Talking Tech Podcasts on Generation Beta Max

Talking Tech, Friday, July 6th

Fri July 06 2007

[[libsyn_player]]0.30 â The three guys are back and the big news is that Kevin is flashing a brand new 4GB iPhone. Unsurprisingly, this very exp... read more

[[libsyn_player]]0.30 â The three guys are back and the big news is that Kevin is flashing a brand new 4GB iPhone. Unsurprisingly, this very expensive wi-fi enabled iPod is the first topic of conversation. 4.45 â Duncan wonders if RIM and Apple are changing the space completely. Mark thinks the Blackberry is going to be strong for business and Apple will take over consumers. Duncan disagrees and thinks RIM is becoming more and more consumer focused. 8.26 â Google makes another acquisition, this time of GrandCentral. Is this the next step in a globe spanning telecom network? Google says no, but Duncan thinks the âlady doth protest too muchâ?. 9.34 â Kevin loves the Grand Central service and agrees with Duncanâs assertion. The amount of dark fiber and size and number of data centers points to a big telecom network. 10.29 - Mark wonders how this would change the landscape for telecom carriers. Duncan takes a long term view â voice telephony will be completely free, eventually. He sees the commodifcation of data services as a big problem for the carriers. 13.55 â Duncan wonders if Google will go the last mile and make an acquisition to connect customers to the network. Mark thinks Google will buy a piece of the 2008 spectrum auction and use it for wi-max. 15.48 â BCE is the next big topic. Will someone like Telus gazump OTPP? Will the media continue to buy into Michael Sabiaâs spin? Will BCE go for more than $42 a share (some people are suggesting $49 a share)? 17.17 â Mark rails against the media calling this process an auction while Kevin calls it a management led buy-out and predicts that this isnât all over just yet. 18.56 â Duncan has more criticism of the mediaâs retransmission of the Sabia spin and calls Sabia out for an inaccuracy. 19.57 â Mark thinks the buy-out is in precisely the wrong time for BCE, which has a lot of capital investment to be make right now. Duncan thinks the company will have up to $50bn of debt after the transaction. Audio or text comments for Mark, Kevin and Duncan can be emailed to heytalkingtech@gmail.com. Our announcer is the lovely Amber Mac and the music is No Mojo by Anthony Stauffer and Holy Smoke which is available on the pod safe music network. read less

Talking Tech, Tuesday, July 3rd

Tue July 03 2007

Talking Tech, Friday, June 22nd

Fri June 22 2007

Talking Tech, Thursday, June 14th

Thu June 14 2007

[[libsyn_player]] 0.27 â Mark is back with Duncan. Kevin has taken the week off but will back next week. The subject of the week is the Canadian... read more

[[libsyn_player]] 0.27 â Mark is back with Duncan. Kevin has taken the week off but will back next week. The subject of the week is the Canadian Telecom Summit which raised the issue of broadband Internet access, pricing and availability. 1.42 â Duncan thinks tiered pricing, depending on usage, is going to be difficult to implement in the short term. He thinks the answer for the cable companies will lie with Sandvineâs network management service. 3.24 â Mark brings up the lack of competition in the Canadian telco industry. 4.02 â The only reason the Toronto One Zone wi-max service is any good is because no-one uses it! 4.35 â How much will people pay for broadband? Do the carriers have their consumers by the balls? 5.28 â Duncan brings up the public policy issue of equality of access. Fiber tubes could be laid down in the big cities â thus alienating the more rural towns. 6.15 â Mark bemoans the dwindling rate of broadband penetration, due to a lack of innovation, lack of choice, and a low price. Duncan agrees. 7.23 â The guys segue into the wireless market â does Canada need or want a fourth carrier? Quebecor and MTS think it does and wants to be able to buy wireless spectrum. Money quote from Bellâs Lawson Hunter - âWhere we you when Microcell was for sale in 2004?â? 8.46 â Duncan thinks any outside player should be able to go to the regulator and ask to be sold wireless spectrum to break up the existing oligarchy. He doesnât think itâll matter because if the fourth carrier is successful, one of the big three will just buy it out anyway. 10.36 â Mark references an article that suggests Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski will jump ship and go to run Qwest. Duncan doesnât see it happening, but admits it canât be a lot of fun to run Nortel right now. 13.21 â The guys discuss a rumour that Nortel CTO John Roese is being groomed as the next CEO. Duncan thinks that is about 3-5 years down the line. 14.02 â He then segues onto another rumour that Intel is slashing its prices by 50 per cent and that the semiconductor industry will grow by just 1.8 per cent in the next 12 months. Mark wonders about the motivations behind Intelâs move, Duncan thinks itâs a reaction to AMDâs âpoking of the bearâ?. 16.10 â He also thinks that Intel feels AMD is close enough to going under, Intel may be able to push them off the cliff. Would the investors let AMD go bankrupt? Duncan thinks the debt is too high for the PE crowd to come in and make money from any deal. Audio or text comments for Mark, Kevin and Duncan can be emailed to heytalkingtech@gmail.com. Our announcer is the lovely Amber Mac and the music is No Mojo by Anthony Stauffer and Holy Smoke which is available on the pod safe music network. read less