Andrew Rivkin is Excited About Facebook’s Acquisition of Instagram

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With a whopping $1 billion price tag Facebook has acquired Instagram, the booming photo-sharing website. Andrew Rivkin calls it a ‘match made in heaven’ for the two social media giants. Facebook paid $300 million in cash and 23 million shares worth of stock for the photo-sharing service at approximately $30 a share. Andrew Rivkin notes that this is Facebook’s largest acquisition to date. Facebook said it would use Instagram — which lets smartphone owners take, edit and share photos with friends — to boost its presence on mobile devices, something it said “is critical to maintaining user growth and engagement over the long term.”

Andrew Rivkin: Facebook/Instagram

Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion

The relatively simple Instagram app which has 30 million users, but lacks a known revenue stream, has grown tremendously according to Rivkin over the past two years since its startup. While the app already has some degree of integration with Facebook, Zuckerberg’s goal for the photo-sharing service is to help spread the app and brand to even more people. Andrew Rivkin notes that the Instagram app is only offered on the Apple iPhone and more recently on the Android platform. Rivkin anticipates that it will shortly be available for RIM’s Blackberry, adding even greater exposure to the seemingly simple app.

Andrew Rivkin notes that within three days of Instagram being available on the Android phone, it was ranked number three in the U.S. Google Play Store, which is an incredible feat considering the amount of existing apps available. It seems to be that the simpler the app, the more successful it is. This is especially true with the highly successful Angry Birds app. It will surely be interesting to see what Zuckerberg, the 27 year-old billionaire, does with his latest acquisition.

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Andrew Rivkin is Pleased that the Copper Coin is No More

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Among the items presented by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in this year’s federal budget is the scrapping of the penny. Andrew Rivkin watched on as the much anticipated budget was delivered last week by the minister in the House of Commons. The most surprising announcement in the budget is the end of the Canadian penny. The discontinuation of the penny has been discussed for years in Canada, even among Rivkin’s group of friends.

Andrew Rivkin: Canadian Penny

The Canadian Penny

Andrew Rivkin discusses some of the reasons why the penny is being scrapped.

1. The penny simply costs too much to produce and circulate. Besides the penny being worth close to nothing, it costs the Canadian government $130 million per year to keep the cumbersome coin in circulation. It costs the government, using taxpayers money, 1.5 cents to produce and circulate one penny. For Andrew Rivkin, the uneconomical value of the penny is reason enough to scrap it.

2. Another big question is what will happen to items that the cost does not end with a 0 or 5. An item that currently sells for $1.27 will have a final price of $1.25, while an item that currently sells for $1.28 will sell for $1.30. Consumers paying with debit or credit cards will still pay the original price of the item. Andrew Rivkin believes that this is a smart move.

3. After doing some research, Andrew Rivkin discovered that the penny was introduced in Canada in 1908. The value of today’s penny is a quarter of what it was when it first went into circulation.

Andrew Rivkin hopes that this weeks announcement will also eventually lead to the end of the nickel-the five cent coin. New Zealand eliminated the countries one-cent coin in the 1980s and recently phased-out its five-cent coin. At the end of the day, the penny is a space-taker, whether in your pocket, on the dresser or in the car. They are just cumbersome to deal with and will soon be extinct.

 

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Andrew Rivkin is Among the Top 15 Canadians in Digital Media

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Synonymous with the Canadian tech industry are Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, the brains behind Research in Motion (RIM). Beyond this, Canadians have made huge contributions in the fields of gaming, software, Internet security, Web development, social media and online broadcasting. Backbone, one of Canada’s largest and most successful business magazines, recently published an article highlighting the top 15 Canadians in digital media. Andrew Rivkin was among the fifteen selected.

The list includes Stewart Butterfield, the creator of Flickr one of the world’s most popular websites; Cassie Creighton, the five-year old Torontonian who along with her father created the hit online game Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure; and Sid Meier of Sarnia, Ontario who is considered to be the father of computer gaming. Meier developed some of the first flight and military simulation games.

Andrew Rivkin: Cryptologic         Andrew Rivkin: FUN Technologies

Andrew Rivkin is among the top 15 for his pioneer vision in the online gambling industry with Cryptologic in the mid-1990’s. Cryptologic, which was founded in his parents’ Toronto basement along with his brother Mark, provided the underlying software for many prominent gambling Websites. Later, Rivkin co-founded FUN Technologies from Toronto with Lorne Abony, launching highly popular prize-based and casual games.


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Andrew Rivkin Looks at Apple’s Future in the Television Industry

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Apple Inc. is continuing its growth in the technology industry following the ambitions of its late co-founder, Steve Jobs. Andrew Rivkin recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal discussing Apple’s “assault on television”. Having already made a huge impact in the personal computer department as well as the music consumption industry, Apple is not stopping. Most recently releasing the successful iPhone 4S with the much talked about Siri “personal assistant”, Apple is working on its own television that relies on wireless streaming technology. The technology would be used to access shows, movies and other visual content.

Andrew Rivkin: Apple TV

Current version of the Apple TV

Andrew Rivkin notes that the huge success of Siri with the iPhone 4S, which allows you to communicate with your phone through speech recognition software, Apple is looking at similar technology for a television. The future television technology would respond to users’ voices and movements. Beyond this very little details are known as Apple often keeps its products and ideas, close to the vest until as late as possible.

Apple currently produces and sells the Apple TV set-top box. Users can play digital content originating from the iTunes Store, Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, MLB.tv, NHL Game Center and NBA League Pass from the set-top box to a television screen. The difference between the Apple TV and the new technology Apple is currently working on is the amount of content available. With the new capabilities, users will be able to view all the channels and continue watching them on the iPhone, Mac computers and iPod.

Seamless streaming between products; a cornerstone of Apple’s technology. Andrew Rivkin has tried some apps that allow users of Mac computers and iPhone’s on the same wireless network the ability to continue listening to the same song in the same spot on another device. This is great if you are in the middle of listening to a good song, but are about to arrive home, you can automatically continue listening to the song on your Mac computer. You never have to miss a beat!

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Andrew Rivkin Discusses Phil Kessel’s Recent Success

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What a difference a year can make!  The 24-year old right-winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs has definitely made a positive impact on the team so far this season. Andrew Rivkin must say that he was skeptical when the Maple Leafs traded the Boston Bruins their first and second round Entry Draft picks in 2010 as well as a first round Entry Draft pick in 2011 for Kessel. At the time it seemed like a lot to give up for the then 22-year old player. If Kessel can maintain his stellar performance, he could end-up with over 100 points for the season. Compared with a total of 64 points last season, there is no question Kessel has improved his game.

Andrew Rivkin: Phil Kessel

A very happy Phil Kessel after scoring a goal

Andrew Rivkin cannot remember the last time a Toronto Maple Leaf player had the most goals and points out of any player in the NHL. Possibly during the Mats Sundin era. Kessel has been a key component in the Maple Leafs current success with a standing of 14 wins, 8 losses and 2 overtime losses.

As NHL All-Star Game fan voting gets underway, Kessel is leading the way with total number of votes. Compared to being the last player taken during last year’s All-Star Game draft, this is a huge accomplishment for Kessel and the entire Toronto Maple Leafs team. In the course of a year, Kessel has gone from being the last man sitting when the All-Star captains chose their players to the players fans want to see the most.

With two months to go until the 2012 All-Star Game is played in Ottawa, Andrew Rivkin is happy to see the continued success of Phil Kessel and the entire Toronto Maple Leafs team.

Could this be the year that Lord Stanley returns to Toronto?

Andrew Rivkin encourages everyone to vote for the 2012 All-Star players.
Voting can be done at http://www.vote.nhl.com

Check out the article in the National Post: Leafs’ Phil Kessel Leads All-Star Votes

Andrew Rivkin Enjoyed the 2011 World Series

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The St. Louis Cardinals have done it again, winning the World Series for the first time since 2006. Taking the Texas Rangers to game 7, the Cardinals were resilient. Andrew Rivkin agrees that the series was a great one. Watching every game, Rivkin enjoyed every second of the series. Being down 3-2 in the series after the fifth game, the Cardinals surprised everyone and won two unbelievable games to claim it all.

In game six of the series, the Cardinals held the Rangers off to win 10 to 9 in eleven innings. This win was followed by a commanding 6-2 win for the Cardinals in game seven to take it all. The St. Louis Cardinals forced the first World Series game 7 since the Angels beat the Giants in 2002. The Cardinals have captured the World Series crown now for a total of eleven times, the second most ever after the infamous New York Yankees.

St. Louis Cardinals Win the World Series

The St. Louis Cardinals celebrate winning the 2011 World Series over the Texas Rangers

In the series finale, hometown star David Freese’s two-run double tied it in the first and good-luck charm Allen Craig hit a go-ahead homer in the third. Picked by Manager La Russa earlier in the day to start on short rest, Chris Carpenter and the tireless St. Louis bullpen closed it out. The Cardinals got to the finals by beating Philadelphia in the first round of the National League playoffs, capped by Carpenter outdueling Roy Halladay 1-0 in the deciding Game 5, and then topping Milwaukee in the NL championship series.

This years World Series final match marks the first time in several years that has not featured a big-market team. There was no New York, Boston, Chicago or Detroit. The Cardinals and Rangers play in smaller-market cities, but the series was just as exciting. It garnered the same attention that a Yankee World Series would. Andrew Rivkin is actually pleased that the World Series featured some different teams. Although he would have liked to see his hometown team, the Blue Jays win. Guess that will have to wait until next year!

Check out the article below:

Cardinals win storybook World Series over Rangers

Andrew Rivkin Reviews the Apple iPhone 4S

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Last week, analysts and industry insiders were convinced that Apple would be releasing the newest version of the iPhone; the iPhone 5. Andrew Rivkin must admit that he was also certain of the release of the iPhone 5. The hype before the official announcement from Apple’s headquarters in Santa Clara County, California was that the tech giant would be releasing the iPhone 5. Instead, Apple released the iPhone 4S, an updated version of the iPhone 4.

Physically, the iPhone 4S is a bit different than the previous version. However, it still boasts the same slim look. Whenever Apple has added an “S” to the iPhone version, the main update has been to the internal technologies of the phone. With the 4S, the major changes include a dual-core processor, an upgraded camera, and brand-new voice-command technologies.

Andrew Rivkin: Apple iPhone 4S

The iPhone 4S

Andrew Rivkin is extremely pleased with the increased processing speed of the iPhone 4S. The Apple-designed A5 processor powers the 4S. The dual-core processor is one generation more advanced than the A4 processor that powers the iPhone 4. A speed test was conducted between the original iPhone 4 and the newly released iPhone 4S. The results showed that the 4S is twice as fast as its predecessor.

The most exciting upgrade on the iPhone 4S is Siri. This newly developed technology replaces the original Apple “Voice Control” function. Whether it be talking to a machine over the phone or talking to the GPS in your car, it is always difficult to get the voice recognition to fully understand what you are saying. Siri takes care of this issue and is capable of understanding almost anything you say to it.

Andrew Rivkin can see Siri becoming very beneficial when driving on the streets of Toronto and is in need of finding a good restaurant in the area. Simply asking the iPhone to find restaurants in the specified area by voice command will yield results from search engines such as Yelp. No need to go to the Internet browser on the phone. No typing necessary. Just let Siri take care of it.

One possible explanation for the release of the iPhone 4S instead of the much-anticipated iPhone 5 is the contract lengths of most large wireless service providers. Most contract terms are for two or three years. If Apple wants to maximize its sales of the iPhone 5 it is best to wait two years after the release of the iPhone 4. Andrew Rivkin expects Apple to release the iPhone 5 in about six months.

Poker Player Andrw Rivkin Rides the Wave of Popularity

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In the early 1990’s, Andrew Rivkin and his brother Mark ventured into the online gaming industry and changed it forever. With Cryptologic, they created a new way to play in the virtual world while reaping real life money and prizes. Part of the success drew upon the business acumen of the Rivkin brothers, but another part was due to both their understanding and love of playing card games. Continue reading →

A Quality Home Theatre System is Ideal for Watching Movies, Says Andrew Rivkin

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With ventures into the world of online gaming and new media, entrepreneur Andrew Rivkin has demonstrated a keen understanding and appreciation for sight, sound, and interaction with all forms of media. Andrew firmly believes that if one is going to experience music, movies, or television, that an environment should be created to get the best quality possible. With a proper home theatre system, Rivkin argues, watching your favourite movie will be much more enjoyable and rewarding. Continue reading →