The Next Web |
- Nokia pulls Here Maps from the App Store, blames iOS 7 changes that ‘harm the user experience’
- 13 of the best memes from 2013
- Apple slip-up confuses many as ’12 Days of Gifts’ app lists freebie for £12.99/€12.99
- Bitcoin exchanges in India suspend services as authorities crack down on the virtual currency
- Nokia’s 6-inch Lumia 1320 smartphone goes on sale in China, headed to other parts of Asia soon
- Chinese Web giant Baidu denies it is spying on users of its Japanese typing software
- In China, e-commerce firms are now on their way to offering mobile telecom services
- Netflix is suffering an outage affecting users in the US, Canada and Latin America [Now fixed]
- Amazon giving out $20 gift cards to those affected by Christmas delivery mishap from UPS and FedEx
- US consumers spent $42.75b online during the 2013 holiday season, but ‘falls short’ of expectations
| Nokia pulls Here Maps from the App Store, blames iOS 7 changes that ‘harm the user experience’ Posted: 27 Dec 2013 03:38 AM PST  If you're a fan of Nokia's mapping services and happen to own an iPhone, we've got some bad news for you. The company recently pulled its Here Maps app from the App Store, blaming changes to iOS 7 – the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system – which have allegedly damaged the user experience. In a statement to The Indian Express – and confirmed by the Finnish firm to TNW – Nokia said:
Here Maps for iOS was launched at a time when Apple was grappling with its own native app for mapping and navigation. It's difficult to know what sort of traction the app has gained in the last 12 months, but Nokia's comments suggest that it wasn't worth the time or investment needed to keep Here Maps for iOS at a high standard. A Nokia spokesperson told TNW that it Here Maps was still being developed as a cross-platform service: "In addition to Windows Phone, (we) have an Android SDK for OEM's and also offer Here Maps for Firefox OS," they said. "The team also recently announced a Here developer offering for Tizen. The Here team will continue to consider their options for iOS." ➤ The Indian Express (Via PocketLint) Image Credit: Patrik Stollarz/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 13 of the best memes from 2013 Posted: 27 Dec 2013 02:30 AM PST  The power of the collective conscious of the Internet is most clearly reflected in memes. These ideas or styles, which can take the form of anything from an image to a misspelt word, spread from person to person in the online world all across the globe, with a lot of them eventually reflected in images with text (though that may not be the case all the time). Which memes took the Internet world by storm in 2013? Many of them were sparked by videos and celebrities this year, instead of pure images. Here are 13 of the year's best ones. (Click here to read this article on a single page) 1. Doge — the dog that "speaks" bad English The Doge meme easily takes top spot to be the meme of 2013. Doge is a misspelt version of dog — and the meme is typically made up of a Shiba Inu dog with Comic Sans text in broken English dotting the picture. According to Wikipedia, the meme's popularity skyrocketed in August this year when 4chan's random imageboard /b/ flooded a Reddit forum with images of a cute Shiba Inu in a doge meme. Doge has all the factors needed for a viral meme — a cute dog and simple (bad) English captioning that makes people laugh. Here are a few that are particularly hilarious. A virtual currency was even born out of the Doge craze. Dogecoin was created for fun, using that the Shiba Inu dog from the meme as its mascot, and eventually actually gained some traction — though it recently suffered its first hacking incident. 2. Twerking — the very provocative butt dance Twerking has existed since the nineties, but in 2013 singer Miley Cyrus made it smokin' hot — with an extremely sexually provocative twerking performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. In June this year, Cyrus already put twerking into the limelight via her 'We Can't Stop' MTV. As KnowYourMeme notes, Cyrus even asked fans to submit their twerking videos for the music video. Subsequently, this year twerking videos have been all the rage on YouTube. However, the best one is undoubtedly Jimmy Kimmel's Twerk Fail video, which spread like wildfire, and now has nearly 15 million views on YouTube. 3. Harlem Shake — the crazy dance that somehow looks cool The Harlem Shake exploded in early 2013 when a series of dance videos surfaced using a short excerpt of the song with the same name, which was released by American music producer Harry Rodrigues (Baauer) in August 2012. Wikipedia notes that thousands of Harlem Shake videos were made and uploaded to YouTube every day when its popularity peaked. The Harlem Shake was technically started by a YouTube video blogger named Filthy Frank. However, it truly went viral as a meme only when a group of Australian teenagers — The Sunny Coast Skate — danced to the Harlem Shake in the form that we are more familiar with now. Ultimately, even puppies wanted in on the Harlem Shake craze. 4. I Quit — the coolest way ever to quit a job Next Media Animation producer Marina Shifrin had enough of her job — and she decided to quit in style, airing her complaints in a hilarious dance routine set to Kanye West's Gone, which went viral after being posted to Reddit. KnowYourMeme notes that in the first five days the video was posted, the video got more than 11.8 million views and about 14,000 comments. The I Quit video spawned plenty of memes, such as this below by Cheezburger user PrincessWordplay. It also spawned videos including a parody from work-at-home mum Brenna Jennings. What took the cake though, was a video made in response to Shifrin by her former employer… which announced they were hiring. 5. What Does The Fox Say? — a senseless song that is so addictive Brothers Vegard and Bård Ylvisåker of Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis were genuinely curious about what sound a fox makes, and the viral song (along with the video) was born. The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?) took top billing as YouTube's top trending video of 2013, and has surpassed three million views as of now. The music video became an Internet meme that was widely covered and parodied by people all over the Internet world. Even Morgan Freeman stepped in to reinforce the meme — by reading out the lyrics of the viral hit in his heavenly voice. 6. Grumpy Cat — the cat that disapproves of everything Move away LolCat, 2013 was the year when Grumpy Cat hogged all the limelight. Grumpy Cat surfaced in September 2012 via a picture posted to Reddit, as Wikipedia notes, but 2013 was the year when it graced the covers of mainstream news publications such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine. It also won BuzzFeed's Meme of the Year award — and there's even an official Grumpy Cat book published in July this year. Grumpy Cat has spawned endless hilarious images all featuring the same scornful cat face, and here are a couple of the more notable (and funnier) ones. 7. Brent Rambo — a very approving look from the nineties Brent Rambo was famous before the Internet became mainstream — as a child model in an advertisement for Apple's desktop products. He surfaced this year when a Reddit user posted an animated GIF of him nodding approvingly. The image took on a life of its own when others started combining the GIF with other images — such as this one below — and so Brent Rambo Approves has become one of the hottest memes in 2013. 8. Unflattering Beyonce — one word: fierce Even celebrities have their bad days. A couple of unflattering images of Beyonce from her SuperBowl performance this year went viral after BuzzFeed refused to take them down following a request from her publicist (a huge tactical mistake there). BuzzFeed highlighted the particular images instead, and the Internet world went crazy lapping them up. Photoshopped images started spreading like wildfire, making the Unflattering Beyonce a meme that made people chuckle but likely made Beyonce cringe a thousand times over. Here are a few funny ones. 9. Obama Skeet Shooting — the President goes shooting This is another case where Internet users rebel against people telling them what to do. The original photo was issued by the White House on Flickr to show that President Barack Obama enjoys skeet shooting, with an advisory message asking viewers not to alter the image. Of course nobody obeyed. It rapidly became a meme when users took to Photoshop to come up with images and GIFs that poked fun at Obama. In this GIF, Obama isn't even shooting anymore. 10. Starbucks Drake Hands — the most cringe-worthy 'seductive' video ever There is a lesson within the Starbucks Drake Hands meme — seducing a girl with a video that can be easily ridiculed really isn't the smartest way to go about flirting. The meme's lifecycle started when a video of barista Brody "Odag" Ryan smiling and rubbing his hand on his face to the Drake song "Hold On, We're Going Home" was posted to Instagram by DJ Ben Roc, a friend of Californian model Piper Kennedy. Ryan had asked for Kennedy's number and sent her the video, presumably an attempt to seduce her and not to draw attention from the whole Internet world. Subsequently, several parody videos were made with the hashtag #StarbucksDrakeHands. This one by a little boy is particularly chuckle-worthy. 11. Hadokening — a powerful Japanese attack This year, an Asian photo fad caught the attention of Internet users in the West — and there's been no turning back since. The original photo was tweeted by Japanese user @mkpiiii9 in March this year, but the name 'Hadokening' was given by a Reddit user, who adopted it from the well-known special Japanese attack Hadouken used in games such as Street Fighter. Subsequently, several photos surfaced that copied the general concept of the original photo — though most of them came from Japan itself. In the West, a derivative of Hadokening known as 'Vadering' surfaced when Rob Martinez tweeted a picture of himself staging Darth Vader's Force choke. It was picked up by online media outlets, and the hashtag #Vadering garnered quite a spread on Twitter. 12. Hot Dog Legs — sexy legs… or processed food? Shots of sexy legs are meant to be tantalizing, until you realize they may not be legs after all, but hot dogs. The Hot Dog Legs meme started as a Tumblr blog created by food blogger Alexis Brault in July. Many Internet users picked up on this really ingenious perspective, spawning pictures that make you have a hard time guessing whether they are hot legs, or hot dogs. 13. Moon Moon — the stupid wolf Rounding off the best memes of 2013 is Moon Moon, which is actually rather similar to the Doge meme. Moon Moon is a fictional wolf character taking the role of an outcast in a pack, inspired by a silly name that Tumblr user Kitchiki got via a name generator "What is your Werewolf Name?" The meme took on its form when Tumblr user Frukass posted a reply to Kitchiki's post, portraying Moon Moon rushing in to "get the thing." Subsequently, Moon Moon memes made the rounds on the Internet, all of which prove that even the majestic, cunning wolf can be lame — and funny. Headline image via Shutterstock, images of memes via KnowYourMeme, Hollywood Gossip, Cheezburger and Tumblr This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Apple slip-up confuses many as ’12 Days of Gifts’ app lists freebie for £12.99/€12.99 Posted: 27 Dec 2013 02:10 AM PST  A small technical slip-up has caused Apple a bit of embarrassment this morning. The firm's '12 Days of Gifts' app, which promises iOS users one digital present each day from December 26 to January 6, currently lists a BBC documentary on Africa for £12.99/€12.99 in the UK and parts of Europe. A far cry from the 'free' price-tag which we were all expecting. A closer look shows that Apple's intentions were never sinister. The first episode, called Kalahari, is referred to on the home page of the app and is free, provided you dive down into its product listing. The problem is that this isn't explained very well within the '12 Days of Gifts' app. Buried in the FAQ, Apple explains: "To get your free TV episode, you must first tap View Gift, then tap the name of the free episode. You will be redirected to a page where the episode is listed in blue. Tap the episode's name again. You will be redirected to a page where you can download the episode for free." While accurate, we can't help but feel this set up is a little misleading. Understandably, the mix-up has caused a number of users to voice their confusion on Twitter:
It's not going to ruin Christmas – and the content is still free, as Apple intended – but there's a chance some consumers will just tap the link and purchase the complete BBC Africa series by mistake. For a promotion that's only on its second day, this is quite a faux pas on Apple's part.
➤ 12 Days of Gifts (Via Twitter) Image Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Bitcoin exchanges in India suspend services as authorities crack down on the virtual currency Posted: 27 Dec 2013 01:21 AM PST
Among the services that are pausing, INRBTC.com says "the only option left now is suspend the services until further arrangements can be made," while Buysellbitco.in will remain offline until "we can outline a clearer framework with which to work." A report from DNA today suggests that Mahim Gupta, who runs Buysellbitco.in, could be arrested if police "are able to establish money laundering" charges against him. India's crackdown comes a week after China banned local exchanges from dealing in its national currency, sending the value of Bitcoin plummeting. ➤ Bitcoin operators start shutting down in India, following RBI advisory [The Economic Times] Image via Antana / Flickr This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Nokia’s 6-inch Lumia 1320 smartphone goes on sale in China, headed to other parts of Asia soon Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:22 PM PST
Nokia announced that the gargantuan smartphone is being made available today first in China, followed by Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries in the coming weeks. When Nokia launched the smartphone, it said the phone was expected to start shipping in Q1 2014 in China and Vietnam, followed by other Asian markets including India, as well as Europe. It will not be coming to the US. At $339, the Lumia 1320 it is being positioned as an addition to Nokia's range of mid-tier Windows Phone 8 smartphones and at the top of its low-end range. Read: Nokia Lumia 1320 hands-on: How does this 6″, 720p smartphone stack up against the Lumia 1520? This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Chinese Web giant Baidu denies it is spying on users of its Japanese typing software Posted: 26 Dec 2013 09:00 PM PST  Tensions between Japan and China are riding high now — and even technology companies are not spared the blow. Chinese search giant Baidu has found itself in hot soup for claims that it is leaking information from Japan via a software program it developed, raising concerns that it could be spying on Japanese users. The Japanese government has warned that IME software used for writing Japanese characters could lead to security leaks — including a program made by search giant Baidu – as it says that data is sent to servers outside the country. All central government ministries in Japan have been asked to steer away from such programs, and Japan's foreign ministry has even removed Baidu's software programs from computers at its Tokyo headquarters, Bloomberg reports. In a statement provided to TNW, a Baidu spokesperson acknowledges that its Japanese language input program collects data to update its dictionary, but pointed out that the information is encrypted and anonymous as it is processed in the form of aggregated data. Furthermore, the servers for the program are located in Japan itself, the company says — contradicting the Japanese government's claim that data flows to servers outside of the country.
The spokesperson also notes that Baidu is currently in talks with relevant Japanese government agencies to solve the issue, and is working to boost its information disclosure procedures in future versions of its products. Japanese media are reporting that Baidu collects data even if users have opted out of providing it. Baidu's Japan office has issued a statement saying that there was a bug with the mobile input method Simeji, which uploaded the inputted alphabetic combination to the cloud for "better processing" even when users switched off the cloud-based input function — but the bug has now been resolved. The fact that such a glitch even existed though, serves to add on to concerns by Japanese users. At this time of political tension between the two countries, user data — especially that related to government usage — has become an extremely sensitive issue. It is little wonder that the Japanese government is paranoid over what Baidu does with the data it collects, and as this is hard to verify independently, Baidu needs to do all it can to convince its customers of its trustworthiness. Whether Baidu can succeed or not remains to be seen, as one challenge that all Chinese companies face is that they are immediately linked to the Chinese government in the minds of many. Headline image via Liu Jin/AFP/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| In China, e-commerce firms are now on their way to offering mobile telecom services Posted: 26 Dec 2013 07:46 PM PST  Two major Chinese e-commerce players are now on their way to becoming mobile carriers. The Chinese government has issued what is known as 'mobile virtual network operator' licenses to HiChina, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba, as well as its rival JD.com, which allows them to resell mobile telecom services. This means they get to lease mobile services from the three state-run major carriers — China Telecom, China Unicom and Chine Mobile — but offer their own independent packages with data and discounts for mobile devices that may differ from what is on the market right now. In total, 11 firms received the licenses. An Alibaba spokeswoman confirmed that HiChina got the license, but declined to elaborate further on specific plans. JD.com, however, has expressed its ambitions to become China's fourth-largest mobile carrier within five years. The company's vice chairman Guoqing Zhao says:
The specific timeline for the rollout of these alternative mobile plans will likely be revealed in the coming months — though it will definitely be interesting to see what kind of packages will be offered, and if they will undercut the state-run carriers greatly. One thing is for sure though: consumers will benefit from more choices. With mobile commerce on the rise and expected to grow through 2014, having two giant e-commerce firms step into the space will likely herald in more emphasis on capturing shoppers via their mobile devices — and flip a new page in the m-commerce race in China. Headline image via AFP/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Netflix is suffering an outage affecting users in the US, Canada and Latin America [Now fixed] Posted: 26 Dec 2013 07:27 PM PST ![netflix 520x245 Netflix is suffering an outage affecting users in the US, Canada and Latin America [Now fixed]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tWJv6QEDb2474fcXgem-IeHNLqSt2CKt35893A3BO3DxIQFaHUksC6I4WkKjnH3d8PXf3pGFNWXUKMlYsuEbNhdmx_2-mrnTJQ9-uXVh-Ha_iUPvhrcAEz8db3dqfwm9uX-P5QXA1uKJOnnXztoqpyeGE=s0-d "netflix 520x245 photo") Netflix suffered a significant outage last Christmas — on account of problems with Amazon Web Services — and, though it was fully operational on Christmas Day 2013, the service is currently suffering issues that are affecting streaming for users in the US and Latin America today. Update: The service is back to usual, Netflix says – the outage lasted around an hour. The company took to Twitter to confirm it is working to fix the problems, which appear to have started around 7pm PST (25 minutes ago at time of writing): Connecting from laptops, multiple TNW staff were met with the error message below: We're not alone. Many other customers expressed frustration at their inability to stream shows this Boxing Day — a day that is surely tailor-made for binge-watching movies and TV series. We've contacted Netflix for further information, and will post more details as we have them. In the meantime, we recommend keeping a close eye on @Netflixhelps, which provides updates on service outages via Twitter. Update: A Netflix spokesperson tells us:
While you're waiting, why not read: What Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has learned in his business career Headline image via Jenny Cestnik / Flickr This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Amazon giving out $20 gift cards to those affected by Christmas delivery mishap from UPS and FedEx Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:51 PM PST If you're one of the countless customers who ordered Christmas presents from Amazon, but never received it, then the online retail giant wants to make up for it … with a $20 gift card. Geekwire reports that in an apparent act of penance, Amazon will also be refunding shipping charges to those customers who didn't receive their packages by yesterday. Amazon chalked up the delivery nightmare to several factors, including the shortened holiday season, higher-than-expected demand, and weather. Of course this comes as the company announced that 1 million customers signed up for its Prime membership in just one week. ➤ Christmas delayed: Amazon offers $20 gift cards, refunds shipping charges after UPS and FedEx problems (GeekWire) Photo credit: Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| US consumers spent $42.75b online during the 2013 holiday season, but ‘falls short’ of expectations Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:46 AM PST  The holiday shopping season is winding down, but how did retailers do this year? Market research firm comScore analyzed the performance of online shopping in the US and found that it failed to meet expectations. It revealed today that in the 2013 holiday season, customers spent $42.75 billion from Black Friday through December 22, a 10 percent increase from the $38.91 billion spent in 2012. comScore blamed the shortened holiday calendar as the reason for the small increase, but didn't specify exactly what its expectations were, only to say that it "fell short". Its chairman Gian Fulgoni did say that softer sales were not expected along with zero billion dollar spending days — last year had 10 days where more than $10 billion was spent. Amid all of that spending, what were the product categories where most of the money went? The firm says that video game consoles and accessories took top prize, most likely spurred by the release of Microsoft and Sony's latest devices, the Xbox One and the Playstation 4, respectively. Other products that appealed to consumers were in apparel and accessories (naturally), consumer electronics, computer hardware, and home & garden. This is the latest unfortunate event for the e-commerce space, especially in the face of embarrassing mishaps on the part of UPS and FedEx when packages couldn't be delivered by Christmas Day, infuriating many customers and families. Photo credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
![netflix2 520x482 Netflix is suffering an outage affecting users in the US, Canada and Latin America [Now fixed]](http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/12/netflix2.png "netflix2 520x482 photo")
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