Maybe he’ll hire Andreessen-Horowitz advisor Larry Summers for strategy advice…
Here’s a case of life imitating art for you.
Justin Timberlake, who played Facebook investor Sean Parker on screen in The Social Network, has acquired an ownership stake in MySpace.
[…]
Still, the company is promising that Timberlake will help “lead the business strategy” of MySpace moving forward.
Myspace, Justin Timberlake: Pop singer part of Specific Media-News Corp deal.
Behold the Truthiness party…
The Federal Election Commission on Thursday approved comedian Stephen Colbert's request to form a so-called "Super PAC," a political action committee that can raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals.
The Comedy Central star's decision to form the PAC is part of his satiric attempt to highlight the implications of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision last year, which determined that corporations have the same free speech rights as individuals and can provide unlimited money for political advertisements.
Wondering if Microsoft HealthVault will be next…
Microsoft is discontinuing the Microsoft Hohm service effective May 31, 2012. The service will continue to operate until that time.
The feedback from customers and partners has remained encouraging throughout Microsoft Hohm’s beta period. However, due to the slow overall market adoption of the service, we are instead focusing our efforts on products and solutions more capable of supporting long-standing growth within this evolving market.
At Microsoft, we believe in tackling the incredible energy and environmental challenges of the 21st century by leveraging the power of information, fostering a collaborative approach to creating and implementing new technologies, and staying nimble in order to do what’s best long term for our customers.
Microsoft Hohm has helped demonstrate the critical role of information in helping people and organizations improve how energy is generated, distributed and ultimately consumed. Microsoft will continue to focus on developing products, solutions and partnership that span a wide spectrum of industries, such as power generation, distribution grids, buildings and transportations systems.
Microsoft Hohm Service Discontinuation | Microsoft Hohm Blog
Metadata matters
Right now, Google says it’s working with a small group of authors who have linked their Google Profiles to their online content. One of those authors is Search Engine Land’s Editor-In-Chief, Danny Sullivan, and his content will be highlighted like this in Google’s search results:
More expensive than the iPad, limited app selection, 7” display (tbd if sandpaper is included), docks with your employer-provided desktop phone; what could possibly go wrong?…
This gives an IT department much greater control over what a Cius user can do. IT managers can shut down access to the Android app market to protect a company from malicious apps. Cisco has also created its own app store, AppHQ, that contains only apps deemed stable and secure by Cisco. Companies can even create their own app store within AppHQ and limit employees to certain applications, or apps built in house.
A WiFi only version of the tablet will be available worldwide from July 31 at an estimated price of $750. Cisco will sell it along with related services and infrastructure, so the cost to businesses will vary, and could be as low as $650. AT&T and Verizon will each offer versions for their 4G networks this fall.
A Tablet that Wants to Take Over the Desktop - Technology Review
Interesting times
Hackers have temporarily shut down Al Qaeda's online distribution of videos and statements, NBC News reported today.
"Al-Qaeda's online communications have been temporarily crippled, and it does not have a single trusted distribution channel available on the Internet," Evan Kohlmann, of Flashpoint Global Partners, told NBC. Flashpoint monitors the extremist organization's communications.
Hackers shut down Al Qaeda Net communications | InSecurity Complex - CNET News
Plan B for HP, with a bit of déjà vu (e.g., with Palm turning to Windows Mobile for the Treo 700w)
I asked this question several times when speaking recently with McKinney and Richard Kerris, VP of worldwide developer relations for WebOS. Microsoft is pinning its hopes on Windows 8, making a big splash at AllThingsD this year by showing off its new sexy, stylish looks. Designed with mobile in mind, Windows 8 is meant to provide a consistent UI across smartphones, tablets, and computers. Given that HP is likely to ship hundreds of millions of laptops and desktop computers featuring Windows 8 in the coming future, what are the chances the OS will show up on future HP tablets, in addition to products running WebOS?
"I'm limited to what I can talk about with Windows 8," McKinney says. "We're working very closely with [Microsoft], and I'm going to leave it at that or I'm going to start getting myself into trouble."
After Spurning Android, HP May Offer Windows 8 Tablets | Fast Company
Check the article link for a detailed review; the final paragraphs:
The shortage of apps is a problem, no doubt, but that will change with time. What won't change is the hardware, and there we're left a little disappointed. Holding this in one hand and either an iPad 2 or a Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the other leaves you wondering why you'd ever be compelled to buy the HP when you could have the thinner, lighter alternative for the same money. Meanwhile, the performance left us occasionally wanting and, well, what is there to say.
If the Pre 3 were out today and if the TouchPad were $100 less we could maybe see giving it a go, if only to root for the underdog. But, as it is, you have to put your heart and two decades worth of Palm obsession ahead of any buying rationale. With such compelling alternatives readily available, that's asking rather a lot.
It’s amusing to see reporters stretch to find the accentuate-the-positive dimensions for this sort of review (see the article link below, and check, e.g., the final paragraph), rather than just succinctly stating the obvious: DOA
There’s a Kindle app, Pandora and Angry Birds, thank goodness. But some pretty popular apps are among the missing. No Flixter or IMDB. No Pocket God. No Google apps like Google Mobile, Google Earth or Google Voice. No Netflix.
Now, from a hardware-checklist perspective, the TouchPad doesn’t get off to a good start. It’s the same size as the iPad, but it’s 40 percent thicker (.75 inches thick) and 20 percent heavier (1.6 pounds) — a bitter spec to swallow in a gadget you hold upright all day long.
H.P.’s New Tablet Enters Market Late, but Looks Marvelous — State of the Art - NYTimes.com
I expect the Cius will become a collector’s item, along with the HP TouchPad and the RIM PlayBook
Cisco announced the details in advance of an event Wednesday at which some initial users and partners were expected to discuss their plans. Medical institutions were prominent on the agenda, including Nottingham University Hospitals in the U.K. and Palomar Pomerado Health, north of San Diego. Doctors and nurses have been widely discussed as potential tablet users–particularly for devices like Cius that have been promoted as having beefed-up security, a concern for institutions that must safeguard confidential patient records.
Perhaps Cisco’s biggest challenge is that iPads, though not particularly designed for such customers, are being used for work purposes by many employees and directly purchased by companies. Apple said in April that 75% of Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying iPad within their enterprises. And, at $499 for an Wi-Fi-only model, Apple offers a lower entry price.
Interesting times; see this post for details from Marc Andreessen; the career overview section therein includes “And, most importantly, a pivotal character in the recent movie ‘The Social Network’.”
In an unusual appointment for the longtime public servant, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will join Silicon Valley venture powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz as a part-time “Special Advisor.”
Summers got to know the firm with an assist from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who was a student of his when he was a professor at Harvard University.
Former Treasury Secretary Joins Andreessen Horowitz As Advisor - Kara Swisher - News - AllThingsD
Another snapshot from the battle of the social networking conceptual models – the original title of the article, referenced in other WSJ contexts, was “Google+ Solves the Social Privacy Problem By Making Friending Very Complicated”
I’ve been using Google+ for a little over a day now and I think I’m just starting to grasp how this “Circles” concept works. The idea is to give users much more control over who they share with, and to allow for unbalanced relationships (where one person cares more about the other) in a way that mutual friending doesn’t allow.
Understanding the Google+ Approach to Social Relationships - Liz Gannes - Social - AllThingsD
Signs of the times…
Alas, that was a rare victory in her war on aging, which, in 2011, means not just looking and acting young in the real world, where crows’ feet and bifocals threaten, but in cyberspace, too. In the not-so-distant past, gray hair and orthopedic shoes made you look old. Today, there are other giveaways: an AOL address, the inability to tweet — or even find Twitter on the web, ignorance of Tumblr, a fear of uploading and downloading, e-mailing instead of texting. Flip phones are the new middle-age paunch.
Check the full article for details on an elaborate shopping system
The idea is to retrain Internet-savvy shoppers to spend more time and money at brick-and-mortar stores. That’s a traditional retailer’s dream, which is why so many major companies have bought into the Shopkick system, including Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Sears, Home Depot, Stop & Shop, and lots more.
One of Shopkick’s coolest features is based on some delightfully geeky technology. Drop in at Best Buy with the Shopkick app running on your phone. Walk through the door and wait for a few seconds. With a happy little jingle, the phone informs you that you’ve gotten 60 kicks just for crossing the threshold.
Likely to be at least as successful as the RIM PlayBook
Now, the world’s largest PC maker, Hewlett-Packard, is entering the fray. On Friday, it will start selling the TouchPad, a 10-inch tablet with a slick, distinctive software interface. The TouchPad starts at $500, the same entry price as the iPad 2.
I’ve been testing the TouchPad for about a week and, in my view, despite its attractive and different user interface, this first version is simply no match for the iPad. It suffers from poor battery life, a paucity of apps and other deficits.
H-P TouchPad Tablet Review - Walt Mossberg - Personal Technology - AllThingsD
One for the record books: $545M less than the purchase price six years ago
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has finally found a buyer for MySpace, but the $35 million sale price is only a fraction of how much the company had been asking for.
Advertising network operator Specific Media and News Corp. finalized the deal Wednesday, allowing Murdoch's company to move the once-mighty social networking site off its books before its fiscal quarter ends Thursday.
Specific Media: Advertising site buys MySpace from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for $35 million.
Larry Ellison brings one of his start-ups (in which he was a founding and majority investor) into the mother ship
Oracle today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Pillar Data Systems, a leading provider of innovative and highly scalable SAN Block I/O storage systems that provide exceptional performance scaling characteristics with patented Quality of Service. The combination is expected to help Oracle deliver a complete line of storage products that runs Oracle software faster and more efficiently. Pillar Data Systems is a privately-held company based in San Jose, California and serves nearly 600 customers across 24 countries. Oracle President, Mark Hurd and Executive Vice President, Systems, John Fowler will provide an Oracle Storage strategy update on June 30, 2011. Register at www.oracle.com/storage for the live event and Webcast to learn more about how Oracle is redefining storage.
Let’s see – population of planet Earth/500,000 Android device activations per day (growing 4.4% per week) means…
Activations of Android-based devices now exceed half a million per day, and are growing by 4.4 per cent each week.
This news comes via a triumphal Tuesday tweet from no less an Adroidophile than Google's mobile headman Andy Rubin.
In other Google/social developments (via ACM TechNews)
Technology giant Google, having conquered the Internet and the world around it, is taking on a new challenge: violent extremism.
The company, through its eight-month-old think tank, Google Ideas, is paying for 80 former Muslim extremists, neo-Nazis, U.S. gang members and other former radicals to gather in Dublin this weekend to explore how technology can play a role in de-radicalization efforts around the globe.
Google Ideas think tank gathering former extremists to battle radicalization - The Washington Post
Oops…
The entire user database of Groupon's Indian subsidiary Sosasta.com was accidentally published to the Internet and indexed by Google.
The database includes the e-mail addresses and clear-text passwords of the site's 300,000 users. It was discovered by Australian security consultant Daniel Grzelak as he searched for publicly accessible databases containing e-mail address and password pairs.
Grzelak used Google to search for SQL database files that were web accessible and contained keywords like "password" and "gmail".
That would be the LivingSocial with an Amazon investment and partnership
Groupon Inc.’s share of online daily deals slipped to 48 percent in May from 52 percent the previous month, as rivals including LivingSocial.com closed in on its lead in the growing market for discounts offered on the Web.
LivingSocial claimed 24 percent of the market, up from 20 percent in April, according to website Yipit Inc., which studied online daily deals in 30 major North American cities. Yipit’s researchers estimate Chicago-based Groupon made $64.7 million in sales in May, more than double Washington-based LivingSocial’s $31.6 million.
Groupon Cedes Share of Daily Deals to LivingSocial, Yipit Says - BusinessWeek
Now it’s time for Facebook to go into counter-FUD mode, e.g., to clearly explain options for private sharing among groups (already available in Facebook) and to simplify Facebook’s privacy settings.
Analysts say that Facebook users are unlikely to duplicate their network of friends on Google+ and post to both sites, but that they could use them for different types of communication. Google+ could also attract Facebook holdouts who have been uncomfortable sharing too publicly.
“Can someone eclipse Facebook in terms of its hold? It is a fantastic broadcast mechanism,” said Charlene Li, a social media analyst and founder of Altimeter Group, a technology research firm. “But if Google becomes the owner of your private groups, it’s going to be a splintering of our social lives.”
Google Introduces Facebook Competitor, Emphasizing Privacy - NYTimes.com
The Twitter alumni club reanimates Twitter’s original home, with a simple mission statement: “The Obvious Corporation develops systems that help people work together to improve the world.” Meanwhile, Square, current Twitter exec Jack Dorsey’s other company, raises a $100M third round of funding.
Stone said in a personal blog post today that he was relaunching Obvious Corporation, the incubator that shepherded Twitter out of the podcasting start-up Odeo and into an independent company.
Joining him to relaunch Obvious are familiar faces Williams — also a Twitter co-founder and its former CEO — and Goldman — former head of product at Twitter.
Just a year ago, these three were at the core of Twitter’s executive team, but the company is now led by CEO Dick Costolo.
Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Jason Goldman Restart Obvious.com - Liz Gannes - News - AllThingsD
The only scenario I can imagine that warrants a RockMelt $30M series B is speculation about Facebook acquiring RockMelt, a move I expect Google would applaud…
I think search continues to be very important,” Andreessen said. “Google had a billion uniques last month. But social is next.”
After search and social, Andreessen said, he envisions a half dozen more killer apps for the browser — basically, all the stuff we do online all day. Some examples might be daily deals and phone calls. “How much better could it be if that were built straight in?” Andreessen asked.
But back to RockMelt’s other challenges: What about the not-so-little issue of competition from other browsers? Khosla said in a separate interview, “When a browser changes from an information retrieval tool to a social media tool it’s probably some new company that’s going to figure it out… When shifts happen I sincerely believe start-ups are the best at entering the new market.”
RockMelt Takes Big Funding From Andreessen, Accel and Khosla - Liz Gannes - Social - AllThingsD
Check the full article for a comparison table and overall impressions
It has been 10 months since Amazon brought out its last Kindle and the company is likely to introduce a new version of this product in the next three months, as well as a much anticipated iPad competitor. And there’s a very good chance the new Kindle will include a touch screen, so the Nook’s advantage may be short-lived. The current Kindle also comes in a $164 version with a free 3G Internet connection; the new Nook is only available with a WiFi connection.
Check the link below for Steven Levy’s extensive overview and analysis of Google+. My initial impression, after reading the Levy article and reviewing the Google+ demo/intro info: Facebook and Google are now in a league of their own, for all things consumer Internet social.
Google, the world’s largest search company, is formally making its pitch to become a major force in social networking. The product it announced Tuesday is called Google+, and observers might wonder whether it’s simply one more social effort by a company that’s had a lousy track record in that field to date.
Inside Google+ — How the Search Giant Plans to Go Social | Epicenter | Wired.com
Maybe Groupon will be able to get a volume discount on legal services
Groupon may have rather more legal woes than people generally think. The problem isn't particularly that it's doing anything wrong - it's that the major limitation on most innovation is the old way of doing things. In this case, that's the laws about the old ways of distributing and using coupons.
Research from Harvard seems to show that Groupon and similar sites are at least in danger of being in breach of the various consumer protection laws that have been passed over the years to protect users of the old coupon distribution systems like newspapers and flyers. The research identifies seven major areas in which what is currently on offer does not match up with what is required.
Groupon faces multitude of legal headaches in US • The Register
Check the article link below for detailed analysis of a nasty form of malware
Chalk up another success for what's generally known as the "fake antivirus" scam. Federal investigators and security experts estimate that its various iterations have extracted at least $1 billion from victims in the past several years, and it has become the most visible manifestation of an overall rise in malicious software, or "malware," distributed online (see charts below). The damage goes beyond the theft of cash: even if you don't pull out your wallet, sometimes merely clicking on the bogus come-ons can deliver other forms of malware that may steal your passwords or conscript your computer into a remotely controlled gang called a botnet. Because it generally relies on fooling people into voluntarily installing malware—a strategy called a social-engineering attack—it can wind up infecting even well-maintained machines, both PCs and Macs. "As a human-level act of deception, it is just classically beautiful," says David Clark, a research scientist at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, who was the Internet's chief protocol architect in the 1980s.
Sad that Vannevar Bush did not live to see his hypertext vision go mainstream; see the “Memex concept” section of his Wikipedia article for more details
June 28, 1974
Vannevar Bush Dies
Mathematician, scientist and computer pioneer Vannevar Bush died. Bush was born in Everett, Mass., on March 11, 1890. Also deeply involved with wartime computer projects, Bush invented an electromechanical differential analyzer before the war.
Computer History Museum | Exhibits | This Day in History: June 28
An Apple intellectual property reality check
Don’t think of this as a hunting license for Apple, or permission to launch a broad offensive against its competitors in the smartphone market. While FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller told me the patent is “excessively broad” in his personal opinion, “it’s nowhere near the scope of a patent on anything multitouch.” UBS analyst Maynard Um said in an e-mail to his clients that the patents held by Apple seem intended mostly “for defensive purposes,” since “collecting royalty is not Apple’s business model.”
Apple Multitouch Patent Is All About UX Lock-In - BusinessWeek
Today is Office 365 launch day. Tangentially, another Enterprise 2.0 Conference (#e2conf) observation: Google was conspicuously absent during the E2.0 event last week, in the exhibit hall (i.e., Google didn’t have a booth), in the breakout session topics, and in the vendor and attendee discussions in which I participated.
Microsoft’s long-awaited move, analysts say, is a studiously crafted bet, including various offerings at different prices. They are not sure whether it represents wishful thinking or a workable strategy. Microsoft’s plan is to embrace the demand for cloud-based tools for office workers, which promise to be less costly for companies than conventional software, and yet avoid cannibalizing a business that is its biggest single money-maker.
“If Microsoft stumbles, it really opens the door to Google,” said Matt Cain, an analyst for Gartner. “It’s a tremendous long-term threat to Microsoft and its Office franchise.”
Microsoft Takes Action to Ward Off Competition - NYTimes.com
Excerpt from an e-reader/tablet reality check
According to a study conducted by the Pew Internet Project, the number of adults in the U.S. with a Kindle, Nook or other e-reader doubled between last November and this May, to 12 percent from 6 percent. Tablet ownership has grown three percentage points in the same timeframe, from 5 percent in November to 8 percent as of May.
E-Reader Growth Outpacing Tablets in Recent Months - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD
Another ominous development for RIM
Research In Motion Ltd., struggling to compete in the smartphone market with Apple and Google, is losing support among some software developers who have been making programs for the company’s BlackBerry phones.
[…]
“You have to put your resources where the growth is,’’ said Loic Le Meur, Seesmic’s chief executive. “It’s coming down to the explosive growth of the iPhone and the Android operating systems.’’
BlackBerry phones losing favor with software developers - The Boston Globe
Excerpt from Henry Blodget analysis
And it turns out that Google Offers does have a few key advantages over other deal providers that could shake up the deals industry and force Groupon, at least, to change the terms of its deals.
In other words, if Google makes a big commitment to the deals business--a big if--its entry into the market could hurt the businesses of Groupon, Living Social, et al, even if it does not end up "killing" them.
GOOGLE OFFERS: Here Are The Secret Details About Google's Groupon-Killer
Check the full post for the complete chart (back to 2001), more analysis, and a poll
[…]
What Deals Will the Next Decade Bring?
We’ve identified eight key areas that we think IBM is likely to focus their purchases on.
The central criteria we see at the core of IBM’s M&A strategy is going after companies and technologies focused on the business of tomorrow. What does this mean exactly? We think they will focus on companies that offer:
- Software for managing cloud infrastructure;
- Software for managing applications in the cloud;
- Enterprise applications in the cloud;
- Professional services for cloud migration;
- Networking hardware and software;
- Virtualization platforms and related tools;
- Analytical tools for “big data” analysis; and,
- Other professional services.
Check the link below for an overview of Google’s response to content farms
You can’t mess with Google forever. In February, the corporation concocted what it concocts best: an algorithm. The algorithm, called Panda, affects some 12 percent of searches, and it has — slowly and imperfectly — been improving things. Just a short time ago, the Web seemed ungovernable; bad content was driving out good. But Google asserted itself, and credit is due: Panda represents good cyber-governance. It has allowed Google to send untrustworthy, repetitive and unsatisfying content to the back of the class. No more A’s for cheaters.
An Office 365 reality check
Office 365 enters a crowded field. Google Docs from Google and VMware's Zimbra email, for example, are attracting hundreds of companies seeking tools that work from desktop computers, smartphones or the growing number of tablet computers in use today.
Microsoft's biggest competitor, however, might be itself. Nearly nine of every 10 office computers runs one of the 14 versions of Office the company has released since the software's launch in 1989. The company now needs to convince those computer users, estimated at about one billion, to switch to Office in the cloud without disrupting the legacy version that is financing the transition.
Microsoft Challenges Itself With New Cloud Version of Office - WSJ.com
Excerpt from an enterprise social software snapshot
One of the biggest providers of corporate social networks is Salesforce.com, the online business software company based in San Francisco. It said 80,000 companies use its corporate social network, Chatter, up from around 10,000 when it was introduced a year ago. Yammer, a start-up and also based in San Francisco, said its service is used by more than 100,000 companies, up from around 80,000 a year ago.
SAP, Cisco Systems, Socialtext, Jive Software and SuccessFactors are also pushing their products. Last month, VMware joined the list when it acquired Socialcast, one of the earlier networking services.
More LulzSec analysis
But security experts said on Sunday that the dissolution of the group might not signal an end to the attacks, which have hit dozens of Web sites, including those of prominent targets like the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States Senate, the Arizona state police and Sony.
Indeed, in its farewell message posted on Saturday, the group, also known as LulzSec, urged other hackers to join the “revolution” aimed at governments and corporations that it started recently with Anonymous, a much larger collective of politically minded hackers from which many of the LulzSec members sprung.
New competition for BranchOut
This weekend, Monster launched BeKnown, a Facebook app that allows users to import the details of their LinkedIn profiles and manage them in the comfort of the Facebook.
“BeKnown answers the need and challenge in the marketplace for people to build their professional networks on Facebook while keeping personal and work-related contacts completely separate,” said Darko Dejanovic, head of product at Monster Worldwide, the parent.
Monster comes to Facebook | FT Tech Hub | FTtechhub - Industry analysis – FT.com
I feel like a number (a couple, actually; 37 on Klout and 28 on PeerIndex, at the moment)…
If you have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account, you are already being judged — or will be soon. Companies with names like Klout, PeerIndex and Twitter Grader are in the process of scoring millions, eventually billions, of people on their level of influence — or in the lingo, rating “influencers.” Yet the companies are not simply looking at the number of followers or friends you’ve amassed. Rather, they are beginning to measure influence in more nuanced ways, and posting their judgments — in the form of a score — online.
Later in the article: “Cable providers and box manufacturers like Cisco Systems, Samsung and Motorola currently do not feel consumer pressure to improve box efficiency.” Let’s try to change that. This wasteful situation is also a great opportunity for vendors such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft to disrupt incumbents, with better and more energy-efficient consumer value propositions.
Those little boxes that usher cable signals and digital recording capacity into televisions have become the single largest electricity drain in many American homes, with some typical home entertainment configurations eating more power than a new refrigerator and even some central air-conditioning systems.
[…]
More LulzSec analysis
So why is LulzSec calling it quits now at the height of its infamy? The heat is clearly on. At least one person, a 19-year old named Ryan Cleary, said to have ties to the group has been arrested in the UK, and assuming the person they’ve arrested is guilty as charged, chances are that when the pressure is on, he’ll give Scotland Yard as much evidence as he can in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Additionally, more information has started to emerge about the group via rival gangs and people who are former members. The Guardian Newspaper on Friday published a fascinating account, including a lengthy chatroom transcript that gives a great deal of insight into the groups inner workings. That this much information has wound up in the hands of a newspaper means that the cone of silence the groups members have relied upon to cover their tracks is starting to break down. Law enforcement agents looking to make more arrests will be combing through the logs looking for connections.
At The Height Of Their Infamy, LulzSec Hackers Call It Quits - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD
Check the article link below for a timely Groupon reality check (via Mitch Kapor)
The most prominent group buying site, Chicago-based Groupon, has 2011 revenues estimated at between $3 billion and $4 billion. Google last December offered to buy the firm for $6.4 billion. After the acquisition was unsuccessful, the search giant launched its own venture, Google Offers. Facebook, too, is entering the space, joining the roughly 500 group buying sites that have emerged worldwide.
But much of that "wild exuberance" is miscalculated and could bring ruin to investors, warns Wharton marketing professor David Reibstein in an interview with Knowledge@Wharton. Taking Groupon as a case in point, he says the industry's current growth rates are unsustainable. Also, he faults the site's business model, arguing that it will leave customers, suppliers and investors disenchanted.
How Sustainable Is Groupon's Business Model? - Knowledge@Wharton
Disband or rebrand?
A hacker group that has attacked several high-profile websites over the last two months has announced that it is disbanding.
Lulz Security made its announcement through its Twitter account, giving no reason for its decision.
A statement published on a file-sharing website said that its "planned 50-day cruise has expired".
BBC News - LulzSec hacking group announces end to cyber attacks
More analysis of Google’s terminated health and power management projects
Google has shuttered services in the past – its store for phones, the Google Wave collaboration service – but nothing of this importance in terms of a major data problem that needed to be cracked.
The Silicon Valley company has not shown any signs of retrenchment with new data frontiers until now. Google Books, its bold initiative to digitise the leading library collections, continues.
But health and energy seem to have foundered on the fact that the services have not been widely adopted enough.
Google’s mission falters on health, energy | FT Tech Hub | FTtechhub - Industry analysis – FT.com
A time for increased focus at Google
But Google Health never really caught on. In a posting on the company’s blog on Friday, Aaron Brown, senior product manager for Google Health, wrote that the goal was to “translate our successful consumer-centered approach from other domains to health care and have a real impact on the day-to-day health experiences of millions of our users.”
Yet, after three years, Mr. Brown said, “Google Health is not having the broad impact we had hoped it would.”
[…]
Google is also shutting down its PowerMeter service, which let consumers track their energy use.
Advertising and Android in Flipboard’s future
Mike McCue, chief executive of popular iPad magazine application Flipboard, says the company is on track to reach 10 million users early next year and could start booking positive cash flow later next year as the startup’s business model begins to take shape.
That will be a big jump. Flipboard currently has around 2.5 million users, up from around 1.1 million users in January, and its app only works on the iPad for now. The company also isn’t generating any revenue yet.
Check the article link below for more details
A small group of Internet security specialists gathered in Singapore this week to start up a global system to make e-mail and e-commerce more secure, end the proliferation of passwords and raise the bar significantly for Internet scam artists, spies and troublemakers.
“It won’t matter where you are in the world or who you are in the world, you’re going to be able to authenticate everyone and everything,” said Dan Kaminsky, an independent network security researcher who is one of the engineers involved in the project.
Internet Security Experts Introduce Secure DNS in Singapore - NYTimes.com
Also see Come Meet the Author, but Open Your Wallet
Booksellers say surviving is more than a matter of selling books. Bookshops, owners and managers say, must look for new sources of revenue and consider radical changes such as becoming a nonprofit.
Or in the case of Brookline Booksmith, trying a little bit of everything. The 49-year-old store now sells Google e-books online, holds on average five events a week with authors, and may invest in an in-store printing press.
The events, including celebrity book signings, draw new customers and publicity, said Dana Brigham, one of the owners of the Booksmith. The printing press would allow the store to publish books for first-time authors as well as produce more copies of out-of-print books.
The tone of SharePoint-related presentations I attended at the 2011 Enterprise 2.0 Boston conference (#e2conf) makes me wonder if Microsoft SharePoint is destined to become the industry's next Lotus Notes.
Some déjà vu dimensions: SharePoint is very widely used, but, as with Notes, in a previous generation (in the mid to late 1990s), SharePoint is considered by many people to be:
In another pattern that's consistent with Notes market dynamics of the 1990s, many Microsoft partners and competitors are implicitly trying to relegate SharePoint to a limited role, e.g., as a basic document-centric intranet server that's merely one of many information repositories that can be extended with a variety of social services, or as a cost-effective solution for some basic collaboration and content services, but one that requires third-party services for archival or compliance concerns.
The tone during a "Social Strategies for SharePoint" breakout session Tuesday afternoon was especially negative, with the speakers and several audience members expressing frustration with what they perceive as social software limitations in SharePoint. A Microsoft product manager in the audience spoke up at one point, but unhelpfully came across as frustrated and defensive, and explained that Microsoft's product planning approach is to design products for a very wide range of customers, not just for a subset of specific usage scenarios.
On a more positive theme, Microsoft has been successful in using SharePoint to displace Lotus Notes in many organizations worldwide, so the platform-centric Notes analogy is not entirely negative. And, although many people probably agree with Real Story Group President Tony Byrne that "SharePoint happens" – that SharePoint is an inevitable part of day-to-day reality for many people – SharePoint is also, by most measures (e.g., market share, revenue growth, synergy with other Microsoft products), a very successful product, and one poised to gain more momentum with the imminent launch of Office 365. As another consideration, even aspects that some people perceive to be SharePoint limitations and idiosyncrasies are positive to others in the SharePoint ecosystem, as they essentially serve as a full-employment act for SharePoint administrators, application developers, and professional service providers.
2011 is likely to be a pivotal year for SharePoint. If it stays on its current Notes-like trajectory, it will continue to be a pervasive but relatively horizontal and low-level platform for collaborative applications and content. If SharePoint is to instead move beyond a basic platform role and become the environment in which information workers are productively and happily engaged for all of their collaboration/social needs, Microsoft will have to make some difficult decisions and strategic investments, in order to leapfrog its social software/service competitors.
Related posts:
Another #e2conf snapshot: I continue to be impressed (as I have been for several years) by Traction Software; check the article link below for a summary and this Traction page for more details on the latest TeamPage release. While it may not (yet…) be trendy to be the market-leading collaborative hypertext journaling platform, I believe that’s what the Traction team has created, and that TeamPage’s underlying architecture and flexibility, especially when used in conjunction with Attivio for faceted search and navigation, make it especially powerful for the various types of tools and services (workspaces, blogs, wikis, activity streams, tagging, tasks, etc.) now commonly associated with “social” software/services.
Traction Software has released TeamPage Attivio Search Plus to index and search external sources and TeamPage's Social Enterprise Web to discuss, tag, task, share and badge internal or external content. These TeamPage options connect TeamPage with structured data or unstructured content in sources including Microsoft SharePoint, EMC Documentum, Microsoft Exchange, file servers, SQL databases, intranets, and the public Web.
Using TeamPage Attivio Search Plus and TeamPage's Social Enterprise Web, external documents, pages and transactions are now able to become social objects seamlessly integrated with Traction TeamPage's action tracking, search, collaboration and communication.
p.s. the list of sources accessible via Attivio also includes Lotus Notes databases
p.s.s. Attivio is not an XQuery-based system; hmm…
I had several interesting discussions with vendors in the #e2conf exhibit hall earlier this week. XQuery was one of the topics about which I asked several collaboration and/or content-focused vendor representatives, including some of the uber-vendors most likely to be disrupted by XQuery, if XQuery is broadly successful and if they don’t effectively leverage it in their own products/services.
The responses: a lot of blank stares (mostly bewilderment, as if I had, e.g., asked something ridiculous, such as when they are going to unveil native client applications for the HP TouchPad or RIM PlayBook…) and one suggestion, from the CTO of one of the leading social/collaboration start-ups, that perhaps XPath will suffice. (There was also a bit of the trendy “XML is dead/JSON is the future” meme, in some of the discussions and presentations.)
This is a big information management bummer, imho, as I believe XQuery has significant potential to advance the overall industry agenda for XML information management, but the responses were consistent with other impressions I’ve collected over the last few years, in other vendor discussions.
How I think this is all likely to play out: information architects and application developers using native XQuery products such as MarkLogic Server and open source XQuery engines such as eXist are going to be far more productive than people relying on some-assembly-required alternative approaches, and eventually that dynamic will lead the uber-players to place more emphasis on XQuery. It may take a few years, however, and, by that time, the vendors/architects/others who placed an early bet on XQuery will have a substantial lead.
See this post for more details about my XQuery perspective.
Check the article link below for speculation about the “leak,” and the source video for a compelling preview of Nokia’s first Windows Phone. I believe Stephen Elop has creatively adapted Apple modus operandi; why pay for PR and advertising when a well-placed “leak” is much more effective (assuming you have products/services/other news people actually care about, of course)?
Stephen Elop seems to suffer as many unfortunate events as Lemony Snicket when it comes to keeping Nokia’s business private.
First there was his “burning platform” memo that leaked in February and now the Web is ablaze with the chief executive’s failed attempt to keep Nokia’s first Windows phone under wraps.
But perhaps we are not giving him his due.
Nokia’s series of unfortunate leaks | FT Tech Hub | FTtechhub - Industry analysis – FT.com
Maybe they’ll call it the Imerj Courier… Check the last few seconds of the video for a preview of related features, and the article link below for more analysis
Can a Phone with No Name revolutionize the industry? We wouldn't go that far, but we're suitably intrigued. For not much extra thickness and a modest amount of extra heft you wind up with twice the screen size and, if indeed that 128GB model comes to pass, about four times the storage capacity of your average superphone of today. The question is, of course, how much will it cost, and given the premium construction and hardware, we can say with confidence that this will not be a Free After Rebate device.
Prototype dual-screened 2-in-1 Android smartpad from Imerj preview -- Engadget
More multi-channel hypertext publishing with Evernote
Share Notebooks on Facebook
Once you’ve connected your Evernote account to your Facebook account, a new checkbox will show up when you share a notebook with the world: Share on Facebook. After checking the button and clicking Save, the notebook, along with the description, will instantly appear on your Facebook Wall. Anyone that can view your Wall will be able to click the link and view the notebook.
If you have a notebook that you have previously shared that you’d like to share with your Facebook friends, then go to the Sharing options for that notebook and you’ll see a Post to Facebook button in the Share with the World section. Clicking that button will take you through a standard Facebook sharing process.
Evernote Web Update: Share Notebooks on Facebook, New Gmail Connection and More « Evernote Blogcast
Check the article link below for more on HP’s tablet delusions
Even if HP nails webOS and wins over developers, there's the obvious third task: getting people to buy the devices. With its 20,000-plus global sales force, the company has a good shot at landing corporate customers, Bajarin says. To sell to consumers, he says HP will have to train Best Buy and 600,000 other dealers to show customers the glories of webOS. HP has paid retailers to set up its own section within stores and is dispatching several hundred employees to demonstrate the product at retail this July, says Stephen DeWitt, Personal Systems Group senior vice-president. HP is spending hundreds of millions on an ad blitz starring Jay-Z and other celebrities.
Bradley and Rubinstein say that if the TouchPad's reception is lukewarm initially, they'll be patient. "We have a really good opportunity to become No. 2 in tablets fairly quickly," Rubinstein says. "Possibly No. 1."
Ample job security for Google’s legal group
The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to issue subpoenas to Google as part of a wide-ranging civil antitrust investigation into practices in Google’s search engine business, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
For several months, lawyers at the commission have gathered information about Google’s search and advertising business and whether the way it orders search results and related advertising constitutes illegal anticompetitive behavior.
Zen and the art of price negotiation via public channels
Over the years, Oracle has often grown by acquisitions, but that works only when the valuations of target companies are attractive. Right now they’re too high, Ellison says. President and CFO Safra Catz put it much more simply at the end of the audio clip below: Valuations are, right now, “quite ridiculous.” Meanwhile, as today’s earnings results show, Oracle is growing just fine organically without making any big deals for now, he says.
Still, that didn’t stop Oracle from acquiring privately held Web software player Fatwire just yesterday.
Relentlessly greedy
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss may have dropped their fraud lawsuit against Facebook after it lost multiple appeals and seemed unlikely to get a hearing by the Supreme Court, but they’re not done yet. The Winklevii on Thursday reopened another lawsuit, over whether Facebook ”intentionally or inadvertently suppressed evidence.”
Winklevoss Twins Will Continue Separate Lawsuit Against Facebook - Liz Gannes - Social - AllThingsD
Think different
However, one developer may have found something decent to do with that rear camera. Levity Nolvety has released an app called Invisibility that uses the combination of the rear camera and the iPad 2′s gyroscope to create a cool illusion of invisibility. The 99-cent app can take a picture of a table top and then be used to pan over that same table top, making the tablet appear as if it were invisible.
“The iPad has always promised it is a magical device,” Levity’s David Levitt said in a telephone interview. “Invisibility is delivering on that promise at a whole new level.”
Developer Finds New Use for iPad Camera: Invisibility Trick - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD
Check the article link below for a timely smartphone security reality check, but I don’t think a “curated app store” à la iPhone is going to suffice for malware defense, as the market shifts to HTML5 client apps
Criminals who infect personal computers worldwide with malicious software programs, hoping to steal credit card numbers and other personal data from computer users, are setting their sights on a new target: the millions of smartphones running Google Inc.’s Android software.
(For context-setting, also see Enterprise 2.0 impressions: Lotus Notes is everywhere)
One significant change I observed at the 2011 Enterprise 2.0 conference (#e2conf) in Boston, especially relative to the first few years of the conference (2005 - 2006, when it was called the Collaborative Technologies Conference), is the fact that Lotus Notes was nowhere to be seen. There were no Lotus-yellow shirts, banners, or hand-outs at the IBM exhibit hall booth, no mentions of either "Lotus" or "Notes" during the Tuesday IBM keynote session or Tuesday IBM-sponsored breakout session, and no vendors competitively positioning their offerings relative to Lotus Notes (although a few, when asked, referenced the ability to leverage content stored in Notes databases, e.g., in search results).
The IBM employees working in the IBM exhibit hall area were primarily focused on social business solutions based on IBM Connections (formerly known as IBM Lotus Connections), IBM Sametime (formerly IBM Lotus Sametime), and IBM services (both professional services and software-as-a-service offerings). When I asked, one IBMer explained that Notes is still IBM's enterprise messaging solution (i.e., its competitor to Microsoft Exchange), but it’s clear that Notes is no longer IBM's strategic solution for enterprise collaboration (it’s also clear that, generally, e-mail is considered a commodity roughly as exciting as traditional telephony).
Imho, this IBM strategy shift is both reasonable and necessary. Notes was a pioneering product for seamlessly integrated communication and collaboration, starting in 1984, and building on earlier work done by collaboration-focused project teams such as the PLATO project at the University of Illinois. It's now clear, however, that the Internet won -- modern collaboration/social systems (such as IBM Connections) began by building on the Internet architecture, the Internet information model, and Internet-centric standards, rather than by extending a proprietary and tightly-coupled product architecture that was first defined more than twenty-five years ago.
There is still a large global installed base for Lotus Notes, and there will no doubt be gainfully-employed Notes system administrators for years to come, just as there are still xBASE, COBOL, and even RPG job opportunities. Beyond its enterprise messaging capabilities, however, Lotus Notes should be considered a legacy product at this point. Its collaborative application and content platform capabilities are still useful, but they are out of step with current market dynamics, and even IBM now explicitly encourages you to look elsewhere (i.e., IBM Connections) for collaboration social business solutions. There was a point, several years ago, when it appeared possible that IBM was going to be able to sustain a "dual-lane highway" for its Notes and more Internet-architecture-focused customers, but that approach was unsuccessful for several reasons, and IBM is now strategically focused on Connections and other IBM WebSphere-based offerings.
These market dynamics should make for an interesting Lotusphere 2012. I won't be surprised if the first thing introduced at the January 2012 event is a new name, for future annual events, because the Lotus brand and Lotus Notes, for the most part, are history.
One impression I took away from the Enterprise 2.0 conference (#e2conf) in Boston this week is the sense that Lotus Notes (along with companion products such as Lotus Sametime), directly or indirectly, influenced the leading products and services now being positioned as "Enterprise 2.0" and/or "social business" solutions.
I'm not entirely unbiased in this context, of course, since I led the Notes product management team at Lotus Development Corp. during the mid-1990s, but many of today's popular solutions have a lot in common with the defining features of Notes for asynchronous communication and content-based collaboration (and Sametime, for synchronous communication and collaboration).
Notes-inspired capabilities most people now take for granted in their collaboration solutions, for example, include:
Especially when used in conjunction with Lotus Sametime and partner tools such Cyril Brookes' pioneering GrapeVINE (for what would today be called tagging and activity streams), Notes was a compelling collaborative application and content platform, and a leading indicator of things that would become more mainstream many years after Notes market momentum peaked.
Overall, I believe the ongoing influence of Lotus Notes is a testament to the vision and software engineering skills of Ray Ozzie and his team at Iris Associates, and to the initial support of founding Lotus Development Corp. CEO Mitch Kapor. Together, they crafted a product and customer/partner ecosystem that helped to define a generation of communication and collaboration tools.
(Also see Enterprise 2.0 impressions: Lotus Notes is nowhere)
Lots of friends in important places
“Facebook is propelling a fundamental change in how people connect with each other and share all kinds of content,” said Hastings. “I’m looking forward to working with Mark and the rest of the board to help Facebook take advantage of all the opportunities ahead.”
This isn’t just about the place each of these companies have in the video market, of course. Hastings is an experienced executive, as well as a Microsoft board member, and it makes sense for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to have someone like him around as the company considers big-company decisions, like going public.
Another Sign of Facebook’s Latest Interest in the Media Business: Netflix CEO Hastings Joins Board
Glad to see this, although the raids apparently had some unintentional consequences
A gang that made more than $72m (£45m) peddling fake security software has been shut down in a series of raids.
Co-ordinated by the FBI, the raids were carried out in the US, UK and six other countries.
The money was made by selling software that claimed to find security risks on PCs and then asked for cash to fix the non-existent problems.
The raids seized 40 computers used to do fake scans and host webpages that tricked people into using the software.
Excerpt from a stark security reality check by George Colony
The problem for you is that this quiet war will injure many innocent bystanders -- corporations whose systems are breached by the highly complex new attack technologies. Instead of employing a smash-and-grab audacious approach, the attackers are increasingly utilizing a "low and slow" attack methodology, gathering sensitive information over weeks or months. Increasingly these hackers are targeting intellectual property that companies and governments have built over decades. Google, Northrop Grumman, and Siemens have recently been caught in the cross-fire, and some have said that RSA, a subsidiary of EMC, may not be able to survive as a business given the breach of its core system.
You should be aware of two factors: 1) the frequency of attacks are about to increase, and 2) the attacks will become increasingly sophisticated -- most likely beyond the skills and capabilities of your security staff. You can prepare by taking three actions: 1) Ask your CIO for an assessment of current security capabilities and have him build a contingency plan, 2) Engage CEOs of companies in your sector and work to build mutual protections, and 3) Prepare to ask your federal government for assistance. Collective action and data sharing will be an important survival strategy as the Code War rages...
The Cult of Mac post title is melodramatic, but the referenced market dynamics are consistent with my recent experience. At the Enterprise 2.0 (#e2conf) conference this week, for example, I’d estimate 50% of the devices used for audience note-taking were either iPads or Macs, and a significant percentage of the exhibitors were using Macs.
Two buzzwords you’ll want to learn when talking about the Mac’s advances into the corporate realm: the “consumerization” of the company IT and BYO, or “Bring Your Own” device. “Empowered workers attracted to BYO device programs are quickly coming to expect Mac and iOS support,” Forrester analyst Ben Gray says.
Between April 2010 and March 2011, Mac OS X in business to 11 percent, up from 9.1 percent, according to the analyst firm.
The iPad has become a corporate “halo” of sorts for Apple, opening the door for Macs to replace Windows-based computers. Although nearly 90 percent of companies use a Microsoft OS, the majority are running Windows XP. Little wonder then that employees are pushing the “consumerization” of the enterprise, pressuring companies to adopt the faster, more agile Mac OS or iOS used at home.
Discouraging
The firm’s survey of 581 security professionals at large companies in the United States, Britain, France and Germany found that 90 percent of them had at least one breach in the last year and 59 percent had two or more. And the costs are mounting; 41 percent of break-ins cost more than half a million dollars.
Study participants broadly agreed that cyberattacks were getting more frequent, more severe, and harder to detect and stop.
Security Professionals Say Network Breaches Are Rampant - NYTimes.com
More personal information barter opportunities
And on Thursday, Foursquare plans to introduce its largest partnership to date: a national deal with American Express to offer discounts to cardholders when they check in on their cellphone at certain shops and restaurants.
Foursquare users are accustomed to receiving awards in the form of coupons and digital merit badges. But more substantial deals like those being offered to American Express cardholders may bring Foursquare and other location-based services further into the mainstream.
Interesting times
Gigwalk, a startup founded last summer in Mountain View, Calif., takes the phrase "mobile workforce" literally. The company harnesses America's vast army of iPhone users, enlisting them to complete various "gigs" when they're out and about.
Rates for these micro-tasks have included $5 to snap a picture of a restaurant's chalkboard menu for an online restaurant guide, $7 to visit a wireless store and check on product placement for a cell phone manufacturer and $30 to test out a new iPhone app. Users are encouraged to work gigs into their regular routines, picking up pocket cash while they make trips to the gym or run errands.
Roughing it, post-90s style
This is especially true for those who like to pack the car, hit the highway and let fortune dictate the location of their next campsite. Apps like Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder (free on Apple) and Camp Finder ($2) are great for finding your next destination while you’re in transit or on the trail.
Android users will be able to get Camp Finder by the end of next month, the company said. In the meantime, they’ll be fairly well served by AllStays Camp & Tent ($3 on Android and $5 on Apple) and Google Maps (free).
Using a Smartphone to Help Find a Place to Pitch a Tent - App Smart - NYTimes.com
Walt Mossberg on Chromebook 1.0
My verdict is that, while the Chromebook is a bold idea that may be a harbinger of the future of computing, it’s too limited and buggy today to be the main computer relied upon by mainstream users. I can’t recommend it over a standard laptop, except perhaps as a secondary machine for techies or early adopters.
[…]
The bottom line: The best and most numerous programs are still designed for Windows and the Mac, and we still live in a world without ubiquitous, speedy, low-cost, unlimited wireless connectivity. So typical laptop users are better off with computers designed for the current hybrid world, where both robust offline and online functions are needed.
Samsung Series 5 Google Chromebook Review - Walt Mossberg - Personal Technology - AllThingsD
Excerpt from a Hiawatha Bray e-reader review
I didn’t have much use for the original Nook, with its gimmicky combination of a black-and-white E Ink screen for reading and a little color screen for displaying book titles. But since then, B&N has delivered the Nook Color, a sharp little $249 e-reader that’s also the best low-priced tablet computer you can buy. Now comes the new entry-level Nook for $139, a worthy rival for the low-cost Amazon Kindle, which can cost as little as $114. After a head-to-head comparison, I could be happy with either, but it was the Nook that usually found its way into my hands.
Barnes & Noble wins one over Amazon with Nook - The Boston Globe
Check the full post and this article for some analysis of reasons why RIM might be acquired. I agree with the points below, however, on Microsoft as a potential acquirer; the opportunity costs to Microsoft’s mobile ambitions would likely be ~infinity
The reasons not to do the deal, meanwhile:
- The biggest reason is that it might alienate Microsoft's biggest phone partner, Nokia. Right now, Nokia is sure that it's Microsoft number-one phone partner. If Microsoft buys RIM, that would no longer be true.
- RIM's founders would probably resist and it might turn into a MicroHoo-style fiasco.
- Microsoft is a software company, not a hardware company. It needs to focus on what it's good at.
I’m still hopeful Amazon will unveil two new devices soon, an updated Kindle (dedicated e-reader) and a Kindle++ general-purpose slate (article reference via Dave Winer)
The launch is timed to gain momentum ahead of the Thanksgiving and year-end holidays in the U.S. and Europe, a source told DigiTimes. Monthly shipments are expected to reach 700,000-800,000 units.
According to the report, Amazon will utilize processors from Texas Instruments and touch panels from Wintek, with Quanta to assemble the devices. Sources also said Amazon would provide streaming movie services for the tablets.
AppleInsider | Amazon tablets coming in September, suppliers say
SkyDrive goes HTML5 – see the post link below for details and screen shots
We’re committed to making SkyDrive the best place to get access to your content from anywhere, collaborate on Office docs, and share photos. Mike recently talked about how we’re delivering access to your information seamlessly across devices – starting with Windows Phone.
But a key part to delivering on our goals is having a great web experience that works across platforms. While over 100 million people have tried SkyDrive on the web, we know that there’s a lot more we can do to improve the experience. So starting today, we are launching a new version of the SkyDrive website. We took advantage of modern browsers and HTML5 to make SkyDrive faster, easier to navigate, and more beautiful for viewing photos. The new SkyDrive will be rolling out soon, so check back if you don’t see it right away.
Check the article link below for more speculation and analysis
Apple Inc. plans to introduce a new iPhone in September that boasts a stronger chip for processing data and a more advanced camera, according to two people familiar with the plans.
The device will include the A5 processor, the more powerful chip that Apple added to the iPad 2 earlier this year, along with an 8-megapixel camera, up from the 5-megapixel model in the iPhone 4, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public. Apple is also testing a new version of the iPad that has a higher resolution screen, similar to the one now used in the iPhone 4, one of the people said.
Apple Is Said to Prepare IPhone With Faster Chip for September - Businessweek
Excerpt from one of several recent very positive reviews of the next Windows Phone update
With the help of Mango, the Windows Phone has grown up into a device that can be considered a real competitor for Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices, which are expected to get updated operating systems this fall. We’ll have to wait until then to see how Mango stacks up to its rivals’ new software.
Preview of Mango, the Next Windows Phone OS - Katherine Boehret - The Digital Solution - AllThingsD
Big changes in Egypt
Egypt’s military rulers have posted a Facebook poll to gauge the popularity of nearly 20 presidential hopefuls, an attempt to show their commitment to a democratic transition in the face of rising criticism of their management of the country.
Egypt puts a presidential poll on Facebook - The Boston Globe
"Traction® Software Inc, the leader in social software for work, today announced TeamPage Attivio Search Plus to index and search external sources, and TeamPage's Social Enterprise Web to discuss, tag, task, share and badge internal or external content. These TeamPage options connect TeamPage with structured data or unstructured content in sources including Microsoft SharePoint, EMC Documentum, Microsoft Exchange, file servers, SQL databases, intranets, and the public Web."
"Less reported in the media, however, were the study’s findings on possible filter bubble effects of Facebook. Are online social network sites (SNS) narrowing our information streams, leaving us less exposed to a diversity of views, as Eli warns?
The good news is that SNS’s are not, according to Pew, making us more close-minded. When asked whether they agreed with statements like “I believe that there are two sides to every question and I try to look at them both,” Internet and social network users were just as willing to be open-minded as other Americans. The one exception were Myspace users, who were more open-minded than any one else (theories on why are welcome in the comments section)."
"The collective intelligence of the Internet’s two billion users, and the digital fingerprints that so many users leave on Web sites, combine to make it more and more likely that every embarrassing video, every intimate photo, and every indelicate e-mail is attributed to its source, whether that source wants it to be or not. This intelligence makes the public sphere more public than ever before and sometimes forces personal lives into public view.
To some, this could conjure up comparisons to the agents of repressive governments in the Middle East who monitor online protests and exact retribution offline. But the positive effects can be numerous: criminality can be ferreted out, falsehoods can be disproved and individuals can become Internet icons."
"In its new campaign, which it has dubbed Operation Anti-Security (or by the Twitter hashtag #AntiSec), the group says it has declared “immediate and unremitting war” on governments and corporations. Its top priority is to “steal and leak any classified government information,” including but not limited to email and documentation. “Prime targets are banks and other high-ranking establishments,” it said in a document released via Pastebin."
