Low-Tech Mopar Friday Post ...

Apple Wrestles iPhone From Cisco

Apple struck a deal with Cisco to use the iPhone trademark last night.

How much Apple had to pay was not disclosed, nor were other terms of the deal. One thing is clear: The computer maker electronics geniuses won't face an injunction in June when the spiffy phone goes to market.

Under the agreement, Cisco and Apple will both use the iPhone trademark on their phone products. Control freak Jobs doesn't seem like he'd go for something like this.

Apple, Cisco Friendly Chat on iPhone?

Apple and Cisco are drawing near a self-imposed deadline of Thursday to work out their differences over the iPhone trademark.

I'm not so certain that I buy the Cisco PR spin on this that they want to just work out some sort of amicable technology-sharing deal. I've seen two WSJ stories take this angle. The latest comes from WSJ scoop monster Nick Wingfield. So maybe it's so.

Yet I can't help but figure that Cisco seems to hold some serious cards here (purchased the company that owned the trademark, then launched VoIP phones bearing the name), and there are piles of chips on the table.

After all, a royalties arrangement where Apple pays Cisco could involve some serious coin. And there's the threat of injunction against what could be arguably the most talked about product debut in years.

Vista, It's Time to Hack It

Hackers have already been able to poke holes in Vista betas. But what fun is it when it's not out in the real world.

Sure, there have been plenty of so-called white hats who have taken the Swiss cheese software Vista and shown where it's vulnerable so that Redmond-based Microsoft can fix it.

But there will be others--the black hats--with less-helpful intentions. Then the script kiddies will be coming, cracking at everything. I expect a lot of news of this nature after the consumer launch, sometime after January. Lovely timing, right as MacWorld gets underway with possible huge iPhone news. Steve Jobs should have some good Microsoft punch lines if he wants.

See story: Hackers Salivating for Vista.

Apple to Cannibalize?

At first blush it seemed an Apple iPhone was the next phase of the revolution. But if the uprising means eating your own--cannibalizing its iPod--maybe it's not so simple as that.

But if an iPhone doesn't come, aren't others going to just blow past iPod with music phones anyway, stealing away business. It seems the inevitable direction.

For Apple, damned if you do, damned if you don't ...

See story.

Google Pays Video Morons

Google on Monday proved that they are not only hiring eggheads but also paying morons.

Yes, the search geeks are sharing ad revenue with the guys who filmed the YouTube hit "The Diet Coke & Mentos Experiment," according to a report. OK, I take that back. These guys aren't total morons. And they're getting paid. I just watched the "Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiment," which is spectacular. It was better than the Bellagio.

"One thing is sure: Stupid pet tricks and people acting goofy on camera have never been as lucrative a business," writes Greg Sandoval.

Analyst: MSFT-YHOO?

Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post is playing matchmaker for Yahoo and Microsoft, tossing some logs on the fire, lighting the candles, and playing Marvin Gay's "Let's Get it On."

He thinks the Internet has-beens should shack up with Internet wannabe Microsoft so they can face gangbusters Google together. Makes sense. What with Microsoft's yet-to-be-proven AdCenter and Yahoo's still unproven Panama ad platform--the two are entrenched losers to Google. If you're not first, you've last. And Google is putting some distance on with serial blockbuster numbers.

“A Microsoft-Yahoo combination would be in a better position, in our view, to compete against Google,” Mr. Post wrote in a research note Monday.