Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge
The catastrophic cratering of the global economy, falling gas prices and President George W. Bush’s recent executive activities have indirectly prompted Saint Paul gadfly software developers CodeWeavers, Inc., to provide free software for every American on Oct. 28, company officials reluctantly announced today.
In July, CodeWeavers – whose software lets Mac OS X and Linux users run Windows programs without having to go to Microsoft for a Windows OS license – launched the Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge to encourage President Bush to make the most of his remaining days in office by accomplishing a major economic or political goal by January 20, 2009.
The goals focused on President Bush making specific positive accomplishments in areas such as the economy, home values, the stock market, the war on terror and other key issues. Specifically, one goal called for President Bush to help down bring average gasoline prices in the Twin Cities to $2.79 a gallon.
On Monday, Oct. 14, gas prices in Minneapolis and St. Paul did just that.
Comcast Delivers: From Broadband to Wideband
If you’re in need of faster broadband (and who isn’t!) then you need to know what Comcast is delivering starting today, although it may not be as wide open as you might hope.
Comcast announced it is making the leap from broadband to wideband with the launch of next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 in over 10 U.S. markets (including the Twin Cities) and doubling the speed of existing service for most customers.
This move is certain to help them stave off competition in some markets — mainly in the northeastern US covered by Verizon with their fiber service and 50mbps down, 20mbps up service — as well as position Comcast to deliver a host of new services.
As part of this new wideband deployment, Comcast will launch two new premium speed tiers to its residential and business class customers, Extreme 50 and Ultra.
Court Paves Way for Publicly Owned Broadband
I’ve been following Blandin on Broadband and the Minnesota Ultra High Speed Task Force due to the fundamental importance of this type of infrastructure for our State, for you as an entrepreneur or one interested in innovation online, and any hope we have of being competitive in the future as the internet continues to become a key component of commerce, education and global collaboration.
This press release just arrived and I thought you’d appreciate seeing it in its entirety. This was a celebrated victory primarily due to the incumbent telephony company lobbying, legal and other efforts to keep broadband in private hands.
Mashup Best Buy
Best Buy has released Remix at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York City, allowing anyone to create a mashup with Best Buy online catalog content. An application programming interface (API) — documented though light on code or examples — allows queries into Best Buy’s online catalog and results to be returned from those queries.
As they say on their site, “Remix is an API that gives you access to BestBuy.com’s product catalog data. What you do with it is up to you.”
Really? I’d assume that some sort of terms of service would be forthcoming.
Joshua Michele Ross over at O’Reilly Radar (O’Reilly is the brain trust behind the Expo), has this excellent post about the import of Best Buy doing this:
“Best Buy is thinking much more strategically about the value of the Internet by allowing anyone to reinvent their entire online store. With “access to all the data that feeds Bestbuy.com” imagine the potential of creating your own, curated site on top of Best Buy’s catalog and supply chain. Imagine top Blue Shirts running their own online stores with select merchandise that they stand behind or imagine a thousand home-theater geeks and “go-to-guys” (and girls) extending their expertise and word-of-mouth via their own online stores.”
I’ll throw in one more: imagine you run a price comparison site that allows an online shopper to instantly compare pricing to another (though this can be done with screen scraping, but this API makes it much easier).
I must say that with BlueShirtNation, their prediction markets, what we experienced over at the Social Media Breakfast (specifically with this video), I grow more impressed by the week with the calculated risk, openness and forward-thinking this retailer is pursuing. Kudos Best Buy.
MN’s Own CodeWeavers Releases ‘CrossOver’ Version of Chrome Browser for Mac and Linux
Talk about a brilliant move to get some attention. St. Paul-MN based CodeWeavers has extended the Google Chromium browser launch beyond Windows by announcing the release of “CrossOver Chromium” for Mac and Linux, available immediately as a free download. Here’s the press release. (Note: To date, Google has only made the new browser available in a Windows beta version, which was announced on September 2, 2008.)
CodeWeavers says it is offering its version as a proof-of-concept “so Mac and Linux users can try firsthand the power and flexibility of the new Chromium open source browser.” CrossOver Chromium also showcases the power of Wine, which allows CodeWeavers to rapidly migrate technology from Windows to alternate platforms. (Here’s more about The Wine Project.)
“We did this to prove a point,” said Jeremy White, CodeWeavers CEO, in the press release. “The message is very simply this: if you are a Windows software vendor, and you want to get your product into new markets, you should pay attention to Wine. Wine is a very powerful tool for bringing your product to new audiences in the Mac and Linux spaces. And in many cases Wine is faster and more economical than doing a native port.”
You have to love White’s latest blog post, Fire Drills and Proving a Point, which tells the story of how they pulled off their Chrome version. An excerpt: “So in a CodeWeavers management meeting one day, we were looking for a way to show off Wine’s new maturity, particularly for porting applications. What we needed was a freely redistributable application; one that didn’t exist on Mac or Linux, but one that was readily understandable….And then a little bird flew in the Window and chirped ‘Chromium’, and we knew we had it.”
CodeWeavers is no upstart. Founded in 1996, it brings expanded market opportunities for Windows software developers by making it easier, faster, and more painless to port Windows software to Linux. The firm is recognized as a leader in open-source Windows porting technology, and maintains development offices in Minnesota, the UK, and elsewhere around the world.
This announcement is just another example of the creativity and expertise in Minnesota’s developer community. Congratulations to CodeWeavers! I can hardy wait to hear how hard their site will get hit today with Mac and Linux users all trying to download the browser at the same time. Glad I got in early and got mine! It will also be interesting to watch for Google’s reaction. I gathered that a Mac version was still quite a ways off, and here CodeWeavers does it in a week… :-)
Best Buy Acquires Napster
Best Buy has entered into a definitive merger agreement to commence a tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of the troubled Napster for $121 million, or $2.65 per share.
According to the joint press release, “The proposed acquisition includes Napster’s approximately 700,000 digital entertainment subscribers, its Web-based customer service platform, and innovative mobile capabilities. In conjunction with the definitive merger agreement, Napster CEO Chris Gorog and key members of senior management of Napster have entered into employment agreements, effective at closing, pursuant to which they have agreed to continue as the Napster leadership post-acquisition.”
With Best Buy’s acquisition last year of Speakeasy, minority investment in, and partnership with, video sharing company Mydeo, along with the $2.1 billion stake in European mobile retail juggernaut Carphone Warehouse, the company is clearly and strategically positioning themselves to be a leader in digital distribution.
The press release is after the jump and the Napster SEC filing is here.
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