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The Defense of Yang and Yahoo
Jerry Yang, one of the co-founders of Yahoo, had come back to run the company as CEO is now stepping down. Many people blame him for the collapse in the stock price. Although the stock price had been falling, the over all market collapse had depressed the stock even more. However I do not believe Jerry Yang is totally to blame. Sure Yahoo had a simple offer from Microsoft but it did in fact under- value the company. Microsoft knew it as did many others, including the Yahoo board who rejected the offer. Now Microsoft is waiting to snatch it up at bargain prices, however all they want is the search unit. And maybe they should have that but the rest of the company should be merged with another internet entertainment company such as AOL or even a Liberty Media Internet Group type of company. It would be a waste for Microsoft to end up with all of Yahoo at these cheap prices and then destroy those units and features that make Yahoo unique. It is a shame that Yahoo was not able to properly market and develop all of its properties which include MyBlogLog, Flickr, the old GeoCities, Babel Fish Translator, del.icio.us, jumpcut, and omg!, just to name a few. All that along with its ever improving search engine. Yahoo is a hell of a company with valuable internet properties and Jerry Yang realized that as a co-founder. It would be a shame to blame and punish the company because he held the vision that will make Yahoo a valuable asset in the near future, whether on its own or merge with another company. I personally just hope it is not Microsoft which I think would ruin the development of these useful internet properties and features.
Google begins Video for Business as part of biz application suite
Google launches browser, Chrome; Reviews are mixed
FREE standard shipping on the brand new KODAK Zi6 Pocket Video Camera at the Kodak Store!!
Apple 3G iPhone on sale now
.Mac Mail, iChat and iCards - communicate with elegance and ease.
Why an AOL-Yahoo merger makes sense
It makes very little sense to merge Microsoft and Yahoo, with the exception of the two mediocre search engines. Yahoo has built itself into an online entertainment company, just as former CEO Terry Semel had intended. The entire Yahoo company is not a good fit for Microsoft. What would they do with all the companies and sites that Yahoo owns, i.e. MyBlogLog or OMG? On the other hand, AOL and Time Warner could improve upon the sites with content and add additional advertising opportunities on the various web properties of Yahoo. Although there may be some duplication the overall combination is a good fit. It makes more sense and we would much rather see and AOL-Yahoo merger than Microsoft buying up Yahoo just for their search engine. We see no added benefits for Microsoft and absolutely no benefits for Yahoo being purchased by Microsoft. We urge shareholders to support an AOL-Yahoo merger for the greater benefit of both these fine companies.
EMC buys Iomega
Flickr shows video
Amazon.com launches text shopping
A new service launched by Amazon.com allows shoppers to compare prices and shop products with a few clicks on their cell phones. Amazon's TextBuyIt launched Tuesday allows users to enter a product name, description or UPC/ISBN number and send a text to 262966 ("Amazon" on phone keypad). Shoppers will then receive two items matching the information. You can then buy either item by texting the numbers "1" or "2", or text the letter "m" for more.
Yahoo launches Shine
Yahoo has added yet another piece to its ever expanding puzzle by launching a site for women. Shine.yahoo.com is set in a blog form but covers just about every topic one could imagine. It even provides RSS feeds. Focused primarily on women in their early 20s on up this site is made by women for women. Shine joins a good group of Yahoo sites including Yahoo Buzz (in beta) and MyBlogLog. We encourage everyone to check it out. Shine.yahoo.com
Hulu debut March 12
Hulu.com the online video joint venture between News Corp. and NBC will make its public debut March 12. The site will feature more than 250 television series and 100 free full length films. People will also be able to view videos thru AOL, MySpace.com, Yahoo and MSN. Along with tv and movies the site will offer videos from over 50 different content providers including Warner Bros., Lionsgate Films, NBA and NHL. Of course all this "free" content will be supported by advertising, so be ready to watch some ads before enjoying your videos.
Why Twitter’s failing by ZDNet's Dennis Howlett -- Right now, Twitter is a mess. Most of today, European users have experienced outages of varying length and even hard core Twitter fans are saying they’ve had enough. Some have talked of jumping ship to Pownce or Jaiku. Louis van Proosdij, in answer to TechCrunch France’s Ouriel Ohayon offered: @OurielOhayon This is where Twitter may fail [...]
Microsoft makes $44B bid for Yahoo
Jerry Yang offers sneak peak of Yahoo’s future: Life! by ZDNet's Dan Farber -- Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang made his inaugural CES appearance, outlining how he plans to evolve his company ahead of the curve and to become an indispensable starting point for consumers’ Web experience, which has become richer and more complex over the last decade. “We call this Life with an exclamation point,” Yang said. [...]
Disney continues family domain acquisitions
While NBC Universal is going after the female viewers with iVillage.com and recent buy of Oxygen media, Disney is quietly buying dominate family sites. First they came out with Family,com and familyfun.com, now they have purchased iParenting.com. Of course not be be out done, earlier this year Mattel toy company re-launched their Barbie.com site and Barbiegirls.com to enable girls to create profiles and download music to the new Barbie mp3 dolls.
Facebook tracking logged off users
According to an article on PC World, Facebook has acknowledged that the site's new ad service "tracks users' off-Facebook activities even if those users are logged off from the social-networking site and have previously declined having their activities on specific external sites broadcast to their Facebook friends." This new admission by the company contradicts previous statements. It was discovered and written about by a senior research engineer at CA's Threat Research Group.
Let's make a difference
Folks they can't do it alone. Take a moment a make a difference for the many animals out there that are suffering on a daily basis. You can make a difference and they really do need you help. THANK YOU!
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Rumors of my demise...
How does that old quote go, "rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," and yes we know its the lyrics of a song. The rumors of the Google Gphone and the fact that it will be heaven on earth (trying to out-do the marketing campaign of Apple's iphone aka Jesus phone) have of course been greatly exaggerated. As we now know Google has developed a software for phones because they are in fact a software company. Now their ambition is well to be admired. They simply don't want one phone to compete with the iphone, they want ALL phones! Yes they have established an alliance (the Open Handset Alliance) among various companies to develop programs for their software, called Android, that will be capable of running on all types of phones. So their strategy is more ingenious than just one brand of phone. But everyone can relax and know that the iphones you purchased are going to be good for some time to come. While the Gphone software may be exciting and provide new possibilities years from now, Apple does not have to worry about being dethroned. No if we can just get those little PSP discs to play on phones we would have the true all in one: internet, music, gaming, dvd, entertainment phone, the Ephone (Everything phone or Entertainment phone).
Microsoft wins another over Google, buys stake in Facebook
That is if you can call it a win. Microsoft will pay big money, $240 million for a tiny 1.6% stake the the fast growing social networking site. Only time will tell if it is truly a win over Google or one of the biggest business investment blunders. We now hear from Ebay execs how that company admits to over paying for Skype.
Speaking of Skype, they have teamed up with Myspace.com to offer voice "functionality" thru the IM service. According to Xchangemag.com, "users will be able to make free calls to through Skype to other Skype or MySpace users."
Microsoft wins one against Google, opens HealthVault
The new medical web site from Microsoft to help you store information and medical records is HealthVault.com. Although still in beta form, the site allows people to store their data and have it available for doctors, hospitals and even family members to access. The site also allows you to search and review medical related articles. Google has been planning for some time now to offer a similar service. and in recent weeks rumors on the street (Wall Street) were they had plans to buy WebMD. Although that still could be possible it is a bit tricky with the corporate structure and ownership of WebMD. But we predict a deal could get done and regardless Google should be opening a medical related search site soon.
Amazing new bots from iRobot
The company that made life so much easier with the Roomba and Scooba. The two new products are the Looj and the ConnectR. The Looj allows you to clean those pesky gutters at home and the ConnectR allows use of a video phone anywhere in the house or office. You have got to check these out. Here is yet another link to ZDnet for the pics that tell the whole story. Enjoy and then go out and buy them! http://content.zdnet.com/2346-9595_22-167132.html
Yahoo security changes
Security makeover for Yahoo Messenger by ZDNet's Ryan Naraine -- Eight days after the release of exploit code for code execution holes in the Yahoo Messenger IM client, Yahoo has shipped a new version with patches for its Windows user base.
We could not say it any better so here is the ZDnet news link on new iPods from Apple
Apple iPod Touch will cannibalize iPhone by ZDNet's Larry Dignan -- Apple rolled out its much-anticipated iPod lineup Wednesday and an updated iTunes. A big part of that lineup is the iPod Touch, which is a nice end run around the iPhone due to its built-in Wi-Fi. What’s the biggest hangup with the iPhone? The AT&T network that comes with it (see Jason O’Grady’s diary). The fix: [...]
Link to new iPod photos on ZDnet.com http://content.zdnet.com/2346-9595_22-162845.html
Palm/Smartphone, NBC/Amazon, AOL/McAfee
Palm has apparently cancelled its next smartphone called the Foleo. The company introduced the unit in May and was about ready to ship it out when the cancel order came down. Although CEO Edward Colligan decided to cancel the phone, Palm co-founder Jeff Hawkins thinks there is a future. Palm will be working on its next generation software and a future smartphone will be able to run their new software. Of course all this comes on the heels of what could be some stellar numbers soon to be released for Apple's iphone. Speaking of Apple, NBC has left iTunes and has announced a deal with Amazon to download shows using Amazon's service called Unbox. New show episodes will be available for download the day after they air on t.v. Free downloads of pilot episodes will be available beginning Sept.10, just as iTunes has offered for shows like FX's Damages and AMC's Mad Men. Finally a thought on AOL. They have once again changed security services from McAfee to AOL Security and now back to McAfee. As we said the first time they offered this security service, AOL just needs to buy McAfee. We see that McAfee stock has rebounded abit from the last time we checked the stock, so that may be why the two sides have not done a deal but it seems to make sense and to think of all the cross promotion opportunities. But then again AOL still has trouble cross promoting with its parent Time Warner so how could we expect them to see the possibilities with McAfee?
Sony may open new unit
Reports surfaced that Sony may be taking on Apple's iTunes. Well, only for movie downloads. It is appropriate that we add this piece right after the previous post in which Sony shut down music download service. So without laughing too hard let's just see if the rumors turn out to be true and then start the count down clock on the shut down of this download service.
Sony shuts down unit
As Sony tries to launch a new Walkman they announce they are shutting down their music store Connect. As many people may already know, the service was "glitchy" and never really got off the ground. According to Cnet news, Sony anticipates the closure by March 2008. We have used it briefly in the past and did not seem to have any trouble. That was around the time they launched the service or at least they were promoting it heavily. They had the promotions with McDonalds, you could get a free download with a burger or coke. Sony has suggested that customers archive their music to disc.
Google Earth to launch Sky
According to Reuters, Google is preparing to launch a new service thru its Google Earth platform called Sky, which will be like a virtual telescope. Working in conjunction with Dr. Carol Christian of the Space Telescope Science Institute, it will be a "roadmap of the entire sky." The articel goes on to say "Like Google Earth, Sky will enable users to float and zoom in on over 100 million stars and 200 million galaxies. Users will view the sky as seen from earth." Several different groups are participating in the project including the Digital Sky Survey Consortium, the United Kingdom Astronomy Technology Centre and the Anglo-Australian Observatory. As with Google Earth, the information will be updated over time. The Sky service will be available on all Google Earth domains, in 13 languages later on Wednesday. Users will need to download the newest version of Google Earth which can be found at www.earth.google.com
Five new Microsoft downloads available this week by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley -- Here's a quick round-up of some of the new test releases and final versions of various Microsoft wares rolled out in the past week.
Interesting news on tech stocks
As reported by ZDnet news, Kaspersky Labs and Classmates.com are looking into possible IPOs. Meaning that these privately held companies may issue stock that the public can buy. We have always been more in favor of companies being public and open rather than being held in private hands. The biggest rumor around for an IPO is Facebook. Also within the past month there has been the rumor of Facebook making a bid for IncrediMail (stock symbol MAIL), which as it turns out is an Israeli company. While we are by no means financial experts we do believe in the upside potential of the stock market and the popularity of the "social networking" sites. For full disclosure our company, IHU Solutions, owns stock in IncrediMail and Cnet.com (stock symbol CNET), the parent company of ZDnet.com
Stand up for what you believe in
We are strong advocates of ending animal abuse and illegal dog fighting. There is an interesting point of view from one of our partners at BobsAllBlog regarding the use of dogs and other animals in war. THOUSANDS of dogs were abandoned after Vietnam because they are considered "equipment" by the military. Yet during that time there was one very extraordinary dog named Chip who was a hero and saved many lives. This dog was awarded a medal but it was taken away due to the fact that he was listed as equipment and not the soldier that he was. We encourage evryone to do their part to end animal abuse and neglect. Do not hesitate to speak out and take a stand.
Welcome to new site
Hello and welcome to the new IHU blog site. We formerly listed our blog on the business site of IHU Solutions Co. (www.ihusol.com) but decided to separate this site from the business site as some of the personal views we write about may not conform with our business. We will still remain strong believers in new technology. We look forward to providing strong points of view on everything from the newest tech products to more personal views on animal rights and protections.