A kindler, gentler Alan Greenspan?

Last week, we discussed the Fed chairman's uncharacteristically sanguine outlook on the housing bubble. Today, according to Reuters, he assured the Congressional Black Caucus that U.S. households do not appear overburdened by debt, despite a rash of recent non-business bankruptcy filings.

More Foolishly still, in reference to concerns over abusive mortgage lending practices, Greenspan emphasized the importance of "financial literacy" in today's "highly complex" financial world.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

In today's Motley Fool Take:

Motorola Missteps

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) investors are groaning again on news that two key mobile phone models with cameras that were meant to launch by the holidays are going to miss the crucial deadline. Nearly a third of mobile phone sales take place in the fourth quarter, and despite promising to make deadlines after missing them in years past, Motorola is at it again.

The country's largest wireless carrier, Verizon(NYSE: VZ), will not receive the new Motorola phone models -- called E310 and V810 -- in time for testing or in time to plan a marketing campaign before the holidays, The Wall Street Journal reports. Both phones have flip-up color screens and one, with a camera and flash, was meant to be Motorola's flagship model for the season.

A Motorola spokesperson said that anytime you design a new product with new technology, you're likely to have setbacks, but there's no excuse for a $28 billion company to miss such a crucial selling period, especially when it knew, of course, that the deadline was fast approaching. As recently as late July, Motorola expected to deliver these phones by the fourth quarter, perhaps even the third.

AT&T Wireless (NYSE: AWE) , BellSouth(NYSE: BLS) and SBC Communications(NYSE: SBC) may also face delays in their planned sales of Motorola camera phones by December.

This misstep at Motorola follows a string of setbacks that stretches back years now, making it no surprise that Nokia(NYSE: NOK), followed by Samsung Electronics, commands a strong lead in the wireless phone market to Motorola's third place. Last week, chairman and CEO Christopher Galvin decided to retire after disagreements with a board of directors tired of waiting for a turnaround.

So, not only is Motorola approaching the holidays without two key camera phone models, it lacks a leader as well. Because income has wilted, the deflated stock still trades at 50 times trailing earnings and 32 times forward estimates -- estimates that now must be called into question.

Quote of Note

"If you ever catch on fire, try to avoid seeing yourself in the mirror, because I bet that's what really throws you into a panic." -- Jack Handy, Deep Thoughts

Amazon Supporting Online Taxes?

Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) may be hopping aboard the national online sales tax train. According to yesterday's Washington Post, proponents of bicameral, bipartisan legislation have been trying to woo Amazon into lending its support to their bills.

Once considered too politically risky and controversial to touch, the issue of online sales tax collections has heated up this year amid record budget deficits for states. Back in February, a group of online retailers with offline presences, including Wal-Mart(NYSE: WMT), Target(NYSE: TGT), and Toys "R" Us(NYSE: TOY), announced that they'd reached an agreement with 38 states and the District of Columbia to collect sales taxes on purchases made by their residents. Now bills are being introduced in Congress to take that effort further, while at the same time simplifying the complex tax code for easier compliance.

It's not entirely surprising to hear that Amazon may be willing to give its support to the online sales tax movement. Its chief financial officer said at an investment conference in May that he believes online sales tax collections are "inevitable." However, should Amazon come out solidly in favor of online sales taxes, it would be a blow to other Internet-only retailers that have been relying on their lack of a local sales tax "nexus" to defend their no-tax status.

Amazon reportedly wants the annual sales threshold for tax collection brought down from $5 million to $25,000, meaning essentially that if they're going to get taxed, they want nearly everyone to get taxed. The House sponsors didn't agree and went ahead with their version of the bill, while the Senate side considered Amazon's proposal.

There was no official word out from Amazon today about its tax opinions and support (or lack of it) for the new legislation. Still, it's an interesting story, and one to keep watching.

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AOL Playhouse

The next time you see your AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) window pop up, it might not be your bored nephew with time to kill or the work of a relentless spammer randomly pimping lewd sites. No, it just might mean it's your move.

As Time Warner's(NYSE: AOL) America Online launches a series of multiplayer games this week to go along with its latest version of instant messaging software, it's time to get your game face on, folks. Or, at the very least, your game avatar.

It seems as if everybody is playing games these days. From Nokia(NYSE: NOK) entering portable game systems with N-Gage to McDonald's(NYSE: MCD) teaming up with Sega to distribute electronic games in its kid meals, everybody seems to be a reluctant bench warmer, just begging to be put into the game.

And AOL isn't some newcomer to the playing field. It's a seasoned veteran, having partnered with the likes of NTN Communications(AMEX: NTN) and video game giant Electronic Arts(Nasdaq: ERTS) in the past to offer users free and premium online diversions.

Incorporating games into AIM won't be the elixir to cure the online giant's ails. Like Yahoo!(Nasdaq: YHOO) Messenger, the platform is popular even for those who have a different Internet service provider. But that's the beauty here. It's a brand builder. If games make AOL a hip purveyor of entertainment, maybe the brand can resurrect its image. AOL has raised the stakes. Now it's your move.

Discussion Board of the Day: Time Warner

Do you think that games and instant messaging software were meant to be together or will it be a case of killer app overkill? What will this move mean to the AOL brand? Will "You've Got Mail" be replaced by "You've Got Game?" All this and more -- in the Time Warner discussion board. Only on Fool.com.

Not yet a member of the Fool Community? Jump into our discussion boards free for 30 days !

And Finally...

After reading Rick Munarriz's rant on the myth that is customer service, put on some sunblock and get some small-cap exposure for your portfolio. Don't worry, there's also plenty of love to go around on Fool.com today in Freddie Mac's Summer of Love, Vans' Girl Power, and Gotta Love Bill Gates. So bask in it!

Contributors:
Bob Bobala, Robert Brokamp, Paul Elliott, Mathew Emmert, Jeff Fischer, Tom Jacobs, Jeff Hwang, LouAnn Lofton, Alyce Lomax, Bill Mann, Selena Maranjian, Dave Marino-Nachison, Rex Moore, Rick Munarriz, Matt Richey, Reggie Santiago, Dayana Yochim