Former workers at the web giant Google have launched a rival search engine.
Called Cuil (pronounced “cool”), from the Gaelic for knowledge and hazel, its founders claim it does a better and more comprehensive job of indexing information online. The technology it uses to index the web can understand the context surrounding each page and the concepts driving search requests, say the founders. Rather than displaying results in a list, like Google, Cuil shows them on a page which has a more magazine-like feel.
Analysts believe the new search engine, like many others, will struggle to match and defeat Google. Read more on the goliath challenger Cuil here.
In an attempt to revamp its organisational and corresponding stock performance, General Electric will reorganise its operations by folding its six business segments into four.
The new GE units now comprise technology infrastructure, energy infrastructure, capital and NBC Universal. The move continues a trend over the years of consolidating the sprawling company’s multiple divisions.
“We have been upgrading our portfolio of businesses and simplifying our organizations for market focus, efficiency and execution,” Immelt said. “We have higher-growth, higher-margin businesses and organizationally have simplified the company from 11 business segments in 2001 to four segments today.”
Last week Dennis Bergkamp started with his trainee post at his youth love, AJAX. As part of the official course of becoming a licensed trainer/manager. Earlier this year Marco van Basten, AJAX’s new manager, offered Bergkamp a trainee post alongside him at AJAX,. Read more in my previous post “Van Basten offers Bergkamp trainee post“.
The pressure to lift the share price is building. But CEO Jeff Immelt’s options are limited. After a historic first-quarter fumble (earnings miss of 7Cents below expectations) GE met targets for Q2 FY2009. But the market didn’t reward GE. The battered stock price rose just 2Cents on the day’s news, to US$27,66. Since the beginning of the year it’s down 25%, compared with a 15% drop in the S&P 500-stock index.
Now, GE’s CEO Immelt is fighting to revive faith in the sprawling US$173 billion conglomerate, even as forces are working against him. The credit crisis and GE’s April 11 earnings miss have put him under tougher scrutiny than at any time in his seven-year tenure as CEO. Investors are questioning the size and complexity of the company, and want him to move faster to shed assets.
Immelt is acutely aware of the pressure, even as he continues to build GE for the long term. He has overhauled the business portfolio, buying US$88 billion of assets in high-tech growth areas like alternative energy and bioscience while dumping more than US$55 billion of less attractive plays such as GE Plastics. With respect to the need for a better diversified income ratio. Immelt says “asset disposals and the boom in infrastructure should bring the ratio back to about 60% industrial and 40% financial by 2010″ (now half the net).
Immelt says he doesn’t plan to change his strategy—other than raising his cost—cutting targets by $1 billion to $3 billion for this year. While he may not like the economic climate, he’s confident that the shares will ultimately reward solid execution. In the meantime, he’s doing what he can to help GE thrive. “Everybody would like to see the stock price higher,” he says, “me at the front of the list.
London’s hedge fund managers and stockbrokers have more than their bonuses to worry about: many are now fretting about their marriages, according to a new study.
About 80 percent of those surveyed believe that the turmoil — and lower bonus payments — will prompt more women to seek a divorce before their husbands’ wealth evaporates further.
To date foreign Telecom players like SK Telecom (S-Korea), Telefonica (Spain), and Vodafone (UK) have been limited to minority stakes of under 7% in Chinese telecom operators.
However brighter times for foreign telecom operators may lie ahead! Owing to the ongoing Chinese telecom industry restructuring (consolidation wave) and a planned infrastructure revamp (issuing of 3G Network licenses). As Chinese Telcos are not primarily looking to attract more capital the latter can provide opportunities for foreign players. Respectively for foreign telecom operators that are already engaged in 3G networks in their home markets.
Foreign telecom operators have the technology and experience their Chinese counterparts lack.
“We should attract more foreign investment when we roll out 3G and use other people’s money to build the networks,” says Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications professor Lu Tingjie (source).
The July / August 2008 edition of the Trendwatching Trend Briefing is now online, covering INNOVATION AVALANCHE, including no less than 41 new business ideas, many of them begging to be introduced to the Dutch market. So get your act sorted and gear up into action mode!
Former workers at the web giant Google have launched a rival search engine.
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