Finance Geek

Court Says Apple Doesn’t Own The Letter "i"

siliconalleyinsider — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:24:05 +0000

Apple has been dealt a severe blow having been told that it no longer has a monopoly on the letter “i” as part of the name for its products.

A trademarks tribunal has knocked back Apple’s bid to stop a small company from trademarking the name DOPi for use on its laptop bags and cases for Apple products.

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Is China actually bankrupt?

moneycentralmsn — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:04:03 +0000

The nation has erected a complex system for magically making its debts disappear, but a look up China’s sleeve shows that its IOUs may equal its GDP.

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The right credit cards for right now

moneycentralmsn — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:04:03 +0000

As you get older and your finances improve, it might be wise to change your credit choices. Use these tips to pick the best credit cards for your life stage.

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Are you owed a share of $33 billion?

moneycentralmsn — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:00:00 +0000

State treasuries and other agencies are holding on to long-forgotten bank accounts, utility deposits and more. Here’s how to find money that belongs to you.

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Al Franken Jokes, But Google Fiber Is No Laughing Matter

wiredtechbiz — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:04:03 +0000

Minnesota seeks to distinguish itself in the increasingly reality TV-esque race to convince Google to build a high-speed fiber optic network there with a video featuring junior US Senator (and former comedian) Al Franken. It’s funny stuff, but also serious business as Google shakes up the notoriously uncompetitive ISP business just by showing up.

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Entrepreneurial Innovation and the Internet

realclearmarkets — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:34:03 +0000

As Washington and the states pile up mountainous liabilities - $3 trillion for unfunded state pensions, $10 trillion in new federal deficits through 2019, and $38 trillion (or is it $50 trillion?) in unfunded Medicare promises - the U.S. needs once again to call on its chief strategic asset: radical innovation.
One laboratory of growth will continue to be the Internet. The U.S. began the 2000’s with fewer than five million residential broadband lines and zero mobile broadband. We begin the new decade with 71 million residential lines and 300 million portable and mobile broadband devices….

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Apple’s HTC Patent Suit Could Be Another Reason For Someone To Buy Palm (AAPL, PALM, GOOG)

siliconalleyinsider — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:19:03 +0000

This is a guest post from Gregor Schauer, who has worked in tech in Silicon Valley since 2000. Gregor has also recently spent 2 years in equity research at JMP Securities and Jefferies, covering the Internet sector and enterprise software. You can follow him on Twitter here. Disclosure: Gregor owns Apple and Google shares.

One of the more curious things about the patent infringement lawsuit that Apple filed against HTC is why it didn’t file one against Palm first. There had already been a lot of speculation about Apple suing Palm, but virtually no one saw them taking on HTC first. Interestingly, an unintended consequence of this lawsuit is that it potentially increases the value of Palm’s patent portfolio, and strengthens the case for them to be acquired.

So what is the market valuing Palm at? After the huge smack on the head that the stock got after the company’s recent miserable revenue guidance, it’s $759 million for WebOS + all of Palm’s patents + their existing business. This is the enterprise value of the company, or what the company would cost to an acquirer if it was purchased for its current market value. (Though, a buyer will likely have to pay a premium.)

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Mobile Commerce Growing Rapidly This Year, But Still Years From Being Mass-Market

siliconalleyinsider — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:09:02 +0000

This is a report from our premium subscription research service The Internet Analyst. The service is currently in free beta. To sign up, please submit your name and email address here.

Mobile commerce represents a significant opportunity - 90% of Americans own a cell-phone but only 7% of them have conducted a transaction on their phone, according to Nielsen. This, despite technology that makes it increasingly easy to buy goods on your phone: we tested one company’s offerings on our phone and it was surprisingly straightforward with minimal steps.

Still, calls to companies and executives in the industry indicate that while mobile commerce experienced exponential growth off of a small base in 2009, it is still years from being a ubiquitous, mass-market industry. For this report we focus on the sale of physical goods via mobile phones, not virtual goods, and include both remote commerce (buying goods on mobile websites) and mobile payments (paying for goods with your phone). Specifically:

Revenue growth spiked beginning in mid-2009 for retailers with mobile offerings.
Smaller retailers are now helping drive industry growth in addition to the largest ones.
Near Field Communications could enable the industry to scale to ubiquity, but all the stakeholders need to support this and we’re likely years from that happening.

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Fire Breaks Out At BusinessWeek’s Offices… As The Company Fires Its Employees

siliconalleyinsider — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:09:02 +0000

We just got a call from a source at BusinessWeek who says everyone is evacuating the office.

Not because Bloomberg is cleaning house today, which it is, but because there’s a fire on the 43rd floor of the McGraw Hill building where BusinessWeek operates.

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The Real Reason Everyone Loves Google In Silicon Valley (GOOG)

siliconalleyinsider — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:39:03 +0000

Nilofer Merchant is CEO and Chief Strategist of Rubicon Consulting. She’s also the author of “The New How.” This post was originally published on her blog, and is republished with permission.

Graft some Google to your Company Culture?

Here in the Valley, there’s a weird awe of Google. It reminds me of the awe that Apple once had when I was there — as a place where the best and brightest go to work. I’ve heard that Intel had that cachet before Apple and some people are now suggesting that Twitter is the “new Google”.

The awe is often evident in specific stories about Google’s gourmet cafeterias. This benefit gets discussed after people visit Google. I find it amusing to read notes from well-regarded analysts and reports, people who can afford a $10 salad, as they tweet about getting the free food. And they go on to talk about Google with reverence that’s somehow tied to the free food.

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