Twitter Revamp

Twitter today updated the look of their landing page to help with better recognition of their brand.  In a poll of people who were asked “What is Twitter”, a good two thirds of those who responded didn’t know what it was.  People who do know what Twitter is, some people don’t know what the point of it is.  People have said they don’t want to know what they are having for lunch.  People who use Twitter swear by it however.  It is a social network that is catching on strong among the younger generation.  Twitter is made famous by celebrity users who tweet their activities.  Business tweet about where their locations are going to be such as the famed Kogi Truck in Los Angeles.

The new landing page hopes to give people a more of an understanding of what Twitter is and how to use it.  It is catching on, albeit slowly.

Microsoft Copies Apple AGAIN

Where would Microsoft be if it weren’t for Apple.  Many believe that the R&D department at Microsoft are just spies who look at what Apple is doing.  Windows seems to always find new things that resemble Apple’s OSX, the Zune is a copy of the iPod, and now Microsoft is opening its own retail stores to mimic those of Apple.  They even have named their help area the Guru Bar, a direct copy of Apples Genius Bar.  The first two Microsoft stores are set to open soon in Mission Viejo California and in Scottsdale Arizona.  We’ll see how successful Microsoft will be with this venture.

Microsoft and Yahoo take on Google

Microsoft and Yahoo announced today that they have formed a partnership that has been months in the making.  Microsofts newly branded search engine Bing together with Yahoo’s search engine will partner together to take on the big lead that Google has.  Currently Google maintains a 65% marketshare compared to the combined 28% of both Yahoo and Bing.  Under the agreement, Microsoft will pay Yahoo 88% of the revenue generated by Yahoo’s search engine while Microsoft will have the rights to integrate Yahoo’s technology into Bing.  The deal is expected to be formalized sometime in 2010.

The combined effort will cost Microsoft hundred of millions of dollars to implement.  The cost of the agreement may seem small compared to the $44.6 billion dollar unsolicited offer to acquire Yahoo.  In any combined effort, the company expects that layoffs will occur as part of the partnership.  However, the partnership is expected to be a win win for both companies as Microsoft will get added revenue from the increased ad relevance that translates to higher ad revenue.

Palm Pre Now on Verizon

The Palm Pre has been added to the Verzion lineup.  The Palm Pre had been on Sprint exclusively when it was first introduced.  There is no word on when the Pre will be available on Verizons network or when.  Future announcements will come regarding this.  This is on top of the rampant rumors that Apple’s iPhone will also be on Verizon’s network sometime next year.  There has been some riff going on between Apple and Palm regarding the syncing ability of iTunes and Palm Pre.  This battle is surely to heat up once both phones are on Verizons network.

Palm Pre and iTunes

The battle continues over the Palm Pre’s ability to sync with iTunes.  Turns out that when the Palm Pre was introduced, it could sync with iTunes as it appears as like an ipod on iTunes.  Then Apple released an update to iTunes that killed the sync between iTunes and the Palm Pre however this didn’t last long as Palm released a firmware update to allow it to sync again.  How long this battler will go is unsure.  What makes this interesting is that the head of Palm Pre was a form head of Apples iPod division.  This may be the reason why the Pre has been able to sync with iTunes.  Who knows if Apple legal will do anything about this.

Wireless Electricity

Ever since Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, electricity has been a wired world.  Not today, a Massachusetts company Witricity is developing tools to power and charge your electronic devices without cords.  They say that they will have a system ready for consumers in about 18 months.  They demonstrated the technology using a G1 and an iPhone.  The system works on resonant magnetic coupling.  This is safe for humans and also can pose a real environmental bonus by not having batteries ending up in landfills.  Small electronics that power remote controls can be powered with this technology saving millions of batteries.

Kogi and Twitter

Twitter by now is the fastest growing social network right now.  They have millions of people and a lot of celebrities using it to share information about their daily activities.  Business is also getting in on the act.  One popular LA business is the Kogi Truck.  The Kogi Truck is a typical taco truck but instead of tacos and burritos, its serving Korean fusion foods such as Kimchee quesidillas and Korean BBQ.  The Kogi Truck has a legion of followers that constantly follow the Kogi account to find where the Kogo Truck will be next.  The Kogi truck updates its location using Twitter.  The truck usually has people waiting for it at the specified location.  This is one way that people are using technology to make money.

California’s unemployment rising

California’s unemployment rate shot up again to 11.6%.    This rate is far higher than the national rate of 9.5%.  California is already reeling from a budget fiasco that forced the state to issue IOU’s to its taxpayers.  With the 11.6% unemployment rate, California is 6th in the nation for the highest unemployment rate.  Michigan is at the top of the list with an unemployment rate of 15.2%.  Economists don’t see the slide in the unemployment rate ending anytime soon.  California is still suffering from mass lay offs throughout the state.  One bright spot in this could be the housing industry which had some good numbers come out that may indicate a bottoming out.