Valleywag
acquisitions
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Nokia
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acquisitions
Gamers annoyed at Nokia
Videogames which run on Nokia's N-Gage cell-phone gaming platform are locked to a specific phone, requiring a new purchase when the phone is replaced. Cell-phone users typically buy a new phone every 18 months. [BBC News]
Videogames which run on Nokia's N-Gage cell-phone gaming platform are locked to a specific phone, requiring a new purchase when the phone is replaced. Cell-phone users typically buy a new phone every 18 months. [BBC News]
leaks
Who's going to TechTalk Menorca, the Balearic boondoggle?
Martin Varsavsky, the founder of Wi-Fi startup Fon, has concocted another excuse for Web 2.0's jet set to rack up frequent-flier miles and buy carbon offsets: It's called Menorca TechTalk, held on Varsavsky's ranch on the Mediterranean island this weekend. The website is password-protected, but Valleywag got a list of who's going. It's a curious mix of professional conference attendees, like Rapleaf's Auren Hoffman, Loïc Le Meur of Seesmic, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, and David Sifry of Technorati, mixed in with a few people who have day jobs. There are even Googlers on the list — and when have you known those lot to leave the protective bubble of Mountain View? Oddly, Jimmy Wales did not seem to make the cut, though his New York patroness, Louise Blouin MacBain, is listed. In the comments, sort the TechTalkers into your preferred categories. More »
Nokia's earnings soar, shares tumble
It's the most puzzling thing about the stock market to investing newbies: How can a company like Nokia see its earnings rise 25 percent, but its shares tumble 10 percent? That's because for most tech stocks, Wall Street doesn't care what you've done for it lately; they care more what you're going to do. And Nokia has given a depressing forecast for U.S. sales. The rational response, of course, is to push off all deals as far into the future as possible, and then announce glistening expectations for what's to come. That seems easier than actually running one's business in a rational manner. [WSJ]
It's the most puzzling thing about the stock market to investing newbies: How can a company like Nokia see its earnings rise 25 percent, but its shares tumble 10 percent? That's because for most tech stocks, Wall Street doesn't care what you've done for it lately; they care more what you're going to do. And Nokia has given a depressing forecast for U.S. sales. The rational response, of course, is to push off all deals as far into the future as possible, and then announce glistening expectations for what's to come. That seems easier than actually running one's business in a rational manner. [WSJ]
great moments in pr
Press release like it's 1999
"The next big thing in consumer gadgets will be the 'Internet in your pocket,'" according to Intel's announcement reported in the New York Times today. Where did I read that line nine years ago? Oh, right.
acquisitions
Eurocrats to review Nokia's Navteq deal
The EU will review Nokia's $8.1 billion buyout of digital mapmaker Navteq. The Commission believes the deal could hurt competition. Navteq only has one large rival, Tele Atlas, which is being acquired by GPS maker TomTom. The EU is already examining that transaction. [FT]
digital music
Why is Apple suddenly in talks with record labels about bundling an unlimited music plan with new iPods, after resisting such a move for years? Steve Jobs has scoffed at music subscriptions in the past, saying customers want to "own their music." Never take Steve at his word: For years, he shot down the idea of iPods with video or an Apple-branded cell phone — until he made them happen. The same is about to happen for music subscriptions, I suspect — but not because Jobs has suddenly changed his mind about consumers' tastes.
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Why Steve Jobs wants to sell you a music subscription
Why is Apple suddenly in talks with record labels about bundling an unlimited music plan with new iPods, after resisting such a move for years? Steve Jobs has scoffed at music subscriptions in the past, saying customers want to "own their music." Never take Steve at his word: For years, he shot down the idea of iPods with video or an Apple-branded cell phone — until he made them happen. The same is about to happen for music subscriptions, I suspect — but not because Jobs has suddenly changed his mind about consumers' tastes.
More »
1:40 PM on Fri Mar 28 2008
By Jordan Golson
4,745 views,
13 comments
Latest by Lilyseymour: It would be nice if Steve added me to his My Space pageLily S.[www.myspace.com] more »
digital music
We're not buying Apple's new unlimited music plan
Apple has opened negotiations with the major record labels by offering only $20 per customer for a proposed unlimited plan at the iTunes music store, according to the Financial Times. Nokia is offering $80, but then cell-phone manufacturers have the price of phones subsidized by carriers who've gotten used to paying hundreds of dollars to acquire new customers. Apple has traditionally made its profits on the devices themselves, since iTunes margins are paltry, and are already slashing prices on units in order to meet sales forecasts. Labels are looking to get as much as $100 from iPod buyers and $8 a month from iPhone subscribers. Both sides are really fighting over how much of the profit from music they'll keep. Me, I'll stick with vinyl. (Illustration by Gizmodo)
strategery
Nokia jealous of Apple, wants cut of the action
Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in an interview with a German paper that Nokia will pursue a cut of subscriber revenues for some future data-based devices. As we've previously noted, Apple has set up a triple whammy with the iPhone: the company gets paid when it sells the phone, gets a kickback from service providers, and gets a cut of content sold through the iTunes store. In October, Nokia rolled out an unimpressive social network and partnered with Universal Music to start its own music store. Apple has shown the rest of the industry that there is money to be made in more than just handsets, and Nokia wants in on the action. More »
Universal Music Group has partnered with Nokia to provide a subscription music service to mobile phones. Unlike PC-based subscription services such as Napster, Nokia's offering will let users keep any music downloaded after their one-year subscription expires. Of course what they don't tell you is how much this will cost, or limits on numbers of downloads. [Digital Music News]
stats
iPhone has 0.09 percent of Web usage -- yes, that's a lot
The browser wars continue — but no one cares. Unless, that is, you're in the wireless world, where industry observers avidly watch tiny scraps of Web activity, as if they're divining prophecies from the clouds. Computerworld notes an interesting trend. Apple's iPhone browser has grabbed a 0.09 percent share, which might not seem like much until you compare it to the competition. Windows CE, which encompasses every Windows Mobile device shipped, holds a 0.06 percent share; Danger Research's Sidekick product family holds a tiny 0.02 percent share; and the Symbian S60 smartphone platform, favored by Nokia, has 0.01 percent. More »
acquisitions
Garmin offers $3.3 billion for Tele Atlas
GPS device maker Garmin has offered $3.3 billion for digital mapping service Tele Atlas. Rival TomTom offered $2.5 billion for Tele Atlas in an earlier bid. Currently, Garmin uses maps from Navteq. After that company was acquired by Nokia, Garmin started looking for other options. With $1 billion in cash, Garmin would finance the acquisition through cash and loans from several banks. What's this all mean? With Navteq off the market, expect something of a bidding war for Tele Atlas between Garmin and TomTom — and maybe Google. Garmin has an advantage here, though — it already purchased 5 percent of Tele Atlas on the open market. Shares in Garmin fell 11 percent after the bid was announced as investors worried that the purchase price could rise significantly. (Photo by AP/Reed Hoffmann)
First Apple, now Nokia. We guess opening a store in China is the fashionable thing nowadays. Nokia is opening its seventh retail store worldwide in Shanghai. The store will even include some ridiculousness that sounds good in a press release but probably doesn't sell phones: "Consumers will be able to send text messages to change the glass walls in the store to colors of their choice." Ah yes, that really makes me want a craptastic Finnish phone. [WSJ]
the chart
Apple's third quarter was a blowout all around, but the real question is how the iPhone is faring. Now that we've got a quarter's worth of data, we can compare it to the competition, and gauge the effect of blogosphere scandals like the recent episode of iPhones "bricking" after a software update — sure, tech pundits got worked up, but did people stop buying iPhones? The bottom line: Steve Jobs & Co. entered a daunting market and performed quite well.
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How well did the iPhone really sell?
Apple's third quarter was a blowout all around, but the real question is how the iPhone is faring. Now that we've got a quarter's worth of data, we can compare it to the competition, and gauge the effect of blogosphere scandals like the recent episode of iPhones "bricking" after a software update — sure, tech pundits got worked up, but did people stop buying iPhones? The bottom line: Steve Jobs & Co. entered a daunting market and performed quite well.
More »
Finnish
strategery
Nokia can't decide who it wants to be
WEB 2.0 SUMMIT — Does Nokia wish it were Facebook? Or Apple? Anssi Vanjoki, an executive at the Finnish phonemaker, can't seem to make up his mind. Nokia's introducing Ovi, a "context-sensitive" social network. Oh, and the N810, with which Nokia hopes to horn in on the iPhone's computer-in-your-pocket market. This is, surely, the ultimate bitches-just-jealous corporate strategy. We can only think that Motorola CEO Ed Zander is delighted to hear his rival's getting out of the phone business.
wireless
