After buying messaging service WhatsApp and expressing interest in solar drone maker Titan Aerospace,Facebook has announced its intention to acquire virtual reality startup firm Oculus VR,Inc.Facebook has one eye on Internet rivals such as Google,which is well known for its appetite for scooping up startups.
Oculus makes the Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles,which are not currently available commercially.Oculus is soliciting application ideas for the big,bulky headset from software developers in fields such as gaming,film,marketing,architecture,education,design and automotive.An early problem with the goggles has been motion sickness.They are part of the wearable tech trend,which has also spawned Google glass and wristwatch smartphones.
We're making a long-term bet that immersive,virtual and augmented reality will become a part of people's daily life,Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained in a conference call.Imagine enjoying a courtside seat at a game,studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face just by putting on goggles in your home,Zuckerberg enthused.
The two billion dollar deal is mostly in Facebook stock,with only 400 million in cash being forked over by the social media titan.*
Facebook(FB),Google(GOOG)
Showing posts with label the Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Internet. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Monday, January 30, 2012
Tech Trends:Google Exec Predicts Cheaper Smart Phones
Eric Schmidt,the software engineer who is Google's Executive Chairman,remains the public face of the company after having left the CEO role.His wide-ranging thoughts are heard
everywhere from the halls of Congress to the World Economic Forum that was just held in Davos,Switzerland.
Everything feels sluggish because there's not enough demand,Mr.Schmidt remarked in Davos,but the Internet continues to win advertising,which is less expensive on it.We haven't seen the slowness as hard as others.
Phones that are powerful will go down in price to 60-70 dollars for a billion people.People outside the Western world will rely on mobile phones in fundamental ways because they don't have access to TV and libraries.
We at Google love advertising and we innovate in many ways in it.We're coming up with new ways to make sure your advertising money is well spent.
In the cloud,you don't have to use email to collaborate.People need service and support,and applications can be built on top of it even if it's free.If 100 million people use it,you can make money from it,Eric Schmidt asserted.
Google's Q4 earnings were below estimates,causing the share price to drop 57 dollars.Wells Fargo downgraded the firm from outperform to market perform.
Google,Inc.(GOOG)
everywhere from the halls of Congress to the World Economic Forum that was just held in Davos,Switzerland.
Everything feels sluggish because there's not enough demand,Mr.Schmidt remarked in Davos,but the Internet continues to win advertising,which is less expensive on it.We haven't seen the slowness as hard as others.
Phones that are powerful will go down in price to 60-70 dollars for a billion people.People outside the Western world will rely on mobile phones in fundamental ways because they don't have access to TV and libraries.
We at Google love advertising and we innovate in many ways in it.We're coming up with new ways to make sure your advertising money is well spent.
In the cloud,you don't have to use email to collaborate.People need service and support,and applications can be built on top of it even if it's free.If 100 million people use it,you can make money from it,Eric Schmidt asserted.
Google's Q4 earnings were below estimates,causing the share price to drop 57 dollars.Wells Fargo downgraded the firm from outperform to market perform.
Google,Inc.(GOOG)
Monday, April 18, 2011
Google Criticized For Spendthrift Ways
Google had good sales in Q1,but its earnings,or profitability,missed estimates.Paid clicks were up 18% for the quarter.The company took on an increase in operating expenses,however,as it invested in many initiatives,generating employee and advertising costs.
Google has long been known for its prolific hiring.Critics assert it is spending too much money.
It's very important for new CEO Larry Page,the company's co-founder,to assert his leadership now,says Joel Abramowicz,senior vice president and tech analyst at Blaylock Robert Van,who has a hold rating on the stock.They're in a very strong position in the coupon area.They already have a sales force in place.
They're a phenomenal software company with great understanding,but it's a very complex business model.It's hard to correlate their platforms as to productivity,Mr.Abramowicz feels.
Eric Schmidt recently turned over the executive reins at Google to Mr.Page,who co-founded the company with fellow Stanford University scholar Sergei Brin.The mega-firm was incorporated in 1998 and was publicly listed in 2004.More than a million servers are involved in Google's operations.
The stock tumbled on disappointment with the Q1 earnings report.
Google(GOOG)
Google has long been known for its prolific hiring.Critics assert it is spending too much money.
It's very important for new CEO Larry Page,the company's co-founder,to assert his leadership now,says Joel Abramowicz,senior vice president and tech analyst at Blaylock Robert Van,who has a hold rating on the stock.They're in a very strong position in the coupon area.They already have a sales force in place.
They're a phenomenal software company with great understanding,but it's a very complex business model.It's hard to correlate their platforms as to productivity,Mr.Abramowicz feels.
Eric Schmidt recently turned over the executive reins at Google to Mr.Page,who co-founded the company with fellow Stanford University scholar Sergei Brin.The mega-firm was incorporated in 1998 and was publicly listed in 2004.More than a million servers are involved in Google's operations.
The stock tumbled on disappointment with the Q1 earnings report.
Google(GOOG)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Tech Founder's Vision:From Netscape to the Cloud
Marc Andreesen,co-founder of the early Internet firm Netscape,notes that everyone thinks we're in a tech bubble,which means we must not be.I don't think we've seen the innovators yet,let alone the idiots.
The industry rewards ingenuity,aggressiveness,innovation.The successful are successful because they are so good at innovation.
In the last five years,500 million people have switched browsers.We're basically reinventing browsers around the services people like to use,such as Facebook.
Cloud computing means moving out into the Internet,using Gmail and Google documents instead of Microsoft Outlook.It's a very big architecture change,with matching companies springing up.
There are more than two billion people on the Internet.I think the perception of tech has caught up to the reality.
Marc Andreesen co-founded Netscape with Jim Clark,being one of the inventors of the browser that became Netscape.Today,Netscape is a holding company of AOL,consisting of a web browser,discount Internet service provider and popular social news website.Netscape moved from Mountain View,California to Dulles,Virginia.
AOL,Inc.(AOL),Google(GOOG),Microsoft(MSFT)
The industry rewards ingenuity,aggressiveness,innovation.The successful are successful because they are so good at innovation.
In the last five years,500 million people have switched browsers.We're basically reinventing browsers around the services people like to use,such as Facebook.
Cloud computing means moving out into the Internet,using Gmail and Google documents instead of Microsoft Outlook.It's a very big architecture change,with matching companies springing up.
There are more than two billion people on the Internet.I think the perception of tech has caught up to the reality.
Marc Andreesen co-founded Netscape with Jim Clark,being one of the inventors of the browser that became Netscape.Today,Netscape is a holding company of AOL,consisting of a web browser,discount Internet service provider and popular social news website.Netscape moved from Mountain View,California to Dulles,Virginia.
AOL,Inc.(AOL),Google(GOOG),Microsoft(MSFT)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Focus On Tech:Google and Yahoo
Hudson Square Research has a buy rating on Google,with a price target of 750 dollars.Google has a very strong core business,says Rory Maher of Hudson Square-plus mobile and display assets.They have a lot of cash to buy fast-growing Inet companies.
Mobile search is starting to boost Google's sales.Hudson Square is excited about Google's Android operating system.They think it's gonna gain a majority share in mobile search.
Yahoo also has a buy rating.Hudson Square is pretty bullish on Inet media overall.Yahoo owns a bunch of ecommerce companies in China that are about to be profitable.Hudson Square is also pretty excited about Yahoo as a stand-alone company,and is pretty confident in the shift of traditional ad dollars to online,which will benefit both Google and Yahoo.
The biggest risk for both is Facebook stealing ad dollars.All will benefit from the shift to online;it's a question of who steals ad dollars from within the sector,Rory Maher believes.
Hudson Square Research is an institutional equity research boutique focused on the tech,media,telecom and consumer sectors.They provide institutional investors with fundamnetal equity research to assess valuation,risk and opportunity.
Google(GOOG),Yahoo(YHOO)
Mobile search is starting to boost Google's sales.Hudson Square is excited about Google's Android operating system.They think it's gonna gain a majority share in mobile search.
Yahoo also has a buy rating.Hudson Square is pretty bullish on Inet media overall.Yahoo owns a bunch of ecommerce companies in China that are about to be profitable.Hudson Square is also pretty excited about Yahoo as a stand-alone company,and is pretty confident in the shift of traditional ad dollars to online,which will benefit both Google and Yahoo.
The biggest risk for both is Facebook stealing ad dollars.All will benefit from the shift to online;it's a question of who steals ad dollars from within the sector,Rory Maher believes.
Hudson Square Research is an institutional equity research boutique focused on the tech,media,telecom and consumer sectors.They provide institutional investors with fundamnetal equity research to assess valuation,risk and opportunity.
Google(GOOG),Yahoo(YHOO)
Friday, December 26, 2008
Shop Talk
A special greeting to Idaho,where I advertised this week.You are home to the gray wolf and vast wilderness areas.Beyond that and ski resorts,little is heard about a state which seems so remote back east.No doubt many of you prefer it that way.But the Internet at least makes mass communication a lot more possible than it once was for those who are interested.The Internet is quiet communication.The sound of the keyboard isn't louder than a light breeze in the aspens.It seems suitable for a backcountry environment or a small town.The low rattle of the keys is the breath of untold numbers of meditative individuals in sparsely populated areas.Have a restorative weekend.
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