Uncategorized

It may be too late to worry about how 2010 impacted us all, but it is not too late to think about how it will shape events this year. In some respects, 2010 was not a year that changed any one course dramatically. Most of 2010 was built around some familiar themes: consolidation, M&A, emerging t...

Goldman Sachs is going to exclude its U.S. clients from buying shares of its recent investment in the booming social network Facebook. The bank decided to go overseas because of intense media scrutiny surrounding its offering. The press coverage of the offer to its U.S. investors could be seen as a ...

The world of e-commerce is booming -- but on a parallel track, identity theft, loss of privacy and fraud are skyrocketing as well. While the government has a role in combating Internet security abuses, two top administration officials visited Silicon Valley to emphasize that the private sector needs...

Sometimes it's best to say you're sorry. Groupon's CEO, Andrew Mason, released a subtitled video on YouTube apologizing for problems Japanese customers experienced during a New Year's promotion. Groupon's deal-of-the-day site offers promotions and discounts to local markets. The company emphasizes s...

As e-commerce marketers set or adjust their strategies for 2011, there are some important trends and developments to pay attention to that can help capture new revenue streams and strengthen brand awareness this year and beyond. For many retailers, selling online is a critical component of their bus...

The preliminary estimate for dollars spent on video games in 2010 is between $15.4 billion and $15.6 billion, down by about 1 percent from 2009, according to a report from the NPD Group. The figure includes total sales of new physical video and PC games, used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digi...

I'd like to take this space to elaborate on one of the predictions for 2011 I made last month. I suggested that community clouds aimed at specific vertical markets and supply chain relationships would become more prevalent, as various organizations recognized the value of sharing cloud resources and...

MySpace CEO Mike Jones reportedly told employees on Wednesday that News Corp., parent company of the once-giant social network, was exploring strategic options for its possible spinout, sale or merger. The talk of a possible sale followed news that MySpace was laying off 47 percent of its workforce...

Now it's official: All four major wireless networks are now claiming they are 4G. Oh really. Aha. Baloney. I really have learned to admire wireless marketing over the years, but there are a few parts that are just wrong. This is one of them. The wireless industry is crossing the line. If the carrier...

Sony is taking its ongoing battle with hackers to the U.S. District Court in Northern California. On Tuesday, the company filed a temporary restraining order targeting George Hotz, of the hacking group fail0verflow, and 100 others who were not named. Sony said the hackers violated federal copyright ...

A husband, using his wife's password, read her email on a shared laptop and learned she was having an affair. A prosecutor in Michigan then charged him with a felony for reading his now ex-wife's Gmail, sending shock waves through the Internet. One might wonder where marital boundaries of sharing i...

AMD CEO Dirk Meyer abruptly stepped down on Monday. In a public statement, AMD called it a "resignation" that was "effective immediately," which makes it look more like a firing. The company appointed CFO Thomas Seifert as interim CEO. Meyer, who became CEO in 2008, has lead the company through some...

In the U.S., when your neighbor is out of work, it is a slowdown; when your family member is added, it becomes a recession; and when you too join the same line, then it surely becomes a depression. Unofficially, the unemployment rate in the U.S. has been pegged at 15 percent to 25 percent, while t...

I can't claim any sort of deep attachment to or experience with the Consumer Electronic Show since my business IT interests typically fall well outside its typical focus. But I've attended the past couple of shows for two simple reasons. First, vendors are increasingly attempting to inextricably lin...

Preliminary attendance figures from the Consumer Electronics Association indicate more than 140,000 industry professionals showed up to this year's International Consumer Electronics Show which took place last week in Las Vegas, Nev. That figure represents a surge from 2010's 120,000 and 2009's 113,...