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Has @steveballmer Tipped Microsoft’s Twitter Plans?

This may be a case of putting two and two together, and getting five but….you have to wonder whether Steve Ballmer has deliberately tipped his hand about Microsoft’s interest in Twitter.
After a speech at Stanford, Ballmer told CNet’s Ina Fried that Microsoft needs to be “more disruptive” about search. It’s an interesting proposition depending on [...]

We Want Skype Back!

So what do you make of Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis putting together a bid for Skype?
After selling the business to eBay for $3.1-billion, the New York Times reports the dynamic telecom duo apparently want to buy it back for about $2-billion.
With Skype closing in on $1-billion in annual revenue and, likely, healthy [...]

Twitter-Google: The Conspiracy Theory

So, TechCrunch is spreading rumors and speculation about a Twitter-Google deal.
If you believe in the theory where there’s smoke, there’s fire, a deal may, in fact, be happening…or not given how TechCrunch is getting conflicting reports on the state of discussions between Twitter and Google.
Now, if you’re a conspiracy theorist or someone who looks at [...]

Cisco’s Growing Consumer Empire

For a company whose roots are routers and switches, Cisco is orchestrating a fascinating strategic transformation into a consumer-focused company. The latest foray is the purchase of Pure Digital Technologies, which makes the popular Flip digital cameras, for $590-million.
The deal enhances a consumer-focused portfolio that also includes Linksys, which Cisco acquired for $500-million in [...]

The Bell Tolls for BCE

Ever since the $52-billion leveraged buy-out of BCE emerged, I’ve contended that it was a move that would cripple the company with enormous amounts of debt at a time when it is facing fierce competition from cablecos such as Rogers.
This thesis didn’t get much attention given everyone - media, analysts, investors - was far more [...]

A Good Thing if LBO for BCE Fails

There’s a lot of hand-wringing going on over growing concerns the $52-billion leveraged buyout of BCE Inc., Canada’s largest telecom carrier, is going to fall apart.
If the deal does go kaput, it will be the best thing to happen to BCE and its customers.
How come?
Well, if the deal is consummated, BCE will $32-billion of debt [...]

Who’s the Right Buyer for Twitter?

Regular Geek asked a good question: what is the right price for Twitter in wake of Facebook’s reported $500-million offer for the world’s leading microblogging service.
A different - and perhaps better - question is who’s right buyer. For whatever reason, Facebook doesn’t seem like right choice to carry the Twitter to the next level. [...]

Automattic Goes Shopping Again

For a long time, I’ve been a huge fan of Poll Daddy because it’s user-friendly yet effective way to do polls and surveys.
And given I’m also a Wordpress disciple, it’s exciting to see Automattic purchase Poll Daddy, which much to my surprise is only a two-man shop.
Given all the hand-wringing these days about business models [...]

Quel Surprise: StumbleUpon Evolves!

StumbleUpon unveiled some major changes, highlighted by the news you’ll no longer have to use the plug-in/browser toolbar to benefit from StumbleUpon’s popular Web site discovery service.
For extensive details on the changes, head on over to VentureBeat, which did an interview with SU co-founder Garrett Camp, who suggests the removal of the toolbar could boost [...]

eBay Stumbling Away from StumbleUpon

eBay has received a lot of grief for its acquisition of Skype - most of it focused on the fact it wildly over-paid ($4.2-billion).
To some extent, you could argue Skype was a strategic move because eBay was looking for a way to roll out communication tools to buyers and sellers.
The same, however, can’t be said [...]

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