Roundup: Sony CEO's power grab, Dell droops, and are Facebook friends real?
Here’s the latest action:
Sony’s CEO takes over presidency – Howard Stringer believes he can run a tighter ship and break down walls between divisions with this latest power grab and reorg. Here he is having fun with Tom Hanks at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Can we really have so many Facebook friends? – The Economist delves into anthropology to judge whether we are really expanding our social circles by broadcasting news about ourselves to … Continue Reading
This is the Microsoft I want to see
People sometimes ask me why I dislike Microsoft. The answer is simple: I don’t — I’ve just been disappointed with much of what it’s done in the past decade.
This disappointment stems from the 1990s, when I was a big fan of many Microsoft products (and incidentally, could not stand Apple products). But over the past 10 years, I’ve slowly transitioned away from almost everything made by the company. It’s not what I set out … Continue Reading
I'm sorry Dave, I can't read that Kindle eBook to you
One of the most interesting features of the Kindle 2, Amazon’s new version of its overpriced eBook reader, is its text-to-speech option for content. This means your Kindle can read aloud any book you buy on the device — something which the Author’s Guild didn’t look too kindly on. You see, its authors’ hold special rights for the recordings of audiobooks based on their works. Of course, this feature isn’t the same thing an audiobook, … Continue Reading
Energy efficiency wins big at New York's Greener Gadgets conference
This year’s Greener Gadgets conference, hosted today in New York by the Consumer Electronics Association, showcased a range of cleantech concepts and devices. Featuring speakers from BusinessWeek, Intel, Dell, TreeHugger and Panasonic, the event culminated in a competitive design contest.
While there were a handful of truly clever entries among the 50 finalists, it was disconcerting to see how many of them were based on imaginary technology and bad science. And many only gave the … Continue Reading
Sony's game leadership goes full circle
Sony chief executive Howard Stringer shook up the ranks today with a management reorganization. He took over the president’s job held by Ryoji Chubachi and instituted other changes. The idea was to give Stringer more power to change things inside Sony, which is losing money and laying off a lot of people.
But Stringer has taken his top game executive, Kaz Hirai, and given him a promotion so he oversees not only the PlayStation business … Continue Reading
Intel and TSMC to announce collaboration on Monday
Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are expected to announce an alliance on Monday. The details aren’t available yet, but it is surely going to be interesting to see how the world’s biggest chip manufacturers work together.
Intel’s PR folks sent out invitations for the Monday announcement today, and the press promptly turned around and reported it. Taipei-based TSMC is the world’s biggest chip foundry, or contract manufacturer. It enables chip design companies to focus … Continue Reading
UBS orders $31 billion in Capcom stock, then cancels it, citing error
Here’s a ridiculous story for a Friday afternoon.
Swiss banking giant UBS placed a $31 billion, or 3 trillion yen, order for convertible bonds in the Japanese game publisher Capcom. The deal would have been the biggest ever on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, if only it were the real thing. Turns out, UBS apparently placed the order by accident, due to a computer system error. The real amount was supposed to be 31 million yen, … Continue Reading
Japanese Americans explore the power of ethnic networks in Silicon Valley
Ethnic networking is big in Silicon Valley. Indian professionals have The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE); and the Chinese and Taiwanese have their pick of the Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association (HYSTA), the Asian America Multi-Technology Association (AAMA) and the Monte Jade Science & Technology Association.
Now there’s the N! Leadership Network, a new group for Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals to connect in the business world. Recently founded by Michael Kanazawa, chief executive of consultancy … Continue Reading
DEMO: New innovations for the smart, open power grid
There’s no question we’re in a bad mess when it comes to state of our power grid, not only in the United States but globally.
Revamping how we track and use power is crucial for our generation. Which is why I’m delighted to be moderating a panel where we’ll reveal some of the latest innovations in this area. It’s happening at the DEMO conference in Palm Springs, Calif. next week. (This will be one of … Continue Reading
Hearst's new gadget: More useless than the Kindle
Hearst, the media conglomerate that publishes glossy magazines like Cosmopolitan and Esquire, as well as the struggling San Francisco Chronicle, has announced a bold plan to save the print media’s broken business and content models by importing them wholesale into a device similar to Amazon’s Kindle.
Fortune reports, “Insiders familiar with the Hearst device say it has been designed with the needs of publishers in mind… The larger screen better approximates the reading experience of … Continue Reading
The ugly truth about your favorite social networks
When it comes to social web sites and services, sometimes I think we like to talk about them more than actually use them. A recent post we did about Twitter getting half the press coverage of Facebook despite a fraction of the traffic, seems a bit indicative of this. So who is actually using these networks?
The site Brainz did some excellent overview charts of the various popular networks this week. Alright, so they aren’t … Continue Reading
VCs challenge Obama plan to up carried interest tax
Earlier this week, president Obama announced his intention to raise taxes on carried interest for hedge funds and private equity firms as part of his bold new budget plan. Not surprisingly, members of the venture capital community have been quick to speak out against the change, arguing that it will discourage investors from taking risks on potentially important startups, and ultimately weaken the economy.
Obama’s proposal would hike the tax on carried interest (the percentage … Continue Reading
Netflix tweets: Viva la red envelope!
There’s been a lot of back and forth recently about Netflix’s future plans. Streaming movies over the Internet has become a popular feature among those who use it and may even outpace DVD shipments for those users this year. And comments a few days ago by the company’s chief financial officer, Barry McCarthy, indicated that a streaming-only subscription option was forthcoming. This has led some to believe the move to Netflix as a streaming service … Continue Reading
Facebook growing by 5 million users a week overall, 1 million in US
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says his site is growing by one million users a week in the US, according to an interview he did with MSNBC’s Today Show published this morning. The show’s host, Matt Lauer, adds that it’s growing by more than 5 million users a week worldwide. This is strikingly fast growth even compared to the company’s most recently published numbers.
But what about making money from all those users? Zuckerberg claims that … Continue Reading
DEMO: How new technology makes us more productive
More companies are catching on to the ways that technologies like the Internet, smartphones, and social networking can help people work with others and get more done.
These ideas become even more compelling in the current economic climate, when it’s a truism that everyone needs to prove they’re productive. That, or they’ll lose their job.
That’s why we’re making “Productivity 2.0″ (a term which sounds a bit gimmicky, but which serves as a convenient shorthand … Continue Reading
Caller ID: A paid Android app to better screen my phone calls
Paid applications began appearing in the Android Market a week ago, but so far they aren’t selling well. It’s not clear if that’s because Android users aren’t used to paying for apps or if there’s simply a lack of good apps in the Market (the most notable app so far is one that costs $200 and does nothing). Well, here’s a cool paid app that you may want to check out.
The online phone number … Continue Reading
Vicious Cycle releases new tool to make it easier to do cheaper cross-platform games
Game engines may not be sexy to talk about, but they are useful tools. They provide developers with a platform upon which they can make multiple games. So it’s no small matter that Vicious Cycle Software is announcing a new version of its game engine, the Vicious Engine 2, today.
This new game-making tool will be available at the Game Developers Conference in March, and will enable game developers to create games for the PC, … Continue Reading
GeoEye's satellite data used in UbiSoft's new Tom Clancy game, H.A.W.X
GeoEye spent about $100 million sending a satellite into the sky so that you could see realistic ground imagery in a new Tom Clancy air combat game.
Not exactly. But the data from a satellite 423 miles high has been integrated into UbiSoft’s new game, Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X., a modern jet combat game set above real-world locations (see the trailer here). The game debuts next week on various game consoles and the PC.
The data … Continue Reading
Netflix not ready to dive into streaming?
From the outside, Netflix’s Watch Instantly streaming video service appears to be in fighting form. Usage is up, the content catalog is starting to grow, and the service is expanding to set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, and game consoles. These recent trends should be enough to nudge the fledgling movie-streaming service into higher-def, richer programmed pastures, right?
Not quite.
Barry McCarthy, the DVD-by-mail company’s chief financial officer, painted a less bullish picture at the Jeffries Internet … Continue Reading
Roundup: FriendFinder sued for risky business, Digg toolbar sighted, Nokia looks to laptops and more
Here’s the latest action:
Pirate Bay takes fascist funds — The large bittorrent tracker’s major financier, Carl Lundstrom, has been connected with neo-nazi groups and political parties.
Nortel lays off 3,200 more — The telecom company will cut its global workforce by 10 percent over the next several months as it tries to bounce back from bankruptcy.
FriendFinder called out for risky business — The adult web site’s former human resources director is suing over … Continue Reading
