Monthly Archive for January, 2011

Video’s Future Is Social

Published on January 27, 2011 in Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: .

Google is acquiring Fflick, a startup that provides movie recommendations based upon users’ Twitter feeds in a deal that could enable the search giant to incorporate sentiment analysis and social considerations into its content discovery process.

Fflick is just one of many new socially driven recommendations engines that have emerged over the past year or so; websites and apps like Miso, Philo, GetGlue, yap.TV and Comcast’s Tunerfish have emerged as a way to get users to log their media usage and share it with friends.

Through all of these launches, one thing is clear: Increasingly, content discovery will come through personalised recommendations that incorporate social networks. By purchasing Fflick, Google is buying into this idea, which could help it improve video discovery, recommendations and targeting on YouTube, Google TV products and even through its traditional search engine.

At another front, former Facebook executive backs BlipSnips social video service. Despite the hoopla about how everything on the Web is becoming increasingly social, BlipSnips chief executive John Bliss said that online video remains a remarkably un-social experience — and that’ s a problem BlipSnips is trying to solve [Source].

A related article can be found on MIT Technology Review Searching for the Future of Television and Google’s Video Play.

Facebook Credits: Virtual Goods Are Just the Beginning

Published on January 26, 2011 in Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Facebook is ready to go big with its Facebook Credits virtual currency: the company announced that all developers will have to use the credits in their apps starting July 1st. The move takes Facebook Credits out of beta and will make it the main payment system for all apps, with Facebook getting a 30 percent cut of the action [Source].

But the transition to Facebook Credits is not just about Facebook getting a cut of Farmville virtual transactions. This is about Facebook ultimately starting its own online payment system that could be used to buy a lot of different goods and stretch beyond the boundaries of the social network [Source].

Facebook has the opportunity to drive a lot of payments through its Credits, not just virtual currencies. As businesses set-up shop on Facebook, the social network could use its payment system as the preferred system for buying goods, movie tickets or digital content. In addition to advertising, this could be the big play for Facebook as it looks to grow its revenues.

Dow 12.000: Pit Stop or Market Top?

Published on January 25, 2011 in International Finance. 0 Comments Tags: .

The tug-of-war between the U.S. stock market’s bulls and bears continues, and the next demarcation line appears to be the psychologically-significant Dow 12.000 level.

The market’s bulls argue that the worst financial and economic news is behind us, and that the Dow’s recent rise from about the 9.500 level in July to near 12.000 this winter is a signal by institutional investors that better days are ahead.

The market’s bears argue that the substantially smaller U.S. workforce, stagnant incomes in many job segments, an economy that’s short – - at minimum — about 15 million full-time jobs, and that lingering problem — a housing market still trying to stabilise amid an above-normal foreclosure rate — mean the Dow is sending a false signal, and is headed for a fall [Source].

The future of Apple’s leadership

Published on January 25, 2011 in High Tech & Media and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , .

For many people, Apple would not be Apple without Steven P. Jobs. The sudden decision by the company’s chief executive to take a medical leave for the third time in less than a decade raises anxieties about the leadership of the company he helped found more than three decades ago.

It also puts the spotlight again on several senior executives who have been helping Mr. Jobs run the company, in particular Timothy D. Cook, the chief operating officer, who will take over day-to-day operations during Mr. Jobs’s leave [Source].

“The company could not thrive if Steve didn’t have an extremely talented team around him,” said David B. Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School who has studied the technology industry for decades. “But you can’t replace Steve on some levels.”

“The person who can keep the trains running on time is a scarce commodity, but not as rare as someone who can do breakthrough innovation,” said Michael Useem, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the director of its Center for Leadership and Change Management.

No one expects Apple to suffer in the short term, as the company has a long product cycle. But some raise questions as to what will happen over the long term if Mr. Jobs does not return.

“The problem, really at the core,” he said, “is that Steve Jobs’s inspiration is irreplaceable.”

[Source]

Google Names Co-Founder Larry Page New CEO

Published on January 21, 2011 in International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , .

One of the longest, most successful runs as chief executive of an Internet company has come to an end: Come April, Eric Schmidt will step down as Google’s CEO and cofounder Larry Page will resume the position starting April 4.

Yes, resume. It’s so long ago that few remember, but Page was Google’s first CEO, and held the job from 1998 to 2001, when Schmidt was hired. Page, his cofounder Sergey Brin, and Schmidt have long ruled as a triumvirate. They’ll continue to “discuss” key decisions, according to a blog post by Schmidt.

It’s not clear what prompted the timing of this announcement. It has faced increasing difficulties in buying its way into adjacent markets: See its failed bid for Groupon, or its attempted purchase of travel-search startup ITA Software, currently held up in regulatory review amid concerns from rivals. At the same time, Google has struggled in launching new products, especially social ones, to fend off challenges from Facebook and Twitter.

If it can’t buy, it must build. The question: Is Page a builder? He was in his first round as CEO. Now he’ll have to prove his product chops anew. One thing’s for sure now: He won’t have anyone else to blame if he screws things up [Source].

GE Makes $520M Move Into Green Data Centres

Published on January 14, 2011 in Greentech and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , .

GE wants a slice of the burgeoning green-data-centers pie — and it’s willing to spend half a billion dollars to get it [Source].

The company, which manufactures everything from wind turbines to electric car charging stations, announced today it has acquired power conversion technology company Lineage Power for $520 million from Gores Group, an offering that GE says will help it leverage huge opportunities in telecom and making data centers more efficient.

Lineage Power makes energy efficient power conversion technology that converts the AC electricity delivered from the grid to DC electricity to power the servers and equipment in data centers. It also makes DC-DC power modules for telecom purposes and helps companies set up energy systems. Some companies have been demonstrating data centers running on all-DC power as of late, as a way to save energy [Source].

Intel Continues Big Spending Spree

Published on January 13, 2011 in International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Intel said today it will spend $9 billion on chip factories and other capital improvements in 2011, far above the $5 billion in spent in 2010.

The company made the disclosure in its fourth quarter earnings report, which set a new record for the world’s biggest chip maker. Intel has never been timid about spending money during downturns. But now that we are in a full-blown recovery, as evidenced by the company’s strong sales of $43.6 billion in 2010.

Each huge chip factory costs Intel around $2.5 billion. The picture above shows a new chip factory that Intel built in China. Intel said it would also spend about $7.3 billion on research and development in 2011. That amount includes the research the company has to do in order to develop the manufacturing process for its newest factories.

The spending is all the more staggering when you think that Intel spent $7.68 billion to acquire security software vendor McAfee. Even with that diversification, Intel has the cash to spend on factories. Intel has $16.7 billion in cash and short-term investments [Source].

The Global Response to Federal Reserve QE2

Published on January 11, 2011 in Emerging Markets and International Business. 1 Comment Tags: .

In early November, the Federal Reserve put all speculation to rest when it formally announced that it would move forward with another found of quantitative easing, as it would inject an additional $600 billion of emergency liquidity into the United States economy. The global response to the Fed’s decision to move forward with QE2 was heated, to say the least. However, let’s first put the Fed’s decision in context. In June, when key data out of the U.S. began missing expectations on a consistent basis, traders began selling the dollar quite aggressively into higher-yielding assets such as emerging market currencies like China, India, Russia, Brazil, and the Eurozone.

When capital flows into an emerging market, it is good until a certain point. However, after a certain point, then increased capital flows actually become destructive. They drive up a country’s currency exchange rate, which causes their exports to become less attractive in foreign markets, which threatens to destabilize economic growth, since most emerging markets are heavily reliant on their exports.

Therefore, the global response to QE2 was frustration. China accused the U.S. of artificially devaluing its currency, Brazil increased a tax on foreign bond holders, and several emerging market Central Banks began intervening in the fx market in an attempt to drive down their exchange rates.

Currently, the United States is not necessarily on the good side of these emerging markets. Even Germany has lashed out at the U.S. regarding its tendency to print money at such substantial levels. Suffice to say, there is much volatility and uncertainty in global forex market, and this volatility will most likely remain in place until the global economy returns to stable growth, and that could be some time yet.

A Google Mobile Payment Service?

Published on January 4, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Google is reportedly working on a new near field communication [NFC]-based mobile payment service that would allow individuals to easily pay for products just by tapping their smartphones against a special terminal at checkout.

The information comes from Bloomberg Businessweek, who cites “two people familiar with the plans.” The sources indicate that the service could become available as soon as this year. Smartphones would be required to be at least 10cm away from the register in order to exchange payment information [Source].

Already, several companies are looking to offer NFC-based mobile payment services. For instance, Verizon Wireless in partnership with AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA Inc. announced a joint-venture in November of 2010, which seeks to create a mobile commerce network called Isis. The service is expected to debut sometime in early 2012.

Other companies looking to create NFC-based mobile payment services of their own include Visa, Ebay and PayPal, and others.

Read another article here: Mobile phone will change the world.

Business Model Innovation

Published on January 3, 2011 in Emerging Markets and Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Sooner or later, all businesses, even the most successful, run out of room to grow. Faced with this unpleasant reality, they are compelled to reinvent themselves periodically. The ability to pull off this difficult feat—to jump from the maturity stage of one business to the growth stage of the next—is what separates high performers from those whose time at the top is all too brief [Source].

Companies that successfully reinvent themselves have one trait in common. They tend to broaden their focus beyond the financial S curve and manage to three much shorter but vitally important hidden S curves—tracking the basis of competition in their industry, renewing their capabilities, and nurturing a ready supply of talent. In essence, they turn conventional wisdom on its head and learn to focus on fixing what doesn’t yet appear to be broken [Source].

A preview of such business models can be found in emerging markets. Opportunities of the future can be spot on a street corner in Bangalore, in a small city in central India, in a village in Kenya—and they don’t require companies to forgo profits. On the surface, nothing could be more prosaic: a laundry, a compact fridge, a money-transfer service. But look closely at the businesses behind these offerings and you will find the frontiers of business model innovation. These novel ventures reveal a way to help companies escape stagnant demand at home, create new and profitable revenue streams, and find competitive advantage [Source].

Right now more than 20.000 multinationals are operating in emerging economies. According to the Economist, Western multinationals expect to find 70% of their future growth there—40% of it in China and India alone. But if the opportunity is huge, so are the obstacles to seizing it. The Economist wrote, “The only way that companies can prosper in these markets is to cut costs relentlessly and accept profit margins close to zero.”