FUTURISTIC GROOVES

Untangling the Social Web

ron — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:04:19 +0000

Software: From retailing to counterterrorism, the ability to analyse social connections is proving increasingly useful. The market for such software is booming. By one estimate there are more than 100 programs for network analysis, also known as link analysis or predictive analysis. The raw data used may extend far beyond phone records to encompass information [...]

The Future of the Internet

ron — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:57:43 +0000

The internet has been a great unifier of people, companies and online networks. Powerful forces are threatening to balkanise it. The first internet boom, a decade and a half ago, resembled a religious movement. Omnipresent cyber-gurus, often framed by colourful PowerPoint presentations reminiscent of stained glass, prophesied a digital paradise in which not only would [...]

From One-time Imitator to Pioneer

ron — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:16:14 +0000

Ten years ago, Samsung’s executives poured over numbers and set their 2010 sales goal at $140 billion — four times the amount in 2000. Sales will reach that level this year, according to the median estimate of 21 analysts — right on target. The company is aiming to increase revenue again — this time more [...]

Emergence of a New Global Business Player

ron — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:16:30 +0000

Burger King agreed on Thursday to sell itself to the investment firm 3G Capital for about $4 billion, including the assumption of debt, marking the second time in eight years that the fast-food giant has taken itself private. The agreement on Thursday for Burger King Holdings to be acquired by a Brazilian-backed investment firm, like [...]

Intel Acquires New Capabilities

ron — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:42:16 +0000

Over the last two weeks Intel has bought the wireless business of Infineon for $1.4 billion and McAfee for $7.68 billion, as well as the cable modem business of Texas Instruments for an undisclosed price. Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel, noted that more and more devices were connecting to the Internet, and said the wireless [...]

Samsung Shifts Strategy to Challenge Apple

ron — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:08:38 +0000

“The global list of top companies is being replaced by the likes of Apple, Google and Facebook,” says Choi Gee Sung, 59, who — in a partial nod to the recently relaxed dress code — is tieless in his navy-blue pinstriped suit and white shirt with light-blue stripes for his first interview since becoming chief [...]

Facebook Unveils a Location-Based Service

ron — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 08:08:47 +0000

2010 is the year of location–at least in blogs focused on social networking, which is a Montana-sized “at least”–and Facebook’s entry into the increasingly crowded field has long been expected. Today, the company officially announced its plans, by the name of Facebook Places. Facebook’s Places borrows heavily from location-based social networks like Foursquare and Gowalla, [...]

The breakfast index

ron — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 23:47:58 +0000

The cost of breakfast rises. Raw ingredients for breakfast in much of the rich world have increased in price by 25% since the beginning of June. Severe drought and wildfires in Russia, the world’s fourth largest wheat producer, have destroyed a fifth of the country’s crop and sent prices soaring. Since the end of June [...]

Google & CIA invest in Analytics Venture

ron — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:53:31 +0000

The investment arms of the CIA and Google are both backing a company that monitors the web in real time — and says it uses that information to predict the future. Google Ventures and In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s investment arm, have injected sums (less than $10 million each) into Recorded Future, a company that goes through [...]

Disney’s Digital Shopping Spree

ron — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:08:12 +0000

The purchase of game maker Playdom may help Disney’s brands with the Facebook generation Four years ago, Bob Iger, the chief executive officer of Walt Disney, tried to build a cell-phone business. Disney created a family-oriented mobile service that included a global positioning system so parents could track their kids. Too few consumers signed up, [...]

Interactive World Factbook

ron — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:54:46 +0000

The CIA World Factbook is a data nerd’s dream and a crowning achievement in data gathering, highlighting every single country in the world, and presenting myriad facts ranging from GDP to important local industries. It’s also mind-numbingly boring and not terribly useful because there’s simply no way to summarize all that data. IBM’s data-visualisation researchers [...]

Google Gets Semantic

ron — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:02:40 +0000

Google has acquired Metaweb Technologies, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that maintains a massive open database that details all sorts of real-world stuff in an effort to “build a smarter, more connected Internet.” “The web isn’t merely words—it’s information about things in the real world, and understanding the relationships between real-world entities can help us [...]

GE’s “Ecomagination Challenge”

ron — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:44:40 +0000

Got a bright idea? How about an energy-saving one? GE announced today a $200 million “open innovation challenge” that invites inventors, entrepreneurs, and startups of all stripes to compete to develop the next-generation of power grid technologies. Called the Ecomagination Challenge, this huge investment comes only weeks after GE announced a $10 billion injection into [...]

Facebook is Pushing a Platform Strategy

ron — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:34:39 +0000

Facebook is going to go beyond rolling out standalone applications for iPhones, Google Android devices or feature phones and start considering itself a platform for developers to distribute mobile apps with. “Where we’re going from here is a platform strategy. We’re going away from a one-off app strategy,” said Erick Tseng in his first public [...]

Investing in Green Technology

ron — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:28:45 +0000

The Bill Gates and Khosla Ventures dream team are swooping in once again to provide much-needed cash to a worthy sustainable startup. The pair recently injected millions into nuclear power startup TerraPower, and now they’re back again to invest $23.5 million in EcoMotors’s series B funding round. EcoMotors builds a lightweight, high-efficiency, low-cost combustion engine [...]

World Cup Winners and Losers

ron — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:19:34 +0000

In case you weren’t one of the 700 million-plus fans to watch the World Cup Finals yesterday, Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time. But the España football stars weren’t the only winners–and certainly the Holland footballers were not the only losers. Companies around the world were competing to increase brand awareness and boost [...]

The Emerging Online Giants

ron — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:43:06 +0000

At first glance the three firms could not look more different. DST was created in 2005 when two Russian internet investors, Yuri Milner and Gregory Finger, pooled their interests in mail.ru, a Russian web portal. Today the firm controls many of the country’s leading websites and boasts an interesting mix of owners, including Goldman Sachs [...]

O R A N G E FEVER!

ron — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:29:12 +0000

Google to Acquire Air Travel Data Company

ron — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:41:47 +0000

A new Google search tool to allow people to search easily for air travel and book travel plans is now on the runway. Google said Thursday that it had agreed to acquire ITA Software, a 14-year-old company that makes software that organizes flight and pricing information, for $700 million in cash. Given that about half [...]

Ecomagination $10 Billion Eco-R&D Push

ron — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:23:48 +0000

GE has a whole lot faith in its ecomagination initiative. So much faith, in fact, that the company is pumping $10 billion into the project’s R&D over the next 5 years–effectively doubling its investment from the past 5 years. The reason is simple: ecomagination is a cash cow, generating $70 billion in revenue since its [...]

VCs Go Global

ron — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:38:57 +0000

VCs are on the hunt, and it doesn’t matter if a company is in Boston, Beijing, or Menlo Park, they’re looking to fund great ideas anywhere in the world. Some are even opening offices overseas in an effort to find the next big international thing. For decades, the success of Silicon Valley has been undeniable. [...]

The Evolution of the World Cup Ball

ron — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:53:35 +0000

Fighting Carbon Emissions: Cities take the Lead

ron — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 18:01:36 +0000

As national governments fail to cut carbon, cities are starting to take the initiative with programs aimed at reining in emissions. The efforts could have a profound impact: Cities are home to more than half the world’s population and pump out more than two-thirds of global carbon dioxide. From the motorways of Los Angeles to [...]

Most Competitive Economies 2010

ron — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:14:15 +0000

The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010 from Swiss business school IMD finds the U.S. and Europe losing their edge to fast-growing Asian economies. A lot can change in 12 months. At this time last year, Western nations dominated the annual ranking of the world’s most competitive countries prepared by the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland. [...]

Office politics

ron — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:20:57 +0000

Microsoft bids to keep its grip on corporate computing against Google’s challenge. In a significant move, Microsoft announced new, web-based versions of popular applications such as Word and Excel as part of the “Office 2010” release, and unveiled changes designed to make it easier for workers to collaborate using its software. These initiatives come at [...]