• Gavin O'Malley, Apr 30, 2010, 12:27 PM
  • LaLa Shutter Fails To Send Shudders Through Tech World The Wall Street Journal et al. Lala -- the cloud-based music-streaming service that Apple bought late last year -- is going bye-bye at the end of May. In its place, industry watchers are predicting that Apple will launch a cloud-based iTunes.com -- the mere implication of which has serious implications for the digital music business.

    Citing unnamed sources, a Wall Street Journal story published in late January said Apple was planning to launch a Web-based version of iTunes as soon as June. "Tentatively called iTunes.com, the service would allow customers to buy music without going through the specialized iTunes program on computers and iPhones," it reported.

    "Apple's decision to close Lala isn't much of a surprise, as Lala never found much of a foothold as a standalone music service," writes CNet's Media Maverick blog. "The real prize for Apple was the company's streaming technology ... Apparently, Apple is considering a plan to offer iTunes users the ability to store digital copies of their music and videos on the company's servers and then be given the ability to access their media via any Web-enabled device."

    And it's about time, writes paidContent. "Against both the web and subscription rise, iTunes' a la carte reliance looks archaic and one-dimensional, tooled for a market that's plateaued."

    Earlier this year, former MP3.com head Michael Robertson laid out the broad implications of Apple's would-be cloud-based media strategy. In short, he wrote, "Their upcoming plans ... are positioning [Apple] to lead the digital music industry into a new era."

    Upon the news of Lala's demise, TechCrunch asked: "Will Apple be the first company to turn online music subscription services into a sizable business?"

    Perhaps, but Apple's path to subscription-based success isn't without its obstacles.

    For one, "Lala's [music streaming] license was reportedly non-transferable, should the company be acquired," notes GigaOm. "Any new agreement [with the major labels] could involve a messy renegotiation in which Apple would make new concessions to the labels, as it did last year when variable pricing, DRM and bundling formats were in play." Read the whole story...
  • Sorry, Microsoft -- HP Ditches Windows 7 TechCrunch In a huge blow to Microsoft and its mobile strategy, Hewlett-Packard has killed its highly anticipated Windows 7 tablet computer, a source tells TechCrunch. In grand fashion, Microsoft head Steve Ballmer unveiled the device at CES 2010 in January, and it was expected to hit shelves by mid-year. Yet, HP was reportedly not satisfied with Windows 7 as a tablet operating system. "HP may also be abandoning Intel-based hardware for its slate lineup simply because it's too power hungry," TechCrunch speculates.

    So, what will HP use in lieu of Windows 7? "Look for Google-powered devices, which have already been announced," suggests TechCrunch. Also, "HP really does seem determined to make a go of the Palm WebOS." HP, if you hadn't heard, just said it would buy Palm for $1.3 billion. Still, TechCrunch thinks it "very unlikely" that Palm's WebOS will emerge as a successful operating system for tablet devices. "To get traction from third party developers with WebOS HP will need to sell a lot of units." Read the whole story...
  • Adobe Responds To Jobs' 'Extraordinary Attack' The Wall Street Journal Just hours after Apple head Steve Jobs released an open letter on Thursday lambasting Adobe and its Flash media player, The Wall Street Journal sat down for an exclusive interview with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. As The Journal noted, "The squabbling between Apple and Adobe has been getting increasingly personal, with Adobe executives and employees angered in particular by Apple's decision to block Adobe software that would allow developers to produce programs in Flash that would then be converted to work on the iPhone."

    In response to what The Journal called Jobs' "extraordinary attack," Narayen said the difference between the two companies is that Adobe believes in open content. Its Creative Suite software was designed to work on multiple devices, he said, while Apple's "recent behavior show[s] that they are concerned about Adobe being able" to provide this product that works across multiple platforms. Furthermore, Narayen said Adobe has been "true to the vision" with which it was founded, and to the idea that it should help people deal with multiple operating systems. Read the whole story...
  • Scoble: Facebook Has Gone Too Far, Still Unstoppable Scobleizer After having a little time to digest Facebook's far-reaching Open Graph initiative, blogger Robert Scoble concludes that the top social net "has broken an invisible privacy contract with its users." Indeed, "Previously private data is showing up on Yelp, Pandora, and Spotify ... That wasn't expected by the users." Still, due to the fear of being left behind and/or the promise of more engaged users, publishers are falling over themselves to play Facebook's game.

    Scoble now says that his initial prediction that 30 of the top 100 Web sites would incorporate Facebook's "Like" buttons in the first few months might turn out to be very low. In turn, "Facebook is studying metadata from all these likes and other behavior of ours and I believe is preparing new kinds of search and discovery services." Baring the possibly of a massive user backlash, that spells big trouble for Google. In fact, Scoble's knowledgeable sources all agree that Google has become the new Microsoft. Read the whole story...
  • Principal Calls For Ban On Social Networks WCBSTV.com Slamming social networks as nothing more than tools for "cyber-bullying," the principal of one New Jersey middle school is asking parents to join a voluntary ban on the popular services. "Rumors used to be some mean girl says something in the hall, but now it's out there for the whole world to look at," Anthony Orsini, the principal at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, NJ told CBS 2. Meanwhile, Meredith Wearly, the school's guidance counselor, told the TV station that about 75% of her day is now spent dealing with social networking issues with students. Principal Orsini said the reaction from parents has been generally positive.

    The students, however, are less than enthusiastic about the proposed ban. At a time when people increasingly rely on social networks for everything from professional contacts to personal relationships, couldn't one argue that digital socialization has become a vital life skill? Not according to Principal Orsini. There is absolutely, positively no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site!" he told parents. "None." Read the whole story...
  • Data: Smartphone Sales Soaring Moco news The global smartphone market saw its best quarter in nearly three years, according to new findings from research firm Strategy Analytics. Global smartphone shipments jumped by a whopping 50% to 54 million in the first quarter -- up from 36 million year-over-year.

    Nokia, for one, shipped a record 21.5 million smartphones, which gave it a dominant 40% market share. Beating out Apple's 16.4% market share, Blackberry-make RIM accounted for a 20% market share in the first quarter. Separately, IDC reported that the broader mobile phone market grew by by 21.7% to 294.9 million during the first quarter -- up from 242.4 million units during the first quarter of 2009. Not bad, considering that the mobile phone market had actually declined 16.6% during that quarter from the previous quarter in 2008. Read the whole story...