Not sure if this is a red herring like Bush’s mission to Mars but GM and Segway have collaborated to do a dual wheel-chair type version of the Segway.
The PUMA prototype is designed to work much like the original Segway Personal Transporter, balancing on two wheels and stabilized (or not) by the rider’s body motion. It features electric drive and batteries, along with all-electronic acceleration, steering, and braking… The lithium ion battery-powered vehicle will also feature vehicle-to-vehicle communications, plus autonomous driving and parking capabilities… The PUMA is supposed to reach 35 miles per hour, and travel up to 35 miles between charges.
An article in the NYT tries to argue that fancier portable media devices like the Kindle can save the newspaper and magazine subscription/advertising model. No. The open alternative will always be more attractive once the hardware cost is within affordability. Still, I expect a lot of value fund managers to load up on this theme.
The NYT talks about a thriving industry in cell-phone knock-offs known as shanzhai.
Technological advances have allowed hundreds of small Chinese companies, some with as few as 10 employees, to churn out what are known here as shanzhai, or black market, cellphones, often for as little as $20 apiece… Although shanzhai phones have only been around a few years, they already account for more than 20 percent of sales in China, which is the world’s biggest mobile phone market… While the phones may look like famous brands, companies actually add special features like bigger screens, dual-mode SIM cards (which allow two phone numbers) and even a telescopic lens attachment for the phone’s camera… [In 2005] Mediatek developed a circuit board that could inexpensively integrate the functions of multiple chips, offering start-ups a platform to produce a low-cost mobile phone…
Netbooks and tablets beginning to show up with Android.
Skytone, a Chinese manufacturer, has started showing off the first netbook to run Android, an operating system developed by Google that currently runs on just a single device, the G1mobile phone… it supports 128 megabits of RAM and only up to 4 gigabytes of storage on a flash-based, solid-state disk. And importantly, its central processing unit is an ARM11 chip–the same model found inside the iPhone… it’s expected to retail for about $250
Google is attempting to pre-empt a new service from Wolfram (the developer of Mathmatica) called Wolfram|Alpha. In a somewhat contrived example, if you search google for “[unemployment rate] US” you get an interactive chart with rates by state. Wolfram’s Alpha is not actually live yet, but from the early reviews (pdf of screenshots 1.1Mb) it looks as though it will be hard to beat.
Pushback now from other distributors of text online on Google’s de facto monopoly created by the class action settlement with the Authors’ Guild.
The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether Google is violating antitrust laws by reaching an agreement with authors and publishers to digitize millions of printed books and post the contents online… Google has defended its project, saying its goal is to improve access to books and to give the public access to millions of out-of-print books. But critics warn the settlement could result in Google having a monopoly of access to information and giving Google an exclusive license to profit from millions of books.
Youtube strikes again. Two employees of Dominos posted a video of sandwiches contaminated with snot which quickly went viral.
When two Domino’s Pizza employees filmed a prank in the restaurant’s kitchen, they decided to post it online. In a few days, thanks to the power of social media, they ended up with felony charges, more than a million disgusted viewers, and a major company facing a public relations crisis…. The two were charged with delivering prohibited foods.
IBM has tested specialized software on its Blue Gene/P supercomputer that analyzes simultaneous streams of data about financial markets. The analysis provides automated trading machines with information 21 times faster than other analysis systems, according to IBM.
Weak activity from the venture capital sector
Venture capital firms invested only $3 billion in 549 young companies in the first quarter, the lowest investment level since 1997… The amount invested was down 47 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 and 61 percent from the first quarter last year… investment in clean-technology start-ups, which reached record highs last year, took the steepest dive… In the first quarter, only $154 million went into 33 companies, an 84 percent decline from the fourth quarter and the lowest level since 2005, just before clean technology began to take off… Software companies received $614 million, a drop of 42 percent from the fourth quarter of last year… Internet companies raised $556 million, down 31 percent… Biotechnology and medical device companies raised $989 million, a decline of 40 percent… Only 132 start-ups raised money for the first time, the lowest number in 15 years.