Technology Industry Archive

When Motorola announced that it was hiring Dr. Sanjay Jha, former COO of Qualcomm, to be co-chief executive and head of the mobile phone business, shares jumped 11 percent. You might call it one of the largest collective sighs of relief that the industry has seen in years. But does that represent realistic expectations, or some wishful thinking? Jha brings loads of industry experience and...

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If you wait long enough, not only does history repeat itself in broad brushes and themes, but even through specific crazes. Lately I’ve been noticing one business fashion, conglomeration, which seems to be returning in a new form: the e-conglomerate. An e-conglomerate is a high tech company whose lines of business move increasingly further afield of each other. Microsoft makes money with...

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Sometimes you have to get used to being unpopular, like when you have a poorly conceived or executed product. In such cases, you dust yourself off and get back to work. But when you’re Microsoft, and the product is the latest version of Windows, otherwise known as a major cash cow, the temptation may be to wage a public relations campaign. Giving in to that temptation can be the biggest...

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A critique of free software usability (via Slashdot) may offer insights into how volunteer software projects could improve, but it also gives some good tips for profit seekers on how to compete. As Matthew Paul Thomas pointed out in his critique, there are some basic factors that often make good interface design a stranger to free software projects. Here’s my own take: People working on...

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It took all of 15 seconds in reading Laurie Flynn’s blogging coverage from Yahoo’s annual shareholder meeting for my spin detector to start flashing: Roy Bostock, chairman of the Yahoo board of directors, is defending Yahoo’s handling of Microsoft’s bid to buyout the company. “At no point did the board ever resist Microsoft’s proposal,” Mr. Bostock said. But Microsoft...

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I’ve long had a hunch that companies can do themselves more harm than good in the long run by using rebate programs to stimulate purchasing. So the story of Vastech, which is paying a $10,000 settlement with the Santa Clara County DA for not paying hundreds of rebates on products sold through Fry’s Electronics, was simply confirmation. The district attorney’s office launched...

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Pursuing clean energy and technology in the name of profits is becoming popular for businesses and venture capital alike. But trying to protect the intellectual property, whether patent or trademark, turns out to be an untidy business. Because much of high tech is looking at cleantech, I spoke with Joseph Teja, co-chair of IP law firm Wolf Greenfield’s cleantech practice, who has been...

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Many employers are apparently monitoring home-based workers, because who wouldn’t want to know whether the minions were working hard or hardly working? And if something technical is going on in general, you know it’s happening in high tech. But there are some big dangers that the employers may not be aware of, which could land them in sticky situations whether the worker is an...

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