Google had a busy week last week.
First and foremost they have revealed what their wireless Internet access modeol may look like. In their bid for the San Francisco free wireless access service they show that they will subsidise free access by offering location based advertising in their growing local listings service.
And by doing this they also provide insight and opportuntiy for wireless firms all over to reduce wireless data charges by offering such localised and digital advertising, for both Wi-Fi technology and mobile networks can pin point your location down to at least a couple of blocks.
And Google make it clear to us that both wirless search and advertising as well as Internet directory/local listings will be big business for them going forwards.
Separately Google launched a real estate search and advertising service on Google Base and a partnership with Discovery Channel to run streaming video of world leading locations on top of Google Maps.
Google had another strong week. The year is picking up for them and their stock price seems to be edging up nicely again to reflect this.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
RIM's Blackberry growth slows
RIM announced results yesterday which reveal a slowing in it's Blackberry division. And analysts are asking themselves whether the corporate wireless email market is gradually slowing.
The BlackBerry maker reported fiscal 4th quarter net income of $18.4 million, up from a $2.6 million loss a year earlier. But it said it expects 1st quarter revenue of $580 million to $610 million and to add some 675,000 new subscribers, signs of slowing growth. And their shares fell $4.60, or 5.4% on Nasdaq.
The inevitable slowdown for Blackberry has begun. Their legal battles with NTP may be behind them - but it has dented confidence in them and their popular wireless devices. And growing competition from Microsoft and Nokia is already having an effect.
The million dollar question is whether the legal tussles have just led to a short term delay in purchases of Blackberry technology or is this the beginning of a longer term decline for the leader in wireless email. I'm afraid I think it could be the latter.
The BlackBerry maker reported fiscal 4th quarter net income of $18.4 million, up from a $2.6 million loss a year earlier. But it said it expects 1st quarter revenue of $580 million to $610 million and to add some 675,000 new subscribers, signs of slowing growth. And their shares fell $4.60, or 5.4% on Nasdaq.
The inevitable slowdown for Blackberry has begun. Their legal battles with NTP may be behind them - but it has dented confidence in them and their popular wireless devices. And growing competition from Microsoft and Nokia is already having an effect.
The million dollar question is whether the legal tussles have just led to a short term delay in purchases of Blackberry technology or is this the beginning of a longer term decline for the leader in wireless email. I'm afraid I think it could be the latter.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Verizon to buy Vodafone's share in Verizon Wireless
The markest are rife with rumours today that Verizon is on the verge of concluding a deal with Vodafone to gain 100% ownership in Verizon Wireless. This makes complete sense for both parties and would provide a welcome cash boost for beleaguered Vodafone.
For Vodafone's stake in Verizon Wireless is probably worth over $50bn. Nice investment. I would expect some announcement soon - but let's see!
For Vodafone's stake in Verizon Wireless is probably worth over $50bn. Nice investment. I would expect some announcement soon - but let's see!
Apple launches software to allow Intel Apple computers to run Windows XP
Apple's Intel strategy has just got a bunch clearer today. They plan to increase their market share and take on Windows compatible PC's by allowing their new Intel computers to run BOTH the Mac O/S and Windows XP. Buy downloading a simple piece of software Mac Intel users can run Windows XP seamlessly on their computers alongside the Mac O/S.
Bingo, now a major reason why so many Windows users have never dared to convert to Mac's has just disappeared and in one fell swoop Apple should be open to many digit point increases in their market share.
Consumers can really have their cake and eat it. Windows for office applications and functions and Mac applications for your personal life and digital entertainment. This is a big announcement for Apple and could prove more bad news for Dell.
Bingo, now a major reason why so many Windows users have never dared to convert to Mac's has just disappeared and in one fell swoop Apple should be open to many digit point increases in their market share.
Consumers can really have their cake and eat it. Windows for office applications and functions and Mac applications for your personal life and digital entertainment. This is a big announcement for Apple and could prove more bad news for Dell.
Samsung to take on Motorola with even slimmer mobile phones
Samsung is to take on the hottest selling US mobile phones - the Slvr from Motorola with an even thinner phone - proving yet again that the consumer loves small mobile phones. And in the US users are likely to have multiple devices such as mobile phones, PDA's/Blackberry's and iPods.
Equipped with a color screen for playing videos and an external memory slot, the silver, candy-bar-shaped t509 phone is 9.8 millimeters thick, which makes it thinner than the 11.5-millimeter Slvr, a sibling of the clamshell Razr.
Samsung is on a rip this year and plans to launch a barrage of new cell phones and MP3 digital music players. Motorola, Nokia and Apple need watch their backs. Samsung's breathing down teir necks.
Equipped with a color screen for playing videos and an external memory slot, the silver, candy-bar-shaped t509 phone is 9.8 millimeters thick, which makes it thinner than the 11.5-millimeter Slvr, a sibling of the clamshell Razr.
Samsung is on a rip this year and plans to launch a barrage of new cell phones and MP3 digital music players. Motorola, Nokia and Apple need watch their backs. Samsung's breathing down teir necks.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Music industry in unprecedented legal attacks on illegal music downloading
The music industry has just launched a new wave of lawsuits and criminal proceedings against file-sharers across Europe, part of its drive to curb online piracy and encourage the use of legal music services.
About 2,000 cases were launched in 10 countries, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said in a statement, bringing the total to 5,500 people in 18 countries.
This is a massive attack on illegal music and one which should truly begin the process of killing off the abuse of music copyright and will set important precedent for all digital copyright. Thank goodness.
Sure helps boost iTunes at the same time!
NTL buys Virgin Mobile and creates the communications and media company of the future
Virgin Mobile, the UK-based mobile phone operator controlled by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, has finally accepted cable group NTL’s takeover offer valued at £962.4m ($1.7bn).
NTL will have the use of Virgin’s brand for its consumer business under a 30-year licensing agreement that stipulates a minimum royalty each year of £8.5m.
NTL will have the use of Virgin’s brand for its consumer business under a 30-year licensing agreement that stipulates a minimum royalty each year of £8.5m.
The deal creates the UK’s first media company to offer “quadruple play”, comprising television, broadband and fixed-line and mobile phone services. And creates a new communications and entertainement juggernaut with the all-powerful Virgin brand behind it.
In my oppionion Richard Branson has just pulled off one of his most brilliant and strategic moves. As the leading shareholder in NTL he can become a key player in the new media space - where media, tech and telecomms converge.
BBC and Sky had better watch out! I'm a big believer in the potential of the new NTL and if they get it right, with converged digital music and video, mobile TV and broadband Internet access, utilising the Virgin brand and even Virgin services and content - they can truly become a leader in the next generation of communications and entertainment companies.
And they'll shake the entire UK market up behind them. That'll benefit every consumer.
Computer Sciences up for sale?
It looks like leading outsourcing firm Computer Sciences (CSC) is up for sale. They have appointed Goldman Sachs to review their options - which is corporate speak for "we want to sell the company".
And you can't really blame them, for outsourcing has become less du jour lately. IT has become strategic again and companies are taking IT back in-house. Plus, the large all-encompassing outsourcing contracts are no longer the way governments or businesses want to go. If they outsource they want specific processes covered under specific contracts.
The likes of CSC have also not been helped by a bunch of new Indian lower cost outsourcing firms entering the market. It could prove a tough challenge to find a buyer. Lots have looked, including EDS, HP and a bunch of private equity players - and no one has bitten.
But, with CSC's announcement that they will shed 8,000 staff in Europe - that just might make them more attractive. Expect the Private Equity dudes to circle.
And you can't really blame them, for outsourcing has become less du jour lately. IT has become strategic again and companies are taking IT back in-house. Plus, the large all-encompassing outsourcing contracts are no longer the way governments or businesses want to go. If they outsource they want specific processes covered under specific contracts.
The likes of CSC have also not been helped by a bunch of new Indian lower cost outsourcing firms entering the market. It could prove a tough challenge to find a buyer. Lots have looked, including EDS, HP and a bunch of private equity players - and no one has bitten.
But, with CSC's announcement that they will shed 8,000 staff in Europe - that just might make them more attractive. Expect the Private Equity dudes to circle.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Hiollywood finally embraces digital films!
Hollywood’s largest studios are for the first time today offering consumers the ability to download and own films from the internet on the same day that they're released on DVD, marking a critical milestone in the industry’s embrace of digital distribution.
The service is being launched by Movielink, an online joint venture formed in 2002 by MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers. Movielink has so far been slow to gain momentum because it traditionally received films 30 to 60 days after they were released on DVD, and could only rent them to customers on a temporary basis. Der!
Thanks to an agreement between the founding studios and Fox, you can now both own the movies (on your hard disc - you can't burn them to a DVD yet) and get them at the same time as they come out on DVD. If you go to the site today for around $20 you can buy the likes of "Walk the Line", "King Kong" and tomorrow you can get "Brokebeck Mountain".
This will prove to be a major boost for digital films. And with the opening up of MovieLink expect Hollywood to get much more aggressive about offering their movies on iTunes, Google Video, Yahoo and AOL.
The day has arrived where each and every one of us can start building our digital film library. And the beginning of the real slowdown in DVD sales has just begun.
The service is being launched by Movielink, an online joint venture formed in 2002 by MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers. Movielink has so far been slow to gain momentum because it traditionally received films 30 to 60 days after they were released on DVD, and could only rent them to customers on a temporary basis. Der!
Thanks to an agreement between the founding studios and Fox, you can now both own the movies (on your hard disc - you can't burn them to a DVD yet) and get them at the same time as they come out on DVD. If you go to the site today for around $20 you can buy the likes of "Walk the Line", "King Kong" and tomorrow you can get "Brokebeck Mountain".
This will prove to be a major boost for digital films. And with the opening up of MovieLink expect Hollywood to get much more aggressive about offering their movies on iTunes, Google Video, Yahoo and AOL.
The day has arrived where each and every one of us can start building our digital film library. And the beginning of the real slowdown in DVD sales has just begun.
Nokia phones hitting the market that target the iPod and Blackberry devices
Nokia is currently hitting the market with three phones designed to compete head on with the iPod and Blackberry devices.
The company's premium music phone, the N91, will start shipping this week, according to Nokia's Multimedia division. The phone's 4GB hard drive stores up to 3,000 songs.
The N71 and N80 phones, designed to take on Blackberry devices, will start deliveries in the next two weeks.
These devices in my opinion respectively present the first real and present danger to both the iPod and to the Blackberry. Storing 3,000 songs makes the mobile phone/music player a reality. And the email and calender functions of the two Nokia business devices will allow corporations a real alternative to the Blackberry.
The multi-million dollar question is how easy Nokia's devices will be to use. For Apple and RIM's success relies strongly on their simplicity out of the box, something they can pull of more effectivley given both companies control the hardware, software and services.
Nokia only has the hardware and software part of the equation - leaving the services part to the operators, something the operators to date have not been great at. But, they're learning fast.
Apple and RIM both have to keep pushing innovation's envelope to stand a chance of hanging on to their existing market shares. That means more features on your Blackberry and a mobile phone enabled iPod - surely!
The company's premium music phone, the N91, will start shipping this week, according to Nokia's Multimedia division. The phone's 4GB hard drive stores up to 3,000 songs.
The N71 and N80 phones, designed to take on Blackberry devices, will start deliveries in the next two weeks.
These devices in my opinion respectively present the first real and present danger to both the iPod and to the Blackberry. Storing 3,000 songs makes the mobile phone/music player a reality. And the email and calender functions of the two Nokia business devices will allow corporations a real alternative to the Blackberry.
The multi-million dollar question is how easy Nokia's devices will be to use. For Apple and RIM's success relies strongly on their simplicity out of the box, something they can pull of more effectivley given both companies control the hardware, software and services.
Nokia only has the hardware and software part of the equation - leaving the services part to the operators, something the operators to date have not been great at. But, they're learning fast.
Apple and RIM both have to keep pushing innovation's envelope to stand a chance of hanging on to their existing market shares. That means more features on your Blackberry and a mobile phone enabled iPod - surely!
Podcasting becoming more mainstream
Podcasting is becoming increasingly mainstream according to an article in CNET News.com today.
"According to Bridge Research, there are about 9 million podcast listeners today. Conservative analyst projections peg that the audience will reach around 12 million in the United States alone by 2010.
The "corportization" of podcasts is contributing somewhat to this growth, as the big media brands take over the format from the geek fringe. But almost every pundit agrees the biggest killer app for the format is the one most difficult to obtain--music."
And Podcasting is allowing a whole new generation of radio entrepreneurs to reach new audiences and generate revenues through advertising. Podcasting is a new digital media and one which alongside video podcasting can allow anyone to create a mutli-media portal at almost no cost.
The garage radio station and film studio has almost arrived! And with it record labels and film studios will be forced to jump on the bandwagon by 2010 at the latest.
"According to Bridge Research, there are about 9 million podcast listeners today. Conservative analyst projections peg that the audience will reach around 12 million in the United States alone by 2010.
The "corportization" of podcasts is contributing somewhat to this growth, as the big media brands take over the format from the geek fringe. But almost every pundit agrees the biggest killer app for the format is the one most difficult to obtain--music."
And Podcasting is allowing a whole new generation of radio entrepreneurs to reach new audiences and generate revenues through advertising. Podcasting is a new digital media and one which alongside video podcasting can allow anyone to create a mutli-media portal at almost no cost.
The garage radio station and film studio has almost arrived! And with it record labels and film studios will be forced to jump on the bandwagon by 2010 at the latest.
Verizon sells out of Caribbean and Latin America
Verizon has agreed to sell its Caribbean and Latin American operations for about $3.7 billion to companies controlled by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu.
This is consistent with Verizon's strategy of focusing on rolling out hi-speed fibre optic newtorks in the US so they can become a leader in telecomms, broadband Internet and TV-on-demand alongside AT&T.
This will also improve their balance sheet a little - though they do need to get on with buying the rest of Verizon Wireless from Vodafone - and that won't come cheap.
This is consistent with Verizon's strategy of focusing on rolling out hi-speed fibre optic newtorks in the US so they can become a leader in telecomms, broadband Internet and TV-on-demand alongside AT&T.
This will also improve their balance sheet a little - though they do need to get on with buying the rest of Verizon Wireless from Vodafone - and that won't come cheap.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Alcatel and Lucent to merge
The weekend meetings between the two telecom equipment giants have clearly proved productive as Alcatel and Lucent have agreed to merge.
Alcatel's boss will become Chairman and Lucent's head will be CEO. The company will be based in Paris and have combined revenues of $25bn and a global workforce of 90,000, which will shrink by 10% as they gain merger efficiencies.
It has taken the two companies 5 years to actually manage to put a merger together - and the fact that they have to now proves how much the telco landscape has changed in the last 5 years as their customers, such as Verizon and AT&T have bulked up and put pressure on their suppliers margins.
Alcatel and Lucent have also been forced to merge with the entry of lower cost competition from the Chinese and from the entry of Cisco to the market with their new fangled Internet gear for operators.
So the telecomms equipment market starts its path to consolidation, mirroring that of their telcco customers. The only question is who will merge next - Siemens, Ericcson or Nortel? I wonder...
Alcatel's boss will become Chairman and Lucent's head will be CEO. The company will be based in Paris and have combined revenues of $25bn and a global workforce of 90,000, which will shrink by 10% as they gain merger efficiencies.
It has taken the two companies 5 years to actually manage to put a merger together - and the fact that they have to now proves how much the telco landscape has changed in the last 5 years as their customers, such as Verizon and AT&T have bulked up and put pressure on their suppliers margins.
Alcatel and Lucent have also been forced to merge with the entry of lower cost competition from the Chinese and from the entry of Cisco to the market with their new fangled Internet gear for operators.
So the telecomms equipment market starts its path to consolidation, mirroring that of their telcco customers. The only question is who will merge next - Siemens, Ericcson or Nortel? I wonder...
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Sony launches "LocationFree TV"
Sony has just launched "LocationFree TV" for travellers wanting to watch their local TV stations or for home sick ex-pats. It is currently selling well in Japan at around $260.
Sony's dream of freeing TV from the confines of the living room is looking more like reality with a gadget that allows you to watch local broadcasts on a PC even if you are thousands of miles from home.
And it's simple. You just buy a little black box which connects to your anntenae at home and streams compressed TV to your "LocationFree" enabled device over a broadband Internet connection. So if travelling you could have your local TV beamed to your laptop while in the airport or even your cellphone while in the Metro.
The price is good and the idea strong. This could be a winner for Sony. Shame I can't beam it to my iPod.
Sony's dream of freeing TV from the confines of the living room is looking more like reality with a gadget that allows you to watch local broadcasts on a PC even if you are thousands of miles from home.
And it's simple. You just buy a little black box which connects to your anntenae at home and streams compressed TV to your "LocationFree" enabled device over a broadband Internet connection. So if travelling you could have your local TV beamed to your laptop while in the airport or even your cellphone while in the Metro.
The price is good and the idea strong. This could be a winner for Sony. Shame I can't beam it to my iPod.
Alcatel and Lucent look set to complete merger
Alcatel and Lucent look like they may actually do a deal this time round. Five years after falling out in a previous merger attempt the two parties are due to get together this weekend to thrash the last details before potentially announcing a deal next week.
Or maybe not. The two are for ever at odds over the boards composition and currently arguing over whether Alcatel should have two more board seats to reflect the 60/40 ownership split in Alcatels favour.
And they do love falling out over management issues - but with the prize of creating such an industry juggernaut I would have thought that this time they'll come to a compromise and the telecomms equipment space will have a new trans-altlantic 800lb gorrilla. Let's see!
Or maybe not. The two are for ever at odds over the boards composition and currently arguing over whether Alcatel should have two more board seats to reflect the 60/40 ownership split in Alcatels favour.
And they do love falling out over management issues - but with the prize of creating such an industry juggernaut I would have thought that this time they'll come to a compromise and the telecomms equipment space will have a new trans-altlantic 800lb gorrilla. Let's see!
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