Om and Niall PodSessions

EBay, threatened by Google's expansion into its key markets, is looking for new allies in Microsoft and/or Yahoo. Google Base, Google Wallet, and Google Talk directly compete with eBay's three main businesses: product listings, PayPal payments, and Skype.

EBay is voicing its concern with its checkbook and looking for new preferred advertising partners and cross-promotional opportunities. Should eBay be afraid of Google? How many management consultants did it take for eBay to wake up and realize its business direction? Is anyone safe from the growing power of Google over search and commerce?

Om and I discuss these issues and more in this week's PodSession, eBay shopping for partners. The podcast is 20 minutes in length, a 9 MB download.

Posted by Niall Kennedy at 7:53 PM | Permalink

Video content is moving online in a big way. ABC recently announced streams of its popular shows will be available online for free. Fox will offer its programming online as well, including web-only episodes of popular shows such as Family Guy. Smaller players such as Rocketboom deliver content created especially for online viewing and syndicated through partnerships with companies such as TiVo. Filling in the middle is the iTunes video store and its single purchase and subscription offerings.

Are large content producers merely experimenting with online distribution or is this a trend that is here to stay? What's driving viewer numbers from all over the production spectrum from two guys on their couch to two news anchors behind a desk? Can online video distribution be profitable for large publishers?

Om and I talk about these questions and more in this week's podsession, Video Killed the TV Star. The podcast is 20 minutes long, a 9 MB download.

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Apple introduced Boot Camp last Wednesday to much fanfare. The new application, currently in public beta, allows owners of Apple hardware based on Intel chipsets to choose between Apple's OS X or another operating system such as Microsoft Windows when booting their computer. The new software is a preview into features of Apple's next major operating release, code-named "Leopard," to be unveiled at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco this August.

The ideas behind Boot Camp are nothing new, and applications such as Virtual PC have provided a virtualization of Windows on a Mac for years. What has changed in the world of Apple with the introduction of Boot Camp? Will more users make the switch now that they can take a native install of Windows with them?

Om thinks Boot Camp will help large companies such as banks continue to use their legacy applications while making the switch to Windows. I envision users booting to Windows for the applications that are only available on that platform or for advanced features now available in OS X versions. An accountant may boot to Windows for access to the latest copy of QuickBooks or a gamer might boot to Windows to play his or her favorite video game.

This week's second PodSession is titled Windows on a Mac. The podcast is 10 minutes long, a 5 MB download.

Posted by Niall Kennedy at 9:12 PM | Permalink

Network operators are able to pinpoint your location better than ever before. Whether it's municipal WiFi or your local cable operator, advertisers are paying top dollar to know where you are and what you like to do online at each location.

On April 5 the city of San Francisco announced Earthlink and Google will create a WiFi network throughout the city supported by location-targeted advertising. If you browse the web from a park bench you may receive an advertisement for a cup of coffee down the street or a furniture shop. This information could be based on your browsing habits and the locations where you frequently access the Internet. It seems like the free Internet offered by Netzero and others in the late 90s upgraded for the broadband age. Are you willing to give up information about your every click and your wireless location in exchange for free Internet access?

Mobile phone carriers have upgraded their networks and their phones to provide more accurate location data for emergency personnel under the E911 initiative. Wireless carriers are required to provide location information within 50 to 300 meters in most cases to public safety personnel. Nextel phones have utilized GPS functionality for years to track corporate workers in the field. New location-based services are just starting to pop up as carriers hone in on your exact location at any point in time. Is all this mobile tracking too close for comfort? Are there any applications we would like to provide with our location data in an on-demand or always-on format?

Om and I talk about these issues and more in our latest PodSession, You're being watched - Geolocation and privacy. The podcast is 12 minutes long, a 6 MB download.

Posted by Niall Kennedy at 8:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Broadband everywhere! New data technologies from major carriers will deliver over 1 Mb/s to mobile phone handsets and laptop computers in major metropolitan areas across the United States by the end of 2006. The ability to tap into a fast, low-latency network is changing the way people do business and causing a few developers to rethink their applications for an always-on broadband connected user with constant access to his or her personal device.

EV-DO is a high-speed data technology currently deployed by CDMA carriers in major markets. The latest version of EV-DO, revision A, promises up download speeds up to 3.1 Mb/s, upload speeds as fast as 1.8 Mb/s, and latency as low as 50ms. This low latency makes VoIP and video chat a reality over cellular-based networks. EV-DO is available through Sprint branded as Mobile Broadband for laptops or PowerVision for phone handsets. EV-DO is also available through Verizon Wireless branded as BroadbandAccess for laptops or V Cast for phone handsets.

HSDPA is a competing standard for GSM networks. It is capable of download speeds up to 3.6 Mb/s and uploads of 384 Kb/s. HSDPA allows simultaneous voice and data and can downgrade to older UMTS when a newer network is not available. Cingular brands their HSDPA offering as BroadbandConnect.

What would you do with a 1 Mb/s always-on connection in your pocket, on your laptop, or any other device? Om and I talk discuss current offerings from major U.S. carriers as well as some of the applications that are already taking advantage of these new ubiquitous broadband connections.

This week's podcast, Wireless broadband, is 22 minutes long, a 10 MB download.

Posted by Niall Kennedy at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)