Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Integration of systems has always been an important part of e-business. The latest approach to integration under common interfaces is Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). This article describes how it might be implemented in an organization. For a more complete definition, try www.whatis.com. Four Steps to SOA - Computerworld

Monday, March 13, 2006

Google has reached a settlement of its infamous "click-fraud" case, in which a class action was brought against the company on the grounds that as many as 20% of the clicks on the "pay-per-click" ads that Google runs for its customers are fraudulent. For example, an advertiser's competitor can click repetitively on a competitor's ad, knowing that each click is costing the competitor money. Such ads make up a majority of Google's revenues. As a result of the settlement, Google will reimburse certain of its its customers at a cost estimated to be as much as 90 million. Extended Enterprise > Online Retailing and Ecommerce > Google to settle click-fraud lawsuit for $90M

Friday, March 10, 2006

A major new trend that is about to intensify is the explosive growth of hand-held music players, such as industry leader Apple's iPod. There is about to be another convergence, where cell phone makers come out with music capable (in fact, mp3 capable) phones. First off the block is expected to be Sony Ericsson, owner of the Walkman, who will be producing a new cell phone in the fall capable of playing music. Of course, this will open the door for music to be played directly off of the internet. Apple is not expected to take this lying down, since they have a major winner with their iPod, so they are expected to move into the cell phone business in order to compete. Their plans are a little hazy, but their executives have given some tantalizing hints. In the past couple of years, the availability of MP3 music on the internet, through such vendors as Apple's iTunes has solidified the status of that format for music off the internet. The success of the iPod has made clear the strength of that market segment. Of course, cell phones are rampant and the prospect of combining them with music players will be attractive to many people. It'll open up a whole new market and a whole new use of the internet. InformationWeek Music Phones Analysis: Music Phones To Slice Into iPod Growth March 10, 2006

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Yesterday's announcement by Bell and Aliant to create an income trust combining elements of their businesses represents the latest move within the industry to cope with growing competition and the impact of technology on the industry. The Trust combines the land-line business of Aliant with that of Bell in rural Ontario. Ultimately it will be renamed as a Bell company, with the service presumably integrated under the Bell infrastructure. Most likely that will mean a loss of jobs for Atlantic Canada, in the land-line end of the business. It may create opportunities in the wireless end of the business, which is what Aliant is left with. However, that remains to be seen, as the wireless business is extremely competitive and competition is heating up. The telecommunications industry is the latest of the old mainstream industries to face drastic re-engineering as a result of the growth of e-business and the impact of new technologies. There will be more to come. globeandmail.com : BCE's Aliant trust spinoff valued at $8.5B

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Many people feel that everything on the internet should be free. However, this may be ignoring the fact that the infrastructure supporting the internet is not itself free, and that as usage grows, the size of the networks needs to grow as well. So the companies who own that infrastructure will want to have someone pay for the growth. That likely means the internet consumer. Which likely means that using the internet is not going to stay as cheap as it is now. E-Commerce News: E-Commerce: Internet 'Fast Lane' Could Carry Heavy Toll

Sunday, March 05, 2006

I've been on vacation for ten days, so no postings. While I was away, RIM settled their dispute with NTP for a multimillion dollar settlement. There's no indication, however, that the high profile case made any headway in addressing the intellectual property isues it raised, particularly in regard to the US patent laws as they are applied. However, the profile of the case may have some impact on legislators. It's good, however, that us Blackberry addicts will not be deprived of our balm while in the US. globeandmail.com : RIM, NTP settle BlackBerry patent war