[Devils Workshop] “Are Questions About the Future Pushing Twitter into Acquisition!” and 3 more...

Are Questions About the Future Pushing Twitter into Acquisition!
[Rumor] Will Microsoft want to buy Nokia or RIM!
Best Online Tool to Bring Color to Your Twitter profile
5 Websites to test your GRE, TOEFL & IELTS Preparation

Are Questions About the Future Pushing Twitter into Acquisition!

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 06:50 AM PST

Recently I read a tweet from Wall Street Journal that Twitter is looking for a buyer, with a valuation of about $ 8 billion. That is a lot of money, but then Twitter is a big deal. A lot is written about the utter dominance of Facebook in the social networking sphere, while saying this we over-look how Twitter has grown continuously and become a phenomenon.

Google might have tried to buy Twitter for $4 billion but that deal was probably turned down by Twitter. After seeing how Google between 2000 and 2005 turned down offers to sell their company and more recently how Facebook founders and investors held out to make a multi billion dollar company, it would not be surprising to see if Twitter might also want to hold out.

But can Twitter survive alone ?

The simple answer to this question is 'No'. Facebook is a social network whereas, Twitter because of it's open structure will never become truly social. It might become an interactive news source, but that is still a new concept and untested as far as profitably is concerned.

Twitter has started advertisements. This means trending topics are sponsored. This might a nice way to make money, but no really large company at the moment really has Twitter at the core of its advertising strategy.

There are some minor disincentives to advertisers on Twitter in this age of YouTube. The disadvantage of having a limit of only 140 chars to advertise their product.

So who are the potential buyers?

Google seems to be best positioned to buy Twitter. There are a couple of reasons for this. Google has announced that it wants a social layer across it's services. The perceived momentum it might be losing against Facebook might be checked with a product like Twitter up its arsenal.

Also Twitter is a free and open platform with 100s of millions of people sharing links. This must mean a big deal when it comes to Google's core service which is 'Search'.

The Problem of "What next?” for Twitter

For Twitter, the question is what will it come up with next? Allowing images and more than 140 characters or privacy will make it nothing but a confused social network. This is why, the only way forward for Twitter is a partnership with a company that has a massive presence on the internet.

What are your views on Twitter and its future? Do you think it can go it alone like Facebook has or will it need a buyer to leverage it into a profitable business? Do drop in your comments.

-- This Post Are Questions About the Future Pushing Twitter into Acquisition! is Published on Devils Workshop .

[Rumor] Will Microsoft want to buy Nokia or RIM!

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 02:30 AM PST

Are you shocked? OK, before you skip a heart-beat, it is better to clarify that this is NOT a confirmed news. It is just a rumor that is slowly building up and doing rounds in the international news.

Microsoft’s Dilema

MS [Rumor] Will Microsoft want to buy Nokia or RIM!

Since 10 years Microsoft has been developing and innovating "WindowsMobile" as its predominant mobile operating system for smartphones and other mobiles but it has not gained enough popularity and market to live upto its reputation and brand name.

As of 2010, it commanded only 5% in the worldwide market share (against 18% of Blackberry OS and 43.5% of Nokia-Symbian OS). Hence the fact remains that it has not been able to catch-up in the race of mobile operating system platform.

With Microsoft's latest OS "Windows Phone 7" launched just few weeks back, it has finally been able to impress many critics around the globe or at least that’s what Microsoft believes. If there is something that is missing for them in their goal to dominate the mobile market then it would be the "hardware" issue.

Microsoft might have to think about getting into the hardware foray (that is to manufacture/develop their own line of phones) to stay in the game and control the entire user experience because Blackberry develops its own phones, so does Nokia-Symbian and so does Apple.

Who could Microsoft buy out!

The best possible option that Microsoft has got : is to go for buy-out because starting from scratch would not only be tedious job but also would consume lot of their resources. Talking of buy-out there are two possible contenders :

Nokia-Symbian
Blackberry-RIM

I may have raised quite a few eyebrows by citing these two giants name because I know what you are thinking : whether Microsoft can afford to buy any of two companies ? No one can substantiate this answer but it is worth noting that as of quarter ending December 2010, Microsoft had a cash surplus and cash equivalent of $39.98 Billion, whereas RIM-Blackberry's Market Cap was $32 Billion and Nokia's Market Cap was around $42 Billion.

Advantages for Nokia and RIM

Though any open offer made by Microsoft to any of these companies would have to be at a considerable high premium but one cannot rule out the whole bold incident of "attempted Yahoo buy-out" by Microsoft @ $47.5 Billion.

Techcrunch's article few days back states that Nokia on the other hand was considering moving its office from Finland to Silicon Valley, US. Does that add to our speculation?

As far as RIM is concerned even though its popularity it is way behind the well-liked apple and android backed phones but together, RIM and Microsoft may stand a chance.

To end I would say that Windows Phone 7 has been receiving good response but by the time it reaches pinnacle, Apple and Google might come up with something new, fancy and innovative as always.

Hence in nut-shell Microsoft is few years behind them and buying-out is the only option to propel its way to the top. Let us wait and watch whether this rumor becomes reality or Microsoft has something new in its kitty !

-- This Post [Rumor] Will Microsoft want to buy Nokia or RIM! is Published on Devils Workshop .

Best Online Tool to Bring Color to Your Twitter profile

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 12:09 AM PST

There are many posts and web services out there, about how to design Twitter backgrounds. I am not really impressed with some of the ready-made designs. I for one think most of them are boring with little scope for customization. Colourlovers website has a nice online tool which really helped me bring a lot of color to my Twitter profile.

There are quite a few themes to select from. That is not all, once a theme is selected, we can go ahead and customize it.
We can customize palettes color by color or select some of the ready-made ones to go with the theme you have selected.
The best part was as we made changes a preview can be seen below the design area.

If you are someone who likes to have colorful Twitter profile backgrounds but do not want to waste too much time over it, Colourlovers Themeleon for Twitter seems to be perfect. Do give it a try and let me know your views through comments.

Link: Colourlovers Themeleon

-- This Post Best Online Tool to Bring Color to Your Twitter profile is Published on Devils Workshop .

5 Websites to test your GRE, TOEFL & IELTS Preparation

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 08:35 PM PST

To get a Degree from American or European Universities, you need to take relevant exams such as the GRE, TOEFL, IELTS etc. There is a lot of material available online which could help you to prepare for these competitive exams.

Here I'm going to write about 5 such websites, which would help you to prepare as well as send your applications, select Universities to apply to, guide you with the Visa interviews and also help you with the preparation for departure to the desired country!

#1. Edulix

Edulix is a large forum where you can find different sub-forums to directly get help from students who have already given the GRE or TOEFL or any other exam. You can ask them for resources, online dictionaries, wordlists or practice tests.

Edulix is a massive community of students, who share their experiences with you about their applications, admission status, Visa interviews etc. After you are done with the GRE and TOEFL, you can post your profile in the Profile Evaluation forum, with a list of your desired universities. The moderators then reply to your post, by telling you your chances at those universities.

Link: Edulix

#2. Uniguru

This website gives you information about all the American Universities. It gives detailed info about the courses, the tuition fees, contact info, Rankings of every University in the US. It has info about Universities in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and the UK as well.

One good feature that I liked about Uniguru is that you can read reviews of students who have been studying at a particular University.

Link: Uniguru

#3. Gre99

This is a comprehensive website that gives all information and study material and guidance for GRE/TOEFL.

It also gives secret tips and tricks that you could use while studying for the GRE. You will also find application and Visa interview guidance here.

Link: Gre99

#4. Number2

Number2 is an excellent free GRE preparation website. You have to register on the website to avail the tutorials available here.

The fact that it provides these tutorial completely free is what makes it worth a visit.

Link: Number2

#5. Happyschoolblog

HappySchoolBlog is more of a Question-Answer kind of a blog. You can ask your question in the comments section, which the author might answer later on.

You can also find a lot of GRE study material here. Apart from that, you can also find Visa interview experiences, financial information and Pre-departure information.

Link: Happyschoolblog

Do let me know if you find any other good resources for GRE preparation or admission and application counseling.

-- This Post 5 Websites to test your GRE, TOEFL & IELTS Preparation is Published on Devils Workshop .