If you didn’t have the opportunity to catch up on your daily fix of technology bits and bites over the weekend, the TNW Weekend Roundup will bring you quickly up to speed with what happened on Saturday and Sunday, linking you to the most popular and discussed stories here on The Next Web and elsewhere.
Apple Has Outright Ownership of Nortel’s LTE (4G) Patents?
According to MacRumors, Robert Cringely claims to have some details of the deals that were in place for the $4.5 billion acquisition of Nortel’s patent portfolio. The patents were ultimately won by a consortium that included Apple. The auction drew interest of many of the major players in mobile today due to Nortel’s large portfolio of Long Term Evolution related patents. Read More.
The next trend in social media? Real life gamification.
Fresh out of Brazil is a new Facebook App that turns your relationship status into a game. The app has been developed by the toothpaste brand ‘Close Up Toothpaste’ and is part of a series of campaigns to encourage people to get up close in new ways.
What this app shows us is perhaps the next step in gamification – combining your real life with social rewards. It’s an interesting concept by Close Up, as it suggests that your real life actions will be influenced in a way that they wouldn’t before. Read more.
In Asia, take comScore data with a huge grain of salt
The 💜 of EU tech
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Asia is gaining a reputation for the growth in the technology and Internet industries – and the numbers don’t lie either. As with any industry, most of the analysis in the region is derived from various forms of analytics and reports from research firms.
comScore is one such example, and it’s one of the world’s most influential research and analysis firms when it comes to technology. It is faced, however, with a critical challenge that questions the accuracy of its data. Read more.
Google+ and its two-pronged relevance problem
Google’s long-rumoured new social project finally arrived this week and there’s little doubt that it’s off to a good start. Consisting of Facebook-style sharing and discussion; group video chat; mobile group messaging and automated content discovery, Google+ has been met with the general approval of early adopters lucky enough to get in.
However Google+ has one huge challenge ahead – relevance – both in terms of finding a place in people’s everyday lives and making sure it serves users with exactly what they want. Read More.
How to turn Google+ into an online photography portfolio
If you’re a professional photographer, artist or illustrator, you no doubt have an online portfolio that showcases the best of your work. But what if you’re just getting started, and don’t necessarily want to spring for a domain name or a website of your own? Read more.
Samsung Galaxy S II hits 3m sales in 55 days, boosts Europe
Electronista reports that Samsung on Sunday crossed a company record by selling three million Galaxy S II phones in 55 days. The Android flagship hit its milestone 30 days faster than the original Galaxy S. At its peak, Galaxy S II phones have been selling at a rate of one every 1.5 seconds. Read More.
Augmented reality: The past, present and future
You may have heard about augmented reality before. If you haven’t, you’ll be hearing a lot about it from now on, with the smartphone and tablet revolution now in full-swing.
As with any burgeoning technology, before we really look at where we’re at and where we’re going, it can be useful to take a quick look back at the path it has taken to where it is today. And if you’re completely new to this area, it’s also a good way to familiarize yourself with something that you’ll be seeing a lot more of in the months and years ahead. Read More.
The Rise Of The Mobile Social Network
Increased smartphone use has led to the introduction of many mobile-based social networks; some aim to connect people based on their location, others assist users in sharing their photos or help people find a new partner – but it never used to be that way.
The shift to mobile has been fast and it has been highly innovative. Here, we take a look at what investing heavily in mobile can do for a company’s strategy. Read more.
How to optimize your conference for social media
As conference attendees become more digitally connected, news emerges from an event at a faster and faster rate. A word has hardly escaped Steve Jobs’ mouth during one of his keynote addresses before it’s tweeted out or live-blogged for the millions of readers who are following along at home. Panelists are no longer speaking to a small, select group, but can now have their speeches dissected in real time by people thousands of miles away. Read more.
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