in Facebook may hold back ad sales
• Samsung announces Ice Cream Sandwich update for T-Mobile phones
• Conn. accident shows dangers of distracted driving
• General Motors to stop advertising on Facebook
• Track Record: Do Major Urban Subway Networks Evolve along Similar Patterns?
• Thousands of Butts Were Analyzed to Create This Lightweight Chair [VIDEO]
• CIBC hopes to steal clients with "mobile wallets"
• GM to drop Facebook ads due to low consumer impact
• In-Flight Calling: Coming Soon to an Airplane Near You
• Chesapeake hikes loan as credit rating fades
• A look at how some IPO stocks have fared
• Want to Talk it Out? This Startup Puts Group Therapy Online for $9.99
• Apple reportedly slows iPhone orders, increases iPad orders
• Schilling's company failed to make payment to RI
• Aaron Sorkin Confirmed to Write Steve Jobs Biopic
• FCC seeks details on Verizon spectrum sale offer
• "Casablanca" turns 70 with free show on Facebook
• GM plans to stop advertising on Facebook
• Facebook increases IPO range to raise $12.1 billion
• Google's New Research Pane Allows You to Access Search from Docs
• In Canada, phones poised to challenge credit cards
• US class-action ebook price-fixing suit can proceed
• Exchanges iron out kinks as Facebook IPO looms
• Facebook options seen listed on May 29
• More than 70% of users spend little or nothing on apps
• 'Prometheus' Social Campaign Expands with Live Red Carpet and More

Facebook raises IPO price as offering nears Posted: Already expected to be the largest-ever initial public offering for an Internet company, Facebook is making its IPO even bigger.

Poll: Half of Americans call Facebook a fad Posted: Half of Americans think Facebook is a passing fad, according to the results of a new Associated Press-CNBC poll. And, in the run-up to the social network's initial public offering of stock, half of Americans also say the social network's expected asking price is too high.

Honda unveils new Segway-like vehicle for indoors Posted: Today, Honda announced the UNI-CUB — personal mobility device that's very similar to the Segway. But unlike the Segway that's mainly used for outdoors, the much smaller UNI-CUB is a one-person scooter for indoor spaces. Honda first announced the personal transpo system back in … Continue reading →

How electronic payment services are earning cabbies an extra $144 million in tips every year Posted: Tipping: It's a pain. Not so much because we don't like rewarding good service — we absolutely do — it's just that we never have any idea what's customary to tip for service outside a restaurant. I mean, what do … Continue reading →

In-Flight Calling: Coming Soon to an Airplane Near You Posted: Hitting the friendly skies doesn't necessarily mean you can't make a mobile phone call -- at least if you're flying on one of Virgin's new Airbus A330 planes. The airline plans to make in-flight calling available first on its flight from London to New York. By the end of the year, in-flight calling will be available on 17 planes and at least 10 routes.

Saverin dumps US citizenship ahead of Facebook IPO Posted: Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has renounced his U.S. citizenship, a move expected to save him hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes stemming from the company's impending initial public offering.

Early Facebook employee has memoir deal Posted: An early Facebook employee and former assistant to Mark Zuckerberg will have a memoir out this summer.

Color me SNL! Color for Facebook to show backstage footage of season finale Posted: While Color's first attempt in the app arena was deemed not ready for prime time, the company is back with a distribution alliance with Verizon Wireless and cool promotion this week with Saturday Night Live.

GM to drop Facebook ads due to low consumer impact Posted: DETROIT/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - General Motors Co said on Tuesday it will stop advertising on Facebook, even as the social networking website prepares to go public, with a source familiar with the matter saying the automaker had decided Facebook's ads had little impact on consumers. The decision by GM, the third-largest advertiser in the United States, marks the first highly visible crack in Facebook's strategy and underscores doubts about whether advertising on Facebook works better than traditional media. ...

Facebook amends offering, seeks $93 billion to $104 billion valuation for IPO Posted: Facebook on Tuesday raised its initial public offering price target range to between $34 and $38 per share in response to strong demand, an increase from $28 to $35, according to a new filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The new price range pushes the social networking company's valuation to between $93 billion and $104 billion. Facebook will offer a total of 388 million shares, and is looking to raise $14.7 billion. Facebook will make its initial public offering on May 18th and its shares will be listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the "FB" ticker symbol. [Via TechCrunch] Read

Facebook boosts IPO size by 25 percent, aims for $15 billion Posted: NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc will increase the size of its initial public offering by 25 percent to raise about $15 billion, a source familiar with the matter said, as strong investor demand for a share of the No.1 social network trumped ongoing debate about the company's long-term potential to make money. ...

Lack of trust in Facebook may hold back ad sales Posted: Facebook's reach is wide but not deep. Few users surveyed in an Associated Press-CNBC poll say they click on the site's ads or buy the virtual goods that make money for it.

Samsung announces Ice Cream Sandwich update for T-Mobile phones Posted: Samsung recently updated its website to include a list of T-Mobile devices that will receive Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades. "Samsung is in close communication with both Google and our carrier partners to upgrade devices to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as quickly and as smoothly as possible," the company wrote on its website. The manufacturer will be issuing over-the-air updates to the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S Blaze 4G, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and Galaxy Tab 10.1. Unfortunately, neither T-Mobile nor Samsung have announced a release schedule for the upcoming updates. Read

Conn. accident shows dangers of distracted driving Posted: A teenage driver is under arrest after authorities said the distraction of a handheld cellphone caused her to fatally hit a jogger, whose father blames his death on her "stupidity."

General Motors to stop advertising on Facebook Posted: General Motors, the world's largest automaker and third biggest advertiser in the U.S., plans to stop advertising on Facebook, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. After meeting with Facebook managers to address concerns, the company's marketing executives were left unconvinced of the effectiveness of the site's advertising methods, claiming its paid ads had little impact on consumers. GM will thus pull its $10 million ad spend, although the automaker will continue to use the social networking site to display free content on its own Facebook page. GM is only skeptical about Facebook, and not about digital advertising as a whole; the company spends almost $300 million each year on digital brand advertising. The news comes at a bad time for

Track Record: Do Major Urban Subway Networks Evolve along Similar Patterns? Posted: Track Record: Do Major Urban Subway Networks Evolve along Similar Patterns?

Thousands of Butts Were Analyzed to Create This Lightweight Chair [VIDEO] Posted: German designers placed a high-tech, sensor-equipped chair in the middle of a palazzo in Milan last month to record stress points on the backsides of thousands of people. The goal? To determine how to design a lightweight and efficient chair that's sturdy enough to support a wide variety of users.

CIBC hopes to steal clients with "mobile wallets" Posted: TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is hoping its deal with Rogers Communications to allow customers to pay for purchases with smartphones will help it steal clients from banking rivals who must now rush to match the offering. Canada's No. 5 bank announced the deal on Tuesday for the so-called "mobile wallets", which will allow the bank's credit card customers to make retail payments by tapping their smartphones on a sensor. The move came a day after Canada's banking industry published a set of guidelines to support open standards for mobile wallets. ...

GM to drop Facebook ads due to low consumer impact Posted: DETROIT/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - General Motors Co said on Tuesday it will stop advertising on Facebook, even as the social networking website prepares to go public. While GM gave no specific reason for dropping Facebook ads, a source familiar with the automaker's plans said the company's marketing executives decided Facebook's ads had little impact on consumers. While GM's decision could be an exception in the advertising world, it marked the first highly visible crack in the Facebook strategy, said Brian Wieser, Internet and media analyst at Pivotal Research Group. ...

In-Flight Calling: Coming Soon to an Airplane Near You Posted: Hitting the friendly skies doesn't necessarily mean you can't make a mobile phone call -- at least if you're flying on one of Virgin's new Airbus A330 planes. The airline plans to make in-flight calling available first on its flight from London to New York. By the end of the year, in-flight calling will be available on 17 planes and at least 10 routes.

Chesapeake hikes loan as credit rating fades Posted: (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp increased a planned loan even as its credit rating deteriorated on Tuesday, adding pressure on the natural gas producer to deliver crucial asset sales. The company, which has sought to soothe investors angered by recent disclosures about its chief executive's potential conflicts of interest, boosted a planned $3 billion bridge loan to $4 billion. There was strong demand for the junk-rated debt that it needs to cover a cash shortfall brought on by the weakest natural gas prices in a decade. Shares in Chesapeake slumped fell 5. ...

A look at how some IPO stocks have fared Posted: Facebook has filed paperwork for an initial public offering of stock. Its public debut, expected this week, will be the most anticipated tech IPO since Google went public in August 2004.

Want to Talk it Out? This Startup Puts Group Therapy Online for $9.99 Posted: The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Apple reportedly slows iPhone orders, increases iPad orders Posted: Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said in a note to investors on Tuesday that Apple has reduced iPhone orders by between 20% to 25% from the 35.1 million units the company shipped in the March quarter. Wu now expects shipments of between 26 million and 28 million iPhones, lower than the Street's consensus of between 30 million and 31 million units. The analyst also noted that Apple has an estimated 8.6 million iPhones in channel inventory, 2.6 million of which were added in the most recent quarter, allowing the Cupertino-based company to achieve supply-demand balance of between four to six weeks. "From our understanding, the reason for the reduction is not demand related but rather due to the upcoming 6th generation iPhone

Schilling's company failed to make payment to RI Posted: Rhode Island leaders are working to help former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video game company remain viable after it failed to make a scheduled $1.125 million payment to the state's economic development agency.

Aaron Sorkin Confirmed to Write Steve Jobs Biopic Posted: After winning an Oscar for writing a screenplay about Facebook, Aaron Sorkin is setting his sights on Apple.

FCC seeks details on Verizon spectrum sale offer Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission asked Verizon Wireless for more details on its offer to sell some wireless spectrum on the condition that the company's purchase of another set of airwaves is approved by regulators. Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc, said April 18 that it would sell spectrum depending on the outcome of the FCC's pending review of its plan to pay about $3.9 billion for spectrum owned by cable operators. The FCC said on Tuesday it needed more information on the link between both deals by May 22. ...

"Casablanca" turns 70 with free show on Facebook Posted: The stars of much-loved classic film "Casablanca" may always have Paris, but on Wednesday they will have Facebook.

GM plans to stop advertising on Facebook Posted: (Reuters) - General Motors Co will stop advertising on Facebook, a move that comes during the same week the social networking website is due to go public. The U.S. automaker confirmed a report by the Wall Street Journal. A source familiar with the automaker's plans said GM's marketing executives decided Facebook's ads had little impact on consumers. GM said it will still have Facebook pages marketing its vehicles, but it will drop use of paid ads. Anyone can create a Facebook page at no cost. GM pays no fee to Facebook for its pages, which allow the automaker to reach consumers directly. ...

Facebook increases IPO range to raise $12.1 billion Posted: NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc increased the price range on its initial public offering an average of 14 percent to raise more than $12 billion, giving the world's No. 1 social network a valuation potentially exceeding $100 billion. The company, founded eight years ago by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room, raised the target range to between $34 and $38 per share in response to strong demand, from $28 to $35, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. ...

Google's New Research Pane Allows You to Access Search from Docs Posted: Google Docs just got a little smarter with the introduction of a research pane Tuesday. The pane allows you to tap into a Google Search directly from Google documents to find additional information about a particular topic or idea.

In Canada, phones poised to challenge credit cards Posted: TORONTO (Reuters) - Thousands of Canadian retailers already have equipment in place to let customers pay for purchases with a swipe of their mobile phones, putting the country in the lead in developing a system that could one day make cash obsolete. All that's needed is an agreement between banks, credit card companies and telecoms, and that appears to be coming soon, promising to transform how Canadians pay for everything from their morning coffee to a tankful of gasoline. ...

US class-action ebook price-fixing suit can proceed Posted: A judge Tuesday allowed a class-action case to proceed against Apple and six publishing houses alleging a price-fixing scheme for electronic books, citing "ample" indications of a conspiracy.

Exchanges iron out kinks as Facebook IPO looms Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - The frenzy around Facebook's public debut has exchange operators taking extra precautions to make sure the social network giant's stock trades smoothly on Friday, especially in the wake of recent technical glitches. When Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg rings Nasdaq OMX's opening market bell on Friday from company headquarters in Menlo Park, California, Nasdaq will have completed three straight days of testing on its initial public offering systems. On Tuesday, the exchange ran a test debut using the dummy ticker symbol ZWZZT. ...

Facebook options seen listed on May 29 Posted: (Reuters) - Traders will have their first crack at using options to hedge their bets or speculate on the direction of Facebook shares in two weeks, when U.S. options exchanges expect to list contracts on the hot new stock. "There is a lot of excitement around Facebook and investors are anxious to trade it by any means possible, either through the stock or its options," said TD Ameritrade chief derivatives strategist J.J. Kinahan. "So it is not surprising that the options exchanges are finding a way to make that happen as fast and efficient as possible. ...

More than 70% of users spend little or nothing on apps Posted: Nearly two-thirds of consumers in the United States have spent money on mobile applications on at least one occasion according to a survey conducted by ABI Research. More than 70% of users spend little to nothing on apps, however, while the highest 3% of all spenders account for nearly 20% of the total amount spent. "The median amount among the consumers who spend money on apps is much lower than the average, just $7.50 per month," senior analyst Aapo Markkanen said. "This reflects the disproportionate role of big spenders as a revenue source." ABI Research also found that the most successful money-making apps have typically been utility apps often used for business purposes, or iOS games that utilize in-app purchases,

'Prometheus' Social Campaign Expands with Live Red Carpet and More Posted: Fox is continuing its viral and digital campaign for Ridley Scott's Prometheus with a new viral video, a special Twitter chat and a live-streamed red carpet premiere.

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