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RIP WhatsApp? That’s the first thought that came to my mind when reports hit that Facebook had apparently negotiated to buy the cross-platform messaging service to incorporate it into Facebook’s own software portfolio.
That’s right, according to a release from Facebook today, the social network everyone loves to hate is buying out WhatsApp for a total sum of USD$19 billion. This apparently breaks down as $4bn cash and $12bn-worth of Facebook stock to be distributed among WhatsApp’s staff; plus, perhaps interestingly, a further $3bn in restricted stock. The reason this restricted stock is interesting is because it requires the staff members to remain at Facebook for four years before it vests, allowing them to monetize the stock; those who leave beforehand forfeit their share. In other words, everyone who works for the company now is getting has a huge incentive to stay on.
For some, Facebook’s offer of restricted stock shows the company is interested in the talent that worked on the service in addition to the platform itself – which could be seen as an investment in sustaining WhatsApp’s future as the most popular cross-platform mobile messenger, ensuring it will be kept going for the foreseeable future through the guidance of its original staff. This has done little to alleviate concerns by others that the merger will result in dilution – Facebook itself is already fairly splintered as it is, with its purchase of Instagram last year, as well as several home-grown apps for Facebook itself – which makes it difficult enough already for people to understand what Facebook means when it talks of “Monthly Active Users”. And when Facebook already has its own private messaging system, email and the Facebook Messenger client, will they really spend a lot of focus on another chat platform that connects users to each other through their phone’s data allowance?
A look at Facebook’s own rationale for the deal seems to suggest that the main purpose of doing the deal was a numbers game, bringing WhatsApp’s large, active user base into Facebook itself:
WhatsApp has built a leading and rapidly growing real-time mobile messaging service, with:
– Over 450 million people using the service each month;
– 70% of those people active on a given day;
– Messaging volume approaching the entire global telecom SMS volume; and
– Continued strong growth, currently adding more than 1 million new registered users per day.
However, perhaps Facebook DOES have an incentive to care about keeping WhatsApp alive and keeping its users rosy – money. Unlike Instagram, which has never monetised itself, WhatsApp has been a profitable enterprise that makes its money simply from being used – the service as of late charges users yearly subscriptions to utilise the entire app, at a cost of 69p (99¢) per year. Times 70% of 450 million users, and well… let’s just say, that’s a LOT of money potentially being raked in every year.
Time will tell what befalls WhatsApp in the future. Until then, cast me as a doubter. I wouldn’t be alone either – latest reports indicate Wall Street investors have sent Facebook’s shares down 5% in after hours trading following the news. Then again, similar losses also happened when Facebook bought Instagram and a number of other services, so perhaps we can take the stock broker’s opinions with a pinch of salt. With many people seeing Facebook’s own stock as toxic even before such deals, any news has the potential to be bad news to those risking their money to play the game – so perhaps we should give it time to see whether the deal will be a winner or a loser.
After a trademark dispute with broadcaster and British pay-TV Provider BSkyB – which owns the “Sky” trademark for TV services in the UK – Microsoft announced in January it would re-brand its cloud storage service, SkyDrive, to the new name OneDrive in order to erase confusion. However, despite this announcement, the name “SkyDrive” has remained top of most of the service’s access points – until now.
It appears Microsoft are finally acting on their claim; and starting today, all SkyDrive services are gradually being updated. So far, the website, mobile and desktop apps have all been updated to use the new OneDrive branding. Ironically, Windows 8 and 8.1 itself, as well as the recent Office Releases – which both incorporate the service for online file storage and retrieval – have yet to be updated and continue to refer to the service as “SkyDrive”, but we’re sure this will be corrected soon enough.
With the rebranding, Microsoft have apparently also seen fit to launch a new referral system to reward users for referring others to OneDrive, which echoes a similar system by another popular cloud storage platform, Dropbox. For each referral that subsequently joins OneDrive, Microsoft are offering a free 500MB increase to the referrer’s available storage, up to a maximum of 10 referrals. Another 3GB storage can be unlocked for free for accounts which utilise the OneDrive app on an iOS, Android or Windows Phone-powered smart phone. With the most recent update to the Android app, all three platform’s apps now offer an option to upload photos taken on the phone directly to OneDrive – and if you opt in, the extra 3GB storage will be added to your account.
The new trailer contains a few more bits of action (including one horrifying moment with an octopus) alongside some new gags from its affable co-leads.
Despite Nick Offerman’s opening gag about noone giving a damn about the Jump Street reboot, we’re rather looking forward to seeing the boys back in action for round two. That said, it’s still a pretty great line…
Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller and co-starring the returning Ice Cube, 22 Jump Street will open in the UK on 6 June 2014.
What do you think of the new trailer? Tell us, below
In the classic time-travel film Back To The Future II, Marty McFly wears a very distinctive pair of sneakers. In 2011, Nike introduced the Nike Air Mag sneakers as a limited edition product – and wowed the film's fans by revealing they were an exact replica of Marty's iconic shoes; and that the proceeds from each pair sold would go directly to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s Disease. But there was something missing.
Marty's shoes in Back To The Future II had a cool and unique technology called "Power Laces", which were self-tying laces that meant your shoes would effectively tie themselves the moment your feet settled into them. Many fans loudly decried their absence from the otherwise accurate homage of the Nike Air Mags – but surely such technology was pure fiction, right? According to Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, not any more!
Starting 2015, Nike intends to bring to market shoes with the iconic self-tying Power Laces as designed by Nike's own shoe designers. That timing couldn't be more perfect, as canonically the power-lace-equipped shoes of the classic film were actually said to be introduced in 2015, making a perfect example of art imitating life – one can't help but wonder if Nike have chosen to deliberately delay the launch to fit the events of the film. It's unclear whether the laces will appear on an updated version of the Nike Air Mag or on a new product entirely – which also means we don't yet know what the Power Laces will cost. So, what would YOU pay for shoes that tied themselves?
