Microsoft + Facebook Taking the Search Engine to a Whole New Level

Search algorithms have used machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict which of the billions of pages on the Internet might be most relevant to your search.

Google has spent so much time, money and effort trying to make their search engine the most accurate when searching on it, but what do people really care about when they look for information?

What really makes a search result the most accurate or best of all online?

Microsoft Bing is revamping its search engine to include a sidebar to enable you to obtain recommendations from users of Facebook when making a search on Bing. It is not just Facebook but they are planning to include many other networks.

Bing will be able to deliver results based on what your trusted sources of information (your friends and acquaintances) think.

They have made this move following the fact that "90% of people consult with a friend or expert before making a decision"

The sidebar appears on the right-hand side of all searches, so when you do a search Bing will suggest "Friends Who Might Know" about the topic based on the information in their Facebook, Likes, profile information, photos, etc.

This move takes searching online to a whole new level, you don't just rely on the information found about it because it seems to be the most popular or the most visited, but you are able to see who in your network may have a recommendation, a suggestion or the expertise to guide you on your search, based on their own experience and knowledge.

This will push companies to increase the quality of their customer experience, customer retention, the influence they have on social networks to gain more recommendations and to put even more effort to grow their brand awareness.

This is only one more step forward to what the future seems to look like when bringing social networks to search engine rankings and optimization.

Break Your iPhone in This Case And You’ll Get a New Phone for Free

Break your iPhone in this case, and you’ll get a new one for free. Sounds like a pretty good deal, right?

Meet Cellhelmet, a new protective iPhone case from a company called Cellpig. Originally started as a Kickstarter project, the cases recently went into production and are now available for retail sale.

€œOriginally, we wanted to create the most ‘indestructible’ case on the market,€œ Mike Kane, CEO of Cellhelmet told Mashable. €œBut, as we developed our designs, we realized that we were basically recreating something that can already be found on every shelf – a big and bulky case, which wouldn’t fit comfortably in a pocket. That idea went out the door real quick. At this point, a light went on and we thought, ‘Why don’t we design a case that is slim and sleek, with moderate protection, but get a company to back the product, saying that if the iPhone breaks inside, it will be repaired or replaced?’ Bingo – we went with it.

Cellhelmet turned out to be exactly that, a super-protective case that doesn’t add a ton of bulk to your phone. The case is backed by by Global Warranty Group, and is the only case on the market that offers damage coverage on not only the case itself but also your phone inside.

If your phone breaks in the case (excluding water damage), then the company promises to replace it for a year for a $50 handling fee, with no monthly fee for the coverage. Phones are repaired or replaced within three days of receipt and are overnighted back to your address.

The case is made of dense polyurethane rubber, and has angled edges for drop-shock displacement around the device. It be purchased and used on any iPhone 4 or 4S, even jailbroken iPhones and ones you’ve been using for a few years now.

Apple offers AppleCare+ for new iPhones for $99, and will replace your broken phone twice due to mishandling under the program for $49 — making it still probably a better bet for new phone owners. The win with Cellhelmet is going to be for people who are still using a phone where Apple Care has run out, people who didn’t sign up for coverage when they bought their Phones (most require you sign up immediately or within 30 days), and those who have jailbroken their iPhones which makes them ineligible for Apple protection.

What do you think about Cellhelmet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: http://mashable.com/2012/05/11/cellhelmet/

#buyabobbyabeer

Unless you were living under a rock last summer, you would have been aware of the London riots in August. Between the 6^th and the 10^th of August London was subjected a string of violent riots, resulting in looting and arson which tried to spread to other major cities across the UK using the power of Blackberry messenger, texting and the social network Twitter to organise the riots.

(Sourced from: http://www.facebook.com/buyabobbyabeer)

On August 4^th 29 year old Mark Duggan was shot dead by police in Tottenham after they attempted to arrest him on suspicion of planning an armed attack. Due to anger surrounding the circumstances of his death, Duggan’s family members and the local community began a peaceful protest at Tottenham Police Station on the 6^th of August. This soon turned to violence and eventually led to the arson, looting and rioting which spread across London. 

                Emergency Services answered 2,169,999 calls relating to the riots, which is 15 times the average number of calls. Before the end of the riots 16,000 police officers were on the streets of London after Scotland Yard brought in officers from 12 other forces including Essex, Kent, Sussex and Cambridgeshire. London’s fire brigade said it was the busiest time in terms of calls and response in recent history.

                So, as I’m sure we were all very grateful for all their help, how did we decide to say thank you? Of course, as the Brits we are, we got a round in.

                London based creative agency Addiction decided that they need to show their gratitude to the Emergency Services. They set up a website and Facebook encouraging the public to ‘pledge a pint’ saying thankyou to the boys (and girls) in blue. They also got the hash tag #buyaboobbyabeer trending on Twitter to help traffic to their campaign website. More than 20,000 visitors flooded the website and there were more than 1,000 people bought the bobbies a beer.

                Fuller’s, one of Britain’s largest brewery chains, supported the idea and agreed to give members of the emergency services a free drink in selected pubs from last August. A total of more than £7,000 worth of drinks were given to emergency service workers over the weekend.

                Managing partner at creative agency Addiction (anyone else notice the irony?), Jamie Harvey said the company just wanted to say thanks to all the work the emergency services do, and wanted them to have a drink on us, the people of Britain.

 Just goes to show how social media can help spread an idea across the nation. Next time you see a police officer, paramedic or firemen get a round in. Probably best to wait until they are off duty though…

For more information, visit; www.buyabobbyabeer.com

Author: Mollie Goodfellow
Social Media Frontiers – Client Manager
@MollieatSMF

Facebook IPO values company at between $85bn and $95bn

Facebook has set the share price for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) at between $28 and $35 per share, valuing the company at between $85bn-$95bn (£52bn-£59bn).

The IPO is set to be the largest ever for an internet firm, bigger than Google's valuation of $23bn in 2004.

IPOs are when companies list shares on the stock market for the first time.

Facebook is set to list on the Nasdaq and would rival Amazon's and Cisco System's current market values.

It is thought that Facebook will start promoting the share offering on Monday. Its shares are expected to start trading under the symbol "FB" on 18 May.

More than 10% of the business is being sold, which is expected to raise about $12bn for the company.

The eight-year-old social network has 900 million users worldwide and made a profit of $1bn last year.

Mobile growth

There is expected to be a huge take-up, though some investors have voiced concerns about the company's longer-term growth.

Last week, Facebook reported its first drop in revenue between quarters for two years.

But during a video presentation on Thursday Facebook executives sought to allay those concerns, pointing to mobile as an area for growth that the company will invest heavily in.

Last month Facebook said it would buy the fast-growing mobile phone photo sharing app Instagram for $1bn, its largest purchase ever.

Zuckerberg-controlled

The higher valuation still falls short of the $100bn that had been talked about for Facebook.

But it is not uncommon for IPO price ranges to move up if there is strong investor demand for the stock.

Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg will remain in control of the company even after the IPO, controlling more than 57.3% of the voting power through shares he holds and through voting agreements with other stockholders.

He will own 31.5% of Facebook's outstanding stock. At the top end of the price range, this would make his holdings worth $17.6bn.

Such a value would put him at about number 33 on Forbes' list of the world's richest people.

Original Article Here