by glu on December 26, 2008
- Hot on the heels of confirmed reports that both Wal-Mart and Best Buy are selling iPhones at a reduced price of $197, AT&T is now reportedly selling refurbished iPhones at an even lower price point. Not to be outdone, AT&T will offer the 8GB iPhone at $99 and the 16GB iPhone at $199 2-yr standard contract yada yada. Slick move Deathstar. Slick Move.
- On the other side of the fence, Steve Jobs must certainly be reveling in the retail maelstrom that he has orchestrated. In what will now be iPod retail wars pt. 2: The iPhone Chronicles, other retailers will certainly look to enter the fracas. Whether it sidesteps or leapfrogs, the iPhone could soon challenge a greater mobile market than just the smartphone market.
- It seems that Jobs has constructed this price fight in order to increase public perception that Apple products can be enjoyed at a reasonable price point. With rumors of either a sub-$1000 netbook style device or an iPhone Nano cued for announcement at MacWorld the timing seems perfect. Almost too perfect.
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by glu on December 17, 2008
- Yahoo announced the shortening of its data anonymizing period from 13 months to 3. Let’s glance at the current anonymizing practices among the big three:
- Google – 9 months…as of september
- Microsoft – 6 months…as of last week
- Yahoo – 3 months…as of today
- Based on these figures, it would seem that the time personal data is kept on file is directly proportional to the companies worth. Ha. Chuckle as we may, this an applause-worthy, albeit a golf clap level, direction for a company desperately in need of some successful directions. Earlier this week, we saw Mahalo Answers launch in direct competition to the popular, slick, but unfortunately neglected Yahoo Answers.
- And now on to the Google, in whose shadow Yahoo has long lived. Google has opened some of its advertising floodgates lately but also taken some criticism for its privacy as well. We do not yet know the effect of these PR Privacy Bombs but as online privacy concerns rise in the public discussion, this early seed sowing may yield a fine crop.
by glu on December 10, 2008
BizSpark, a program designed to help support startups in their early stages, is having their Los Angeles launch party Wednesday, Dec. 10 from 7 to 10 p.m. at Beso in Hollywood. Partnering Microsoft Startup Zone with Stephanie Agresta and Brian Solis of The TechSet, BizSpark is hosting local startups to present their wares to the crowd.. as well as stuff everyone silly with free hors d’oeuvres and drinks.
by glu on December 8, 2008
- Research In Motion, Blackberry-maker, and supposed star of the corporate productivity scene has seriously boggled the launch of its newest smartphone: the Blackberry Storm. The phone saw major supply line issues/backorders and terrible reviews despite a relatively sizable marketing effort by both Verizon and RIM.
- Over a nearly three week period, RIM is the odd man out among the major handset manufacturers as its stock (Nasdaq: RIMM) was the only to experience negative growth.
- What RIM may have lost more than points on its stock price is the respect of the IT community. Blackberries have been traditionally known for their reliability, simplicity, and funcionality. The Blackberry Storm is none of these and having had the opportunity to test the device over the past few weeks I can affirm that it is indeed, as David Pogue of the NYT and many others have said, a major dud.
- Over the weekend RIM tried its best to spread news of a crucial firmware upgrade of the Storm to the masses. However, what it accomplished in fixing glitches across a few Blackberry Storm devices it also accomplished in notifying the web of its general failure.
- What Apple lacked in enterprise it more than made up for with multimedia. Just the opposite, RIM has enterprise covered and needed to strengthen it’s multimedia offerings. The major difference between the two? People dont lose their jobs when User X can’t listen to the latest Kanye LP they downloaded the night before. Enterprise reliability was the wrong chip to gamble with RIM. Serious business users dont have patience for experimental, clicky typing and complex menu arrangements.
- Lastly, since RIM reduced its revenue predictions for its upcoming Q3 earnings statement analysts have made further reductions of their own.
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