Apple's iPhone Voted One of Top Tech Disappointments for 2007

Doron's Take:

I don't own an iPhone yet but from what everyone tells me who does, Apple has had a few setbacks on this front. First, they reduced the price by $200 a few months after introducing it thereby affecting a core group of customers (early adopters) who bought it at the original price. Secondly, they forced people who were with Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. to switch to AT&T if they ever hoped to activate their phones.

Don Reisinger had an interesting post on the subject and why the iPhone is one of the top tech disappointments of 2007. PC World also voted it one of the top disappointments for 2007.

Verizon Rated Number One in Cell Phone Service Quality

Doron's Take:

I always thought AT&T lagged behind. They definitely outpace all the other providers in advertising and PR but that doesn't always mean you're #1, does it? Read the latest cell phone services rankings here.

Forbes Writer Comments on Rise of India and China

Jim has a link to an NPR interview with Forbes journalist Robyn Meredith. Did you know that the main chip for the iPod was manufactured in India? Click here to listen to how India and China led to the global iPod revolution and how they are leading the overall global economic revolution.

Gartner warns companies to slow social networking adoption

Doron's Take:

Companies need to adapt to new mediums of communication including social networking. Fear of spread of intellectual property should not be a deciding factor. Guidelines can be put in place so that employees are aware of their limitations. Employees will not necesarrily use the company's social networking platform buy may continue using one they are already familiar with whether that be linkenin.com or facebook.com. Read the CNET article here.

'Aronson' Files: Google Announces Open Social Networking

'Aronson' Files: Google Announces Open Social Networking

Disney to Launch Cell Phone Service in Japan

Doron's Take:

Disney's announcement today that they're going to jointly develop mobile phones and content could have interesting implications for the wireless industry.

It's interesting because Disney has already halted its U.S.-based phone service. The company has decided to target their efforts only in Japan instead. Disney and Japanese mobile phone carrier Softbank Corp. announced that the two companies would jointly develop mobile phones and content. The cell phone carrier services will launch in Q1 2008. Disney took a $30 million charge last year when it shut down another phone service, Mobile ESPN, which it ran on Sprint Nextel's network. It will be interesting to see how this deal pans out long-term.

Google Doesn't Announce Google Phone

Doron's Take:

Google's announcement today of a new open software platform and an alliance of wireless heavy hitters was surprising for what it was missing. Sure, they formed a development community for the planned phones, but are the phones ever coming? On a conference call with analysts and press, Google did not really say 'no, we are not introducing a Google Phone.'

Google officially unveiled Android, the new mobile phone software. 34 companies have said they will join the Open Handset Alliance, a multinational alliance that will work on developing applications on the Android platform. Members of the alliance include mobile handset makers HTC and Motorola, U.S. operator T-Mobile, and chipmaker Qualcomm.

Google Announces Open Social Networking

On Nov. 1st, Google announced the release of OpenSocial -- a set of common application program interfaces or APIs for building social applications across the web -- for developers of social applications and for websites that want to add social features. In a move that was expected for the last few weeks, Google's news allows developers to build widgets that take advantage of personal data and profile connections on a social-networking site. But instead of limiting the project to its own social-networking site, Orkut, Google has invited other sites along for the ride--including LinkedIn, Hi5, Plaxo, Ning, and Friendster.

Google's move is in stark contrast to Facebook, the social-networking site that has been growing quite steadily for the last year or two and now has more than 53 million active users
and an average of 250,000 new registrations per day since Jan. 2007. Facebook made some noise back in May 07 when it announced the opening of its own developer platform in May but has kept developer activity restricted to its own service (and has since signed an exclusive ad deal with Microsoft in exchange for an equity investment). When other social networks began to announce their own "platform strategies" this fall, concerns were raised that developers would have to create a completely new application for each site. That could prove inefficient and costly, especially for smaller developers working on a limited budget.

Facebook may have to launch IPO sooner rather than later

According to Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, companies with more than $10 million in assets whose securities are held by more than 500 owners must file annual and other periodic reports. Since Facebook is now valued at $15 billion, it's safe to assume that the company will begin filing quarterly reports soon.

Facebook and Microsoft Expand Strategic Alliance

Facebook and Microsoft Expand Strategic Alliance
The Redmond giant just paid $240 million for a stake in Facebook. Microsoft values Facebook at $15 billion, the companies jointly announced. Industry insiders said Microsoft paid a premium but were willing to do so to keep rival Google from doing the same first.

Teen Frees iPhone from AT&T/Cingular Lock

A 17 year-old New Jersey teenager spent his summer coming up with steps on how to unlock the iPhone so users don't need to stick with AT&T/Cingular service but can choose whichever carrier they wish. Check it out here at George Hotz's blog. I can't imagine Apple or AT&T/Cingular are too happy with this teen's discovery or shall we say summer project.

Sun changes its stock symbol to JAVA

Wow, how unexpected. According to CNET, Sun will change its stock symbol form SUNW to JAVA starting next week. Jonathan Schwartz reported the change on his blog. Boy, a lot of investors will surely be very confused for a while.

Canada Attractive for Foreign Tech Workers

Canada is making it more attractive for companies to bring tech workers in. Companies like Microsoft can bring tech workers into the country in as little time as two to eight weeks. Canada has no H-1B visa cap like in the U.S. Microsoft said it decided to set up a new Vancouver facility, which is due to open in the fall, partly to help it "recruit and retain highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S." O Canada.

Silicon Valley Movers and Shakers

You have to read Dean Takahashi's blog post this week on the 10th Annual Software Development Visionary Awards held in Atherton, California.

Tech Bubble 2.0 List

Tony Perkins, founder of Always On is back at it again: The Always On Bubble Watch List. This list will consist of VC-backed startups that have attracted a reasonable amount of media attention, but that are now stumbling or close to possibly dieing. Perkins and his brother wrote the original Internet bubble. This list will be worth reading when it comes out..

Largest Canadian Province Goes Green

Everyday will be casual day in a big part of Canada this summer. Ontario's leader Premier McGuinty has urged government workers to dress down this summer to save costs on air conditioning. The province of Ontario (the U.S. equivalent of a state) is north of Michigan and New York. Interesting or do you think this proposal is a little bizarre? Did he do it to gain publicty? Well it worked, read here.

Cisco sues Apple

Cisco is suing Apple over use of their trademark for the name of their new iPod phone named the iPhone. Read about it here.