Hasta La Gadget!

Is Facebook no longer cool amongst teens? Or was it ever? While many speculated that Facebook’s hold on the teen demographic has been slipping, it was only during the social network’s earnings call that shone some light on the truth, with Facebook’s very own CFO David Ebersman suggesting that daily use amongst teens on Facebook may be declining. According to Ebersman, “Youth usage among U.S. teens was stable overall from Q2 to Q3, but we did see a decrease in daily users partly among younger teens.”

Ebersman did not define what “younger teens” are, but presumably they fall in the 13-17 year old category , an age category that Facebook has been trying to attract. It was only recently that Facebook made changes to their policy and allowed those who fell within that age group to post publicly. This was compared to before where teens who were aged 13-17 years old were only allowed to make posts that could then be seen by friends, friends of friends, and family. Does this mean that teens no longer find Facebook cool anymore? And if they don’t, where are they turning to for their social media needs? Perhaps that should be an avenue that Facebook needs to explore if they hope to maintain their active users, especially if they want to stand by the statement they made that says, “Teens are among the savviest people using of social media.”

Facebook Use Amongst Teens Starting To Decline original content from Ubergizmo.

This afternoon Facebook’s financial Q3 report included word that the company was running up on expectations for growth, beating both 3-month and 6-month totals over the 2012 season at this time. This earnings report included word from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that “the next phase of our company” was ready to unfurl. Facebook’s report began with […]

When most people hear that Facebook upgrades are on the way, they’re probably not hoping for more tracking software. But according to a new Wall Street Journal report, that’s exactly what they’re going to get.

Read more…

We know that BlackBerry is looking to sell itself to the highest bidder, and while they might have signed a letter of intent with Fairfax Financial, it has not stopped them from shopping for alternatives. There have been many players named so far, such a BlackBerry’s own founder himself, Apple’s ex-CEO John Sculley, and BlackBerry has even approached the likes of Google, Intel, and Samsung to talk about possibly bidding for their company. Well the latest report comes from The Wall Street Journal who claims that BlackBerry executives had reportedly flown to California last week to meet up with Facebook to talk potential bids, although it is unclear if Facebook is receptive to the idea or not.

There have been many rumors suggesting that Facebook is looking to build their own smartphone in the past, and acquiring BlackBerry would definitely give them the resources to do so. Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has denied in the past that Facebook would be doing such a thing, stating that it would be the wrong strategy for the social network. Given that previous Facebook phone attempts, like the HTC First, weren’t exactly hits, we’re not sure if Facebook would like to go down that path again. Either way take it with a grain of salt for now but BlackBerry sure is shopping pretty hard and at this rate, we’re not sure if they will be able to close a deal by November like they had originally intended.

BlackBerry Allegedly Met With Facebook To Talk Potential Bid original content from Ubergizmo.

BlackBerry has until the first week of November to try and find another buyer before Fairfax Financial Holdings comes back with its final offer. Both parties have currently signed a letter of intent, which puts the buyout bid at $4.7 billion. There have been rumors of a number of other companies looking at BlackBerry’s books, companies such as Lenovo, Intel, Google and more, but no other bids have been received as yet. The Wall Street Journal reports today that BlackBerry executives flew to California to meet with Facebook, in an effort to secure a potential bid from the world’s largest social network.

It is not entirely clear if Facebook is interested in buying out BlackBerry, spokesmen for both companies have declined to comment on this report. Facebook has long been rumored to be interested in making a “Facebook Phone,” it even reportedly tried to reach some sort of an arrangement with Samsung, but nothing of this sort has materialized as yet. Could Facebook finally jump into the hardware game by acquiring the ailing Canadian manufacturer? Its too soon to say right now, though it doesn’t come as a surprise to see BlackBerry try and find new potential suitors, as analysts fear Fairfax might come back with a reduced bid if it sees that its the only buyer BlackBerry has.

BlackBerry Reportedly Courting Facebook For A Buyout Bid original content from Ubergizmo.