Google got some very good news last week.  According to various media reports, the US Justice department & European Commission have concluded their Motorola acquisition investigation. I guess the question is; why have things gone so smoothly? Fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms of licensing seems to have clinched it for Google.  I suspect that lobbyists were used by Google to communicate these FRAND terms to the legislative powers. When the acquisition was initially made public I thought that there might be some opposition to it. Why? Well, the other cellphone manufacturers are...

Sony has unveiled new Cyber-shot digital cameras. It is becoming pretty obvious that Sony is becoming more reliant on their consumer electronic goods. Their gaming console , TV  and Online Entertainment divisions are under pressure. They launched 3 cameras; Sony Cyber-shot TX200V, Cyber-shot WX70 & Cyber-shot WX50 but one caught my attention. The Cyber-shot TX200V seems to be a high specification point and shoot digital camera. Wait for it; it features an 18 Megapixel Exmor R CMOS Sensor. Yes, you read right 18 Megapixels.  It also features a 5x f3.5-4.8 26-130mm Carl Zeiss lens and a 3.3-inch...

Winds of change are starting to blow over Research in Motion (RIM) in Canada. On Sunday co-CEO’s Jim Balsillie and Mike Laziridis handed over their duties to Thorsten Heins.  Heins has been Chief Operating Officer of RIM (BlackBerry) for the past 4 years. The fact that the RIM board felt the CEO position should be held by an insider without looking for a fresh pair of eyes from a neutral person is interesting.  They are obviously trying to make a change without rocking the boat completely. It also looks like a figure head change as Balsillie and Laziridis are no longer associated with the...

If I think about photography then Kodak almost instantly comes to mind. Call it the effects of marketing but “a Kodak moment” is etched in my memory. I was incredibly sad to read the press reports that started with “Kodak files for bankruptcy protection”. The Kodak story is one that represents the change in photography. Once upon a time Kodak sold the majority of the photographic film used in old school cameras. Then the significant movement to digital came and Kodak it seemed had no plan how to cater for it. It is very sad that a company so intertwined with photography is staring bankruptcy in...

Something is going on at Sony. Call it deck chairs moving or trouble in paradise, Sony is definitely going through a period of change. Sony spent $8.4 billion on mergers and acquisitions in 2011.  A majority of that amount went into operations to boost their phones and content. In October they acquire Ericsson’s share in their cellphone joint venture to ensure that it becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony. So this means that they envision that their cellphone division will become a very important part in the future of Sony. Sony Corporation (“Sony”) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson...