Google making its way into everything

http://www.pcworld.com/article/151396/faq_what_tmobiles_new_g1_phone_will_do_for_you.html

I have to admit, I am a big Google fan. I use Google a hundred times a day. I am a Gmail user and thus naturally went on to use blogger and Google reader. Part of the reason I stuck with Google products was the ease of one login. So far this has worked well but I haven't really played around with blogs or RSS enough to see if they are the best, but sometimes the first is the one that takes. Now comes the Google phone. It certainly is late to the party or is it?

Handsets have been around for 10 years but only in the last 2 or so have smart phones really taken over. Crackberries and Palm ruled the early universe and one of them still does. Of course now we have the game changing iPhone. It turned a business use product into multimedia and communication play station. I'm actually a blackberry user and am struggling to give it up. I just hate with a passion the iPhone's touch screen keyboard and I am not the minority in this camp. Many blackberry users feel the same way. In response to the iPhone, RIMM announced the Blackberry Bold, but where is it? It launched in Canada and the UK but continues to be delayed in the US. Another problem is the price tag is expected to be much higher than the iPhone. So is RIMM slowly losing customers? RIMM is also planning on launching a touch screen version like the iPhone but at this point it could be a very long time. So what now? Enter Google...

The Google G1 smart phone hits the market and officially announced its launch today. What is it? A touch screen smart phone with most of the same qualities as the iPhone but most importantly a slide out QWERTY keyboard. Another selling point is an attractive price of $179.00, slightly cheaper than the iPhone and much less than the Bold's expected price of $299.00. Obviously it is too soon to see the response to the G1 phone but this could be a giant step for Google. It is another launching platform for its software (I wonder if Chrome is the browser) and potentially an extension into a new business to diversify away from the advertising model. I would hope that the quality is at a high enough caliber so that it creates a buzz and further propels Google to the next step but it might want to be careful. Microsoft has tried these kind of things...music, gaming etc and some haven't been well received. I give Google a pat on the back for the design, timing and price. Who knows, maybe G1 becomes the next blackberry and Blackberry turns into Palm.

Best Buy to acquire Napster for $54mm

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/best-buy-acquire-napster-54/story.aspx?guid=%7B08814974%2DC2C6%2D4134%2DBAE6%2DAC9651B16AB8%7D&dist=TQP_Mod_mktwN

BBY is buying Napster? Is this the late 90s before the lawsuit? Does BBY really think Napster can be meaningful in this world? 700,000 members? More people go through the BBY NYC store in one day (ok that might be a stretch). Obviously AAPL is enormous in this business, then you have multiple other players such as AMZN, YHOO, WMT, AOL etc. Is this Blockbuster/Netflix all over again? It seems like BBY is getting into the wrong game, especially with MSFT recommitting to Zune and its music service. Realistically this is a week of cash flow so it is peanuts to BBY but I just wonder why it would want to get into this business? I guess it could try to sell music players and the service together or use it as a promotional item with the sale of Zune or a Sony MP3. Sounds like a stretch and could backfire and tickoff its suppliers like AAPL, MSFT and DELL. I guess we'll see how this develops.