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Just a few days ago I was arguing that platform would beat machine in the mobile wars. I specifically referred to Google and Apple, though meant the point more generally. But it appears that some Gartner research, leading to a 2012 projection, would back up the argument.
Sony and Microsoft once predicted that game consoles would become the entertainment centers of the future. It looks like they were right, and that might be a problem for Apple.
Time Warner (TWX) filed an 8-K with the SEC today and gave a preview of the AOL spin-off. It's coming quick and it's going to be expensive -- and messy.
Intel (INTC) will pay AMD $1.25 billion to settle all the antitrust and patent infringement suits that have been flying about. But this isn't going to come close to letting Intel put antitrust issues behind, and some of the biggest prices the company will pay are yet to come.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) has announced that it is acquiring networking company 3-Com (3COM) for $2.7 billion. The aggressive move counters expansions by Dell into services and sometimes partner, sometimes rival Cisco into servers and just about every aspect of network-related offering it can acquire, as well as taking on IBM on a more toe-to-toe basis.
It looks like the Consumer Electronics Show, which was supposed to have Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz as a keynote speaker, has dumped her in favor of Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs. Whatever the reason, it says a lot about her industry standing.
I got an email from Florian Mueller, an advisor to MySQL creator and founder Monty Widenius, WHO THINKS THAT Oracle has been refusing to understand the importance of MySQL independence to the EU. But I still think something a bit more intentional is going on, with a multi-faceted strategy to knock off the database upstart.
Cisco has clearly been on an acquisition tear. Now an offer of unsecured notes to raise a total of $5 billion raises the question of what company it's after now.
EU regulators have filed a formal objection to Oracle's planned acquisition of Sun. This is exactly the scenario that was most likely to cause an implosion of the entire deal, and now it's happened. But maybe that's what Oracle wanted.
The handset market is seeing a battle of device versus platform. And history suggests that the natural winner will be platform, much to the pleasure of Google and eventual dismay of Apple.
Chasing down some rumors I heard on Twitter, it seems that while the Droid may be getting some good press, both Motorola and Verizon seem to be downplaying some numbers that suggest a potentially more limited phone experience than many users might like.
The Bilski case -- which could affect business method patents -- is often conflated with the idea of software patents, leading to the conclusion that a loss for inventor Bilski is identical to a loss for all software companies. That isn't exactly the case, but from what I heard today, from someone who was in the courtroom, of the Supreme Court hearing on the appeal should make a lot of companies that depend on software patents pretty nervous.
Oracle's refusal to compromise with the EU is endangering its acquisition of Sun -- and putting the latter in danger of destruction.
To be young, impatient, and wanting to release software. The description sounds like a start-up working out of someone's spare bedroom, but both Microsoft and Apple have reminded us that even major companies with a lot of money and reputation on the line can step into a sinkhole and release something that shouldn't have gotten out the door.
Sirius XM (SIRI) CEO Mel Karmazin has again tried to strike an upbeat tone at the company's latest earnings announcement. But, again, the business fundamentals have to make you wonder if the company has a viable long-term future.
