Move Over Bill And Andy, Steve Is Now Leading

 This week marked a tipping point in the world domination of technology leadership. For years Microsoft's Windows and Intel's chips, known as "WinTel", represented the "Gorillas" in the technology space. These 2 companies had the key enabling technology for the PC industry. Their market caps combined MSFT (220B) and INTC (120B) equal $340B.

Think about how many "computers" have that Apple logo..iPods, iPads, MacBooks etc. Each one of those represents a new PC. Now consider all of those PCs have an Apple operating system inside too.

As the PC went mobile, a new leader emerged, Apple. When Apple announced their earnings this week their share price appreciated enough as their market capitalization exceeded $350B.

 Apple, sitting on $76B cash, is now worth more than Microsoft and Intel combined. A new leader has emerged.

What I see next:

As computing shifts from the device to the cloud, a new leader will emerge. There will be a new gorilla. The "power" of processing will take place on some server miles away from your device. Google's Chromebook and its 8 second bootup and limited software programs will be the new norm.

Content on your device will shift to being stored on the cloud. Gaining access to it will be CRITICAL, there's the area I would watch. Devices will rely on Net connections now more than ever. Access and security will play key roles going forward.

Microsoft, Intel and Cisco, once the "Kings of Tech" have fallen. We are witnessing the next generation of technology.








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Augme Buys Mobile Barcode Player Jag Tag

Cisco predicted 50 billion "things" will be connected to Net by 2020. The "Internet of Things" is definitely a trend to watch.

A barcode represents a URL to a camera phone, or a physical world hyperlink. Any physical object can now be linked to the Internet.

JagTag, one of the companies on my Physical World Connection list, was acquired by Augme today.

(the Physical World Connection list should provide some additional acquisition candidates)

More thoughts on Physical World Connection here.








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Will This Be The Final Curtain For Newspapers?

I just saw a TV ad for CouponSuzy. A site that lets you print out coupons from your favorite consumer goods.

They also offer a Daily Deal section too.

What I am wondering is this.

How much revenue do the coupons generate for local newspapers?

If you can get the same coupons online (from a plethora of coupon sites), does this stick a fork in the local newspaper?


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Cognitive Vision From The Pondering Primate

 The overall theme I saw this week. Major disruption ahead for the wireless provider industry.


Facebook users can chat through Skype link
Does this make Microsoft a player again?

The possibilities for this partnership are huge. How does this impact mobile phone providers?

Google in talks to buy Hulu. link
I am wondering if Google's ownership of YouTube will prevent this from happening. A video monopoly? Largest media could get a lot bigger.

WiFi hotspots represent the new cell network link
Mobile carriers should be concerned. Technology that let cell calls seamlessly switch from cell to hotspot should be huge.

A rare earth discovery in Japan could ease supply issues link


Justin Timberlake spends $35m to buy MySpace. link. Imagine what he could do with a membership of 135 million members. Change the name of the site and target a certain demographic or industry.

Something to ponder. Who really owns your data once you upload it to the cloud? link

Skype owns 50% of the VOIP market link

Digital currency the next go? link

Your privacy on Google will be gone on July 31 link
Does this allow them to share it now too?

Mobile payments and digital goods will dominate. link
Your mobile phone is slowly morphing into a wallet.

The end of unlimited data plans for mobile? link
The tipping point for VOIP services?What happens when video takes off?

A new high speed network link

Should wireless carriers be concerned?





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Will WiFi Hotspots Replace Cell Towers?

You may not realize it yet but your home will soon become a cell tower.

Every coffee shop, airport, book store, mall, stadium will have them too.

When a wi-fi router is added to a broadband Internet connection, it becomes a wireless broadband “cell tower”.

GigaOm discusses the future of the cell phone network saying the future of cellular service the Wi-Fi hotspot will have a starring role. link

The rapid increase of data being sent across the mobile network will force mobile carriers to push this traffic to a more efficient and faster highway, the wifi hotspot.

Technology that enables this has been called The Next Big Thing For Mobile

The easiest and most cost effective solution for wireless carriers to solve this upcoming bandwidth bottleneck is to enable a cellphone on their network to seamless switch to a wi-fi network when the signal is too weak or it becomes cost effective.

Most cell phones are equipped with the necessary hardware to do this, the only thing missing is the software.
 

Want to know the company that has this software?

Think about it, every router represents a personal cell tower. Cities dont want to build more towers so why not use the hundreds or thousands of "towers" already established.

I found the company with software that enables seamless switching across any frequency that I call the Wireless Wonder.

One of the most prestigious consulting companies in the world gave this company their "Technology of the Year Award" and called this patented wireless technology "revolutionary".

If you would like to see what this technology is and what company owns it, email me with subject line "Wireless Wonder"






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Pondering Primate Weekly Highlights

Government passes bill preventing online intellectual property theft link

Google's Schmidt talks about the next trillion dollar industry link

Google shuts down Google Heath and Power Meter link

The end of cheap labor in China link

3D Industry..dead on arrival? link

12 Brands expected to go bust in 2012 link

Microsoft tests Wi-Fi over TV spectrum link

"All you can watch" model coming to movie theaters link

Google now activates 500,000 Android devices a day link

Amazon starts ad network link

Microsoft acknowledges Google's cloud is big threat to their business link

Companies are creating their own in house social networks link

Wi-Fi technology could connect power grid link

Facebook's Project Spartan offers web based platform for apps link

Colleges turn to outsourcing instructors link

Groupon IPO valued at $30B and now Living Social IPO valued at $15B, if this isn't a bubble in this space, I dont know what is. These companies are commodities with NO barrier to entry. In fact Google and FaceBook are already starting.

California taxes online shoppers and Amazon bails. link (Huge rupt)





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California Taxes The Net...Amazon Bails

File this under "How dumb can you be?"

This is what I call a "rupt", a catalyst that leads to a big wave.

California now requiring all online retailers to start collecting taxes from California customers.

And the result?

Amazon and online retailer Overstock.com Inc. told thousands of California Internet marketing affiliates that they will stop paying commissions for referrals of so-called click-through customers


Beginning Friday, Amazon.com and other large out-of-state retailers will be required to collect sales taxes on purchases that their California customers make online.

The revenue California expects to generate from this tax($317m) will be minor compared to the jobs they lose and OTHER tax revenue lost from affiliate revenue.

A bankrupt state implementing anti-business idea....not surprising. There are much better ways to get that $317m than to jeopardize hundreds, if not thousands of jobs.

I see border states getting an influx of new "friends".











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Group Buying Industry Is Definitely A Bubble

Yes it's a bubble without a doubt.

File this under "Are You Kidding Me?"

Groupon IPO proposed valuation is $30B valuation, and today the valuation for Living Social IPO is $15B.

This entire space is a commodity with no barriers to entry.

The two largest media/social sites, Google and FaceBook have launched their own group buying initiatives.

Prediction: Groupon will not only the fastest company to generate $1b in revenues, but also to hit $1b in sales and go bankrupt.

Am I missing something?



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Weekly Highlights

Highlights for the week. Things that will make you ponder.


Apple, Intel and others bid for Nortel's patents link

The trove of 6,000 patents cover key swaths of the high-tech world, including Wi-Fi, social networking and a fourth-generation wireless technology now being deployed called LTE.


Largest Internet real estate agent (GoDaddy) getting bought out KKR to buy Godaddy Incidentally IPv6 launches ad ICANN introduce new suffix for domain names. A busy week for the Net.

Black babies outnumber white babies for first time Whites lose majority among babies
fast-growing younger ethnic populations that could reshape government policies

Google uses behavioral targeting for ads link

IPv6 launches. An IP address for every physical object link

Genetic breast cancer test launched Brevagen launches breast cancer test

FDA approves first autologous filler for wrinkles link

A "reverse Groupon" site launches link Does group buying change?

BestBuy enters cloud space for music. Can this turn around dying retailer? link

Amazon enters tablet space. How will they incorporate their "one click" buy technology? link

Digital camera industry gets disrupted link

Mobile apps replacing mobile websites. What does this do to hosting business? link

DARPA funds cyber attack technology link

ICANN to introduce new domain suffix. What does this do to cybersquatters and the search engine optimization biz? link





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The End Of The Internet..Or Just The Beginning?

Imagine every physical object being connected to the Net.

Soon every Internet-connected device anywhere in the world will have its own IP address.

This month's World IPv6 Day served as a test run for a protocol that should dramatically increase how many devices can be connected to the Internet.

The new protocol will be crucial if many more objects—including light bulbs, kitchen appliances, and environmental sensors—are to have IP addresses, connect to the Internet, and send and receive data.

The new system allows for around 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses—nearly 50 octillion for every person on earth.



From Tech Review The End of The Internet






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Breakthrough Technology That Will Make Digital Cameras Obsolete

“Lytro’s breakthrough technology will make conventional digital cameras obsolete,” Andreessen Horowitz general partner Marc Andreessen said in a statement.


Lytro

full story


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Are Tech Valuations Ready To Explode?

Ben Horowitz, a highly successful VC, says that major technology cycles generally last 25 years, with the "bulk of the purchases" happening the last 5-10 years as late adopters sign on.

Using this as a frame of reference he says we are "poised to hit the major adoption wave for the Internet technology platform over the next 8 years."

Others are looking at valuations of LinkedIn, Groupon, FaceBook and are warning of a Tech Bubble

full story

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T-Commerce..Television Commerce Coming

The television is the next display to become interactive and offer plenty of ecommerce opportunities. An Internet enabled TV allows a consumer to purchase an item featured in an ad or on a TV show.

What will be really important?.....targeted advertising. Once the Net comes to your TV, delivering targeted ads will be more important than ever.

What company or technology enables links within a video?..there's your goldmine.

TV Meets eCommerce

Internet connected TV's will drive new commerce opportunities called "t-Commerce" or commerce through the television.


If we consider how much the Internet changed PC's and drove new businesses, new experiences, and new levels of social interactions, it is only logical to assume that the same will be true with connected and smart TV's.




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Personalized Medicine Has Arrived

What is the next big thing after the Internet?

What is predicted to be one of the biggest transformational changes, finally arrived today.

Scientists look for the causes of diseases that in turn might lead to new drugs or diagnostic tests.

Mapping someone's genetic code to create personalized medicine.

The key thing to remember, using gene mapping to create personal medicine will not just treat a disease, but CURE it.

Personal Genome Map Solves Teen Illness

U.S. researchers are reporting one of the first examples where mapping someone's genetic code led to better treatment.

Doctors could not tell what was causing 14-year-old Alexis Beery's breathing problems.

Then scientists at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine discovered a gene flaw. That led to a new prescription that has her back to running track.

Want to know what company owns patents to over 95% of the genome?

If any company wants to breed a better tomato, design a better drug, or do ANY type of genomic mapping on ANY living organism using 95% of the genome, they will have to pay this company hidden from Wall St. a fee. Fortune 500 companies have already started to license the use of this database.

To find out who this company is, email me. (subject line 95% genome owner).




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What Happens To Utilities When Consumers Can Create Or Harness Their Own Power

Is the utility industry the next major industry to become extinct?

What happens to the power industry (utilities) when consumers are able to "create"/harness their own power?

The newspaper industry started to die as soon as TV branched out to more than 13 channels. The knockdown punch came when the Internet arrived. People had an infinite dynamic choices to get their news.

While there aren't an infinite amount of options for power (yet), solar and wind options will take away some of the utility industry's monopoly.


Brad Tirpak, Managing Partner at the private investment fund Locke Partners made the case that:


electric utilities are as woefully unprepared for the coming disruption of cheap, distributed solar power as newspapers were unprepared for the disruption of the internet in 2000

His conclusion?

Regulated utilities should be able to handle the imminent changes to the industry brought about by the implementation of solar energy and other renewable sources.

Electric Utilities Today Like Newspapers in 2000



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SPDY About To Make The Web A Lot Faster

How long does the average user give a website to load before leaving?

Welcome To A Faster Web

SPDY, a protocol Google revealed in late 2009, dramatically speeds up Web page loading by changing the way that browsers communicate with servers.

Website optimization company Strangeloop has built SPDY into its flagship product Site Optimizer, software that sits in between a website and its users, and adjusts the site's code to make pages load more quickly.

Strangeloop's customers will have the ability to turn the protocol on easily; in tests, the protocol has sped up websites by 10 to 20 percent.


More on SPDY here

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Has Interest In Facebook Peaked?

Just a blip or the start of something bigger?


Facebook sees big drop in traffic

"overall growth has been lower than normal for the second month straight"

"This is the first time the country has lost users in the past year"

Facebook shares have recently fallen in the private marketplace, even after LinkedIn's wildly successful IPO.

What is Facebook losing traffic to? Another networking site or is this just a typical summer (outside enjoying the day not sitting at a desk all day) normalcy?

Have people become inundated with the posts from hundreds of their "friends" and tuned out? Facebook is really like an RSS feed of your friends.Have people started to unsubscribe?

I have noticed a slowdown in my friend's posts on my Facebook feed for several months. I would love to see a chart of average number of "friends" each user has, and per each age group/sex. I think that would be a better stat.

As you get older, you realize time is a very precious commodity. Maybe people are doing some "friend" spring cleaning.





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Biggest Creation Of Wealth In History Of Business

That headline got your attention.

Seeking Alpha has a nice summary cloud computing phenomenon.

According to analysts, this investment opportunity will dwarf the internet and tech boom of the 90s.

the cloud could literally eliminate the need for personal computers. The cloud and its applications will most likely make handheld smartphones the computers for the vast majority of the world.

I am compiling a list of my nanocap (under $100m mkt cap) cloud computing plays.

More on cloud computing.





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New Messaging Applications From Apple And Google Threaten Carriers Cash Cow

Looks like one of the walls is coming down on the garden.

This week, Apple Inc. showed off an application that will allow iPhone and iPad owners to bypass carriers and send text messages over the Internet to other people with Apple devices.

Google Inc., whose Android software is the most popular operating system on smartphones, has also recently worked on a messaging application , a person familiar with the matter said.




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The End Of Moore's Law?

With the transformation of cloud computing coming and all of the "processing" to

take place on the Net, will PC speeds matter any more?

Or because it will take a while for the mobile phone to shift to cloud computing, will chip companies place their focus on making faster chips for mobile?



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