As usual things are bad for Sony,VC may bounce back, and the Amazon tablet is pretty much a go from what we can tell! Let's go!
The Great Sony Debacle:
As I always advise, keep surfing the web for info on this developing story, but as of now Sony has lost 12,700 credit card numbers and had 24.6 million accounts compromised on SOE. That's besides the PSN disaster.
And, yes, I am gladly using the term "disaster." PSN was bad enough, but two systems compromised, two cases of stolen data, and what I consider frankly lame make-ups are bad (I'd get people a subscription to Equifax if their data was compromised or something). This started bad and got worse and I'm not impressed with their handling.
I'm so unimpressed that I'd make a job with sony's game divisions no longer desirable but debatable. Yes, they're big and they'll recover, but this could be very harmful.
Economics/Geekonomics:
1 in 7 Americans are on food stamps – and that's not an even distribution – A few surprises here as well. A good example of what's going on in the country (and how cuts could be devastating)
Thoughts on the U.S. Debt ceiling. I believe it'll get raised – following much drama – but believe in a small but significant possibility political foofaraw will result in it NOT being raised for a short time.
Pure econogeekery: Geography of superstar sports millionaires. Just a fun bit with numbers.
MUST READ: A look at Venture Capital Trends. Roughly trends have worked to make tech a good sector for VC investing, at times due to contrarian reasons.
Ecosystems:
A big rumor is out there that Amazon has placed orders for it's own tablet with Taiwanese company Quanta. The above article has more juicy details – and you can follow the combined feed at Techmeme. If this is true (and my suspicions are it is – even if I have a mixed relation with rumors) then it looks like Amazon is launching it as a kind of "post-Kindle" device, and the Kindle could become a break-even or even a loss-leader over time. Things are about to get more interesting as Amazon will be taking on Apple, while also in a way taking on Google, but with Android as far as I know . . .
Media:
AOL isn't looking so hot between departures and the numbers. Again, we were really wrong here . . .
Social Technology:
MUST READ: Gamification company Bunchball may have validated the concept with Playboy. This is a great article on the story, the concepts, the company, the trends – and it even mentions a few Gameification companies who may need resumes pr partners.
TweetDeck's sale to Twitter pretty much expected.
Technology:
Well here's an interesting startup: Xobini provides social email and it has an app store that works with Outlook. Yeah, it sounds a bit weird to have that – tools that you download from another source to work with a Microsoft tool – but there you go. Pretty much it's a plug-in market, but these people also raised $31 million – so I present them as a possible employer and an interesting specialized app provider.
Amazon gets into the fashion site biz. They keep branching out – remember this as they move forward on the tablet (above). Also, keep them in mind as an employer for obvious reasons. More on the new Mac. I myself want to see how synergy with other devices plays into selling these new devices.
Video:
Peel raises $16.7 million in VC. What do they do/ Personalized TV recommendations. It's apparently a specialized device (I never heard of it before), and they're targeting other devices. A curious thing, really – and I wonder why something so simple is worth such a huge investment.
Netflix lands a ton of animated Marvel properties for instant streaming. More cementing of their dominance.
Video Games:
EA buys Firemint who had some real iOS successes. It's obvious from the article this is part of EA's move to mobile devices. Something to remember if you have a mobile game company or want to work in one – EA could end up your employer. Of course if you're working in mobile, maybe EA should be your employer and you can cut out the middleman . . .
Video Games By The Numbers – plenty of juicy stats.
Kabam charges in with a more strategic game, Global Warfare. This is a Facebook game. I've been hearing some good things about Kabam – they may be worth looking into for your career.
Ubisoft opens its own television and movie division. OK that got interesting – the Everything Wars are extending in some fun ways. Watch this space
Pop Cap buys ZipZapPlay. Just a note.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: So who's next to build an ecosystem after Amazon.com?
– Steven Savage