Meet Nestle’s Squadron of Internet Comment Warriors

Every company has to deal with people who talk about it on the Internet, and different ones handle it differently. Nestle for instance, maintains an elite team of Digital Accelerators that, as an article by Reuters reveals, watches the wide world of Internet comments like a hawk.

The Digital Acceleration Team, comprised of over two dozen people, is located in Nestle’s HQ in Switzerland where they man a control room outfitted with all manner of displays, keeping a close eye on the words of commenters across the globe, and deciding when to intervene.

From Reuters:

Pete Blackshaw, 47-year old head of digital marketing and global media, is in charge. On a recent weekday, the American and his staff of 30 to 40-year-olds were monitoring the online action on such topics as the latest cute dog photo on the Purina pet food website, or who was drinking Nescafe.

…”If there is a negative issue emerging, it turns red,” says Blackshaw, indicating a screen powered by software from Salesforce.com Inc., which is also used by such brands as Dell computers and delivery company UPS. It captures millions of posts each day on topics of interest to Nestle.

Nestle insists that it neither pays pro-Nestle bloggers nor buys fake fans and followers. Instead, it merely supports a group of professional browsers to comb over the most mundane references to the company day after day, week after week. Historically, Nestle has had some serious enemies, so the lengths to which they’re going might not be too far out, but it’s still wild to imagine the control room devoted to this monitoring, and knowing it actually exists.

You can read more about how this team works over at Reuters, and even see pictures of their super serious-looking office. Commenting about Nestle is serious business. [Reuters]

Image by PozitivStudija/Shutterstock

At last! The 7.9-inch iPad mini is unveiled, with specs, release date, prices and details

UPDATED: UK prices now in

Fresh from shocking everyone with the launch of the iPad 4, the iPad mini looks thinner and lighter than previously imagined.

Launched at the Apple Special Event in San Jose, USA, the iPad mini is “as light as a pad of paper”. It’s only 7.2mm thick and is less than half the weight of the also announced iPad 4.

While 7.9-inches, the display features the same pixel resolution as the original iPad and iPad 2 – 1024 x 768 – yet with a smaller screen so features a tighter PPI.

Inside it features a dual-core A5 chip, with FaceTime HD front-side camera. The rear iSight camera is 5-megapixel and there is, as expected, a Lightning connector at the bottom.

Apple claims that battery lasts up to 10 hours between charging. And there will be an LTE 4G version alongside Wi-Fi internet connectivity. It will also come in both black and white, and the bezel is much thinner than conventional tablets, including Apple’s own.

“It’s every inch an iPad,” said marketing chief Phil Schiller.

The iPad mini will cost $329 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model. The 32GB Wi-Fi edition will be $429, with the 64GB model at $529. The Wi-Fi plus cellular versions will be $459, $559 and $659 respectively.

It will be available for pre-order on 26 October, with shipping starting on 2 November for the Wi-Fi version.

UPDATE: UK prices are now in. The 16GB Wi-Fi model will cost 269. Then it’s 349 and 429 for the 32GB and 64GB versions respectively.

The “cellular” versions will be 369, 449 and 529 and will ship a couple of weeks after the Wi-Fi-only tablets.

LTE (4G) is currently listed as available through “select carriers”. We’re waiting to find out if that includes EE’s new UK network.

Apple moves up in analyst rankings to #5, passing Marathon Petroleum

“In a study of analyst recommendations at the major brokerages, for the underlying components of the S&P 500, Apple Inc. has taken over the #5 spot from Marathon Petroleum Corp, according to ETF Channel,” DividendChannel.com reports via Forbes.

“In forming the rank, the analyst opinions from the major brokerage houses were tallied, and averaged; then, the underlying components were ranked according to those averages,” DividendChannel reports. “Investors often interpret analyst opinions from different angles – a popular analyst pick could mean that many sharp minds individually came to the same bullish conclusion, and therefore the stock should do well… but it could also mean that if the company makes any slight stumble, that would come as a negative surprise and cause a downward impact on the stock.”

Read more in the full article here.

A Mixed-Bag Review for Microsoft Surface? Will it Survive Apple’s Push?

I believe that good manners would suggest that a person say something nice before they then give a criticism, so with that in mind: Microsoft sure put a lot of well-spent money into television advertising for their Surface tablet. The ads are fun and clever and actually kinda make me want to buy one… until I read the reviews coming from those who have already had their hands on one ahead of the October 26 launch date.

It isn’t even that the reviews are necessarily that bad, it is that they are filled with compromises. It’s heavy, but the weight is well-distributed. Microsoft doesn’t have Retina, but apparently the display is not ‘that much worse’ than an iPad (though the price is just as bad). Almost everybody loves the keyboard though apparently it is prone to typos (maybe just takes some getting used to, but still reduces the usefulness).

Of course, it also doesn’t help that the Surface is seeing the light of day the same week as a major Apple event. Not because the iPad Mini (or even the other products released) are such big competitors of the Microsoft tablet: but because the news is filled with options. People are once-again reminded that there is more to life than Windows.

Early sales figures will tell us a lot; is the world waiting on the edge of their seats for a strong, Windows-based tablet? Will the corporate world adopt it in great numbers even if the consumer market rejects it? Chances are good that the device will fail on its own merit: just like HP and WebOS, there is really no app store to speak of. Why buy into a tablet having an identity crisis –is it an underpowered laptop or overpowered web browser?

More than likely, the Surface will just confuse and disappoint those loyal to Windows who so desperately wanted this thing to be as good as the iPad.

[via electronista]

GeoGebra Brings Math Education to the iPad — an Approved Kickstarter Project

Though its name implies a fondness for the teachings of Euclid, GeoGebra is a more than just free program that teaches geometry. This comprehensive software also includes algebra, tables, graphing, statistics, and calculus, and is appropriate for a range of ages from elementary school to graduate school.

Although an HTML5 version of the program is available at present its developers want to bring GeoGebra’s dynamic approach to mathematics to the iPad as a standalone app. Thanks to their successful Kickstarter campaign, they will be able to create a mobile version of GeoGebra.

GeoGebra makes math more interesting to teach and more intuitive to learn.

The app will include:

• Graphics, algebra and tables are connected and fully dynamic
• Easy-to-use interface, yet many powerful features
• Authoring tool to create interactive learning materials as web pages
• Available in many languages for our millions of users around the world Free and open source software

Unlike many Kickstarter projects, GeoGebra doesn’t offer backers a chance to pre-order the app because when it is produced it be free to download, just like it’s currently free to use on GeoGebra.org. Pledge $50 for a shout-out on the GeoGebra website or $250 for a T-shirt and a website acknowledgement. Backers with a strong interest in how the final product turns out can pledge $500 to receive closed beta access to the app prototype. It may seem pricey, but GeoGebra users have spoken; at present this slot is almost sold out.

It’s exciting to see a project such as GeoGebra succeed on Kickstarter because it reinforces the Internet’s singular ability to bring like-minded people together more easily than at any other time in history. While GeoGebra might not have the widespread appeal of some of the iPad accessories that receive funding on Kickstarter, its proponents are devoted enough to raise enough funds to meet the project goal.

GeoGebra for iPad will be produced because it is already funded at 114%, but the funding period ends this Friday, October 19, 2012, so don’t procrastinate if you want a chance to check out the app’s closed beta.

REVIEW: unique multi-subtitle video player nPlayer receives bitmap subtitle support

In the last review, I loved the video player “nPlayer” because of its ability to render more than one textual subtitle tracks, both embedded and external, while playing videos.

Back then, I’ve emphasized the complete lack of bitmap subtitle support as a very big disadvantage. Fortunately, the developers listened and added support for these subtitles too – something very important, given that character recognition (the process of converting the original bitmap subtitles to textual ones) is either fast but inaccurate or slow and very tiring / tedious. The AppStore update notes emphasize a lot of bitmap subtitle types are now supported:

(as usual, click the image for a much better-readable one. nPlayer entry at the bottom.)

VobSubs

I’ve tested both direct DVD rips (MPEG-2 video with VobSub subs in an MKV container; see THIS) and, converted from this file, M4V files with (via HandBrake, pass-thru’ed) VobSub subtitles. Both worked OK (the video files are linked from the just-linked article; direct links: original MPEG-2 rip MKV; reencoded M4V).

What’s GREAT

You can render textual and bitmap subtitles on the same screen. Of the former, there can be many; of the latter, only one at a time. An example of playing back THIS video using software decoding (if you leave it at the default hardware one, only the textual subtitle tracks will be displayed. Disable HW decoding by switching off the topmost switch in the same dialog.):

The bitmap (with the yellow outline) is displayed above the three textual subtracks.

This is how I set up this configuration (English VobSub at the bottom + three-language textual subs at the top):

This setup is great when you don’t want to waste much time on OCR’ing your stuff and would like to see the OCR’ed text and the original at the same time. Whenever you realize something is messed up, you just read the bitmap original.

Unfortunately,

- as opposed to ProPlayer, you can only play back video files in software to be able to render bitmap subs, as opposed to how nPlayer supports textual ones. That is, you can just forget playing back full HD H.264 MP4 / M4V / MOV videos with VobSub subs.

- as has already been stated, you can only render one bitmap sub at a time – as opposed to textual ones. Nevertheless, you can do this alongside any number of textual subs. The latter can, as usual, be repositioned.

DVB subtitles

The update also supports DVB textual subtitles. An example (original test file; linked from THIS DVB TS-specific article):

As you can see, everything is just fine, even multiple colors are supported.

Native Blu-ray subtitles  

(See THIS for more info on Blu-ray subs, how they need to be converted to VobSub subs etc.)

I’ve also tested THIS test file to find out whether native, unconverted Blu-ray subs are supported. Unfortunately, they aren’t. The app certainly recognizes them as native BD subs as can be seen in the following shot:

Nevertheless, nPlayer doesn’t actually render these subs. (Not that there would be any point in it – after all, if your Blu-ray rips are 1080p, not even the A6 CPU of an iPhone 5 could decode it properly and stuttering-free, let alone earlier models, including even the A5X in the iPad 3. 720p content is another matter – the iPhone 5 can decode it just fine.)

Verdict

Subtitle-wise, probably the best player got even better. I only hope they do enable bitmap subtitle rendering during hardware playback, as is done in ProPlayer.

Notable New iPad Apps: The Magazine, from the Creator of Instapaper

A brief conversation I had with my daughter, Zoe, last night:

Zoe: Whatcha doing?

Me: Reading

Zoe: What are you reading?

Me: A magazine

Zoe: What’s it called?

Me: The Magazine

Zoe: The Magazine. Cool

Yes it is. The Magazine: For geeks like us, to use its full App Store title, is very cool indeed. It’s the latest creation from Marco Arment, the co-founder of Tumblr and the creator of the superb Instapaper app. And it’s a unique, refreshing approach to what an iPad magazine, or just a magazine in general, can be.

(…)
Read the rest of Notable New iPad Apps: The Magazine, from the Creator of Instapaper (503 words)

Apple’s choice aluminum for iPhone 5 said to slow down production output

“Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5 supply shortfall is being exacerbated by a quality-control crackdown at Foxconn Technology Group that’s designed to cut the number of devices shipped with nicks and scratches, according to a person familiar with the matter,” Tim Culpan, Alexandra Ho, and Adam Satariano report for Bloomberg.

“The scrapes, which sparked complaints with the iPhone’s debut last month, are due to Apple’s decision to use a type of aluminum that helps make the smartphone thinner and lighter,” Culpan, Ho, and Satariano report. “Senior Apple managers told executives at Foxconn near the end of September to tighten production standards, said the person, who asked not to be named because the matter was private.”

Culpan, Ho, and Satariano report, “Stricter benchmarks have hampered production of the iPhone 5′s anodized aluminum housings, forcing Foxconn’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (2317) to idle factories, the person said. The slowdown is heightening supply concerns that have cost Apple about $60 billion in market value since the iPhone debut — a shortcoming of the drive to imbue products with qualities that make them alluring yet more difficult to manufacture. ‘The iPhone 5 is not easy to put together because it’s a minimalist design,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach Inc. “Apple has a very high standard, where it aims to produce each model to be an exact replica where variance is measured in microns.’”

“While Apple sold a record 5 million iPhone 5s the first weekend the device was on sale, the tally would have been higher if not for supply constraints, the company said. Apple shares have declined 9.4 percent since a record close on Sept. 19, two days before the new iPhone went on sale. Apple fell less than 1 percent to $635.85 at the close in New York,” Culpan, Ho, and Satariano report. “‘It’s a trade-off because aluminum is strong and tougher to break, and it’s light and more economical, yet it is also easier to scratch,’ said Jacob Huang, a professor of materials engineering at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. ‘You could use magnesium, which is lighter, but even softer and easier to scratch, or glass which is heavier but harder yet more brittle.’”

MacDailyNews Take: Or you could use Liquidmetal, if you could ever figure out how to do so at an acceptable cost.

Culpan, Ho, and Satariano report, “While the stricter requirements and assembly disruptions affect output, Foxconn and Apple are well-experienced in dealing with such challenges, said Jeff Pu, a Taipei-based analyst at Fubon Financial Holding Co. ‘These stricter standards would lower the yield on good products being shipped out,’ Pu said. ‘They’ll handle it by increasing labor and machinery, and Apple may even use its cash to buy new equipment to assist Foxconn.’”

Read more in the full article here.

Related articles:
Foxconn Labor disputes said to disrupt iPhone production for 2nd time – October 9, 2012
Foxconn denies plant strike report; Apple shares down with many U.S. stocks – October 8, 2012
Foxconn: No strike at China iPhone plant; production remains on schedule – October 6, 2012

South Korea court grants Apple request to stay injunction against iPhone, iPad

“A Seoul court granted a request by Apple Inc. to delay a sales ban imposed on some iPhones and iPads after an August ruling that the U.S. company infringed on Samsung Electronics Co.’s patents,” Jun Yang reports for Bloomberg.

“The Seoul Central District Court last month accepted Apple’s request to stay the South Korea sales ban until after the company’s appeals of the Aug. 24 ruling conclude, Kim Mun Sung, a spokesman for the court, said by phone today,” Yang reports. “The court found in August that Apple and Samsung infringed on each other’s patents, and ordered the companies to stop selling some smartphones and tablet computers in South Korea and pay damages. Apple was ordered to stop selling the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad 1 and iPad 2.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Samsung’s check must’ve bounced.

Tonight, on the iMore show…!

The iMore show returns tonight to with all the iPhone 5, iPad mini, and iOS 6 talk that’s unfit to print. (Which is pretty much why we just say it out loud.) Got a question you want answered? Leave it in the comments below, send it to podcast@imore.com, or tweet it to us with #imoreshow. Got it? Good! Join us LIVE at 6pm PT, 9pm ET, 2am BST. Set an alarm. Bookmark this page. Be here.

Want to go full screen? Head to iMore.com/live. Want to watch via iPhone or iPad? Grab the Ustream app and search for “mobilenations”!