Yahoo is cleaning house on the mobile product side, announcing Friday that it is “decommissioning” a long list of mobile apps.

Apps that will no longer be supported include winners like Yahoo! Meme and Yahoo Mim (say what?), as well as some more general mobile apps like Yahoo Answers for Android and Yahoo Deals for iPhone. Unfortunately, Yahoo! Sketch-a-search, which I didn’t even know was a thing before today, is also getting the axe. (You can see the full list on the official announcement.)

Somewhat paradoxically, Yahoo is pitching its non-support of these apps as part of its “mobile first” mindset. But for anyone paying attention, this could be part of a big step forward for Yahoo as it transitions under new CEO Scott Thompson.

Over at Google, CEO Larry Page calls this strategy putting more wood behind fewer arrows. For a company like Yahoo, which has been somewhat stymied by a lack of innovation, it makes sense to kill off products that consumers aren’t using and double down on those linked to its core properties, like Yahoo Mail, Messenger and Flickr, as well as applications like IntoNow where it can introduce disruptive new technology.

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Is Europe bringing out the bazooka yet?


Davos, Switzerland (CNN) –
“Bazooka” is competing for word of the year so far. As in, Europe needs to bring out its big bazooka to deal with the debt crisis in which it has been embroiled for nearly two years now.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, head of the G20 group of countries, brandished the word with gusto at the World Economic Forum in Davos, declaring “we need to take out the bazooka immediately before the powder gets wet.”

Calderon compared the European situation to the economic crisis in Mexico in 1995. That crisis – referred to as “the first financial crisis of the twenty-first century” – exploded after a boom time and the influx of capital. The country was then bailed by the International Monetary Fund, and another country’s money – in this case the U.S. So far, so familiar.

Calderon pointed to the return of confidence that followed the international aid package, noting the same needed to occur in Europe. “The problem is not the money, the problem is the confidence,” he said.

And this is true. The capital markets – the investors who dictate the price of eurozone’s funding costs – have been losing confidence in the bloc’s ability to create a viable route out of the crisis. Hence, the rising costs of funding Italy; and the unrealistic funding costs of Greece, Ireland and Portugal (check our eurozone crisis map for details).

The world now knows the bazooka entails saving Greece, and building a firewall around Italy so the eurozone’s third largest economy doesn’t collapse the entire bloc. The target is clear. But where’s the weapon?

The bazooka had a flirt with the capital markets last year, when there was speculation Europe’s bail-out fund would be turbo-charged into a pot of EUR1 trillion. Markets rose on that idea, but then retreated when it was clear it had stalled.

Now, the fiscal compact is to be the savior of Europe. But still the funding costs of troubled eurozone countries remain unpleasantly high and the deal is far from signed off.

Pressure has been building on the European Central Bank to increase its sovereign debt buying program, but its president Mario Draghi gave no indication that was going to happen when he spoke at the forum. Instead, he pointed to the need for European countries to trust each other. The fiscal compact, he noted, was a “the first step, though timid, though hesitating, toward a fiscal union.”

But even if the ECB massively increased its buying program, would that be a bazooka?

Perhaps German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it best in her opening speech. Referring to the increasing funds being injected to the eurozone’s bail-out funds – and with clear frustration – she said: "People say it has to be double, then it has to be triple, then we will believe you."

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Reunited and it feels so good! David Arquette will reunite with ex-wife Courteney Cox to film an episode of her hit show “Cougar Town.”

“Can’t wait to work with you ladies!” he tweeted to Courteney and co-star Christa Miller today. Courteney appears to be excited as well. “I can’t wait to work with you,” she tweeted. “You better not be late!” (x17online.com)

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Although Apple outsold all Android vendors in the fourth quarter, the Cupertino-based company’s share of mobile internet usage is reportedly beginning to slide. An analysis of last year’s Internet usage shows that in the United States, the proportion of Android mobile web visitors overtook Apple users by the end of the year, according to 51Degrees.mobi. The share of Apple’s iOS web traffic in December fell to 34.1%, while Android increased to 36.6%. In Europe, Apple remained ahead with 42.6% however, despite an increase in Android traffic that pushed the platform to 25.5% by the end of 2011. RIM’s BlackBerry devices remained stable in both regions with roughly 9% of all mobile web usage. “The battle for mobile operating system dominance is far from over”, said 51Degrees.mobi CEO James Rosewell. “Apple experienced record sales of iPad2 and iPhone devices, yet its share of mobile web traffic declined in the US and Europe – indicating just how many more Android based products were used online in the same period.” The firm’s full press release follows after the break.

Decline in Apple share of mobile internet usage shows battle to dominate mobile phones and tablets is far from over

Apple’s dominance of mobile web traffic appears to be fading

Android traffic now ahead in the US; Apple still leads in the UK

BlackBerry share of web traffic remains stable

Nokia starting to slide in India

51Degrees.mobi, the leading provider of device detection and web optimisation solutions, has today published an analysis of the mobile devices its online partners detected browsing the internet last year.

The 51Degrees.mobi Mobile Web Trends 2011 white paper shows that the proportion of mobile web visitors in the USA with Android devices overtook Apple users by the end of the year. The share of Apple iOS web traffic in December 2011 fell to 34.1% in the US, while Android increased to 36.6%.

In Europe, Apple remained ahead with 42.6% of mobile web visits despite an increase in Android usage to 25.5% by the end of 2011.

Figures for RIM’s BlackBerry OS were stable in the USA and Europe throughout the second half of 2011, varying by just a fraction of a percentage point. Both regions saw BlackBerry usage remain at around 9% of all mobile web traffic.

Unlike the mobile market in Europe and the USA, mobile phone use in India has been dominated by Nokia and its Symbian operating system for several years. Nokia mobile web visits fell in H2 2011 from 57.3% of the total figure to 50.6% by the end of the year.

The data has been collated from customers who use 51Degrees.mobi free and premium device detection services.

“The battle for mobile operating system dominance is far from over”, said 51Degrees.mobi CEO James Rosewell. “Apple experienced record sales of iPad2 and iPhone devices, yet its share of mobile web traffic declined in the US and Europe – indicating just how many more Android based products were used online in the same period.”

View full post on BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech

It has been a soggy, sunny, blustery, unpredictable week of practices at Ladd Peebles Stadium. And the Mobile Convention Center ballroom. And possibly in some parking garage somewhere. Friday’s schedule consists of light walkthroughs and community activities, so there is nothing left for a scout to do except wrap things up. Here is what we learned this week:

This is a great time to be Matt Flynn. There are no franchise quarterbacks here in Mobile. There may not be an NFL starting quarterback here in Mobile. Nick Foles of Arizona and Kirk Cousins look like sturdy backups, but neither possesses any outstanding quality. Russell Wilson of Wisconsin has the makings of a pepperpot-style backup: he is strong for his size, moves well, seems to see the field well, and has drawn praise from teammates on the North squad for his fiery demeanor. He reminds me of Shaun Hill of the Lions: the kind of backup some coaches like because he is always prepared and can catch a defense off guard with his athleticism. He does not have the size or arm to be a quality starter.

Teams looking for a quarterback who are not in position to draft Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III will soon turn to Flynn, the Packers backup who showed he could be something more with a six-touchdown performance at the end of the year. Taking any of these guys as a starter is just taking a flyer.

[RELATED: Kirk Cousins talks to Yahoo! Sports Radio]

The defensive linemen lived up to their billing. Brandon Thompson of Clemson and Quentin Coples of North Carolina were as good as advertised. Melvin Ingram of South Carolina was a little more hot-and-cold, but he is an all-purpose freelancer who wasn’t well served by the buttoned-down system the South coaches used. Kheeston Randall (Texas) and Tydreke Powell (North Carolina) also stood out. All of these defenders are versatile and look like they can fit in different schemes. Their competitiveness was also a huge plus: there was a mean streak running up and down the South defensive line. And the offensive line, for that matter.

The little cornerbacks are tough. Alfonso Denard of Nebraska looked great when pressing and tackling before suffering a minor injury. Leonard Johnson of Iowa State was fierce every time he made contact. Both of these players are only 5-foot-10, but both appear to have the Nate Clements skill set: willing in run defense, great at jamming and reroute receivers in a Cover-2 scheme. Coach Leslie Frazier took note of their physicality in Thursday’s press conference. “Looking at the tape of yesterday’s practice where we worked on stalk blocking, I saw just how aggressive the corners were at being able to hit receivers and shed receivers. You are always looking for guys who have the quickness and speed, but you are also looking for guys who are physical and aren’t afraid to hit.” Those guys were not hard to find on the North squad.

The obligatory “ups and downs” section of the wrap-up. Chris Rainey (RB, Florida) helped his stock by moving to wide receiver and showing the ability to run a full route tree. Rainey looks like an ideal third down back and return man. Quenton Coples (WR, Arizona) stood out because of his size, ball skills, and ability to beat the press. This is a very deep draft at guard, with Kordy Glenn (G, Georgia) proving that he is a mountain of nasty run blocking and Senio Kelemete (G, Washington) demonstrating quickness and technique. Shea McClellin (DL-LB, Boise State) made the transition from defensive end to weakside linebacker incredibly smoothly: he looks like the kind of big, all-purpose linebacker that the Lions and Giants prefer. DeMario Davis (LB, Arkansas State) showed great athleticism at middle linebacker and proved he belongs.

On the downside, Kellen Moore of Boise State looked like an outstanding college quarterback with no business whatsoever in the pros. His passes sail, his athleticism is sub-par, and he frankly looks more like a teenage autograph seeker than a player when he is walking around in sweats. The most awkward moment of Thursday’s press conference came when a reporter from Idaho tried to get Brian Quick (WR, Appalachian State, had rough early practices but improved a bit) to say something positive about Moore. The not-too-media-savvy Quick nodded, smiled, thought in vain for something polite to say, and ended up complimenting Russell Wilson.

Of the tight ends, only Brad Smelley of Alabama stood out. He moved from tight end to fullback during the week and handled the change well, and he showed fine hands on deep passes. He projects as a middle-round H-back type. There is no Jermichael Finley hanging around Mobile.

You will have to use your imagination during the game. These players only had two days of full contact practice under clear conditions. Monday’s sessions were soggy and sloppy, Thursday’s were conducted in a catering hall. There will be rust, miscommunication, poorly-timed throws and mental mistakes, and we can’t hold a mistake here or there against a player on Saturday: Drew Brees and Patrick Willis would have a hard time looking sharp under these circumstances. When you watch the Senior Bowl, look for technique, athleticism, and aggressiveness. Don’t expect razor-sharp play.

View full post on Shutdown Corner – NFL – Yahoo! Sports

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator – and he’s already pretty tight with coach Pat Shurmur.

Shurmur hired former Minnesota coach Brad Childress as his first offensive coordinator on Friday, reuniting two coaches who spent seven seasons together on Andy Reid’s staff with the Eagles.

Childress spent nearly five seasons with the Vikings before he was fired in 2010. He’ll take over a Browns offense that scored just 218 points last season, finished 29th in yardage, 28th in rushing and 24th in passing.

Click HERE to Read More at BROWNS GAB!

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London 2012: A swimmer’s story

Katy Sexton became the first British female swimmer to win a world championship title in 2003.
Katy Sexton became the first British female swimmer to win a world championship title in 2003.

It’s not long until the British Olympic swimming trials in March, and it’s really exciting because it’s the first time I’m going to see the new pool in London. Days are ticking by and it’s getting really close.

I’m really excited by the prospect of actually competing at the Olympic pool for the first instance in the trials, and then hopefully I can convert my times into a place on the team and compete there again in the summer. I went to Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004, and I want to be involved again.

Having the Olympics in London will be amazing. I went to the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 and that was a fantastic experience. It makes it even more exciting because your family and friends can be more part of the whole concept of what you’re going for.

At home it’s more accessible for them and they can understand a bit more the passion you have for the sport. It makes it that extra bit special.

When I missed out on the team for Beijing in 2008 it was heartbreaking. I’d done everything I could but I fell at the last hurdle. They only take two competitors for each event, and at our trials you have to do the times on the day to go through. I did the time but I was third on the day.

After that I very much felt like, “I’ve trained for four years to do this, what do I do now?” There were about eight of us in that position after the Beijing trials. We went to the U.S. nationals, our last main meet of the year. Then it was a case of sitting around and back to the drawing board. Thinking about what to do, how to move forward and if I want to move forward.

I got married in the summer of ‘08 so there was all of that going on as well, and there were a few problems in my personal life, so swimming took a back seat for the first half of this four-year cycle. I fractured my ribs and that led to other complications with my back, so I was forced to take some time off – which was something I hadn’t done in 13 or 14 years swimming at the top of my game.

It’s something I wish I’d done sooner in life. It gave me time to appreciate what I had done, and when I did get back into swimming after about four months out, I was ready and raring to go, re-energized and wanting it even more. The hunger was back again. I wish it was something I’d done earlier.

The last six years I’ve been funding myself, so it’s a case of “I can do it without anyone’s help, I’m doing it my way and I can still do it well my way.”

I’m quite susceptible to being injury prone and illness prone, so it’s about keeping that at bay, keeping strong mentally. When you’re at the starting blocks, it doesn’t matter what happens from the neck down, it’s neck up. You could have the worst preparation but as long as you can get in the right frame of mind, everything else is irrelevant.

At the moment I’m doing eight or nine swimming sessions a week. I’m training myself. I’m doing a weight program that is assisted by Mark Foster, a legendary British sprint swimmer who was a world and European champion in short-course events. I worked with him before Beijing, it’s just the weights side of stuff and it’s something we’ve continued to do.

I also do coaching. When I had that forced time off I set up my own swim academy in Havant, outside of Portsmouth where I’m from. It’s something I always wanted to do, and I had time to do it. It’s my way of giving back to my local community. It’s not something I’ve just put my name on – I’m actually hands on with it.

It’s quite nice to do something that’s not directly about me. It’s so nice to be able to watch kids enjoy the water and progress to actually swimming. It’s very basic beginner level that we’re doing.

I’m going to be 30 not long before London 2012. Everyone always says that it’s good to be still swimming at my age, but I was doing it really well at a young age. For example you had Dara Torres, who won silver medals for the U.S. at the last Olympic Games – she was in her 40s. I can remember going to Sydney in 200 and it was a big deal because she was making her comeback at 30-something then. If you can hack it, why not.

What do you think? Is there anything you'd like to know about my bid to qualify? Do you have any questions about how athletes train for big events? Please let me know below and I'll try to answer them in my next blog.

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It’s MacWorld, which means those providers of Apple gear are busting out wares for aftermarket insertion into your objects of desire. Other World Computing’s latest offering is a slender solid-state drive ready to be crow-barred into last year’s MacBook Airs. The bombastically named OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD is a SATA Rev. 3.0 drive with a promised 6GB/s data speed at sizes of up to 480GB. Since the stock drives are limited to the 3GB/s SATA Rev. 2.0 (but the controllers run 3.0), you should find a significant performance bump when swapping in the new unit. The toggle-synchronous NAND drives come in a variety of sizes from 120GB ($260) all the way to 480GB ($1,150), but you’ll get a three-year warranty for all that cash. We may never give you our money, nor our funny pages, but you can have the press release that’s after the break.

Continue reading OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express SATA 3.0 SSDs doubles your (MacBook) Airspeed velocity

OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express SATA 3.0 SSDs doubles your (MacBook) Airspeed velocity originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple buy Hollywood? Not a chance

With about $100 billion just lying around, Apple’s received a number of suggestions for how it can spend that cash. The latest comes from Erick Schonfeld at TechCrunch, who argues that Apple could use that money to invest in a new type of subscription TV service to compete with Comcast, Time Warner Cable and the like. But that suggestion overlooks a few very important facts about Apple, and about the economics of today’s pay TV business.

What Apple does and doesn’t do

For a clue into how Apple approaches the video market, you need look no further than how it’s dealt with every other part of the media ecosystem to date: It creates good user experiences across an ecosystem of great products that publishers can sell their content on.

It introduced the iPod and iTunes and allowed the music industry to sell their songs on the platform, and it took a cut. It introduced the iPhone and the App Store and allowed developers to create games, utilities, productivity tools and the like, and it took a cut. It introduced the Apple TV for the Hollywood studios and TV networks to rent and sell their movies and shows to consumers, and it took a cut. It introduced the iPad, iBooks and the Newstand and allowed book and magazine publishers to sell digital versions of their titles to consumers, and it took a cut.

You notice a trend here? Product, platform, revenue share. That model has been extremely profitable for Apple, in part because it’s had to bear little risk to collect whatever revenues and profits come from its partners’ content sales. What Apple does not do is pay upfront to have the luxury of carrying content and then shouldering all the risk while attempting to create a sustainable new business model for its partners.

The economics of the situation

But let’s talk about the actual economics of subscription pay TV. Time Warner Cable announced in its earnings Thursday that it paid somewhere around $25 a month per subscriber in content costs last quarter. Think Apple could do better? It can’t. Any new entrant to the pay TV market acquiring content licenses does so at rates higher than what others have previously negotiated. This was true when the satellite TV companies entered the business, it was true when Verizon and AT&T began offering IPTV services, and it will be true for anyone that attempts to create a virtual cable company.

Starting costs for Apple — or anyone else for that matter — to build a subscription TV service will be in the mid-$30s at the very least. Which means it’s not going to roll out a $25 or $30 subscription service or undercut your local cable company on price anytime soon.

You know how every quarter analysts dissect however many billions of dollars Microsoft has lost in its Internet services business? That would be Apple TV’s media business, quarter after quarter, if it decided to go down this road. Sure, Apple has a lot of money. And sure, Apple could bear those costs. But why would it? What’s the actual benefit for Apple or its investors?

The misplaced dream of a la carte

Money“But what if I don’t want all of the channels? That’s where Apple could really disrupt things!” It’s a familiar refrain to hope and wish and pray that someone like Apple will be able to do what others have failed at so far, and negotiate a la carte pricing for individual networks. That sure sounds good, and I’m sure consumers would love it! That is, until they saw the price tags associated with each of the networks that they would want to buy.

Even if Apple were able to convince Disney, for instance, to separate ABC, the Disney networks and ESPN’s sports networks from the bundle, it would be just like breaking up any other bundle: the cost to sell each network separately would be egregiously expensive. Prohibitively so.

As a consumer, would you pay $5 just for ABC? Another $5 each for CBS, NBC and Fox? $15 or $20 for ESPN? $25 for HBO? It’s not like these guys are just going to give those channels away at a small premium over what they get from cable. If they’re going to break the subscription bundle, they’re going to want to get paid to do it. In that world, how many channels do you think you could buy before the cost became more than what you already pay for a cable subscription each month?

The actual market opportunity

Put all that aside, though, and the truth of the matter is that streaming video is still a relatively niche market. How many people are out there who actually have an interest in a streaming TV service? In theory, the addressable market is every broadband household that also pays for cable service. But take a look at the number of Apple TVs that are out there (just 4.2 million) or the connect rate on smart TVs today, and you see that very few people are actually taking advantage of broadband-delivered video. That could change with the introduction of the mythical iTV, but it seems pretty tiny today.

Sure, Apple created the modern smartphone market with the iPhone or the tablet market with the iPad. But it’s not into creating new services. And it seems unlikely that Apple would introduce a new service like this, especially one that is likely to be risky, unprofitable and targeting a market segment that doesn’t yet exist.

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Davos, Switzerland (CNN) – Mark Spelman, head of strategy at Accenture, says emerging markets are spurring innovation.

“I can point to retailers and consumer goods companies who I think are bringing innovation to many emerging markets, through supply chains, through the way they’re addressing consumer preferences in local markets,” he told CNN’s John Defterios.

“But at the same time, you’re seeing a lot of innovation taking place in emerging markets,” he added. “Look at Indonesia, with 50% of the population under 29, real innovation using social media, and that’s going to be leveraged elsewhere.”

But he admitted that harvesting the vast quantities of data generated from social media in emerging markets would be a challenge.

“We’re going to see an absolute explosion of data … we’re either going to drown in data or we’re going to be able to manage it in a way that gives better quality decisions,” said Spelman.

“Managing that data, whether it’s data about your customers, about what’s happening in your supply chain, is going to be absolutely critical if you’re going to be successful at being able to take advantage of a lot of the growth that's going to appear in emerging markets.”

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