Archive for February, 2006
« Previous EntriesPodcast Hype Alive & Well
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006As I sit on the sidelines wondering whether to do a weekly podcast, eMarketer is loudly pounding the table that the U.S. podcast audience could reach 25 million by 2008 and perhaps 50 million by 2010. The consulting firm also thinks advertising on podcasts will hit $80-million this year and $300-million by 2010. Is this [...]
Can Cindy Klassen Save Manitoba Tel?
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006Cindy Klassen is an Olympic hero after coming home from Turino with five medals but can she save Manitoba Telecom from its growing troubles after signing a multi-year endorsement deal with the Winnipeg-based apparently worth more than $1-million? The involvement of Klassen, a Winnipeg-native, can't hurt if it can help Manitoba Tel regain some of [...]
More (Bad) Info For Vonage IPO
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006Telegeography will issue its Q4 voice-over-broadband numbers today that will show the U.S. market grew by 25% to 4.5 million subscribers. While Vonage is still the largest provider with 1.2 million customers, Time-Warner is quickly closing the gap as it added 246,000 subscriber to end the quarter at 1.1 million. Cablevision is third at 731,000 [...]
A Fourth Wireless Carrier in Canada? Really!
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006The Globe & Mail has a story on speculation the federal government may recommend that a fourth national wireless carrier be created to stimulate competition. I hate to rain on anyone's parade but it ain't going to happen. First, if Ottawa really wanted another carrier to stimulate competition it would never have approved Rogers' $1.4-billion [...]
Is This Patent Madness?
Monday, February 27th, 2006According to The Inquirer, a small Web design company in California called Balthaser Online says it has obtained a patent for rich-media Internet applications. If Balthaser's contention is accurate, this could mean anyone who wants to use Flash, Flex, Java, Ajax and XAML may have to pay a licensing fee to Balthaser. This either looks [...]
London's AIM: The New Nasdaq?
Monday, February 27th, 2006I've got a story in today's Financial Post about Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London, which is quickly becoming a popular vehicle for tech start-ups looking to raise growth capital. Unlike North American investors, who still seem skittish about tech stocks even five years after the dot-com bubble burst, European investors - including institutional ones [...]
Leah McLaren: Are You With Us or Agin Us?
Sunday, February 26th, 2006I finally got around to reading the weekend papers, and came across a column by the Globe & Mail's Leah McLaren on how she's giving up the blogosphere. At least, I think she's giving up the blogosphere but it's difficult to tell. On one hand, she complains about how many blogs are nasty, they're [...]
Why Carriers Love the Blackberry. Why Alec Saunders is Crying
Sunday, February 26th, 2006As the Blackberry teeters on the verge of extinction in the U.S. after yet another legal loss, Alec Saunders has revealed a dirty, little secret about why ARPU-crazed wireless carriers love the Blackberry so they that they're willing to give it away. Saunders just received his monthly bill with a overage charge of $72. Puzzled, he [...]
Anyone Using Mollyguard for Online Registration?
Saturday, February 25th, 2006In organizing a Web 2.0/blogging conference in early-May in Toronto, we're looking for an inexpensive way to handle online registration and payment. We stumbled across Mollyguard, which appears to fit the bill given we don't need a lot of bells and whistles. Anyone used/using Mollyguard? Any feedback on how well the service works and whether [...]
Stop Fooling Around…Time for the GBrowser
Saturday, February 25th, 2006What a week for Google: the launch of the quickly-dissed Google Page Creator, rumours of a new voice-mail serivce and new e-commerce features
on Google Base. Come on, Google, let's stop fooling around. If you're
truly serious about making a splash in the Web-based applications
world, it's time to unveil the Google browser. With more being done
online, the [...]