The headlines about Facebook’s IPO – along with questions about its business model – are now officially cringeworthy. It’s an ongoing, rolling study in how society digests important news about our industry, and it’s far from played out. But we seem at an interesting tipping point in perception, and now seemed a good time to weigh in with a few words on the subject. Prior to Facebook’s IPO, I drafted a post about its core business model (targeted display advertising), but decided not to publish it. The main thrust of my post is below, but I want to explain why I didn’t post right away, and provide you all with something of a “tick tock” of what’s happened over the past few days. The truth ... Continue reading →
A jury has found that Google did not infringe upon Oracle's patents. "Today's jury verdict that Android does not infringe Oracle's patents was a victory not just for Google but the entire Android ecosystem," Google said in a statement. More to follow. Continue reading →
The FBI has recently formed a secretive surveillance unit with an ambitious goal: to invent technology that will let police more readily eavesdrop on Internet and wireless communications. The establishment of the Quantico, Va.-based unit, which is also staffed by agents from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Agency, is a response to technological developments that FBI officials believe outpace law enforcement's ability to listen in on private communications. While the FBI has been tight-lipped about the creation of its Domestic Communications Assistance Center, or DCAC -- it declined to respond to requests made two days ago about who's running it, for instance -- CNET has pieced together information about its operations through interviews and a review of internal government documents. DCAC's mandate ... Continue reading →
A group of attorneys general from 29 states filed documents last week, which included charts illustrating the many phone calls made between CEOs of the top publishing companies as Apple prepared to launch the iBookstore. Apple and the publishers are accused of conspiring to fix e-book prices. (Credit: Screen shot Greg Sandoval/CNET) commentary Amazon.com has outmaneuvered Apple in the e-books sector. Nowhere was this made more apparent than in court documents released last week. In antitrust lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and others, Apple stands accused of conspiring with five of the six largest U.S. book publishers to raise the price consumers paid for e-books and stifle competition in an attempt to snatch control of the e-book market away from Amazon, the ... Continue reading →
History in the making, May 18, 2012 (Credit: CNET) Facebook's uber-rich insiders aren't likely to win much sympathy. But the company's thud of an IPO is likely to shave hundreds of millions in profits for a select bunch who just a few days ago counted on a magnificent payday. As a result of the swoon in Facebook's stock, early investor Sean Parker is likely to lose out on $380 million in cash he had expected; Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskowitz: $285 million. Let's hope they haven't spent it already. Sean Parker might end up holding those 10 million Facebook shares a big longer. (Credit: Techonomy) At issue is what's called the "over allotment" of shares -- known in Wall Street lingo as the greenshoe. It's complex ... Continue reading →
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I can't say I support the notion of "debunking" big data or krsanford's desire to kill it. By the way, kr, you might want to explore the open source possibilities in big data (I know open source is frowned on around here) and you'd discover that one does not need to be a large institution to perform data mining on big data.I think you really need to talk to the data mining experts at http://www.kdnuggets.com/ which is the most popular portal on the web for data mining, analytics, machine learning, BI, etc. The fellow who runs it, Gregory Piatetsky, is one of the top experts in the field, founded a conference on the subject, etc. His profile is at http://www.kdnuggets.com/gps.htmlHe's been an invaluable presenter on ... Continue reading →
Will these be the last great Motorola phones? Probably not. (Credit: CNET) All eyes will be on Google as it takes a sudden plunge into the hardware business courtesy of Motorola. The $12.5 billion deal, which closed today, netted Google a healthy stockpile of patents for legal defense and offense. Oh, and they came with an historic technology brand and multi-billion dollar handset and television set-top box on the side too. It's pretty obvious what Google will do with the patents, given the increasingly litigious environment that the technology world finds itself in. Motorola's last few years of losses also bring a clear tax benefit to Google in the near term. But what's less clear is just how the company will proceed with the actual ... Continue reading →
Google and Facebook have had an interesting relationship over the years. At the moment, it's a little strained. The giant search engine is waiting for the giant social network to allow wider access to its users' information. It's part of the larger question of whether Facebook is aspiring to take Google on in the search engine field. And that, observes "CBS This Morning" business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis, is an issue of great importance to the bottom lines of both Internet giants. Jarvis noted that the advertising search engines attract is the reason Facebook may want to "play in the universe that Google plays in" since, "for both of these companies, advertising is the big source of revenue." In an interview that aired Monday ... Continue reading →
