Palm launches consumer Treo and promises they are not for sale(?)

Palm has announced that they too plan to launch a mass market (they wish) smartphone. I.e. an expensive PDA with a mobile phone attached - oh, and a camera, video and digital music. But I like my iPod?!

Palm are following Nokia who announced their consumer oriented smartphone (does that make all other phones dumb?), the E61 (awesome branding!) and Motorola with their Q!!!

Not to be left out BlackBerry have announced a consumer version too. How exciting!

Not wishing to put too much of a damper on things - are consumers really ready for mini-computer like (smart) phones? Or do they really just want to talk.

Remember the PDA market never got past a small niche of business execs, IT folk and richies. How much further can the smartphone really go?

Oh, and in a somewhat wierd aside Palm's CEO promises they are not for sale - which is mumbo jumbo voodoo corporate chatter for 'buy us please!'

Sony launch new Walkman's - and?

Sony have just launched a Christmas (I can say it!) stocking filler new Walkman range that they promise will increase their market share against Apple's iPod.

Increasing their market share may not be the hard part, the tough bit could be persuading consumers that they should spend loads more lolly for the new Walkman than a similar memory sized iPod.

Oh, but with these Walkman's you can download music from your CD player (just don't share it) and the noise reduction's meant to be dead cool.

So, for those of you who don't own a computer and work on construction sites - this baby's for you. The rest can hag on to their iPod for now!

Yahoo just keeps yabbering on to Facebook!

Apparently Yahoo is still yabbering on to Facebook, the student social networking site trying to keep up with MySpace, and is haggling over $1bn odd.

They promise that is loads of dosh for the two year old company, but the Facebook dudes are hanging out for more/out to lunch.

In the mean time Google keep gobbling up more advertisers/viewers.

Get moving Yahoo!

Wi-Fi gets a major boost with Skype and T-Mobile deals

Wi-Fi got a major boost today as Skype announced a pan-European mobile Internet telephony service (that was a mouthfull) with The Cloud.

Buy a certain device that I can't pronounce, pay $20 a month and you get Skype powered telephony accross The Clouds large Euro Wi-Fi network. Bingo!

And as if that was not enough T-Mobile have announced their first W-Fi enabled smartphone aptly named 'the Dash'. Or at least they promise it will be when they finally launch a 3G network.

Mind you, you should try Vodafone's for a laugh!

Google attacks Microsoft with beginnings of online Office!

Google today launched Google Docs and Spreadsheets yet again, again and we're now more confused than ever about which launch/beta is which and what exactly is Google's software application strategy.

The good news is that Google Docs and Spreadsheets (couldn't they have come up with a niftier name? How about Google Office?) is actually damned useful and not that hard to use even though the average schmo may find the spreadsheet a little challenging.

And where's the online help/call centre for me to stay hanging onto for ever?

Oh by the way, it could be that Google will launch a full competitor to Microsoft Office - over the Web naturally. Now there's a TechBoard tip if ever I've seen one!

Google set for video-ad deal with MySpace and Yahoo/MSN get to lick more wounds

Google is already flexing their newly discovered media power broking muscles (not a nice image), post acquiring YouTube, as they are scheduled to sit down with none less than Ruppie (Bear) Murdoch over their relationship with MySpace.

Its almost a love triangle.

And it seems Murdoch is miffed that they lost out to Google in the YouTube non-auction, but for the right slice of Google dosh (hey, at least they don't want options) of course they're anyone's.

Which means we can all expect a deal over video-ads at MySpace. And given the rates currently being charged (I know isn't it a scandal!) for Web video-ads, there should be loads of lolly to share. Tough luck TV networks.

In the mean time Yahoo and MSN are looking dafter than ever for losing the YouTube deal and may have to merge after all!

AOL's Euro restructuring almost complete!

UK mobile phone retailer and emerging telecomms group (with an almost triple play), the Carphone Warehouse, has snapped up AOL's UK dial-up/broadband business for just over $600M, making them the 3rd largest broadband supplier in the UK with over 2 million customers.

That completes AOL Europe's dumping of their dial up business as Neuf Cegetel and Telecom Italia have already bought the French and German units respectively. Poor dears.

AOL now just have to make money out of their free portal and jettison the US dial up service. Hey, their life's almost a breeze again!

Tech CEO's drop like flies in options wake - is Steve Jobs really safe?

Senior tech execs are tumbling like flies after a heavy night out.

Software maker McAfee today said George Samenuk resigned as chairman and CEO in the wake of a probe. Separately, Web publisher CNET announced its chief, Shelby Bonnie, and two other officers resigned.

Only yesterday Web job site, Monster.com, lost their CEO.

Who's next I wonder?

Surely not Steve Jobs at Apple? Well, he ain't entirely clean - but he's probably safe for now!

Microsoft helped SCO sue IBM - Ooooh!

Juicy techno, business gossipy news from CNET News.com,

"A former investor in the SCO Group has identified a Microsoft executive who, he said, worked to "backstop" a funding deal that ultimately helped SCO pursue its legal case against the Linux operating system."

The investor was Baystar Capital - and oh my God, they invested in one of my company's once!

HP's ex-CEO wants career in politics - oh my God!

As if HP needed any more media fuzz, now Carly Fiorina, their ex-CEO, has made it clear that she's considering a career in politics.

You'd have thought HP's politics would have been enough for one lifetime - I guess she's a sucker for punishment.

Sprint Nextel in deep doodoo!

Sprint Nextel is looking almost as executive'd out as Airbus (surely not!) as the recent defection of their COO has been today followed by the resignation of their Chairman Tim Donahue. Yep, the guy that made Nextel great.

And according to the company,

"His decision to give up both roles at the end of this year surprised some industry watchers. Sprint Nextel nevertheless insisted that his departure was voluntary and said a successor would be named to the executive chairman’s position shortly."

Which is corporate mumbo jumbo for oh shit we're right up the Keiber pass now and got no one to replace him (yet), but lets pretend like this is just business as usual. HELP!

And they need all the help they can get, 'cos being number 3 is never a good place to be - and the smaller players, T-Mobile in particular, want to eat their lunch.

Hey, they could pull off another merger - that should mask the real internal mess for a while longer. And maybe I should be Chairman!

What will Google do with YouTube?

Well, you don't have to look hard for the lead business story today - yep, its Google snatches up YouTube for a mere $1.65bn (in Google stock).

And who said video over the Internet isn't as hot as a baked potato! It is - and Google/YouTube is now the clear leader (with over a third of the market).

Google promise that the two sites will be run independently, bla bla bla!

YouTube's founders, Hurley (is he Liz's brother?) and Chen, are worth a mountain of Google beans and every smart alec with a web 2.0 video business plan is kicking themsleves for not being YouTube.

And we told you Google would beat News Corp to the checkbook for YouTube - News Corp are just too tight fisted.

And the hundred million dollar/video download question is what the hell will Google do with YouTube? How about more Time Warner/CBS type deals and loads of music videos.

Expect Google to become the catch-all mass market place to post/view/rent any video on the planet - leaving iTunes as the upmarket place to own, manage and carry your movies around as well as flashing them throughout your home!

We'll use both!

News Corp joins the bidding for YouTube!

And as if the Google/YouTube rumours are not enough - apparently they are bidding $1.6bn for YouTube - now the gossip milling around is that Murdoch's News Corp is bidding too.

Who's gonna win?

My money's still on Google - Murdoch's too tight fisted!

Let's see, next week could be decisive.

Google snapping up YouTube?

If you believe TechCrunch, the Wall Street Journal or Reuters, Google looks set to buy YouTube for $1.6bn, which lets face it is a rounding error/couple of months interest for Google.

But, if some pundits are right, Google may end up paying a whole load more if a bunch of potential copyright issues are not resolved at the video sharing site.

My view is that Google will scoop up YouTube so that overnight they become the undisputable leaders in online video. And lets face it, the killer app for the broadband Internet is video.

So who cares about a couple of law suits, eh?

Digital music sales flying - CD sales crashing!

Online music is flying, according to recent research - and physical CD sales are sinking faster than thet Titanic.

According to Nielsen SoundScan figures for the week ending Oct. 1 marking the end of the third quarter, physical album sales so far this year totaled 370.5 million units, down 8.3% from the 404.2 million racked up in the year-ago period.

However, digital album sales climbed 115%, with 22.6 million sold through September. Downloaded tracks soared 72%, to 418.6 million.

Hit your local iTunes - and tough luck HMV.