eBay To Announce Something Big With Facebook In Two Weeks

At 500 Startups’ Smash Summit in New York today, Robert Scoblerevealed that PayPal is launching something big with Facebook in two weeks, and that it would be a more expansive partnership than the existing PayPal-Facebook integrations. This announcement is coming at eBay and PayPal’s X.commerce Innovate conference in two weeks, we’ve confirmed with the payments giant, and Katie Burke Mitic, who leads Platform Marketing for Facebook will be making an announcement. We hear the announcement will be relate of PayPal parent company eBay Inc.’s new developer platform X.commerce.

Last year, PayPal announced its new micropayments product, which Facebook integrated. In early 2010, Facebook announced that you could use PayPal to purchase Credits.

So what could the new deal or integration be? A likely possibility is a Facebook partnership on thenew X.Commerce platform, which is a division of eBay, Inc. and is expected to bring together elements from eBay, PayPal, Magento and GSI Commerce. According to PayPal, X.commerce will feature a “fabric” that stitches the platform together to create new experiences for retailers and their customers. A number of partners will be announced (already Adobe and Kenshoo have been revealed as partners), so Facebook could be part of this group.

eBay and PayPal wouldn’t reveal exact details of the integration but did give us this comment from Naveed Anwar, head of X.commerce Community: “We’ve been talking for a while about how the four megatrends of mobile, social, local and digital will change commerce. Yesterday at f8, Facebook made some great announcements that will change social networking. When social and commerce join together great things will be possible and developers will be able to monetize these new developments very quickly.”

PayPal could also announce a deal similar to the one American Express formed with Facebook,which links your credit card account with Facebook to offer users special exclusive deals. If you buy the deal item with your AmEx card, you will be credited the deal amount. The deals you see are influenced by what you and your friends “like” on the Web using the Facebook like button. PayPalalready offers deals but a deeper integration with the social network would help close the redemption loop.

With more retailers flocking to Facebook, and as more money is passing through the network via games, apps and others experiences, there is a huge potential for many integrations with online payments giant PayPal. Another announcement we can expect PayPal to make soon—a new payments platform for merchants and in-store payments integrations with retailers.

TechCrunch readers can receive $200 off the registration price for X.commerce Innovate Developers Conference 2011 if they register by Friday, September 30, 2011. You can register here using the code INN2011TC.

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TechCrunch 2030

With Sequoia’s Doug Leone talking up Color Labs’ next pivot at TechCrunch Disrupt, and in-the-wild signs of a Color Labs Facebook app called Blue already beginning to appear, it seems like many are rapt in anticipation of what the future holds for the storied photo-sharing app.

Well, according to one Harvard student tipster, the company has been gearing up for a product launch at f8 by exclusively targeting Harvard students, with Color Product Manager Andre Charoo sending out the following email draft to a number of computer science-related student groups at the elite university — meant for distribution when the new app goes live on Thursday.

Subject: New Harvard exclusive app launched w/ Zuckerberg

In case Harvard isn’t exclusive enough for us, a new app launched with Facebook today is available exclusively for only Harvard students to download until Friday at midnight.

The app lets Facebook friends see what you see live through your phone.

Follow this link from your phone’s browser (for iPhone and Android) — [INSERT LINK].

It’s unclear from the email whether whatever that [INSERT LINK] link point to will be a new version of Color’s current app or a new app entirely built by Color Labs (judging by what we’ve being seeing regarding Blue, I would guess the latter). It is also unclear how exactly the app will limit its usership to Harvard students until Friday.

A description of the app also making the rounds on Harvard email lists is equally vague:

“As a brief description of the new app — Color lets friends see what you see live through your phone. The Color app lets you post to Facebook, and allow friends to virtually visit you on Facebook or with the app on their phone (available on iPhone and Android). When friends request a visit, you can host them through a live broadcast from your phone. “

I, for one, am finding it hard to conceive of what a “virtual visit” just might be, but if our tipster is correct, it would seem like Color is taking its cues from Mark Zuckerberg’s original Facebook launch strategy — trying to revive its flagging product by using Harvard as a marketing Petri dish.

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Leak, Revamp, Repeat: How The HTC Rhyme Almost Went Unisex

A while back, rumors surfaced about a new Android smartphone built by HTC. Rumors and leaks happen with just about every phone, but for this particular Android handset, we were hearing quite a lot about it.

Eventually specs trickled out, but before that all we knew was that it was a phone targeted to women: The HTC Bliss (now known as theRhyme).

Leak:

We heard it would launch in a “calming” sea foam green, and come with an LED-powered dangling charm to let ladies know if the phone in their purse was getting calls. We even heard thatwomen-centric dieting and shopping apps would come along for the ride.

This was unsettling.

Joanna Stern of TIMN felt the same way I did, writing:

To be honest, we’ve had a really hard time believing some of this information — not because there’s anything here that’s technically impossible or because we didn’t trust our source, but because we simply can’t imagine a company creating a phone specifically for American women in this day and age (it reminds us of the Petticoat 5 spoof).

Even our own Sarah Perez tagged her own thoughts to the end of her leak post:

What bothers me about the idea of a “girl’s” Android phone is that somehow my gender has different needs and expectations than their male counterparts do when it comes to smartphones. Colored devices and cell phone charms are not necessarily “womanly” things – they may appeal to a younger demographic, or to those who concern themselves with appearances, perhaps. But that doesn’t mean only women.

I second, +1, and “Like” all that was said. And what’s worse (that these ladies neglected to touch on) is that the phone itself wasn’t* all that great. By no means was it a “bad” phone, but the specs we heard about were average and likely to be outdated a few months later. With a single-core 1GHz processor and a 3.7-inch WVGA touchscreen, Sense 3.5 can’t really make up for what is very clearly a mid-range Android device.

So why target something mediocre towards women? Because we don’t know what kind of processors we should want? Because we don’t enjoy beautiful, large touchscreens? I was at a loss.

*I continue to use the past tense in this section as I’m referring to rumors, and what we knew then.

Revamp:

No doubt whatsoever, HTC saw the reaction. Many tech bloggers are male, so of course it wasn’t as fiercely disputed by the boys as it was by us woman-folk, but the reaction seemed pretty collective and HTC heard what was being said, which was: “Are you guys really doing this?”

As the launch announcement drew closer and closer, specs, press shots, and even pictures of the accessories were leaked, and it looked like not much had changed from the info in the original rumors. The only new information we got on the Bliss was an invitation to the launch event (that happened this morning), in which HTC didn’t actually disclose the product they were announcing.

But from the way that things were worded here in New York, this phone isn’t just for women. HTC was super serious about not using any female-centric words or pronouns once during the entire thing. In fact, they made a push to say that this phone was for “everyone.”

I even asked an HTC rep at the event why we had heard no mention of women during the announcement. He robotically replied that this phone is for “everyone,” and that the Rhyme is more about following you through your daily life than being catered to a specific gender.

Words vs. actions is an interesting thing, isn’t it?

To be quite honest, not much has changed from what we had thought, save for a couple last minute switcharoos. The Bliss is now the Rhyme, which I guess has a bit of a more masculine feel to it than Bliss does, but not by much. Then there’s the “calming” sea foam green we had all expected, which has changed over to a dark plum color. Again, not too much of a shift toward “unisex” here either, but I guess it’s a small step in the right direction. And those dieting/shopping apps that were probably the most insulting part of the whole thing? Those are no where to be found, which is an entirely welcome announcement after all those rumors.

But that silly purse-friendly charm is still alive and well, and even worse it glows pink. That same rep mentioned how men could hang the charm out of their work-out bag when they’re at the gym, but that seems like more of a hassle than a step towards making life easier. Purple may be a step up from a light shade of green, but still doesn’t scream “A man’s man should own this phone!”

My point? HTC listened to the rants in the rumor phase, and in my opinion they at least attempted(albeit weakly) to calm the storm. By never actually saying that the phone was designed for women, HTC can technically get itself off the hook. The problem is that no man will buy a phone that comes with a “charm,” so no matter how much they say the phone is for “everyone,” it just takes a quick glance at the Rhyme to see how misleading that is.

Repeat:

Purposeful leaks aren’t unheard of. Not only do leaks build hype around a phone, but they give the developers a chance to gauge our first reactions. HTC didn’t do an excellent job of nixing all the obviously girl-centered features of this phone, but in small ways you can tell that we were heard.

My hope is that HTC, and every other phone maker, will pay attention to the coverage of their products before announcement. Whether the rumor itself is true or false, anonymous internet commenters give the most brutally honest feedback you could ask for. Take the hints.

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Microsoft And Nokia Release Windows Phone Porting Guides For Symbian Developers

Microsoft and Nokia have teamed up on a package of new tools aimed at getting Nokia developers prepared for the transition to Windows Phone. Announced today are three jointly developed tools and guides, the most notable being the addition of Symbian Qt to the Windows Phone API mapping tool.

The Windows Phone mapping tool, which already supports iOS and Android, serves as a translation dictionary between the Windows Phone platform and other mobile operating systems. With it, developers can pick out the API calls in their apps, then look up the equivalent classes, methods and notification events in Windows Phone.

To be clear, this is not a direct porting tool – it doesn’t do the work for you. Developers can simply reference the guide to aid in porting their applications.

Included in the mapping tool are the core libraries for Qt 4.7 for Symbian (QtCore, QtGui, QtLocation, QtNetwork, QtSensors, QtSql, QtXml, QtWebKit, QML Elements and QML Components). Sample code and tutorials are available, too.

Microsoft and Nokia have also released a 100-page white paper to serve as the de facto guide for Symbian Qt Application Developers interested in learning about Windows Phone. Within its 8 chapters, the companies detail Windows Phone guidelines, C# programming, the application life cycle, porting procedures and more.

Today also heralds the start of a series of developer events called the “Nokia Windows Phone Training” roadshow, with the first event being held in Paris. The events will then be held throughout Europe and Australia on the following days: Milan, Italy (Sept 26), Madrid, Spain (Sept 29), Berlin, Germany (Oct 4), London, United Kingdom (Oct 10), Sydney (Sept 24-25[SOLD OUT], Oct 8-9), Melbourne (Oct 8-9[SOLD OUT, wait list]) and Brisbane (Oct 8-9).

The U.S. dates, including the Silicon Valley dates, are not yet available.

Symbian isn’t a dead operating system just yet – after all, it received a big update just last month. But Nokia has publicly stated it plans to phase it out over time. Windows Phone is what’s next for Nokia, and it’s not surprising to see these tools and guides launch just prior to the release of the first Nokia Windows Phone, expected by year-end.

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A Look At Who’s Winning The Global Internet Speed Race [Infographic]

In July, we covered a study released by Pando Networks, a digital download delivery company, that outlined some striking disparities in the current quality of internet access and speed across the U.S. Among the study’s more revealing findings was the size of the gap between those at the front of the pack in terms of connectivity speeds and those at the back — a difference of tenfold. Interestingly, Rhode Island came in as the state with the fastest download speeds, compared to Idaho which brought up the rear with an average speed of 318KBps.

Today, Pando Networks has released another study that reveals the speed and reliability not just of the U.S. but of the global landscape in an attempt to provide a comprehensive look at the accessibility of the world’s data. Interestingly, the average global download speed is 580KBps, showing among other things that Idaho’s speed pales in comparison to worldwide average. But what may come as a surprise to some is that the U.S. ranked in at 26th with an average speed of 616KBps, compared to South Korea, the world speed champion, which came in with a blinding average speed of 2,202KBps.

Coming in behind South Korea are the surprise runners-up: The small eastern European nations of Romania at 1,909KBps and Bulgaria at 1,611KBps. Bet you didn’t see that coming. Especially considering that North America is so far down the list in comparison to eastern European nations, which dominated the rankings with Lithuania coming in fourth at 1,462KBps, Latvia in fifth at 1,377KBps, and Ukraine in eight at 1,190KBps. Compare this to the U.S. in 26th place, Canada in 31st, and Mexico in 86th.

In terms of the completion rate for measured downloads, Pando’s study found that they were closely correlated with average speeds, with South Korea again taking the cake with a 94 percent completion rate. closely correlates with average speed, South Korea again taking top prize with a 94% completion rate and most of the other speedy countries not far behind.

Developing nations in Africa and Asia unsurprisingly brought up the back of the pack, with the Congo showing the slowest average speed at 13KBps, the Central African Republic at 14KBps, and Comoros at 23KBps. (Other countries of note include China at 245KBps and Australia at 348KBps.)

Also of not is the study’s breakdown of global data to the city level, which yet again found that the fastest six cities are located in South Korea. Andover, Massachusetts and Bucharest, Romania were the only two cities outside of the gaming powerhouse South Korea to slide into the top 10.

Obviously, on a global level, just as it is with the U.S., the disparities between the fastest and slowest countries is jaw-dropping. Not to mention that one might expect developed countries like the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, China, and Canada to round out the top 5, while none of them even managed to break the top 20. Instead, as CEO of Pando Networks Robert Levitan said, the fastest speeds were found in markets like Eastern Europe, where “focus on infrastructure development and favorable geography promote an incredible level of connectivity”.

For more, check out Pando’s nifty infographic below or visit Pando at home here.

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Verizon CEO: A Third Mobile Platform Will Emerge In The Next 12 Months

iOS and Android are great, clearly. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have room in our hearts for a third platform. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam feels the same way, expecting a third “smartphone ecosystem” to butt in to the current Apple/Google dominated space.

Out of the various options, McAdam said he sees Samsung’s Bada, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5, or RIM’s forthcoming QNX-based BlackBerry platform to fill the spot. “The carriers are beginning to coalesce around the need for a third ecosystem,” said McAdam. “Over the next 12 months I think it will coalesce and you will start to see one emerge as a legitimate third ecosystem.” In my opinion, it’ll be between RIM and Microsoft, and I expect Microsoft to come out victorious.

As far as QNX is concerned, RIM will have to bring something other than messaging to the table. Messaging, whether it be through email or BBM or text, is the BlackBerry’s stand-out feature. Any BlackBerry owner I’ve ever grilled says messaging can’t be beat, but it only takes a couple minutes perusing through Android devices with a physical keyboard to realize that BlackBerry messaging isn’t worth everything you’re missing out on.

That’s not to say that I think Android phones are better messaging devices; RIM still owns the space. All I’m saying is that Android offers up messaging that works just fine, but with a million other features that are no where to be seen on a BlackBerry. And if that’s not enough, messaging in Windows Phone Mango is absolutely killer. Each contact is its own thread, and whether you’re chatting it up on Facebook, in texts, in emails, basically anything, Mango threads it all together into one cohesive conversation. Add to that speech-to-text capabilities and Mango is an easy sell.

Since messaging is the primary activity on most phones, the way it works in this or that OS is incredibly consequential. Even with share prices at a five-year low, BlackBerry users are still around and they’re just as loyal as they’ve ever been. That’s almost always a product of the line’s messaging power.

After giving us a 12-month time frame for this third platform emergence, McAdam also touched on the current legal battle between the Department of Justice and AT&T, reports Fierce Wireless. In all honesty, it not only affects Verizon and McAdam, but it really will make a difference (however minute) in all of our lives.

As far as McAdam is concerned, the most important thing he can do right now is pay very close attention to whether or not the outcome of the AT&T/DOJ suit will have any affect on Verizon. “I think it’s important to be thoughtful about this,” McAdam said.

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Next Week Or Two”

File this one under “It’s about time” — Microsoft has announced today that they intended to roll out their Windows Phone 7.5 (a.k.a “Mango”) update to current devices within “the next week or two.”

Sure, it’s still not an exact date, but Microsoft has a good reason for this: they can’t really provide one. According to Eric Hautala, General Manager for Customer Experience Engineering, Microsoft will push out the update, and each hardware partner will deliver a matching firmware specifically tuned for the Windows Phone it’s being pushed out to.

Since the process relies on software components from Microsoft and OEMs like HTC and Samsung, I wouldn’t expect the floodgates to open for all devices at the same time. Considering that an entire slice of the smartphone market will be getting a update of the course of a few weeks, a rolling release is probably more likely to ease the process.

Oh, and a quick warning to hackers and enthusiasts alike: Hautala was also quick to point out that anyone looking to make the official Mango jump should do well to stay away from pre-release or unofficial software builds. He doesn’t go into specifics, but it seems as though working with unofficial firmware could cause some unpleasantness when the official update tries to install.

While still vague, Microsoft’s annoucement is a huge improvement over what AT&T had to say a few weeks ago: when they announced their new line of Mango-powered Windows Phones, they also casually mentioned that the Mango update itself would begin rolling out to devices sometime “this fall.” If you just can’t wait to get your hands on Mango, feel free to mash F5 on Microsoft’s Where’s My Phone Update? page. If all goes well, the update will be pushed to your phone before the carpal tunnel sets in.

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