Nissan recently introduced an innovative new technology called “Self Healing Paint.” Nissan’s intent is to scratch proof a car. For now, this feature is only available on certain Nissan models that are targeted at affluent, technology seekers.
To show off the “Self Healing Paint,” Nissan ran a special iPad ad in The Economist.
Take a look at a video clip.
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Yahoo has had some tough times in recent years. But things have slowly begun turning around since Marissa Mayer (formerly a senior executive at Google) became CEO.
So, the announcement that Yahoo would purchase Tumblr for $1.1 billion is not surprising; however, it is interesting. Once again, a major company has decided to acquire a growing social media firm for a lot of money, even though the social media firm itself does not generate much sales volume or profit.
Consider these observations from CBS News:
“Acquisitions are a way of life in Silicon Valley, a place where two plus two frequently adds up to billions. That is to say, deals are often conducted for reasons other than numbers in a ledger, whether for a promising piece of software or a viable business model. In this case, Tumblr has something that went missing at Yahoo years ago: growth potential. And that is key to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer ultimately keeping her job. Yahoo is funding the deal mostly with cash. As with many acquisitions, the question is what the purchase ultimately delivers to the acquirer.”
“How much could Tumblr add to Yahoo’s traffic? According to comScore, Tumblr in March had 29.3 million unique U.S. visitors. Yahoo’s combined sites got 191.4 million visitors, more than another other company except Google, which had 1 million more. There is no way to tell from the outside how much use overlap Yahoo and Tumblr have. If there were none, which seems unlikely, Tumblr would add just over 15 percent. But what would that practically mean for Yahoo? Not significantly more on the bottom line. Profits have been kept up through cost-cutting, including the steady drop in spending on research and development. That is dangerous at a tech company like Yahoo, whose CEO has stressed the importance of innovation.”
“Yahoo’s trouble hasn’t been traffic. Its sites collectively are a major destination on the Internet. But unlike Google, Yahoo has struggled to turn that volume of users into money. Revenue has been flat. Display ad revenue, the type that you might expect to be important at a site like Tumblr, continues to drop. But a 15 percent increase in users won’t fix that picture for Yahoo.”
Click the Yahoo icon to read more and to view a video clip.
Many (most) companies frown on their employees sharing their salary information — to avoid jealousy and possible legal complaints. Some firms even have explicit policies that prohibit sharing such information (even though this is typically illegal).
However, the times are changing. According to Lauren Weber and Rachel Emma Silverman, writing for the Wall Street Journal: “Comparing salaries among colleagues has long been a taboo of workplace chatter, but that is changing as Millennials — individuals born in the 1980s and 1990s — join the labor force. Accustomed to documenting their lives in real time on social-media forums like Facebook and Twitter, they are bringing their embrace of self-disclosure into the office with them. And they’re using this information to negotiate raises at their current employer or higher salaries when moving to a new job.”
In their article, Weber and Silverman summarize several tips on how to behave.
Click the image for a video clip.
Illustration by James Yang
Thus far, General Motors’ electric Chevy Volt has been an under performer — except in the eyes of General Motors.
Take a look at this video interview with GM CEO Dan Akerson, who has high expectations for the future role and success of the Volt.
What do YOU think?
In the good old days (think two years ago), it was relatively inexpensive to launch a new app for a smartphone. While this is still possible, some app firms are finding that the cost of a launch is much higher than they were anticipating.
For example, as Jessica E. Lessin reports for the Wall Street Journal: “Mobile-game maker ZeptoLab UK recently released ‘Cut the Rope: Time Travel,’ its first major title in the popular ‘Cut the Rope’ series since 2011. The launch won’t be a quiet one. The company has been building buzz for the game through a six-week promotion with Burger King Worldwide, which began featuring the game in its kids’ meals in March. Overall, ZeptoLab says it will spend around $1 million launching “Cut the Rope: Time Travel,” which traces the adventures of the green monster Om Nom as he meets versions of himself in time periods like the Renaissance and the Middle Ages. On top of that sum, which includes the costs of animation, the company is counting on some free help by promoting the game inside its other titles. By contrast, the company spent almost nothing to promote the first ‘Cut the Rope’ game when it was released in 2010. It gave the title to a third-party publisher to distribute, then sat and waited.”
Click the image to read more and then watch the video clip.
Image source: ZeptoLab
