Last night I was watching a program about how Bill Gates made Microsoft one of the Worlds biggest companies and made him the richest man in the World up until recently.

One aspect that was discussed on this program was the threat that Google poses to Microsoft. Bill Gates seemed to be really nervous about the power of Google and how they are developing their site so that PC users no longer need to buy Microsoft products like Word, Excel and Power Point, etc, as these programs are held on Google’s servers.

Google’s GDrive is a step in the direction that makes Mr Gates Nervous and is an online storage option where Google servers have enough capacity to hold the entire contents of your hard drive. We are all familiar with having a C: drive and a D: drive, so how do you fancy having a G: drive too.

This new service from Google (thought to be launched in 2009) will allow you to access and update your information, including word documents and spreadsheets, your emails, your personal photos etc, just so long as your device has an internet connection. It could also mean that instead of your PC booting up from your hard drive (or your C: drive), it could be booting off the Google operating system.

By shifting pretty much the entire content of a user’s hard drive to Google’s servers, PC’s would become simpler and cheaper. These new devices would simply act as a portal to the web and perhaps we would just need a keyboard that interacts with our television set and nothing more, other than a “local” processor and some RAM memory to work on files locally.

This new form of computing has a new term, which is “cloud computing” on the basis that your information is sitting in “the cloud“.

Of course the benefits of this new system are numerous, one of which is having your data stored in another location or “the cloud”, so if your computer is stolen or if it crashes, then your data is “safe”. The second obvious benefit to businesses is the ability to share information with other users within your business as a large network, using the internet as the network connection.

One thing that you will have to consider is the security of the information held by Google; will you be happy for Google to hold all your data. What about security breaches? Google would have access to all your data files and all the information pertaining to your business! This information could be sitting anywhere in the world too – it might sit in the USA or perhaps in Indian, who knows where?

The only constraint on this service is the bandwidth you have with your Internet Service Provider (ISP), so as long as your service is a fast one then there should be no speed issues. Today the Internet and the connections to it are pretty reliable. However, there are still times when the Internet still goes down, only last week it was reported that Google’s servers in India were down.

In one of my businesses we have been cut-off from Internet connection due to faults on the line, usually a fault with BT. In this event, if all your data is stored remotely, you would not be able to access your files and work would grind to a halt! Is that how you would want your business to run?

Can you also imagine the law suits that would be flying around, should Google lose company data! This could prove to be an interesting dilemma trying to prove that the data was in fact sitting on Google’s servers when it was lost. This could be a lawyers mine field in the future and can you imagine a small business going up against the might of Google, should something go wrong.

As a business owner what do you think about the idea of the Google GDrive? Would you be prepared to trust your hard drive to Google? Please let me have your comments on this below…

The highlight of this week was a new president being sworn-in in America as the 44th American President Barack Obama, takes centre stage.

There is nothing like a change in power to make people feel better which is a bit like having a shot in the arm. Barack Obama has plenty to do in his new role having followed the office of probably one of the worst presidencies in history. They say that major depressions come every 75 years or so and this one has come at about the right time according to history, helped along with bad management of the largest economy in the world!.

UK is officially in recession

Back over in the UK where we are still stuck with our government we are now officially in recession due to having two consecutive negative growth quarters ending December 2008. Sterling came under more pressure too this week with most currencies falling away again. The Sterling to US dollar rate closed at just over $1.37, which represents a fall of over 7% this week and has fallen by just under 35% since the rate hit $2.11 back in August of 2007. The US Dollar is back to the rates we were seeing back in December of 2001.

The other currency that has fallen sharply is the Sterling Euro rate closing the week at just under €1.06, having recovered a small amount last week.

Oil price recovers

Despite gloomy news around the globe the oil price has recovered this week with Opec cutting production and as much as 1.55 million barrels per day in January. The priced closed up at $46.47, which is a rise of 27% in one week. So it will be interesting to see where the price of oil moves this week with cold weather on its way on the one hand and on the other hand “peace” is restored in the Middles East for the time being.

Rising job losses

This has also been another week of job losses and warnings of job cut-backs, with Microsoft announcing 5,000 cuts in its work force which is the first ever in its history of trading! Over in Germany chip-maker Qimonda has filed fro bankruptcy with the loss of 12,000 jobs around the world. Corus, the Anglo-Dutch steel maker owned by Tata is to cut around 3,500 jobs with up to 2,500 of hose in the UK alone! But it is Spain that seems to be worst hit with their unemployment rate hitting 13.9% or 3.2 million jobless in the last quarter of 2008.

More trouble on the tech front!

Another first in this economic gloom as Samsung the South Korean chip-maker records its first ever quarterly loss. Samsung Electronics is the world’s biggest chip-maker and made a loss of 22.2 billion Won (£11.6 million), which is as a result of falling global demand as well as prices in memory chips and liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Japan’s electronics company Sony has also given out a profits warning along with other tech firms including Microsoft and Nokia.

If you want to read some good news for business in all this gloom the BBC have a great article on Why recession can be good time to start business

End of the week saw:
Stock exchanges:
FTSE 100: 4,052
DOW: 8,078
S&P: 831.95
Nikkei: 7,745

Currencies
UK Sterling £ to US Dollar $ 1.37210
UK Sterling £ to Euro € 1.05837
UK Sterling £ to Japanese Yen 121.637
UK Sterling £ to Aus $ 2.09337
US Dollar $ to Euro € 0.771464
US Dollar $ to Japanese Yen 88.6288

Commodities
Nymex Crude oil – $46.47
Gold – $895.80

US software giant Microsoft has posted profits and sales figures well above analysts’ expectations.

The firm made a $4.37bn profit during the first three months of its financial year, up from $4.29bn a year ago, while turnover rose 9% to $15.06bn.

Finance boss Chris Liddell said Microsoft had demonstrated the strength and diversity of its business model “in a challenging economic environment”.

In after-hours trading, the firm’s shares rose more than 4%.

However, the company also warned that during the next three months it was unlikely to meet the estimates of Wall Street analysts because of the economic slowdown.

“Our customers are asking how they can save money and do more with less,” said Kevin Turner, the company’s chief operating officer.

Like many technology firms, Microsoft has seen its share price plummet in recent months – down more than 40% this year.

News reported by The BBC

Microsoft has unveiled plans to spend $40bn (£22bn) buying back its shares from investors, the biggest single buy-back plan in history.

Analysts say the move is an attempt by the software giant to use its spare cash to prop up its share price which has fallen by almost 30% this year.

Hewlett-Packard and Nike have also announced major buy-back programmes.

The personal computer-maker will buy back $8bn of shares, while Nike’s plan is worth $5bn.

‘Attractive prices’

Microsoft said the buy-back plan showed its “confidence in the long-term growth of the company and our commitment to returning capital to our shareholders.”

Industry watchers have said Microsoft will be hoping the plan will revive its share price which has declined this year, partly due to its failed $47.5bn (£26.3bn) bid to buy the internet portal Yahoo.

“I’m impressed,” said Michael Holland of the deals. He oversees $4bn (£2.2bn) as chairman and founder of Holland & Co in New York.

“When companies have come in to buy their own stock subsequent to a financial crisis, they’ve bought at attractive prices and it’s been a good use of liquidity,” Mr Holland told Bloomberg News.
Microsoft stock rose 4% at the start of trading

At the end of June this year, the company was sitting on a cash mountain of $23.7bn and has never been in debt in its 33-year history.

The BBC’s technology reporter Maggie Shiels said there was little doubt Microsoft had to do something because it simply had too much cash lying on its books following the company’s failed attempt to buy either all or part of Yahoo.

Dealogic said the new buy-back, which will run until 2013, was the largest single announced share-buyback in history.

It follows a previous 2004 plan which started as a $30bn project and was later boosted by another $10bn.

‘Volatile market’

HP said its board approved an $8bn repurchase following a previous programme which started in November. About $3bn (£1.6bn) remains from that authorisation.

The firm said it gave the go-ahead to the share buy-back to counteract the effect employee stock plans have on ownership percentages.

Just last week the PC-maker announced it was cutting 24,600 jobs in the wake of its acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp.

Meanwhile Nike’s plan to buy back $5bn of shares over the next four years has been welcomed by Standard & Poor’s Equity Research as providing “support to the shares in a volatile market.”

Share buy-backs peaked in the third quarter of 2007 at $172bn according to Standard & Poor’s senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt. The figure for the first quarter of this year is $113.9bn.

News reported by The BBC

Internet company Yahoo has reported worse-than-expected results for a three-month period in which it fought off a takeover approach from Microsoft.

Net income fell 18.6% to $131m (£65.8m) in the three months to the end of June.

Microsoft offered $31 a share for Yahoo in February but Yahoo has said it will only consider an offer of $33 a share.

The results came the day after Yahoo reached an agreement with Carl Icahn to stop him trying to replace its entire board at next month’s annual meeting.

Mr Icahn and two of his appointees have been given seats on an enlarged Yahoo board in return for agreeing to withdraw his slate from election at the 1 August annual meeting.

Mr Icahn, who owns about 5% of Yahoo, felt that the search engine company should have accepted Microsoft’s $31 a share offer – its shares closed on Tuesday at $21.58.

Another set of disappointing figures will increase pressure on Yahoo to reach a deal.

“The results, I would say, were relatively mediocre,” said Ryan Jacob, a portfolio manager from Jacob Internet Fund.

“Given concerns about a slowdown in the display ad market, expectations were very low.”

News reported by The BBC

The internet search engine Google has been named as Britain’s top “superbrand”, after it beat Microsoft for the premier spot, according to a YouGov survey published today.

The search engine, which came third in the same consumer poll last year, took pole position in a list of 500 brands available in the UK, beating Mercedes-Benz, the BBC, British Airways and Royal Doulton.

Since Google was founded in 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, then students at Stanford University, it has become one of Britain’s most familiar names, launching Google Earth and acquiring YouTube, the popular video sharing site, in 2006.

According to Hitwise, which compiles a list of the top four leading UK search engines by volume of searches, Google.co.uk had a 73% share of users in May, significantly ahead of its rival Yahoo! which made it to number 75 in the YouGov poll.

Microsoft, despite its fall to second place, still looms over rival Apple, which despite its high-profile launch of the iPod and iPhone, narrowly missed a place in the top 10.

In the poll Sony took 10th place, beaten by BMW at seven, Bosch at eight, and Nike at nine.

Surprising omissions from the top 100 include Tesco, which only managed 300th position, showing a fall of 230 places from last year, and Sainsbury’s, which fell 194 places to 232nd position. Fastfood retailers such as McDonald’s and Burger King also showed significant falls on last year.Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands Council, a brand valuation consultancy that commissioned the poll, said: “Lifestyle brands, particularly those in the technology sector, have considerably more sway with the public than everyday staples such as the supermarkets, which now seem further than ever from the affections of the British people.

“As the spectre of rising food costs continues, they are likely to come under further scrutiny.

“The results are a further sign that Google is continuing its dominance. It is clear Google is the brand that people value at work and in their personal lives.”

Marks & Spencer, which has experienced a rollercoaster ride, recently issuing a serious profits warning that sent shares plummeting to their lowest level in seven years, still holds sway with the public and makes the top 20, at number 17.

The Royal Albert Hall, at number 26, tops the list of cultural destinations, followed by the Tate galleries at number 46. The Eden Project in Cornwall is at number 50.

The Guardian and Observer appear on the list of superbrands at number 229, 184 places ahead of the Independent and 60 ahead of the Daily Telegraph, but behind the Times/Sunday Times titles which are placed at 122nd.

An alternative list of “coolest brands”, to be published in Dazed & Confused magazine in September, lists five fashion brands in the top eight, including Levi’s.

News reported by The Guardian

Yahoo has reached an agreement with the activist investor Carl Icahn that will stop him trying to replace its board.

Mr Icahn was annoyed that Yahoo had resisted Microsoft’s attempts to take it over.

He planned to replace the board at next month’s annual meeting and then sell the company to Microsoft.

Yahoo’s board will now be expanded from nine members to 11, comprising Mr Icahn and two of his nominees along with eight of the original members.

Mr Icahn, who owns 5% of Yahoo’s shares, said that he would now withdraw his other nominees from the firm’s annual meeting on 1 August

In a statement, he said that the sale of the company still merited “full consideration”.

Last week, Yahoo angrily rejected a joint takeover offer for the company from Microsoft and Mr Icahn, describing the alliance as “odd and opportunistic”.

Microsoft offered $31 a share for Yahoo in February but Yahoo has said it will only consider an offer of at least $33 a share.

On Friday Yahoo’s shares closed at $22.45.

News reported by The BBC

Yahoo has angrily rejected a joint takeover offer from Microsoft and the investor Carl Icahn.

Microsoft would have bought Yahoo’s search engine while Mr Icahn would have ended up with the rest of the business.

Yahoo objected to being given only 24 hours to consider the offer and there being no opportunity to negotiate the terms of the deal.

“It is ludicrous to think that our board would accept such a proposal,”

Yahoo said in a statement.

“This odd and opportunistic alliance of Microsoft and Carl Icahn has anything but the interests of Yahoo!’s stockholders in mind,” Roy Bostock, chairman of Yahoo, said.

Still for sale

The proposal involved the immediate removal of the Yahoo board as well as its top management.

The statement from Yahoo repeated the offer to sell the entire company to Microsoft for at least $33 (£16.5) a share and suggested that a takeover of the entire company would be much simpler than the proposed restructuring.

Microsoft offered $31 a share for Yahoo in February. On Friday the shares closed at $23.16.

The latest offer comes weeks before Yahoo’s 1 August annual meeting, when Mr Icahn will be trying to replace its board with his own slate of directors.

Mr Icahn owns about 5% of Yahoo.

Microsoft has said it is no longer interested in negotiating with the current directors, but will enter talks if a new board is in place in August.

News reported by BBC

Internet giant Yahoo has defended its decision not to sell part of the company to Microsoft, saying “it made no sense financially or strategically”.

Microsoft proposed buying its online search business after withdrawing an offer to buy Yahoo outright.

Yahoo is facing an attempt by billionaire investor Carl Icahn to unseat the board after it failed to do a deal with Microsoft.

It has called for shareholders’ support at its annual meeting on 1 August.

“Microsoft’s ‘hybrid’ proposal to acquire only Yahoo’s valuable search business makes no sense for the company either financially or strategically,” Yahoo said in a presentation to shareholders released ahead of the meeting.

Instead of doing a deal with Microsoft, Yahoo signed an agreement with Google to use its online advertising technology.

Yahoo defended that decision, saying it expects that deal to generate $250m-$450m (£125-£225m) from that deal within the first 12 months.

It criticised Mr Icahn’s “ill-defined plan” for Yahoo, which it said focused on selling the firm to Microsoft “even though Microsoft has repeatedly confirmed that it is not interested in a full acquisition”.

Shareholder Mr Icahn is trying to oust Yahoo’s board, including the Internet firm’s co-founder and chief executive Jerry Yang.

Yahoo shares fell 1.7% to $20.97 (£10.54).

News reported by BBC

The chairman of Microsoft and one of the world’s richest men, Bill Gates, is stepping down from his job running the world’s largest software company.

Mr Gates, who made his fortune through developing software for the personal computer, plans to devote his time to charity work.

As a teenager Bill Gates had a vision of a personal computer on every desk in every home.

He says he caught sight of the future and based his career on what he saw.

Great responsibility

The son of a successful lawyer from Seattle, Mr Gates programmed his first computer at the age of 13.

During his two years at Harvard University, he spent much of his time finessing his programming skills as well as enjoying the occasional all-night poker session.

He eventually dropped out of college and moved to Albuquerque, in New Mexico, where he set up Microsoft with his childhood friend, Paul Allen.

“Most of our competitors were very poorly run” Bill Gates

Their big break came in 1980 when Microsoft signed an agreement with IBM to build the operating system that became known as MS-DOS.

Microsoft went public in 1986 and within a year Bill Gates, at 31, had become the youngest self-made billionaire.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Gates explained that Microsoft benefitted because “most of our competitors were very poorly run”.

“They did not understand how to bring in people with business experience and people with engineering experience and put them together. They did not understand how to go around the world.”

New horizons

“He has made a machine that could have been a luxury item only for industrial use, accessible to all.” M. Morgan, Ireland

Now 52, he still has boyish looks, but he is no longer the world’s richest man. He has been overtaken by the investor Warren Buffett and the Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim.

But Mr Gates’ fortune is at the root of his decision to leave his day job and concentrate on his charitable organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He will remain as Microsoft’s chairman and work on special technology projects, but according to Mr Gates, great wealth brings great responsibility and his future work will include finding new vaccines and financing projects in the developing world.

News reported by BBC