This week in tech kicked off with yet another bite of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and boy, was it sweet.
Expanding the iEmpire
No one was surprised to see CEO Steve Jobs roll out a 3G iPhone at the iEmpire's Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday. But for $199? I guess it's time to kiss the iPod Touch goodbye, eh?
Other mild surprises from this year's WWDC include a widget for tracking eBay auctions and built-in GPS and for the new iPhones -- previously, Apple relied on Wi-Fi hotspots for location data -- as well as a reboot of the .Mac online service into a broader offering known as MobileMe.
Think of it as a Web-based desktop for storing mail, contact, calendar, and other data, allowing all devices to remain in sync. Jobs called it "Exchange for the rest of us."
Cute, but that didn't prevent Apple from also announcing it had added Exchange support to the iPhone. Look out, Nokia and Research In Motion; Mr. Mac is on the attack. You too, Microsoft. MobileMe might not seem like much, but it could become exactly the sort of Trojan horse that sneaks an army of Macs into the enterprise.
Boo hoo, Microhoo. Hello ... Goohoo?
It's not goodbye; it's "so long."
Yesterday, Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) ended its flirtation with Mr. Softy and began a (dangerous?) liaison with Sergey, Larry, and Eric -- all without permanently ruling out the possibility of an acquisition sometime in the future. (Kinky.)
Beginning in September, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) will begin supplying search ad inventory to the Yahooligans, which reports say could boost its revenue by $800 million annually. Awwwww, how sweet.
More digital news you can use
Also this week:
- Nortel chose Rule Breakers recommendation Alvarion (NASDAQ:ALVR) as its top partner for WiMAX development.
- XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:XMSR) settled a dispute with EMI Music. But it's anyone's guess as to whether this will get the Feds to finally approve its merger with Sirius (NASDAQ:SIRI).
- TASER (NASDAQ:TASR), after a long string of courtroom victories, lost its first product liability case this week. Officially, the judgment was for about $6.2 million, but investors worry that the cost of the precedent will be much higher.
That's it for the week in tech. See you back here next Friday and, in the meantime, Fool on!
