Bing Asks "Have You Been Scroogled?"

The latest ad in today's Wall Street Journal and other publications asks the quest, "Have you been Scroogled?"  Microsoft's search engine, Bing, wants consumers to know that they believe search results have been tampered with to no longer provide us with a meaningful order of possible results.  "Microsoft’s claim is this: Because Google Shopping’s search results are determined by how much companies are willing to pay for them, they’re unavoidably inaccurate." Check out the Scroogled page here.

The question the author asks is whether a better alternative for search exists.  "The core Bing search product is still pretty bad. Bing has been my default browser for a few months now (for Science!) but I find myself almost always reverting to Google when Bing fails to give me useful results. That’s not the way a search engine should work."  As for me, Google has been by default search engine and has delivered on the task.  I did in fact also use Bing for a search on "fleece fabrics" for my daughters school project last night but didn't find additional meaningful results different from Google.

So Bing may have some truth in its ad against Google, but to get people to switch, build a better product.  Put these two search engines side by side and ask, is there anything really different or better to lead to a change in behavior.  If you want to knock the leader off the mountain, prove it

Can Discount Websites Survive?

Consumers love deals and that very nature would make one believe that a business offering discounts and deals would be well received.  We love knowing that something that should cost $20 only costs us $10.  It's a win for us as long as we are willing to pre-pay for it in order to use the coupon at a later date.  And yet, for businesses like Living Social and Groupon, the appeal doesn't translate yet into a winning business model.  "Online deals company LivingSocial is cutting 400 jobs worldwide, or about 9 percent of its work force, as the deals market continues to face challenges."  And Groupon faces similar challenges as discussions over replacing their CEO have been questioned as their results also suffer.

So is this a sustainable business or will Groupon, Living Social and others lose their investors and their profitability?  The problem is clearly not with the consumer; who wouldn't like to pay less for something.  The problem may lie in the retailers offering these discounts.  Not only must they reduce their profit margin to attract customers, they must offer additional monies to these sites to promote these discounted deals.  Their costs then only increase as their profitability falls.  In addition, these retailers must determine if these deals attract new customers to their business or simply give their current customers a deal.

As a consumer, I love a good deal; as a business model, it is hard to imagine retailers regularly using these discounters.  Thus the constant searching for more prospects to use the service must get more and more difficult.  At the same time, the business model could be replicated inside these retailers own websites.  Build out loyalty programs, offer discounts on your site, and not worry about a middleman like Groupon and Living Social.  Want to see an example of it, go to Lord & Taylor or Justice websites; must wife never goes to these stores without a coupon. 

TiVo Strategy Paying Off

Control your intellectual rights, grow your subscriber base, manage your costs.  TiVo seems to be on the right course having "posted a third-quarter profit after settling patent litigation with Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), signing more subscribers and boosting pay-TV revenue."  Given their track record, future litigation with Cisco and Motorola should likely also lead to favorable outcomes.  Add the recent agreement with Cable One and TiVo "has service agreements with nine of the top 21 U.S. pay-TV companies and is expanding with Comcast Corp. and operators overseas".

Can more service deals be signed or will cloud-based DVR overtake everything TiVo has done?  Hopefully TiVo continues to innovate to remain the leader in this space.

Google Voice vs Apple Siri

While I haven't found voice commands so useful that I prefer it to typing out my searches; still the day will come when voice recognition will overtake physical typing.  And leading the pack are Apple Siri and Google Voice.  For each, the win will likely lead to more ad revenue and greater information about the user, enabling more targeted advertising.

The use of voice recognition will matter in many ways we use our devices; not just in asking for directions or information, but in having our words dictated on documents. Less typing, more talking.  Of course that is fine in a quiet area; I'd hate to be exposed to all that talking while on my train to and from work.  Perhaps the next leap will be not even having to say it, but simply think the task and have our devices sync to our brain waves.  Science fiction or future science fact.

TiVo Adds Another Cable Operator

TiVo wants to be the de facto DVR in the cable set top box.  One way to achieve such a position is to partner directly with each cable operator.  And with fewer and fewer cable operators to work with, the target list is well known.  Well move one more name from prospect to customer.  "TiVo has landed yet another cable operator customer, signing a deal with Cable One to provide DVR software and multiscreen-video applications to the 10th-largest MSO in the U.S."  With a footprint of 600,000 video customers, TiVo will see another nice bump to their subscriber base.

Through legal patent fights and cable deals, TiVo has been growing both revenue and subs.  With a legal fight against Time Warner Cable, one might see a possible solution being Time Warner finally taking Dish as their DVR partner as well.  With TiVo legal victories already against Verizon and Dish, Time Warner might consider a partnership less costly than a financial settlement.

The Next Great Energy Source To Run Our Technology...Ourselves

What if the days of recharging our devices on a daily basis was a thing of the past?  What if our battery devices were always being recharged so that batteries rarely needed to be replaced?  And what if this energy sources was free and abundant?  As we become constantly reliant on mobile devices to be powered up and ready to go, we are in constant need for a quantum leap in our battery technology.

Well, perhaps some progress is being made.  Well today's WSJ article has focused on a new energy source. "Scientists are studying how to tap the energy naturally created by people's bodies—such as heat, sound and movement—to power medical devices without the need to change batteries."  These experiments are focusing on technology that is running on the human body, devices such as "hearing aids, insulin pumps and pain-management devices".  But perhaps this energy source could power even more. "Some experts expect the first medical devices that tap the body's energy—known as bioenergy harvesting—could be available within a decade."

Do we produce enough energy, that devices in our hand could also act as a conduit to act as a power source?  Could even the proximity to a person enable transference of power, perhaps by wearing a device that is then bluetooth connected to a mobile device?  Our reliance on power was never more apparent than during the recent hurricane when power was out for days and one had to find charging stations to stay powered up.  As we become more and more reliant on technology, that quantum leap in battery power is much needed.

Happy Holidays, Apple

It could be a busy holiday season for Apple this year and the iPad Mini could be the must have gift.  According to Forbes, "Though the WiiU is a hotly anticipated new console with 39% of kids aged 6-12 wanting one, it’s bested by the iPad, which nearly a majority of kids want at 48%.  And the next three items on the list after the WiiU? An iPod touch, an iPad mini and an iPhone."  And if my household is any indication, Apple devices top the list.

Nintendo's WiiU has been expected for quite a while; my house has both a Wii and XBox, though the latter gets far greater play.  No one in my house is clamoring for the next generation of either product.  The tablet though, with all its gaming, is appealing to both my son and daughter.  Add all the other apps as well as its mobility, and it is in hot demand.  And despite the higher than expected price for a Mini iPad, demand for it keeps rising.   As to the research, while the iPad is at the top of the wish list, the Microsoft Surface, along with the Apple TV, rank at the very bottom of the list.  Does this portend another Zune type product for Microsoft?

Once the rush to the stores is over this holiday season, it will be fun to look back at sales and see which devices sold more.  Was the iPad the top seller?  Did the Surface surprise and rank higher?  Will the WiiU prove a success for Nintendo?  Black Friday is gone but Cyber Monday is upon us.  Let the games begin.

Apple Should Avoid Selling an HDTV Set

The 2012 Holiday Season is upon us and there is no Apple TV Set.  According to "Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said he believes Apple will kick off the TV in November 2013."  But perhaps it is time to reconsider.

While Apple could use another new product to add to its inventory, an HDTV set is ripe with problems.  For one, consumers have already invested in big screen HDTVs.  Best Buy, a leading seller of electronics, is facing a tough fiscal year.  Prices for TVs in general continue to fall, making margins harder to reach and their is a glut of competitive product already on the shelf.  Second, the cable operators have no reason to trust Apple with their content and let them bypass their set top box.  Heck, Apple can't even get them to agree to use Apple's current TV product.  Third, the younger generation has already figured out how to bypass the cable box.  Xbox, Wii, Roku, and many others already can bring web content to the HDTV set.  And fourth,  the next generation is far more interested in smaller devices than larger ones.

So what should Apple release next.  The current Apple TV box still exists and has room to get better.  It integrates the iTunes library and for the Apple home, enables a conduit to the current TV screen.  It could get even better if Apple sought to build out a gaming model to compete with Xbox.  Integrating iPads, iPods, iPhones and other  new gaming devices to build an interactive experience across multiple screens.  Add to that a new visual approach, perhaps borrowing a bit from Google Glasses, and other  controller devices to make a more immersive experience.  Lastly, sell and/or rent games from iTunes.  No hard copies to clutter the living room; everything is stored in the cloud or downloaded onto the box.

So Apple, don't waste your time on the big HDTV screen.  It lacks the growth and margins to serve your needs.  Your opportunities are best served elsewhere.

Dish and AT&T Partnership Rumors Continue

If not a Google - Dish partnership, talks of AT&T acquiring Dish have also been around for a while.  What value the wireless spectrum has may just depend on what the FCC determines, but AT&T might also like to work with Dish on how best to use that asset.  And that may affect Dish's future stock value.  "Dish's premium could reflect lingering hopes that it will decide to sell off the spectrum, whose value Bernstein estimates at about $8 billion, equivalent to 50% of the company's current market capitalization. Mr. Ergen has said this isn't his intention."

Dish's possible future continues to take many turns.  Google and AT&T have been mentioned, but so has DirecTv. A merger of the two satellite providers, if approved by the FCC would rival the size of Comcast.  Whether that merger was viewed as anti competitive in the satellite space, as opposed to bringing more size parity to the cable space, remains to be seen.  Regardless, Dish seems to be in play and the question is who will they hook up with.