Yahoo! Change is Good Even When in Motion

At the beginning of the year, Scott Thompson reported to work at Yahoo $22.5M dollars richer than he was the year before, according to the NY Times. But the question, is does he represent more money for the rest of us? As a stock, YHOO has been about as flat as a ride on Route 80 in Iowa.  

So does Thompson bring a new vision, or someone leaving PayPal for another? I want to believe in Yahoo’s return. There are some friends, like Blake Irving who came from Microsoft Messenger, that brought good product strategies. There also are friends, like Jeff Bonoforte, who have left Yahoo to form Xobni (see cameo in this video ). There are plenty of opportunities and commerce is certainly underdeveloped on the Internet.

Which brings us to RIM. Let me say first of all that on Tuesday January 31, RIM is running a Hackathon at ITEXPO East 2012. The rule is, port an app and get a PlayBook.

I have shared in the past the surprise on people’s faces when they heard they had access to apps on their BlackBerrys.

The Hackathon is for the PlayBook and I have to say that after working with it for a while, it’s a great device. Small and solid with a great battery life, the question now is how to gather the community around it.

RIM’s history has been to be tightly tied to the Enterprise. Friends have often commented that Enterprise Revenue is always an Achilles heel for IT. It makes lots of revenue, but the requirements for customization makes upgrades and updates hard to implement.

Now RIM has a Prosumer device in the PlayBook. They are not looking for the Hackathon to be about Enterprise but apps that consumers would like such as entertainment, games, productivity, etc.

These were internal initiatives and with Thorsten Heins as the new CEO, it may get the attention from Wall Street it deserves. Right now however, the folks on Wall Street are looking for an outsider. I think RIM was right to not go that way. RIM may end up merging based on the next 18 months. Heins has the ability to reach out to a number of potential partners. And some companies are much more prepared to acquire than others.

For example, on the weaker side we can see a return to integrated companies with the likes of Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei or Nokia-Siemens acquiring the company. Another weak side would be the acquisition spin-out of Motorola Mobility with RIM to make the Android community happier.

On the strong side, Cisco, Microsoft and Samsung are in a position to gain better adoption by making the move and securing the base. Of course in Microsoft’s case, it would have to involve a strategy that supports Nokia.

All of these are speculations, but the Hackathon will be a reality. Bring an app and get a PlayBook. It’s a good community to join. I will see you there.

Want to learn more about 4G wireless technologies? Then be sure to attend the 4GWE Conference, collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO East 2012 taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. Co-sponsored by TMC Partner Crossfire Media the 4GWE Conference provides unmatched networking opportunities and a robust conference program representing the wireless ecosystem. The conference not only brings together the best and brightest in the wireless industry, it actually spans the communications and technology industry. For more information on registering for the 4GWE Conference click here.

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