August 2011

[Commentary] On the surface, one might think Google/Motorola wants to emulate Apple's success in the SmartPhone area. Not only do you create the great software, but you design the product too, like the iPhone.

That went from nothing to become Apple's cash cow. It's a very lucrative business that will do nothing but grow. Now Google can make the phones and the software, too. Smart strategy. There's a lot of money there. But that's not where the really BIG money is. The real money is in controlling the digital pipeline to smartphones and home TVs. These are the current "dumb pipes" that the CellCos and ISPs deliver. With the acquisition of Motorola, Google has access to the set-top hardware technology to make those dumb pipes a lot smarter. And make Google a lot richer.

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, backed by the biggest IT and telecom vendors, has filed detailed comments with the Federal Communications Commission stating that high-precision GPS device makers have ignored government warnings guidelines in their receiver designs, purposely building devices that listen into LightSquared’s L-band frequencies. Those comments largely echo the claims LightSquared has been making for several weeks

Spanish-language media remain important to a changing, more acculturated, and more U.S.-born Hispanic population in the United States. And in the last year, Spanish-language media tended to fare better overall than their mainstream English-language counterparts.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the nation’s Latino population grew to more than 50 million, more than double its size in 1990, and up 46.3% since 2000.1 It is also the nation’s youngest ethnic group. The median age of Latinos is 27, while for non-Hispanic whites it is 42 and for non-Hispanic blacks it is 32. Among Latinos, a majority are bilingual. However, as births have become more important for Hispanic population growth than the arrival of new immigrants, the nation’s Latino population is also becoming more U.S.-born. All of these factors could pose a threat to Spanish-language media operations. So far though, the contrary has occurred.

• Hispanic newspapers overall lost circulation in 2010, but not nearly to the extent of the English-language press. The total number of Spanish-language newspapers remained stable.
• The story in television was even more positive. Univision, the largest Spanish-language network by far, continued to grow, reaching audience sizes that compete with the three major English-language broadcast networks (ABC, CBS and NBC). In 2011, it also announced the launch of a 24-hour Spanish-language news station.
• Radio is growing as well. The number of Spanish-language radio stations increased in 2010, and more Spanish-language radio companies began measuring for Arbitron, the standard method of rating radio stations.
• Magazines showed improvement too, with year-over-year growth in ad spending.
• On the digital front, while Hispanic Americans do not access the Internet at the same rates as other Americans, there is growth, and bilingual Latinos are already heavily online.

Why can't we go online to track down the things we really want to find -- like car keys and iPods? It turns out you soon will be able to do exactly that, owing to the coming of something called the Internet of Things. Instead of connecting online with other people , we will link up with the objects we own and love. Compared with our current “Internet of Whatever,” this could be a real step up.