[CBS NEWS]  Procter & Gamble (PG) upped its advertising spend by $1 billion — one billion dollars — last year, an increase so vast that it reduced the company’s profits and sent its stock tumbling 3.4%.

The company now has the task of convincing investors that it knows what’s it’s doing with its galaxy-sized marketing budget. Adspend increased more than $1 billion to $8.6 billion, or 10.9 % of net sales, the company reported [...]

P&G could tap into Text Cash Network (TCN)  Power Consumer Agent/Member to reduce its Ad Budget by offering premium savings to TCN Agent/Members.

[...]Of course, P&G is famously the master of marketing. Only idiots bet against P&G. But giants sometimes stumble, so it’s worth asking whether, in an age when you can reach ever-larger audiences on the web and on mobile devices for ever-smaller sums of money, P&G is spending too much for the sales gains it forecasts in the coming year (2-4 % in total).

Read more…

[MarketWacth Press Release] BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — MediaNet Group Technologies, Inc. (otcqb:MEDG), a global shopping and entertainment community, today announced that Charles Arizmendi has been named Executive Vice President of Enterprise Business Unit, reporting directly to Alessandro Annoscia, Chief Operating Officer.

The role of Executive Vice President of Enterprise Business Unit is new within the Company and will lead the strategic sales and marketing efforts of DubLi’s Partner Program around the world, establishing a global network of professional sellers as well as all operating and development resources related to the Partner Program. Mr. Arizmendi will be based out of the Company’s Corporate Headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida.

Mr. Arizmendi brings to MediaNet Group over 22 years of experience in the IT and Computer Software Industries, most recently as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at BitDefender, a leading security software manufacturer in Eastern Europe. [...].

[...] Mr. Arizmendi was responsible for launching BitDefender’s new partner program, the strategic realignment of the Company’s retail operations and the acquisition of new distributors around the world.

[...]

Charles Arizmendi continued,

“I have been watching and admiring DubLi for several years now, so it was without second thought that I would join this exciting Company. Under Michael and Alessandro’s leadership and direction, I am prepared to take on the world with the DubLi Partner Program and welcome the opportunity to share what I have admired with others around the globe. DubLi’s business model is well positioned to take advantage of the world’s global shopping and entertainment arena and I look forward to enhancing Michael’s vision and executing new strategies for growth.”

[...]

Read complete press release…

[Hot Stocked] For one reason or another, volumes keep rising, and the stock price of MediaNet Group Technologies Inc.(PINK:MEDG) keeps accumulating value.

In October alone, the increase in its share price is almost 50%, and the pace is not slowing down, but rather than that speeding up.

Yesterday is a good example. Another positive day for MEDG with almost 400k shares exchanging hands and a 16.6% increase in the stock price, the session closing at $0.35 per share. No news, no promotions, no SEC filings this week. Just an optimistic stock performance, and a busy day for shorters. Yesterday, 133k shares exchanged hands as a result of short-trading activity. In the meantime, the third quarter is over now, so financial results should be expected soon.

[...] Read more from the source…

About MediaNet Group Technologies, Inc.:

MediaNet Group Technologies, Inc. has created a global online shopping community that includes its reverse auction concept, shopping mall platform and entertainment portal.

The Company’s unique operating strategy combines online shopping with its distribution network to reach customers directly on a global scale.

[AllThingDigial] Posting abysmal second-quarter earnings this morning, Nokia reported smartphone shipments that slid 34 percent to 16.7 million units, and in doing so, forfeited its title as world’s largest smartphone manufacturer by volume. Apple, which became the world’s largest handset vendor by revenue in the first quarter of 2011 (again overtaking Nokia to claim that title), shipped 20.3 million iPhones in its second quarter.

Until today, Nokia had dominated the smartphone market for about 15 years after essentially creating it with the Nokia 9000 Communicator in 1996.

[Yahoo Finance] BOCA RATON, Fla., May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — MediaNet Group Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: MEDG), a global shopping and entertainment community, today announced  results for the second quarter and six months ended March 31, 2011.

For the second quarter ended March 31, 2011, revenues were $3.1 million compared to $6.3 million for the second quarter ended March 31, 2010.  Gross profit for the quarter was $1.8 million, or 56% of revenue, compared to $2.8 million, or 42% of revenue, in the same period of 2010. The net loss for the second quarter was $1.4 million, resulting in a loss per basic share of $0.01 and fully diluted share of $0.00, compared to net income of $1.3 million, or earnings per basic and fully diluted share of $0.04 and $0.00, respectively, in the comparable 2010 period.

[...]

Michael Hansen, President and Chief Executive Officer stated,

“We have spent the last few years planning the makeover of the DubLi product line which was largely implemented during first half of fiscal 2011.  As such, revenues were in line with our expectations, which took into account the transition period for our new technology platforms and the extensive training, development and education of our global sales force in order to enhance their productivity with our new product offerings.”

Mr. Hansen continued,

“Following the investment and efforts in developing our product offering during these last few quarters, we believe we are well-positioned to maximize and capitalize on our shopping concept and business strategy. We expect the improvements to our business model and technology platforms to facilitate the global market penetration and acceptance of our products.   In addition, we fully expect to not only cast a wider net, but also to garner greater loyalty and additional discretionary spending from our customers, Business Associates and partners around the world.”

[...].

Find Q2-2011 DubLi’s complte Income Statement here…

[Reuters Technology] High-speed Internet has had the greatest technological impact on society over the past decade and is the technology most people say they cannot live without, according to a new poll.

24% of 1,950 U.S. adults questioned in the online survey conducted by Zogby International said high-speed Internet had the greatest impact on their lives, followed closely by Facebook at 22 % and Google with 10% .

Of the technologies people say they cannot live without, high-speed Internet came in first at 28 % and email was second at 18 %.

When asked what they thought would be the greatest technological advancement in the next year, 24 %said it would be in home entertainment and 16 % said it would be in general computing.

Read more…

[Reuters News Technology] – Apple Inc is set to make an announcement Tuesday about its iTunes Store, the leading music retailer in the United States.

Apple posted a message on Monday on the iTunes website, teasing an announcement to be made at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, but gave few clues. “Tomorrow is just another day. That you’ll never forget,” the message read.

The iTunes store raked in more than $1 billion in revenue last quarter. The company launched iTunes 10 in September, and also unveiled Ping, a new social networking service.

Apple’s iTunes is the largest digital music store in the United States, and it also sells and rents movies and television shows. More than 10 billion songs have been downloaded from the iTunes Store since it launched in 2003.

Reporting by Gabriel Madway.

MyBlog@Webpasco Comment: To be follow… Since DubLi Entertainment launch we expect huge movement in the digital music arena.

[TechCrunch News by Robin Wauters]

Amazon.com has just announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Quidsi, which operates ecommerce sites Diapers.com, Soap.com and BeautyBar.com. The acquisition news first broke over the weekend by Fortune’s Dan Primack, who pegged the purchase price at $540 million…

The ecommerce juggernaut will also assume approximately $45 million in debt and similar obligations, bringing the total purchase price to $545 million. We’ve confirmed with the company that Quidsi was operating at a revenue run rate of approximately $300 million this year.

The acquisition is expected to close by year’s end. Following the acquisition, Quidsi will continue to operate independently under its current leadership team.

The Quidsi deal is similar to the one struck with online shoe retailer Zappos, which Amazon acquired for $1.2 billion a year ago. The also bought Woot last June for $110 million.

For complete coverage…

TechCrunch News: LimeWire Capitulates To The Music Industry, After 10 Years.

The music industry lawyers just put another notch on their wall. After ten years of existence, peer-to-peer music sharing service LimeWire is joining Napster, Kazaa, and all the rest. It will abide by a court-ordered injunction today and begin to disable the file-sharing and music-searching features of its P2P software. Years of legal battles and the prospects of paying astronomical fines finally did the service in. …

MyBlog@Webpasco Comment: Hard to belief that in 10 years, they couldn’t get through or re-invent their business model.

…As far as the Internet goes, the music industry is basically organized around litigation on one side, and extracting maximum licensing fees from music startups that try to play by the rules on the other. If you want to understand exactly how difficult it is for a music startup to survive, check out this talk by Dalton Caldwell, founder of now-defunct imeem. The lawyers won, but their ships are still sinking.

MyBlog@Webpasco Comment: I had a chance to listen to imeem founder. It was very educative on how the music industry works and what not to do when starting-up a music platform. I believe DubLi Entertainment to be launch soon with 18 millions songs offer in Streaming mode, could litteraly help the industry survive.

For the full article…

[TechCrunch 10/14/2010] Google released third quarter earnings a few minutes ago. Above are the slides showing its results.

Revenues jumped 23 percent to $7.3 billion. Net income was up 18 % to $2.2 billion. On a non-GAAP basis, earnings per share rose slightly faster to $7.64. This blew away the consensus estimate of $6.67 among Wall Street analysts.

Google also offered some new numbers on some of its non-search businesses. Non-text search, including display ads from DoubleClick and YouTube ads, are on a $2.5 billion revenue run-rate.

Google is putting ads on 2 billion video views a week. And mobile search is on track to be a $1 billion business this year.

[From Business Insider] Twitter has a new CEO.

According to the firm’s research, iTunes download rates for music and iOS apps are both still growing, but accelerating much faster for the latter. In fact, Asymco posits, based on data from the recently updated Music and App Store, that the total number of app downloads has already reached the same level as that of songs in less than half the time.

Assuming Asymco’s numbers are correct, it took roughly 2.2 years for the App Store to serve up 6.3 billion apps, while it took approximately five years for the iTunes Music Store to reach that same number.

If current trends persist for both, Asymco considers it likely that app downloads will overtake song downloads by year’s end.

Cumulative unit rates aside, Asymco last weekend posted another graph, depicting how music downloads continue to slow, particularly compared to apps.

Asymco says iOS users are currently downloading 17.6 million apps compared to roughly 7.5 million songs per day, on average.

[Reuters News 30/08/2010] Canada’s established telecom carriers must allow smaller Internet providers access to their high-speed fiber networks at the same speed they offer to their own customers, the telecom and broadcast regulator ruled on Monday, but it said they can charge a 10 percent mark-up for doing so.

The mark-up will not apply to access to existing Internet services, which the carriers, such as BCE Inc’s BCE.TO Bell Canada and Telus Corp, must continue to provide to the smaller Internet service providers (ISPs), the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said.

“Requiring these companies to provide access to their networks will lead to more opportunities for competition in retail Internet services and better serve consumers,” CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said in the decision.

Canada has seen a convergence in its telecom, Internet and broadcasting sectors in recent years, as once-dominant regional telephone carriers compete nationally against cable companies such as Rogers Communications and the smaller ISPs.

Until this decision, the established telecom companies could “throttle” third-party services, by slowing them down or limiting downloads.

The established carriers, which also include MTS Allstream, appealed a similar CRTC decision in 2009, saying they spend significant portions of their profits on expanding their networks and should not have to share expensive fiber cable with competitors at wholesale costs.

“The forced unbundling of next-generation networks that aren’t even built yet would place a chill on investment in those networks at a time when the federal government is trying to encourage investment in broadband networks,” Telus said ahead of the decision.

About 400,000 Canadians buy Internet access from smaller ISPs, and most of them get it via the networks of the incumbent telecom operators.

“In recognition of these investments, the CRTC will allow them to charge competitors an additional 10 percent mark-up over their costs for the use of their wholesale Internet services’ higher-speed options,” the regulator said in its decision.

The CRTC also said that the country’s big cable companies must make it easier for the ISPs to gain access their networks to offer their services. It is technically easier for the ISPs to use the telecom companies’ networks than those of the cable networks.

Wealth Creator 2.0: We beleive it’s a good news for regional Internet provider and mostly for customers with small provider offering low cost Internet access to their population.

[TechCrunch News - 30/08/2010] Web adoption is growing faster in Latin America than anywhere on the planet, according to comScore. Its audience grew 23% over the last year, and currently makes up 8% of the global Web population. That’s larger than the Middle-East and Africa’s Web audiences combined, and almost half of North America’s Web population…

… The numbers back his patriotism up: While tiny Colombia had the largest percentage increase in Internet users—at a whopping 38%– the largest number of users were added in Brazil, with some six million new Web residents. Brazil has more than double the Internet users of Mexico and Argentina, and those Brazilian Internet users spend the most time online, at 26.4 hours per month.

Bad news, US companies: With the exception of Orkut and Hotmail those Brazilians like Brazilian things. The vast majority of Brazilians only surf Portuguese language sites, while Spanish-speaking countries surf a mix of Spanish and English sites. And while Facebook dominates Latin American countries like Chile and Colombia, Google’s Orkut remains the social media giant in Brazil…

…And Brazilians shop patriotically too. Brazil makes up 35% of Latin Americans online, but they spend 61% of the region’s e-commerce dollars. And 95% of Brazilian purchases were made on Latin American sites; even though in other Latin countries like Puerto Rico, 95% of ecommerce dollars were spent on non-Latin sites, primarily those in the US. Local Groupon-like sites have been one of the fastest growing: Peixe Urbano says last Friday it signed up its millionth users in five months of business, and some 20 competitors are gunning for the space as well.

[Press Release] Intel Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire McAfee, Inc., through the purchase of all of the company’s common stock at $48 per share in cash, for approximately $7.68 billion. Both boards of directors have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close after McAfee shareholder approval, regulatory clearances and other customary conditions specified in the agreement.

“In the past, energy-efficient performance and connectivity have defined computing requirements. Looking forward, security will join those as a third pillar of what people demand from all computing experiences.”

The acquisition reflects that security is now a fundamental component of online computing. Today’s security approach does not fully address the billions of new Internet-ready devices connecting, including mobile and wireless devices, TVs, cars, medical devices and ATM machines as well as the accompanying surge in cyber threats. Providing protection to a diverse online world requires a fundamentally new approach involving software, hardware and services.

Inside Intel, the company has elevated the priority of security to be on par with its strategic focus areas in energy-efficient performance and Internet connectivity.

McAfee, which has enjoyed double-digit, year-over-year growth and nearly 80 percent gross margins last year, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel, reporting into Intel’s Software and Services Group. The group is managed by Renée James, Intel senior vice president, and general manager of the group.

“With the rapid expansion of growth across a vast array of Internet-connected devices, more and more of the elements of our lives have moved online,” said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. “In the past, energy-efficient performance and connectivity have defined computing requirements. Looking forward, security will join those as a third pillar of what people demand from all computing experiences…

…

“The cyber threat landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years, with millions of new threats appearing every month,” said Dave DeWalt, president and CEO of McAfee. “We believe this acquisition will result in our ability to deliver a safer, more secure and trusted Internet-enabled device experience.”

McAfee, based in Santa Clara and founded in 1987, is the world’s largest dedicated security technology company with approximately $2 billion in revenue in 2009.

[CNNMoney.com] Wireless service for consumer devices like smartphones, Kindles, iPads and other devices will soon have a new provider to consider.

Watch out AT&T, Sprint and Verizon:  A whole host of super-fast wireless services could be coming down the pike.

LightSquared, a new 4G wireless network backed by private-equity firm Harbinger Capital Partners and to be built by Nokia Siemens, is set to roll out starting next year.  By 2015, LightSquared intends to have its network covering 92% of the U.S. population, the company announced this week.

“4G” is a term used for the next generation of wireless networks, which promise to deliver broadband-like download speeds over the air that are up to 50 times faster than 3G (though actual speeds will be slower). Sprint (S, Fortune 500) has already begun to roll out its 4G network, and Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) and AT&T (T, Fortune 500) are planning on unveiling 4G networks soon — Verizon at the end of this year and AT&T in 2011.

A new player in the wireless market is a rarity these days — there’s more consolidation than new blood. Nokia Siemens said it will spend $7 billion building up LightSquared’s network. That’s a big gamble few companies can afford to make.

But that’s not the only reason LightSquared’s new network is significant: The company says it doesn’t plan to sell directly to consumers. Instead, it will wholesale its network to retailers and service providers.

“LightSquared is hoping to accelerate the ability of other service providers to offer 4G services to consumers,” said Dan Hays, a partner at consulting firm PRTM. “This opens doors for additional competitors and new innovation.”

Here’s how it might work: Under one hypothetical scenario, a big retail company like Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) could decide it wants to start selling mobile phones with “Wal-Mart Wireless” branding. So Wal-Mart would sign a deal with LightSquared to use its 4G network, but Wal-Mart would sell the service and the devices to its customers.

Another potential customer pool is existing, low-budget wireless providers like T-Mobile or MetroPCS (PCS), which have very limited networks of their own. These providers could buy bandwidth from LightSquared to offer 4G service without building out their own infrastructure. Leap Wireless’ (LEAP) Cricket already does something similar with its 3G service.

But the real growth potential is in wiring up devices that aren’t currently connected to the Internet. No one thought books needed to be broadband-enabled — until Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) introduced the Kindle e-reader.

The first generation of Kindles ran on Sprint’s network. (Kindle customers don’t pay access fees for that bandwidth; Amazon foots the bill, reasoning that it will sell more e-books to customers who have ubiquitous access.) But Amazon later switched to AT&T, which now powers all the major e-readers, including Sony’s (SNE) Reader and Barnes & Noble’s (BKS, Fortune 500) Nook. Apple’s (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPad also runs on AT&GT’s network. Adding competition to that market for “white-label” broadband access could help bring down prices for consumers.

It also opens up new product possibilities. Right now, the Big Three wireless network operators have been hesitant to license bandwidth to other companies for services that could cannibalize their own. For instance, General Motors’ OnStar system uses Verizon’s network, but Verizon offers similar roadside assistance and navigation systems. It’s a tense balancing act.

LightSquared won’t have those conflicts of interest, because it’s not trying to sell directly to consumers. If it gets its network built, it will want to hawk bandwidth to anyone with the cash to buy it.

“LightSquared will be a disruptive force in the U.S. wireless landscape by democratizing wireless broadband services,” LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja said in a prepared statement. “We’re not only delivering exciting opportunities for manufacturers and retailers, but also real change for consumers.”

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS:

    - Nokia Siemens Networks signs an 8-year agreement worth $7 billion
to deploy, install, operate, and maintain LightSquared network
    - First-ever wholesale nationwide 4G-LTE wireless broadband network
integrated with satellite coverage allows partners to offer
    terrestrial-only, satellite-only, or integrated satellite-terrestrial
services to their end users.
    - Telecommunications luminary Sanjiv Ahuja becomes Chairman and CEO,
 joined by a seasoned management team.
    - First truly open and net neutral wireless network spurring the
development of new wireless devices, applications, and services.
    - Unique wholesale-only business model avoids conflict of interest
with customers.
    - LightSquared is announcing up to $1.75 billion in additional debt
 and equity financing.
    - LightSquared network build-out anticipated to generate more than 100,000
direct and indirect private sector jobs within five years.

[by Robin Wauters on Jul 22, 2010 - TechCrunch] AT&T released its second quarter earnings earlier this morning, reporting an increase in consolidated revenues and improved margins.

What caught my eye is this little nugget of information: the carrier activated 3.2 million iPhones last quarter, a record for the company. Approximately 27 percent of those activations were for customers who were new to AT&T, the company added in the statement.

Last Monday, Apple reported earnings for the quarter, obliterating all estimates. The company said it sold 8.4 million iPhones, and Apple COO Tim Cook at the end of the call said demand for the iPhone 4 was stunning, and that they are selling their latest smartphone as fast as they can produce them.

At last week’s press conference about Antennagate, CEO Steve Jobs kicked off the event by touting sales numbers for the iPhone 4, saying Apple had sold more than 3 million of them in the first 3 weeks on sale. Furthermore, more than half of those were sold in the first 3 days. You can read self-proclaimed iPhone lover MG Siegler’s review here, by the way.

AT&T backs up those high sales claims for the product, saying preorder sales of iPhone 4 were 10 times higher than the first day of preordering for iPhone 3GS a year earlier.

Can you imagine the phone hasn’t even been on the market for longer than a month? It’s still only available in black for crying out loud.

[Reuters News Technology, 07/21/2010] – Three telecoms firms have subscribed to a new undersea cable linking Nigeria and West Africa to Europe, paving the way for a transformation in internet access in Africa’s fastest-growing telecoms market.

The Nigerian arm of Etisalat, South Africa’s MTN and Nigeria’s Starcomms are among the first to sign up for broadband services from the cable, its operator the Main One Cable Company said on Wednesday.

The 7,000 km (4,350 mile) fiber optic cable, built in partnership with U.S. firm Tyco, runs from Portugal to Nigeria and Ghana, and also branches out to Morocco, the Canary Islands, Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Main One says the cable delivers more than ten times the broadband capacity of the South Atlantic Terminal (SAT-3), Nigeria’s sole existing undersea cable, and will enable service providers to offer cheaper and more reliable internet access.

“Those pre-construction customers … that have taken up our services to date are Etisalat, MTN and Starcomms,” Main One chief executive Funke Opeke told investors and telecoms executives at a launch ceremony in the commercial hub Lagos.

Participants from Bangalore, London and Johannesburg took part in the launch using teleconferencing facilities — not previously possible in Nigeria — hosted by U.S. router maker Cisco Systems Inc, which is partnering with Main One to develop applications for the Nigerian market.

Steven Evans, chief executive of Etisalat’s Nigerian arm, told Reuters his firm was testing the cable and would go live on it within a day or two.

“We are working very hard at the moment to go live on the network, hopefully within the next 24-48 hours … so that we will be one of the first people to be having broadband on the main network in Nigeria,” Evans said.

Evans said the cable would enable mobile phone operators to launch enhanced services, increase speed and lower prices, boosting competition in Africa’s most populous nation of 140 million people.

MTN is Nigeria’s biggest mobile operator but faces tough competition from local firm Globacom and from India’s Bharti, which last month completed a $9 billion acquisition of the African operations of Kuwait’s Zain.

Main One’s cable will close the technology gap between Nigeria and other parts of the world. The cable, which has a capacity of 1.92 terabits, can accommodate 1 million MP3 downloads and 100 million voice calls per second.

South Africa’s capacity is 1.28 terabits, While Nigeria will deliver 1.92 terabits.

(Editing by Nick Tattersall and Louise Heavens)

[TechCrunch - July 2010] During Apple’s Q3 2010 earnings call, CFO Peter Oppenheimer fielded a question about the massive data center Apple is currently building in Maiden, North Carolina. The reporter wanted to know how it was coming, and if there were any updates? “It’s on-schedule,” Oppenheimer quickly said. “We expect it completed by the end of the calendar year,” he continued, noting that it should be fully operational after that.

The questioner didn’t follow-up with perhaps the most important question: what exactly is Apple going to be using this billion dollar baby on? After all, when it was revealed that Apple was pouring $1 billion into the center, sites such as Data Center Knowledge noted that this was about twice what companies like Microsoft and Google invest in the data centers they use for cloud computing.

The official statement from last year seems to be: “The facility will provide Apple with a major East Coast infrastructure hub to support its iTune music store and iPhone app store.” But again,this thing is something like 500,000 square feet. That’s about five times the size of Apple’s other regional data centers. Instead, might this be the central hub of Apple’s often-rumored iTunes-in-the-cloud offering?

Again, the questioner didn’t ask. And even if they did, Apple most likely wouldn’t say. But both rumors and logic suggest that such an offering is in the works. Some rumors suggested Apple may launch such a service this Summer, but that does not appear to be happening now. Instead, might they preview what they’re working on during their traditional iPod event in the Fall? After all, they will likely need to counter Google’s impending Google Music offering. If this data center will be fully operational in early 2011, we might hear something. Again, if that’s what they plan to use it for.

Video: Just look at the Huge Data Apple is Building in North Carolina! Huge Huge Huge! We haven’t seen any thing yet in this information age -