Google on Ulitzer

Google+ may fail … it may not succeed in weaning away enough users from Facebook… …But what G+ has ensured is that Facebook will not be able to make enough money to justify its current market value of US$ 100 billion. Why so? Let us do a quick back of the envelop calculation. For Facebook to justify it current valuation of US$ 100 billion, it needs to, at some point of time, make an annual profit of at least US$ 10 billion. That can be done only if they have annual revenue of around US$ 30 billion. This revenue number is about 15 time their current annual revenue. The user base and the level of usage cannot keep growing indefinitely and will saturate at some point of time. Let us assume that it saturates at double the current level. That still means the revenue per user has to increase 7 to 8 time the current level. Even assuming that enough organizations are ready t... (more)

Oracle Reportedly Asking Android Makers for Royalties

Rumor has it that Oracle is soliciting Java royalties from Android device makers in case it wins its Android suit against Google and the price goes up. Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg says he heard from "various handset makers" that Oracle wants $15-$20 a device for Dalvik. He hasn't heard of anybody signing up yet and the range sounds awfully like a first negotiating move. Microsoft, meanwhile, according to South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, is supposedly trying to get $15 per Android device from Samsung, which would be triple the $5-a-device Microsoft is believed ... (more)

Suntech Unveils High-Efficiency and Innovative Solar Module for Israel

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), the world's largest producer of solar panels, unveiled the Suntech 300W Vd series, a new generation high-efficiency solar module, for Israel, available immediately. Powered by Suntech's SuperPoly processing technology, a superior silicon casting and wafering process that produces higher-quality multicrystalline wafers, the module achieves up to 15.5% conversion efficiency, well above the 13% to 14% efficiency of conventional polycrystalline solar modules. The introduction of Su... (more)

Judge Suspects Android’s Infringement Was Willful

Judge William Alsup, who's hearing the Oracle v Google suit over Android, has given the pair a terse one-paragraph order ahead of the Daubert hearing Google asked for next week to limit possible damages. "It appears," he said, that it's "possible that early on Google recognized that it would infringe patents protecting at least part of Java, entered into negotiations with Sun to obtain a license for use in Android, then abandoned the negotiations as too expensive, and pushed home with Android without any license at all." He wants to know "How accurate is this scenario? Does Goog... (more)

Schmidt to Testify

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has been delegated to go and testify before the US Senate's antitrust subcommittee in September. Google has been reluctant to send any of its managers but then the Senate reminded Google that it had subpoena powers. Google had offered its chief legal officer David Drummond but the subcommittee wanted either Schmidt or new CEO Larry Page. The Federal Trade Commission started a formal antitrust investigation of Google last month and the European Commission is already doing the same thing. The Justice Department is also investigating Google for... (more)