Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) proposed to acquire shares in wireless partner Clearwire Corp. it doesn’t already own in a deal that the third-largest U.S. carrier says would cost about $2.1 billion.
Sprint, which owns more than 50 percent of Clearwire, is seeking to acquire shares at $2.90 each, or 5.5 percent more than the stock’s closing price in New York yesterday, according to a regulatory filing today. Sprint proposed to provide interim financing of as much as $800 million.
Sprint is getting an influx of cash from Japan’s Softbank Corp. (9984), which agreed to buy 70 percent of Sprint for about $20 billion. Sprint agreed to buy Eagle River Holdings LLC’s 4.5 percent stake in Clearwire in October for $2.97 a share.
Clearwire shares jumped 2.6 percent to $2.75 yesterday in New York. The stock is up 42 percent this year.
Sprint originally formed the Clearwire joint venture in 2008, relying on $3.2 billion in investments from Google Inc. (GOOG), Intel Corp., and cable companies such as Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. The idea was to build a national wireless network that could compete with Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. (T)
Clearwire never lived up to those ambitions, and the project has yet to break even. Along the way, partners such as Google and Time Warner Cable have sold their stakes for a fraction of their original value.
Showing posts with label google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label google. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Hack of Tech Journalist Reveals Flaws in Cloud Security
Story first reported from USA Today
SEATTLE – The security community is on alert for hackers who might try to emulate the simple trickery used to breach a prominent technology journalist's Amazon, Apple, Google and Twitter accounts. That hacking caper has rekindled concerns about whether Apple's iCloud, Google Apps, Amazon's Cloud Drive, Microsoft's Windows Live and other Internet-delivered services do enough to authenticate users, security analysts say.
"People are being urged to trust their data to the Internet cloud, but then you find that the operational security is alarmingly lax," says Stephen Cobb, security analyst at anti-virus firm ESET.
Hackers devastated Wired reporter Mat Honan's digital life. In doing so, they highlighted how Web companies have been slow to embrace more robust systems for ensuring that users who log into online accounts are who they say.
Merchants, banks, media companies and social networks require varying amounts of information to open and access online accounts. Many ask for only a few bits of information to make changes, such as resetting a password. That makes it easy for hackers to abuse the prevailing systems, which rely on asking users to answer questions.
Many banks and Google Gmail offer an optional service that sends to your cellphone a single-use PIN code that you must enter at their websites, along with your username and password, before you can complete certain transactions.
Such multifactor authentication systems are considered more difficult for the bad guys to subvert but less convenient for account holders to use. Yet the need for wider deployment of stronger systems is intensifying, argues Todd Feinman, CEO of database security firm Identity Finder.
Honan detailed how hackers tricked an Amazon rep over the phone into revealing the last four digits of his credit card number. Next, they used that information to persuade an Apple rep to reset his Apple ID password, which enabled them to wipe clean Honan's iPhone, iPad and MacBook, destroying all of his files, including irreplaceable photos of his daughter. Apple has suspended its phone password-reset service and launched a security review, says spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. Amazon did not respond to interview requests.
Web firms are unlikely to switch to one-time PIN systems anytime soon. "Many … are expensive and difficult to manage," says Chris Brennan, CEO of security firm NetAuthority. "And companies are concerned they could frustrate the user."
Meanwhile, consumer awareness remains low, says Gregg Martin, FishNet Security's directory of mobile security. Consumers will have to demand stronger authentication systems and be prepared to accept "a slight level of inconvenience," Martin says.
ESET's Cobb argues that Web companies should take the initiative. "Improving security is 100% the responsibility of the cloud service providers because they are the ones trying to sign people up to the cloud model."
SEATTLE – The security community is on alert for hackers who might try to emulate the simple trickery used to breach a prominent technology journalist's Amazon, Apple, Google and Twitter accounts. That hacking caper has rekindled concerns about whether Apple's iCloud, Google Apps, Amazon's Cloud Drive, Microsoft's Windows Live and other Internet-delivered services do enough to authenticate users, security analysts say.
"People are being urged to trust their data to the Internet cloud, but then you find that the operational security is alarmingly lax," says Stephen Cobb, security analyst at anti-virus firm ESET.
Hackers devastated Wired reporter Mat Honan's digital life. In doing so, they highlighted how Web companies have been slow to embrace more robust systems for ensuring that users who log into online accounts are who they say.
Merchants, banks, media companies and social networks require varying amounts of information to open and access online accounts. Many ask for only a few bits of information to make changes, such as resetting a password. That makes it easy for hackers to abuse the prevailing systems, which rely on asking users to answer questions.
Many banks and Google Gmail offer an optional service that sends to your cellphone a single-use PIN code that you must enter at their websites, along with your username and password, before you can complete certain transactions.
Such multifactor authentication systems are considered more difficult for the bad guys to subvert but less convenient for account holders to use. Yet the need for wider deployment of stronger systems is intensifying, argues Todd Feinman, CEO of database security firm Identity Finder.
Honan detailed how hackers tricked an Amazon rep over the phone into revealing the last four digits of his credit card number. Next, they used that information to persuade an Apple rep to reset his Apple ID password, which enabled them to wipe clean Honan's iPhone, iPad and MacBook, destroying all of his files, including irreplaceable photos of his daughter. Apple has suspended its phone password-reset service and launched a security review, says spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. Amazon did not respond to interview requests.
Web firms are unlikely to switch to one-time PIN systems anytime soon. "Many … are expensive and difficult to manage," says Chris Brennan, CEO of security firm NetAuthority. "And companies are concerned they could frustrate the user."
Meanwhile, consumer awareness remains low, says Gregg Martin, FishNet Security's directory of mobile security. Consumers will have to demand stronger authentication systems and be prepared to accept "a slight level of inconvenience," Martin says.
ESET's Cobb argues that Web companies should take the initiative. "Improving security is 100% the responsibility of the cloud service providers because they are the ones trying to sign people up to the cloud model."
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012
New Google Cloud-based Computers Pros/Cons
Story first appeared in USA Today.
Google is mum on how many Chromebooks have been sold since launching the cloud-based computers with laptop-makers Acer and Samsung nearly a year ago. But the machines haven't exactly gone mainstream, with fewer than 220,000 Chromebooks have shipped so far, a modest sum.
Indeed, much of the noise in the portable computing space these days surrounds the "Ultrabook" class laptops evangelized by Intel. When it comes to operating systems, the chatter focuses on Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 or Apple's Mac OS X Mountain Lion.
Yet Google claims to be "very happy" with Chromebook sales to date, pointing out that the computers routinely show up on Amazon's best-seller lists and are gaining ground in education and business.
Google is about to crank up the volume for Chrome hardware and the cloud-based operating system that relies on a Chrome Web browser for practically all that you do. Today, the search giant unveils two models for Chrome, both from Samsung, both with Intel Core processors.
There's the next version of the Chromebook itself, $449 with Wi-Fi only or $549 for a version that adds built-in 3G cellular. Then there's the $329, small rectangular Chromebox that reminds you of Apple's Mac Mini in that you'll have to supply your own mouse, monitor and keyboard.
The machines incorporate the eighth significant update to Chrome software since launch. Such regular software updates are a key feature of Chrome that promises to keep the computers fresh, secure or, as Google's likes to say, "always new" without you having to manually install anti-virus software or anything else. So even folks who purchased a Chromebook last year should benefit.
Those initial Chromebooks were only peddled online. But beginning next month Google will start selling the computers in select physical Best Buy stores in the U.S. as well.
The first Chromebooks were appealing as relatively light, attractive, portable computers that are a breeze to set up and that boot up very quickly. They have good battery life. But there was also at least one critical — some would say fatal — flaw: The computers are largely crippled when you are without access to the Internet. To be sure, we're migrating to a cloud-based era of computing, but folks are still accustomed to installing software and storing stuff internally. Both the Chromebook and Chromebox have 16 gigabytes of internal SSD storage, not very much.
Of course, having gobs of internal storage is beside the point. The latest Chrome computers, like their predecessors, are built for the cloud. You pretty much rely on Web apps, though Google has tried to make the computers more usable when you're offline. In all, Google says, there are tens of thousands of apps in the Chrome Web Store, hundreds that work offline.
As before, set-up is dead simple. You choose your language and network for connecting online, enter your Google (Gmail) credentials and you're pretty much good to go. Your bookmarks and open tabs for Web pages on any other computers you have with the Chrome browser should be synced up. And this time around, though, the Chromebook experience is generally more polished.
With an active Internet connection, you can listen to all the music you have stored in the cloud through a Google Play app; watch movies on Netflix, something not possible on earlier Chromebooks; and stream YouTube videos at 1080p high-definition resolution.
Through a built-in photo viewer, you can perform simple edits (cropping, brightness). And you can do a video chat with up to nine friends using the Google+ Hangout app.
The interface has been redesigned to let you "pin" favorite apps to the launcher at the bottom of the screen — switching among them is easy. Managing all the tabs that opened simultaneously at the top of the screen, however, was somewhat messy at times.
Boot times are even zippier than before. Users arrived at the login screen for Chromebook about five seconds after pressing the power button. The new touchpad is more responsive than the first model.
Google says the latest Chromebook is about 2½ times faster than before, and Chromebox about 3½ times faster.
The Chromebox, has 6 USB 2.0 ports and two display ports and is Bluetooth compatible.
Chromebook has a decent 12.1-inch display and weighs 3.3 pounds. Google says you'll get about six hours of continuous use off the battery, which seems reasonable. Chromebook has 4 gigabytes of RAM and sports a pair of USB 2.0 ports. Also on board are slots or connectors for memory cards, bigger displays and Gigabit Ethernet.
But you can't run a cable to a printer and expect it to work. Instead, you need to take advantage of Google's "cloud print" service, if you have a compatible printer. The workaround if you don't have such a printer requires you to have Chrome installed on a Windows PC, Mac or Linux machine that is connected to the printer.
Google Drive is coming with the next software update, about six weeks away, though it's now available as a beta. You will be able to copy files from a File Manager onto Google Drive or access files from Google Drive and make them available offline on the Chromebook. For now I was able to display Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDF files. The ability to edit Microsoft Office files offline is promised over the next several weeks as well.
Google is making available a Chrome Remote Desktop app, still in beta, that lets you access and control a remote PC or Mac desktop screen, and even display that desktop full-screen on the Chrome computer.
Google is mum on how many Chromebooks have been sold since launching the cloud-based computers with laptop-makers Acer and Samsung nearly a year ago. But the machines haven't exactly gone mainstream, with fewer than 220,000 Chromebooks have shipped so far, a modest sum.
Indeed, much of the noise in the portable computing space these days surrounds the "Ultrabook" class laptops evangelized by Intel. When it comes to operating systems, the chatter focuses on Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 or Apple's Mac OS X Mountain Lion.
Yet Google claims to be "very happy" with Chromebook sales to date, pointing out that the computers routinely show up on Amazon's best-seller lists and are gaining ground in education and business.
Google is about to crank up the volume for Chrome hardware and the cloud-based operating system that relies on a Chrome Web browser for practically all that you do. Today, the search giant unveils two models for Chrome, both from Samsung, both with Intel Core processors.
There's the next version of the Chromebook itself, $449 with Wi-Fi only or $549 for a version that adds built-in 3G cellular. Then there's the $329, small rectangular Chromebox that reminds you of Apple's Mac Mini in that you'll have to supply your own mouse, monitor and keyboard.
The machines incorporate the eighth significant update to Chrome software since launch. Such regular software updates are a key feature of Chrome that promises to keep the computers fresh, secure or, as Google's likes to say, "always new" without you having to manually install anti-virus software or anything else. So even folks who purchased a Chromebook last year should benefit.
Those initial Chromebooks were only peddled online. But beginning next month Google will start selling the computers in select physical Best Buy stores in the U.S. as well.
The first Chromebooks were appealing as relatively light, attractive, portable computers that are a breeze to set up and that boot up very quickly. They have good battery life. But there was also at least one critical — some would say fatal — flaw: The computers are largely crippled when you are without access to the Internet. To be sure, we're migrating to a cloud-based era of computing, but folks are still accustomed to installing software and storing stuff internally. Both the Chromebook and Chromebox have 16 gigabytes of internal SSD storage, not very much.
Of course, having gobs of internal storage is beside the point. The latest Chrome computers, like their predecessors, are built for the cloud. You pretty much rely on Web apps, though Google has tried to make the computers more usable when you're offline. In all, Google says, there are tens of thousands of apps in the Chrome Web Store, hundreds that work offline.
As before, set-up is dead simple. You choose your language and network for connecting online, enter your Google (Gmail) credentials and you're pretty much good to go. Your bookmarks and open tabs for Web pages on any other computers you have with the Chrome browser should be synced up. And this time around, though, the Chromebook experience is generally more polished.
With an active Internet connection, you can listen to all the music you have stored in the cloud through a Google Play app; watch movies on Netflix, something not possible on earlier Chromebooks; and stream YouTube videos at 1080p high-definition resolution.
Through a built-in photo viewer, you can perform simple edits (cropping, brightness). And you can do a video chat with up to nine friends using the Google+ Hangout app.
The interface has been redesigned to let you "pin" favorite apps to the launcher at the bottom of the screen — switching among them is easy. Managing all the tabs that opened simultaneously at the top of the screen, however, was somewhat messy at times.
Boot times are even zippier than before. Users arrived at the login screen for Chromebook about five seconds after pressing the power button. The new touchpad is more responsive than the first model.
Google says the latest Chromebook is about 2½ times faster than before, and Chromebox about 3½ times faster.
The Chromebox, has 6 USB 2.0 ports and two display ports and is Bluetooth compatible.
Chromebook has a decent 12.1-inch display and weighs 3.3 pounds. Google says you'll get about six hours of continuous use off the battery, which seems reasonable. Chromebook has 4 gigabytes of RAM and sports a pair of USB 2.0 ports. Also on board are slots or connectors for memory cards, bigger displays and Gigabit Ethernet.
But you can't run a cable to a printer and expect it to work. Instead, you need to take advantage of Google's "cloud print" service, if you have a compatible printer. The workaround if you don't have such a printer requires you to have Chrome installed on a Windows PC, Mac or Linux machine that is connected to the printer.
Google Drive is coming with the next software update, about six weeks away, though it's now available as a beta. You will be able to copy files from a File Manager onto Google Drive or access files from Google Drive and make them available offline on the Chromebook. For now I was able to display Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDF files. The ability to edit Microsoft Office files offline is promised over the next several weeks as well.
Google is making available a Chrome Remote Desktop app, still in beta, that lets you access and control a remote PC or Mac desktop screen, and even display that desktop full-screen on the Chrome computer.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Google Has Competition for Internet Eyeglasses
Story first appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
Google Inc. generated a heavy dose of nerdy buzz for its “Project Glass” eyeglasses earlier this month, but the Web search giant may find an unlikely Japanese competitor eyeing the same prize.
Japan’s telecommunications monolith Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. developed a prototype pair of glasses running its “SightFinder” technology earlier this year. It taps into the power of cloud computing, or computers running over the Internet, to help blind people walk the streets safely or prevent the elderly from getting into accidents that they don’t see coming.
While a staid, former government-owned monopoly like NTT can’t match the Silicon Valley cache of Google, both pairs of glasses try to integrate the Internet with glasses. Google’s “Project Glass” eyewear allows the bespectacled to receive messages from friends, check online schedules, and map out directions through the glasses.
By contrast, NTT’s SightFinder sends streaming images from a camera to one of NTT’s data centers to recognize and identify street signs or potential obstacles. In real time, NTT’s computers analyze the images and provide warnings – street construction causing a detour or a cone in front of a pothole – via an Internet-connected device like a smartphone to help the visually impaired to move freely.
While NTT says the technology is not limited to glasses, it may make the most sense there to track what people are looking at. Other possibilities under consideration include putting the SightFinder in wearable objects such as neck straps. NTT’s glasses, like Google’s, will also be able to provide directions, a feature that the company thinks foreign travelers will find useful.
In a Japanese video NTT posted on Facebook, it showed other potential scenarios for the technology including warning the elderly about oncoming cars.
NTT said it hopes to launch SightFinder this year, but price and timing is still undetermined. The company is in talks with potential commercial partners including local governments, but nothing has been finalized yet.
For more technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
For real estate and home related news, visit the Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For organic SEO and web optimization related news, visit the SEO Done Right blog.
Google Inc. generated a heavy dose of nerdy buzz for its “Project Glass” eyeglasses earlier this month, but the Web search giant may find an unlikely Japanese competitor eyeing the same prize.
Japan’s telecommunications monolith Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. developed a prototype pair of glasses running its “SightFinder” technology earlier this year. It taps into the power of cloud computing, or computers running over the Internet, to help blind people walk the streets safely or prevent the elderly from getting into accidents that they don’t see coming.
While a staid, former government-owned monopoly like NTT can’t match the Silicon Valley cache of Google, both pairs of glasses try to integrate the Internet with glasses. Google’s “Project Glass” eyewear allows the bespectacled to receive messages from friends, check online schedules, and map out directions through the glasses.
By contrast, NTT’s SightFinder sends streaming images from a camera to one of NTT’s data centers to recognize and identify street signs or potential obstacles. In real time, NTT’s computers analyze the images and provide warnings – street construction causing a detour or a cone in front of a pothole – via an Internet-connected device like a smartphone to help the visually impaired to move freely.
While NTT says the technology is not limited to glasses, it may make the most sense there to track what people are looking at. Other possibilities under consideration include putting the SightFinder in wearable objects such as neck straps. NTT’s glasses, like Google’s, will also be able to provide directions, a feature that the company thinks foreign travelers will find useful.
In a Japanese video NTT posted on Facebook, it showed other potential scenarios for the technology including warning the elderly about oncoming cars.
NTT said it hopes to launch SightFinder this year, but price and timing is still undetermined. The company is in talks with potential commercial partners including local governments, but nothing has been finalized yet.
For more technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Oakley Developing Tech Glasses Too
Story first appeared in the Bloomberg Business Week
Oakley Inc. is developing technology that can project information directly onto lenses, putting the sunglass maker into potential competition with Google Inc.
The technology would let Oakley, a division of Italy’s Luxottica Group, make hardware that’s comparable with Google’s Project Glass, an experimental effort to build smartphone features into eyewear.
Companies are stepping up efforts to build a wider range of electronics -- including articles of clothing -- that can connect wirelessly to the Internet. The market for so-called connected devices, a broad category that includes smartphones, tablets and PCs, may surge to 1.84 billion units in 2016, more than double the figure for last year, according to research firm IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Oakley has been working on such technology since 1997. Ultimately, everything happens through your eyes, and the closer it can be brought to your eyes, the quicker the consumer is going to adopt the platform.
Oakley would initially target athletes with products based on the so-called heads-up technology. Oakley could develop a similar product for the U.S. military through Eye Safety Systems, a subsidiary that specializes in eyewear for military and government agencies.
Obviously, you can think of many applications in the competitive field of sports. That’s the halo point of where we would begin, but certainly you can transcend that into a variety of other applications.
‘Barrier to Success’
Early versions of the product would not be cheap. The product should be able to function on its own, while also working with a smartphone wirelessly using Bluetooth. The device might be controlled with voice commands, similar to Apple Inc.’s Siri software.
There’s a lot of interesting optical issues that come up when you’re trying to create a positive experience when interacting with these devices. So the technology barrier to success is significant.
Oakley released sunglasses in 2004 that featured an MP3 music player built in. While the Thump product line was not a big hit, it is profitable. The latest version, the Thump Pro, costs $129 for a half-gigabyte of storage. That means it holds one-fourth the songs as the smallest iPod, yet costs more than twice as much.
Oakley has been working on technology related to heads-up displays for about 15 years, and has 600 patents, many of which apply to optical specifications. The company would consider licensing the patents.
The CEO declined to comment on whether Oakley would release its own so-called smart glasses, but he said the market for such a device is ripe. He said Oakley would have an edge over more tech-savvy competitors because the company is able to create stylish accessories.
For more technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
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Oakley Inc. is developing technology that can project information directly onto lenses, putting the sunglass maker into potential competition with Google Inc.
The technology would let Oakley, a division of Italy’s Luxottica Group, make hardware that’s comparable with Google’s Project Glass, an experimental effort to build smartphone features into eyewear.
Companies are stepping up efforts to build a wider range of electronics -- including articles of clothing -- that can connect wirelessly to the Internet. The market for so-called connected devices, a broad category that includes smartphones, tablets and PCs, may surge to 1.84 billion units in 2016, more than double the figure for last year, according to research firm IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Oakley has been working on such technology since 1997. Ultimately, everything happens through your eyes, and the closer it can be brought to your eyes, the quicker the consumer is going to adopt the platform.
Oakley would initially target athletes with products based on the so-called heads-up technology. Oakley could develop a similar product for the U.S. military through Eye Safety Systems, a subsidiary that specializes in eyewear for military and government agencies.
Obviously, you can think of many applications in the competitive field of sports. That’s the halo point of where we would begin, but certainly you can transcend that into a variety of other applications.
‘Barrier to Success’
Early versions of the product would not be cheap. The product should be able to function on its own, while also working with a smartphone wirelessly using Bluetooth. The device might be controlled with voice commands, similar to Apple Inc.’s Siri software.
There’s a lot of interesting optical issues that come up when you’re trying to create a positive experience when interacting with these devices. So the technology barrier to success is significant.
Oakley released sunglasses in 2004 that featured an MP3 music player built in. While the Thump product line was not a big hit, it is profitable. The latest version, the Thump Pro, costs $129 for a half-gigabyte of storage. That means it holds one-fourth the songs as the smallest iPod, yet costs more than twice as much.
Oakley has been working on technology related to heads-up displays for about 15 years, and has 600 patents, many of which apply to optical specifications. The company would consider licensing the patents.
The CEO declined to comment on whether Oakley would release its own so-called smart glasses, but he said the market for such a device is ripe. He said Oakley would have an edge over more tech-savvy competitors because the company is able to create stylish accessories.
For more technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
For real estate and home related news, visit the Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For organic SEO and web optimization related news, visit the SEO Done Right blog.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Google's spending Spree tests Nerves on Wall Street
Reuters
Wall Street wants Google Inc's new products and initiatives to start paying off, as its accelerating spending spree nibbles away at margins and alarms investors.
The Internet giant's free-spending -- from more than 20 acquisitions this year alone to internal projects such a self-driven cars and big bets in wind energy -- has weighed on the company's stock, which has underperformed the market this year.
Headcount, capital expenditures and operating expenses will be key issues for investors when Google reports third-quarter results Thursday, particularly after a rare profit shortfall in the second quarter wiped 7 percent off its shares in a single day.
But with Google's shares up roughly 20 percent since mid-August, analysts are betting it will justify its spending with details of improving business prospects.
"People don't mind expenses if you're growing revenue," said BGC Partners' analyst Colin Gillis.
Google has two-thirds of the Internet search market, but is facing a renewed threat from Yahoo Inc and Microsoft Corp which have forged a search partnership.
At the same time, social networking companies such as Facebook are attracting increasing amounts of online advertising, posing a growing threat to Google's business.
Google is also shelling out cash to develop new technology and build a viable smartphone business based on its Android phone software to take on Apple's iPhone juggernaut.
This week, it also announced it was joining an estimated $5 billion undersea cable project to carry power from offshore windfarms to the east coast of the United States.
The spending spree is taking a toll. Operating margins slipped to 35 percent last quarter from 37 percent in the first, while headcount increased by roughly 2,000 employees in the first six months of the year alone.
Google has roughly $30 billion in cash and marketable securities.
INSTANT GROWTH?
Analysts expect Google to report revenue, excluding the fees that Google shares with website partners, of $5.26 billion in the third quarter, up 3.3 percent from the second but up roughly 20 percent from a year earlier, with adjusted earnings of $6.68 a share.
Some of Google's attempts to find the next big thing have failed. For example, it pulled the plug on its much-hyped Wave product that combined instant messaging and online collaboration this year. Nevertheless, analysts say some initiatives are beginning to help business.
Its new Instant technology, which speeds up searches by predicting queries, could improve revenue by prompting web surfers to click on ads more frequently, say analysts.
Paid clicks and cost-per-click, the two metrics that investors use to gauge the health of Google's search ad business, should both improve compared to the second quarter, said UBS analyst Brian Pitz, citing Instant search as one of several factors.
"There's some strong fundamental trends that look pretty positive, whether it's product search doing well, Instant search driving some growth, and just generally positive monetization trends," Pitz said of business in the third quarter.
Its fledgling Android software for smartphones came from nowhere two years ago and is now challenging Apple's position in the market.
A recent report by industry research firm Gartner predicted Android would overtake Apple's iOS this year to become the No. 2 operating system for cell phones, after Nokia's Symbian.
While it does not break out financial results for its mobile business, some analysts say Android is becoming an important part of the company's efforts to establish itself in mobile advertising.
Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney estimates that revenue from Google mobile SEO could reach a run rate of $450 million by the end of the year.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Verizon Picks McAdam to Lead in Era of Apple, Google
Bloomberg
In 2008, Lowell McAdam, head of Verizon Wireless, introduced an unlimited wireless calling plan for $99.99 a month that sparked investor concerns he was starting a price war.
The company argued the plan would boost revenue over time as customers used their mobile phones more, and AT&T Inc. and T- Mobile USA Inc. matched the move within hours. McAdam, who this week was named Verizon Communications Inc.’s chief operating officer and heir apparent, had a clear vision for the future that has helped his company succeed, said Larry Babbio, a former president of Verizon Communications, co-owner of Verizon Wireless with Vodafone Group Plc.
“He understood the business not just intellectually, but intuitively,” Babbio, now a senior adviser at Warburg Pincus in New York, said in an interview. “Lowell was able to create a vision for the entire company, and then he was able to execute in every element of the business.”
His skills helped McAdam, 56, build Verizon Wireless into the biggest wireless business in the U.S. Now McAdam, who started his private-sector career in 1983 as the old Ma Bell was being broken into pieces, will need those skills to help Verizon succeed in an industry being remade by Apple Inc. and Google Inc.
“It’s a changing landscape,” Blair Levin, a fellow at the Aspen Institute in Washington, said in an interview. “There’s a whole new set of issues, new rules of the road.”
McAdam’s Sept. 20 promotion puts him in line to succeed Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg, who is expected to retire by his 65th birthday in December 2011. McAdam and Seidenberg declined to comment through spokesman Marquett Smith.
Verizon’s Struggles
The appointment comes as Verizon is struggling with the loss of traditional telephone customers. Though the company has come to rely increasingly on Verizon Wireless, the largest wireless business in the U.S., for revenue growth, that growth is slowing as more people get mobile phones. Verizon’s sales may shrink in 2010 for the first time in five years, according to the estimates of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Companies such as Verizon need to figure out new approaches to business, Levin said. The challenge, he said, is that a company like Google is both partner and rival. Google markets mobile applications that compete with Verizon’s products, even as Android phones operate on Verizon Wireless.
McAdam will have to be ready to capitalize on the opportunities for cooperation, while competing where needed, Levin said.
“His leadership qualities have been pretty clear from my dealings with him,” said Levin, who crafted the U.S. broadband plan with telecom and Internet companies while he worked at the Federal Communications Commission. “An important part of that is political leadership.”
McAdam’s Early Years
McAdam grew up in upstate New York. His family owned a farm machinery business and McAdam would fiddle with welding and machining tools, while his father ran the shop, according to an interview McAdam did last year with the University of San Diego.
He got his MBA from USD after receiving a bachelor’s degree in engineering at Cornell University. In between the two schools, he was an engineer in the U.S. Navy, serving in San Diego and Okinawa, according to an interview with a veterans’ publication.
McAdam is still a tinkerer. In his spare time, he restores old cars, particularly 1970s-era muscle cars. One recent project was fixing up one car built as a pacer for the 1969 Indianapolis 500, according to the USD video.
“He has a well-documented love of cars, and he restores classic cars,” said David Pyke, dean of the San Diego business school, where McAdam graduated in 1983. “Some people do their roses, and he’s in his workshop making really old, ugly looking cars look fabulous.”
Fine-Tuning Verizon
McAdam has been fine-tuning Verizon Wireless ever since he took over at the beginning of 2007. He helped engineer the acquisition of Alltel Corp., which allowed the company surpass AT&T as the largest wireless company in the U.S.
He has also championed the Android smartphones made by Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp., helping the company compete against AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S. Android phones outsold the iPhone and the BlackBerry from Research In Motion Ltd. in the U.S. in the second quarter, according to researcher Gartner Inc.
McAdam has also led the push toward fourth-generation wireless technology, called long-term evolution. The technology will debut later this year with speeds similar to what customers get on fixed broadband connections at home. To promote the new service, McAdam oversaw the creation of labs for building LTE products, as well as a $1.3 billion venture capital fund.
Succession Planning
Verizon Communications rose 7 cents to $32.39 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 4 p.m. The shares have increased 4.6 percent this year.
Babbio said that Seidenberg, who has been Verizon’s only CEO since it was created in 2000, has been planning for his retirement for years. Six or eight years ago, Verizon’s management chose a handful of potential successors and put them in roles that would illustrate their abilities, he said.
McAdam’s work since then has convinced Seidenberg he’s the right person to lead Verizon as it faces such dramatic change, Babbio said.
“Your primary job as a manager is to leave this company in the hands of somebody that is better than you are,” Babbio said. “I don’t think Ivan’s ashamed to say that he’s going to leave the company in the hands of someone better than he is.”
The company argued the plan would boost revenue over time as customers used their mobile phones more, and AT&T Inc. and T- Mobile USA Inc. matched the move within hours. McAdam, who this week was named Verizon Communications Inc.’s chief operating officer and heir apparent, had a clear vision for the future that has helped his company succeed, said Larry Babbio, a former president of Verizon Communications, co-owner of Verizon Wireless with Vodafone Group Plc.
“He understood the business not just intellectually, but intuitively,” Babbio, now a senior adviser at Warburg Pincus in New York, said in an interview. “Lowell was able to create a vision for the entire company, and then he was able to execute in every element of the business.”
His skills helped McAdam, 56, build Verizon Wireless into the biggest wireless business in the U.S. Now McAdam, who started his private-sector career in 1983 as the old Ma Bell was being broken into pieces, will need those skills to help Verizon succeed in an industry being remade by Apple Inc. and Google Inc.
“It’s a changing landscape,” Blair Levin, a fellow at the Aspen Institute in Washington, said in an interview. “There’s a whole new set of issues, new rules of the road.”
McAdam’s Sept. 20 promotion puts him in line to succeed Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg, who is expected to retire by his 65th birthday in December 2011. McAdam and Seidenberg declined to comment through spokesman Marquett Smith.
Verizon’s Struggles
The appointment comes as Verizon is struggling with the loss of traditional telephone customers. Though the company has come to rely increasingly on Verizon Wireless, the largest wireless business in the U.S., for revenue growth, that growth is slowing as more people get mobile phones. Verizon’s sales may shrink in 2010 for the first time in five years, according to the estimates of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Companies such as Verizon need to figure out new approaches to business, Levin said. The challenge, he said, is that a company like Google is both partner and rival. Google markets mobile applications that compete with Verizon’s products, even as Android phones operate on Verizon Wireless.
McAdam will have to be ready to capitalize on the opportunities for cooperation, while competing where needed, Levin said.
“His leadership qualities have been pretty clear from my dealings with him,” said Levin, who crafted the U.S. broadband plan with telecom and Internet companies while he worked at the Federal Communications Commission. “An important part of that is political leadership.”
McAdam’s Early Years
McAdam grew up in upstate New York. His family owned a farm machinery business and McAdam would fiddle with welding and machining tools, while his father ran the shop, according to an interview McAdam did last year with the University of San Diego.
He got his MBA from USD after receiving a bachelor’s degree in engineering at Cornell University. In between the two schools, he was an engineer in the U.S. Navy, serving in San Diego and Okinawa, according to an interview with a veterans’ publication.
McAdam is still a tinkerer. In his spare time, he restores old cars, particularly 1970s-era muscle cars. One recent project was fixing up one car built as a pacer for the 1969 Indianapolis 500, according to the USD video.
“He has a well-documented love of cars, and he restores classic cars,” said David Pyke, dean of the San Diego business school, where McAdam graduated in 1983. “Some people do their roses, and he’s in his workshop making really old, ugly looking cars look fabulous.”
Fine-Tuning Verizon
McAdam has been fine-tuning Verizon Wireless ever since he took over at the beginning of 2007. He helped engineer the acquisition of Alltel Corp., which allowed the company surpass AT&T as the largest wireless company in the U.S.
He has also championed the Android smartphones made by Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp., helping the company compete against AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S. Android phones outsold the iPhone and the BlackBerry from Research In Motion Ltd. in the U.S. in the second quarter, according to researcher Gartner Inc.
McAdam has also led the push toward fourth-generation wireless technology, called long-term evolution. The technology will debut later this year with speeds similar to what customers get on fixed broadband connections at home. To promote the new service, McAdam oversaw the creation of labs for building LTE products, as well as a $1.3 billion venture capital fund.
Succession Planning
Verizon Communications rose 7 cents to $32.39 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 4 p.m. The shares have increased 4.6 percent this year.
Babbio said that Seidenberg, who has been Verizon’s only CEO since it was created in 2000, has been planning for his retirement for years. Six or eight years ago, Verizon’s management chose a handful of potential successors and put them in roles that would illustrate their abilities, he said.
McAdam’s work since then has convinced Seidenberg he’s the right person to lead Verizon as it faces such dramatic change, Babbio said.
“Your primary job as a manager is to leave this company in the hands of somebody that is better than you are,” Babbio said. “I don’t think Ivan’s ashamed to say that he’s going to leave the company in the hands of someone better than he is.”
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Apple, Google to Clash in Music Space by Christmas
CNBC
Google is in talks with music labels on plans for a download store and a digital song locker that would allow its mobile users to play songs wherever they are as it steps up its rivalry with Apple, according to people familiar with the matter.
Google's Andy Rubin, the brains behind Google's Android mobile operating system, has been leading conversations with the labels about what a new Google music service would look like, according to these sources.
Rubin, Google's vice president of engineering, hopes to have the service up and running by Christmas, two of these people said.
The music industry hopes to benefit from a battle for control of the mobile phone and computer desktop between Apple and Google as both technology giants go head-to-head in a wide range of media and consumer technology areas including online TV and movies, mobile phones, software and even advertising.
Music is the latest area they are likely to compete in even though Apple had a major head-start on Google, with its 7-year dominance through iTunes Music Store, which accounts for 70 percent of all U.S. digital music sales.
Google has yet to sign any licensing deals with major labels, these people say, but it hasn't stopped the labels getting excited about the prospect of its entry to the business and what competition with iTunes could mean for the industry.
"Finally here's an entity with the reach, resources and wherewithal to take on iTunes as a formidable competitor by tying it into search and Android mobile platform," said a label executive who asked not to be identified. "What you'll have is a very powerful player in the market that's good for the music business."
Sales of Android-based phones have rocketed in recent months to 200,000 a day, according to Google, matching the hugely popular iPhones and iPads from Apple which are based on its iOS technology.
"There's no dearth of music available on a computer right now, but Google can still have an impact on the cellphone or any connected device," said Larry Kenswil, a former Universal Music executive who is a counsel at Loeb & Loeb.
The labels have been grateful to Apple for helping to kick-start digital music sales with iTunes in 2003, but they have been become increasingly concerned with the control the Cupertino, California company exerts over everything from song pricing to digital formats.
Music executives have long believed having other competing powerful digital music retailers could help expand the market.
While digital album sales are up 13 percent year-to-date from the year-ago period, sales of individual songs have held steady, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"Google has a wealth of data, from YouTube, as well as from search, that can inform on what people are consuming and looking for music wise," said Simon Wheeler, head of digital at London-based independent music company Beggars Banquet.
But just being big won't be enough even for a company of Google's size and capabilities. Leading online retailer Amazon.com [AMZN 138.79 3.58 (+2.65%) ] launched its MP3 store in 2007 but still only has just over 12 percent market share.
"We're cautiously optimistic because Google has great scale and reach but doesn't have a track record in selling stuff," said another label executive who declined to be named as the talks are still ongoing.
A Google spokesman said the company has nothing to announce at this time.
Music in the Cloud
Connected devices like Apple's iPhone and iPads or Google's range of Android-based phones will be the next battlefield for music, say various industry watchers.
Labels have been hoping that the introduction of new cloud-based music services from Apple and Google would be a major boost for winning over consumers who want to be able to access their music libraries, discover new songs and make impulse purchases wherever they have Internet access.
Apple bought cloud-based music company LaLa Media last December and closed it in April, leading observers to expect the launch of an Apple-branded cloud service. But on Wednesday Apple unveiled a social media enabled-version of iTunes, leaving some executives a little underwhelmed for now.
Perhaps not by coincidence Google also bought a remote media company called Simplify Media in May and has also promptly closed it down. It has yet to announce any plans for Simplify.
"If they get it right it will hasten the transition by consumers from music you have to own to music you need ubiquitous access to," said Ted Cohen, a former EMI executive who runs TAG Strategic Partners.
Google's Andy Rubin, the brains behind Google's Android mobile operating system, has been leading conversations with the labels about what a new Google music service would look like, according to these sources.
Rubin, Google's vice president of engineering, hopes to have the service up and running by Christmas, two of these people said.
The music industry hopes to benefit from a battle for control of the mobile phone and computer desktop between Apple and Google as both technology giants go head-to-head in a wide range of media and consumer technology areas including online TV and movies, mobile phones, software and even advertising.
Music is the latest area they are likely to compete in even though Apple had a major head-start on Google, with its 7-year dominance through iTunes Music Store, which accounts for 70 percent of all U.S. digital music sales.
Google has yet to sign any licensing deals with major labels, these people say, but it hasn't stopped the labels getting excited about the prospect of its entry to the business and what competition with iTunes could mean for the industry.
"Finally here's an entity with the reach, resources and wherewithal to take on iTunes as a formidable competitor by tying it into search and Android mobile platform," said a label executive who asked not to be identified. "What you'll have is a very powerful player in the market that's good for the music business."
Sales of Android-based phones have rocketed in recent months to 200,000 a day, according to Google, matching the hugely popular iPhones and iPads from Apple which are based on its iOS technology.
"There's no dearth of music available on a computer right now, but Google can still have an impact on the cellphone or any connected device," said Larry Kenswil, a former Universal Music executive who is a counsel at Loeb & Loeb.
The labels have been grateful to Apple for helping to kick-start digital music sales with iTunes in 2003, but they have been become increasingly concerned with the control the Cupertino, California company exerts over everything from song pricing to digital formats.
Music executives have long believed having other competing powerful digital music retailers could help expand the market.
While digital album sales are up 13 percent year-to-date from the year-ago period, sales of individual songs have held steady, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"Google has a wealth of data, from YouTube, as well as from search, that can inform on what people are consuming and looking for music wise," said Simon Wheeler, head of digital at London-based independent music company Beggars Banquet.
But just being big won't be enough even for a company of Google's size and capabilities. Leading online retailer Amazon.com [AMZN 138.79 3.58 (+2.65%) ] launched its MP3 store in 2007 but still only has just over 12 percent market share.
"We're cautiously optimistic because Google has great scale and reach but doesn't have a track record in selling stuff," said another label executive who declined to be named as the talks are still ongoing.
A Google spokesman said the company has nothing to announce at this time.
Music in the Cloud
Connected devices like Apple's iPhone and iPads or Google's range of Android-based phones will be the next battlefield for music, say various industry watchers.
Labels have been hoping that the introduction of new cloud-based music services from Apple and Google would be a major boost for winning over consumers who want to be able to access their music libraries, discover new songs and make impulse purchases wherever they have Internet access.
Apple bought cloud-based music company LaLa Media last December and closed it in April, leading observers to expect the launch of an Apple-branded cloud service. But on Wednesday Apple unveiled a social media enabled-version of iTunes, leaving some executives a little underwhelmed for now.
Perhaps not by coincidence Google also bought a remote media company called Simplify Media in May and has also promptly closed it down. It has yet to announce any plans for Simplify.
"If they get it right it will hasten the transition by consumers from music you have to own to music you need ubiquitous access to," said Ted Cohen, a former EMI executive who runs TAG Strategic Partners.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Android Beats iPhone in Smartphone Sales
WIRED
Android is now the fastest-growing smartphone OS in both overall share and sales of new devices — and for the first time, people in the U.S. bought more Android phones than iPhones.
According to a Nielsen study released Monday, 27% of all purchasers of smartphones in the past 6 months bought an Android phone, up from 17% in a poll from the year’s first quarter. The Android OS jumped to 14% of overall smartphone share, just behind Windows Mobile at 15%. Apple dropped from 27% to 23% of new smartphone sales, but kept its 28% second-place position in the total smartphone user base.
The report is probably most troubling for Blackberry, which while still first overall in total smartphone users and new sales, has seen a steady decline in its share of new purchasers, from 45% a year ago to 33% in the recent quarter. Only 42% of Blackberry owners say that they want to purchase a Blackberry next, with a full 50% leaning towards either an iPhone or Android.
Nielsen’s data is not broken down by carrier, but it’s no coincidence that Verizon has heavily promoted the Motorola Droid and other Android phones over both Blackberry and Windows smartphones, while Motorola has in turn pushed against the iPhone, which is exclusive to AT&T. (See Motorola’s new ad campaign for the Droid, “No Jacket Required.”)
John Gruber, whose popular blog Daring Fireball is mostly about Apple news and products, commented: “How much of Android’s U.S. success is attributable to Verizon’s strength as the number one U.S. carrier? I.e., how different would these numbers look in an alternate universe where Verizon, not AT&T, is the iPhone’s exclusive U.S. carrier?”
Gruber also noted that by only counting smartphones, Nielsen’s statistics exclude the iPad and iPod touch, which run Apple’s iOS; including these non-phone mobile devices would give a better picture of the total market for developers targeting each of these platforms. But it’s unclear whether Apple benefits more by having devices like the iPad counted with smartphones or laptops: another new report by IDC shows that if iPads are added to the company’s notebook sales, Apple jumps to third place in the global mobile computing market.
According to a Nielsen study released Monday, 27% of all purchasers of smartphones in the past 6 months bought an Android phone, up from 17% in a poll from the year’s first quarter. The Android OS jumped to 14% of overall smartphone share, just behind Windows Mobile at 15%. Apple dropped from 27% to 23% of new smartphone sales, but kept its 28% second-place position in the total smartphone user base.
The report is probably most troubling for Blackberry, which while still first overall in total smartphone users and new sales, has seen a steady decline in its share of new purchasers, from 45% a year ago to 33% in the recent quarter. Only 42% of Blackberry owners say that they want to purchase a Blackberry next, with a full 50% leaning towards either an iPhone or Android.
Nielsen’s data is not broken down by carrier, but it’s no coincidence that Verizon has heavily promoted the Motorola Droid and other Android phones over both Blackberry and Windows smartphones, while Motorola has in turn pushed against the iPhone, which is exclusive to AT&T. (See Motorola’s new ad campaign for the Droid, “No Jacket Required.”)
John Gruber, whose popular blog Daring Fireball is mostly about Apple news and products, commented: “How much of Android’s U.S. success is attributable to Verizon’s strength as the number one U.S. carrier? I.e., how different would these numbers look in an alternate universe where Verizon, not AT&T, is the iPhone’s exclusive U.S. carrier?”
Gruber also noted that by only counting smartphones, Nielsen’s statistics exclude the iPad and iPod touch, which run Apple’s iOS; including these non-phone mobile devices would give a better picture of the total market for developers targeting each of these platforms. But it’s unclear whether Apple benefits more by having devices like the iPad counted with smartphones or laptops: another new report by IDC shows that if iPads are added to the company’s notebook sales, Apple jumps to third place in the global mobile computing market.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Google's Android Passes Apple Among New U.S. Users
Bloomberg
Google Inc.’s Android software outsold Apple Inc.’s mobile operating system for the first time last quarter among new U.S. smartphone users, according to Nielsen Co.
Android had 27 percent of the U.S. market in the second quarter, compared with 23 percent for the Apple iPhone OS, known as iOS, Nielsen said on its website today. Research In Motion Ltd. clung to its leading position, with 33 percent share.
Manufacturers such as Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp. used Android in a wider range of handsets, giving new smartphone purchasers more options. Still, the iPhone retained a higher share than Android among existing smartphone users, according to Nielsen’s research.
“There’s a massive hunger for smartphones, and the Android universe came out not just with one blockbuster device but with a whole series of blockbuster devices,” Roger Entner, head of telecom research at Nielsen, said in an interview.
Motorola’s Droid is sold through Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone service provider. Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced the Evo 4G, made by HTC, in June.
Android’s U.S. success may mean Google will overtake Apple’s iOS globally earlier than previously expected, said Will Stofega, program director at research firm IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts. Earlier this year, IDC said it expected Android to overtake Apple’s iOS globally in 2011.
“It could happen sooner,” Stofega said.
‘Feasting on BlackBerry, Windows’
RIM’s BlackBerry operating system commanded 35 percent of the overall U.S. smartphone market. Still, among the group of newcomers to smartphones, BlackBerry’s market share dropped to 33 percent from 45 percent a year earlier, Nielsen said.
Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone software also lost popularity with new users. Its share fell to 11 percent last quarter from 20 percent a year earlier, according to Nielsen.
“Android is feasting on BlackBerry and on Windows,” Entner said.
Microsoft is trying to revive demand for its mobile software with the release of Windows Phone 7 this year. RIM tomorrow may introduce a new version of its software, BlackBerry 6, Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Bros., wrote in a research note.
Some of the decline in popularity for the Apple operating system may have come as consumers put off purchases before the June introduction of the iPhone 4, Entner said. Apple may regain share in the third quarter, he said.
Among all U.S. smartphone subscribers, Apple’s share increased to 28 percent last quarter from 21 percent a year earlier, according to Nielsen. Android’s share among all U.S. smartphone subscribers rose to 13 percent from 2 percent.
Android had 27 percent of the U.S. market in the second quarter, compared with 23 percent for the Apple iPhone OS, known as iOS, Nielsen said on its website today. Research In Motion Ltd. clung to its leading position, with 33 percent share.
Manufacturers such as Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp. used Android in a wider range of handsets, giving new smartphone purchasers more options. Still, the iPhone retained a higher share than Android among existing smartphone users, according to Nielsen’s research.
“There’s a massive hunger for smartphones, and the Android universe came out not just with one blockbuster device but with a whole series of blockbuster devices,” Roger Entner, head of telecom research at Nielsen, said in an interview.
Motorola’s Droid is sold through Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone service provider. Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced the Evo 4G, made by HTC, in June.
Android’s U.S. success may mean Google will overtake Apple’s iOS globally earlier than previously expected, said Will Stofega, program director at research firm IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts. Earlier this year, IDC said it expected Android to overtake Apple’s iOS globally in 2011.
“It could happen sooner,” Stofega said.
‘Feasting on BlackBerry, Windows’
RIM’s BlackBerry operating system commanded 35 percent of the overall U.S. smartphone market. Still, among the group of newcomers to smartphones, BlackBerry’s market share dropped to 33 percent from 45 percent a year earlier, Nielsen said.
Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone software also lost popularity with new users. Its share fell to 11 percent last quarter from 20 percent a year earlier, according to Nielsen.
“Android is feasting on BlackBerry and on Windows,” Entner said.
Microsoft is trying to revive demand for its mobile software with the release of Windows Phone 7 this year. RIM tomorrow may introduce a new version of its software, BlackBerry 6, Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Bros., wrote in a research note.
Some of the decline in popularity for the Apple operating system may have come as consumers put off purchases before the June introduction of the iPhone 4, Entner said. Apple may regain share in the third quarter, he said.
Among all U.S. smartphone subscribers, Apple’s share increased to 28 percent last quarter from 21 percent a year earlier, according to Nielsen. Android’s share among all U.S. smartphone subscribers rose to 13 percent from 2 percent.
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