MySpace Facebook showdown

Very interesting ( MySpace has to Facebook the Music ) about MySpace's current issues, namely Facebook. MySpace has the strengths of Music and the musicians behind it, which frankly it has dis'ed for a while now. The close door relationships with the labels may not be the most healthy thing for them. Many music startups who really want to survive in this new era of music related business are folding to their demands.
The article is a good hint for MySpace to address the important issues, seems like many outside know about it. What would be nice is to defy the pressure from the labels and create a new startup that actually address the musicians and help them increase the reach for their offerings. Great musicians and bands out their who don't like the labels but have to sell their soles to them.
Interesting idea, eh!

SG

Number Portability, Google Voice New Secret Weapon

Google announced number portability (all kinds of phone numbers, cell, land, VOIP, etc). The techcrunch article Google Voice’s Secret Weapon: Number Portability talks about how cool would it be to have numbers portability between carriers, but that already exists now among most carriers. The whole value posed within this article is so really not a value at all. I have used GrandCentral from its early days. Well they were my customers three years ago. Then Craig knew somebody at Google who had worked with him earlier and somehow Google ended up buying them.
Nonetheless, the real offering is still not there from their. Very surprised that Google has not over turned this and tried to be a middleman within the Telephony business.

SG

Real-time streams discovery by Facebook

Just read about this new discovery by Facebook.
Ok, no more sarcasm now. Let us think straight for this. What they have uncovered is that real-time streams between friends in private, when exposed to Facebook people internally, would know that you and your friend are actually connected to each other.
Also, advertisers would like this information.
Really folks, this was done quite a long time ago, albeit not at this scale and not by such a popular company.
Facebook presenting it publicly make it legit. Thank you.

Many including yours truely is waiting to make money of this.

SG

Skype goes SIP

Skype decided to accept SIP as the defacto to take the corporate route. They had resisted SIP for a very long time, probably the only company that grew to its impressive user base without any standards acceptance. Although, I do admire their sense of creative an preseverance in getting to this point, they did leave a lot of opportunities on the table. Also, one has to bring in the Ebay effect into it, sheer lack of understanding by Ebay hurt them (probably??)
Nonetheless, it seems like the right move for Skype atleast for the corporate side.
The movement of VoIP of the last six months has reinvigorated by belief in VoIP again and has created the motivation of directing some time in thinking of creating new things in that direction. Need to take this segment seriously once again. Sounds like it is 2006 again ;-)

SG