Next Release

So far, we have received great press with the launch of Newssift. At the same time, user feedback has been positive but qualitative findings suggest that the UI is not entirely intuitive and our corpus needs to be larger. Our next release begins to address both matters.

Reshaping an Industry

Using my family as a case study(we never shop Wal-Mart and only buy music through iTunes), it was interesting to see that only Wal-Mart sells more music than iTunes. Apple continues to tighten its grip on music sales and reshape how we listen and buy music.

Enough already

Like most of America, I am sick and tired of hearing and reading about the iPhone. No it won’t save lives, nor cure cancer, but it will blend. Watch and enjoy.

Wal-Mart and Skype strike deal

I guess this will put to bed the Skype naysayers. With Wal-Mart’s distribution, Skype will have access 84% of U.S. households (Source: AC Nielsen).

In addition to selling the pre-paid cards, Wal-Mart will be the first major retailer to dedicate a section to Skype equipment. The deal with Wal-Mart is a huge win for Skype. Skype hopes it will help drive usage among the mainstream and build the Skype name into household brand.

Another step forward toward ubiquity.

Microsoft and Yahoo?

Reported today, Microsoft and Yahoo have re-enter talks to strike a deal to help fend off Google. How many times have we heard these whispers?

A Yahoo-Microsoft combination would account for 38% of all U.S. searches compared to Google’s dominate position of 48% of all searches. This will certainly close the gap domestically, but until both parties improve their efforts to monetize search they will be playing catch up.

Also, a deal could conceivably help Microsoft to re-energize their MSN and Live.com brands or better yet kill them off in favor of Yahoo. However, in the end, it will all come down the integration or lack thereof.

Although there are upsides to be sure, bigger doesn’t always mean better.

Cisco buys WebEx

Great article on GigaOm concerning Cisco’s $3.2 billion purchase of WebEx. As Om noted with 2 million customers (many in the SMBs marketplace), there is seemingly little downside.

Top 10 Tech Flops

From burning laptops to ill-conceived viral marketing campaigns, Business 2.0 tracks the Top 10 Tech Flops.

iPhone

My 13 year old daughter has already asked for one. Wow … Steve Jobs is a master marketer. I think I am sure he has another winner on his hands.

Stock Price (1/9): 92.50 Up 7.10 (8.31%)