TechStew

  The  Nasdaq Index fell 1.18% today as  Google, and Microsoft reported weak performances in the previous quarter. The two tech giants are usually seen as proxies for the wider economic condition, in part because their business fortunes tend to fluctuate with global spending. Google’s advertising revenue, which still makes up the bulk of its business, it closely tied to the wider economy, and Microsoft still makes a lot of its money off desktop software sales, which also fluctuate with the economy. Google’s quarterly results fell short of Wall Streets expectations; the initial report stated a 20% decrease in revenue resulting in the Internet giant’s stock drop of 9%. The earnings report, which had not been expected until after the market close, revealed a weakening in Google's core Internet advertising business and persistent losses at its recently acquired cellphone business, Motorola Mobility. The slowdown in revenue growth came on the back of f...

Nokia unveiled its new flagship phone on September 5, this time running Windows Phone 8 platform to a great fanfare of tech enthusiasts. Some would say that Microsoft/Nokia is arriving too late to the mobile party; I would rather like to believe that better late then never. But I may be wrong on this one. Notoriously tardy, Marilyn Monroe would often arrive a couple of hours late to a glitzy Hollywood event but no matter how late she was her appearance would always trigger a big stir. I don’t think that Lumia is Marilyn Monroe. Yes, some stir and commotion was made but given what was announced I reckon no that not too many people will want to touch it, much less purchase it whenever it actually comes out. Which makes this whole event a giant marketing failure; announcing a product without any indication as to its price and availability is nothing short of vaporware. I doubt that a couple of months after iPhone 5 and a score of other WP8 or Android devices hit the market that peopl...