Justin Bieber & Kyle Massey Rock Matching Colored Kicks

Justin Bieber and his best bud Kyle Massey have taken their friendship to a new level: they're wearing matching shoes! Justin posted a pic of him and Kyle showing off their super cool sneakers and we are totally loving their bold choice in colors.

Kyle went with an electric red shoe, which compliments his black, white and red Coca-Cola hoodie. Justin decided to wear his light blue sneakers with his all white outfit. His purple shades add a nice touch to his laid back look and it's been a while since we've seen him rock his signature color! 

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Is Liam Payne Working on Tracks Without One Direction?

Rumors have been swirling that Liam Payne is working on songs without One Direction, collaborating with a '90s Britpop band called Longspigs on some solo tracks — but those reports are totally false.

The source is a publication that focuses on satirical celebrity gossip, so we don't think they're actually serious.

Besides, we'd never believe Liam would leave the band for his own personal projects. Even though he initially wanted to go solo on X Factor, he's been very vocal about the fact that he loves being in the band. If he was working on some stuff, it would either be for 1D or for his DJ alter-ego, Big Payno.

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Amazon adds Disney and Dora to FreeTime Unlimited kids service

Amazon adds Disney and Dora to FreeTime Unlimited kids service

There's a new way to amuse, educate or just distract your offspring while Mommy has a little sippy-poo for the holidays -- Amazon has just dumped a bunch of new content into FreeTime Unlimited. The kid-centric service runs $2.99 a month for Prime subscribers, and includes around 4,000 educational books, 400 "age-appropriate" apps and several thousand TV shows and movies. Amazon's added "thousands of new titles," including games Frozen Free Fall from Disney and Dora's Great Big World, along with e-books from Dr. Seuss and Sesame Street. If you're on FreeTime Unlimited and have an Amazon Kindle reader, Fire TV or Fire tablet (like the Kids Edition shown above) you can access the content now, or sign up for a free trial.

Steve Dent

Engadget

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Instagram is now worth 49 times what Facebook paid for it

Instagram is now worth 49 times what Facebook paid for it

Many baulked when Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg agreed to drop $1 billion on Instagram in April 2012. "That's $33 per user," said some; "there's no business model!" screamed others. Less than three years later and Citigroup now says Instagram is worth $35 billion. That's almost 49 times higher than the $715 million Facebook ended up paying after its stock price fell, and considerably higher than rivals Twitter and LinkedIn. How did things go so right?

The short answer is "ads," as would be clear to anyone using Instagram. The long answer? First, the valuation hinges on Instagram's user count rising 40 percent over the next year, according to Citi analyst Mark May. That's likely -- it rose by 50 percent between March and December of this year alone -- but it's the second part of May's calculations that's up for debate. The analyst believes Instagram will be able to monetize its users further and rake in much more cash from advertisers. But what does that mean for you?

It's been just over a year since Instagram first introduced advertising into its apps, but May's expectations of higher advertising revenues don't necessarily mean you'll see loads more of them. You're worth more to Instagram than ever before -- more than $80 just for being you, according to May's calculations -- and it's unlikely Facebook will suddenly flood your feed with irrelevant ads. Citi thinks Instagram can get $1.48 from ads per 1000 views by the end of next year. That's less than Twitter makes (another service slowly working out how to make money), and May argues that Instagram has a larger, faster-growing, and more engaged audience. Simply put: Instagram is a better fit for prospective advertisers.

Instead of filling every page with ads, Facebook leverages its vast user data to argue it can target sponsored posts more effectively than others. The company uses your Instagram favorites to work out what kind of ads you'll respond well to, and also takes advantage of the many linked Facebook accounts to target ads based on your profile, likes and interests. It's a tough ask: balancing the demands of advertisers with ahistorically touchy audience. So far, Instagram has done a decent job of it; you're unlikely to see a jetskiing ad if you're a a 65-year-old man, for instance. You're still helping drive the company's profits by seeing ads, of course, but you're unlikely to be as annoyed by them since they're (mostly) aimed at stuff you like.

Instead of filling every page with ads, Facebook leverages its vast user data to argue it can target sponsored posts more effectively than others. The company uses your Instagram favorites to work out what kind of ads you'll respond well to, and also takes advantage of the many linked Facebook accounts to target ads based on your profile, likes and interests. It's a tough ask: balancing the demands of advertisers with ahistorically touchy audience. So far, Instagram has done a decent job of it; you're unlikely to see a jetskiing ad if you're a a 65-year-old man, for instance. You're still helping drive the company's profits by seeing ads, of course, but you're unlikely to be as annoyed by them since they're (mostly) aimed at stuff you like.

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Google needs partners to actually build its self-driving car

Google needs partners to actually build its self-driving car

Apparently Google's sufficiently kickstarted pursuits into autonomous driving, and is ready for some help with its own driverless cars. As the leader of the project told The Wall Street Journal, the folks in Mountain View aren't looking to replicate what Detroit-based and international automakers do best (build vehicles from the ground up). It's looking for an established player to help shoulder the load and bring the Google rides to market in the next five years. Until that happens, Chris Urmson says his team is partnering with automotive suppliers to move three generations beyond the cartoony-looking prototypes (pictured above) it has now. What's more, the search giant plans to on-road test this "beta one" fleet early next year. For California's sake, let's hope they're just as adept at sensing cyclists as their predecessors.
The Wall Street Journal

Timothy J. Seppala
Engadget

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BlackBerry And Boeing Build A Self-Destructing Spy Phone

BlackBerry And Boeing Build A Self-Destructing Spy Phone

Canadian mobile company BlackBerry Ltd. is working with Boeing Co. on a smartphone made for privacy-minded government agents, it announced Friday. The Boeing Black, as its called, is capable of self-destructing if it is tampered with.

“We're pleased to announce that Boeing is collaborating with BlackBerry to provide a secure mobile solution for Android devices utilizing our BES 12 platform," BlackBerry CEO John Chen said on a conference call held to discuss its mixed third quarter results. "That, by the way, is all they allow me to say.”

BlackBerry and Boeing’s smartphone encrypts communications as well as its stored data, such as sensitive photos or emails. The Boeing Black has space for two SIM cards, used to connect to multiple wireless networks, such as one for government calls and another for civilian communications.

Boeing, the the aerospace and defense contractor best known for its airplanes, markets the smartphone to government agencies and others who need to keep snooping to a minimum. BlackBerry’s Boeing Black is assembled in the U.S., from parts manufactured around the world.
The spy-phone boasts a chunky 13.25mm-thick body, almost double the depth found in Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone. The large frame allows it to be custom configured to include biometric sensors -- including fingerprint scanners -- and communication with satellites.

The Boeing Black operates on BlackBerry’s Enterprise Service, or BES 12, which allows companies and government agencies to secure and manage Android, iPhone and BlackBerry devices securely on their internal networks.

It’s not the phone of choice for James Bond, however. Sony Pictures has had a long-standing deal with its parent company to feature the Xperia line of smartphones in Bond films.

Thomas Halleck

International Business Times

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Michael Clifford Reacts to 5 Seconds of Summer's Worst Band of 2014 Nomination

5 Seconds of Summer and One Direction recently got nominated for Worst Band of 2014 by NME, and Michael Clifford had the best reaction. Instead of throwing a fit, he showed off his sense of humor by tweeting out that all their fans should vote for them.

"I'm not even being sarcastic it would be so incredible to win," he wrote.

While we can't believe someone would vote 5SOS and 1D as some of the worst bands of the year, both of them have had amazing successes (and lots of awards) in 2014. They're definitely not taking it too seriously — and Michael's response is proof!

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BlackBerry's surviving, but not as a smartphone company

BlackBerry's surviving, but not as a smartphone company

It's been almost a year since John Chen was appointed to save Blackberry and it's clear that his grand plan has, at least, stopped the company losing money hand over fist. In the Canadian outfit's latest three month report, it reveals that losses have been trimmed from $4.4 billion last year to a much more manageable $148 million. Of course, it's clear that as the business reinvents itself as a software-and-services company, manufacturing smartphones has increasingly become a side project.
At this point last year, the company had shipped 4.3 million smartphones, although the bulk of those were older BlackBerry 7 devices. This time around, less than half that figure -- 1.9 million devices -- found their way into the hands of consumers, with sales dwindling even in former strongholds like the Middle East and Asia Pacific. We're still waiting to see what impact, if any, new and "unconventional" devices like the Passport and Classic will have on fortunes, so there could be good news coming in the future on that front.

The company is still seeing its revenues split roughly down the middle, with 46 percent of cash coming from devices and the rest coming from software and services. It's the latter portion where John Chen sees the most potential, which is probably what prompted the company to buy mobile encryption company Secusmart. The company also saw big gains in its BlackBerry Enterprise Security platform, which grew over 100 percent in the last three months.
So, losses have been trimmed, software sales are growing and there's some cash in the bank. Someone should get a bottle of champagne and stick in the fridge, you know, just in case Chen's "eight quarter" plan pulls out something truly spectacular.
BlackBerry

Daniel Cooper

Engadget 

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Taylor Swift Named One of the Biggest Rule Breakers of 2014:

Taylor Swift Named One of the Biggest Rule Breakers of 2014:

Taylor Swift shows her chaotic side on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Rule Breakers 2014 issue, out on newsstands now and she looks like a Ice Princess in Her Latest Photo Shoot! 

Doesn't Taylor kind of look like Frozen's Queen Elsa while she's having a particularly icy and rebellious moment? All that's missing is the side braid! She's got the flowing blue dress look down perfectly. 

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In the issue, the 25-year-old entertainer opened up on her decision to take her music off popular streaming service Spotify.

“I didn’t think that it would be shocking to anyone. With as many ways as artists are personalizing their musical distribution, it didn’t occur to me that this would be anything that anyone would talk about,” Taylor shared.

She added, “But I could never have expected so many text messages, emails and phone calls from other artists, writers and producers saying thank you.”

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Abigail Breslin Clarifies Her Tweet Says : I Have No Beef with Taylor Swift!

Abigail Breslin  Clarifies Her Tweet Says : I Have No Beef with Taylor Swift!

Abigail Breslin never ever ever dissed Taylor Swift. Like, ever!

The 18-year-old actress received some backlash after tweeting, “Cuz darling I’m a nightmare dressed like an emotionally unstable cat lady,” referring to Taylor‘s hit song “Blank Space,” which she has now clarified.

“What’s so crazy, I think that everybody that follows me on Twitter knows that I just got surprised with a kitten, a baby kitten, like a week ago, by my family,” Abigail told HuffPost Live. “I was walking in my apartment, and I stopped in front of my mirror, and I had my hair in a topknot, and my glasses on, and no makeup on and a bathrobe on, with my cat and like a handful of its food, trying to give it medicine. I was like ‘wow my life, I look like an emotionally unstable cat lady.’”

Abigail added, “That song is amazing. Everybody loves that song. Why would I be insulting it? Like, it was just so bizarre. Taylor, I have no beef with you.”

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Is Justin Bieber Mad That He Wasn't at Taylor Swift's Birthday With Selena Gomez?

Justin Bieber is reportedly upset that he wasn't invited to Taylor Swift's 25th birthday with Selena Gomez! According to rumors, the singer thinks he should have been there — and is annoyed that "The Heart Wants What It Wants" singer's friends aren't his biggest fans.

“He was bummed when he heard who went. He feels like he really should have been there," the source said.

"He doesn’t have a problem with Taylor, but he knows she just doesn’t get him. And for that reason he thinks Taylor doesn’t get Justin and Selena as a couple. It’s frustrating for him and frustrating that Taylor didn’t include him considering how close she is to Selena.”

Since we've heard that the "Blank Space" singer isn't a Jelena fan, we would understand why she wouldn't invite him. He's not her bestie!

Besides, he's been hanging out with Kendall Jenner and Hailey Baldwin lately, so at least he's been getting the support of his own friends.

Plus, it's probably for the best that he wasn't there. Although there was allegedly drama at the event, it seems like the 1989's birthday was a calm affair. Considering how emotional Selena gets over her ex, they may be better off hanging out in private.

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Samsung will shut down its ChatOn messaging service next year

Samsung will shut down its ChatOn messaging service next year

After denying reports that its ChatOn service was close to being disbanded on a region-by-region basis, Samsung has announced in Korea that it's going away. According to Yonhap News, Samsung's statement said it will close up shop on February 1st. It's not immediately clear whether or not that will hold across all regions, but Samsung went on to state that users would be able to back up their data before the shutdown. The company blamed "changing market conditions" for the change, but seems that despite a claimed 100 million strong user base, people weren't really using the software preloaded on so many smartphones.
Yonhap News

Richard Lawler

Engadget 

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