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.

Ali G Ice Cream Glove

Ali G's Ice Cream Gloves Pitch

I can't get enough of Ali G's "Ice Cream Glove" pitch.

There's a part in it where he's multiplying the number of Internet searches on ice cream and the number on gloves to get the value of his product. It sounds as absurd as some of the multiples people use to value Internet companies.

He explains his pitch to two VCs:
"Me did an Internet search for ice cream."

"Me did an Internet search for gloves."

"What did me get?"

"That is such a big number me couldn't fit it that way ."
(he shows the number running vertically on a white board because it's too long to run horizontally)

One of the VCs:
"This may be the worst idea I've ever heard."

Where, oh where, does he find these guys?

Apple iPod Patents: Wi-Fi, iPhone, XM?

It's plain to see now why Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs shows no fear of Microsoft's upcoming wireless Zune digital media player and service.

Patent filings reveal he's entrenched in plans that could include a Wi-Fi device and wireless downloading of songs from an e-commerce store. The filing was explicit enough to note that the patent would allow a device to pick up songs from thin air, send a sample of them wirelessly to a server database, and then download the associated song, video or other media type. Full story here.

Why so many blogs appeared to get off track and cover radio and XM entirely, I just don't get. It seems pretty clear from the filing that it suggests much more than that. Even the diagram would suggets much more than that. So what gives with the bloggers? It does seem there's an XM part, just that this doesn't seem like the most important part.

XM radio nearly confirmed it. A representative there said that she'd seen mention of the filing in her company internal communications. She declined to comment further, saying that it was not her department. The people whose department it was--two in corporate communications--avoided me all day even though a secretary told me they were both in and nearby. Lovely. So there's news there. There is some sort of XM story to follow up.

Google Gobbles Ad Revenue

It was plainly evident that Google was going to have a blockbuster quarter from all the Street signs.

This story tells at least a part of what went into the numbers.
But gains going in were notable for the following:

• Ad networks pushing 15 percent more ads Google's way.
• Click fraud declines.
• Gains in sponsored clicks
• Increased search volume
• More used search engine (50 perent of searches, Nielsen//NetRatings says).

The analyst that cited gains in ad networks noted it would be revenue gained at the expense of rival Yahoo.

“This quarter, ad networks are pushing 15 percent more ads to Google at the expense of Yahoo and others,” Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry wrote in a research note Thursday.

I heard commentators on Sirius (Bloomberg or CNBC) saying that Yahoo was essentially talking old game. That Google had it so in the bag and was so dialed into what it was doing and had no negative worries. Where as Yahoo CEO Terry Semel was citing advertising slowdowns from autos and classifieds.

This was the quarter that Google really blasted ahead. It doesn't seem Yahoo has got much chance now to be in the same game.

Analysts have said that Google is going to hit these $500 price targets and that acquisitions could become a catalyst. And now I've seen a price target of $600.

It spent stock for YouTube, so expect more acquisitions.

If Yahoo doesn't get Facebook at any price they're clowns.

Crave: Wannabe Gadget Blog

Couldn't help notice how Dan Farber tossed this mention of the new Crave blog as another reason why CNET, ZD, and the whole network of corporate bile blogging is king of blogs.

Crave actually has an opposite effect. It's like seeing a fat old guy on a MySpace page in Urban Outfitter gear. Imitation indicates desperation. It almost feels like something MSFT would do or has done.

Truth be told, blogs, social networks--they're having CNET for lunch. And it's not just CNET on the menu. It's also ZDNet (down 30 percent in page views in a year) and other tech news publishers, according to comScore.

Pair that with the fact that blogs have outgrown CNET in page views. That's disturbing no matter how you paint it. Or how about this: tech.yahoo.com came out of nowhere, according to Hitwise, and (not even a decent effort) is toasting CNET. I was stunned by the numbers.

Say what you will about comScore, but the numbes don't lie.

If the CNET/ZDNet empire can do some tired news and blogs who's to say that NewsCorp, Yahoo, or others can't decide to move in and take away high CPM nerd readers and enter your turf. Tech.yahoo certainly did it with a pretty weak effort. And blogs are doing it in spades. The revolution is on.

Option(s) Anxiety and CNET

We all get option anxiety now and then--just pull up to a vending machine and watch it set in. But the options anxiety plaguing Silicon Valley nowadays is not the pleasant and sweet kind.

A source today told me that there are now 144 formal investigations inside companies looking into their practices of granting employee stock options. He said that number was only about 10 percent of the actual cases of companies out there with problems in the way they either backdated or favorably priced shares. It doesn't take much poking around to find this information in proxies, and maybe it's becoming apparent to companies that it's only a matter of time before somebody notices.

One business school professor told me today that companies come forward to try to get on good terms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission--to let them know that they're cooperating.

This was a nicely done piece (login required) on CNET General Counsel Sharon Le Duy by an enterprising reporter at The Recorder. I hope we see more of this depth of reporting. The surface reports on these options pricings is not telling the full picture. It's illustrative to see what kinds of favorable prices were given.

Thie practice of backdating is not illegal as long as it was properly accounted for and filed on.

And maybe some of these pricing arrangements were not all that crooked. A source today told me that the media is on a "witch hunt" in the way that it is going after favorable options grants pricing. The source said that most of the time the stock isn't even worth anything--with and early stage company--and so it was not even worth making a fuss over. He indicated that it was stifling to business in general this attitude. I think that's the same line of thinking that has issues with Sarbanes-Oxley. That's it's stifling innovation. That it's forcing companies to give up the public markets in the U.S. Makes sense.

Options are rewards for innovators, after all. I guess I'd be happy if my options were favorably priced and backdated. Oh, the investors ...

CNET's Worst Day Ever

CNET Networks had one awful bad day Wednesday. It was the worst in company history (aside from buying mySimon for $700 million).

CEO Shelby Bonnie resigned amid acknowledgement that there were "deficiencies" in his part in how the company handled stock option pricing. That same day CNET GC Sharon Le Duy, SVP Heather McGaughey of Human Resources, and former CFO Doug Woodrum also agreed to get the boot (resigned) for their part in favorable pricing of options.

CNET shoved in Neil Ashe to be CEO. Bonnie, tarnished, stays as a director. Bonnie still holds ton of stock--and majority vote?

But this part seemed to just slide by:

The committee report also said that recently resigned executives and the directors who received improperly priced options have agreed to have those options repriced at fair market value.

So let me get this straight. They got busted with their hands in the register, but it's OK because they've agreed to put back the money?

The options scandal is just the beginning. There's more bad news that day. The company also lowered it's sales guidance for next quarter and full year.

Analyst were none too pleased. A bunch of notes were issued. Some pointed to the lowered revenue guidance and CNET's volatile area of revenue, dependent on technology industry sales. If the tech market is in decline, guess who has no ad budget to fill CNET's ad inventory?

Jefferies & Co. pointed to some dire traffic numbers. Citing comScore number, analyst Youssef Squali said in a research note that CNET's year-to-year traffic had dumped 50 percent. "CNET.com is down 54 percent, Gamespot is down 21 percent, and ZDNet is down 30 percent," Squali wrote.

Yikes! That's a problem. To be fair, CNET has done major changes to its web platform in the past that messed up the tracking. So this could be the case.

But if not, what's stealing away all of red ball's traffic? Tech blogs? Have all the general news and business sites figured out CNET News.com's game? Has CNET finally lost an edge in reviews because of places like the New York Times doing it smarter?

After all the bad news hit CNET, a number of analysts said it might be ripe for acquisition by a big media company looking for an instant web strategy. I'll buy that.

Google-YouTube Media Frothfest Comes True

So it is. I'm humbled by the rumor-turned-fact.

Google agreed to acquire Internet mega hit video site YouTube for $1.65 billion Monday after close of markets. TechCrunch kicked it all off Friday in what seemed highly speculative at the time. I guess it helps to have friends at Wilson Sonsini to dish dirt, eh?

So I wonder who spilled it? Was it GC David Drummond? Check out his bio for clues. Does this qualify as a leak? Anyway, what do I know. My bets are a legal type spilled this given Google Legal's pedigree and that of a savvy blogger in particular. (OK, so I'm a little bitter and envious.)

Bum tip: Maybe Google could get Sonsini to advise on how to handle some leaks here ...

One wise commentator on CNBC today pointed out that the gain in stock price between Thursday (when he claimed the TV show knew of a rumor) and Monday market increased Google's market cap by $6 billion, essentially allowing them to buy YouTube for free.

It gets better. Analyst find it's possible that this could be a catalyst to drive GOOG stock up to the $500 price target set by some. Not next week, guys. That gives me a flashback to a 20 percent AMZN stock jump the day Internet analyst Henry Blodget issued a report forecasting a $400 price target in twelve months.

Here:
Amazon up 46 points; report "clarified"
The bookseller's soars as high as 301 after a bullish analyst report. He still says the stock will hit 400--but not in one day.

By Dan Mitchell and Scott Martin Staff Writer, CNET News.com -->
Published: December 16, 1998, 12:55 PM PST

update A Wall Street analyst is explaining the bullish report he issued this morning that sent shares of online bookseller Amazon.com soaring more than 46 points by the closing bell.
CIBC Oppenheimer analyst Henry Blodget had released a report forecasting that Amazon's stock would reach 400 in the next 12 months. Traders piled on ...

OK, so 2006 is not all that different from '98. Thus I draw the comparison. And perhaps because of the similarities of now to then, I should have seen that TechCrunch's dirt on Google-YouTube was not all that outrageous. Especially given the heady period of speculative growth that it appears we have returned to. How else do you explain this?

Anyway, hat-tip on the Sonsini goods.

Sip-and-Click E-commerce

Drunk online shopping. The latest bad habit online. Oh, geez.

I haven't really been keeping tabs on the NYT technology section, with the exception of some crack reporting on HP and a few others, but when I see stuff like this, I just wonder ...

Google-YouTube Media-Chases-Blog Frothfest

TechCrunch set the rumor mill for a good Google-YouTube spin yesterday. Even the WSJ got Googly on this. OK, so a number of pubs and cable channels acknowledged the chance. A couple things here (besides the fact that this kind of reporting is irksome froth):

One: TechCrunch got acknowledged. By even the Journal?

Two: While I think that is somewhat cool that a blog was given some recognition, it's still rumor and doesn't mean much until more is known. Therefore, this has been ongoing for some time and could continue in that fashion, so it seem somewhat meaningless to report advanced negotiation stages.

Separately, Google buying YouTube doesn't seem like a good idea if except for just trying to keep it from Yahoo. The better matchups for YouTube seem like a studio with access to legal video. That would seem to help cool concerns over copyright violations.

Have Google Options Lost Luster? Yes.

From Red Herring story:

How else do you explain fat cash bonuses for execs?

Google is instituting a cash incentive plan to encourage senior executives to meet financial goals.

It’s a “program designed to motivate participants to achieve the company’s financial and other performance objectives and to reward them for their achievements when those objectives are met,” Google wrote in documents filed Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The maximum bonuses to be awarded, assuming objectives are met, would be $3 million. Google plans to pay bonuses annually in February.

Word. Options have lost luster at Google. And for many mature dot-coms. Is the lack of golden handcuffs in the market creating more free agents? I think so. Is that driving up wages to retain experience? Yep.

HP Documents Hit Congress

Hewlett-Packard was scheduled to deliver on Monday a batch of documents related to its snooping scandal to the U.S. House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committe. Word is it did.

Tomorrow and through the week should be plenty interesting as people familiar with the documents start jabbering about their contents.

Toshiba Notebooks Got Game

Toshiba is making a move into the battlefield for notebooks fashionable among games players.

With its Satellite P100, button-down PC maker Toshiba is offering three laptops that will sport a souped-up graphics from Nvidia, among other features. The company is offering laptops with the GeForce Go 7900 GTX. The laptops presumably aim at the same market Dell's XPS line of games machines target.

These machines from Toshiba are chunky. The Satellite P100-ST9012, the P100-ST9412 and the P100-ST9612 have 17-inch displays, weigh in at just over 7 lbs and are 1.41-inches thick. Prices start at $2,000.

Can you say Google and coupons and Dell?

Circuit City Beats Estimates

Circuit City Stores on Monday reported a first-quarter profit that beat analyst expectations by 3 cents.

The electronics retailer reported for the quarter ending May 31 a profit that increased to $6.4 million, or $0.04 per share, from a loss of $13.1 million, or $0.07 per share, in the same period last year.

A survey of analysts from Thompson Financial had expected Circuit City to post a profit of a penny per share.

Net sales increased to $2.62 billion in the quarter from $2.23 billion in the same period last year. The company reported a 15 percent surge in domestic sales for the quarter compared with same-store figures for its first quarter last year.

"We believe that an improved in-store customer experience contributed to increases in average ticket and conversion rate," Circuit City CEO Philip J. Schoonover said. "Our multichannel marketing efforts drove improved traffic trends in all channels, and we saw an increase in Web-originated sales picked up in our stores."

Electronics retailer Best Buy posted results last week that blew past expectations.

Vonage: Patent Suit. What's Next?

Verizon on Monday filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Internet phone service Vonage.

The suit comes after Vonage's IPO flop and shareholder suits.
Verizon's suit over voice over Internet Protocol technology involves seven patents. Vonage said it plans to have its intellectual property outside counsel investigate the matter.

"Vonage believes that its services have been developed with its own proprietary technology and technology licensed from third parties and intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit," the company said in a statement.

Best Buy Beats Street Solidly

Electronics megastore Best Buy on Tuesday reported that first-quarter net earnings rose 38 percent, blowing past analyst expectations.

Best Buy earned $234 million, or 47 cents per share, for the quarter that ended May 27. That compares with earnings of $170 million, or 34 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Analysts surveyed by Thompson Financial were expecting earning of 36 cents per share.

Wall Street applauded Best Buy's results, as shares rose $2.66, or 5.43 percent, to $51.69 by market close Tuesday.

A Commerce Department report said that while spending is somewhat slow that it continues to chug along and is still up, perhaps a factor feeding Best Buy stores. The report said the retail sales were up .1 percent compared with .8 percent.

Luxury Link(s) Up $9 Million

Luxuriating with a $9 million venture capital investment might come more naturally if you're Luxury Link.

That's because the online luxury travel company specializes in luxury vacation accomodations in hotels, resorts, cruises, tours and other options. It claims to offer tips for the "sophisticated" traveler. Translation: the wealthy traveler with money to burn.

San Francisco's Equity Partners and El Dorado Ventures made the investment on Wednesday.

The funding will be used for growth initiatives in customer acquisition, brand awareness, and expansion of consumer access to the more than 1,000 upscale hotels and resorts, cruises, tours and villas in over 60 countries it offers on its Web site.

LoopNet IPO Blasts off in Trading Debut

While the real estate market is in pull-back mode, who says Internet real estate LoopNet site should be? The newly public company's shares surged nearly 27 percent in its opening Wednesday.

LoopNet priced at $12 per share and was at $15.23 in midday trading. The IPO will give the real estate site $42.1 million in net proceeds.

Credit Suisse Securities managed the offering, and Thomas Weisel Partners, Pacific Crest Securities Inc. and Pacific Growth Equities were the co-managers.

Interest in online real estate sites has remained steady. ZipRealty went public in 2004 but has traded lower ever since. Last week, investors backed by Paul Allen took a stake in Redfin.

Yahoo Grabs 10 Percent Stake in Korea's Gmarket

Yahoo has planted another flag overseas: It's staked Korea's online retailer Gmarket.

"We look forward to working with Gmarket to leverage their e-commerce expertise to further expand Yahoo's leading position in commerce in Asia," Yahoo Chief Operating Officer Dan Rosensweig said Tuesday in a statement.

Yahoo agreed to acquire a 10 percent stake in the company from Oak Investment Partners, which manages $8.4 billion in assets. Oak Investment Partners, the No. 2 Gmarket investor, holds 29 percent of the company, according to reports.

Interest among U.S. companies continues to be high for the prospects in the Asia region.

Yahoo took a multibillion-dollar stake in China's Alibaba.com in what has been called the largest foreign Internet investment to date taken by a U.S. company. Google has a piece of search giant Baidu.com and eBay has made moves into the region's e-commerce through several acquisitions.

IPO in the Offing?
However, it gets better. The investment comes right after Gmarket applied for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq worth up to $100 million, according to a Reuters report.

Gmarket has been eyeing a run at the Nasdaq for some time, according to China's business paper The Standard. The market in Korea has been receptive to consumer-focused IPOs, as other companies have positioned to go public there as well.

Financial terms of Yahoo's stake in Gmarket were not disclosed.

Unable to Delete MySpace, Member Resorts to Posting Porn

Consumerist's blogger Ben Popken only wanted to delete his MySpace account.

But apparently three weeks into the ordeal, he still hadn't gotten instructions from MySpace. That's when he took matters into his own hands.

"Myspace is a Loser, So We're Resorting to Porn," Popken writes, describing what he did. (Credit for this item: Valleywag.) He posted the following:

"So we’ve just replaced our MySpace profile photo with shemale porn.
We’re also uploading a lesbian strapon movie ... It’s 4:27pm EST, let’s see how long it takes for our profile [NSFW] to finally get deleted."

Both MySpace and YouTube have pledged to keep their sites cleansed of porn, as both attract a young audience.

When I checked at 7:30 p.m. PT, his account was off like Jenna Jamerson's panties. I guess it worked.

Nvidia Touts Chip Design for Intel Mobile Set

Nvidia is thinking small: It wants to be the graphics processor used inside devices running Windows Mobile 5.0.

On Tuesday, it announced design references to work with Intel's XScale mobile chip. Intel and Nvidia recently announced an alliance pairing Nvidia's graphics technology with Intel's third-generation mobile XScale processor family, code-named Monahans, to enhance applications on mobile devices.

"Next-generation devices based on the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system will have specific demands, both for application processing as well as the acceleration of the multimedia content within those applications," said a statement from Barry Evans, general manager of Intel's Applications ProcessorBusiness Unit.

Microsoft's Window Mobile 5.0 is quickly taking over across smart phones as a popular choice. Palm has even conceded to Window Mobile 5.0's demand and offered the OS as an option, making it available on its Treo 700w.

Biotech's Sequenom Hauls in $33 Million

Genetics anlysis developer Sequenom is getting a $33 Million cash infusion.

Investors include Pequot Private Equity Fund, ComVest Investment Partners, Lehman Brothers affiliate LB I Group and SiemensVenture Capital GmbH.

Net proceeds from the investment will be used for working capital and implementation of new management strategies to expand the company's products. Among other efforts, it plans to push ahead with work in the area of noninvasive prenatal diagnostics.

Microsoft on a Qwest to Push Windows Live

Qwest on Tuesday agreed to offer co-branded Windows Live services, Microsoft announced.

The software maker says the Internet service provider is the first to announce plans to offer such a service in the Unite States.
The two companies said in a statement that they plan to develop new and improved integrated communications and personalized services on the new Windows Live product.

This means, under Microsoft's much-trumped Windows Live OneCare, customers who operate Windows XP on their computers will get automated anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall security features, as well as updates that are supposed to keep their computers secure, along with a bunch of other services that work along with Qwest's.

The cost of the co-branded service was not provided. When it was debuted last month the cost for OneCare was pegged at $49.95 a year for use on up to three computers.

Many discussed whether Microsoft's support service could at that cost be profitable. Blogger Valleywag had some analyis on OneCare:

"In a fit of business brilliance, Microsoft launched a paid PC care service, thus profiting from the shittiness of its own products."

New Entrant in Digital Camera SLR Market

Picture this: A major consumer electronics maker busts a move on the market for digital single lens reflex cameras, or D-SLRs.

And it's not Apple.

Consumer electronics icon Sony on Monday introduced the alpha DSLR-A100, which offers a 10.2 megapixel sensor.

"Our system will be attractive to people who are ready for something beyond what's available in D-SLR cameras today," said a statement from James Neal, director of marketing for digital imaging products at Sony Electronics.

Canon and Nikon are ahead of the pack in the market for higher-end consumer digital SLR cameras. Canon has lead the way in excellent quality pro-sumer, or professional-consumer grade, cameras that have reached a price that more people can afford.

While Sony is a formidable opponent in consumer electronics, its star has slightly faded in recent years next to that of Apple's product parade.

So where's Apple in this picture?

Viator Guides in $4 Million

Online travel advice site Viator has guided in $4 million of venture capital.

Viator, which offer tips on tours and other travel activities, got the funding from its current investors Carlyle Venture Partners, an arm of The Carlyle Group, based in Washington, D.C., and Sydney-based TechnologyVenture Partners. The round on Wednesday comes after $6 million raised from the same group of investors in November 2005.

Viator states that its company verifies the quality of the destinations it recommends and routinely reviews activities.

Bluefly Soars

Online clothing retailer Bluefly got a little wind behind its wings today.

Shares in Bluefly shot up from 74 cents to 90 cents, or 21 percent, after investors agreed to purchase $50 million of newly issued common stock in the company.

Private funds associated with Maverick Capital and another source in connection with Prentice Capital Management agreed to invest in the publicly traded company.

Under the deal, private funds associated with Soros Fund Management, Bluefly's largest stockholder, agreed to convert their preferred stock into common stock. Bluefly will keep $25 million in the financial arrangement that will allow it to grow its business. The remaining $25 million will be used to repay debt to the Soros funds and other obligations.

Tesla's Electric Sports Car Revs Up Big Names in $40 Million Round

Tesla's electric sports car is turning heads already.

Though the car hasn't yet launched, it's attracted the attention of some big names in its latest $40 million round. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who invested by way of partnership Tao, are among those interested. Perhaps it offers a little more sex appeal than a Prius.

VantagePoint Venture Partners, one of the leaders in so-called CleanTech investments in Silicon Valley, lead the investment. Other notable investors are PayPal founder Elon Musk and institutional investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson and JP Morgan Bay Area Equity Fund.

Tesla will use the funding to unleash the company's first beast: a high-performance electric sports car.

Vulcan Takes Stake in Redfin's $8 Million Round

Paul Allen is fishing for Redfin.

Paul Allen's Vulcan Capital was the lead investor in a group that plunked down $8 million last week on Internet real estate broker Redfin. BEV Capital, The Hillman Company and The Madrona Venture Group also took part in the investment.

Seattle-based Redfin returns satellite maps to people's search queries and touts its online real estate brokerage as a tool to buy and sell homes with lower costs than the high costs paid to brokers. It has expanded its service from Seattle into the San Francisco Bay Area market.

Report: Hatteras Hauls in $21 Million

Hatteras Networks, a Research Triangle, N.C., telecommunications company, has raised $21 million in its latest investment round.

The investment puts Hatteras' total funding at $89 million, according to the report in The News & Observer.

Hatteras makes technology that allows phone companies to use traditional copper wire to send high-speed data .

The Venture Forum Packs Bags for Silicon Valley

The Venture Forum, an event to connect early stage innovators with funding sources, has announced that it has changed its venue from Los Angeles to Silicon Valley.

The show this month will be held in San Jose on June 28-29. The event is a meeting ground for biotech, pharmaceutical and tech startups to rub elbows with private investors, government agencies and mergers and acquisitions specialists.

"The venture capital funding stream has begun to flow again, so we felt the timing was right to move The Venture Forum from Los Angeles to Silicon Valley, the epicenter of innovation,'' said Larta Institute founder Rohit Shukla. Larta is a Venture Forum sponsor.

The Venture Forum promises a window into the breeding ground of innovation. The event will "offer seed and startup capital investors a glimpse into the future of every major technology sector, from nanotechnology to the Internet,'' Shukla said.

Apple MacBook Reviews: Pogue Pummels CNET Reviews

I used to find certain online video reviews of products pretty helpful to get a close up look at cell phones, laptops, cameras or whatever.

The ratings were even helpful. Somewhat. I mean here's the thing: If it happened to be a glowing review and a high number -- 9.0 and up -- I took it with a grain of salt, feeling that the reviewer could be just one evolutionary step up from a teenager working at Best Buy. But if the review was negative, pointed out valid flaws and gave a low score, I felt it could be trusted. The concern for the glowing review was that the "expert" had missed something.

I haven't been paying enough attention to these reviews lately. But I just stumbled across what looks like a fairly newish effort at The New York Times to do video reviews of a laptop, a DVR and a Treo. I have to say that I'm impressed.

Video reviews at CNET's First Look labs approach thing used to be it, as far as I was concerned. (Remembering to take the above caution about glowing reviews.) They were a little geeky and dry but informative. The testing-lab thing felt edgy and ahead of the pack. But now?

That's all changed. I just watched The New York Times' video reviews and they make CNET's look dated. Like This Is Tech 1998. Yet trying to still be cool. Whereas David Pogue of NYT is cool. He really gets it, and in part because he's a tech reporter. It doesn't hurt that he's funny and bright, which I would never know from the "labs" reports.Also, the video production of NYT's has a certain YouTube home entertainment quality. It seems spontaneous, yet smart and knowledgeable. It's delightfully creative and funny. I'm also not big on being held captive to watch a Best Buy ad before I get to see the video review, CNET.

Here's what I think it all means: Tech news and information has become a commodity. The mystery of figuring it out is gone. CNET's advantage of being more tech savvy is no longer there. Big MSM is doing it better now and has resources and better reporters. Has the day come when "the expert" tech publishers have become irrelevant?

Tell me what you think.

Sun Also Sets on Tech Workers

I can't help but remember some of the heady headlines in the tech press pre-bust that read "Sun Also Rises."

That was when the Internet gold rush was on and Sun servers and software -- the picks and pans -- were sold for the online land grab. Sun hasn't seen much of that glitter in a while.

So it's perhaps appropriate to note that the Sun is setting for some tech workers, as reported today by The Mercury News, which knows a thing or two about layoffs.

The casualties at Sun: About 4,000 to 5,000 employees will get whacked.

New CEO and corporate hitman Jonathan Schwartz has successfully completed his gang initiation by pulling the trigger to prove he can suck up to the penchant for layoffs at Wall Street, which always likes a good bloodletting.

Schwartz has blogged at length about today's layoffs. He wrote one line that stood out:

"Our industry is littered with companies that try to be all things to all people. That's not Sun."

So why's all the fresh spaghetti still on the wall from throwing up half-cooked ideas at Sun?

And yet Schwartz in his blog posting on layoffs touts the strength of that Stanford University Network of R&D fat heads.

"Next, I'd like to focus on our research and development priorities.
As many of you are aware, Sun has one of the strongest R&D organizations in the world ..."

... leaving us with an operating system and microprocessor platform which makes our competitors begin to appear as partners. We have some demonstrable technology advantages... energy efficiency [for real???], operating systems innovation, dramatic gains in developer adoption. That's certainly the cornerstone of our recovery."

Are you sold on recovery yet?

Well, maybe if the Sun is setting in Silicon Valley it's rising in Bangalore.

Ask.com for Blog Search and You Shall Receive

IAC Interactive-owned Ask.com, formerly the butler-themed AskJeeves, is the latest to serve up blog search.

Ask.com appears to be bowing to interest in queries using blog search, a category occupied by Google Blog Search and Technorati, among others. The story was reported at News.com on Wednesday.

Barry Diller's IAC Interactive portfolio includes Citysearch, Ticketmaster, Match.com, Evite and other Internet sites. IAC Interactive also has such diverse holdings as cable TV's HSN and online lending exchange LendingTree.

For certain, interest in blog search is high right now as media companies act to integrate blogs into their mix and readers attempt to sift through what's out there. However, from a purely unscientific study of blog queries, it remains yet to be seen whether blog search engines dish up relevant results.

First-Quarter Internet Ads Up

Internet advertising in the United States increased about 38 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to this report. Compared with the fourt quarter, it's up 6 percent.

That's good news for the CNETs, Yahoos and Googles. However, it's just a matter of time for advertising to take a dump. It's only a question of when.

When China Doesn't Need The Street: Bank of China

The world's largest IPO in six years is going out on the HK markets Thursday. It's China Bank at a whopping $9.7 billion.

"Hong Kong's new popularity for the mega IPOs is seen by some as the latest trend in globalization -- the rise of a new world with many financial capitals," says a report at BusinessWeek.

'Apple v. Does' Ruling Recognizes Bloggers

While most were hightailing it for the holiday weekend, a California court on Friday was issuing a ruling  in the closely watched Apple v. Does case.

In Apple v. Does, or O'Grady v. Superior Court, Justice Conrad Rushing of the 6th District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of bloggers, rejecting Apple's attempt to unmask sources of leaked product information that made its way to Web sites. The ruling grants online reporters and bloggers the same protections given to MSM (mainstream media) folks under California shield law.

"Today's decision is a victory for the rights of journalists, whether online or offline, and for the public at large," EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl, who argued the case before the appeals court last month, said in a statement on EFF's site. "The court has upheld the strong protections for the free flow of information to the press, and from the press to the public."

Column of note from News.com:
Who's a journalist? Now we know, thanks to Apple

Dell Embraces Google, How Warm and Fuzzy

Certain members of the tech press are so enamored with Google that they're getting companies to hug it in their headlines: "Dell embraces Google," for example over at Red Ball.

Could you imagine this headline: Microsoft embraces Google? Just suppose, for a moment, that they were play buddies and not rivals. Wouldn't there be a big stink about how Microsoft is trying to monopolize the desktop if they cut such a deal? But this is Google, which does no evil.

Note this key phraseology in the Red Ball story today:
"A Dell representative said that the deal will not hamper consumer choice on the Dell desktop, however," the story reports.


Google

Dell


Microsoft

Digesting Enron

The big story is in: The long-awaited day has come for the Enron trial as Kenneth Lay has been convicted of all six counts against him and Jeffrey Skilling has been convicted of 19 of the 28 counts against him for conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. Observers of the Enron case have weighed in across blogs.

Professor Stephen Bainbridge of the blog ProfessorBainbridge has posted some thoughts on the verdict, which he says was somewhat predictable if you were checking with your bookie over at Tradesports. But here's some of Bainbridge's analysis:

"The acquittal of Skilling on some of the insider trading counts suggests the jury approached the issues with an open mind, contrary to defense claims that they could not get a fair trial in Houston.

"It's not the crime, it's the cover up. The real crimes at Enron mainly consisted of turncoat government witness Andrew Fastow's shady deals, but Skilling and, especially, Lay are going down for improperly misrepresenting Enron's fortunes."

The professor says that the Powers Report should be "your 'go to' document for background on the Enron mess."

Meanwhile, over at the WSJ.com's Law Blog, Peter Lattman points out what some observers had noticed: that Lay's testimony was less than flattering. He writes, Was Lay’s Testimony his Downfall? Lattman says:

"In the Law Blog’s view, Lay’s testimony proved fatal. Everyone expected a charming, avuncular presence on the witness stand; instead, what they got was an argumentative, challenging, embittered man who refused to accept any personal responsibility for Enron’s collapse. "

For Skilling, Lattman says, it came down to one thing: Credibility, Credibility, Credibility. He writes:

"A jury will grasp on to things that it can easily understand, like issues of veracity and personal credibility. And during cross-examination Skilling suffered some serious blows in that regard. Here are three aspects of the cross that might have been issues ..."

BusinessWeek has a first-person piece from Jeffrey Skilling's ex-girlfriend, who was dragged into involvement with the case for Lay's and Skilling's combined $270,000 investments in her Internet startup, Photofete. She explains how she had forgotten about the matter until it made front-page news. She writes about the case:

"Skilling and Lay admitted that they had not disclosed their investment in Photofete, though I wish they had! That appeared to constitute a clear violation of the company's ethics rules ...

"Skilling's and Lay's efforts to explain their actions got them into even hotter water. 'Rules are important,' Lay told the jury, 'but you shouldn't be a slave to rules either.' Prosecutor Kathy Ruemmler loved that quote so much that she made it a highlight of her closing argument."

MSFT's Vista: On track to be off track

Ballmer indicates in this Reuters story here that Microsoft is on track with Vista. But on track for a delay is more what it sounds like:

"It's on track, but we're going to see what kind of feedback we get from users ... and we're going to work to make sure it's absolutely a high-quality product. That's number one," Ballmer told a news conference at the Seoul Digital Forum.

I hear: Blah, blah, blah, DELAY, blah, blah, blah. Oh, wait my Windows XP is crashing right n ...

Lenovo Loss Lags Expectations

No. 3 computer maker Lenovo posted a worse-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter.
Reuters story here.

It bought IBM's PC business last year.

MSFT: 'We're on Superdeadline' for Vista

The latest line from the software maker, "We're on superdeadline," regarding Vista, courtesy of a Q&A over at CNET News.com. So let me figure out this development schedule for Vista:

• Deadline: To get it out eventually after many delays in 2004
• Superdeadline: To meet a November date in 2006
• Superduper deadline: The deadline that's after November gets missed.
  

VC Forecast: Hot?

Law firm Fenwick & West has dished out results from its first-quarter 2006 Silicon Valley Venture Capital Survey.

The San Francisco Bay Area VC benchmark analyzed the valuations and terms of venture financings for 101 technology and life science companies based in the area. And if the climate keeps getting better for venture capital, it might be time for still hotter predictions.

Take their barometric reading: Fenwick & West's Venture Capital Barometer -- the measurement of change in share price of Silicon Valley companies funded during the quarter compared with their previous financing round -- was up 64 percent. Does this mean it's going to start raining VC money soon?

Compare it with a San Jose Mercury News report on Fenwick's survey of December 2005, when it seemed the mercury, as in thermometer, wasn't quite so high, up 38 percent.

Also, the survey revealed:

"Up rounds significantly outpaced down rounds 74 percent to 15 percent," said Barry Kramer, partner in the firm and co-author of the survey. "That differential is also the largest since our survey began."

An "up round" is defined as one in which the price per share that a company sells its stock has increased since its prior financing round. A "down round" is defined as one in which the price per share has declined since a company's prior financing round.Fenwick is a technology specialist with expertise in venture capital, IPOs and other corporate finance, joint ventures and M&A, among other areas.

To its credit, Fenwick pointed to a note of caution.

"IPO activity continued to be weak with only 13 venture backed companies going public, and with Nasdaq down 7 percent in the quarter to date," said Fenwick & West partner Michael Patrick. "A note of caution is appropriate."

One word: Vonage.

Bank of China Prices in IPO: $9.73 B-i-l-l-i-o-n

No surprise to those watching the clamoring for business in China: Bank of China's IPO is a biggie.

To be exact, Bank of China raised a whopping $9.73 billion, according to a Bloomberg report from Germany. The bank priced shares at $2.95, just 5 cents below the top of its expected range.

UPDATE: Seen on Bloomberg TV this a.m. that a Saudi prince wants a 2.7 percent stake in Bank of China for $2 billion. Oh, just found it -- here's the details.

VoIP's Vonage Prices IPO

VoIP provider Vonage has made a financial call.

The voice over Internet Protocol provider has priced its initial public offering at $17 per share, the middle of its expected $16 to $18 range. It plans to offer 31.25 million shares, a multiple that would raise $531 million in the offering.

Shares of Vonage are proposed to sell on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "VG."

Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Securities, and UBS Investment Bank led
the offering. Bear Stearns & Co., Piper Jaffray and Thomas Weisel Partners are co-managers.

IPO: Whopper or small fries?

Was Burger King IPO underwhelming? Only 3 percent?

I was expecting more even though the markets were in a mini funk on inflation concerns.

I'm still looking for a tech angle here to make this fit for BizTech.

Creative Sues Apple; Apple Sues Creative

CNET News.com reports: "Apple countersues Creative in patent dispute."

In this twist, Apple claims:
"In its complaint, Apple accuses the company of infringing on four of its patents related to user interfaces and icon displays for digital media players. The company is requesting monetary damages and an injunction barring continued use of its patents," reports News.com.

Hmmm.

You've Got Nothing!

Funny how much this deal was valued at over six years ago:

"The purchase, an all-stock deal, amounted to more than $160 billion based on today's trading prices. According to both companies, the new firm will have an estimated combined value of $350 billion."

Can you name it?

And based on the loss of share price, how would this historic deal be valued today?

I spoke with a former Time Warner media employee recently who said that after the stock shot up it was essentially all down hill, carving nearly 80 percent off the share price.

It struck me that there was a lot of breathless reporting at the time of the deal about how AOL could help Time Warner to find its footing as an Internet player. I didn't know any Net subscribers before that deal who would touch AOL with a ten foot pole.

Great story over at The Economist about what an empty bag Time Warner is holding today.