Zappos Recommends Products That Match Pinterest Boards

Zappos Recommends Products That Match Pinterest Boards:

Pinterest may have revolutionized the way the world finds and shares ideas on all things fashion, but the site has yet to refine the way people actually buy those items they pin.
Zappos is trying to bridge that gap with the launch of PinPointing - a companion tool for Pinterest.
PinPointing is a service that recommends Zappos products based on different Pinterest pins and boards. Users open PinPointing, enter a pinner or board name and PinPointing recommends Zappos products that are similar so they can easily purchase that product. The idea is based on magazines or stores who often urge customers to "shop this look" -- showing celeb outfits or…
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More About: online shopping, pinterest, retail

Internet use in Asia up 14% in 2012 as online population passes 1 billion: Report

Internet use in Asia up 14% in 2012 as online population passes 1 billion: Report:
Asia now makes up 45 percent of the world’s Internet users with an estimated penetration of 27 percent, according to a new study from We Are Social Singapore. The group estimates that the continent’s Internet users now number 1.03 billion, up from 909 million at the end of last year.
We Are Social’s figures are compiled from a number of official sources, though these kind of numbers should always be taken with a dose of skepticism.
According to the study, South Korea leads among Asian countries in terms of Internet penetration with 83 percent of its citizens online, while also having the fastest average connection (15.7 Mbps). Japan came in second with an estimate of 79 percent, while Myanmar placed dead last with use 1 percent.

As for sheer raw numbers, China has the largest Internet population in Asia with 538 million netizens, followed by India with 121 million. We Are Social believes that 102 million new users have come online in Asia this year, a gain of 14 percent.

The study also notes that the continent spends a collective total of 1.7 million years  online every month. Social media penetration is believed to have reached 21 percent, slightly lower than the global average.
We Are Social estimates Asia’s Facebook userbase stands at 229 million across the 24 markets tracked. A recent study from Socialbakers pegged the social networking site’s reach at 242 million, although its figures include more countries.
Asia continues to go mobile, with an estimated total of 3.1 billion subscribers. Smartphone users are believed to number roughly 844 million.
We Are Social has plenty more fascinating numbers in its report, including a country-by-country breakdown, so check out the Slideshare embed below or head to their site to dig in.

We Are Social’s Guide to Social, Digital and Mobile in Asia (2nd Edition, Oct 2012) from We Are Social Singapore

Header image credit: Thinkstock

Deezer expands its music platform to 160 countries, launches free service to match Spotify

Deezer expands its music platform to 160 countries, launches free service to match Spotify:
Celebrating its first birthday in the UK, music streaming service Deezer today announced that it has expanded availability even further worldwide and will now be available in 160 countries, updating its website and mobile apps and taking its service free to match its more high-profile rival Spotify.
At an event in London’s Abbey Road Studios (the very same studio made famous by The Beatles), Deezer CEO Axel Dauchez unveiled his company’s latest attempts at reducing levels of piracy and getting people to enjoy music beyond the MP3.
It all starts with its launch in a further 76 countries throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia, now operating in more countries than any of its music-streaming rivals. However, if you live the US, there will still be no Deezer for you. “We are not going to the US. One day, but not now. The market is not ready,” remarked Dauchez.
Noting that the music industry experienced a “60 percent drop because of piracy,” Dauchez said that it was “time to liberate the music, and rebuild the value of the music industry.” With that in mind, Deezer has made it its mission to “bring music to every country and bring local artists to a worldwide audience.”

Dauchez showed off the company’s new homepage and website features, highlighting its enhanced Facebook integration, top user recommendation and how it uses local editors to recommend music in specific countries.
Users can also create featured playlists, which when submitted are screened by editorial teams and posted up for other users to engage and share. In a move to take back market share from Last.fm, Songkick and Spotify, Deezer will also recommend local concerts and festivals, connecting users with their favorite artists at local events.
The company’s updated iPhone application was demoed on-stage, showing how users can now access their friends’ recent played tracks, favorite artists and playlists, increasing social sharing not only on mobile but across the Web.
All of this, of course, comes after Dauchez confirmed earlier in the week that Deezer had closed a $130m funding round from Access Industries, which he believes will become “a cornerstone investor in the company.”
Commenting on the funding, the Deezer chief noted: “What we did today, we did with $20 million funding. Can you imagine what we can achieve with the money we raised today?”
It looks as if much of the funding will be spent on sustaining a free streaming model in countries around the world. Dauchez was quick to point out that a free model would not be sustainable in the long run and would only serve as a way to get users to sign up for subscriptions.
In its press release, Deezer explains its plans for the free service:

[We will] launch an international free service alongside global marketing campaigns that will include involvement in local music life through events and partnerships to raise brand awareness. The free service will be a recruitment channel to encourage free service users to convert to paid subscription, rather than a model in of itself.  It will be shaped for each individual country according to the competition.

However, he did note that money would be spent on highlighting the service in local markets, which will see the company on-board users via its carrier deals and free services, then push upgrades.
Spotify now offers a free service to users, serving as a taster for its full service, which now boasts more than 20 million tracks. Deezer is pursuing the same model, constantly refreshing its service to appeal to users all over the world.

Track systemic Internet failures with Outage Analyzer, a neat tool to find out what is down, and where

Track systemic Internet failures with Outage Analyzer, a neat tool to find out what is down, and where:
Let’s be frank: when AWS goes down, the entire technology community cries in unison. That’s the power of cloud systems that applications are built upon; take down the platform that supports the services you love and cherish, and before you can not snap an Instagram, life goes Luddite.
This sort of failure, what Compuware calls a ‘systemic Internet outage’ – “when failed Cloud or third-party web services slow or knock out other websites in a ‘ripple effect’” – are not simply an annoyance, they are a fact of digital life. However, as always, more information is power.
Enter Compuware’s new tool, Outage Analyzer, which tracks systemic outages around the world, judging them based on how certain it is of their existence, and what likely caused the failure. Here’s a shot taken from the service last night:

That outage, as you can see, concerns part of the Microsoft’s Azure platform. The outage appears to be in the early stages – note how the last update and outage start time are in sync – which is matched by a very low certainty rating. Other outages you will find are marked at 100%.
How does it work? Tapping into Compuware’s data stream, Outage Analyzer employs a ‘proprietary anomaly detection engine’ to uncover, pinpoint, and find the cause of disruptions around the world.
One of the more interesting pieces of Outage Analyzer is the ability to rewind and re-watch outages; that feature may be useful for developers looking for a way to track early signs of trouble, allowing them to spool up redundant capacity, perhaps.
But even if you don’t code, it’s fun to scroll through the world and see what is down, and how long folks have been suffering.
➤ Outage Analyzer
Top Image Credit: Intel Free Press

Tweetdeck updated on all platforms with Retina support in light and dark themes, font sizing and design tweaks

Tweetdeck updated on all platforms with Retina support in light and dark themes, font sizing and design tweaks:
Twitter-owned Tweetdeck has announced a redesign that features a cleaner default design, as well as two themes, one dark and one light. The update is rolling out today for all platforms including web, Chrome, Mac and Windows.
The update brings a theme toggle between light and dark for users that prefer lower contrast looks. The toggle sits right in the toolbar. It also adds HiDPI support for the Retina MacBook Pro.

The new look does add some of that oft-touted consistency that Twitter has been talking about, as it looks a lot like the official web client. Or, at least the way it used to look. Tweetdeck still doesn’t feature expandable tweets heavily.
The new version also features new fond sizing options, which were never an option in Tweetdeck previously. Under Settings>General, you can select small, medium or large font sizes.

Tweetdeck, which was purchased by Twitter for over $40M in 2011, has been updating the client on the web and natively with small updates over the last several months. In March, it got a huge update that brought media previews and more. In July it got better user profiles, in August it got an update to the Chrome client which added speed.
You can see the new design in Tweetdeck for web, Chrome, Mac and Windows.

A guide to small business storage and data protection

A guide to small business storage and data protection:

This post is sponsored by VMware. Learn about VMware virtualization and cloud solutions for small & mid-size business visit info.vmware.com

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Entering the era of online data raises many issues for the small business operator. How best for a small business to store its data online? How can this data be kept secure? What cloud tools are best suited for SMBs? Small businesses might have a smaller amount of data, but that doesn’t mean security is a smaller concern. Try the following tools to get your small business on the cloud easily and securely.

Google Drive

Google recently rolled up its Google Documents offering into Google Drive, a sync-based cloud platform that allows you to store your documents, photos, and Google Docs across all your platforms. Google Documents can provide crucial functionality for small businesses that need a simple, free way to collaborate online. Need to work on a spreadsheet with remote team members? Google Documents allows easy document sharing and document collaboration in real-time.
Pricing: Small teams can use Google Drive for free through gmail or Google Apps.

Box

Box is a cloud data tool designed to accommodate users from individuals all the way up to large enterprises. Users can easily create data rooms for their business, build sales portals with sales materials, and access their data on their mobile devices. Box also focuses on security, helping ensure that your data will remain safe.
Pricing: $15/user/month

CloudFlare

Cloudflare is an easy-to-set-up cloud security application. You can secure your site against attacks in a matter of minutes. Merely change your DNS and CNAME settings to redirect through CloudFlare’s servers, and they take care of the rest for you. It’s easy and they have a robust free plan to get you started.
Pricing: Starts at free!

DropBox

Dropbox is the absurdly popular file sharing tool that allows you to sync your files easily across all your devices. The free plan gives you 2GB of data to use and share, and you can make referrals to get more data for free. Try it, and you’ll soon see why DropBox is so popular.
Pricing: 2 GB for free

SalesForce

SalesForce is the popular CRM tool that helps you manage your sales process. While many large organizations use SalesForce, small businesses can also take advantage of SalesForce’s capabilities. With plans starting at only $5/month, SalesForce can help you track your leads, keep abreast of your sales progress, and close sales. SalesForce also provides a helpful integration with Data.com, which allows you to buy information on potential leads and bring it directly into your CRM.
Pricing: Starts at $5/month

Basecamp

Basecamp is a popular project management and collaboration platform developed by 37Signals. It allows teams to collaborate on projects, offering such features as email notifications, group to-do lists, deadlines, and document collaboration. Basecamp focuses on design simplicity. Its ease of use makes it perfect for small businesses.
Pricing: Starts at $20/month

Asana

Asana is another project management web app. However, Asana focuses on replacing email with a shared task list. By making projects about tasks, it serves to drive action. Time is valuable for small businesses. You need to spend less time talking about work, and more time getting stuff done. Asana is a platform built to support this principle.
Pricing: Starts at free!
The proliferation of the cloud has finally empowered small businesses to manage digital resources efficiently and drive action using software. For example, earlier-generation CRM systems were costly and required painstaking set-up. Now with SalesForce, small businesses can set up a full CRM in minutes.
The cloud is changing small business technology for the better. As long as these businesses keep in mind security considerations, using the above tools can increase efficiency while requiring only a marginal investment.
Image: Thinkstock