Teak Technologies

We’re not only living through a paradigm shift vis-a-vis how we consume and share “content,” we’re observing strange days indeed at Netflix (NFLX). Walk through a brief overview of recent developments before we get to the latest news.

• Spending spree Netflix adds cushion to yet another content provider’s bottom line, as it continues to execute its seemingly unsustainable business model.
• Google (GOOG) prepares to show off its firepower via YouTube by taking Netflix on headfirst. Hopefully, Google’s (GOOG) earnings report this week will shed some light on its strategy.
• Netflix refuses to comment on the departure of its longtime VP of Investor Relations, the woman who might actually be the brainchild of the company’s faux earnings calls.

Given Netflix’s less-than-stellar history of communicating with investors, it comes as no surprise that we have yet to hear anything from the company about the VP of IR’s exit or get introduced to her apparent replacement.

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Whats the worst thing about Spotify? It doesnt pay that much to artists. No. Its devaluing music? No. Its the fact that the service is pretty poor when it come to music discovery. Theres so much music, that often, its hard to find the hidden gems sure you can use your friends recommendations but what happens when all your friends just listen to Adele or Jay Z.

Well Spotify has recognised this shortcoming and its plan to solve it is to create a new apps platform. A system of apps that look to enhance the experience of users listening to music.

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Online game company Zynga has priced its initial public offering at $10 per share. It is selling 100 million shares and raising $1 billion.

That’s at the high end of the expected range of $8.50 to $10, a sign that investors are eager to get a piece of the hottest Internet stocks.

Zynga’s IPO follows those of online deals site Groupon Inc. and professional network LinkedIn Corp. They’re all precursors to Facebook’s public debut expected sometime after April.

Thursday’s pricing gives San Francisco-based Zynga a market value of nearly $7 billion. That’s lower than Groupon, but Zynga is selling more of its stock. Selling a smaller fraction of shares can inflate valuation.

Zynga makes money by charging small amounts of money for virtual items in its games.

Android games have notched up more than 2.5 billion downloads since the launch of Google’s Android Market store, taking a 25.6 percent share of the store’s first 10 billion downloads.

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) revealed the 10 billion milestone on 6 December, adding that the Market is currently generating 1 billion new downloads a month. That followed an announcement in November that more than 200m Android devices had been activated, with 550,000 more coming online every day.

SEE ALSO: Android Store Opens In Oz, But It Won’t Have The Galaxy Tab 10.1 Just Yet

The company has now published an infographic on its Android Developers blog digging into the Android Market data, including the claim that the most popular time to download apps from the store is 9pm on Sundays.

There is also a chart for the “Top 10 Most App-crazed countries” ranked by downloads per capita. South K

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The study confirms that using branded mobile phone apps increases a consumer’s general interest in product categories and improves the attitude they may have toward the sponsoring brand. The researchers also found that mobile apps which are informational in nature or utilitarian were more likely to engage users than those where the app focused on entertainment or gaming.

Apps could be a way for advertisers to reach across traditional product or gender boundaries to appeal to new types of customers. Unlike viewing information through a print ad, media spot or a website, consumers will process a company’s messages more deeply if they do so using an app that they’ve decided to download to their mobile device.

“You have a more personal connection with your mobile device than you will with a website,” said Robert F.

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Apple and Samsung are currently engaged in a patent battle in different markets around the world. Both companies have been trying to get each other’s products banned due to patent violations. This battle has extend across different dimensions including a competition between the companies’ marque smartphones.

Samsung has recently released a series of Galaxy S II commercials that directly attacks the iPhone 4S. These commercials are targeting some of the new iPhone’s perceived weaknesses including the lack of 4G support, and the smaller display.

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