Brainstorm Tech 2010
Can Google beat the iPad?
July 17, 2012: 10:35 AM ET
FORTUNE -- Google's Android already has surpassed Apple's (AAPL) iPhone in terms of market share. Now it wants to do the same thing in tablets, but is still facing very serious skepticism.
During a breakfast panel today at Fortune Brainstorm Tech in Aspen, Google (GOOG) executive Henrique De Castro tried making the case that Android's open architecture will be the key differentiator that helps it topple iPad's dominance.
"The reality is that the product is better when the ecosystem around it is better, and an open system is better than a closed system," Del Castro said, while cradling a Nexus 7 device in his hands. "We believe it will be a huge benefit."
But in a room where almost every attendee acknowledged owning an iPad, there was plenty of pushback.
"But that won't make people buy it," objected venture capitalist Alan Patricof. When Del Castro asked what Android would need, Patricof replied: "If it's faster, easier, simpler or has more features... We're all waiting for something better to come along."
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Marc Andreessen on Yahoo's new CEO
"Very exciting for the Valley."
FORTUNE -- Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen believes that Marissa Mayer is a smart choice to run Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), according to comments made today during Fortune Brainstorm Tech in Aspen.
He said that while he is a big fan of Yahoo interim CEO Ross Levinsohn-- who many believed would get the fulltime job -- the selection of Mayer indicates that Yahoo wants to be a product-centic company, MORE
Dan Primack - Jul 16, 2012 5:21 PM ET -
Skype CEO checked his list
For Tony Bates, joining Skype was a "no brainer."
By Dan Primack, senior editor
FORTUNE -- Every year, Tony Bates and his wife make a list of future goals. In 2007, Bates was a 40-year-old Cisco (CSCO) executive who wrote down that he wanted to become a CEO by the age of 45. He then listed four companies -- all consumer-focused, despite his enterprise pedigree -- that he hoped would offer him MORE
Dan Primack - Jul 21, 2011 2:03 PM ETPosted in: Skype -
White House defends pace of health-care IT rollout
The administration's CTO says the plan to improve health-care IT will take time -- it's not about 'industrial policy,' but about 'building infrastructure for the 21st century.'
by Laura Rich, contributor
The White House hasn't been dragging its feet on health-care IT, despite how it looks. There has been an intentional effort to lay out a strategy and take time to implement it, said Aneesh Chopra, chief technology officer at the White MORE
Jul 27, 2010 1:44 PM ET -
Steve Jobs' mark on ABC's Lost
How the Apple CEO may have changed the course of the hit ABC show with one comment back in 2005.
by Patricia Sellers, editor-at-large
Steve Jobs, as we know, has dramatically changed computers, movies, music, mobile phones, and more. Turns out, the Smartest CEO in Tech -- as Fortune calls the Apple (AAPL) boss in the current issue -- also influenced one of the past decade's most innovative TV shows: Lost.
"He may MORE
Jul 26, 2010 1:56 PM ET -
Is Motorola back?
By centering its strategy around the smartphone, and with Google as a partner, the company may just have a chance.
by Laura Rich, contributor
Not too long ago, it was Motorola-who? The Razr's leadership had fallen off, and Nokia was gobbling up mobile handset market share. The revenue losses were devastating -- down $2.35 billion from Q4 2007 to Q4 2008. Internally, the mobile division at Motorola (MOT) was a mess, racing MORE
Jul 26, 2010 11:11 AM ET -
The real reason why consumers won't pay online
Short answer: it's a pain. That's good for Apple and Amazon, but not many others.
Consumers badly want to help buying stuff on the Web. It turns out it's not as easy as we'd think it'd be by 2010.
Gilt Groupe's Canadian customers, for example, run into so many roadblocks using their credit cards to flash-buy couture that Gilt plans to begin offering PayPal (EBAY), says CEO Susan Lyne.
Ning, the Valley startup MORE
Adam Lashinsky, Sr. Editor at Large - Jul 24, 2010 1:10 PM ET -
EPA to tech companies: build products that break down
EPA chief Lisa Jackson says tech companies tend to be young, hip and green. Now they need to think about recycling on the front end.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
Garbage is money, says Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. She claims that's especially true for tech products that are built with some of the more valuable elements.
"What happens to our our smartphones and our other products is they MORE
Jul 24, 2010 1:10 PM ET -
Liberty Global's global retreat
The company's doing just fine, but it has had to pull back in some regions after regulation and competition made it tough to do business there.
by Laura Rich, contributor
After a few years in France, Liberty Global (LBTYA) pulled up stakes and left. In South America, it retreated from seven countries down to one. "We realized it was never going to go our way," said Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries.
On MORE
Jul 24, 2010 10:45 AM ET -
Tim Armstrong on AOL's search deal: it's not a two-horse race
As AOL eyes turnaround strategies, one business still seems to be in demand: selling its search traffic.
AOL's nearly $700 million-a-year search deal with Google (GOOG) will expire in December, and CEO Tim Armstrong is not limiting the next deal to the usual two suspects: Microsoft (MSFT) and Google. "Search is heating up from a multi-partner space—we are not talking to two companies," said Armstrong while speaking at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech MORE
Jessi Hempel, writer - Jul 23, 2010 7:27 PM ET
