Author: Serkadis

Microsoft announced that it is rolling out an upgrade to Microsoft accounts, which includes the addition of optional two-step verification.

Basically this means Microsoft asks you for two pieces of info when you try to access your account: your password, and a code it sends to your phone or by email. Google has had this available for quite some time, and regularly urges users to take advantage of it, so their accounts don’t become compromised. It’s kind of annoying when you want to log in on a different device, but probably worth the minor inconvenience in the long run.

Microsoft account Group Program Manager Eric Doerr says, “More than a year ago, we began bringing two-step verification for certain critical activities, like editing credit cards and subscriptions at commerce.microsoft.com and xbox.com, or accessing files on another one of your computers through SkyDrive.com. For these scenarios, two-step verification is required 100 percent of the time for everyone, given the sensitive nature of these tasks.”

“With this release you can choose to protect your entire account with two-step verification, regardless of what service (or device) you are using with your Microsoft account,” he adds. “It’s your choice whether you want to enable this, but for those of you that are looking for ways to add additional security to your account, we’ve worked hard to make set-up really easy.”

Google’s Matt Cutts approves:

Really happy to hear Microsoft is rolling out two-factor authentication: goo.gl/GDdUm Great news for users.

— Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) April 17, 2013

For steps on setting up two-step verification with Microsoft, read Doerr’s blog post.

Google’s Glass project is one of the more intriguing products the company is currently working on — at least, among the few projects Google has revealed to the public. Google Glass is eyewear with a heads up display that connects to the wearer’s smartphone and displays information in the user’s line of sight. We all get the basic idea and we’ve seen some great demo videos, but how exactly does Google’s Glass accessory work? Graphic designer Martin Missfeldt recently put together a terrific infographic that explains the exiting accessory, and the full graphic follows below.

Continue reading…

Google regularly hosts authors for “At Google Talks”. Earlier this month, William Knoedelseder, author of “Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser Busch and America’s Kings of Beer” visited Google LA to talk about the book.

Google has now made the video public for all to enjoy.

More recent At Google Talks here.

It took six years for Amazon Web Services’ Simple Storage Service, or S3, to grow to storing 1 trillion objects in June 2012. In a blog post on Thursday, however — less than a year later — the company announced the service is now housing more than 2 trillion objects.

I’m not certain what this exponential growth means. It probably means a lot of people are using Amazon Web Services. It probably means they’re building a lot of next-generation applications storing a whole lot of photos and other things (I’m thinking of Pinterest, Instagram, Dropbox, you name it). It probably also means big data is for real in the cloud, as Amazon S3 is the default storage system for AWS’s Elastic MapReduce Hadoop service.

Whatever it means, though, 2 trillion is a lot of anything and probably means Jeff Bezos was right to spend so much time talking AWS in discussing the company’s annual report. At an estimated $2 billion or so in revenue and storing probably a not insignificant amount of data for so many fast-growing web services, AWS looks to be around for the long haul.

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We’ve heard plenty of rumblings regarding Apple’s fifth-generation iPad, which was expected to be unveiled in the coming months. Reports have varied, but now a source with a solid track record when it comes to unannounced Apple products has thrown his hat into the ring. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Thursday told clients that the upcoming “iPad 5” will not launch until this coming fall, contradicting earlier reports that pointed to an announcement as soon as this month. Ming-Chi also wrote that the new iPad will be 25% lighter and 15% thinner than the current full-size iPad, again supporting an earlier leak that pictured a completely redesigned iPad shell that adopts the iPad mini’s design identity.

Continue reading…

Here’s our review of some of this week’s noteworthy links for the data center industry:

Equinix and Brightroll partner. Equinix (EQIX) and video advertising platform company Brightroll announced they are bringing to market VideoRTB+, an ultra-low-latency video advertising real-time bidding (RTB) solution, which is only available inside Equinix data centers. Additionally, the two comapnies will work together to promote and build Equinix’s Ad-IX ecosystem, which connects ad exchanges with ad markets for efficient and timely delivery of digital advertising. The initial BrightRoll deployment is available in Equinix’s Silicon Valley and Ashburn data centers, with plans for international expansion across Platform Equinix. “The video advertising market is primed for dramatic growth in the coming years, and Equinix’s Ad-IX ecosystem helps key players in the real-time bidding industry locate their infrastructure in close proximity to achieve more effective bids on the right type of inventory. Together with BrightRoll, our goal is to optimize online ad transactions by centralizing this community in key data hubs around the world.”

Sprint selects Interxion in Spain.  Interxion (INXN) announced that Sprint, a global provider of wireless and wireline communications services, has extended its wireline network with Interxion to include a Point of Presence (PoP) in Interxion’s Madrid campus. Sprint is expanding the reach of its international Ethernet access services to provide its U.S.-based customers with close proximity and optimal connectivity to Interxion’s clients and partners in Spain. Sprint selected Interxion to access its unique community of carriers and ISPs, and create new business opportunities for multi-national customers looking to expand further into Europe and Spain. “Sprint continues to invest in its network capabilities within Europe,” said Michael Rolff, Director EMEA Network Services at Sprint. ”Through having a presence in Interxion’s Madrid data centre, Sprint remains focused on ensuring its customers continue to have direct access to facilities with the highest levels of connectivity, reliability and scalability they require, in supporting mission critical applications around the world.”

Latisys selected by CMAC.  Latisys announced a managed hosting services agreement with CMAC Transportation.With the Latisys managed hosting service CMAC will deliver its integrated Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution—a unique combination of CMAC’s compute platform and solution stack that makes the management and delivery of CMAC systems and services easier. Latisys’ Chicago Data Center serves as the central hub of Latisys’ national IaaS platform.  Latisys announced a 10,000 square foot expansion to the Oak Brook, Illinois facility late last year. “As a rapidly growing company we need a world class service provider willing to collaborate with us on a solution optimized for our business needs—not just for today, but also for tomorrow,” said Mike Christie, Partner, CMAC. “By hosting CMAC’s solution stack on Latisys’ enterprise platform we facilitate deployment of applications without the cost and complexity of buying, provisioning and managing underlying hardware and software.”

Phoenix NAP selected by Mammoth Networks. Phoenix NAP announced today that Mammoth Networks, a facilities-based aggregator of wholesale data services, has established a point-of-presence within Phoenix NAP. Mammoth Networks offers an Ethernet Aggregation platform to Phoenix NAP clients, Layer 2 network services, MPLS and a disaster recovery location out of Phoenix NAP to augment its coverage throughout Arizona. “As a company similar to Phoenix NAP that offers a full suite of services, we couldn’t be more excited to welcome Mammoth Networks to Phoenix NAP,” said Ian McClarty, president of Phoenix NAP. “The company’s product line along with its multi-location enterprise businesses combined with Phoenix NAP’s highly responsive and approachable philosophies pare perfect together and we look forward to continuing to grow and expand our relationship with them.”

In addition to its new Mail app for iPad and Android, Yahoo has unveiled a new Weather app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The app utilizes images from Flickr to show current local conditions.

Yahoo Director of Mobile and Emerging Products, Marco Wirasinghe, says, “Inside you’ll find stunning snapshots of weather around the world. With a tilt of your phone, get lost scrolling through photos reflecting the current weather in places that matter to you. We like to think of it as flipping through a stack of postcards from your travels. It’s easy to get the details. Tap the temperature for a quick view of the forecast or scroll down for precipitation, wind and pressure, a radar map, and more.”

“Our goal is to have amazing photos for every weather condition that cover the globe — morning, afternoon, and night — across every city in the world, and we want your help,” Wirasinghe adds. “Whether you’re simply a daydreamer or an avid photographer, submit photos of your favorite places to our Flickr Group and your image can be seen by tens of millions in Yahoo! Weather for iPhone.”

The app is available in 30 languages, and can be found in the App Store.

More on the Flickr blog.

I plan to attend and to take notes. Here’s the logistics and agenda…

Governor’s Task Force on Broadband

April 23, 2013

Room 107, University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center
2001 Plymouth Avenue North,
Minneapolis, MN 55411

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

• 10:00-10:15 Welcome/Introductions/Public Comments/Approve minutes from February 19, 2013 meeting
• 10:15-11:00 Comcast Internet Essentials: Martin Ludden
  • CenturyLink Internet Basics: Joanna Hjelmeland
  • C2C : Dick Sjoberg
  • Overview, take rates, lessons learned
• 11:00-11:30 Broadband Access Project—James DeSota
  • Overview and lessons learned
• 11:30-11:50 Hmong American Partnership
  • Broadband Adoption – Issues and Challenges
• 11:50-12:05 EMERGE—Mike Wynne, President and CEO
  • Overview
• 12:05-12:30 Lunch/Small group legislative discussion
• 12:30-1:00 Subgroups “Best Practices/Incentives” and “Broadband Adoption” meet
• 1:00-1:30 Subgroups “Mobile/Wireless” and “Coordination Across Govt./Monitor FCC & PUC Decisions/Cost of Broadband”
• 1:30-1:45 Legislative and upcoming events update
• 1:45-2:00 Next meeting location (metro) and topics/Wrap-up
• 2:00 Adjourn

Like most of you probably did this morning, I checked the weather on a smartphone. Unlike most of you, however, I got my weather from a Yahoo app. Yes, you read that right: Yahoo. The company surprised with two new mobile applications on Thursday: a new Weather app for iPhone and iPod touch devices, as well as a Yahoo email client for iPad and Android tablets.

Here’s the funny thing: these are really slick mobile apps. From Yahoo. (I know, right?)

If you had shown me the new Weather app, for example, I would have said that either Apple or a small design-focused start-up developed it. The background pictures are from around the world via Flickr’s Project Weather Group and beautiful to look at. They’re also representative of the current weather in their respective cities. Every icon provides data at a glance and it’s easy to navigate quickly for more detailed information.

I haven’t taken the new Yahoo Mail client for a spin yet but it looks like a nice visual update, meant to take advantage of the larger screens of tablets. Here’s how Yahoo describes it, along with a short video demo:

“With amazing displays, vibrant colors and lifelike images, tablets have changed the way we experience books, photos, movies and more. Yet email, something we do every day, has remained pretty much the same. We’ve been boxed in.

Today, we’re excited to introduce the Yahoo! Mail Apps for iPad and Android tablets – a full-screen experience that gets rid of the noise. There are no folders, no buttons, no tabs – just you and your mail – and you can easily flip through it like a magazine. We’ve designed Yahoo! Mail to take full advantage of the tablet making reading your email faster, easier and just a little bit more fun.”

I’m generally happy with the native email clients on my iPad mini and Android tablets, so even though I’ll kick the tires of Yahoo’s new mail app, it would have to really wow me. Regardless, both of these new applications look surprisingly fresh from a company that has been generally found itself lost in the growing forest of mobility.

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Yahoo has introduced a new Mail app for iPad and Android tablets. It comes with a new full-screen experience, which lets users flip through their email as if they were reading a magazine (or another tablet app).

“With amazing displays, vibrant colors and lifelike images, tablets have changed the way we experience books, photos, movies and more. Yet email, something we do every day, has remained pretty much the same,” says Lee Parry, Senior Director, Mobile & Emerging Products at Yahoo, in a post on the Yahoo Mail Blog. “We’ve been boxed in.”

“There are no folders, no buttons, no tabs – just you and your mail – and you can easily flip through it like a magazine,” he says of the new offering. “We’ve designed Yahoo! Mail to take full advantage of the tablet making reading your email faster, easier and just a little bit more fun.”

The app lets you delete or file messages in bulk, group them by sender, and delete/star/move them by swiping.

eBay released its Q1 earnings on Wednesday, with revenue increasing 14% to $3.7 billion year over year. Profit was $677 million.

What the company considered to be a strong quarter wasn’t enough to please investors, as the forecast wasn’t quite as positive.

eBay stock is down -2.90‎ (-5.17%‎) in morning trading.

Here’s the release in its entirety:

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Global commerce platform and payments leader eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) today reported that revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013, increased 14% to $3.7 billion, compared to the same period of 2012. The company reported first quarter net income on a GAAP basis of $677 million, or $0.51 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $829 million, or $0.63 per diluted share. The year-over-year increase in first quarter GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was driven primarily by strong top-line growth.

“We had a strong first quarter, with accelerating user growth across both Marketplaces and PayPal, and with GSI enabling their retail clients to grow faster than ecommerce”

Downloads of eBay Inc.’s suite of mobile apps expanded the company’s overall commerce footprint, surpassing 162 million since launch in the third quarter of 2008. eBay Inc. gained approximately 2.8 million new customers in the period through mobile, driving double-digit growth in active users at both PayPal and Marketplaces. Total company “enabled commerce volume” (ECV) grew 19% totaling $49 billion (ECV equals Marketplaces GMV, PayPal Merchant Services TPV, and GSI GeC Merchandise Sales not earned on eBay or paid for via PayPal or Bill Me Later).

“We had a strong first quarter, with accelerating user growth across both Marketplaces and PayPal, and with GSI enabling their retail clients to grow faster than ecommerce,” said John Donahoe, eBay Inc. President and CEO. “Technology is creating a commerce revolution, and we are in the forefront with strong mobile leadership and a focus on helping retailers and brands engage consumers anytime, anywhere.”

The company’s PayPal business delivered strong first quarter performance with revenue increasing 18% to $1.5 billion. PayPal gained 5 million active registered accounts in the period and ended the quarter with 128 million, a 16% increase. PayPal’s net total payment volume (TPV) grew 21% to $41 billion, driven by consumer and merchant use of PayPal both on and off eBay. PayPal continues to invest in growing its addressable market, product development, customer engagement and consumer awareness. The company’s mobile payment solution for small business, PayPal Here, became available for sale at more than 2,700 SoftBank locations across Japan and the iPad version of the product was launched in the U.S. PayPal also announced the chip and PIN version of PayPal Here in the U.K. which it plans to roll out this summer. PayPal’s offline initiatives are now live in almost 20,000 major retail locations in the U.S.

The company’s Marketplaces business also delivered strong first quarter performance with revenue increasing 13% to $2.0 billion. Marketplaces gained 3.9 million active users in the period and ended the quarter with 116 million, a 13% increase. Gross merchandise volume (GMV), excluding vehicles, increased 13% to $18 billion, reflecting the continued improvements to eBay’s core technology designed to make it easier and faster for consumers to shop and buy. Sold items increased 12%. Fixed price GMV grew 17% globally and represented 68% of total GMV. U.S. GMV, excluding vehicles, increased 16% as mobile engagement and momentum in fashion and tickets were key drivers of growth. International GMV, excluding vehicles, increased 11% to $11 billion. Marketplaces continues to invest in innovation and expanding its addressable market both locally and globally.

The company’s GSI Commerce business contributed $236 million in revenue for the first quarter. Its enterprise commerce platform generated $807 million in global ecommerce (GeC) Merchandise Sales, while its marketing services fee business produced $50 million of revenue. GSI enabled its clients to grow faster than the ecommerce market as measured by the 16% same stores sales growth, but revenue was pressured by a reduction in take rate. The company expects GSI’s integrated omnichannel product portfolio, including complementary eBay Inc. assets, to be increasingly adopted by merchants seeking opportunities to grow their businesses while seamlessly meeting the needs of their consumers.

First Quarter 2013 Financial Highlights (presented in millions, except per share data and percentages)
		First Quarter
		2013		2012		Change
eBay Inc.
Net revenue		$3,748		$3,277		$471			14	%
Enabled commerce volume (ECV)		$48,795		$41,152		$7,643			19	%
GAAP
Net income		$677		$570		$107			19	%
Earnings per diluted share		$0.51		$0.44		$0.07			16	%
Non-GAAP
Net income		$829		$725		$104			14	%
Earnings per diluted share		$0.63		$0.55		$0.08			14	%
		First Quarter
		2013		2012		Change
Business Units
Payments
Net revenue		$1,548		$1,309		$239			18	%
Net total payment volume		$41,040		$33,857		$7,183			21	%
Merchant Services		$28,087		$22,433		$5,654			25	%
On eBay		$12,953		$11,424		$1,529			13	%
Marketplaces
Net revenue		$1,957		$1,728		$229			13	%
Gross merchandise volume (GMV), excl. vehicles		$18,326		$16,206		$2,120			13	%
U.S. GMV		$7,364		$6,366		$998			16	%
International GMV		$10,962		$9,840		$1,122			11	%
GSI
Net revenue		$236		$237		$(1	)		—	%
GeC Merchandise Sales		$807		$715		$92			13	%

Other Selected Financial Results

• Operating margin — GAAP operating margin increased to 21.3% for the first quarter of 2013, compared to 19.9% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin increased to 27.4% in the first quarter, compared to 26.9% for the same period last year.
• Taxes — The GAAP effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2013 was 16%, compared to 17% for the first quarter of 2012. For the first quarter of 2013 and 2012, the non-GAAP effective tax rate was 20% for both periods.
• Cash flow — The company generated $937 million of operating cash flow and $638 million of free cash flow during the first quarter of 2013.
• Stock repurchase program — The company repurchased approximately $476 million of its common stock in the first quarter of 2013.
• Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments — The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $11.5 billion at both March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012.

Business Outlook

• Second quarter 2013 — eBay expects net revenues in the range of $3,800 – $3,900 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.46 – $0.48 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.61 – $0.63.
• Full year 2013 — eBay expects net revenues in the range of $16,000- $16,500 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.23 – $2.29 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.70 – $2.75.

Quarterly Conference Call

eBay will host a conference call to discuss first quarter 2013 results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today. A live webcast of the conference call, together with a slide presentation that includes supplemental financial information and reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, can be accessed through the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for 90 days through the same link.

About eBay Inc.

Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is a global commerce platform and payments leader connecting millions of buyers and sellers. We do so through eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive digital payments; and through GSI, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. X.commerce harnesses the developer community of Magento, an ecommerce platform, by providing technology solutions and eBay Inc. capabilities to merchants of all sizes, supporting eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

Presentation

All growth rates represent year over year comparisons, except as otherwise noted. All amounts in tables are presented in U.S. dollars, rounded to the nearest millions, except as otherwise noted. As a result, certain amounts may not sum or recalculate using the rounded dollar amounts provided.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes the following financial measures defined as “non-GAAP financial measures” by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate and free cash flow. These measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The presentation of this financial information, which is not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures, see “Business Outlook,” “Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income and Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate” and “Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow” included in this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the future performance of eBay and its consolidated subsidiaries that are based on the company’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expected financial results for the second quarter and full year 2013, and the future growth in the Payments, Marketplaces and GSI businesses, mobile payments and mobile commerce. The company’s actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in political, business and economic conditions, including any European or general economic downturn or crisis and any conditions that affect ecommerce growth; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s ability to profitably integrate, manage and grow businesses that have been acquired recently or may be acquired in the future; the company’s need to successfully react to the increasing importance of mobile payments and mobile commerce and the increasing social aspect of commerce; the company’s ability to deal with the increasingly competitive ecommerce environment, including competition for its sellers from other trading sites and other means of selling, and competition for its buyers from other merchants, online and offline; the company’s need to manage an increasingly large enterprise with a broad range of businesses of varying degrees of maturity and in many different geographies; the effect of management changes and business initiatives; the company’s need and ability to manage other regulatory, tax and litigation risks as its services are offered in more jurisdictions and applicable laws become more restrictive; any changes the company may make to its product offerings; the competitive, regulatory, credit card association-related and other risks specific to PayPal and Bill Me Later, especially as PayPal continues to expand geographically and introduce new products and as new laws and regulations related to financial services companies come into effect; the company’s ability to timely upgrade and develop its systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities, including GSI’s v.11 initiative, at reasonable cost; and the company’s ability to maintain site stability and performance on all of its sites while adding new products and features in a timely fashion. The forward-looking statements in this release do not include the potential impact of any acquisitions or divestitures that may be announced and/or completed after the date hereof.

More information about factors that could affect the company’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.

eBay Inc.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
		March 31, 2013				December 31, 2012
		(In millions)
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	6,530			$	6,817
Short-term investments		2,872				2,591
Accounts receivable, net		743				822
Loans and interest receivable, net		2,150				2,160
Funds receivable and customer accounts		8,897				8,094
Other current assets		1,144				914
Total current assets		22,336				21,398
Long-term investments		3,172				3,044
Property and equipment, net		2,575				2,491
Goodwill		8,455				8,537
Intangible assets, net		1,023				1,128
Other assets		439				476
Total assets		$	38,000			$	37,074
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Short-term debt		$	411			$	413
Accounts payable		308				301
Funds payable and amounts due to customers		8,897				8,094
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities		1,885				1,916
Deferred revenue		149				137
Income taxes payable		70				63
Total current liabilities		11,720				10,924
Deferred and other tax liabilities, net		832				972
Long-term debt		4,105				4,106
Other liabilities		231				207
Total liabilities		16,888				16,209
Total stockholders’ equity		21,112				20,865
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity		$	38,000			$	37,074

eBay Inc.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income
		Three Months Ended March 31,
		2013				2012
		(In millions, except per share amounts)
Net revenues		$	3,748			$	3,277
Cost of net revenues (1)		1,152				983
Gross profit		2,596				2,294
Operating expenses:
Sales and marketing (1)		697				677
Product development (1)		434				374
General and administrative (1)		408				372
Provision for transaction and loan losses		175				134
Amortization of acquired intangible assets		82				84
Total operating expenses		1,796				1,641
Income from operations		800				653
Interest and other, net		9				31
Income before income taxes		809				684
Provision for income taxes		(132		)		(114		)
Net income		$	677			$	570
Net income per share:
Basic		$	0.52			$	0.44
Diluted		$	0.51			$	0.44
Weighted average shares:
Basic		1,295				1,288
Diluted		1,319				1,308
(1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
Cost of net revenues		$	13			$	14
Sales and marketing		33				30
Product development		32				30
General and administrative		33				37
		$	111			$	111

eBay Inc.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
		Three Months Ended March 31,
		2013				2012
		(In millions)
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income		$	677			$	570
Adjustments:
Provision for transaction and loan losses		175				134
Depreciation and amortization		329				281
Stock-based compensation		111				111
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisition effects		(355		)		(565		)
Net cash provided by operating activities		937				531
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment		(299		)		(242		)
Changes in principal loans receivable, net		(29		)		(35		)
Purchases of investments		(1,426		)		(1,016		)
Maturities and sales of investments		1,048				408
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired		(8		)		(3		)
Other		(5		)		(5		)
Net cash used in investing activities		(719		)		(893		)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of common stock		102				85
Repurchases of common stock		(476		)		(240		)
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation		116				54
Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of restricted stock units and awards		(153		)		(118		)
Funds receivable and customer accounts		(803		)		(373		)
Funds payable and amounts due to customers		803				373
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities		(411		)		(219		)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents		(94		)		54
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents		(287		)		(527		)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		6,817				4,691
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		$	6,530			$	4,164

eBay Inc.
Unaudited Summary of Consolidated Net Revenues
Net Revenues by Type
		Three Months Ended
		March 31,				December 31,				September 30,				June 30,				March 31,
		2013				2012				2012				2012				2012
Net transaction revenues		(In millions, except percentages)
Marketplaces		$	1,608			$	1,672			$	1,490			$	1,491			$	1,425
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(4		)%		12		%		—		%		5		%		(1		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		13		%		16		%		10		%		10		%		11		%
Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international		55		%		56		%		55		%		57		%		55		%
Payments		1,435				1,432				1,264				1,234				1,216
Current quarter vs prior quarter		—		%		13		%		2		%		1		%		5		%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		18		%		24		%		22		%		25		%		29		%
Percent of Payments revenue from international		55		%		56		%		55		%		55		%		54		%
GSI		186				333				170				164				182
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(44		)%		97		%		3		%		(10		)%		(38		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		2		%		13		%		14		%		N/A				N/A
Percent of GSI revenue from international		5		%		3		%		3		%		4		%		4		%
Total net transaction revenues		3,229				3,437				2,925				2,889				2,823
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(6		)%		17		%		1		%		2		%		(2		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		14		%		19		%		15		%		23		%		27		%
Marketing services and other revenues
Marketplaces		349				378				316				323				303
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(8		)%		20		%		(2		)%		7		%		(8		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		15		%		15		%		5		%		3		%		13		%
Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international		75		%		72		%		75		%		74		%		75		%
Payments		113				109				102				123				93
Current quarter vs prior quarter		4		%		7		%		(17		)%		32		%		12		%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		22		%		32		%		37		%		50		%		87		%
Percent of Payments revenue from international		4		%		5		%		6		%		4		%		8		%
GSI		50				65				57				57				55
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(23		)%		14		%		—		%		3		%		(19		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		(9		)%		(6		)%		4		%		N/A				N/A
Percent of GSI revenue from international		—		%		—		%		—		%		—		%		—		%
Corporate and other		12				12				11				10				6
Total marketing services and other revenues		524				564				485				513				457
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(7		)%		16		%		(5		)%		12		%		(6		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		15		%		16		%		13		%		27		%		43		%
Elimination of inter-segment net revenue and other (1)		(5		)		(9		)		(6		)		$	(4	)		$	(3	)
Total net revenues		$	3,748			$	3,992			$	3,404			$	3,398			$	3,277
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(6		)%		17		%		—		%		4		%		(3		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		14		%		18		%		15		%		23		%		29		%

(1)

Represents revenue generated between our reportable segments.

Net Revenues by Geography (1)		Three Months Ended
		March 31,				December 31,				September 30,				June 30,				March 31,
		2013				2012				2012				2012				2012
		(In millions, except percentages)
U.S. net revenues		$	1,789			$	1,949			$	1,637			$	1,611			$	1,581
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(8		)%		19		%		2		%		2		%		(5		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		13		%		17		%		15		%		29		%		39		%
Percent of total		48		%		49		%		48		%		47		%		48		%
International net revenues		1,959				2,043				1,767				1,787				1,696
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(4		)%		16		%		(1		)%		5		%		(1		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		16		%		19		%		15		%		18		%		21		%
Percent of total		52		%		51		%		52		%		53		%		52		%
Total net revenues		$	3,748			$	3,992			$	3,404			$	3,398			$	3,277
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(6		)%		17		%		—		%		4		%		(3		)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		14		%		18		%		15		%		23		%		29		%

(1)

Revenues are attributed to U.S. and international geographies primarily based upon the country in which the seller, payment recipient, customer, website that displays advertising, or other service provider, as the case may be, is located.

eBay Inc.
Unaudited Payments Supplemental Operating Data
		Three Months Ended
		March 31,			December 31,			September 30,			June 30,			March 31,
		2013			2012			2012			2012			2012
		(In millions, except percentages)
Active registered accounts (1)		127.7			122.7			117.4			113.2			109.8
Current quarter vs prior quarter		4	%		5	%		4	%		3	%		3	%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		16	%		15	%		14	%		13	%		12	%
Net number of payments (2)		681.6			691.7			589.2			564.8			555.7
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(1	)%		17	%		4	%		2	%		1	%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		23	%		26	%		28	%		31	%		31	%
Net total payment volume (3)		$41,040			$41,471			$35,159			$34,451			$33,857
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(1	)%		18	%		2	%		2	%		1	%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		21	%		24	%		20	%		20	%		24	%
Merchant Services net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume		68	%		68	%		67	%		67	%		66	%
Transaction rates
Take rate		3.77	%		3.72	%		3.89	%		3.94	%		3.87	%
Transaction expense		1.05	%		1.03	%		1.07	%		1.07	%		1.07	%
Loss rate		0.29	%		0.28	%		0.30	%		0.26	%		0.26	%
Transaction margin (4)		64.4	%		64.7	%		64.8	%		66.3	%		65.6	%
Loan portfolio rates
Risk adjusted margin (5)		15.8	%		15.6	%		16.5	%		15.5	%		16.8	%
Net charge-off rate (6)		5.3	%		5.3	%		4.9	%		4.6	%		4.5	%
90-day delinquency rate (7)		2.7	%		2.7	%		2.9	%		2.5	%		2.4	%

(1)		All registered accounts that successfully sent or received at least one payment or payment reversal through the PayPal system or Bill Me Later accounts that are currently able to transact and that received a statement within the last 12 months.
(2)		Number of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our Payments networks, Bill Me Later accounts and Zong during the quarter, excluding PayPal’s payments gateway business.
(3)		Total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our Payments networks, Bill Me Later accounts and Zong during the quarter, excluding PayPal’s payment gateway business.
(4)		Transaction margin calculation has been adjusted to include total revenues (including revenue from credit) less transaction expense (including credit cost of funds) less transaction loss (including credit loan losses), divided by global take rate (based on global total revenues divided by total TPV).
(5)		The risk adjusted margin represents the annualized ratio of Bill Me Later revenue, excluding contra-revenue incentives to customers or merchants, less cost of funds, and less net credit and fraud losses relative to average loans receivable for the quarter.
(6)		Net charge-off rate represents the annualized ratio of Bill Me Later net credit losses relative to average loans receivable for the quarter.
(7)		90-day delinquency rate is the ratio of Bill Me Later end of period account balances that have missed three or more consecutive payments relative to total ending loan receivables.

eBay Inc.
Unaudited Marketplaces Supplemental Operating Data
		Three Months Ended
		March 31,			December 31,			September 30,			June 30,			March 31,
		2013			2012			2012			2012			2012
		(In millions, except percentages)
Active Users (1)		116.2			112.3			108.3			104.8			102.4
Current quarter vs prior quarter		3	%		4	%		3	%		2	%		2	%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		13	%		12	%		10	%		8	%		7	%
Gross Merchandise Volume (excluding vehicles) (2)		$18,326			$19,105			$16,281			$16,171			$16,206
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(4	)%		17	%		1	%		—	%		(2	)%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		13	%		16	%		11	%		10	%		12	%
Vehicles Gross Merchandise Volume (3)		$1,686			$1,727			$1,994			$2,021			$1,871
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(2	)%		(13	)%		(1	)%		8	%		—	%
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		(10	)%		(7	)%		(7	)%		(10	)%		(9	)%
Fixed Price Trading (4) as % of total gross merchandise volume		68	%		68	%		66	%		65	%		64	%

eBay’s classifieds websites, brands4friends and Shopping.com are not included in these metrics.
(1)		All users, excluding users of Half.com, StubHub, and our Korean subsidiary, who bid on, bought, listed or sold an item within the previous 12-month period. Users may register more than once, and as a result, may have more than one account.
(2)		Total value of all successfully closed items between users on Marketplaces trading platforms during the quarter, regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction, excluding vehicles gross merchandise volume.
(3)		Total value of all successfully closed vehicle transactions between users on Marketplaces trading platforms during the quarter, regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction.
(4)		Primarily, total gross merchandise volume related to eBay’s “Buy It Now” feature on Marketplaces trading platforms relative to total gross merchandise volume during the quarter.

eBay Inc.
Unaudited GSI Supplemental Operating Data
		Three Months Ended
		March 31,			December 31,			September 30,			June 30,			March 31,
		2013			2012			2012			2012			2012
		(In millions, except percentages)
GeC Merchandise Sales (1)		$807			$1,595			$698			$674			$715
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(49	%)		129	%		4	%		(6	%)		(48	%)
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		13	%		17	%		16	%		N/A			N/A

(1)		Represents the retail value of all sales transactions, inclusive of freight charges and net of allowance for returns and discounts, which flow through the GSI ecommerce services platform, whether we record the full amount of such transaction as a product sale or a percentage of such transaction as a service fee.

eBay Inc.
Unaudited eBay Inc. Supplemental Operating Data
		Three Months Ended
		March 31,			December 31,			September 30,			June 30,			March 31,
		2013			2012			2012			2012			2012
		(In millions, except percentages)
ECV		$48,795			$50,186			$42,593			$41,906			$41,152
Current quarter vs prior quarter		(3	%)		18	%		2	%		2	%		N/A
Current quarter vs prior year quarter		19	%		N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A

(1)		Represents the total commerce and payment volume across all three business units consisting of Marketplaces GMV, PayPal Merchant Services TPV and GSI GeC Merchandise Sales. PayPal Merchant Services TPV is the total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our Payments networks, Bill Me Later accounts and Zong during the period, excluding PayPal’s payment gateway business and payments for transactions on our Marketplaces and GSI platforms.

eBay Inc.
Business Outlook
(In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)

The guidance figures provided below and elsewhere in this press release are forward-looking statements, reflect a number of estimates, assumptions and other uncertainties, and are approximate in nature because eBay’s future performance is difficult to predict. Such guidance is based on information available on the date of this press release, and eBay assumes no obligation to update it.

eBay’s future performance involves risks and uncertainties, and the company’s actual results could differ materially from the information below and elsewhere in this press release. Some of the factors that could affect the company’s operating results are set forth under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements” above in this press release. More information about factors that could affect eBay’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s investor relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Three Months Ending

June 30, 2013

(In millions, except per share amounts)

GAAP

Non-GAAP (a)

Net Revenue

$3,800 – $3,900

$3,800 – $3,900

Diluted EPS

$0.46 – $0.48

$0.61 – $0.63

Twelve Months Ending

December 31, 2013

(In millions, except per share amounts)

GAAP

Non-GAAP (b)

Net Revenue

$16,000- $16,500

$16,000- $16,500

Diluted EPS

$2.23 – $2.29

$2.70 – $2.75

(a)		Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the three months ending June 30, 2013, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $95-$105 million, estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $145-$155 million, and the accretion of a note receivable of approximately $5 million as well as the related tax impact.
(b)		Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the 12 months ending December 31, 2013, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $380-$400 million, estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $560-$600 million, and the accretion of a note receivable of approximately $20 million as well as the related tax impact.

eBay Inc.
Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance

To supplement the company’s condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, eBay uses non-GAAP measures of certain components of financial performance. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate, and free cash flow.

These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with eBay’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. These measures should only be used to evaluate eBay’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures.

Reconciliation to the nearest GAAP measure of all non-GAAP measures included in this press release can be found in the tables included in this press release.

These non-GAAP measures are provided to enhance investors’ overall understanding of the company’s current financial performance and the company’s prospects for the future. Specifically, the company believes the non-GAAP measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses, gains and losses or net purchases of property and equipment, as the case may be, that may not be indicative of its core operating results and business outlook. In addition, because eBay has historically reported certain non-GAAP results to investors, the company believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP measures provides consistency in the company’s financial reporting.

For its internal budgeting process, and as discussed further below, eBay’s management uses financial measures that do not include stock-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation, amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, significant gains or losses from the disposal/acquisition of a business, restructuring-related charges and the income taxes associated with the foregoing. In addition to the corresponding GAAP measures, eBay’s management also uses the foregoing non-GAAP measures in reviewing the financial results of eBay.

eBay excludes the following items from non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP effective tax rate:

Stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes. This expense consists of expenses for stock options, restricted stock and employee stock purchases. eBay excludes stock-based compensation expense from its non-GAAP measures primarily because they are non-cash expenses that management does not believe are reflective of ongoing operating results. eBay also previously excluded its proportionate share of Skype’s stock-based compensation expense. The related employer payroll taxes is dependent on eBay’s stock price and the timing and size of exercises by employees of their stock options and the vesting of their restricted stock, over which management has limited to no control, and as such management does not believe it correlates to eBay’s operation of the business.

Amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill and significant gains or losses and transaction expenses from the acquisition or disposal of a business. eBay incurs amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets and goodwill in connection with acquisitions and may incur significant gains or losses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and therefore excludes these amounts from its non-GAAP measures. eBay also previously excluded its proportionate share of Skype’s amortization of acquired intangibles expense. eBay also settled a legal exposure in conjunction with the acquisition of a business and excludes this settlement payment. In addition, eBay’s results are also impacted by hedge transactions related to unique movements of cash from significant business acquisitions or dispositions. eBay excludes the impact of the accretion of a note receivable associated with the disposal of certain businesses. eBay excludes these items because management does not believe they correlate to the ongoing operating results of eBay’s business.

Restructuring. These charges consist of expenses for employee severance and other exit and disposal costs. eBay excludes significant restructuring charges primarily because management does not believe they are reflective of ongoing operating results.

Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments. This amount is used to present stock-based compensation and the other amounts described above on an after-tax basis consistent with the presentation of non-GAAP net income.

In addition to the non-GAAP measures discussed above, eBay also uses free cash flow. Free cash flow represents operating cash flows less purchases of property and equipment. eBay considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business after the purchases of property, buildings, and equipment, which can then be used to, among other things, invest in eBay’s business, make strategic acquisitions, and repurchase stock. A limitation of the utility of free cash flow as a measure of financial performance is that it does not represent the total increase or decrease in the company’s cash balance for the period.

eBay Inc.
Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin
		Three Months Ended
		March 31,				March 31,
		2013				2012
		(In millions, except percentages)
GAAP operating income		$	800			$	653
Stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes		129				125
Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues		18				21
Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses		82				84
Restructuring		(4		)		—
Total non-GAAP operating income adjustments		225				230
Non-GAAP operating income		$	1,025			$	883
Non-GAAP operating margin		27.4		%		26.9		%

Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income and
GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate
		Three Months Ended
		March 31,				March 31,
		2013				2012
		(In millions, except per share amounts)
GAAP income before income taxes		$	809			$	684
GAAP provision for income taxes		(132		)		(114		)
GAAP net income		$	677			$	570
Non-GAAP adjustments to net income:
Non-GAAP operating income adjustments (see table above)		225				230
Accretion of note receivable		(5		)		(9		)
Amortization of intangibles of investments		2				—
(Gain) Loss on divested business		—				3
Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments		(70		)		(69		)
Non-GAAP net income		$	829			$	725
Diluted net income per share:
GAAP		$	0.51			$	0.44
Non-GAAP		$	0.63			$	0.55
Shares used in GAAP and non-GAAP diluted net income per-share calculation		1,319				1,308
GAAP effective tax rate		16		%		17		%
Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments to net income		4		%		3		%
Non-GAAP effective tax rate		20		%		20		%

Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow
		Three Months Ended
		March 31,				March 31,
		2013				2012
		(In millions)
Net cash provided by operating activities		$	937			$	531
Less: Purchases of property and equipment		(299		)		(242		)
Free cash flow		$	638			$	289

I don’t know how long I will be playing Lords of Football for, but the title from developer Geniaware Srl and publisher Fish Eagle is certainly an interesting entry in the football simulation genre, which also includes the likes of Football Manager and FIFA.

Lords of Football is similar to neither of them and can be quickly… (read more)

Intel wants to help equip service providers and telcos for the new world of software defined networking (SDN). Intel this week rolled out reference architectures to accelerate hardware and software development for SDN and network function virtualization (NFV).

Targeted at telecommunication providers, cloud data center and enterprise data center infrastructure market segments, the Intel reference architectures combine SDN and NFV with Intel hardware and software to improve the flexibility and economics of networks.

“SDN and NFV are critical elements of Intel’s vision to transform the expensive, complex networks of today to a virtualized, programmable, standards-based architecture running commercial off-the-shelf hardware,” said Rose Schooler, vice president of Intel Architecture Group and general manager of Intel’s Communications and Storage Infrastructure Group. “The reference designs announced today enable a new phase in the evolution of the network and represent Intel’s commitment to driving an open environment that fosters business agility and smart economics.”

Designing Programmable, Externally-Managed Networks

Addressing what Intel sees as two market trends that have significant movement, SDN and NFV are complementary networking technologies that are poised to transform how networks are designed and managed across data center and telecom infrastructure environments. By separating the control and data planes, SDN allows the network to be programmed and managed externally at much larger and more dynamic scale for better traffic control across the entire data center.

NFV allows service providers to virtualize and manage networking functions such as firewalls, VPN or intrusion detection service as virtual applications running on a high-volume x86-based server. Intel said it has no intention of making network hardware itself, but has many ISVs, OEMs and service providers lined up to develop solutions, including Big Switch Networks, Chunghwa Telecom, HP, NEC, NTT Data, Quanta, Super Micro and VMware.

“We share Intel’s vision of enabling the network transformation with SDN and NFV across the telecom industry,” said Atsuo Kawamura, General Manager Telecom Carrier Business Unit, 1st Carrier Services Division, NEC Corporation. “We are excited to work with Intel to design with the Intel DPDK Accelerated Open vSwitch into our virtual Evolved Packet Core to deliver industry leading packet throughput and performance on Intel architecture.”

Intel Technology Meets Software Stack

The Intel Open Network Platform (ONP) switch reference design builds on the codenamed Seacliff Trail project, and combines Intel processors, Intel Ethernet Switch 6700 series and Intel Communications chipset 89xx series. The ONP Switch Reference Design will include Wind River Open Network Software (ONS), an open and fully customizable network switching software stack using Wind River Linux. Common, open programming interfaces allow for automated network management, and coordination between the server switching elements and network switches enable more cost-effective and extensible services, Intel said.

The Open Network Platform Server reference design is based on the codenamed Sunrise Trail project, and includes Xeon processors, Intel 82599 Ethernet Controller, and Intel Communications chipset 89xx series. The ONP Server Reference Design enables virtual appliance workloads on standard Intel architecture servers using SDN and NFV open standards for datacenter and telecom. Wind River Open Network Software includes an Intel DPDK Accelerated Open vSwitch, fast packet acceleration and deep packet inspection capabilities, as well as support for open SDN standards such as OpenFlow, Open vSwitch and OpenStack.

“By decoupling the network from underlying hardware and enabling a new network architecture based on industry-standard x86 technology, network virtualization can transform the operational model of networking to help customers dramatically lower operational and capital expenses,” said Allwyn Sequeira, vice president, Networking and Security for VMware. “VMware and Intel have built a strong relationship driving server virtualization on x86 platforms, and we are pleased to be working together to continue this transformation through network virtualization to enable the software-defined data center.”

Intel is executing a project aimed at improving small packet throughput and workload performance that can be achieved on the Open vSwitch using the Intel DPDK.  Intel is specifically re-creating the kernel forwarding module (data plane) to take advantage of the Intel® DPDK library. The Intel® DPDK Accelerated Open vSwitch is planned to initially be released with the Intel® ONP Server Reference Design in the third quarter of this year.

If you are unable to comment on BetaNews stories, our apologies, comment service Disqus suffers service problems this morning. A reader alerted me about 30 minutes ago. When I couldn’t comment on any story, I had headed over to Disqus only to get an “unavailable” message.

“Disqus has been intermittently unavailable for the past few minutes, and we are working on a solution. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate your patience”, according to the Status site, which I got to from a Tweet. BetaNews is one of many sites that relies on the service for comments.

Coming sideways to the main site, I see this message:

Hello! Disqus is currently in maintenance mode. You can still navigate the website and access your content, however many actions such as moderation and settings are temporarily disabled. This shouldn’t take too long, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience. In the meantime, there will be some quirkiness as we make some improvements.

We’ll keep you updated.

Disqus back after 29-minute outage: “Disqus is now running normally again. We again apologize for the hassle and are monitoring the situation closely to ensure there are no further issues”.

No reason is given for the outage.

Photo Credit: Ollyy/Shutterstock

With Backing From Avista, Expands in Richardson, Minneapolis

DALLAS – Housed deep below six floors of humming servers, the two-foot thick vault doors speak to an earlier era for the DataBank building, when it served as the main Federal Reserve Bank office in Dallas. The huge vault doors secured the entrance to the counting room – the place where enormous volumes of cash and coins were catalogued en route to storage in lower basements. Legend has it that the vault was used briefly as a holding area for Lee Harvey Oswald following the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy, which occurred several blocks from the building.

The Federal Reserve moved out in the 1990s, but the counting room lives on as a symbol of the building’s new mission – serving as a digital fortress for high-value assets, but now housing data centers filled with servers and storage gear.

For the DataBank team, the building at 400 South Akard supports a business narrative for the 21st century, with a reputation for security and reliability built atop rock-solid infrastructure.

After eight years in which it has nearly filled 130,000 square feet of data center space in the original DataBank building, the company is extending its model – first in the Dallas metroplex, and then in other cities around the US.

Investment by Avista, Sale to Digital Realty

This year the DataBank team has taken two steps to realize that vision, opening a new data center in Richardson, Texas and acquiring VeriSpace, a data center provider in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The expansion has been supported by a transaction last year in which private equity firm  Avista Capital acquired a majority interest in DataBank, which also sold the 400 South Akard Street property to Digital Realty Trust in a sale-leaseback transaction. Databank also leased a powered shell building from Digital Realty at its Digital Dallas campus in Richardson.

While Databank is looking to its future, the company’s outlook is defined by the South Akard building and its characteristics. The structure was built between 1915 and 1920, and the Federal Reserve Bank opened its doors in 1921, operating at 400 South Akard for more than 70 years before the moving into a new home in the 1990s. The building was acquired by an investment group, and then sold to telco 360networks, which converted an entire floor to data center use before filing for bankruptcy.

In 2005, the new DataBank team acquired the building, having sold their previous company, LayerOne, to Switch and Data. The building’s sturdy infrastructure, including generous floor loads and ceiling heights, provided an unusual opportunity to build the new economy in the footprint of the old.

“This building has the bones of a data center,” said Tim Moore, the CEO of DataBank.

Zonoff, a Malvern, Pa. company building software for the connected home, has raised $3.8 million in venture capital funding led by Valhalla Partners and Grotech Ventures. The Series A round will allow Zonoff to build its technical team and support existing customers — which it can’t yet disclose.

Zonoff was founded in 2011, when it spun out of a company called BuLogics. The core technology platform Zonoff offers has been in development for roughly 10 years, and it has 18 employees. Yet, in talking with Zonoff CEO Mike Harris, I found myself wondering where the connected home and the internet of things overlap and where they diverge.

Harris explained that the company wants to offer software to retail customers and big consumer brands that will help those companies offer a simple connected device experience for consumers. So, an automated climate control system might come with a Zonoff software supporting the app that controls a variety of devices that will make up the climate control system. He was less clear about building a true internet of things offering with the concept of a service built around open and easily shared data.

Harris, who helped found Anysource, a company that let people access web content on their TVs and was later sold to DivX, explained that consumers will likely go to a trusted brand for a connected home solution as opposed to buying a hub and doing it themselves. This runs counter to the go-to-market strategy that companies like SmartThings and Mobiplug seem to be pursuing.

Yet there are similarities. Mobiplug, for example, wants to let consumers add their existing devices to its app and control them from one place. It has a hub, but that’s not central to the consumer experience, that’s just needed to get everything connected. And SmartThings is also trying to build a platform where existing connected devices are represented online and can be controlled from an app or site. The difference is a consumer initiates and controls the experience.

So far Zonoff’s only named customer is a company called Somfy, which makes a home automation system called TaHoMa. That system uses Z-Wave and requires a customer to buy Somfy parts and controller programmed by a Somfy technicians. That’s a more expensive proposition.

I’m not sure if that will be indicative of all of Zonoff’s deployments, and certainly some consumers want someone else to take care of this for them, but it’s still seems closer to high-end home automation than the open services I’m hoping come with the internet of things.

This story was updated at 7:15 AM to correct the CEO’s name and the company’s employees. His name is Mike Harris, not Matt Harris. The company has 18 employees.

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Google announced that it is shutting down the Google Affiliate Network. The news came in an email to users, as well as in a post on the Affiliate Network blog.

“Our goal with Google Affiliate Network has been to help advertisers and publishers improve their performance across the affiliate ecosystem,” writes Google Affiliate Network head J.J. Hirschle. “Cost-per-action (CPA) marketing has rapidly evolved in the last few years, and we’ve invested significantly in CPA tools like Product Listing Ads, remarketing and Conversion Optimizer. We’re constantly evaluating our products to ensure that we’re focused on the services that will have the biggest impact for our advertisers and publishers.”

“To that end, we’ve made the difficult decision to retire Google Affiliate Network and focus on other products that are driving great results for clients,” Hirschle added.

Google says it will continue to support customers as the product winds down over the next few months.

“And there are other products that can help you achieve your goals,” says Hirschle. “Affiliate publishers can continue to earn AdSense revenue through the AdSense network. And marketers can take advantage of other CPA-oriented Google tools like Product Listing Ads, remarketing and Conversion Optimizer to drive valuable online sales and conversions. These areas are growing rapidly and we’re continuing to invest heavily in them.”

Google will disable publisher relationships from advertiser programs on July 31, according to the email. Publisher payments will be disbursed for network activity generated through that date, and Google will continue to make “certain functionality” available through the end of October. This includes retrieving reports, reconciling orders, and processing payments.

Google has killed its affiliate network in the past, before opening the current one.

Apple’s artist-driven music network “Ping” was basically dead on arrival, but Twitter thinks it has what it takes to make a successful social music service. The company on Thursday unveiled Twitter Music, the worst-kept secret in social networking. The service helps users discover music based on what their friends are listening to, along with recommendations from popular artists. “It uses Twitter activity, including Tweets and engagement, to detect and surface the most popular tracks and emerging artists,” Twitter said in a blog post. “It also brings artists’ music-related Twitter activity front and center: go to their profiles to see which music artists they follow and listen to songs by those artists. And, of course, you can tweet songs right from the app.” Twitter Music will be available on the web and on Apple’s iPhone at launch, but Twitter plans to expand it to other platforms moving forward.

Verizon Communications posted its first-quarter earnings results on Thursday, showing solid income and revenue growth. The nation’s No.1 carrier reported EPS growth of 15.3% in the first quarter as Verizon earned $0.68 per share, or $1.95 billion, compared to $0.59 in the same quarter last year. Sales also climbed 4% to $29.4 billion, narrowly missing the Street’s $29.54 billion consensus. Smartphones accounted for 61% of Verizon’s postpaid customer base which grew by a net 677,000 subscribers in the first quarter. The carrier also said it activated 4 million iPhones during Q1 2013, beating Wall Street’s 3.5 million-unit consensus. Verizon shares climbed 1.94% during Thursday’s pre-market session. The carrier’s full press release follows below.

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