By Gilbert Falso :: 1:05 PM
Trading of shares in the search giant Google have been halted after an SEC report was inadvertently released this morning, with an unfinished filing that left an open quote for Google CEO Larry Paige.
The top line of the report said “PENDING LARRY QUOTE,†which suggests that the filing was released early, without being fully reviewed or completed.
The company reported third-quarter earnings of $9.03, well below the $10.65 that analysts at Thomson Reuters were expecting. Shares were down nearly 10% when trading was halted, dropping from $754 to $687.
It was widely expected that though Google would release their earnings report today, that release would not occur until after the stock market’s closing bell.
Google has not yet issued an explanation for the odd timing and missing quote.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 12:27 PM
An announcement date for Apple’s elusive iPad Mini has been set – the tech company sent out invitations to media professionals that mark October 23, next Tuesday, as the date.
The event will take place at 10:00 AM (Pacific time) in San Jose. It is expected that Apple will announce a small version of their wildly popular iPad tablet, dubbed the iPad mini. It is expected to retail at a price point from between $250 and $320.
It is also possible that the launch event will tout another full-sized iPad offering, with the new iPhone5-style Lightning dock connector and improved hardware under the hood.
Apple’s foray into the smaller tablet market could also be their first experiment with a large number of tablet offerings. TechCrunch is looking at the possibility of 12 different iPad Mini configuration possibilities, if all the rumors hold true.
By Gilbert Falso :: 11:14 PM
The new Circa news app for iOS, launched earlier today, is a news reading platform unlike any other out in the market today. Built from the ground up specifically for the smartphone platform, Circa’s creators want to change the way news is consumed on the Internet.
After a rocky start – the app was not initially available this morning in the app store as it was promised, and then server issues plagued the app once many had it installed on their phones -Â it seems to be humming right along this evening.
Unlike other news apps and aggregators in the App Store, Circa doesn’t just bring in news from various feeds and deliver it to you. Circa has an editorial team hard at work to gather top news and break individual stories down into into parts. Facts, quotes, photos, maps, and other content are curated for each story, and delivered in bite-sized chunks that you can flip through on your phone. Each chunk of content is little more than one screen length high.
At launch, Circa offers a limited feed of content and categories. There are two main categories, Top Stories and Election 2012, and the site’s creators say they are planning on adding more categories in the near future. There is no search feature yet, so if you are looking for a particular topic within a category, you’re out of luck at this point.
When a user signs up for Circa, it asks to link via Facebook, or you can opt to sign up with an e-mail address instead. When you read a story and want to share a piece of the content (individual content pieces are called “points”), you can either share an individual point, or a link to the entire story. Sharing is available to both Facebook and Twitter.
Circa is co-founded by Ben Huh, CEO of The Cheezburger Network.
By Gilbert Falso :: 8:34 PM
Viewers trying to tune in to the Internet stream of Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly in a live debate on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. are having a bad time this evening, as the stream appears inaccessible for many people across the country.
Billed as “O’Reilly v Stewart 2012: The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium,†access for the event was sold for $4.95 on the Rumble’s website.
Comments across Twitter ranged from snarky to outraged as server connection issues plagued users. At this time, it appears as if many people are still having trouble getting the live stream to load.
The company behind the technology, Nox Solutions, has not responded to requests for information.
A selection of Tweets from the #Rumble2012 debacle is below:
.@rumble2012 Have you guys tried unplugging the server and plugging it back in? #rumble2012
— Michael Clear (@MichaelClear) October 7, 2012
…and the only rumble being heard is that of the heads of server admins and an entire IT department. #Rumble2012 #NoWorky
— Kevin Pereira (@kpereira) October 7, 2012
@michaelclear @rumble2012 come guys crtl alt delete, restart then brute force kick them servers till they work! #rumble2012
— Hannah Stevenson (@Tequilahj) October 7, 2012
All servers dropping connections. Get some IT PEOPLE THAT HAVE A CLUE. Rumble 2012 EPIC FAIL. #rumble2012
— Steve Lugovsky (@slugovsky) October 7, 2012
By Gilbert Falso :: 11:16 AM
Twitter today announced that they have entered a partnership with Nielsen, the audience and media measurement and analysis service, to create a brand impact measurement tool that runs on the microblogging platform.
Nielsen-run brand surveys will appear much like Promoted Tweets currently do, appearing on mobile and desktop devices using Twitter’s clients. It is not clear, at this time, if or how these survey Tweets will appear on third-party clients. It is clear, however, that this is another reason why Twitter is cracking down on its API – the company wants to ensure all Tweets will display as designed.
The Tweet will appear from the @TwitterSurveys account, and will not take the user to another page or app – all survey activities will be contained within the Tweet itself.
Twitter is currently working with a group of advertisers to test the functionality, and plans to release it to additional advertising partners early next year.
A sample survey question would appear like this in Twitter’s iPhone client:
