Facebook highlights news with updated rankings

Facebook is retooling its ranking system to make some news articles appear more prominently at the expense of other content such as certain photos, the company announced Monday.    How an article might appear on Facebook's News Feed under new rankings announced Dec. 2, 2013. No longer just a site for connecting with friends, Facebook lately has been showing off its digital newspaper ambitions. Just last week, for instance, it was revealed the company was testing a new feature to let users save article links to a list for later reading. And when Facebook redesigned its News Feed earlier this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company was trying to give its billion-plus users the "best personal newspaper they could find." The new rankings are designed to make high-quality content appear more prominently in Facebook's central News Feed, Facebook's engineers said in the company's announcement. How Facebook defines "high quality" is a little obscure, though it appears to be related to how often articles are clicked on on mobile devices and whether the link is for a news article versus a buzzy photo. "Starting soon, we'll be doing a better job of distinguishing between a high-quality article on a website versus a meme photo hosted somewhere other than Facebook when people click on those stories on mobile," the company said. As a result, users may start to notice more links to news articles in the News Feed, the company said, particularly on mobile devices, and fewer meme photos. Following the changes, Facebook will be emphasizing a certain type of content. Stories devoted to the disastrous Healthcare.gov website from The Atlantic and The Washington Post were highlighted in Facebook's announcement. Additional articles related to the primary story may also appear after people click on the first link, Facebook said. The update is also meant to highlight articles generating the most chatter on Facebook. To do that, the company has updated its "bumping" system so that some stories with new comments will occasionally resurface in the News Feed. The new ranking capitalizes on the growing trend of people getting their news from Facebook and other social sites. Average referral traffic from Facebook to media sites tripled in the past year, the company reported on Monday. Some of Facebook's biggest competitors are growing more active in the business of news delivery. Twitter now has an experimental account called Event Parrot designed to keep users informed via direct message. Yahoo has hired TV news anchor Katie Couric to reinvigorate its original news programming, and Google News displays stories according to users' interests. For Facebook's new ranking system to succeed, however, the company must balance the more carefree way some people use the site with its more serious news ambitions. Apparently, the company sees an opportunity to provide news to its users and keep them there at the same time. "Today's update to News Feed ranking recognizes that people want to see more relevant news and what their friends have to say about it," the company said.. . . . . . . . . . . .

Microsoft-branded tablet 'makes sense,' analyst says

A Microsoft-branded tablet makes sense if the tablet is focused on the same market as the $200 Kindle Fire, analysts said Monday. Microsoft is expected to divulge its tablet plans at an event in Los Angeles late Monday afternoon. Informed sources have offered some details in various reports. Among other things, it's been said that partner Barnes & Noble would make the Microsoft-branded device, possibly giving it Xbox-like capabilities. But Barnes & Noble said earlier Monday it is not participating in the event, throwing weight on rumors of an Xbox device. "If Microsoft concentrates on the same market as Kindle Fire and not a general-purpose tablet market, then this [tablet] makes sense," said Jack Gold, an analyst at J.Gold Associates. With rumors pointing to an Xbox tablet, Gold added, "that makes some sense since Microsoft has a pretty good franchise going with Xbox and has some diehard gaming fans." Microsoft could easily subsidize the cost of the tablet, making the money back with revenue from sales of services, e-books and apps, and with revenue from ads sold for Bing search results, analysts said. "Add to this tablet an ability to play online games through the Xbox network, and you could have a very interesting play for a Windows 8 tablet running RT or an optimized version of RT, more likely," Gold said. But will this tablet sell? "It won't sell in huge volumes, but selling a few million devices when you are starting from zero isn't bad," Gold added. "And the continuing revenue stream for content is good as well." Gold said he'd be interested to see what kind of ARM chip is inside the device. "It's likely that this device will have a more modest chip to keep battery life long, since you don't need all that horsepower for content consumption and even gaming, given that most of the gaming would be via the Web," he said. Much of the focus on Windows RT tablets has been on devices that will feature higher-priced, quad-core ARM chips from Nvidia and Qualcomm. Nvidia has provided such a chip for the Asus Windows RT tablet shown recently at Computex. If Microsoft modifies its branded Windows RT tablet, it's unclear that the expected device will be compatible with other tablets running Windows RT, analysts said. Could it be purpose-built, such as an e-reader or a gaming device, with restrictions on its use? That seems likely, three analysts said. Tom Mainelli, an analyst at IDC, said that Microsoft has made it clear that Windows RT, as it is being sold to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) "shouldn't be treated as a budget tablet ... Microsoft has been obsessed with the level of performance of the iPad at Apple, so Microsoft has tightly regulated its Windows RT tablets with OEMs." Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at ZK Research, was less optimistic than others about the prospects of the yet-to-be announced Microsoft tablet. It will be hard for Microsoft to make much of a difference in the market, he said.. . . . . . . . . . "The new tablet will have to offer something uniquely different to take a chunk of share," said Kerravala. But judging from early reports of what Microsoft is expected to unveil, he added, "I don't believe that's there." Kerravala also said he doubts that some kind of Xbox experience would do much to help sales of the new tablet. "The Xbox audience is not a good group for tablets," he said. "Gamers want a 65-inch TV, not a mobile device." Historically, gamers have "never been great for mobile devices," Kerravala added. Mainelli said that whatever Microsoft announces, "I hope it doesn't disappoint because they had everybody in the industry running at full speed the last three days" since the launch event was first disclosed.

First look: Microsoft Surface tablets

My quick hands-on with the new 10.6-in. Surface tablets at Microsoft's launch on Monday gave me a little surprise: The edges on all four sides are sharp. I was expecting something a little smoother or rounder, for whatever reason. The black magnesium back cover and the black bezel on the front around the screen make the Surface tablet seem to be more in the Android camp than in iPad's. The Microsoft Surface tablet, unveiled late on Monday, comes with a built-in kickstand. In pictures: Microsoft Surface -- 'A PC, a tablet and new' But the weight, at less than 2 lbs., felt great. Engineers showed off the materials in the tablets and emphasized the durability of the case, along with the Corning's Gorilla Glass screen. I guess this is the direction Microsoft wanted to take with Surface tablets: durable, with an emphasis on seriousness. We didn't get a lot of time to examine the display, and the lighting wasn't the best, but the resolution seemed fine. I found the fact that Windows 8 and touchscreen functionality is present to be encouraging; it seemed well implemented. Keyboards in the covers The keyboards embedded in the two covers are, to me, the secret sauce with the new Surface tablets. They are the same size; both covers work on the Windows RT and the Windows 8 Pro tablets. However, they have definite differences. The flat Touch Cover has keys with no travel, but it had a good tactile feel, almost like soft cloth. The Type Cover has keys that have some travel; they were of the right size and spacing, and offered the right amount of resistance. It felt like a typical keyboard on a laptop, with a little more friction than the slick keys on an iPad, and it provides resistance for touch typing. However, I didn't have time for a full typing evaluation.. . . . . . . . . . The Type Cover also has more information in the top row of keys; it shows they can be used as shortcuts to various apps that might run already in Windows. There's also an onscreen keyboard, but Microsoft didn't demo it at the event. The covers are attached with magnets to the long sides of the tablet. Inside each cover is an accelerometer that can tell the cover's orientation compared with the tablet, so it knows whether it is being used folded over the screen or if the back or is being used as keyboard. The advantage is that you don't have to remove the cover for various purposes, which could be a good thing. I've fiddled with the iPad's cover a lot. There's a kickstand on the back of the tablet, so you can prop it up without the cover. I've learned by craning my neck over my iPad while using the onscreen keyboard that my neck can get tired quickly. So bravo to Microsoft engineers on behalf of my neck. One minor thing I learned, though, is that if you open the kickstand, you have to have the cover attached at the end of the Surface near the kickstand in order to use it as a keyboard. Not an inconvenience, really, but a point of interest. Bottom line I think much of the success of these tablets will come down to price and how well users like Windows 8, either the Pro edition or in Windows RT. Nothing in the design is a fatal flaw. But unfortunately, I can't say that they're dream machines, either. The Microsoft Surface tablet. Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at  @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com. See more by Matt Hamblen on Computerworld.com. Analyst credits Surface sell-out to Microsoft swinging conservative Best Buy does what Microsoft won't: Takes Surface tablets in trade Deja vu all over again: Microsoft warns of Surface 2 sell-out Microsoft steers same strategic course in Surface do-over Dumping a Surface? eBay averages double the return of a buyback vendor Microsoft's Surface to be under revenue microscope Microsoft's most loyal users ask for Surface trade-in program Microsoft takes second swing at tablets with new Surface 2 lineup Microsoft sticks to guns, will unveil refreshed Surface on Sept. 23 Surface channel distribution tempo shows Microsoft lacks Plan B after sales debacle More on Surface