What Does This Do To The App Store Space?

Comes under the category of "Why didn't I think of that?".

Doesn't it seem antiquated that we need to go to a separate site to use an app?

What happens to the control that the iTunes and Google Play have?

1App allows apps to bypass the app store to get users to download. They cut out the middleman (app store).


The Menlo Park, California-based startup has taken the disruptive cloud-streaming technology and applied it to the problem of app discovery. Now you can use 1App’s OneOS to instantly deliver a mobile app to someone who wants to try it out.

Raheel Hasan, CEO of 1App, said in an interview with VentureBeat that 1App can stream a full app experience to any device in any mobile environment. You could play an Android game on an iPhone if you wanted to, with no waiting and now no need to bother with stores or downloads.

The question is...who gets the data now?   

Will apps need to place their app in the app stores?
Can this be the new way to get an app on a device?
What percentage of the revenue will 1App get versus who places the app ad?
What will this do to Apple's 30% cut on app subscriptions? 
Has 1App found a way over Apple's walled garden? 

Why Apple Is Overvalued And Destined For Hard Times

Yes, we love Apple and their products...but they are still thinking "local" and it is going to cost them dearly.

From the ability to carry around all of our music IN the iPod to the neat way of running applications ON our phone, Apple has clearly nailed this strategy...

However, this is their downfall.

Content and computing are shifting from being ON the device to IN the cloud and when your business depends on selling high end consumer devices, that is going to be a very big problem going forward.

Adding a camera was a pretty big step for the mobile phone. Then the creation of the app store and all of the wonderful things you could now do with a phone, was a boom for many people/industries.

Where are we going?

It is called cloud computing because the computing is done on the cloud, not the device. The applications and content will be accessed and run in the cloud and not on the device.

So when you're selling a phone for $800, when YOUR COST is $200, but the true cost of just the hardware is $25, that's a very problem for your business.

Apple, and others, should look very closely at Google and their Chromebook to see where the future is headed. The number one selling laptop isn't a laptop at all, it's simply a connection to the cloud.

Indeed Microsoft sees the future and thinks it can give the Chromebook a run for its money with the recently announced partnership with Qualcomm

The next "must have" mobile phone will be a "cloud phone", or something very similar to Chromebook capability in a mobile phone size. A simple device, costing under $100 that just accesses the cloud for your content and applications. You drop it or it gets stolen, no big deal. The battery life will be days now that unnecessary applications dont need to be running constantly. The bandwidth used will shrink (telecoms will love).

I can have access to IBM's Watson and high powered graphics, there is NO point in keeping the computing on the device any more.

The days of different app stores will be a thing of the past and Apple's iTunes gold mine will end fast. Why do I need to download the Facebook app from several stores for different devices? App stores are just glorified browsers and who pays for those?

In 2007 I discussed how Apple could introduce an iTunes browser and become an ecommerce powerhouse, Amazon beat them to it.

In 2010, I stated how Apple could turn their iTunes into the "killer platform" and be a cloud pioneer, but they sacrificed future for device revenue.

The shift from websites to apps that run websites fragmented many industries..that all changes. One app that runs on all devices. Period.

Kodak didn't see the shift from analog to digital. Apple isn't seeing the shift from local to the cloud.

Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

• The Presidential Wheel Turns - WSJ.com

  • This week something changed. George W. Bush is back, for the unveiling of his presidential library. His numbers are dramatically up. You know why? Because he's the farthest thing from Barack Obama.
  • Obama fatigue has opened the way to Bush affection.
  • One thing Mr. Bush didn't think he was was superior. He thought he was luckily born, quick but not deep, and he famously trusted his gut but also his heart. He always seemed moved and grateful to be in the White House.

• Apple's 10-Year-Old iTunes Loses Ground to Streaming - Businessweek

  • “There is nothing on iTunes’ store today that gives anyone the impetus to buy something.”
  • “It’s no longer about individual tracks, it’s about access,”
  • “The concept of buying music at 99¢ a song is becoming irrelevant.”
  • the market for downloads will begin to decline, albeit slowly, within five years. “We are in an interesting transition,” McGuire says. “Download-to-own will persist, but with younger consumers, access through streaming services makes more sense.”

• 22nd Century unit signs overseas deal | WKBW News 7: News, Sports, Weather | Buffalo, NY | Top Stories

  • Dutch Magic cigarettes fall into the "very low nicotine" category, and contain approximately 95 percent less nicotine than typical "ultra light" and "light" cigarettes
  • The new deal with Wilshire marks the first time VLN tobacco products will be available to consumers in Europe

• The economics behind Amazon's possible set-top box gambit | Internet & Media - CNET News

  • Here's his logic: If Apple, Roku, and others can make money on streaming media devices, so too can Amazon. The advantage Amazon has, though, is that it already provides streaming content. So if Amazon decides to give its set-top box customers Amazon Prime subscriptions for, say, one year, the company will be able to offer a better value than rivals even if they charge the same amount for the device.

• The TV Everywhere Revolution Has Finally Kicked Into High Gear -- AppAdvice

  • Cable’s stranglehold on Hollywood looks less secure than at any time in the history of the medium. The result is that 2013 could finally be the year when TV Everywhere finally becomes a reality, at least in a larger way than before
  • While cable is still the dominant method of TV viewing, streaming is gaining in popularity.
  • the ability to download or stream ad-supported content will be everywhere, no matter the device

• Few cable users aware of TV Everywhere - paidContent

  • Only about a fifth of pay TV subscribers know their cable, satellite or telco service provider offers technology that lets them view video content over the internet on digital devices.

• The Abundance Of "Rich-Hating" | Market Daily News

  • Wealth is no longer seen as a sign of virtue and hard work but as a symbol of exploitation.
  • Mitt Romney was right when he said there exists a mindset of “victimology”. No matter what brilliant entrepreneurs bring to the market, they are demonized simply because they earn much more money than the average Joe. This has lead to a growing sect of businessmen who find it necessary to tell the public that not only do they not support the system that brought them immense wealth, but they support government regulation to make things more equitable.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

• Device Under Skin Tells Doc You're OK (or Not) : Discovery News

  • Thanks to a tiny new medical implant, doctors of the future might be just fine with that.

     

    A team of scientists from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne(EPFL) have developed a miniature electronic device that can be implanted under the skin to provide immediate analysis of substances found in blood.

• The Future of Retail: How Mobile Payments Are Changing the Retail Experience

  • NFC is available on only a few dozen phones—meaning it is in few consumer hands—and it is not on iPhone," reports MainStreet.com. "Nor is it, as far as anyone knows, on the iPhone roadmap for near-term deployment. Merchant adoption of NFC readers also has lagged, with only a handful of national retailers (and few local stores) offering the capability. Even if you have an NFC phone, there is nowhere to use it to pay." This prompted Doug Aamoth of TIME to suggest "the true power of NFC lies in its ability to unlock doors without using traditional keys
  • All of a sudden the mobile phone is about to be transformed beyond a spy in your pocket to your bank, your mortgage lender and your landlord,"
  • In a way, it's kind of a privacy tipping point, because one single device knows wherever you go, your geographic history, your social media connections and your financial behaviors,

• Sarah Silverman, Ben Stiller, Michael Cera, And The Rebels Saving Hollywood | Fast Company

• Apple's Rumored iPhone 5s Could Jump Start Mobile Payments - Forbes

  • half  of the Harris poll respondents said they don’t want to store sensitive information on their phone, and 40% don’t want to transmit sensitive information to a merchant’s device. One preferred solution among consumers is using a PIN or password.
  • the chatter that the new iPhone model would include fingerprint recognition technology that Apple acquired when it bought AuthenTec last year. If that turns out to be true, Apple would be able to leverage it’s growing Passbook ecosystem along with its more than 500 million iTunes account that have a credit card on file to jumpstart the mobile payments in an easy to use and secure way.

  • Odds are if Apple does introduce an iPhone model that includes fingerprint recognition technology either as a general security function, for mobile payment safety or both, others will follow suit.

     

    Apple is not the only company that recognizes the use of fingerprint and biometric interfaces in device security and mobile payments. Several weeks ago, 3G, 4G and LTE licensing and technology company InterDigital (IDCC) entered into a R&D collaboration agreement with BIO-key International (BKYI), a leader in fingerprint biometric identification solutions and advanced mobile credentialing and identity verification technologies.

• And That, Google, Is How You Lose The Influencers - Forbes

  • the Google Reader decision is going to cause ripples down the line. The number of influencers online is not a huge number and their support of a new project can be vital to a start-up launching a new app or to an existing company with a new product to promote

• As Smartphone Growth Slows, Carriers Turn To The Connected Car - Forbes

  • 2013 is shaping up to be an inflection point in the smartphone space
  • But 2013 is not just a tipping point for smartphones. It’s also one for the Connected Car, a part of the machine to machine or M2M space being targeted by mobile carriers
  • it can turn the car into a 4G LTE hot spot for tablets, smartphones and other devices
  • Connecting the dots among these relationships — GM, AT&T and Apple for example — make for solid prospects for the Connected Car in the coming years, just in time as smartphone shipment grow starts to really slowdown

• Music Streaming will be Apple, Google and Amazon's next big thing | Firstpost

• Music Streaming will be Apple, Google and Amazon's next big thing | Firstpost

  • All of them see a viable music streaming and subscription service as crucial to growing their presence in an exploding mobile environment. For Google and Apple, it is critical in ensuring users remain loyal to their mobile products.
  • Now, as smartphones and tablets supplant PCs and virtual storage replaces songs on devices, mobile players from handset makers to social networks realize they must stake out a place or risk ceding control of one of the largest components of mobile device usage.

• New Study Confirms Correlation Between Twitter and TV Ratings

  • By analyzing Tweets about live TV, the study confirmed a relationship between Twitter and TV ratings. It also identified Twitter as one of three statistically significant variables (in addition to prior-year rating and advertising spend) to align with TV ratings
  • How well does Twitter align with TV program ratings? The recent Nielsen/SocialGuide study confirmed that increases in Twitter volume correlate to increases in TV ratings for varying age groups, revealing a stronger correlation for younger audiences.
  • The TV industry is dynamic and it was important for us to analyze multiple variables to truly understand Twitter’s impact on TV ratings,

• Amazon in talks with record labels about subscription music service | The Verge

  • The signs point to an arms race among online music services

• This Is the Scariest Statistic About the Newspaper Business Today - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic

  • Here it is: In 2012, newspapers lost $16 in print ads for every $1 earned in digital ads. And it's getting worse, according to a new report by Pew. In 2011, the ratio was just 10-to-1.
  • Since 2003, print ads have fallen from $45 billion to $19 billion. Online ads have only grown from $1.2 to $3.3 billion.
  • Who killed newspapers? The classic response is the classifieds,

• ABC Works on an App for Live Streaming Shows to Mobile Devices - NYTimes.com

  • The app will live stream ABC programming to the phones and tablets of cable and satellite subscribers, allowing those subscribers to watch “Good Morning America” on a tablet while standing in line at Starbucks, for instance, or watch “Nashville” on a smartphone while riding a bus home from work
  • With the app, ABC, a subsidiary of Disney, will become the first of the American broadcasters to provide a live Internet stream of national and local programming to people who pay for cable or satellite. The subscriber-only arrangement, sometimes called TV Everywhere in industry circles, preserves the cable business model that is crucial to the bottom lines of broadcasters, while giving subscribers more of what they seem to want — mobile access to TV shows. The arrangement could extend the reach of ads that appear on ABC as well.

• Liquidity of corporate US at record level - FT.com

  • The swelling cash reserves of Apple and a handful of other technology companies have raised the overall liquidity of corporate America to record levels, data revealed on Monday.

     

    Around $6 out of every $10 added to the corporate sector’s cash mountain over the past three years has come from tech companies,

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

• Move To Another Country To Escape The Collapse Of America? | Market Daily News

  • According to the U.S. State Department, an all-time record of more than 6 million Americans are now working or studying overseas.  Of course many of those that have left the country do not believe that the U.S. economy is going to collapse, but without a doubt there are an increasing number of preppers that believe that now is the time to “escape from America” while they still can.  And certainly there are a lot of reasons why the U.S. is becoming less appealing with each passing day.  In addition to our economic problems, crime is on the rise in our cities, our liberties and freedoms are being eroded at a frightening pace, political correctness is wildly out of control, and our corrupt politicians continue to make things even worse.

• Online-Only TV Shows Join Fight for Attention - NYTimes.com

  • The companies are, in effect, creating new networks for television through broadband pipes and also giving rise to new rivalries — among one another, as between Amazon and Netflix
  • But the trend may inflame cable companies’ concerns about cord-cutting by subscribers who decide there’s enough to watch online.

• Revolution in Resale of Digital Books and Music - NYTimes.com

  • a New York court is poised to rule on whether a start-up that created a way for people to buy and sell iTunes songs is breaking copyright law. A victory for the company would mean that consumers would not need either Apple’s or Amazon’s exchange to resell their digital items. Electronic bazaars would spring up instantly
  • The technology to allow the resale of digital goods is now in place, and it will cause a dramatic upheaval,
  • The resale of e-books would send the price of new books crashing
  • Amazon’s patent envisions a book or movie or song being kept in a customer’s personalized “data store.” When an item is no longer wanted, the user could sell or trade it to another user, an action that would automatically delete the item from the first user’s store
  • The patent describes what is essentially a gigantic swap meet

• Marijuana legal in Florida? Bill proposed in Florida Senate to legalize medical marijuana use

  • BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Florida could be the next state to legalize marijuana for medicinal use.

    It's estimated seven out of 10 people polled would support a recent bill proposed in the State Senate

• The Scary Reality Of The Student Loan Bubble In 5 Charts | Market Daily News

  • The explosion of the student loan bubble could lead to the next financial crisis in the United States, says a new federal report -which highlights the growing problem in these alarming new charts.
  • As of 2012, about $1 trillion was tied up in student loans – more than the total amount of credit card debt in the nation,
  • No longer does a bachelor’s degree guarantee a secure job, enough income to buy a house or the opportunity to advance in a career
  • We’re in the midst of the greatest investing boom in almost 60 years. And rest assured – this boom is not about to end anytime soon. You see, the flattening of the world continues to spawn new markets worth trillions of dollars; new customers that measure in the billions; an insatiable global demand for basic resources that’s growing exponentially ; and a technological revolution even in the most distant markets on the planet

• BBC News - TED 2013: 4D printed objects 'make themselves'

  • The process uses a specialised 3D printer made by Stratasys that can create multi-layered materials.

     

    It combines a strand of standard plastic with a layer made from a "smart" material that can absorb water.

     

    The water acts as an energy source for the material to expand once it is printed.

     

    "The rigid material becomes a structure and the other layer is the force that can start bending and twisting it," said Mr Tibbits.

     

    "Essentially the printing is nothing new, it is about what happens after," he added.

     

    Such a process could in future be used to build furniture, bikes, cars and even buildings, he thinks.

     

    For the time being he is seeking a manufacturing partner to explore the innovation.

  • Engineering software developer Autodesk, which collaborated on the project, is looking even further into the future.

     

    "Imagine a scenario where you go to Ikea and buy a chair, put it in your room and it self-assembles," said Carlo Olguin, principal research scientist at the software firm.

     

    The 4D printing concept draws inspiration from nature which already has the ability to self-replicate.

• Citi: Demand For Apple Products Is Soft - Business Insider

  • "Citi basically thinks demand for Apple products has reached a peak. Incremental products will be a snooze. No new product categories.

• Mobile data spending outpaces voice for first time - The Washington Post

  • U.S. consumers spent more on mobile data than on voice for the first time in 2012
  • Wireless carriers must improve network efficiency to accommodate the growing demand for data services

• ABC Unified: Disney's new advertising platform could finally put TV anywhere you want it | The Verge

  • ABC is making the biggest leap: its "ABC Unified" campaign sells programs to advertisers across all platforms, from TVs to computers, tablets, and smartphones.
  • If a show's audience is measured and ads are sold in a single buy across all platforms, that creates a tremendous incentive for a network to maximize the number of platforms where its shows are available. It also makes it more likely that networks will push toward parity across those platforms

• YouTube to launch music streaming service, take on Spotify - Fortune Tech

  • Google is planning to roll out a music streaming service to capitalize on the power of YouTube
  • YouTube is already one of the most heavily used music services in the world, but it hasn't yet charged users. Instead, it sells ads against its music videos; a cut goes back to the record companies. Of the ways music is consumed today, spending on subscription-based streaming ("renting" music rather than "owning" it) is a fraction of what spending on digital purchases on stores like Amazon (AMZN) or Apple's (AAPL) iTunes store can reach. Fewer people subscribe, and of those, the spending per month is generally lower
  • major music labels have found that there is money to be made via streaming music services. The Warner Music Group, which, sources say, has partnered with YouTube and Google on the new ventures,
  • Content ID is another notable partnership: a bit of backend software YouTube runs to match videos with their "audio fingerprints," then tags uploaded videos and ensures royalties go to the copyright holders.

• With gesture, voice or eye control, tech gets more human-centered | JWT Intelligence

  • The theme behind a crop of new products is technology becoming more intuitive rather than requiring people to adapt to it. Gesture control, for instance, feels more natural than operating a mouse.
  • Apple and others are pursuing intuitive 3D interfaces using Famo.us, a new Java-based framework
  • claims it will “bring about the next big change in the way we interact with computers and other devices and systems

• YouTube Programmers Complain About Video Advertising Dollars - Peter Kafka - Media - AllThingsD

  • Things are fuzzier for some of YouTube’s biggest programming partners. Their views are also increasing. But the ad revenue YouTube generates for their stuff isn’t keeping pace
  • that’s pushing many big YouTube networks and partners to look hard for new sources of revenue.
  • “Every single person in the entertainment group complained to [YouTube content executive] Alex Carloss: ‘We’re not making enough money,’”
  • Maker Studios, another big “multichannel network,” is looking to boost revenue via alternate streams like iTunes soundtrack sales, among other strategies.
  • Many big programmers are also concentrating on selling their own “integrations” with advertisers
  • Others are working to direct traffic from YouTube to their own sites.
  • Video makers who control their own sites say they are often able to generate much bigger payouts than YouTube provides

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

• Judge Rejects Facebook 'Sponsored Stories' Lawsuit Settlement | Threat Level | Wired.com
  • Under the deal, which would have settled a year-old lawsuit, Facebook agreed to give its adult users the right to “limit” how the social-networking site uses their faces in ads under Facebook’s “Sponsored Stories” program. Minors have the ability to completely opt out.
    
    Sponsored stories basically turns the act of pressing the Facebook “Like” button into a potential commercial endorsement. If a Facebook user clicks the “Like’ button for a product or service with a Facebook page, that user’s profile picture and name may be automatically used in advertisements for that product or service that appear in the their friends’ Facebook pages. Facebook also reserves the right to show such ads on sites other than Facebook.
    
    We reported last month that the deal provides a glimpse into the dark side of large class-action settlements: The plaintiff’s lawyers get rich, class members get little and non-profit groups often reap millions by urging judges to approve the deal regardless of its merits.
• Headline Story | equities.com
  • Bright Lights is Wall Street's only disruptive technology conference, focusing exclusively on companies MDB believes can transform their industries with game changing technology.
• Myriad wins gene patent ruling from U.S. appeals court | Reuters
  • 
    A federal appeals court on Thursday revived its decision to uphold Myriad Genetics Inc's patents on two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer, after the U.S. Supreme Court told it to take another look at the hotly contested case.
     
    A 2-1 panel of the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. upheld the biotechnology company's right to patent "isolated" DNA molecules, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, while denying its effort to patent methods directed to "comparing" or "analyzing" DNA sequences
• Gartner places NFC in 'trough of disillusionment' • NFC World
  • NFC in general, meanwhile, is placed firmly in the Trough of Disillusionment with a time to plateau of two to five years
• SEC filing triggers speculation on iPhone 5 with NFC • NFC World
  • Examination of a proxy statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission by Authentec, linked to Apple's recent bid to acquire the firm for US$356m, has led to renewed speculation that the next iPhone will include an NFC-enabled version of the Apple Passbook mobile wallet app announced in June.
• Dunkin Donuts gets into the mobile payment game — Tech News and Analysis
  • Dunkin Donuts is following in the footsteps of rival Starbucks with the launch of its first mobile app, allowing users to pay for coffee and donuts with their smartphone. The app, available for iOS and Android, creates a virtual Dunkin Donuts card, which can be filled by transferring the value of an existing physical Dunkin Donuts Card or it can funded through a credit card or PayPal transaction in the app.
• Google Reader (417)
  • “Perceptive media” is video or audio content that customizes itself based on data collected about the person or people experiencing it, one way in which we could see Hyper-Personalization
  • Possible uses for the technology include a TV set that would automatically identify a viewer and deliver relevant content, and radio and TV shows that tailor music to individual preferences.
• Big data cloud are at tipping point: Gartner - CIOL News Reports
  • a few stand out as tipping point technologies including natural-language question answering and NFC
  • This scenario envisions a cashless world in which every transaction is an electronic one. This will provide enterprises with efficiency and traceability, and consumers with convenience and security. The technologies on the 2012 Hype Cycle that will enable parts of this scenario include NFC payment, mobile over the air (OTA) payment and biometric authentication methods.
    Related technologies will also impact the payment landscape, albeit more indirectly. These include the Internet of Things, mobile application stores and automatic content recognition. The tipping point will be surpassed when NFC payment and mobile OTA payment technologies mature.
  • Analysts predict that 3D printing will take more than five years to mature beyond the niche market
• Big data cloud are at tipping point: Gartner - CIOL News Reports
  • Bring your own device (BYOD), 3D printing and social analytics are some of the technologies identified at the Peak of Inflated Expectations in this year's Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle
  • On the 2012 Hype Cycle, Gartner has included autonomous vehicles, mobile robots, Internet of Things, big data, wireless power, complex-event processing, Internet TV, activity streams, machine-to-machine communication services, mesh networks: sensor, home health monitoring and consumer telematics. The technologies and trends that are the tipping points to success include machine-to-machine communication services, mesh networks: sensor, big data, complex-event processing and activity streams
• Web 3.0: The Mobile Era | TechCrunch
  • Now we’re entering Web 3.0, which is mobile, and we are in the thick of it.  The Mobile Web 3.0 has elements that build upon prior eras, but it also has several distinct and different elements from what’s come before.  Some of these distinct elements of the Mobile Web 3.0 era include:
     
    • real-time
    • ubiquitous (always connected, always with you)
    • location aware
    • sensors
    • tailored, smaller screen
    • high quality camera and audio
     These elements have two key implications for today’s leaders and tomorrow’s disrupters.
  • Web 2.0 ushered in the social wave.
  • With Mobile Web 3.0, the user experience opens the door for another level of innovation in advertising and promotion. Now technology services have the ability to leverage not just the social graph data from Facebook, but even more real-time / real-world information
• Radio Industry News, New Music, Music Promotion, Radio Station Song Charts | AllAccess.com
  • Downloads and streaming music services such as PANDORA and SPOTIFY are set to pass CD's as the music industry's biggest U.S. revenue source, finds a study from STRATEGY ANALYTICS INC
• Major retailers to launch mobile app for payments – USATODAY.com
  • Retail giant Target may consider using bar codes and/or the "near field communication" (NFC) that enables radio communication between phones and other devices that are in close proximity, says Terry Scully, Target's president of financial and retail services
• Google Reader (158)
  • t sounds like consumers who utilize the MCX wallet will be able to use it at all the merchant partners, though we’ll have to hear more details to be sure. So far, there is little information about how the actual system will be deployed and how it will work with the current hardware in use with the retailers
  • Google, for example, is trying to get at the purchase data through Google Wallet. But no merchants want to willingly give that up that information.
• Advances in Data Storage Have Implications for Civil Liberties - NYTimes.com
  • The Police Department itself, for example, just last week unveiled a new “domain awareness” system, developed with Microsoft, that links 3,000 cameras, 2,600 radiation detectors and dozens of license plate readers in six locations and mounted on cars. If officers spot a suspicious package in range of a video camera, for example, they will be able to quickly track who put it there. If a terrorist suspect’s tag number is known, the network will scan passing cars to find it.
• US retailers move into the mobile wallet market • NFC World
  • Walmart, Target, 7-Eleven, Best Buy, Publix, Sears, Shell and Sunoco are amongst a dozen major merchants that have formed a new company called Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) that will provide an alternative to services like Isis and Google Wallet.
  • the founders see MCX becoming a full competitor to mobile payments services like Isis and Google Wallet.
• Summary of MGT CAPITAL INVESTMENTS INC - Yahoo! Finance
  • the Company continues to explore all strategic alternatives with respect to its majority interest in Medicsight Limited, including the sale or licensing of its global patent portfolio.
  • The Company is also analyzing potential acquisition opportunities in healthcare marketing and technology, as well as various intellectual property assets.
• 3D Printing Stocks
  • Wired magazine says it represents no less than “the next Industrial Revolution.”
    
    The Economist says it will “disrupt every field in touches.”
    
    Business Insider calls it “the next trillion-dollar industry.”
    
    And I personally think it will put an end to seeing so many “Made in China” labels...
• Column: Amazon will Seize 3D Printing | UWIRE
  • As a testament to how seriously Bezos takes 3D printing, Bezos, along with two other venture capital groups, helped MakerBot, a seller of consumer 3D printers and the accompanying necessary materials, raise $10 million
  • Users will be able to download a Computer Animated Drawing (CAD) file and print the desired product in their home, or maybe print the product at a regional center kitted with more heavy duty printers capable of printing more complicated objects.
  • The first step would probably be to buy up companies such as Shapeways which are already allowing users to upload designs and customers to then print these designs. Amazon can also create in-house 3D printing and tools on its site to embellish conventional products using its in-house 3D printing. 
  • So my advice: buy stock in Amazon.  Not only did its CEO redefine the book industry; he is also heavily involved in the privatized space industry.  When it comes to 3D printing, which has been hailed the next trillion dollar industry, I would not be surprised if Bezos has already pounced.
• Nielsen: More Teens Now Listen To Music Through YouTube Than Any Other Source | TechCrunch
  • Nielsen: More Teens Now Listen To Music Through YouTube Than Any Other Source
  • Google’s YouTube is now a more important source of music than radio (54%), iTunes (53%) and CDs (50%)
• Hulu Faces Privacy Test in Court - NYTimes.com
  • The plaintiffs will seek to prove in court that Hulu violated their privacy by letting third-party companies track their movements across the Internet without their consent. To do so, Hulu allowed an analytics company, KISSmetrics, to place a “cookie” or code on their computers that included names, location preferences and programs watched. That information was in turn conveyed to other companies, from advertising networks to analytics companies to Facebook. “As to Facebook, Hulu included their Facebook IDs, connecting the video content information to Facebook’s personally identifiable user registration information
  • The case could have repercussions for other video streaming services. For instance, Netflix, which allows users to stream movies online, wants to team up with Facebook to allow its users to share what movies they watch with their Facebook friends. Both companies have acknowledged that the Video Privacy Protection Act presents a hurdle. Both are lobbying to overturn the law
• How Big Data Became So Big - Unboxed - NYTimes.com
  • Big Data is a shorthand label that typically means applying the tools of artificial intelligence, like machine learning, to vast new troves of data beyond that captured in standard databases. The new data sources include Web-browsing data trails, social network communications, sensor data and surveillance data.
• NFC Not Just for Mobile Payments: Six Future Uses CIO.com
  • For concerts, Samsung is working on a system that will let concert goers access shows and events using NFC instead of traditional paper tickets.
      In the auto industry, BMW has built an NFC-enabled car key that can not only unlock an automobile, but also eventually help you book and access hotels room while you're traveling.  
      NFC may be an emerging technology, but it is emerging at a rapid pace. Over the next five years, expect NFC to transform the way we travel, purchase goods and communicate with each other.
• NFC Not Just for Mobile Payments: Six Future Uses CIO.com
  • users with NFC phones can quickly wave their devices over NFC-enabled flyers, advertisements, billboards or movie posters to instantly collect additional information on products or service.
      Businesses can place NFC tags in the entrances to their stores so users can check-in automatically on social networks like foursquare or Facebook, or share details or "Likes" with friends
  • NFC can also be used as a short-range technology to beam files and other content between devices that are close to each other. The functionality could be great for collaboration in corporate environments when sharing documents or for multiplayer gaming.
• NFC Not Just for Mobile Payments: Six Future Uses CIO.com
  • NFC technology could let bus travelers pay for their commutes to work with their mobile devices. Commuters who drive to work could access parking lots and pay for parking with their smartphones. And city residents could get access to public facilities, such as swimming pools or libraries, with a tap of a tablet.
  • a combination of wireless coupons, loyalty cards and payment options
  • NFC tags placed on product shelves will enable consumers to access more personalized information about products when scanning them with an app that integrates their personal profile; for example, if you're allergic to nuts, the product scan could automatically detect if the product contained nuts and alert you...Tap-for-information, tap-to-add-to-basket, tap-for-coupons, and other new usage scenarios will have an increasing impact on the retail industry
• NFC Not Just for Mobile Payments: Six Future Uses CIO.com
  • Here's a look at Forrester's predicted NFC uses along with examples of current, real-world ways that's NFC is already employed by enterprises, governments, academic organizations, marketers, retailers and consumers
  • NFC is currently being tested by a variety of organizations who want to use smartphones as next-generation access cards, which would be an ideal use of the technology in the enterprise
  • Employees could also use NFC-enabled smartphones and other devices to access staff parking areas or cafeterias and pay for services, Forrester says. NFC tags could be placed inside meeting or conference rooms, and attendees could tap their compatible devices to silence them or to turn on Wi-F
• Chinese companies pull out of US stock markets - Yahoo! Finance

  • Chinese companies pull out of US stock markets

    Chinese firms leave US stock markets amid complaints about price, accounting scrutiny

  • "Probably all these companies have some questionable accounting, so they may prefer to move out of the U.S., not to come under too much scrutiny," said Marc Faber, managing director of Hong Kong fund management company Marc Faber Ltd.
• Google Reader (214)
  • Aside from tracking the spread of web rumors, the team also successfully tested the algorithm against a cholera outbreak in South Africa (analyzing its spread across both water and human networks) and the 9/11 attacks in the United States. Both times, it was able to identify the sources (among a small list of possibilities, at least) using only a fraction of the publicly available data on those events. Thankfully for Vanilla Ice and others concerned with the spread of information over the web, Pinto’s system has an easier time with that type of data because it’s usually time-stamped, which makes it easier to figure out who was “infected” first.
  • That’s because Pinto and his colleagues at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have developed an algorithm for finding the source of such rumors, as well as viruses (physical and digital) and other maladies, even across highly complex networks.
    
    Their method, according to an abstract of a paper just published in Physical Review Letters, is ideal for situations where there is relatively little data to work with, and is “based on the principles used by telecommunication towers to pinpoint cell phone users.” Essentially, the algorithm starts by looking at a small collection of points within a network and working back from there to determine the origin, kind of like how investigators can zero in on a cell phone’s location using triangulation. The more connections, or observers, a particular point has, the fewer that are needed to track down the source point.
• Google Beefs Up Patent Portfolio with Wireless Patents from Proxim
  • Google Beefs Up Patent Portfolio with Wireless Patents from Proxim
  • Google acquired 58 patents from Proxim Wireless Corporation in an assignment noted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as having been executed on July 9th, 2012, and recorded on August 7th, 2012. The USPTO doesn’t include any of the financial details of the transaction. Proxim Wireless still has a number of patents left in their portfolio, and the Proxim Wireless website is still online.
• Brutal: CNN Torches DWS on Medicare Falsehoods - Guy Benson
  • The Romney/Ryan plan does not raise taxes on anyone, let alone 95 percent of the country
• 3D Printing Is Disruptive Technology with Political Ramifications
  • Some say 3D printing will be “bigger than the Internet” and this is probably true. Transportation, parts manufacturers, and a host of other industries will need to adapt, and quickly. Maybe one day auto parts stores will simply be able to print many of the parts you need. This of course leads into the realms of copyrights and patents. How can a manufacturer of an object protect their patents if the object can scanned then printed?  What will governments think about the very real possibility of insurgents or terrorists printing special weapons designed for specific situations?
• How a 3D printer could build your next house in 24 hours | Information, Gadgets, Mobile Phones News & Reviews | News.com.au
  • a concrete-style material could be used to "print" structures and walls three times stronger than standard concrete in a process he calls Contour Crafting.
  • costly, slow and labour intensive construction processes will become a thing of the past
  • Printing" concrete works in much the same way as household 3D printers print shapes out of plastic: a pool of raw material is layered into shapes by a "print head", allowed to set quickly, then another layer applied
• Super-cheap chips for NFC | TG Daily
  • The application of NFC technology with the smartphone will be limitless in the near future. The medical, automotive, military and aerospace industries will benefit greatly,
  • the rectenna can harness power directly from radio waves given off by a mobile phone, converting AC into DC
  • The big advantage over QR codes is is that the tags contain a small computer chip or digital information, operated by DC power
• Treasury: U.S. to lose $25 billion on auto bailout | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com
  • The Treasury Department says in a new report the government expects to lose more than $25 billion on the $85 billion auto bailout. That's 15 percent higher than its previous forecast.
  • The government still holds 500 million shares of GM stock and needs to sell them for about $53 each to recover its entire $49.5 billion bailout.
• FT Alphaville » 3D Printing: Rise of the machines
  • Even if the Chinese automate their factories with AI-powered robots and manufacture 3D printers, it will no longer make sense to ship raw materials all the way to China to have them assembled into finished products and shipped back to the U.S. Manufacturing will once again become a local industry with products being manufactured near raw materials or markets.
  • In the future manufacturing will thus be relocated to the demand or resource point
  • Cash-strapped and floundering, manufacturers are faced with two real options: embrace China’s new position as a low-cost manufacturing leader and move production lines of superior goods there, and thus improve profitability — or, give in to fully automated production lines which undercut production costs almost everywhere else
  • Low-cost production techniques could soon become so advanced and so low cost — thanks to developments like 3D printing — that even the tiniest salaries in Africa will not make it worthwhile to employ human beings at all.
• Headline Story | equities.com
  • One example of these new technologies is kiosks - similar to airport scanners, that will do a free 10-second body scan for customers. These scanners, available in many U.S. shopping malls, take about 200,000 measurements in 360 degrees using low-power radio waves. The numbers are translated into personalized shopping guides for body size and shape. The kiosk then prints out a list based on the style, size or brand a shopper is interested in. The retailer pays a fee each time they show up in a personalized recommendations list.
  • The confluence of smartphones, 3-D printers, parametric technology and other digital technology will change retailing dramatically, eliminating traditional fitting rooms, check-out lines and expensive inventory and returns
• The week in tech: 5 must-know things – USATODAY.com
  • As better technology increase the possibilities of online shopping, in-store experiences will likely focus on "touch and feel" experience and leave shipping and payment to the Web. That could mean smaller staff, smaller spaces and smaller inventory.
  • By using an LCD monitor and parametric technology, the Magic Mirror will be able to take clothes you pick and contour them to the shape of your body. Called "augmented reality," this kind of technology aims to put a layer of Internet images and information over your real-world sight
  • With the advent of payment methods such as Square, shoppers will need only their smartphones. Near-Field Communication is a growing technology that allows single taps with a phone to perform certain actions
  • downloading data from the Internet. In the future, they could create "towels, utensils and clothes" as the printers become more sophisticated
  • Predictive data mining: Before you even walk into the store, the clerk may someday know what you are looking to buy based on stats from your tablet and smartphone and from your purchase history.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Want to see what stocks I find that have the competitive advantage in these waves?

www.howtofindbigstocks.com/newsletter.html

Amazon Versus Apple..Which Offers Greater Upside?

Many people mocked Jeff Bezos and his Internet vision, heck he even looks and acts kind of funny. However, this November he will be regarded as a visionary.

Amazon created a one stop ecommerce shop for any type of merchandise and made it simple to buy with their one click technology. They opted to stay away from the music side and focus on books with the Kindle (hardware).

The ad supported version of Kindle, when idle, will display the Amazon Local Deals. Amazon found a way to "push" these deals...am I the only tired of getting endless groupon type emails?

So Amazon is really the first group buying player with their own piece of hardware..sorry Groupon you can't compete with this. Amazon already knows my billing info and I can easily one click to buy the latest deal.

If Amazon's Local Deals is anything like their Kindle Content, or Selling Platform, they just created one of the most effective ways for a small business to broadcast their daily deal.

I wouldnt be surprised to see Amazon create a secondary market for group deals too.

Now Amazon will be launching their own tablet, the Amazon Tablet for $250 Kindle Fire for $199 (and it's on pace to outsell the iPad and iPad2) in November...it may not kill the iPad sales, but it will sure take a good chunk of their marketshare away.


Amazon is valued at $100B, approximately one third of Apple's $300B.

Apple has done a fantastic job of selling digital content and hardware that supports it..but here's what they missed.

Four years ago I said that Apple needed to find a way to diversify the content/merchandise offered on iTunes. They have a one click purchase portal and use it for more than digital content.

Which company do you think offers greater upside?

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Have a great idea? We Invest In Great Ideas

Could Apple Trigger The Cloud Computing Boom?

A major transformation took place when computing power moved from the PC/phone to the Internet.

The PC used to be the device that did the work and used the Net to deliver it. Now, the PC, iPod, cellphone are merely connection devices and the Net does the "work".

An example. Your home phone probably has a built in answering machine which jacked up the price for your phone. When the power goes out, so does the time and your recorded message. Your local phone company offers voicemail as a service option. For x amount a month they record and store your messages. Your phone no longer does the "work", your local phone company's server does.

This transformation is called "cloud computing" and it has disrupted the personal computing industry.

Consumers are maxing out their iPods and other digital devices. The next place to store their stuff is in the cloud.

I said a while back that Apple is sitting on a goldmine with iTunes.

iTunes could be a mobile commerce platform

Apple could introduce and iTunes browser.

iTunes represents a killer platform, it's only fitting that they lead the way to consumer cloud computing.

From C/Net Apple to store video in the cloud

By cramming digital songs, videos, and all manner of software applications on computers and handheld devices, there's some indication that consumers are maxing out hard drives, particularly on smaller mobile devices. That has led to speculation among Apple watchers that some consumers might slow their purchasing of new content, if they have nowhere to easily put it.


Now imagine being able to access ALL of your digital content from ANY device, regardless of your location? That is what Apple wants to do. Think of one password protected site that allows you to retrieve and play ANY of your digital content on ANY device....that is iTunes cloud computing.


Have a prototype but don't know what to do next? We Invest In Great Ideas

The iPod Nano With Video..A Threat To YouTube?

The iPod Nano and iTunes...disruption ahead for the video industry.

Now that iPod introduced a Nano that is capable of recording video, is YouTube's business in jeopardy?

Will this feature allow users to make money from their content creation?..not just using their Nano but from other video creating devices as well? (phone, camcorder).

Almost everyone has some sort of iPod device and uses iTunes as their upload/download and storage portal. Once people start shooting video with their Nano, and storing on iTunes, wouldn't the next logical step be to earn advertising (and subscription) revenue from public uploads?

Would you take and upload more videos if you knew you could get paid for them? What type of videos would you take? What kind of videos would you pay for?

Pondering Primate November 08

I am introducing a new service to the Pondering Primate. Each month I will offer a recap of headlines, mandates, events and breakthroughs that are worthy of pondering.

In order to act on these headlines, should this be offered on a weekly basis?
Email me with your thoughts, likes, and dislikes.

"All the news that’s fit to ponder"


Barack Obama wins Presidential election

A win for CleanTech link
What Obama presidency means for the Cleantech industry link

He is calling for a $150 billion investment in clean technologies over 10 years, aggressive targets for greenhouse emission reductions, and programs to promote energy efficiency, low-carbon biofuels, and renewable energies

Obama’s Energy Plan link

Will Obama’s clean coal plans bankrupt the coal industry?

Is this the right idea but at the wrong time? link

However, an E.P.A decision may give Obama what he wants link
Recession will allow lower carbon caps. link

The U.S. and European Union can afford to set tougher limits on emissions because slower economic activity will cut greenhouse gas output and lower emission permit prices.

Businesses are already expediting deals before new Obama tax rates go in effect:
Miami Dolphins owner rushes sale of team link
Signing bonuses before the first of the year for employment contracts link

Former U.S.Energy secretaries call cap and trade an “industrial manager’s nightmare”
link
T. Boone Pickens delays his wind farm plan. The biggest advocate of clean energy loses billions with drop in oil prices. link
He cited the fall in natural gas prices, a competing source of electricity generation, as a deterrent.
Biggest U.S. wind energy adopter cuts capital expenditures. link

Will drop in oil prices lead to another “deja vous” for CleanTech industry (remember the renewable energy buzz in the 70’s?).


The era that defined Wall Street is over link

How is New York City starting to cope with the downturn.
New York City proposes additional tax ideas.
Plastic bag surcharge link

Transit Agency sees higher fees link

Oil prices lose 60%…why did the price of oil drop so fast?
hedge funds have gone into commodities as investors, rather than arbitragers.

Like real estate, commodities permit a high degree of leverage — typically 10 to 1 — compared to stocks margined at 2 to 1. Because of this ability to “leverage-up,” and the fact that the supply-demand equation has been unusually attractive over the last two to three years, these “new speculators” have been encouraged to bid up prices to extraordinary and unsustainable levels
This trend service called it perfectly. link

Oil prices save consumers $270 Billion link

The International Energy Agency (IEA) warns oil will hit $200 by 2030 link
Mexico will soon be a net importer of oil and be forced to stop oil exports to U.S.(11% of our imports) link
Could this have any impact on NAFTA?

Brazil a new oil giant. Offshore drilling pays off big for both employment and oil. link

Could Brazil’s success and Mexico’s aggressive deepwater exploration force US to reconsider offshore drilling?

IEA says world energy use is “patently unsustainable” link
A revolution in the energy business is required to maintain economic growth

Congress proposes $50 billion auto bailout. Tough love could lead to tough times. link

Could conditions for bailout be the catalyst for “green cars”?

Fixed labor and healthcare costs prevent auto industry from adapting and competing. What happens to companies that don’t recognize or have the ability to change.

U.S. unemployment rate hits 25 year high link
Winners (armed services, temporary job services, collection agencies, job training, blood banks)
Losers (charities, high end retailers, restaurants)

Voters approve high-speed rail for California. link

Al Gore wants carbon-free electricity in 10 years link

Clean coal initiatives will force smart grid adoption

Will clean coal lead to more blackouts? link
Carbon policies will have to take into account the problems that will come with switching over from a coal infrastructure. The power grid will also have to be upgraded to allow electricity to be consumed more efficiently.

How much will upgraded grid cost, $2Trillion link

The plan could also help solve the country's economic crisis by creating "millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced."

Renewable energy adoption goes mainstream when there is an efficient delivery method (smart grid).

Goldman Sachs invests in carbon-offset companies.. Carbon offsets are projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. link
These two deals show Goldman Sachs’ interest in the global carbon market.

An immediate solution to our energy crisis?

What has as much capacity as US wind, solar, geothermal and biomass combined? (and it exists today) link
This technology is equal to 29,000 megawatts of capacity during periods of peak summer demand--as much as all U.S. wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass power combined.

One of the largest energy user (Dept of Defense) adopts demand response. link


The “next generation” Internet

Energy is really just another form of data that travels across a network.
Google joins Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition link

How will Google use the power of information for the energy industry?

Are smart meters the next generation PCs?

The grid is similar to the Internet. Instead of zeros and ones, megawatts is the new “content”. How will Google utilize (and monetize) the data created by the grid?

Smart grid startups merge link
Smart grid is required in order to meet booming electric car demand. link
Smart Grid will require $2 Trillion link

Demand Response Smart Grid Coalition seeks tax breaks for “Negawatts”. 21 policy recommendations for Obama.
link

Newly discovered energy is a huge source of untapped energy. Frozen natural gas could heat 100 million homes for 10 years. link

Could the smart meter be the “next PC”? link

Smart meter rollout and the effects link

Every home and building will have one and it too will be connected to the Net. It will provide energy efficiency and numerous revenue opportunities.


The Future Of Newspapers?

One of the oldest newspapers (Christian Science Monitor) ceases daily print publication and focuses on the Net. link

Will the New York Times adapt quick enough to changing viewing and advertising trends, or will it go under by May? link

Will newspaper extinction drive up online ad prices? Did Craig’s List (online classifieds) eliminate newspaper’s major revenue source….or was the drop in real estate (listings/ads) the final nail?

Yellow Pages Face Extinction link

They could have dominated location based advertising. Will the death of the Yellow Pages be a boom for Google’s local ad biz?

Here’s what the Yellow Pages could have done to be competitive. link
Even this link

Imagine if the Yellow Pages had offered a service for local merchants (Joe the plumber or Sal’s Pizzeria) to create a website quick and cheap (in addition to being placed in the book). Many of these small businesses didn’t have the time or knowledge to create a Web presence. This would have made the Yellow Pages the local search engine of choice.


US Postal Service considers layoffs..first time ever in history (another unionized industry facing obsolescence?) link

Internet services (online banking etc) are eliminating mail revenue.
More proof the government is not a business saavy.

Is the auto industry next? A sign that unionized businesses are antiquated?

Can you see me now?

Cisco sees Telepresence adoption in 12 months link

High-quality video conferencing systems are helping companies save on travel expenses and a consumer version would help people experience something closer to real-life meetings.

Citrix buys high definition conference call equipment player Vapps link

Will the set top box be the “server” for the home?

Cisco introduces new router that can help phone companies and cable operators deal with onslaught of video traffic link


A “M.P.G”. rating for computer hardware?

The Green Grid is hoping to have a new package of standardized metrics in place from next year that will allow firms to compare the energy efficiency of different servers, storage systems and networking equipment, in much the same way motorists compare the fuel efficiency of different cars. link

Virtualization energy efficiency software for servers?
Data center energy bills could be cut by 30% link

Virtualization software comes to mobile devices link next virtualization bonanza


One of the largest US electronic retailers, Circuit City files for bankruptcy. link
Could it be because flat panel TV sales have peaked link

Was there not enough room for two electronic retailers (Best Buy Circuit City)to survive? Could the same thing happen to home improvement market? (Home Depot Lowes)

First the PC and then the high priced high-def TV, what is the next high price electronic item that will save retailers? Hint, it’s already in your living room.

What’s China’s Economy Doing?

China reported its first decline in monthly electricity output in four years, one of the strongest signs so far that the country's economic slowdown may be worse than thought
link

What happens if to world economy if China’s economic slowdown is this drastic?

Chinese solar companies slowing production. link

What companies benefit from falling solar prices ? link

China takes steps toward a national emission trading platform. link


Google shares flu outbreak search results link

Privacy issues? Will people use alternative search engines for privacy matters? Will advertisers use specific search engines knowing this and choose ads based on specific search topics.

Is bandwidth the new oil?

The combined cost of broadband, home phones, cable or satellite TV and mobile phones can easily outstrip our energy bills, and our connected lifestyle is making these services essential. Is history repeating itself? Will our internet addiction become as costly and as dangerous as our addiction to oil? link


“Wi-Fi on Steroids” Gets FCC approval

FCC approves Google backed white space spectrum. Digital TV transformation represents opportunity for true broadband for America. link

Cheap broadband access represents a $100 billion dollar plus a year market. This spectrum will allow billions of devices and objects to be connected to the Net. With speeds up to 80Mbps, it represents a threat to fiber-to-the-premises solutions like Verizon’s FiOS networks.

One of the beneficiaries? GE announces Smart Appliance program link

It could also provide a network for the smart meter.

Dell incorporates white space radios into laptops link
A threat to the Wi-Fi, WiMax and mobile provider players?


No e-waste dumping in landfills or developing countries link

FedEx cuts aircraft emissions, increases fuel efficiency. link

One of the largest users of fuel takes steps to improve costs by eliminating “gas guzzler” planes, will other carriers too?
What airplanes are most efficient? Least?


Energy efficiency will shape US economic recovery.
“the cheapest and most available source of new energy is the energy we waste”. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman


Information Technology (IT) members are urging lawmakers to keep big picture in mind when they create economic and energy legislation link

How does America waste over 50% of its energy? (you'll never guess) link

China merges electricity infrastructure with information technology. link

Project aims to reduce China’s energy consumption per unit.
China’s stimulus plan that focuses on increased investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy (smart grid) should be a wake-up call for the US.

IBM proposes a technology-fueled economic recovery plan. link

Sixty-seven percent of electrical energy, for example, is lost because of inefficient power generation and grid management.
Energy efficiency offers the highest return for our economy.
Grid management and power efficiency companies should be monitored.

IBM is also reviving an old idea, broadband over powerlines. link
Google also invested in this space link

Advertising Comes Into Digital Age

YouTube, otherwise know as the world’s second largest search engine introduces targeted advertising to video searches link

New online video site to match YouTube’s revenue. link

This proves media companies can generate revenues online without having to go through Google. (Apple’s iTunes controls the music industry). The end of Google's video monopoly?

Will they start to include consumer produced videos? A threat to Google/YouTube?

Search videos using text link
A search engine is able to search videos using closed captioning technology and image recognition technology.

Dynamic ad insertion for both linear and non-linear TV viewing (HUGE implications for advertising industry)
Targeted ads to be inserted before, after and during on demand content playback
link

Advertisers can now reach prime time and “my time” TV viewers link

Advertisers can now place targeted ads based on WHEN show is watched, not when it is broadcast. A reason for advertisers to love the TiVo now? TV morphing into PC.

Blockbuster enters the set top box market with an on-demand device. (dumb) link

This is just prolonging the inevitable death of this company and industry (retail video stores). Blockbuster failed to capitalize on movies/games being downloaded over the Net. They didn’t recognize that the physical items in their stores were being replaced with digital content online.


The TV remote comes alive with sensing technology.

The first type of ecommerce through the TV? (order pizza using TV remote control)
link

When Apple incorporated sensing technology (accelerometer) in the iPhone, they didn’t just disrupt the mobile phone industry, they disrupted the entire remote device space.
This sensing technology is transforming remote controls into PC mouses. What’s inside an accelerometer?…small micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)

The new remote control.

Wii controller and a browser will reinvent the TV and viewing. link

Will the Wii be the new TV remote? Will hand gestures replace button pushing?

Will set top box manufactures incorporate this motion sensing technology (accelerometer)? What other devices will include this technology? The TV is morphing into a PC.

Biggest spam company shuts down link

Who does this affect? Viagra ( sexual and prescription drugs), email database companies. Will eliminating spam drive up the price of keywords at Google AdSense?

The eBay of working capital?

Recession and tight credit markets create a new way for businesses to tap cash. By selling outstanding receivables, much needed financing is available without resorting to vulture financing. link

How will this financing method What kind of impact will this financing method have on balance sheets? Will this put pressure on banks to lend, or will they too get into this business?

Philips develops “intelligent pill”… contains a microprocessor, battery, wireless radio, pump and a drug reservoir to release medication in a specific area in the body link

Intel gets into the home health care business link new laptop (computing device) will remotely sync patients with health care providers

File sharing Internet darling BitTorrent falls on hard times. link

Have .99 songs offered on iTunes AND the iPod eliminated this once Internet file-share darling? Or does geographical distance no longer matter for file delivery?

The rebirth of the barcode…a Physical World Hyperlink
Airline industry adopts mobile barcodes for boarding passes. link
Sprint enables mobile phones to scan barcodes for Internet connectivity. link

The 2d barcode represents a way for camera phones to link physical objects with the Internet. Can the barcode save the print industry?

Is Apple building a search engine? link

The end of phone landlines is near. link

Internet of things fights traffic jams. Cars with mobile sensors that pick up real-time information on the location and speed of the vehicles as well as the condition of the roads. The data are fed back to a central computer that calculates the traffic patterns and can predict the optimal route link

Search engine for sound wave recognition link

Streaming online videos to a high definition TV is next major boom.
So far there’s Apple TV but a new player has emerged link

New bulletproof tire is airless link
What other products could this material be used for?


October e-commerce slowest growth ever, 1%..lowest monthly growth rate since comScore began tracking data in 2001 link

Another form of physical content gets digitized and goes online. Is the end of book retailers fast approaching? link

Digital music finally surpasses compact disc sales. More than half of music sales in the United States are now from digital products, like downloads on iTunes and ring tones for cellphones.
link

While the losers are easy to see, such as retailers, packaging could it also include the management industry? If an artist can produce an album and get it online, what happens to the agency business?