Gadgets

Facebook’s IPO filing on Wednesday offers investors, bankers, analysts, journalists and anyone willing to read the massive S-1 document a deeper look at the business and financial side of the world’s largest social network than we’ve ever had before.

Our team of tech and business reporters has been digging into the filing, reporting on the Menlo Park, Calif., company’s $3.7-billion revenue, rivalries with Twitter and Google+, perspective on China, social mission and hacker ethos, Zynga accounting for 12% of Facebook’s revenue, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s pay cut from $600,000 in 2012 to $1 in 2013 and even what the IPO could mean for the Winklevoss twins.

But that wasn’t all the S-1 had to say. Here are some other highlights from Facebook’s IPO filing before the company actually goes public in May:

Users: Facebook has an average of 845 million monthly active users, 483 million of whom log into the social network daily.

Workforce: At the end of 2011, Facebook had 3,200 full-time employees, up 50% from 2,127 employees 2010. In 2009, the company had 1,218 employees.

Worldwide: Facebook’s plan, unsurprisingly, is to continue to grow by gaining more users in countries around the world. But the company also said in its S-1 that it plans to grow its workforce worldwide as well. “We plan to continue the international expansion of our business operations and the translation of our products,” Facebook said. Currently, Facebook is offered in more than 70 different languages, and the company has data centers in more than 20 different countries.

Popularity: Facebook said that about 60% of the online population in the U.S. and U.K. is registered on the social network. But Facebook is more popular in Chile, Turkey and Venezuela, where the company has “penetration rates of greater than 80% of Internet users.”

There are more than 2 billion Internet users worldwide and Facebook said its goal is to connect all of them through its social network.

“In countries such as Brazil, Germany, and India we estimate that we have penetration rates of approximately 20-30%; in countries such as Japan, Russia, and South Korea we estimate that we have penetration rates of less than 15%; and in China, where Facebook access is restricted, we have near 0% penetration,” the filing said.

Money in the bank: Facebook said that it had $1.5 billion at its disposal in a mix of “cash and cash equivalents” as of Dec. 31, as well as $2.3 billion in “marketable securities.” In 2010, Facebook had $1.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents and no marketable securities. Total assets on hand amounted to $6.6 billion in 2011, while Facebook had a total of $1.4 billion in liabilities.

R&D: Facebook’s research and development efforts have seen massive growth over the last few years. In 2011, the company spent $388 million, or about 10.5% of its revenue, on R&D. In 2010, Facebook spent less than half that amount, with $144 million going toward R&D. In 2009, the company spend $87 million on R&D, up from $47 million in 2008 and $81 million in 2007.

Patents: Faceook said a major factor in whether or not the company will be able to maintain the huge success it’s had thus far will ride on its ability to “protect our core technology and intellectual property.”

To do that, Facebook will “rely on a combination of patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, including know-how, license agreements, confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements with third parties, employee disclosure and invention assignment agreements, and other contractual rights.” The social media giant ended 2011 with 56 patents and 503 patent applications filed in the U.S., along with 33 corresponding patents and 149 patent applications filed in foreign countries.

RELATED:

Facebook’s S-1 already has a (fake) Twitter account

Facebook IPO: Winklevoss twins could reap big payday

Facebook IPO: Mark Zuckerberg’s salary falling to $1 in 2013

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Photo: Visitors pose in front of a sign at the entrance of Facebook’s new headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Wednesday. Credit: Kimihiro Hoshino / AFP/Getty Images

If you are an Apple developer, then chances are you would have been on the receiving end of the OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3, which is actually the pre-release build of the upcoming Mac operating system update. Those who are familiar with the most recent build have identified it as ?12A206J?, and those who are interested can give it a go at the Mac App Store. It seems that Apple did let developers know that the MacBook Pro model which came out in the middle of 2007 (which is a good half a decade ago, when you think about it) will no longer play nice with the new build, which makes perfect sense. We need to move on, after all. Still, Apple plays the sentimental card, and will make it compatible with a future update, so there is no need to shed any tears just yet if you happen to own a 6 year old MacBook Pro.

Of course, this build is not perfect as expected, where there are reports of an error popping up whenever one uses Fast User Switching, where the desktop has a possibility of appearing in white for several seconds. This problem is also touted to remain with the share menu that are related to Mail and Twitter in the pre-release build. Hopefully all kinks will be ironed out before Mountain Lion hits the consumer market this summer.

Related articles:
Apple releases OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2
China Mobile holds talks with Apple
Apple iCloud upgrade to include photo-sharing features

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Vendors are beginning to accept the idea that women like, need, and use gadgets, too.  While we can use the same gadgets that men do, sometimes we?d like our bags and accessories to be a bit different ? perhaps smaller, maybe a bit more colorful.  knomo London makes ?perfect urban accessories to carry your devices,? like this Aurora Zip Tote.  While they make gear for both men and women, this bag is definitely designed for women to carry a laptop, papers, even a small purse in.  Let?s give it a look.

The Aurora has a lightweight quilted nylon exterior with black Saffiano (faux leather) trim.  The quilted fabric has a silky feel and a sheen.  The bag is available in black or berry quilted fabric.  I obviously received the berry.  The front has a zippered pocket that can hold cards or a cellphone (see top photo).  A silver-toned metal badge in the middle of this pocket displays the knomo name.

There are two carry handles that are attached to the bag with large, silver-toned metal buttons.  These straps have a 4.25? drop to the top of the bag.  They?re made of the faux leather, and they are rounded and cushioned.

The back of the bag is plain, with no pockets.  The bag measures about 15.5? wide X 12? tall.  It weighed about 2 pounds 6 ounces on my digital kitchen scale.

In addition to the attached handles, the Aurora has a removable shoulder strap.  It?s made of 1.5? wide belting.  There are two, large, lobster-claw clips to attach the strap to the silver metal D-rings on the bag.  The strap is adjustable with the metal buckle, seen in the photo, above.  It adjusts from to 29.5? to 52?, including the clips.  You can carry the bag as a shoulder or crossbody bag.  The strap has no padding, but it?s wide enough to spread out the weight of the bag a bit on your shoulder.

The sides and bottom of the Aurora have a black, breakaway zipper that allows the bag to be expanded when you need to carry a larger load.  The zipper has plastic teeth and a metal pull.  When closed the bag is about 1.5? thick.

The bag unzips to about 5? deep.  The zipper breaks open at the top to allow for full expansion.  The sides and bottom of the expanded bag seem to be made of the same material used for the exterior, but it is thinner and not quilted.

There?s a zippered top, shown pull out of the top of the collapsed bag.  It also has a breakaway zipper with plastic teeth and a metal pull, so the top can be completely opened.  The panel pushes down into the collapsed bag, and it keeps the contents of your bag secure.  It doesn?t completely close the length of the bag, so small items could fall out.

The zipper panel is designed to work when the bag is expanded, too.  You can see here that the panel doesn?t completely close off the top.

There?s a stiff panel at the bottom of the bag that flips up out of the way when the bag is collapsed, as seen here.  You push it down into the bottom of the bag to form a sturdy, stable bottom when the bag is expanded.

The interior of the bag I received is a mushroom color.  Its texture is like that of a microfiber cleaning cloth.  The interior fabric has a stain-resistant coating.

The back wall of the bag has a laptop compartment with a snap tab (made from the faux leather) closure.  The front of the compartment is made of a thinly-padded, quilted piece of the interior fabric.  The back of the compartment has no padding other than what?s offered by the exterior wall of the bag.

The compartment will accommodate up to a 15? laptop.  My husband?s 15? MacBook Pro work computer fit into the compartment.  My 13? MBP fit with room to spare.  You can see there are two snaps on the front of the compartment to adjust for the thickness of the computer.  A piece of the faux leather covers the backs of the snaps to protect your laptop from scratches.

There?s a large zippered pocket on the inside front wall.  It?s big enough to hold your wallet, keys, cables, or the like.  You?ll notice a white label inside.  This label is the knomo TRACKER.  The label has a unique ID number (obscured with a blue bar in this photo) and both UK and USA phone numbers.  If you misplace your bag, the finder can call one of these numbers and knomo will be able to trace the bag back to you.  (If you?ve first registered your bag with knomo.)

The knomo London Aurora Zip Tote is a stylish bag without being too trendy.  It?s business-like without being severe.  I like that it?s expandable, so you can zip it down when you need to carry only a laptop and a couple of small accessories.  Or you can expand it to a large tote when you need to throw other things ? shoes, a lunch, a big stack of books or papers ? in with your laptop.  I wish it had a couple more organizer pockets inside, and maybe a couple of pen loops.  The front faux leather pocket could use a couple of changes, too.  It?s not quite big enough to hold an iPhone in a case, and I fear that the metal zipper, while attractive, could scratch my phone?s screen.  Because you can wear it as a crossbody bag to spread out the weight of the loaded bag across your back, the Aurora is pretty comfortable to carry.  All in all, the knomo Aurora is an attractive, useful laptop bag for women.

The Galaxy Nexus was Google’s flagship Samsung phone for the Android 4.0 launch.

In support of its upcoming Android 5.0 operating system release, code-named Jelly Bean, Google will deploy the OS on not a single Nexus smartphone per Android tradition, but perhaps on five Nexus phones this fall ? so says a Tuesday report by Wall Street Journal.

The move would be a huge reboot for Google?s Nexus program, which so far has resulted in three phones over the last three years ? the HTC Nexus One, and Samsung?s Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus. Each handset has shipped with a ?pure? version of Google?s Android operating system, free of any third-party skins, bloatware or alterations.

Last month, Google began selling an unlocked variation of the Galaxy Nexus, which runs Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), for $400 via Google Play, the company?s online storefront. If Google rolls with the multiple Nexus phone approach, as the Journal reports, it would sell the phones unlocked in Asia, Europe and the U.S. on both Google Play and through traditional brick-and-mortar retail channels.

We reached out to Google for comment, but hadn?t heard back by press time.

By delivering a flagship phone to every handset manufacturer of relevance, Google could help alleviate fears among OEMs that it will favor Motorola Mobility, which Google hopes to purchase for $12.5 billion. Regulators in the U.S. and the European Union have both signed off on Google?s proposed takeover of Motorola?s consumer gadget arm, but the Chinese government has yet to approve the deal.

A Nexus family of phones could be produced by as many as five different hardware makers, launching in time for Black Friday this November, the Journal reported, adding that a rumored Nexus Tablet from Asus could go on sale around the same time.

If Google could pull of this bold strategy, it could also reduce Android OS fragmentation. Not only would more phones in the ecosystem be running the latest OS ? Android 5.0 ? but each handset manufacturer would have more familiarity and expertise with the new OS, allowing it to more quickly tweak its own custom builds for Android 5.0 on non-Nexus handsets.

Currently, about 64 percent of Android devices run on version 2.3 (Gingerbread). Android 4, better known as Ice Cream Sandwich, runs on only some 5 percent of Android devices, despite launching on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus last November.