SEC and FINRA to review Facebook IPO struggles

Facebook officially launched on the NASDAQ under the ticker "FB" this past Friday. In its first day of trading, the company's stock was up $0.23, but in the first two full days of trading, it's been down at least 9%.

According to a report from Reuters, the SEC and FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) will both conduct investigations into why the Facebook stock has been performing poorly after analysts believed it would be successful. Many reports seem to point to an overvaluation on Facebook's stock, causing the significant drop over the past two days.

Investors were still shaking their heads over the botched opening trading of Facebook when Reuters reported late Monday that the consumer Internet analyst at lead underwriter Morgan Stanley cut his revenue forecasts for Facebook in the days before the offering, information that may not have reached many investors before the stock was listed.

JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, which were also underwriters on the deal, each revised their estimates during Facebook's IPO road show as well, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Reuters reported that Morgan Stanley selectively disclosed the change in Facebook estimates, which drew the attention of the main regulator of U.S. brokerages.

Facebook beginning to test new version of Timeline?

Back in September, Facebook unveiled a profile redesign dubbed "Timeline" for the social network's users. Timeline takes a user's profile page and places all of the information into a timeline view. The design, after numerous delays, has been rolling out to the 900+ million Facebook users over the past several months. Some users haven't even enabled Timeline on their account yet, electing to remain on the old profile page design. Timeline has been met with a significant amount of criticism from Facebook users as well.

This doesn't seem to be stopping the team at Facebook headquarters, however. According to a report from TPM, the social network has already begun beta testing a new version of Timeline with some users. The slightly redesigned Timeline view focuses on compressing the header of the page by simplifying the tabs. In addition, the user’s name, home location, occupation, education, and other information has been moved on top of the "cover photo" on the page. Since the text is white, many are wondering how Timeline will handle lighter color cover photos.

It's unclear how far along Facebook is with testing the redesigned Timeline, and whether the design will ever see the light of day.

Current Facebook Timeline View

Updated Facebook Timeline View

Microsoft CEO: 350 million Windows 7 devices to be sold this year; 500 million Windows 8 devices by end of 2013

According to a report from Bloomberg, Microsoft chief executive officer (CEO) Steve Ballmer made a statement where he claims about 350 million Windows 7 devices will be sold by the end of this year. The number shows Ballmer's and Microsoft's confidence in their desktop platform, which will be celebrating its third birthday in October of this year. If this sales number holds to be true, Windows 7 will be the "most single popular system" on the market, according to Ballmer.

In addition, according to a report from AFP, Ballmer also believes that Microsoft's next desktop platform, Windows 8, will sell up to 500 million devices by the end of 2013. The OS, which is expected to be released by the end of this year, completely overhauls the Windows desktop environment in favor of Microsoft's "Metro UI."

Hacker group ‘Anonymous’ releases 1.7 GB of information from United States Bureau of Justice

Hacker group Anonymous announced yesterday that it has released about 1.7 GB of information taken from the United States Bureau of Justice. Information stolen includes internal emails and database information, and the BJS took down their website to address the security issue.

We do not stand for any government or parties, we stand for freedom of people, freedom of speech and freedom of information.

We are releasing data to spread information, to allow the people to be heard and to know the corruption in their government. We are releasing it to end the corruption that exists, and truly make those who are being oppressed free.

The price we pay very often is our own freedom. The price governments pay is the exposure of their corruption and the truth being revealed, for the truth will set us free in the end.

Google unveils interactive Doodle for Robert Moog’s birthday

Google will be celebrating the 78th birthday of Robert Moog tomorrow, May 23, 2012, with a (pretty amazing) interactive Doodle on its homepage. Moog, who is best known for inventing the Moog synthesizer, has been named the "pioneer of electronic music" with his invention.

To celebrate the occasion, Google has created an interactive Moog synthesizer on its homepage where users can turn switches on and off, play sounds, and record their creations. The Doodle is currently live on the Google Australia homepage, and will be launching in the U.S. tomorrow.

FaceTime finally coming to 3G?

Apple introduced the FaceTime video calling service back in 2010 alongside the iPhone 4. At the time, the company said that FaceTime would only work over Wi-Fi, but it was working with carriers to add 3G network support. Nearly two years later, however, 3G support for FaceTime has yet to arrive, but new evidence in iOS 5.1 may show that Apple is at least making progress.

According to a report from The Verge, the above error message is new in iOS 5.1, which has been out for a few weeks now, but only discovered recently. With the Worldwide Developers Conference taking place in a few weeks, it seems possible we may see some FaceTime-related announcement coming.

Google closes deal to acquire Motorola Mobility

Google announced today that it has finalized its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which was first announced in August of 2011. The deal, worth $12.5 billion, required approval from the European Commission, United States, and China (among other countries) before being finalized.

As part of the deal, Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha will be stepping down from his position and will be replaced by Dennis Woodside.

Sanjay Jha, who was responsible for building the company and placing that big bet on Android, has stepped down as CEO. I would like to thank him for his efforts and am tremendously pleased that he will be working to ensure a smooth transition as long-time Googler Dennis Woodside takes over as CEO of Motorola Mobility.

Google Chrome surpasses Internet Explorer as world’s most popular web browser

According to new data released by StatCounter this morning, Google Chrome has surpassed Internet Explorer as the world's most popular web browser (in terms of usage), a spot Microsoft's browser has held every week of the year since 1998. IE has been on a steady decline over the past several years, with web browsers such as Chrome and Firefox taking up market share left behind.

According to the data, Chrome now holds a 32.76% market share worldwide, while Internet Explorer controls 31.94%. In a distant third is Mozilla Firefox at 25.47%.

YouTube celebrates its 7th birthday

Today, May 21, 2012, is the seventh birthday of the Internet's most popular video uploading website, YouTube. Seven years ago on this date, YouTube opened its doors to the public. Following a significant amount of popularity from users, YouTube was sold to Google and has been under Google control since.

YouTube announced as part of a birthday blog post today that over 72 hours of video is collectively uploaded to the website every minute.

Facebook stock drops 11% during second day of trading

This past Friday, Facebook officially became a publicly traded company under the NASDAQ with the ticker "FB." The company managed to raise a $104 billion valuation and have an initial share price of $38. Facebook's first day on the stock market ended with the stock up $0.23 to $38.23 overall.

Today, the second day of trading for Facebook stock, didn't go as well for the world's largest social network. At the closing bell, Facebook's stock was down 10.99% or $4.20 for a final price of $33.90. At one point in the day, the share price was even lower, nearly dipping into the $32 range.

Yahoo announces plans to sell half of its stake in Alibaba

Yahoo today announced that it will be selling half of its stake in Chinese Internet company Alibaba back to the company. Representing about 20% of Alibaba's stock, Yahoo will receive $7.1 billion in total, with a minimum of $6.3 billion in the form of cash. In addition, the two companies have reached licensing agreements. Yahoo has agreed to let Alibaba run its Yahoo! China division for at least the next four years at a sum of $550 million.

First, at the time of an initial public offering (IPO) of Alibaba in the future, Alibaba will be required either to repurchase one-quarter of Yahoo!'s current stake at the IPO price or allow Yahoo! to sell those shares in the IPO. Second, following such an IPO, Yahoo! has registration rights and rights to marketing support from Alibaba to enable Yahoo! to dispose of its remaining shares, at times of Yahoo!'s choosing following a customary lock-up period.

Spotify launches in Australia and New Zealand

Popular music streaming service Spotify launched in two new locations today - Australia and New Zealand. The service, which launched in the United States back in the summer of last year, is available in Australia and New Zealand beginning today. It allows users to stream music (over 16 million tracks) for free. Subscription plans are available for users looking to ditch the periodic ads and limits on music streaming per month.

Microsoft publicly launches So.cl social network

Earlier this evening, Microsoft publicly launched its "research" social network dubbed "So.cl." Interested users are able to sign up using a Windows Live ID or a Facebook account. Microsoft launched So.cl as an experimental social network with students at the University of Washington, Syracuse University, and New York University. It is geared towards students and allows users to follow people, subscribe to groups, watch videos, and post messages.

Some Motorola Mobility devices banned from import into U.S. following ITC ruling

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) announced (PDF) a ruling last week that bans the import of certain Motorola Mobility devices into the United States following the company being found of infringing upon a Microsoft-owned patent. The patent in question deals with "generating meeting requests and group scheduling from a mobile device." The ban will likely go into effect within the next 60 days, unless Motorola Mobility is able to address the issue quickly. Affected devices include the Motorola Droid RAZR, the Motorola Droid 4, and the Motorola Droid Bionic.

Apple seeking preliminary injunction against Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in U.S.

According to a report from FOSS Patents, Apple late last week filed for a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the United States, accusing Samsung of infringing upon an iPad-design related patent. Based on other recent rulings in the Apple versus Samsung case, it's actually likely that the motion for injunction will be granted, meaning Apple will have a ban on the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Apple proposes to give Samsung until May 25 to respond, and would file its reply brief five days later. At any rate, Judge Koh won't grant this motion during the settlement talks that are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. But if those talks fails (which is what I expect to happen), the injunction might come down very soon.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg ties the knot

One day after Facebook officially became a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ under the ticker "FB," Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg married longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan yesterday in a private service at his Palo Alto, California home. Zuckerberg announced the news by adding a new life event on his Facebook Timeline, along with an accompanying picture of him and his new bride.

Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility could close as soon as next week

According to a report from The Associated Press, the Chinese government has approved Google's proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, possibly opening the opportunity to close the deal that was initially announced in August of 2011 as early as next week. China was the last country that needed to approve the merger, with both the United States and European Commission approving the deal back in February.

Chinese regulators had one condition for the deal being approved: "That Google's Android operating system for mobile devices remain available to all at no cost for the next five years."

Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection 2 set to be released on May 22

Earlier this week, Infinity Ward announced that the second "Content Collection" pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released this Tuesday, May 22, 2012 (Xbox LIVE customers only). The collection pack will include the content that has been released to Call of Duty Elite members since the last collection pack and will cost $15.

Content Collection 2 will include the following:

• Getaway (map)
• Lockout (map)
• Foundation (map)
• Sanctuary (map)
• Oasis (map)
• Iron Clad (spec ops mission)
• Kill Switch (spec ops mission)
• New achievements

Google introduces improved Google+ integration into Gmail

Today, Google unveiled further integration of Google+ into its email service Gmail. The first improvement coming deals with search in Gmail: searching for a person's name will now display any emails you've sent to them, their profile pictures, and the ability to start a conversation with them. In addition, Google is rolling out improved Circles integration, allowing users to see profile pictures and detailed search information when clicking on the pictures of their Google+ friends.

Circles are also now supported in search and filters. Find messages from a specific circle by typing circle:[circle name] in the search box. You can also find mail from any of your circled contacts by searching with has:circle. You can refine your search even further with other criteria and create filters based on circles. This means you can now view all the unread emails from your ‘Friends’ circle or automatically star every message that comes from your ‘VIP’ circle.

Facebook hit with $15 billion privacy lawsuit on IPO day

Today, Facebook officially became a publicly traded company when it launched under the ticker "FB" on the NASDAQ. Also today, Facebook was hit with a class action lawsuit that claims it continues to track users' web browsing activity even after they logout of the social network. The lawsuit, which was filed in San Jose, California, is seeking nearly $15 billion in damages from Facebook.

The full press release follows:

Stewarts Law acts for facebook users who have filed a Consolidated Digital Privacy Class Action

18 May 2012 (San Jose, Calif.)

Facebook users today filed an amended consolidated class action complaint in federal court in San Jose, California in the case In re: Facebook Internet Tracking Litigation, No. 5:12-md-02314-EJD. The class action asserts federal statutory and California State causes of action related to the revelation in September 2011 that Facebook was improperly tracking the internet use of its members even after they logged out of their accounts. The action consolidates 21 related cases filed in more than a dozen states in 2011 and early 2012.

The plaintiffs assert claims under the federal Wiretap Act, which provides statutory damages per user of US$100 per day per violation, up to a maximum per user of US$10,000. Even if Facebook’s alleged actions constitute a single violation of the Wiretap Act per class member, that implies more than US$15 billion in damages across the class. The complaint also asserts claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, various California Statutes and California common law.

The class action is being led by court-appointed co-lead counsel Stewarts Law US LLP and Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Gorny, P.C. David Straite, Partner at Stewarts Law, stated: “This is not just a damages action, but a groundbreaking digital privacy rights case that could have wide and significant legal and business implications.” In addition to co-lead counsel, the court has appointed a Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee which includes Keefe Bartels in New Jersey; Mandell, Schwartz & Boisclair in Rhode Island; Eichen Crutchlow Zaslow & McElroy in New Jersey; Bergmanis Law Firm in Missouri; Burns, Cunningham & Mackey in Alabama; and Murphy, Falcon & Murphy in Baltimore. The court has also appointed a committee of former State Attorneys General to advise the class, including former Mississippi AG Mike Moore, former Arizona AG Grant Woods, former Hawaii AG Margery Bronster, and former Louisiana AG Richard Ieyoub.