Why Nokia’s Buying Symbian: Apple, RIM, Google, Others

Why is Nokia (NOK) spending 0 million to buy the rest of Symbian, the smartphone operating system it co-owned with Sony Ericsson and others? Because its continued dominance of the smartphone market — 60% of the install base, according to its press release — is anything but guaranteed.

Buying Symbian won’t help Nokia build sexier-looking, high-end gadgets. But in theory, Nokia’s ownership… Continue reading

Why Are Newspapers Screwed? Because They Don’t Deliver News

Why are newspapers screwed? Easy answer: Because ad dollars are shifting from newsprint to the Web.

But papers are also screwed because they’re in a self-perpetuating mediocrity cycle: Revenues decline, so they cut resources, which makes their product lousier, which makes their revenue decline. Repeat.

Unpleasant example: The San Jose Mercury News, a paper that’s been hit just as hard — if… Continue reading

Monitor110 Whacks 30% of Staff, In Talks With Reuters

New York-based Monitor110, a data- and information-gathering service funded by DFJ, DFJ Gotham, and Acadia, fired a third of its employees last week. As one insider described it, the company’s new CEO, Brennan Carley, felt that Monitor’s burn rate had gotten too far ahead of revenue. (Another way to put this, presumably, is that revenue was materializing more slowly than expected.)

Monitor… Continue reading

Google Moves In On comScore, Nielsen – Again

Days after unveiling a comScore/Compete/Nielsen competitor, Google is unveiling a… comScore/Compete//Nielsen competitor.

Confused? So are we. Here’s what we know: Google plans to formally unveil its new product — AdPlanner — which will provide Web analytics to media buyers looking to place display ads on the Web. The service, leaked on the Web site of the Advertising Research Foundation on Monday… Continue reading

Apple’s 3G iPhone: Cheaper For You To Buy, Cheaper For Apple To Build (AAPL)

How will Apple (AAPL) get away charging 9 for its new 3G iPhone when it launches next month? In part by getting wireless carriers to subsidize the phones by several hundreds of dollars. But also by cutting the cost of materials and manufacturing more than per phone, according to an iSuppli report summarized by BusinessWeek.

The 3G… Continue reading

When Will EA (ERTS) Walk Away From Take-Two (TTWO)? Soon

What is Electronic Arts thinking? The video game giant says it wants to buy Take-Two Interactive, the company behind the Grand Theft Auto francise, but it doesn’t seem like it’s in any hurry. Since making its original offer in February, the EA (ERTS) has lowered its bid, then continually extended its offer, even though Take-Two (TTWO) management and shareholders have… Continue reading

Obama, McCain Still Not Spending (Much) On The Web

Big disappointment for online ad execs: the political dollars aren’t flowing, and some now believe it will be at least another election cycle before online media gets a meaningful share of political ad dollars.

Barack Obama and John McCain are allocating less than 2% of their advertising budgets online, according to Michael Bassick, of digital political consultancy MSHC Partners.

Ad execs tell MediaWeek