Create a social network or risk everything. That was the original pitch for Google's Facebook rival, Google+, a refrain hammered over and over by the social network's chief architect, Vic Gundotra, in meetings with the company's top brass.
Google's effort to build a social network to rival Facebook began with a bold, company-wide yell. Now Google appears to be winding down Google+ with barely a whimper.
Google launched Plus without a clear plan to differentiate the service from Facebook. It bet on a charismatic leader with a flawed vision, ignored troubling indications about the social network's traction (or lack thereof) with users and continued throwing features at the wall long after many had written Google+ off for dead.
The slow demise of Google+ sheds light on how a large technology company tries and often fails to innovate when it feels threatened. The Google+ project did lead to inventive new services and created a more cohesive user identity that continues to benefit Google, but the social network itself never truly beat back existing rivals. Facebook is now larger than ever, with 1.4 billion users and a market capitalization more than half of Google's. It continues to poach Google employees. Facebook and Twitter are also slowly chipping away at Google's dominance in display ad revenue.
Thursday, 23 July 2015
Friday, 10 July 2015
Bloodhound SSC
A British team is developing a car that will be capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,610km/h). Powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine, the vehicle will mount an assault on the world land speed record. Bloodhound will be run on Hakskeen Pan in Northern Cape, South Africa, in 2016.
Wing Commander Andy Green, the current world land-speed record holder, is writing a diary for BBC News about his experiences working on the Bloodhound project and the team's efforts to inspire national interest in science and engineering.
Wednesday, 10 June 2015
Garage Services Daventry
Are you in search of quality car servicing in Daventry? When high standards are what you want, your only port of call should be Daventry Auto Services Ltd. Based in Daventry on the Royal Oak Industrial Estate, Daventry Auto Services have over 26 years experience in the car servicing trade, over which time, we have improved our skills and techniques to the extent we feel confident in offering you the very best in the local area.
All Daventry Auto Services work is guaranteed at all times. All of our repairs, servicing and MOT's are carried out promptly and punctually for your complete convenience by qualified technicians. We keep all our cars in-house and do not send any vehicle away for an MOT - so your vehicle is always with us!
Daventry Auto Services have an excellent reputation and stand by our motto of "Quality Without Compromise" with many of our regular customers more than happy to recommend us to their friends and family. Perhaps you would like to experience a better garage service too? You can read some Testimonials HERE.
A brand new responsive website has been developed by Nick Price Creatives, computer, tablet and mobile friendly, the new site will continue to maintain Daventry Auto Services Ltd as the premier garage in Daventry.
All Daventry Auto Services work is guaranteed at all times. All of our repairs, servicing and MOT's are carried out promptly and punctually for your complete convenience by qualified technicians. We keep all our cars in-house and do not send any vehicle away for an MOT - so your vehicle is always with us!
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| Daventry Auto Services |
A brand new responsive website has been developed by Nick Price Creatives, computer, tablet and mobile friendly, the new site will continue to maintain Daventry Auto Services Ltd as the premier garage in Daventry.
Wednesday, 20 May 2015
Kitchen Design Daventry
A Wealth of Experience
Based in Daventry, The Kitchen Design Studio have been designing, installing and fitting quality kitchens for over 30 years. The Kitchen Design Studio offer a no-hard-sell policy and their experience can offer you some fantastic designs set entirely within your budget.
The kitchen is the heart of your home; it's where your family and friends get together, a place for relaxing, for socialising - and for cooking! With this in mind, choosing a new kitchen is one of the most important investments you'll ever make, The Kitchen Design Studio will ensure you optimise this opportunity and space you have available, we'll suggest different finishes, time-saver appliances, quality materials and designs that will last the test of time.
Based in Daventry, The Kitchen Design Studio have been designing, installing and fitting quality kitchens for over 30 years. The Kitchen Design Studio offer a no-hard-sell policy and their experience can offer you some fantastic designs set entirely within your budget.
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| Rugby Kitchen Design |
The kitchen is the heart of your home; it's where your family and friends get together, a place for relaxing, for socialising - and for cooking! With this in mind, choosing a new kitchen is one of the most important investments you'll ever make, The Kitchen Design Studio will ensure you optimise this opportunity and space you have available, we'll suggest different finishes, time-saver appliances, quality materials and designs that will last the test of time.
Friday, 15 May 2015
King Digital, candy crush makers shares slide
Shares of the maker of popular mobile game Candy Crush fell as much as over 14% in after hours trading after it warned of weaker profits.
King Digital said it expects fluctuations in foreign currency and a lack of new releases to hold back its earnings in the current quarter.
The big drop in its shares came despite the release of first quarter sales figures that beat market expectations. The firm has been struggling to increase market share. King Digital's revenue fell 6.1% to $569.5m (£361m) in the first three months of the year from a year ago, but that was higher than analysts' forecasts of $563.4m. However, the London-based game maker said its gross bookings, which is what players spend before costs such as app store fees - for the April to June period would be between $490m and $520m - below expectations.
The big drop in its shares came despite the release of first quarter sales figures that beat market expectations. The firm has been struggling to increase market share. King Digital's revenue fell 6.1% to $569.5m (£361m) in the first three months of the year from a year ago, but that was higher than analysts' forecasts of $563.4m. However, the London-based game maker said its gross bookings, which is what players spend before costs such as app store fees - for the April to June period would be between $490m and $520m - below expectations.
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Drones banned in Toyko Parks
Tokyo has banned drones in municipal parks after one was discovered on the roof of the prime minister's residence, according to reports.
Japanese media outlets have reported that the devices are no longer allowed in any of the 81 public parks in Japan's capital city.
According to the reports, offenders could be fined £265.
The move comes after a drone carrying radioactive material landed on the roof of the prime ministerial residence. A man was arrested over the incident in late April after handing himself in, Tokyo police said. Yasuo Yamamoto, 40, was protesting over the Japanese government's nuclear energy policy. According to The Japan News, Tokyo's metropolitan government said the drones posed a danger to children.
The site reports that officials said they had no intention of imposing the penalty, but that they asked people to comply.
The move comes after a drone carrying radioactive material landed on the roof of the prime ministerial residence. A man was arrested over the incident in late April after handing himself in, Tokyo police said. Yasuo Yamamoto, 40, was protesting over the Japanese government's nuclear energy policy. According to The Japan News, Tokyo's metropolitan government said the drones posed a danger to children.
The site reports that officials said they had no intention of imposing the penalty, but that they asked people to comply.
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
Marketing Works!
Starting from Scratch
Initially there was nothing to go on to promote Whilton Locks Garden Village for the very important run up to Christmas - there were plans, but nothing that could have been used from previous years, no photography or anything. So we started from scratch. The new Ice Rink was going to be larger than the previous year - and real ice as opposed to the plastic sheeting, so we knew we could promote the whole event as 'Bigger, Better and Icy-er' than ever before.
One thing we did know early on was the presents Santa was due to give out from his grotto - they were a brilliant quality present and formed the main characters for the Christmas festivities throughout the site - we could have a monkey ice skating, a bear carrying a Christmas tree and a puppy with his Santa wish list! All these we hand drew the initial characters and coloured them up on system - from which we could use these cute characters for signage, posters, adverts and the website.
It's Easier Online
From the outset we all knew the marketing budget meant there couldn't be large adverts taken out here, there and everywhere and so any promotion had to be innovative enough to ensure potential customers could see what was on offer. We were proactive on Social Media, we sent out mailshots to the database of local existing customers (and encouraged new customers to signup to the database) and we made sure the website was optimised for Christmas, Santas Grotto and Ice Skating. The website itself also featured a secure online booking and payment system developed by Nick Price Creatives.
Our Marketing Works!
Other initiatives included prize draws, a daily online advent calendar promotion loads of other fun and games throughout the Christmas period, so much so thanks to many of these initiatives Whilton Locks Garden Village had their busiest ever day in terms of both footfall and revenue in the first week of December, then smashing that record the weekend before Christmas. Everyone involved was very pleased indeed!
Marketing Daventry
Initially there was nothing to go on to promote Whilton Locks Garden Village for the very important run up to Christmas - there were plans, but nothing that could have been used from previous years, no photography or anything. So we started from scratch. The new Ice Rink was going to be larger than the previous year - and real ice as opposed to the plastic sheeting, so we knew we could promote the whole event as 'Bigger, Better and Icy-er' than ever before.
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| Character Illustrations |
One thing we did know early on was the presents Santa was due to give out from his grotto - they were a brilliant quality present and formed the main characters for the Christmas festivities throughout the site - we could have a monkey ice skating, a bear carrying a Christmas tree and a puppy with his Santa wish list! All these we hand drew the initial characters and coloured them up on system - from which we could use these cute characters for signage, posters, adverts and the website.
It's Easier Online
From the outset we all knew the marketing budget meant there couldn't be large adverts taken out here, there and everywhere and so any promotion had to be innovative enough to ensure potential customers could see what was on offer. We were proactive on Social Media, we sent out mailshots to the database of local existing customers (and encouraged new customers to signup to the database) and we made sure the website was optimised for Christmas, Santas Grotto and Ice Skating. The website itself also featured a secure online booking and payment system developed by Nick Price Creatives.
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| A Selection of Marketing |
Our Marketing Works!
Other initiatives included prize draws, a daily online advent calendar promotion loads of other fun and games throughout the Christmas period, so much so thanks to many of these initiatives Whilton Locks Garden Village had their busiest ever day in terms of both footfall and revenue in the first week of December, then smashing that record the weekend before Christmas. Everyone involved was very pleased indeed!
Marketing Daventry
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