July 10, 2007
With millions still salivating at the sight of Jesusphone iPhone, market is abuzz with rumors that Apple “is developing a cheaper device aimed at younger customers”. Come to think of it, iPod didn’t hit critical mass until Mini came along in a kaleidescope of 70’s psychedelic pastel packaging. Before long, sleek Nano took the market by storm.
Analysts speculate that a “Nano phone” that sells for half the price of regular iPhones “could be just the ticket to” iPod sort of success for Apple. If so, we’re likely to see more of the merging of look and feel of the iPhone and the iPod.
July 5, 2007
“Cometh the iPhone, cometh the iCult” is among the clever headlines we came across last week amid the iFrenzy over the launch of “Jesus phone”, which, by most measures, has broken new ground on design.
That said, is the iPhone truly a breakthrough device? No matter: perception is reality in the headlong pursuit of coolness. Imagine, if Nokia said it’s launching a phone that had no keyboard, was only 2.5G, it would’ve been crucified. Hence kudos to Steve Jobs for trailblazing the outsourced product marketing to an “entire nation of volunteers”.
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June 27, 2007
If Goldman Sachs and Google have anything in common, it’s their shared demand and fierce competition for the latest crop of computer wizards. This year the premier Wall St firm appears to be losing out to the crème de la crème Google, if this Bloomberg report is any guide.
The ferocious demand for the bright young things underscores the essential skills in today’s market place: the ability to write the algorithms used in computer-based trading and search engines.
The “greed is good” Wall Street mantra has been steadily eroded by the west coast coolness (translation: entrepreneurs are in it for the money), personified by a roster of technology startups. Small wonder the hottest offer right now is Google’s.
We interrupt our R&R and Paris Hilton watch to bring you this: the inherent appeal of MySpace vs Facebook. Whether you’re on the former or the latter patently says a lot about you, or so some socio-structure inclined minds tend to think.
As Facebook has branched out from a predominately college network to a more embracing one, MySpace remains the open-to-all bazaar where everyone is anyone can flog his or her ware. So much so it leads some to argue that MySpace has attained an uneviable virtual ghetto reputation, allowing the upward mobile Facebook to charge ahead and become a must-have for network-hungry college kids and post-collegiate professionals.
No one can blame the aspiring networkers, as Tina Brown, author of the Diana Chronicles and social networker exemplar, once famously said, “You don’t make friends, you make contacts.” However, if the argument holds, will Facebook turn into another LinkedIn? Probably not. But the diverging of people flocking to the top social networking sites makes for a fascinating subject as it sits at the intersection of identity and online pop culture.
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June 19, 2007
Terry Semel’s resignation came at a time when shareholder activist groups lambasted Yahoo for his 2006 pay package of $71.7m, which was the highest among S&P 500 chief executives surveyed by AP. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s share price fell 35% in 2006 and shareholders’ dissatisfaction was on full display at last week’s annual meeting.
Is Jerry Yang following the footsteps of Michael Dell, who in February returned to the struggling computer maker he founded in 1984. Not exactly. Albeit a “chief Yahoo”, Yang has not run the company he and David Filo founded in 1995 but he promised yesterday to keep Yahoo a “vibrant, independent company”.
Judging from the 4.3% jump in shares yesterday, investors apparently think after its poor run, any change at Yahoo is a good thing. But the triumvirate of Semel, Yang and Decker has a long way to go to prove skeptics wrong.
June 15, 2007
A documentary, “Tom is not your friend”, is doing the rounds on YouTube. Whether you’re a social networking fanatic or into conspiracy theory, MySpace is a cultural touchstone of our time. Now read the unauthorized history of MySpace.com.
June 13, 2007
In a further sign that the next big thing in video-sharing and social-networking services is delivering such content on mobile phones, Nokia - the world’s No. 1 cell phone maker - has put its financial arm around Kyte, a video-sharing startup.
Kyte.tv allows Internet users to create their own TV channel and broadcast it on Web sites, blogs, social networks, and mobile phones. You can share Kyte channels with others or have them add their own content, voting, and chatting live with other viewers.
Nokia, for its part, has long jumped on the video-sharing bandwagon. The Nokia Video Center program allows users to find, view, and store video on Nokia N-series smartphones.
In a move that betrays its intention to fight for a bigger share of the world’s second-largest Internet market, MySpace China is set to roll out an IM service “as soon as possible”.
It’s likely to face stiff competition from the current market leader “QQ” messaging service that has a staggering 79% of the Chinese market. MSN Messenger, with over 20 million users, is also entrenched among teenagers and young professionals there.
MySpace China was launched in April, extending the popular social network into the country of more than 140 million Web users. It faces an uphill battle to localize its content in order to take on a bevy of local Chinese social networking sites including 51.com, Tudou.com and Rox.com.cn.
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June 12, 2007
Investors who expected a showcase of head-turning new products at Apple’s annual software developer conference in San Francisco were sorely disappointed. A one-day drop of 3.5% of its sharesis nothing to Jobs & Co, as they encroach further into the territories of Microsoft and cable and satellite operators.
Currently Microsoft’s Internet explores has 78% of market share in Web browers, open-source Firefox 15%, while Safari roughly 5%. By making Safari available to users of Microsoft’s Windows and Vista operating systems would help Apple “attract more developers” to its software platform and “open the iPhone to outside software developers”.
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June 7, 2007
Handicapping the next big new media/tech (M&A) deal has become a parlor game not just for button-down IBankers but anyone with an eye on the market ever since Google’s staggering $1.65 billion purchase of YouTube last year. Two oft-mentioned names popped up again amid the recent comfy spring weather.
First off, Facebook: Its on-again, off-again mating dance with Yahoo is rumored to be on again. While the 23-year old Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, has been holding out for $2 billion, seriously, does the resurfaced murmur have anything to do with Valleyfreude, a parody of the Avenue Q “Schadenfreude”, by Mark’s sister, Randi?
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