For those paying attention; it seems a bit odd / surreal that as a stipulation for approving the Google / Motoola merger China has mandated that it remain free and open… both of which the PRC is anything but…
Granted, third~party vendors have valid concerns regarding Motorola getting special treatment; however, the main strength of Android (which has largely driven their runaway success has been what China has reportedly demanded).
(Source) CNET: http://goo.gl/Kwrxx
All things being equal (including their rocky start to being traded publicly) Facebook made their (initial) mark… now, how the firm does / goes from here is anyone’s best guess…
(Source) The Washington Post: http://goo.gl/de9f1
It’s a bit challenging to fathom that a firm whose main product is user-generated media (versus syndicated media for example) has an IPO valuation that’ll be larger than McDonald’s; Cisco’s and/or Amazon’s market caps. Moreover, it is also a bit of a stretch to reckon how said firm will be able to sustain this valuation. Nevertheless, rationality and market-speculation are clearly not mutually inclusive.
(Source) WSJ: http://goo.gl/Hpqqm
Now that Google has publically stated that they intend to end fragmentation (of their OS) it will be interesting to see how / if they are able to pull this off.
(Source) LA Times: http://goo.gl/2FFDf
In advance of one of the most-highly anticipated IPO’s (perhaps) since Google roughly 1/2 of Americans surveyed think that Facebook’s shares are overpriced… which begs at least three questions: 1) What should they be priced at? 2) Should this really come as any surprise? 3) Does this story itself actually warrant as ‘news?’
(Source) The Washington Post: http://goo.gl/Uebf0
As Yahoo’s latest CEO (four in five years) gets the hook (albeit self-inflicted) an obvious lesson still eludes the firm: their strengths are / were media not technology. However, being that they’re located in Silicon Valley that’s a tough sell… yet, if you look at Facebook they’re also essentially a ‘media’ company. The main differences are: one) Self-created versus syndicated content; two) They know / accept this versus denying it!
(Source) Information Week: http://goo.gl/UNSG5
Interesting… people are questioning whether or not the current Facebook CEO / Founder is capable of running a (potential) $100 billion company? Granted, that might seem like a fair question; however, two additional perspectives are worth (at least) offering: 1) It’s not like there’s a school for training such expertise; 2) After the ‘experts’ at JP Morgan tanked $2 billion in speculative training just this week (clearly demonstrating that little if anything was learned from their / Wall Street’s antics that brought on much of the world’s current economic malaise) it’s curious that the mainstream media has decided to raise this issue…
(Source) Herald-Tribune: http://goo.gl/hZgLY
Rumor has it that Apple is going with an in-house (3D) map application… which, if accurate / true essentially means that Google Maps will no longer be used…
While they’ll in all probability be a lot of speculation (putting it mildly) perhaps this is a shot across the bow (i.e., a way to get back at the firm’s reported and since broken promise to not enter the Smartphone space?)
(Source) 9 to 5 Mac: http://goo.gl/Kb9zb
It slices; it dices… It’s 67 tools in one… Well, not exactly… Nevertheless, as America and the EU continue to languish behind (aside from the firms therein that attempt to assert their desired dominance / industry standard within this space) a company has come out with a fairly novel approach to embracing a digital wallet…
(Source) CNET: http://goo.gl/YLyRC
