Being confirmed as the new F.C.C. Chief is one thing, actually doing their job is quite another!
(Source) NY Times: http://goo.gl/RgXqDx
Remember how Ronald Reagan praised ‘privatization as the fastest route to greater competition; innovation and reduced prices’ (i.e., when Ma Bell as it was once known was broken up and America’s Telecommunication Industry was deregulated). Unfortunately, the vast majority of American’s don’t either. Moreover, the aforementioned contention was little more than patronizing (at best) as the nation has some of the highest monthly fees and inversely lowest access speeds.
(Source) BBC: http://goo.gl/u9WRFf
Qualcomm’s prediction that Microsoft could still place third in the Smartphone space is curious (at-best) in light of the firm’s on-going struggles (and the simple fact that their current product offerings are underwhelming).
(Source) ZD Net: http://goo.gl/ulJhM4
Kudos to the NYSE for successfully undergoing a pre-IPO test-run (in an attempt to avoid Facebook’s IPO debacle)… This exercise looks to be a harbinger for future (high-profile) IPO’s. Of course, few will focus on this long-term as Twitters’s overall stock price and market performance will be the ultimate focal point.
(Source) BBC: http://goo.gl/F1VSe5
Aside from asking a relevant question: Will humanity simply ever cease using motorized vehicles (most notably, those propelled by internal-combustion?) let’s hope the initiative to get over 3 million cars on the road by 2025 (in a coalition of eight American states) is more than just a pipe dream (i.e., PR ploy).
(Source) Engadget: http://goo.gl/MGYoJM
Faux Pas: It looks like the Taiwanese government caught Samsung red-handed for sponsoring a paid, blogging / Social Media campaign to praise their products while making disparaging remarks regarding their competition (i.e., HTC in this instance).
(Source) PC Magazine: http://goo.gl/3E4GO8
Cupertino’s latest releases seem to be a flanking move more than anything else (due to increasing competition from Android-powered devices). Although offering a free OS-upgrade is a nice (new) touch from Apple.
(Source) BBC: http://goo.gl/FOVpku
In a move clearly designed to counter Twitter as the ‘micro-breaking-user-driven-social-news-forum’ Facebook is wooing (major) media firms with their latest offering. A big issue with this entire shift in reporting is how much misinformation is posted that’s generated from Social Networking to begin with. So, while competition is (in theory) a good thing… in reality, consolidation within Social Networking is actually becoming increasingly anti-competitive (with the resulting fall-out).
(Source) Business Week: http://goo.gl/IBKa4F
In an era of interdependency, it is evident that global supply chains are both a strength (e.g., economies of scale, etc.) and a threat (cyber-espionage) due to malicious code / malware, etc. that’s becoming increasingly sophisticated and harder to decipher. That said, one ‘expert’s’ perspective is that the lessons from the Cold War are befitting for today (e.g., Cyber Space).
Given that the author (of this argument / position) works for a major Chinese firm Huawei (that’s been getting the blocks put to them by various governments including America’s Congress) one cannot help but wonder how objective they actually are. In other words, leaving Cyber Space (concerns) aside, economic-determinism has to be at play here on some level.
(Source) Financial Times: http://goo.gl/zTvdJX
It’s interesting that Nokia’s former CEO would lay blame on US service providers for telling the company, “there would be no demand for smartphones priced above US$300” as the onus was on the former, global industry-leader to innovate period (which aside from hubris was a major reason for their downfall).
(Source) ZD Net: http://goo.gl/En9Dr0
