Blockbuster Declares Bankruptcy

Call it a commentary on the retail rental model, changes in end user preferences or simply the rise of online and other forms of distribution, but Blockbuster, to almost nobody's surprise, has declared bankruptcy.

Best Buy CEO Now Says Tablet Sales are Incremental to PCs

Brian J. Dunn, CEO, Best Buy Co. is "walking back" a comment reported by the Wall Street Journal, where Dunn said Apple's iPad might have cannibalized as much as 50 percent of Best Buy's PC sales over the last quarter.

Later, Dunn appeared to want to soften the reported remarks. "We see some shifts in consumption patterns, with tablet sales being an incremental opportunity," Dunn now says.

We might not know whether the latter statement, or the first statement, is closer to the truth until the round of quarterly reports.

At&t could lose 1.4 million iPhone subs to Verizon, if Verizon gets the device.

That might not be a disaster, but it is somewhere between 1.5and nearly twice the total number of net new subs Verizon gets in three months.

http://www.google.com/reader/i/?source=mog&gl=us#stream/user%2F05579064408535224496%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Freading-list

Apple's profits in mobile business are almost shocking

In a supposedly commodity business, Apple is anything but.

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/21/pie-chart-apples-outrageous-share-of-the-mobile-industrys-profits/

Google vs. Skype: Who Will Win the Internet Telephony Battle? And Does it Matter?

Maybe, maybe not, in a broader sense.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2010/09/17/google-vs-skype-who-will-win-the-internet-telephon.aspx

Media Business at a Gutenberg Moment?

The internet obviously disrupts many legacy businesses, print among them.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/knowledge/interview-knowledge/exclusive-media-legend-larry-kramer-says-media-business-is-in-a-gutenberg-moment/?p=8087/

Will Apple Do to Publishing As It Did to Music?

Print content firms hope not. It isn't clear yet whether that is a rational hope.

http://www.emarketer.com/blog/index.php/talks-heat-ipad-digital-subscriptions/

1 in 5 Homeowners Underwater on Mortgage

I initially though the 2008 recession was just a garden variety downturn: not pleasant but not tragic. I apparently was quite wrong.

http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/1-in-5-homeowners-underwater-on-mortgage-14264/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink

Online branding is more complicated than offline

paid, earned and other approaches require more planning in an online context.

http://www.emarketer.com/mobile/article_m.aspx?R=1007936

Google Transparency Report: Government Blocking

Actual blocking of Google content is more widespread than you might think, a new analysis by Google suggests. The "open" Internet now is "closed" in more ways than you might think.

Google Transparency Report: Government Requests

Analyst: Few Would Leave AT&T for a Verizon iPhone

According to Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Chaplin, AT&T doesn't need to worry so much about the long-rumored, but yet-to-launch Verizon iPhone.

Based on survey data, he found that only 23 percent of AT&T iPhone users would switch to Verizon, and, perhaps more shockingly, 51 percent of subscribers reported satisfaction with AT&T's service.

You can make your own assessments of whether losing 23 percent of its iPhone customers is a big deal or not.

Analyst: Few Would Jump (AT&T's) Ship for a Verizon iPhone

Stagnation, Double Dip, New Recession? Things Just Aren't Getting Better

In strict terms, the recession ended in mid 2009. In practical terms, you might argue it has ended with stagnation, the recovery remaining anemic.

It might not matter much whether there is a "double dip" recession, or just another recession, or simply continued stagnation.

Rumored Specs for HTC Tablet

Though HTC has not formally announced any plans for an Android tablet, there are rumors a device of that type might be available as soon as early 2011.

Now Digitimes — the source of the original rumor — has their sources inside of Taiwanese device manufacturer Pegatron Technology saying the specs for the device are set.

The HTC tablet will feature the NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset, a 1280 by 720 resolution touchscreen, 2 GBytes of RAM and 32GB SSD, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

An estimated price based on build cost suggests a device costing about $790.

Rumored Specs for HTC Tablet

Facebook Phone Might Not be a False Rumor

Facebook developers are said to be working on a secret project, and that project may be a Facebook phone, despite the company's denial.

Two well-known developers at Facebook, Joe Hewitt and Matthew Papakipos, are said to be holed up working on a project that few people have knowledge of, including other Facebook staff. Hewitt is known for his work on Firefox and a web-based 'OS' known as Parakey before working for Facebook. There he worked on a mobile version of the website for the iPhone, as well as creating the native iOS client.

Facebook denies phone rumors, but possibility still exists

Is Apple Working on a 7-Inch Screen iPad?

Apple might be looking to develop a new version of iPad, this one with a 7-inch screen and bring it to market sometime in 2011, according to a research note put out by Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar.

Some of us think that is a smart idea. The current iPad is too large to be a device normally carried everywhere, at least for some of us who have to use a notebook or netbook.

The Samsung Galaxy is available in a 7-inch form factor already, for example. 

Some smartphones, meanwhile, now feature 4-inch screens with very good "full web" access. In fact, some of us prefer to use the full web browser rather than apps for many tasks.

But content creation on a 4-inch smartphone still is too difficult. A 7-inch form factor is where the gap is, for a couple of reasons. It might just be small enough and light enough to lug around with a netbook. And it might be workable as a content creation platform for some tasks.

Is Apple Working on a 7-Inch Screen iPad?