Early Consensus: Some Sort Of iTunes Streaming Service Coming Tomorrow (AAPL)

The early consensus is that Apple's big announcement tomorrow could be some sort of iTunes streaming service.

Apple just put up a big tease on its homepage, advertising a secret surprise announcement, which will make tomorrow a day "that you'll never forget."

It's weird that Apple would announce something that's actually big without a Steve Jobs media event, but we'll let that pass for now.

So what's coming tomorrow?

Many of the smart guesses we're seeing on Twitter are that Apple will launch some sort of iTunes music streaming service.

It has been about a year since Apple bought Lala, another music streaming site, but so far, iTunes hasn't seen any music streaming updates.

But according to a source close to the music industry, rumor has it that there has been a big "breakthrough" in streaming rates. (We're still digging on that, let us know if you have more information.)

In theory, this could permit Apple to operate a cheap (or maybe even free?) music streaming service with much lower costs, which would allow it compete with the likes of Pandora, Spotify (in Europe), etc.

This might cannibalize iTunes song sales a bit. But that's okay -- iTunes mostly exists to help sell more iPods, iPhones, Macs, and iPads. Apple would happily sell fewer song downloads to sell more gadgets.

Another source thinks the Lala team has been focused almost entirely on video projects. So maybe tomorrow's announcement has more to do with video than music? Perhaps a Netflix- and Comcast-killer streaming bundle? This seems less likely, but anything's possible.

It's also possible this is just the iOS 4.2 update that's launching for the iPad and iPhone, with some partners to announce for AirPlay, which lets you beam your media around your house.

Update: And, just as we posted, here's a note blasted out by Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster:

"Apple announced that it will host an online iTunes-related event at 10am ET on 11/16. We believe Apple could announce a cloud-based iTunes service for content streaming to connected devices. Moreover, we do not expect Apple to announce a music subscription service."

Let us know if you've heard anything: dfrommer@businessinsider.com. Anonymity guaranteed.

Read: 15 HUGE, Important Questions About Apple's Mac App Store

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See Also:

• Apple Teases Secret Surprise: Tomorrow Is A Day "That You'll Never Forget"
• Mystery Over! Apple TV Is Amazon's No. 12 Best-Selling Gadget
• iPAD SURVEY RESULTS: Everything You Need To Know About How People Use The iPad

Post originale: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/jRFGDNjjyn0/itunes-streaming-2010-11

Sorry, MSNBC, You Still Have Some Explaining To Do

Rachel Maddow confirmed on her show last night that the reason Keith Olbermann was suspended was that he did not ask permission from management to make political donations:

“The reason that resulted in Keith’s suspension is that, here at MSNBC, there is an explicit employee rule against hosts making contributions like that. You can do it if you ask in advance and management tells you ‘O.K.’

Maddow also confirmed that MSNBC believes its rules regarding political contributions make MSNBC "better" than FOX News:

Let this incident lay to rest forever the facile, never-true-anyway, bullpucky, lazy conflation of Fox News and what the rest of us do for a living. I know everybody likes to say, “Oh, that’s cable news. It’s all the same. Fox News and MSNBC, mirror images of each other.” Let this lay that to rest forever...

Well, sorry, it's not clear at all that the suspension makes MSNBC "better" than FOX. And MSNBC still has some explaining to do.

First, MSNBC needs to explain what it means that management needs to "approve" political campaign donations.

If MSNBC had a blanket policy that no one at the organization could donate to political campaigns, that might make sense. This would be the network's attempt to avoid the appearance of bias, even when the bias is freely acknowledged (and enjoyed) by everyone who watches the network and several people on the air (including Maddow and Olbermann).

But MSNBC does NOT appear to have this blanket no-donation policy. Instead, it has a "donations only with permission" policy. This raises many new questions, starting with this one:

Which political donations are okay? 

Specifically, what criteria does management use when deciding whether it's okay for Olbermann or Maddow to donate to their favorite candidates?  Do the candidates have to be Democrats? Do they have to be candidates that management personally supports?  From a viewer's perspective, this rule raises more questions than it answers.

Secondly, MSNBC needs to explain what it is trying to accomplish by having this particular bizarre rule.

Rachel Maddow argues that "political donations are okay if approved by management" makes MSNBC obviously better than FOX, where hosts are explicitly allowed to make donations.

But, frankly, as viewers, we'd rather know explicitly that the hosts had made political donations--and what those donations were--than to wonder whether the hosts had made donations that happened to be "approved by management."

So we actually disagree with Maddow here: We have no idea why "political donations are approved by management" makes MSNBC's policy better than FOX's.  Again, if MSNBC's policy were instead "political donations are banned," we might be able to understand that position.  But that's not the policy.

Then, lastly, MSNBC needs to explain why it thinks "political donations are okay if approved by management" is a better strategy than FOX's "go ahead and donate all you want." 

FOX's ratings are crushing MSNBC's.  MSNBC's ratings, meanwhile, are crushing CNN's.  In other words, the MOST PARTISAN network is watched by the most people, and the LEAST PARTISAN network is watched by almost no one.  And now MSNBC seems to be congratulating itself for being more like the least partisan network.  Is that what its viewers really want?

Again, if Keith Olbermann broke a network rule, we have no problem with his being punished (though "indefinite suspension without pay" seems a bit harsh).  But we don't understand the logic behind the rules.   MSNBC needs to explain them.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Here's The Crazy Reason MSNBC Benched Olbermann: To Seem Like It Has Higher Standards Than FOX News
• KEITH OLBERMANN SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY WITHOUT PAY FOR DONATING TO CANDIDATES

Post originale: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/DNiKqV80CGk/msnbc-keith-olbermann-2010-11

Leaving N’Orleans and some parting thoughts on hot Geo topics from #Geoint

So, GeoInt 2010 comes to an end and I’m hanging around at MSY airport waiting to leave town. A perfect time to reflect for a minute on the event and the announcements, presentations and discussions that took place in New Orleans. I have to admit, like a number of other folks I met this week, [...]

Post originale: http://blog.gisuser.com/?p=8020

Some Tips For A Reduced Cell Phone Plan

Yes, we’re all busy and we get inundated with email and snail mail, pretty much to a point where keeping tabs on the important stuff is a challenge and a time waster. One source of frustration for me has always been managing the cell phone bill. I’ve had it with paper billing and my email [...]

Post originale: http://blog.gisuser.com/?p=7945

How IT May Help Some Areas Avoid a Double Dip Recession

Metro regions with a strong technology presence may avoid the dreaded double dip recession, if one actually occurs. According to a blog post in The Wall Street Journal by Sara Murray, areas such as Boston, Raleigh, N.C., and Austin all have benefited from their tech-hub status, by experiencing lower joblessness than the national average, with an 8.4 percent unemployment rate in the Boston area, 8.2 percent in Raleigh and 7.3 percent in Austin as of July. In fact, the continued strength of tech employment has inspired Miami to get into the act by creating a new enterprise zone.

Murray cites several sources in reaching her conclusion, including this quote from The Federal Reserve.

"The Federal Reserve Board's beige book noted strength across the tech sector. Providers of information technology (IT) services such as computer software saw substantial revenue and sales gains in the Boston and Kansas City Districts, with increased demand for IT labor reported in Chicago as well," according to the report.

Companies that made semiconductors and other high-tech products in the Boston and San Francisco experienced an increase in sales whereas demand in Dallas remained steady, but at high levels. And "Manufacturers of high-tech products have been operating near maximum capacity of late," the Fed report states, "although this partly reflects a substantial decline in industry-wide capacity over the past three years."

Although its hiring forecast is not exactly robust, Manpower's survey of 62,000 employers from the public and private sectors validates the notion that most regions in the U.S. may avoid a fourth quarter economic decline. All regions anticipate an increase in hiring during the fourth quarter compared to last year, with the strongest forecasts coming from the Northeast and South and the weakest from the West.

-- Leslie Stevens-Huffman

Post originale: http://career-resources.dice.com:80/articles/content/entry/make_mine_a_single_dip

Show Me Your Geo Shwag – Put me in your T-Shirt and I’ll show you some social luv!

Ok, I’m in a bit of a spot here… many of you know that I’ve recently made a move from Colorado back to BC, Canada. Like most of you, the move forced me to downsize the closet and purge much of the older stuff that’s been taking up room in the closets and drawers – [...]

Post originale: http://blog.gisuser.com/?p=7933