Mobile

Mark Zuckerberg in New YorkShopping on Facebook for apps will soon be easier with the App Center, a new application storefront for users to buy and discover content. The social networking company announced the App Center this week following an amendment to its S-1 filing that claimed it does not “currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven”. The timing of the App Center news did not go unnoticed by commentators who noted Facebook’s push to conquer mobile.

Facebook said the migration of its users to mobile platforms is compromising its ability to make money from them, according to additions the company made to its IPO regulatory filing on Wednesday.

As the company fields questions from potential investors this week and next on its road show, Facebook is once again reiterating its philosophy of prioritising the user experience over generating revenue, particularly when it comes to its mobile offerings.

Short-term investors need not apply. That’s the key message in a newly released video Facebook produced for its investor road show, which is expected to begin next week.

The highly-produced video stars Facebook’s top executives, explaining the technical details of the platform with fast-paced cinematography, and describing its advertising model with guest appearances from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and American Express.

But the most pointed message to investors comes toward the end from David Ebersman, Facebook’s chief financial officer: we want investors who believe in our mission and are excited about our long-term potential.

The next move in the race for dominance of the lucrative smartphone market has been made by Samsung, after the Korean electronics group unveiled the latest incarnation of its best-selling Galaxy range in London.

The Galaxy SIII comes with a host of innovations and gimmicks – such as multitasking functions and a high definition screen – that Samsung will hope will be enough to take further customers away from the dominant iPhone range made by Apple.

Chris Nuttall

Needle has been making its point about mobile and social, taking its office-on-wheels around the San Francisco Bay area this week to meet customers, hire staff and hold parties.

Its Airstream motorhome, which I visited as it was parked on Union Square (pictured), has served as a headquarters, recruitment office and promotional vehicle for the Salt Lake City start-up.

Chris Nuttall

Apple has announced another stunning quarter, with revenues of $39.2bn earning net profits of $11.6bn or $12.30 per share. That compares with analyst expectations of $36.5bn in sales and $9.94 a share in profits.

The company sold 35.1m iPhones -up 88 per cent on the year-earlier quarter – but is expected to sell fewer in the current quarter, with revenues declining 13 per cent sequentially.  Tim Cook, chief executive,  and Peter Oppenheimer, chief financial officer, spoke to analysts after the announcement – our live blog is after the jump.

Berlin tech start-up Madvertise has bought Turkish mobile advertising rival Mobilike in what the German company sees as an important step to becoming the European market leader, writes Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin.

The four-year-old German company, which allows advertisers to pinpoint and address potential customers via their mobile phones, is one of the more mature start-ups on the Berlin scene.

To fund European growth, Madvertise secured $10m in series B venture-capital funding late last year, and counts Silicon Valley-based Blumberg Capital as a shareholder.

Fresh off its release on Android, Instagram, the photo sharing app, was snatched up by Facebook for a reported $1bn in cash and stock on Monday. The blogosphere was buzzing with part shock, part disgust. But above all, the deal was seen as an indicator of how concerned Mark Zuckerberg is about Facebook’s weakness in moving into the mobile world.

Richard Waters

Can you name this start-up?

Some 18 months after launching, it reaches 20m users and may be on the way to owning its category. An established internet giant, which has been trying to break into the same market, jumps in with a takeover offer worth more than $1bn – even though it’s not clear how the start-up will make money. With a market value that has soared to over $100bn, though, the acquirer feels it can afford the risk.

No, this is not Facebook buying Instagram – but the parallels are striking.

Paul Taylor

Nokia’s Windows Phone-powered Lumia 900, available today in the US from AT&T, has broad shoulders – which is fortunate because Nokia, Microsoft and AT&T all need this new handset to be a big success.

The Lumia 900 runs on AT&T’s expanding LTE network and boasts a distinctive unibody design with curved side edges, a big 4.3 inch screen and an 8 megapixel digital camera sensor but despite these high-end specs, costs only $99.

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Richard Waters, Chris Nuttall and April Dembosky in the FT's San Francisco bureau share their views - plus tech insights from Tim Bradshaw and Maija Palmer in London and Robin Kwong in Taipei.



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