Yahoo! News - Microsoft Will Rename Windows XP Reduced

I have to say, the intended name might have been seen as strategic, but was clearly a slap back at the EU. It could just be called something long and descriptive like "Windows XP - European Union Basic Edition - Without Windows Media Player Edition". Perhaps casting the words European Union Basic Edition in there would have leveraged national pride as an effective cause to purchase Windows XP - Germany, instead.

The more interesting question is what the price difference will be between the versions with and without WMP.

Yahoo! News - Apple Edges Google as Top Brand

Congrats to Apple. I think the company has definitely captured the attention of the public and the press. It's got a great deal of momentum -- but I think it faces significant challenges as subscription-based music services become increasingly attractive. Unless Apple jumps on it, power may shift towards the WMV-format players that have been designed with that in mind from the beginning.

That Google is #2 globally and in North America is utterly amazing, considering that the company does *no* significant commercial advertising.

By the way, I just noticed that Real has a promo for Google Toolbar on the bottom of its web site. Could there be a possible partnership of some sort in store for these two companies? Yahoo! and AOL both have substantial media/music businesses. Google doesn't. Hmm...

Very interesting set of investments and advancements in the local search space by A9.

I think it's a great way for Amazon to learn more about what kind of local merchants people are shopping for (>> insight into consumer behavior), with the additional benefits to Amazon of being able to monetize the search traffic through advertising and offer testing.

This move continues to blur the lines between offline and online shopping. It adds value to local merchants by making the local search experience more rich and compelling, and...

While the visuals are capturing the press buzz, the most significant part of the search experience is the "Click to Call Business" in the upper right corner.

Actually, it enables the business to call you back, but that will evolve into a direct VoIP connection to the store or a customer service agent. It will enable you to complete a transaction and then pick up the goods or have them delivered even from merchants that don't know the world-wide-web from a cobweb. It's taking virtualization of the real world to the next step, and positioning Amazon to capture a few more percentage points of the consumer share of wallet along the way.

Of course, that's the ambition behind *every* local search service, be it Google, Yahoo, or MSN.

But the visual representation by A9 is very, very clever. I'm not sure it's too hard to replicate, but it is very clever.

It also introduces the possibility of local vendors paying for leads on a "pay per call" commission structure. This could tap into a larger pool of merchant advertising dollars.

All in all, I love the strategy and execution. The major challenge for them is to continue to build awareness and use.
 

PBS | I, Cringely . Archived Column

Interesting "trojan horse" theory. Looks like a lot of players will be vying for the position of media center, doesn't it? A system that will enable you to download (legally) movies and record television broadcasts, replay them on any screen in the house or even stream them to yourself on a remote or mobile device over the internet. There's Sony with its PS3/PSX, TIVO, ReplayTV, Windows Media Center, why not Apple?

Is there room for all of them to win? Probably, although the vast majority of consumers will probably prefer something more appliance-like and sexy, so those with the best designs (Apple, Sony) may have an advantage. This will certainly put pressure on the other PC makers to improve the packaging of their PCs. No one is going to want a huge Dell box with P4-loud fan noise in their living room.

Skype - Free Internet telephony that just works

Holy freaking cannoli. I just tried Skype two days ago for PC-to-PC calls and I am still agape at how good it is. The quality of sound really is better than any phone I've ever used. It literally sounded like Anita was hiding somewhere inside my speakers. Better still, I didn't need any special microphone (on the head or boom mike). My built-in laptop mic in my trusty Dell 600m produced outstanding sound on her end, and her built-in Toshiba Tablet PC mic sounded superb. There is *no* feedback, *no* latency, and no need to upgrade equipment... It's utterly magical. Did I mention it's free for PC-to-PC calls? We just leave it on and we talk when we feel like it. No "push-to-talk" or anything. Utterly amazing.

Now, one caveat. I've tried SkypeOut, also. It enables you to do PC-to-phone calls, and it was a markedly different experience. There is a small, but noticable, latency and it did require me to wear a headset mic and speakers to avoid feedback and avoid call jitter. Still, it's the best VoIP experience I've ever had. And $0.02 / minute ain't bad.

It also comes with traditional text chat features, supports file transfer, emoticons, chat session logging, and the ability to search for registered Skype users that match names in your Outlook address book. It doesn't support the same kind of detailed buddy list management features that other chat apps do. Nor does it have the over-the-top backgrounds and themes that the latest Y! and AOL Messengers do.

But I don't really care about these kind of superficial features. I'm less about the style, more about the substance.

Skype, I think I love you.

Of course, I'm still cold on the iPod. Yes, I've played with them, and yes I listen to digital music. But it doesn't really do that much for me. I'm still a price/performance shopper more so than an image/design shopper and I'm not sure I want to be locked into Apple's pay-per-song model. I'm actually leaning much more towards the Napster/Rhapsody model of subscriptions. Anyway, having all of my music with me all the time isn't that important to me right now. 

Mac mini is definitely cool. I last owned a Mac in college and its portability and durability were wonderful. Granted, having a tiny (what was it, 10"?) monochrome screen wasn't all that great, but it was excellent for moving around when you changed dorms every year, came home for the summer, etc. I've used and owned PCs exclusively ever since, though, primarily for their price/performance advantage, although I've also enjoyed the larger software libraries of the Windows world. Of late, though, I've been really impressed with the price/performance ratio and stellar design of the new iBooks. The form factor of this new mini blows even the smallest fanless Shuttle PC form factors I've seen out of the water. This means nothing but goodness for both Mac and PC users, as PC designers begin to take cues from Apple's design leadership. I can't help but think how much $$$ Dell could save on shipping and warehousing if it were able to reduce the bulk and weight of its desktop PCs to this size. Granted, manufacturing and component costs would almost certainly rise significantly.