Techmate

Google TV? No thanks

Consumers don't want the web on TV – they want a better TV experience

As you might have seen last week, my Techmate sparring partner Michael and I got into it a bit about Google TV. He liked the idea, I didn't.

I still don't.

At the time when we shot our video segment on the subject (see below), I had heard rumors about the announcement, and the details weren't  yet clear – MORE

Tony Blair's Next Act

A silent cement factory on the Northern California coast is not where you would expect to find a former British Prime Minister on a Sunday afternoon. But there was no mistaking a blue-blazered Tony Blair hopping down from a black SUV as it rolled to a stop in a cloud of dust in front of a series of construction trailers. The reason for Blair's visit to this windy stretch of MORE

Steve Ballmer's claim: Android isn't really free

The Microsoft (MSFT)  CEO says that Google's  (GOOG) mobile OS isn't without a cost in an interview with Jon Fortt.

Techmate: Google's vision of an open Web

From the Google (GOOG)  i/o conference in San Francisco, Michael and Jon analyze Google's plans for a new video standard and whether bringing the internet to TV's is such a good idea.

I Want My G(oogle) TV

The question in the aftermath of Google's smart TV announcement is, who wants one? Especially since over the last decade, mating the PC to a television has resulted in an unholy alliance that primarily sent people running from their favorite gadget store. Remember WebTV (now the lackluster MSNTV)? Or all those media centers that every PC manufacturer was flogging? Youch.

Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel (INTC) certainly does. The largest maker MORE

Going social in India: The rise of Web 2.0 in the developing world

What does social networking mean in developing economies, where laptops are harder to find and phones are often for texting, not browsing?

Over lunch this week, I put that question to Vineet Nayar. Besides being CEO of India-based outsourcing giant HCL Technologies, Nayar is an avid observer of the Internet's effect on global business and culture. His answer was thought provoking: We think too narrowly if we look only at services MORE

Good times? Cisco's hiring, and shopping

Cisco is among the most important bellwethers in the tech economy, so all eyes were on CEO John Chambers when the networking giant released its earnings numbers Wednesday.

The news was good: revenue of $10.4 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of 42 cents both beat even Wall Street's optimists, and Cisco (CSCO) raised guidance for the current quarter. Chambers called it the company's best quarter ever.

But some of the most MORE

Intel vs. AMD gets interesting again

Left for dead, AMD is showing why it can never be counted out.

When I sat down with AMD CEO Dirk Meyer a few weeks ago to talk about how he planned to invigorate the wayward chipmaker, Intel barely came up.

Now it's clear why. Rather than focus on his perennial rival, Meyer has been whipping his own company into shape. The results so far look promising: AMD (AMD) is poised to MORE

How Intel plans to thrive in a post-PC world

Paul Otellini, Intel's CEO, says revenue and earnings growth are poised to double. How? By going after every gadget on earth.

Facing a burgeoning market for all manner of computing, from notebooks to smartphones, tablets and even cars, Intel (INTC) CEO Paul Otellini projected Tuesday that both earnings and revenue would grow in "the low double digits over the next few years."  Current growth rates are roughly half that. When asked MORE

Welcome to your new "social" work life.

There is a race going on right now among software companies to become the Facebook for the workplace. Jockeying for position are behemoths like IBM (IBM), giants in-waiting like Saleforce.com (CRM), and a slew of smaller companies including Greenplum, Jive, LinkedIn, and Socialcast among others.

With its recently announced acquisition of CubeTree, you can now add SuccessFactors (SFSF) to the list of contenders, and one likely to move to the front MORE