Introducing Chrome - Another me-too?

Some of us see this as Google’s desperate attempt to redefine an established market and trying hard to extend beyond its core search business. But some see that this could challenge Microsoft dominance in the Browser market. In the already crowded browser market space, Google released a me-too Internet browser today.

This new browser lets users run many applications that once worked only when installed on local PCs, executives said on Tuesday. Chrome, available in 43 languages in 100 countries at www.google.com/chrome, has been designed to download software and Web pages faster than existing browsers. It even allows users to keep working when one of its windows crashes.

We have seen attempts like this before from Google. Google tried to create Second life type of Virtual World that went nowhere. And remember Friendster? Oh wait, what about Google OS?

Let’s see how much Google will succeed from this latest attempt. The stock closed at $465.

Download Chrome here.

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Is Cuil really cool?

Silicon Valley’s latest hype - Cuil. Google former search experts Tom Costello and Anna Patterson created a new start-up to take search to the next level. Utilizing the semantic approach to search that understand how words are related to return more relevant results to users.

Investors poured $33 million into the startup and Cuil clearly dominated tech headlines today. If you are investor these days with couple of millions to play with, you certainly would be looking into search engines.

Highlights of the service include a new user interface that is very different from the traditional two column approach adopted by most popular search engines like Yahoo or Google, with results on the left and paid advertisements on the right hand side.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1502269&objectid=10524092

Google slided 3% today in trading (unrelated to the Cuil news) closed at 477.12 down 56% from its peak last fall.

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Launching soon: $200 Apple iPhone 3G

Apple officially announced its launch of the next generation iPhone 3G. Key take-aways from Job’s speech at the Worldwide Developer Conference meeting..

· The new, 3G iPhone will sell for $199 for 8GB of storage, $299 for 16GB

· Launch delayed by 6 weeks (July 11) L

· Support for full location based GPS service

· 3G iPhone will 300 hours of standby time, improved from 8 hours to 10 hours on 2G talk time, and he’s quoting 5 hours of 3G talk time. Browsing should give you 5-6 hours, video 7 hours, and audio 24 hours of continuous operation.

· The 3G speeds are close to Wi-Fi

· Enterprise e-mail support (sorry Crackberry fans)

· 22 countries will get 3G iPhones first

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Apple’s upcoming iMac has made a tentative appearance in US retail channel systems. Meanwhile, one rumor has the 3G iPhone receiving both GPS and a significant visual update, an analyst calls WWDC’s opening “D-Day” for new iPhone models, and the latest SDK for the handset may allow background apps.
* AT&T is cut the price of new iPhone to $200

http://techland.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/04/29/att-to-cut-the-price-of-apples-new-iphone/

* Apple announced there are no more iPhones left in its U.S. and U.K. online stores.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/latestheadlines/ci_9234243?nclick_check=1

* Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says the devices are in short supply at many of the retail outlets as well.

* AT&T’s product listing includes a new option — “iPhone Black,” the rumored color of the 3G model.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/05/12/att_now_showing_iphone_black_model_in_device_listing.html

* Apple has confirmed to Fortune that Steve Jobs will deliver a keynote address on June 9, the first day of Apple’s World Wide Developers conference.

http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/12/3g-iphone-steve-jobs-to-deliver-keynote-june-9/

* AT&T told retail employees not to schedule any vacation between June 15 and July 12 to ensure sufficient staffing for “an exciting Summer Promotional Launch.”

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/05/06/apple-and-att-to-launch-iphone-3g-a-lot-sooner-than-we-think/

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Yahoo Board - Icahn Face-off Part Deux (Update)

In this continuing saga, Icahn has recently shot off an angry letter to Yahoo’s management proposing them to fire Jerry Yang and others in the board to make way for a more Microsoft friendly board.

One would question the real motive behind Icahn’s move. Obviously he is here to make a buck (albeit under the covers of providing shareholder value). We discussed in the first part in detail.

http://www.vitaltrends.info/digital_media/yahoo-board-icann-face-off.html

Yahoo is in a precarious position here. As long as it manages to keep the major shareholders from turning to the dark side (Icahn as Darth Vader), it will be able to stave-off this merger threat. But in the end Yahoo might give-in to the pressure and agree to the $33/share deal with Microsoft.

Icahn writes “I have long been cynical about the effectiveness of many of the boards and CEOs in this country and as a result the inability of our companies to compete. I have constantly complained about how far CEOs and boards will go in order to retain their jobs, yet even I am amazed at the length Jerry Yang and the Yahoo board have gone to in order to entrench their positions and keep shareholders from deciding if they wished to sell to Microsoft.”

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2008/tc2008064_740360.htm

Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board Roy Bostock responded today to this letter

“Your letter seriously misrepresents and manipulates the facts regarding the recent events pertaining to Microsoft and Yahoo!. You rely on, as “facts,” a series of unsubstantiated allegations from a complaint filed in a Delaware court which grossly misstate the very clear record and position established by the Yahoo! Board.”

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2008/tc2008064_578861.htm

Icahn’s roll call of stock market successes include profitable showdowns with Marshall Field, Phillips Petroleum, Texaco, USX and, most recently, BEA Systems. There have been flops, too: the now-defunct airline TWA and video rental chain Blockbuster Inc., whose stock has lost nearly two-thirds of its value since Icahn bought a stake in the company in 2005 and muscled his way on to the board of directors. (From AP)

See Icahn’s interview with WSJ - http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid452319854/bctid1079215502

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New CPM Rates Re-iterates Long Tail’s significance

The new PubMatic AdPrice Index indicates Long Tail content demands more CPM value than regular content.

Small Web site: Less than 1 million page views per month

Medium Web site: Between 1 million and 100 million page views per month

Large Web site: Over 100 million page views per month

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What’s Next in Mobile: Point, Snap, Talk and Search

What exactly will be the nature of mobile search in the future? How will technology enable people to conveniently search and retrieve relevant information from the touch of a button from their mobile handset (be it an iPhone, Blackberry or some other smart device)? Say, you are visiting the Grand Canyon or the Empire State Building for the first time and you want to know the history of the site or the building, wouldn’t it be nice to point your phone, snap a picture and do a search on the building and get your answers instantaneously. This type of sophisticated search is not far in the future.

A number of companies are looking into capitalizing the new wave of mobile search. For instance Microsoft is working on software called Lincoln that, once downloaded into phones, will allow people to access online movie reviews by just snapping pictures of movie posters, DVD covers, or from an advertisement on a magazine or displayed on the side of buses.

But Microsoft is not alone. There are other players in the market. Kooaba and SnapTell services allows you to point to a real-world object, snap it and send pictures to their servers that will return results relevant to the context of the object.

http://blog.crispwireless.com/index.php/category/chan-komagan/

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Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook 3-way?

Is this rumor worth looking into? Zuckerberg repeatedly denied selling Facebook to anyone. Given the fact, Microsoft already has a stake in Facebook, would they make a 2 way deal with Facebook and Yahoo to stave off Google’s threat?

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/17867/Yahoo-Microsoft-Facebook-3-way?tickers=yhoo,msft,goog

The speculation is that Microsoft will buy Yahoo’s search and then buy Facebook for $15 to $20 billion. Google is locked out of the Facebook access that soon will be owned by Microsoft. We will never get an open Web back if these two deals happen.

Collins Stewart analyst Sanded Aggarwal reported earlier today that Microsoft might buy key pieces of Yahoo’s online operations instead of doing a search advertising partnership or acquiring the entire company. He values Yahoo’s search technology at $21 billion, its display advertising service at $14 billion and its Internet holdings outside the United States at $9.25 billion.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080519/microsoft_yahoo.html

Hmm..let’s see how this is all going to turn out.

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Taking Iron man seriously

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, I recommend watching it (especially if you are a Tech geek). 

Sarcos Inc. has taken the concept from Iron Man and run with it, producing a mature exoskeleton design that may just possibly lead to the first real life “Iron Man” suit.  Sarcos comes from a decidedly non-militaristic background of designing robots for “Jurassic Park” rides at the Universal Studios theme park.  However, the contractor quickly morphed into a military contractor embarking on an exciting new project — the Sarcos Suit.

http://www.dailytech.com/Building+An+Iron+Man+Pt+I++Military+Grade+Exoskeleton/article11810.htm

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Yahoo Board - Icahn Face-off

Earlier this year, we predicted that Microsoft will bid for Yahoo. And it came true. Unfortunately Yahoo wanted more from Microsoft and the deal fell apart. Now that this long takeover saga has failed, what will Yahoo do next? A number of options have been thrown into the mix

1) Deepen its relationship with Google by outsourcing some of its search advertising to Google

2) Merge  with News Corp (which did not go anywhere)

http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSWEN542720080504

3) Merge with Time Warner’s AOL (no progress there either)

In this ever evolving saga, the latest news is that the omni-present board activist Carl Icahn who is famous for forcing companies to change their strategies will seek control of Yahoo. Icahn has successfully pressured and convinced several boards to give into take over bids. Remember Medimmune? Lear Corporation? or BEA Systems? He was successful in those take-over deals. Although he did fail in the case of Motorola. He didn’t manage to get a board seat there.

I digress, anyhow what Icahn is proposing is that he wants his own slate of board members to take over Yahoo’s current board. This new board will try to reopen talks with Microsoft, which walked away from its $47.5 billion offer this month. I am sure he bought a good % stake in Yahoo (50 million to be specific) right after Yahoo stock plummeted after Microsoft dropped the bid.

Now given his history of successful board-room activistm, I am pretty sure he will influence Yahoo’s board to re-approach Microsoft’s board. This is working pretty well for Microsoft.

We still predict that Yahoo will merge with Microsoft before the end of the year.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/carl-icahn-destroy-yahoo/story.aspx?guid=%7BB3DF0AF7-2898-428F-9AD7-FE0E9766BA9B%7D

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On a related news, CBS is buying CNET for $1.8B in cash. The acquisition will increase the total of unique monthly visitors to CBS sites to around 200 million worldwide. CNET brands include CNET, GameSpot, Tv.com, ZDNet, BNET, CHOW and TechRepublic.

Filed under: Digital Media | | 1 Comment »

Digital advertising will drive future revenue growth

Media and entertainment companies are in strong consensus as to what will propel the future growth of the digital market, where the opportunities lie and what will drive revenues over the next five years, according to a study conducted by Accenture.

Four of the main sources of revenue growth cited by respondents are multi-platform distribution, short form video, social media and advertising.

When asked when they believe the mobile market will become a mass market, respondents were split, with slightly more than half (55 percent) saying within three years. On the other hand, 45 percent said they believe it will take longer.

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/944.html

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Microsoft says No to Yahoo buyout

May 03, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Microsoft Corp. has withdrawn its $42.3 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc., scrapping an attempt to snap up the tarnished Internet icon in hopes of toppling online search and advertising leader Google Inc.

http://www.komotv.com/news/18550409.html

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080503/microsoft_yahoo_timeline.html

Watch Yahoo stock plunge on Monday morning trading. I suspect Yahoo trade in lower 20s.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Why Apple’s iPhone matters?

Apple’s earnings this week blew away Wall Street’s expectations. Apple sold 1.7 million phones in the last quarter alone and it is on track to sell 10 million phones by year-end. Apple’s iPhone entry not only disrupted the mobile device market but also cracked open the carrier-centric structure of the wireless industry. Apple used its design prowess and product development experience in creating a simple, powerful and yet elegant device. Before Apple entered the device market, the market was dominated by major mobile players including RIM’s Blackberry, Motorola and Nokia. Many predicted that Apple won’t be able to make its footprint in an already overcrowded market.

But within the first 6 months, Apple managed to sell over 5 million phones. Analysts at Piper Jaffray expect Apple to capture at least 7% market share by 2009. This is huge for a new entrant given that they have no history in the mobile industry. The chart below shows that iPhone has already taken over Symbian and WinCE as the No.1 player in the Browser market. Symbian’s share is huge outside of North America, but obviously it has the most to lose as Apple is planning to release the iPhone in every major International market, and already started in the U.K.

Smart Devices Market Share

Let’s look at the market share. iPhone continues to eat up into Window Mobile devices and Palm’s share and eventually challenge Blackberry’s dominance (perhaps next year??).

1. RIM’s Blackberry – 41%

2. Apple’s iPhone – 28%

3. All Window Mobile devices – 21%

4. Palm – 9%

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China has largest Internet users

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has surpassed the United States to become the world’s largest Internet-using population, reaching 221 million by the end of February, state media said on Thursday.The number of Internet users in China was 210 million at the end of last year, only 5 million fewer than the U.S. Internet users then, Xinhua news agency said, quoting the China Internet Network Information Centre.Reuters article on China Internet users

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HD enthusiasts crying foul over cable TV’s crunched signals

Interesting analysis from AP on HD signal quality 

For example, Discovery’s bit rate was 14.16 megabits per second on Verizon’s FiOS system but only 10.43 Mbps on Comcast; A&E HD was 18.66 Mbps on FiOS compared with 14.48 Mbps on Comcast. The FiOS system didn’t offer Sci Fi HD, which Fowler’s testing showed at 12.59 Mbps on Comcast.

The source image might not have been recorded in HD, or the television’s settings, the viewing angle and even the ambient lighting in the room could be the cause.

Derek Harrar, a Comcast senior vice president in charge of video, said the company recently began using new technology on some channels to compress three HD channels into the bandwidth of one analog station. Other channels continue to get the previous 2-to-1 compression.

Verizon’s FiOS doesn’t compress the signal once it receives it, and Willcox said it’s considered the picture quality “benchmark.” However, Verizon said the system is growing but is now available only in parts of 17 states and has just over a million subscribers — compared with more than 24 million for Comcast.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080420/compressed_hd.html

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Video Game industry growth looks solid

Despite the slowdown in the U.S economy, one industry is defying the gravity. Video games industry is posting some solid growth numbers. Take a look at the market stats here.

Filed under: Digital Media, Games | | No Comments »