heirbrande

http://www.wallstreetnewsalerts.com/blog.htmll

7 Comments

    • Google Is Preparing to Unleash the Cannibals on Microsoft [view article]
      Google is the new Microsoft- BUT- I hate to see Google squashing even the little guy. It's hard these days, for garage-programmers to come up with anything that Google doesn't have in "beta". At least with Microsoft, you just had to beat their next product launch. With Google, you can be wiped out in just a few days. What happened to all of the would be "Mesh Wireless" companies in California? They got scared away by Google's municiple wifi. scary. Probably not as scary as Google's patent application (International) # 20070130580
      appft1.uspto.gov/netac...
      This allows Google to snoop on you conversations and put ads on your TV based on what was said. NOW, ISN'T THAT A GREAT IDEA? The y say it will HELP us find things better and is good for everyone ...
      Outlash from Googgle's ambient noise listening device:
      www.techcrunch.com/200.../

      Google will also will rob you of your idea if it's worth enough. Gee I remember this company's product long before Google got interested in it: www.reuters.com/articl...       Jul 17 11:21 AM
    • Chinese Solar Stocks Present Compelling Value [view article]
      oK THATS GREAT about China's Solar initiatives. What about the USA's? Here we are, selling out everything under the Sun then complaining how our home market sux. (pun intended).
      Anheuser-Busch just got sold to InBev in Belgium which itself has about the size ofpopulation of Toronto. How did this happen? AB has been a great sports advertiser. I doubt InBev will feel the same need as they have no image to protect. Greed is the answer to that question. Greed is the reason all of these banks are failing now, housing is down, you name it. There' just no other way to look at it. You can disagree, but that's the truth.

      People need to get down and dirty, believe in America and back our own companies first again. There is NOTHING wrong with trying to help yourself and your country, like Kennedy proclaimed. Then, maybe with the extra money we have, go make investments overseas. It is improper to be even thinking about investing over there when we are struggling here!
      Investing in oversea companies in this time of economic uncertainty is selfish move, not that investing in US-based companies is not, and an insult to all of the people who have been working hard to hang on to our jobs here. Forget about a little pocket change and help our on team for a while, or no one needs to be complaining about anything.

      So. FSLR. What do you think about Cramer's recommendation of this American-based solar stock?       Jul 15 12:54 PM
    • Google's Talking Points for Today's Antitrust Hearings [view article]
      Are you kidding me Google? They are already synonymous with 'the Internet' and yet they want more. Please look at this link to Google patent application # 20070130580A1
      blogs.zdnet.com/ip-tel...
      This would allow Google to "listen" to your conversations, decipher and give an ad based on what you said. They have hired a lot of linguists and they have tried to enter the mobile phone arena. Make no mistake about their intentions.
      Some companies need to stop while they are ahead and give other people a chance. It's like Google is saying, "He, we promise that this will not make us grow anymore from this point on!" Get Real. We all love Google services and products because they make s more efficient and enlightened, but they are just taking more than their fair share of things. Whatever happened to their "don't be evil" mantra? I learned in grade school that not sharing is 'evil'. For "lays well with others" both the old Microsoft and Gooogle today get D- 's. I never thought I'd wish to see Microsoft trying to outdo another company. This reminds me of the McCandless Corporation in Emilio Estevez's movie "Freejack" -good flick. Things are getting scary.       Jul 15 12:41 PM
    • Blockbuster CEO: I Wanna Be Like Apple [view article]
      I see the point of the posts that say this is a hair-brained idea. I agree with the last poster though. These are CEOs and they are not going to
      sit and let a company go under- well many of them try not to let that happen, but there are a number of bad apples who should be
      fired.
      However, this can work, but it definitely requires some fundamental changes I believe. I'm sure a lot of people think Circuit City stores are
      gloomy, yet Blockbuster stores are brighter and more organized. So Blockbuster's management will need to evolve the look and feel of Circuit City
      to look more like Best Buy, which I
      think has a lot of shelf appeal and a better layout. Circuit City , in my opinion, doesn't even have a good logo. Omagine giving a friend
      directions using either store as a landmark. You can recognize the yellow
      and black Best Buy tag a mile away. Not so with CC. "Oh yea look for the sign with the Circuit City writing" as opposed to "look for yellow and
      black Best Buy tag". This change will cost money that they do not have now, so if the deal goes through, which I
      suspect it will sooner or later with the state of the economy like it is (hostile takeover coming?), there will be a big lag time in revamping
      Circuit City stores.

      More importantly, Blockbuster will need to make its TotalAccess service more like Netflix. It needs : (please see my website for the rest of my opinion-- trying to save rambling space on SA's server :-P )       Apr 17 10:40 AM
    • Will Blockbuster Rewire Circuit City - And Itself? [view article]
      I have a different opinion. I think this is a good pairing IF the management is good. Supposedly, Blockbuster has good management and CC doesn't. Maybe the CC side can benefit from that. But I think the reason this makes more sense than people are crediting to the deal is that video is Blockbuster's domain and music is Apple's by way of the iPod. If Blockbuster doesn't go after video streaming that is more accessible than via mail (remember their version TotalAccess is not that great) then someone will, which would make the Blockbuster we know today irrelevant. With TVs going all digital next year, there is bound to be a merger of the internet and television programming. Microsoft realized this years ago, trying to push their media center version of Windows. However, like many things MS has come up with, they are before their time and some of their ideas would be better suited on the set of Star Trek at the time of their introducition. For example VOIP was pitched by MS long before Vonage, Skype or Packet8 under NetMeeting. I tried it way back then and thought "this is pretty neat but kind of cumbersome to have to have speakers and mic's on both ends."
      Apple is aware of the convergence, which is why they have tried their hands at Apple TV. Jobs is not really interested in becoming a TV producer -- yet.
      Now, recall Google's early beginnings Nov 6 1999 on the way backmachine: web.archive.org/web/19... It's kind of cute because of the "Try our special searches:" phrase.At the time, it was hard to think Google would be what it is today.
      Believe that if Google had the chance to get into the mainstream media whether by buying up broadcasting spectrum or through cable, they will do it. For Google though, it is not a financially sound plan because they would have trouble scaling and afterall, they are in the advertising business not TV broadcasting business. So better for Google to wait a little longer to jump in.

      Blockbuster's CEO and Icahn as well as Jobs and probably those at Google and Microsoft realize the tremendous potential of connecting to people using something many use everyday (other than the cell phone), their television.

      Takea look at this :
      www.microvision.com/pi...

      There is a grander plan in the works I bet. Yes, Blockbuster already dabbled with the idea of streaming movies to phones, but who wants to watch a movie on their phone or PDA's small screen?
      With a device like the one above, which incidentally hits the market later this summer I believe, this will be a great thing for Blockbuster.
      People have their cell phones with them Everywhere! I bet you, the reader has your's within arms reach, yes? Movies, news, sports, entertainment or PowerPoint slide shows even can be projected out of the upcoming cell phones. Circuit City might be a place to pickup one of these phones or any of the other gadgets that will work well with BlockBuster's plan. The CEO has been good at turning companies around so I think he is not got a brain problem but rather insight. Right now, we all are just not privy to all the facts that will make sense, but for Icahn to back the deal something's up.
      My opinion is that many more people use a TV than an iPod. True, Apple has it's Apple store, but Circuit City could BE Blockbuster's Apple store. My prediction is that some other company will partner with Blockbuster to help deliver not only movies, but also other media via it's set-op box. Blockbuster has amazing name recognition so they will push other plays right out of the water. A company like Microsoft or Google can jump on board later. Circuit Buster, or whatever it will be called, can distribute the next new gadget in their stores then the content providers will line up to push their software products. I see a model kind of like Sirius satellite radio just the content is both audio and video instead of just audio.       Apr 16 10:33 AM
    • Blockbuster CEO: I Wanna Be Like Apple [view article]
      I have a different opinion. I think this is a good pairing IF the management is good. Supposedly, Blockbuster has good management and CC doesn't. Maybe the CC side can benefit from that. But I think the reason this makes more sense than people are crediting to the deal is that video is Blockbuster's domain and music is Apple's by way of the iPod. If Blockbuster doesn't go after video streaming that is more accessible than via mail (remember their version TotalAccess is not that great) then someone will, which would make the Blockbuster we know today irrelevant. With TVs going all digital next year, there is bound to be a merger of the internet and television programming. Microsoft realized this years ago, trying to push their media center version of Windows. However, like many things MS has come up with, they are before their time and some of their ideas would be better suited on the set of Star Trek at the time of their introducition. For example VOIP was pitched by MS long before Vonage, Skype or Packet8 under NetMeeting. I tried it way back then and thought "this is pretty neat but kind of cumbersome to have to have speakers and mic's on both ends."
      Apple is aware of the convergence, which is why they have tried their hands at Apple TV. Jobs is not really interested in becoming a TV producer -- yet.
      Now, recall Google's early beginnings Nov 6 1999 on the way backmachine: web.archive.org/web/19... It's kind of cute because of the "Try our special searches:" phrase.At the time, it was hard to think Google would be what it is today.
      Believe that if Google had the chance to get into the mainstream media whether by buying up broadcasting spectrum or through cable, they will do it. For Google though, it is not a financially sound plan because they would have trouble scaling and afterall, they are in the advertising business not TV broadcasting business. So better for Google to wait a little longer to jump in.

      Blockbuster's CEO and Icahn as well as Jobs and probably those at Google and Microsoft realize the tremendous potential of connecting to people using something many use everyday (other than the cell phone), their television. My opinion is that many more people use a TV than an iPod. True, Apple has it's Apple store, but Circuit City could BE Blockbuster's Apple store. My prediction is that some other company will partner with Blockbuster to help deliver not only movies, but also other media via it's set-op box. Blockbuster has amazing name recognition so they will push other plays right out of the water. A coupany like Microsoft or Google can jump on board later. Circuit Buster, or whatever it will be called, can distribute the next new gadget in their stores then the content providers will line up to push their software products. I see a model kind of like Sirius satellite radio just the content is both audio and video instead of just audio.       Apr 16 10:05 AM
    • What Is Blockbuster Thinking? [view article]
      Initially, I thought this was an ill-conceived iplan. However, I think this is a pretty good yet sly move after taking a closer look: Blockbuster is launching a setop box later this month that will use the Movielink service which has had some success. Next year, all new TVs are required to go digital. With Circuit City delivering the TVs and setop boxes (and converter kits for old TVs) and being an established electronics retailer, I'm predicting that Circuit City will see a lot of people buying new TVs and a trial subscription (or free subscription) to whatever service Blockbuster is launching. Blockbuster already has many links in the movie industry so it seems like a great match. Also, Icahn is known to love money and when he smells it he will not stop. People would get hurt along the way, but his goal (and shareholders' goal as a by-product) of making money will be met. Remember Icahn's association with Time-Warner. :) Also Apple is trying to move into delivering movies with Apple TV. Jobs knows how to make money so, this will be an incredibile deal for Blockbuster if the management is right. The stock is relatively low now and is priced so that a lot of people can get on board at this price. Apr 15 11:48 AM
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