No one’s ever accused Bing of being refreshingly original. And it’s because Microsoft’s search engine basically just recycles other ideas and tries to sell them as its own.
Take its latest venture: Bing Deals. It’s a whole lot like all those other deal sites that have emerged thanks to Groupon and co. In fact, Microsoft didn’t even really make its own deal site; it just partnered with deal aggregator Dealmap.com.
Remember when Google actually innovated exciting, market-leading products? I miss those days because it seems like lately all Google does is release second-rate versions of products that already exist. Things like Google Buzz. Or the Nexus One (good product, terrible infrastructure around it).
Well we may have one more to add to that list. Google has confirmed that it will offer a new email deals service similar to Groupon. The service will be called ‘Google Offers’.
Altec Lansing’s Expressionist Plus speaker system is a clean, aesthetic set of speakers that delivers solid bass and quality audio for a competitive price. It’s a compact set of speakers that will bring a distinctive look to your desktop, laptop or MP3 player audio. With a cone shaped base and two small, highly adjustable speakers you’ll be able to fine-tune the perfect audio. Earlier this year, CNET gave the system a 3.5-star rating, saying: “Decent sound for the money; bass is fairly tight; speakers are good-looking and relatively compact; satellites angle can be adjusted.”
Wow, is there a new iPhone on the way or something? Walmart is scheduled to drop the price of the 16GB iPhone 3GS down to $97 today. For those that don’t pay attention to these things, that’s less than half the regular price of $199. So if you’re not all that interested in the next-generation iPhone and would rather save some bread, it’s your time of year.
We could have just taken our post from Friday and stamped a big ol’ official on it because not much has changed from rumors to reality. Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz took the stage at an event in NYC today to announce that Yahoo and Nokia have partnered together in a little something they like to call Project Nike. No, it doesn’t have anything to do with shoes; the Nike refers to Greek goddess of victory (seems a little premature, heh?).
The Federal Trade Commission has officially closed its investigation of Google’s attempted buy of AdMob, essentially green-lighting the deal. As had been speculated, the pending purchase got a little bump from Apple.
Here’s what the FTC had to say in that regard: “…although the combination of the two leading mobile advertising networks raised serious antitrust issues, the agency’s concerns ultimately were overshadowed by recent developments in the market, most notably a move by Apple Computer Inc. – the maker of the iPhone – to launch its own, competing mobile ad network.”
Yahoo has announced a special event next Monday in New York City, and according to rumors it will be held in conjunction with Nokia to announce a new partnership. The expected deal will put a variety of Yahoo services like email and search into Nokia phones. The two companies were reportedly looking into a co-branded phone, but that won’t be happening. I can’t say I’d be that eager to see a Yahoo/Nokia take on the Nexus One.
The HTC Droid Incredible officially launched last week. As was announced, the price with two-year contract through Verizon is $200.
If you like what the Droid Incredible has to say, but want to hear it at a 25 percent savings, Amazon has what you’re looking for. The retailer is selling the phone for $149.99, which includes free, two-day shipping (with a two-year Verizon service plan).
According to a Reuters report from early this morning, Lenovo has emerged as a front-runner for a Palm acquisition. Lenovo is reportedly looking seriously at a potential bid for the smartphone maker. Palm is expected to sell for as much as $1.3 million.
According to analyst Lu Chialin: “A most suitable candidate will be a mainland Chinese company. They’ve got a lot more free cash and don’t have the brand presence in the United States, so that will all give them that boost they need.”
