Source: Facebook.com

The highly anticipated initial public offering by Facebook’s marks the coming-of-age for online social media.

Facebook’s

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[FB  Loading...      ()   ] value has been pumped sky-high by marketers in the US and worldwide who are flocking to online social platforms like Facebook to capitalize on the opportunity to leverage consumer relationships to sell their products and services. 

But this period between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day is an appropriate time to let marketers in on a secret. The amount of brand conversation taking place on Facebook and other social networking sites is a drop in the bucket compared to the real world conversations between parents and kids, spouses, friends, and with colleagues at work. And the impact of these real world conversations is considerably bigger, as well.  » Read More

Bloomberg via Getty Images

I never expected to have to go to the police because of Facebook.

I'm an avid user, checking in multiple times per day, but like most people, I thought of it as a lark—a place to let friends know about minor achievements and grievances, share pictures, and reconnect with acquaintances. And it was – until someone threatened my then three-year old daughter.  » Read More

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

When Facebook becomes a publicly traded company in the very near future, the financial event will be remembered for many reasons, but we view it as a watershed moment in the evolution of social business.

Six years ago, we took an industry analyst briefing from Mark Zuckerberg to discuss some “big news”: Facebook had secured $25 million in funding; mobile access was now available, and “Facebook Alumni” was being launched acknowledging that many users would soon graduate college.

At the time, the site had 7 million registered users, and some wondered if the company would survive the shift from being a niche community for students to an open-registration social network for the general public, moving into direct competition with the industry-leading juggernaut: MySpace.

 » Read More

AP

It’s the capital markets event of the year.

But anyone wanting to buy stock in Facebook’s imminent initial public offering needs unwavering faith in the vision of Mark Zuckerberg, the social network’s founder.

There’s no doubt that Facebook, like Google

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[GOOG  Loading...      ()   ] before it, is breaking new ground with a potentially hugely influential use of the increasing interconnectedness of the world.

And an IPO that values Facebook

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[FB  Loading...      ()   ] at anything near $100 billion – raising more than $10 billion from the sale of new and existing shares – would be notable beyond the pleasing roundness of the numbers.
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Samsung has become the world's largest cellphone maker, while overall sales of mobile phones fell 2 percent in January-March after 10 straight quarters of growth, research firm Gartner says.

Jung Yeon-Je | AFP | Getty Images Samung flag flies in Seoul

The global decline stems from Chinese buyers holding back purchases in anticipation of new models and economic uncertainties weighing on developed markets, Gartner said Wednesday.

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With his droopy eyeglasses and boxy suits, Alisher B. Usmanov is at no risk of being mistaken for a Silicon Valley venture capitalist. But the Russian steel tycoon is poised to make billions of dollars from the initial public stock offering of Facebook this week — in the same league as many of that social networking company’s early backers.

Mr. Usmanov, an industrial and media magnate who has demonstrated a keen ability to take advantage of the opportunities that appear in a financial disaster, is reaping the rewards of an ambitious bet on Facebook made amid the global economic recession in 2009.

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Source: bing.com Bing homepage

In the real world, when folks decide where to eat, what to buy, which movie to go see and so on, they frequently seek the recommendations of friends and so-called experts. Three years after launching its "Decision Engine," Microsoft

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[MSFT  Loading...      ()   ] is overhauling Bing to make its online search engine more social. Though it's taking a different path, Bing's strategy resembles that taken by rival Google

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[GOOG  Loading...      ()   ], still the dominant player in search.

As part of the new Bing, people you know, and in some cases, strangers, are more prominently featured in the decision-making mix that includes Facebook and other networks.

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Michael Nagle | Stringer | Getty Images News

Could the next iPhone finally boast a larger screen?

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple's Asian suppliers will start producing screens measuring 4 inches diagonally, up from the 3.5 inches featured on the smartphone dating back to its 2007 debut.

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Facebook has seen a frenzy of demand in the run-up to its initial public offering.

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

On Monday, the company increased the price range for shares, and 24-hours later, said it would be upping the size of the deal by roughly 25 percent.

It’s presenting some holders with the classic conundrum: stay in, or cash out. As more shares will be sold to the public, it’s given some investors a chance to liquidate sizeable portions of their holdings.  » Read More

U.S. sales of two new smartphones from Taiwan's HTC will be delayed due to a patent dispute with Apple, a fresh blow to the company as it tries to turn around declining sales in what was once its largest market.

Getty Images A visitor examines an HTC smartphone at the Vodafone stand at the CeBIT Technology Fair in Hannover, Germany.

Shares in HTC tumbled more than 6 percent after it said shipments of the phones were being held up by U.S. customs officials.

Apple

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[AAPL.O  Loading...      ()   ] scored a narrow victory against HTC in a patent lawsuit in December over technology in the smartphones, one of many such disputes in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.

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Facebook plans to increase the size of its IPO by 85 million shares, says someone familiar with the matter, a move that could value its upcoming offering at as much as $18.5 billion.

Scott Eells | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The social network’s 25% upsize plan will be filed with regulators at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday morning, this person said.

Facebook’s expected move takes the size of its new issue from roughly 340 million shares to roughly 420 million, a change that, combined with the greenshoe – additional shares that could be sold by bankers in the aftermath of the IPO – could value the total deal at nearly $20 billion.

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Getty Images Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg

General Motors will stop advertising on Facebook, a move that comes during the same week the social networking website is due to go public.

The U.S. automaker confirmed a report by the Wall Street Journal. A source familiar with the automaker's plans said GM's marketing executives decided Facebook's ads had little impact on consumers.

GM

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[  Loading...      ()   ]said it will still have Facebook pages marketing its vehicles, but it will drop use of paid ads. Anyone can create a Facebook page at no cost. GM pays no fee to Facebook for its pages, which allow the automaker to reach consumers directly.  » Read More