slice of koh

So I probably should’ve seen this coming.  Actually, I am disappointed in myself for not creating something like this by now.  Gamecrush.com sets up online game dates” to play with girls.  Guys are Players, and girls are Playdates.  Players pay to play with Playdates, and the fee is $6.60 for 10 minutes.  Pretty expensive to chat up with a girl you may or may not like for 10 minutes.

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Is it war between corporation and country?  In December, Google detected a cyberattack originating from China that resulted in theft of intellectual property.  The cyberattack also targeted other US companies and accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.  Up until now, Google has censored some results in hopes to increase information access in China.  Now they are revisiting their business operations in China and are no longer willing to censor results on Google.cn.

There is a lot at stake.  Losing a high-profile company would be embarrassing to the Chinese government who promise good business conditions to foreign investors.  As the Chinese government seeks to make China a global technology leader, losing the investment of one of the top technology companies in the world would surely be scrutinized.  In all likelihood, Beijing is unlikely to end all censorship and would possibly seek a compromise to keep its image in check.

Cyber espionage has been around for years between national governments but national governments targeting their current and future foreign investors?  That could be taking a little too far.

Despite multiple reassurances, it seems that Google is toying with the idea of creating, developing, and selling their own mobile hardware running Android directly to consumers.  In the U.S., mobile network carriers such as AT&T and Verizon traditionally sell mobile phones to the consumers along with service.  Some mobile phones are exclusive to the network like the IPhone or Palm Pre, so consumers cannot take their handsets to any network they want. However, in the rest of the world, it is very common for hardware developers like HTC or Nokia to sell their handsets directly to consumers, and consumers choose their service separately.

Is selling your own hardware to support your mobile OS a good idea? Do you really want to create tension in one’s relationship with the carriers and hardware developers? Verizon already put heavy marketing support behind the Motorola Droid which supports Android.  T-Mobile brought the first “Google phone” via G1 and followed up MyTouch 3G.  HTC is already enjoying double-digit growth in their Android handsets (despite their dismal Windows Mobile smartphones). What is Google doing by creating their own hardware?  For Google, it makes strategic sense to create and sell their own mobile hardware to consumers.

Currently, the mobile OS market is crowded, so consolidation will likely occur in the smartphone OS market similar to the computer OS market.  Apple’s IPhone will become the “closed environment” OS, but who will become the “mass market” OS for smartphones?  Blackberry has solid share in the U.S. and abroad.  Windows Mobile has been around for a long time, but Microsoft has not been too successful in this venture.  Nokia supports both S60 and Maemo in their smartphones.  Finally, Palm is enjoying some success with their WebOS platform despite little developer support.  Google’s Android became much stronger in the past year with tons of hardware and developer support.  Unlike other mobile OS except for the new Maemo, Android is free for hardware manufactures and application developers.

Most of Google’s revenue is entirely from advertising, so the more people who use Google applications and search, the more likely Google will be making money from people clicking on those ads. RIM and Apple have been successful because they were able to meld fantastic hardware with a huge software library.  RIM perfected the physical keyboard for messaging and emails for business people on the go.  Apple perfected the “pretty” touchscreen interface with a rich application library.  Where does that leave the others?  Nokia is stretching too much of their resources to support two operating systems.  Palm’s WebOS is great but lacks developer support.  Windows Mobile suffers from performance issues.  Where does that leave Google?  Android has grown significantly since its launch a year ago, but there hasn’t been a perfect match between hardware and software.  The G1 was still clunky in terms of hardware and software.  MyTouch 3g lacked horsepower and screen real estate.  Motorola’s Droid is probaby the closest in terms of “great” hardware and more evolved Android; however, the keyboard is subpar.  HTC Hero does not have the screen real estate to be a truly comfortable touchscreen typing experience.

If Google Android is to succeed, there needs to be a flagship phone that perfectly melds hardware with software.  If none of the hardware developers can create such a product, it’s no surprise that Google is taking it upon themselves to have more control and say in the creation of the Android hardware.  Also, allowing consumers to buy directly from the manufacturer can change the way that the U.S. mobile market operates today. Combine it with Android 2.1 and an attractive price tag, you may have a product that will gain the attention of both early adopters and mass market alike.

Gizmodo posted the video for Charlie Rose’s interview with Dan Hesse.  You have to give Dan Hesse credit.  Any executive will do anything to make his or her company look superior to competitors.  A smart executive understands the playing field, recognizes his or her company’s strengths and weaknesses, and will craft a strategy to compete.  Sprint has been in a downward spiral for awhile, but Dan Hesse seems to have a pretty good strategy in place for Sprint’s comeback. Below are some memorable quotes and comments:

“We’re getting ready to launch a couple new Android devices.” – One is HTC Hero, but what are the other ones?  Not only will Sprint launch a lower cost WebOS phone, Pixi, but Sprint is diversifying its portfolio to give the consumers a great selection of smartphones to use on its network.  Does anyone remember when Sprint actually had a cool selection of phones to choose from?  I don’t.

“In 20 / 20 hindsight, it was, yes… the premium that Sprint paid for Nextel was too much.” – Applaud Dan Hesse for recognizing the stupid merger.  There aren’t many corporate executives who’ll admit to management mistakes.  Even fewer will admit to M&A mistakes, especially those that made headlines.

“The biggest impediment to mobile growth is you got processors are getting a lot faster, screens are getting sharper, they use more and more power, and battery technology is not moving very fast… That’s the one breakthrough that the industry needs. It needs battery breakthroughs.” To me, this is one of the biggest issues with touchscreen smartphones.  My G1 dies after 6 hours with moderate usage.  That’s pretty inexcusable, as I’m often out and about for at least 12 hours per day.  With all these hardware improvement designed to eat less battery juice, why do manufacturers not see the beauty of making a better battery rather than trying to make its hardware more power-efficient?  Maybe someone should develop a touchscreen with built-in solar panels, so my phone could be charged with only sunlight.  A smartphone with a big touchscreen and fast processor will be useless if the battery dies in 2 hours.

After this interview, my respect for Dan Hesse has increased significantly.  He truly does understand the business and taking the right steps to make Sprint a viable contender once more.  Is it too little too late?  We’ll see for sure once Q3 and Q4 earnings come out for Sprint.

Not so long ago, Gamestop was selling Guitar Hero: World Tour set for $90.  It was very tempting, and I contemplated on buying it for a couple days.  Fearing that the wireless drums may still malfunction and I had a preference for Rock Band DLC, I decided to pass and wait until Rock Band 2 goes on sale.

It looks like the day has finally come.  Amazon cut its prices on special editions of Rock Band 2 for all consoles to $90.