While Google Plus Waits, Facebook Launches "Facebook for Business" Portal

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2389464,00.asp

The latest battle between the two tech giants is soon to be fought over the business world.  Each company has had plans to unveil more business friendly aspect to their social  networking sites for a while now.  While Goggle + remains in a testing phase, Facebook has jumped the gun and unveiled "Facebook for Business".

The misconception of this unveil is that there are no new features detailed.  Instead, Facebook unveiled a small portal that gives companies ideas on "how they can maximize their social presence on the site."

One of the best quotes from the article speaks to some of what the portal has to offer. 

See Below:

"Businesses can learn how to find new customers before they search for them using Facebook's targeted Ads, and bring customers from the Web into their stores. And we want to inspire small businesses by seeing how other businesses have found success on Facebook by sharing their stories," 

 The timing of this portal could not have come at a worse time for Google +, which is currently struggling to get of the ground as users have been dropping since the initial surge of invites went out for testing.  Although businesses still seem willing to join up with Google, the problem is that Google has been unable to cope with the demand for it's new service.

The following quote from a Google product manager speaks to the issue:

"The platform at the moment is not built for the business use case, and we want to help you build long-term relationships with your customers. Doing it right is worth the wait. We will continue to disable business profiles using regular profiles. We recommend you find a real person who is willing to represent your organization on Google+ using a real profile as him-or-herself," said Google product manager Christian Oestlien

What are your opinions?  Will Google + figure it out or just end up like Myspace?

Apple now has more cash than the U.S. government

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/07/29/apple.cash.government/index.html?hpt=te_r1




The article above has two main highlights, the first of which is scary to think about.

• "U.S. Treasury has an operating cash balance of $73.8 billion -- less than Apple's cash reserves"
• "Apple just became the world's largest smartphone vendor by volume"

The first highlight is just downright depressing as an American citizen.  The fact that our country has less money than a company that sells mainly luxury items (mp3 players, cell phones and tablets) is not a good sign of things to come.  

The following quote from Steve Jobs should be taken into to consideration by everyone in Washington:

"We don't let the cash burn a hole in the pocket or make stupid acquisitions," CEO Jobs said last fall. "We'd like to continue to keep our powder dry because we think there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future."

It's also interesting to note that if the US Government starts to control spending, will the American people do their part as well?  I wonder how Apple's numbers would look if some of it's customers tightened their belts.

Below is a video explaining some of the reasons we are in this debt crisis:

Cisco to axe 16% of its workers

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/18/technology/cisco_layoffs/index.htm

The link and video above discuss how Cisco Systems is currently going through a tough time.  Cisco is aiming to cut $1 billion in annual operating expenses.  This usually means that the first thing to go is people.  Cisco is a company known for having a lot of employee turnover with pink slips being handed to employees if there performance is in the decline.  

This is troubling news for a company that has been very successful with their video conferencing equipment, Telepresence.  Cisco also dropped the flip video camera from production early in the year to cut costs.  

I think this is just a result of the current recession but having to lay off additional employees does not look good no matter what situation a company is in.  Senior leadership, led by John Chambers is taking a lot of heat too and this could have been a move from Chambers to try and keep his job.

Apples Record Day

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/19/technology/apple_q3_earnings/index.htm?hpt=te_bn6

The article above discusses Apple's fiscal 3rd Quarter results compared to the same quarter in 2009 and 2010.  The fascinating thing about the numbers is that it shows Apple growing like a startup.  The Iphone was the big winner here as you can see below:




The Mac computers, which put Apple on the map are now just a supplemental product for Apple as compared to their other "Big 3".  However, Mac computers have grown consistently over the past 3 years.  It is also interesting to note that the iPod has been declining steadily the past 3 years.  Apple might need to watch this and possibly reengineer the iPod to get people to buy it as more and more people are switching to the iPhone.

The iPhone was the big win for Apple here, shipping about 20 million units just in this quarter alone compared to about 10 million units last year.  That is impressive and the iPhone shows now signs of slowing down as an anticipated 5th generation is rumored to be in stores this holiday season.

Also, is it too early to say that the iPad has been a resounding success? I wonder if Apple keeps performing at this high level once Steve Jobs steps down.

Nintendo Reveals the Wii U

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/06/07/nintendo.e3.announcement/index.html?hpt=te_bn8

At the E3 conference in Los Angelos, Nintendo unveiled it's new next generation console.  In this course we have talked about Web 2.0 and tablet devices have been mentioned as well.  It is interesting to note that the Wii U's controller is a tablet like device.  

Another big announcement regarding the new console is the fact that the Wii U will be supporting much more Third Party titles than in past console generations.  This is an attempt to level the playing field with Sony and Microsoft and cater towards all gamers rather than just kids and recreational users.

The video is pretty cool and showcases a lot of the new features.  No word yet on a retail price but it will be available sometime in 2012.

I figured that this would be a fun, interesting post showing the IT evolution of some video games consoles.  Much like most IT innovations, one must wonder what the shelf-life is for this current generation of consoles.

More on GE's "Green" Smart Grid

http://www.genewscenter.com/content/detail.aspx?releaseid=7275&newsareaid=2

The new system of smart grid technologies was designed to significantly improve the network company’s ability to manage big network emergencies and help it to restore power faster when outages occur.

 This system incorporates an electronic network diagram and will help reduce the number of power outages, increase the speed of recovery from disruptions, and keep consumers better informed when the lights do go out.  The company’s goal is to improve operational efficiency by streamlining the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the network and by providing valuable and timely information to manage outages effectively.

One of the innovations   is an outage management system, which will help automatically re-route power when an outage occurs, dispatch crews and help operators make better decisions for faster power restoration.

GE acquires Irish Smart Grid Start Up

http://blogs.forbes.com/toddwoody/2011/05/24/ge-acquires-irish-smart-grid-startup-fmc-tech/

The article above discusses GE's acquisition of an Irish "Green" tech company and their future plans to develop environmental friendly technology.

I was an Environmental Planning major as an undergrad and have a fascination with green technology.  FMC-Tech "has developed technology to allow utilities to monitor their power lines in real time."  This real time feed of information relates to a lot of what we talked about on week one, as well as the concepts in the text.  Access to real time informational data is bound to influence decision making, hopefully for the better.