In the news: Google, Facebook, Kindle, Disrupt NY, Kodak Machinima and the EU Google ultimatum…
Google Announces Purchase of Motorola
Google confirmed that it had finalised the purchase of Motorola mobility, the US$ 12.5 billion deal received the nod from China on the condition that Android remains free for 5 years. The 12.5 Billion dollars is more than the total of all acquisitions Google has done and shows that Google is ‘all in’ with mobile and TV cable boxes. Google will become a major player in home entertainment and mobile over the next few years. With this deal Google also acquired over 17000 patents and is now in the mobile phone business. Android is running on around 250 million mobile devices at the moment an amount which is expected to rise dramatically in the future. Google says: ‘Many users coming online today may never use a desktop machine, and the impact of that transition will be profoundas will the ability to just tap and pay with your phone.’
Facebook stock continues downward trend
In after hours trading Facebook stocks hit the lowest level yet at $30.79 Some analysts believe that the stock is now so cheap that many would get on board in case they miss something great and other analysts believe that investors are sitting on the sidelines until the hype dies down. Many say that the stock is still over valued even at us$30 per share and others believe that the stock would rise again to the us$40 mark. My own opinion is that Facebook has an unproven income track record and in these economic times it is too much of a luxury to invest in hype and I would take the more long term view of waiting until Facebook files income reports.
At Disrupt NY it is clear that Apple dominates
Almost all products at the event was built for iOS and had made an appearance on the Apple App store first before becoming available to Android. According to Forbes, The Apple App store has seen around 25 Billion downloads this year and Google has had 10 Billion. Companies presenting their products reportedly all sported MacBook, an iMac, or an iPad’s and it is clear that Apple is by far the leader in mobile computing.
Amazon Kindle revenue model changes
The second most popular consumer tablet, (iPad being the most popular) is set to receive screensaver advertising as Amazon experiments with revenue streams. Other plans are to offer digital content to the huge consumer base
Kodak loses patent suit against RIM and Apple
The judge ruled that some of the claim is invalid due to obviousness, Kodak is still operating under management due to bankruptcy.
Google invests in Machinima
With more than 1.6 billion video views (youtube) a month and more than 168 million monthly users, Machinima is one of the biggest YouTube content creators.
The European Union gives Google search ultimatum
After an investigation that lasted over 18 months, the EU identified four areas of concern: how the internet giant deals with its search results, how content is used, how advertising is run on its search engine and how advertisers are restricted from using rival search engines. Google says that although it does not agree with the EU findings Google is happy to discuss any concerns that Europe may have.
US Federal trade commission is investigating the 1 Billion US$ dollar Facebook Instagram deal
The FTC has not commented formally on the investigation but speculators opine that it is because the FTC looks forward in time to establish if a deal has the ability to harm competition in a market.