This week was marked by the usual combination of good fundamentals and hype and hysteria in the media and markets. The Irish debt crisis, which is objectively solved at this point, has been the source of rumors that have whipsawed stocks and created a new set of reasons for individuals to avoid the markets. But…
Juniper added to its content portfolio today, acquiring the intellectual property of a video delivery firm called Blackwave. This is a smaller deal by recent Juniper standards, but it’s potentially critically important. Network operators are getting more sophisticated and demanding in their content plans, moving just from optimizing traffic to demanding reasonable monetization strategies. Anyone…
An interesting bit of research from the ad industry opens some potential issues for the future of video advertising online. The data shows that pre-roll ads for video do quite well, and in fact exceed the expectations of the advertisers in terms of performance. In fact, research says that people today will generally watch a…
AMD joined the MeeGo Alliance, a group started by Nokia and Intel to promote Linux for tablets, netbooks, smartphones, and “embedded” devices like car navigation and entertainment systems. Since Android is already in these spaces and already Linux-based, it’s pretty clear that the alliance is aimed at countering Google, but it’s less clear why so…
Last week was difficult for the stock market, partly because of the normal tendency for Wall Street to sell off to take profits as the earnings season closes and upside surprises are less likely, but also because of Cisco’s cautious comments. This week the big question will be numbers, and there are already interpretation issues…
It’s been a challenging week in a number of ways, not the least being the shock that was generated by Cisco’s cautious comments on their quarterly call. That was enough to cause a route in the stock market and raise concerns about the state of technology. As we indicated at the time, there’s good reason…
Verizon is taking “TV Everywhere” to more places, or at least taking it places under more conditions. Their new FiOS Flex View is a kind of Netflix-like approach to content except that instead of streaming it you download it subject to DRM, with 30 days to watch the material. The fact that the video is…
Verizon has started to advertise its iPad deal, and it’s a bit more complicated than the rumors had suggested. What the big telco is doing is bundling an iPad with a mobile WiFi hub, a gadget that links to a 3G service and then creates a mini-hotspot to which WiFi devices can then attach. This…
The latest political wisdom, arising from the results of the mid-terms, is that net neutrality as an issue hurt those who supported it. That combines with the Democratic loss to create a loss of momentum—at least according to popular wisdom. Actually, net neutrality never had any momentum. The Congress doesn’t like to intervene in telecom…
It’s time for our weekly financial summary. The Fed’s move in QE2 is being criticized internationally, though we think the criticism right now is pro forma. Countries with large trading surpluses with the US have been upset by the US move to effectively devalue its currency, and that includes Germany, Brazil, and of course China. …