Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

I’ve had it with cables.  The sheer number of cables we have to carry around is getting insane.  I’ve got (and I bet you do too) a drawer full of cables that I don’t even remember what they go to, but one day might need.  My breaking point was reached during my review of the Samsung Blackjack II where they redesigned not only the battery, but all the cables as well.  Good for companies that sell cables, bad for everyone else.

For many of us, our cell phones are our connection to the world.  We email, talk, browse, navigate, text, IM, Twitter, etc. on them nonstop.  They are becoming powerful and power-hungry.  The future is powerful cell phones; one look at the iPhone and it is easy to see.

What isn’t easy to see is why car manufacturers haven’t jumped

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Open memo to Motorola, LG, Samsung, and anyone else with a stake in the handset market:

It has been almost nine months since we were first shown the iPhone.  Remember the buzz and love the hardware generated?  Since it’s introduction, the software side of the ball has received nothing but kudos.  Of course you remember this.

Where are your innovations?  Don’t tell me the RAZR V3 is what you’ve been working on for the past 3 years.  You’ve seen what has been coming and its now #4 best seller in the US market at 5 times the price of the #1 offering (assuming it wasn’t given away free).

This hide and wait attitude is giving Apple the idea that they got it right on the first try; something you swore they wouldn’t be able to do.  It is not like the iPhone isn’t laced with loads of opportunities for you to do better:

• Exchange.  I am an international businessman.  I need my exchange mail and I want it pushed to me.  You do this now, can you do it in a better form?


• Napster over the air seems to be the best we can do at the moment as an iTunes alternative; don’t stress too much over this.


• Ringtones.  I am a bit offended I have to fork over another 99 cents to Apple to repackage something I already own. Bring this concept into a hot form factor.


• Form factor. Ok, I buried this one down here but really it is #1 or #2.  Give us something nice to look at, some sleek to hold.  The iPhone is a bit of a brick.  Can you shave off some poundage?


• Software.  Lets stop with convoluted menu trees.  I want to change settings under one place called “settings”.  Make it easy and intuitive.  Heck, maybe you can convince Apple to license theirs.  Make it easy for more of us to figure out how to customize our phones.  We are pretty savvy (250k iPhones were sold with the intention of unlocking according to estimates, we are getting the hang of this) so give us some tools.  IM, 3G, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, Voice dialing; it all needs to be in there.  You’ve got all the parts, now just make a super phone.

Oh, and don’t think for a minute that Macworlds news isn’t going to be about opening up the iPhone to the business market.  The clock is ticking and we are all waiting.

Every Monday, Bryan Glanzberg contributes The Water Cooler, a column that bridges the gap between technology and business.

Everyone knows that Sony has done an excellent job of developing their brand among the consumer electronics world, especially in the US.  What few people realize is the brand name that they have developed in Japan.  Like all retail giants, internet powerhouses, and marketing guru’s, Sony has gotten to big for their own good.  When a company grows to expand its product lines beyond its core competencies, there is often a disconnect among the synergies that they expect to generate among cross functional lines.

Great example of this, (except it is in the context of a merger) was Time Warner.  The AOL, Time Warner merger was the be the smartest move of the century since the competencies of each side were completely in line.  However, they were unable to effectively exploit these synergies and, as we all know, the merger failed miserably. 

“Sony has expanded into so many business areas in Japan and abroad that it has blurred its original identity as an engineering innovator.  Analysts say this murkier image threatens one of the company’s most profitable assets: the so-called Sony premium, the higher prices long commanded by its electronic products, which still account for 64% of revenue, excluding sales between Sony divisions.”

I must applaud Sir Howard though on the efforts he has made recently to spin off Sony’s financial lines and the life insurance line that they have.  This would have a great effect on Sony’s bottom line, allowing them to substantially re-design their cost structure and better utilize the capabilities they have available to them…..I do miss Aibo though….Aibo was my dog (not literally but he was pretty cool).

Read [NY Times]

We would like to welcome Bryan Glanzberg back from London. He will contribute The Water Cooler every Monday, a column that bridges the gap between technology and business. Evan Cabat will still be with us reporting on new tech IPOs and other business news as it pops throughout the week.

NEW, BOLD, EXCITING...all are words overly used by marketers these days.  Microsoft has unveiled their WMP11 for Windows XP in an attempt to regain market share from the dominant iTunes software from Apple.  I don’t know about all of you, but I just don’t get it...if you want to gain market share, make a product that is INNOVATIVE, not designed very similar to Apple’s platform. There is such a thing called market research and Microsoft makes a big effort to collects lots of data (with or without our discretion) on what customers like and dislike about the platform that they are using.  In my opinion, the reason why Microsoft has been so stagnant lately is because they are too busy trying to catch up to Apple’s advancements in their GUI and software applications. 

To me, Windows Vista seems like a Mac OSX platform...there is actually a mock of Bill Gates video on the internet showing what Vista looks like, but its actually a Mac GUI and you honestly can’t tell the difference.  NEW, BOLD and EXCITING are words of today, but they should be tossed.  Innovation is what is going to drive interest as long as it is aligned with consumer preferences.  Someone over at Microsoft needs to build on all this data that they have and spark some interest for newer products.  I honestly don’t remember the last big risk Microsoft has taken in order to gain more market share. 

This was written during Bryan’s final days from his hotdesk in London (not cubicle because apparently that is the same thing as a bathroom stall).

Download at your own risk

Evan will be filling in as The Water Cooler contributor while Bryan continues his plot to take over the world, for the next few weeks, across the pond in London .

Before I start on today’s topic I want to call everyone’s attention to my favorite non Gadgetell blog on the internet, written by a great technology mind, Mark Cuban the man behind HDNet, the former Broadcast.com, and is currently the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks as well as other tech/video ventures.  In the past few weeks he has written some great entries on blogging, MySpace and the pure stupidity of shareholders: all are a must read. Check them out at Blogmaverick.

One of Cuban’s recent posts deal with the new partnership between BitTorrent and Warner Brothers. These two seem like more of an odd couple than Kobe and Shaq; you have to wonder what possessed these two sworn enemies to unite.  Pretty much BitTorrent will provide a similar platform as iTunes. Whereas iTunes currently offers television shows, WB will offer Movies and shows. The puzzling thing here is, iTunes only has legal products on its catalogs and has total control, whereas no matter what the WB want to believe, there will still be copies of illegal content on the servers. Cuban found MI-3 and Scary Movie 4 with relative ease according to his blog.

Maybe there is something I don’t know but I trust Cuban in his research and if the legal files are going to be right alongside the illegal ones, what’s going to stop Joe Downloader from taking a peak at the newest movie rather than shelling out the $9. Just imagine the excuses you can give if you were to get questioned by the authorities, “how am I supposed to know whats legal and whats not if it’s all showing up on the same search that WB has”. So good luck to the WB and their parent company TimeWarner because we all know you are the smartest of businessmen...after that AOL debacle of a few years ago - maybe you’ll prove me wrong, but I think you’re making a big mistake here.

Evan will be filling in as The Water Cooler contributor while Bryan continues his plot to take over the world, for the next few weeks, across the pond in London .

Nobody understands the commercials for VoIP juggernaut Vonage. Why is there a man in a lobster suit trying to get through a revolving door, or a middle aged tool of a husband doing his best “robot” dance? But that’s for another article.  The market share leader in North American VoIP technology is getting closer and closer to its initial public offering, supposedly set at $16-$18 per share, in efforts to raise upwards of $250 million.  The deal should happen sometime before the end of the year led by underwriters Citigroup, but what does this mean? Hopefully, to you nothing, but if you have an uncle you don’t like tell him to invest and laugh later.

I don’t see a future for this company as its own entity; it would have been better off going to Skype route and selling to another company to deal with.  Many liken Vonage’s situation to TiVo’s a few years ago, it provides a service to be used on a much larger company’s infrastructure. Vonage uses the cable lines of Comcast, TimeWarner, Insight or whatever cable company is in your area, just as TiVo does.  What happened after TiVo went public? (P.S. TiVo is currently trading at about a 75% loss from it’s IPO, but they’ve come back a little, I still like them at their current price)…

All the cable companies began to provide similar services bundled into their services for much cheaper and they are beginning to do it again with VoIP services. Why deal with two companies when you can get one bill? These cable giants are offering bundles which may or may not save you money, but the average American is too stupid to figure that out and would rather one bill and one tech support number.  So Vonage will continue its trend of lost market share before we get into regulatory concerns.  If you think for a second the cable giants won’t work on technology or even, worse legislation that stops Vonage and other VoIP companies from using their infrastructure to take money from them, I’ve got a nice bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

To be honest at home I used Vonage and besides the fact its cheaper, there is nothing special about it. It goes out often and there’s no legitimate technical support. Why this company is going to IPO is beyond me. They would’ve been better off selling to Google who conveniently plans to roll out similar services later this year, taken their cash and ran. Five years from now I’m going to bet that stupid red lobster suit will be hanging out with the sock puppet from Pets.com in IPO hell, but follow closely who knows what happens with IPOs, Google was too high at $80 per share according to my stock broker.

Every Monday, Bryan Glanzberg contributes The Water Cooler, a column that bridges the gap between technology and business. This week he is reporting from good ‘ol London

In the news the last few weeks, I have been reading a lot about SPAC.  At first, I questioned why they were talking so much about the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in the Wall Street Journal.  After a little further research, I learned that a SPAC is a special product acquisition company that is essentially a spin-off of a publicly traded company that goes out and searches for investors.  What makes them different is that the investors are pooling their money into a trust that is going to be used for some future merger, one which they have no idea about, nor do the SPAC that they are donating funds too.  The advantage of this investment tool is that you are essentially guaranteed to break even (except for interest).  This is known as a reverse IPO where a private company goes out and raises public funds before they announce they are actually going public.  It helps build up their infrastructure much better and makes them more attractive to the capital markets.  They typically receive the investment back in shares of stock valued at around $6/share.  If the company never goes public, the investors get their money back (minus interest of course).  It is a very interesting and hot tool in the market today. 

Now that I have just bored you to tears about what a SPAC is, the reason I found this interesting is because Apple just released some news about their former executives:

Three former Apple Computer executives, including former chief Gilbert Amelio and co-founder Steve Wozniak, have raised $150 million for company whose sole purpose is to search for technology-related acquisitions.

Their company, called Acquicor Technology, is just the latest in a recent flurry of special-purpose acquisition companies — also known as blank-check companies or SPAC’s — that have sold shares to the public even before finding a business to buy. Another SPAC, called Services Acquisition Corporation, agreed earlier this week to buy privately held Jamba Juice in a $265 million deal.

I am sorry, but what the hell is Steve Wozniak doing with Jamba Juice?  Does he want to get jacked up and beat the s**t out of his computer?  Did Excel get the best out of him?  I love geeks that just invest in whatever looks nice to them, despite whether they know the business or not....sad thing is....I wish I had that kind of money.  If you care to donate please email me...I am an attractive male, 5’11”, blonde hair......ahh forget it. 

Read [Dealbook]

Evan will be filling in as The Water Cooler contributor while Bryan continues his plot to take over the world, for the next few weeks, across the pond in London .

There’s good news for losers like me who look forward to the end of the day when they come home and all five episodes of Law & Order: Petty Theft are on their TiVo. TiVo’s future is a bit more secure now that the company announced the extension of its current deal with DirecTV.  The deal which was set to expire in 2007 will now go through 2010.

The deal helps, mainly because the company is strapped for cash as it is tied up in lawsuits. TiVo has been actively seeking licensing fees from companies that have similar DVR technology in their set top boxes like Dish Network and Motorola. Just this past week the courts rules in favor of TiVo over Dish Network, which should result in a huge influx of cash for the previously struggling company.

Now the company can invest in research to make the system full of more obnoxious noises every time you touch a button.  TiVo never ceases to amaze with the great technologies they come out with, my life changed the day you could control it from Yahoo!, so watch for more great things to come. And if you don’t have it, get it, you’ll be a better human being.

Also look for the boxes in more retail stores like Wal-Mart and Target in the future. If you have an interest in the stock market, follow TiVo and its aptly named ticker symbol: TIVO as the legal developments may create a great opportunity to invest. (Stock was up over 20% after defeating Dish Network).

Evan will be filling in as The Water Cooler contributor while Bryan continues his plot to take over the world, for the next few weeks, across the pond in London .

After the positive results of Google’s initial public offering to this point, some technology companies are looking to take advantage of the IPO market for money to grow their companies, but is this the right choice? My infinite wisdom says no.

Once in a generation there is a Google or a Microsoft that will be successful but they are not the typical technology firm that might look to go public. I think the major problem with technology firms going public, is a conflict of minds on one side you have the technology brain trust that has great ideas, but for most companies to be successful long term, the financing needs to be there.

The sensitivity of newly public company doesn’t offer the stability of cash for companies to be successful, even though the idea itself is genius. It’s a shame but as we know money controls most every thing and many great ideas will take longer to come out if not managed correctly.  Pretty much technology firms need to be guaranteed to be the best in their market for an IPO to even be considered, the idea needs to be so great, money wont be an issue and that happens about as often as the Mets winning the World Series (its been a tough 20 years for me).

So what do I think the best idea for a great new technology firm is to harvest its company if going public is only a great idea if the company will be the market leader? Sell to the big kahunas, the Googles, the Oracles and Microsofts of the world. Well I’m not some visionary thinker because the best companies have been doing it for a while. These companies are known for the freedom they allow their employees and have been purchasing smaller companies for years to allow them to benefit from their cash and technology expertise. These companies have turned into incubators much like the venture capital firms who provide early stage funds for these companies. This set up allows for the leaders of small companies with new ideas to focus on the technology and use the larger company’s resources for the boring stuff like accounting, marketing etc. In other words I don’t think you’ll see another IPO that is as successful initially as Google any time soon, you are more likely to see Google or Microsoft buy the next company and brand it under their name.

Every Monday, Bryan Glanzberg contributes The Water Cooler, a column that bridges the gap between technology and business.

No, no, no. I am not going to break out into the Prince song and put on my best leopard skin outfit (save us all if I actually had to do that). Vonage is filing for an IPO; one of the pieces of news in the now noisy telephone and VOIP market. What is intriguing about this situation is that Vonage is one of the fastest growing VOIP companies. They more than tripled their subscriber base in 2005 which is leading to expansion and growth or is it?

“In the first nine months of 2005, Vonage lost $189.6 million against $170 million in sales. It cost the company $213 in marketing dollars to acquire every customer“up from $137 per subscriber the year before. That means, based on Vonage’s most popular, $24.99 monthly residential subscription, it would take roughly nine months to break even on marketing costs for each new subscriber

Not only does it cost that much to develop the relationship with the customer, but the profit per customer has declined from $31 to approximately $26. It will be very interesting to see where this IPO takes the company; we are no longer in the 1990’s folks, and although the market has been around its 5-year high, tech investors are still sore from the *insert obscene remark* they faced in the late 90’s to early 2000’s after the bubble burst.

Consistent revenue streams and above average returns are what attract long term investors. Many companies are looking for a quick and easy buck in order to sell their ideas, but by the time they raise the capital, it seems as if there ideas are obsolete I may be very wrong here, but time will tell.

Read [News.com]