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Google Glasses Prove the Future is Already Here
Getting a truly modern outlook requires a little help.
Fortunately, you may soon be able to buy a unique pair of eyeglasses that do the job for you.
In early April, Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) unveiled a stylish pair of Web-connected spectacles that serve as a computer you wear on your face (or perhaps a smartphone for your eyes).
They are called "Google Glasses" and they are a great twist on the "heads up" displays used by U.S. defense forces.
Most of us have never seen anything quite like this before - except in sci-fi films. But this high-tech, mostly hands-free device could change the way you live your daily life.
Put these eyeglasses on, and you have instant access your email. You can check the weather, get traffic updates, display maps and walking directions on the go, take photos, send texts, schedule meetings, listen to music, and make wireless video calls.
And get this. Google Glasses function by moving your head - nodding, for one - or by clicking a small button.
This is the kind of breakthrough I have in mind when I say we are living in the Era of Radical Change. The next two decades will be like nothing we have seen before.
And it all started right here in the good ol' USA.
Since the transistor was invented at Bell Labs in New Providence, NJ, back in 1947, the U.S. has vaulted ahead of the rest of the world at every major high-tech milestone.
In fact, as I like to remind readers, a simple law explains this steady stream of innovations we have enjoyed for decades. Named for a Silicon Valley genius, Moore's Law states that computing power doubles about every two years.
Look at it this way...
In the 1960s, for the first time people started using basic electronic calculators to perform addition and multiplication functions.
Today - just 50 years later - they can sport Google Glasses that make video phone calls. (Now you'll believe me when I say what's next... I believe that in the very near future we will be able to upgrade our IQs with devices implanted inside our brains.)
Thus, Google Glasses are so much more than just the latest cool gadget. They give us a great insight into what the near future holds.
It's going to be a thrilling ride.
Google Glasses and the Era of Radical Change
According to early reports, Google could hit the market with these glasses by the end of 2012. But let me be blunt about one thing. Cynics have blasted Google over this project. They note that the Web giant has made no promise it will ever release the glasses.
That's true. But it misses the big-picture view.
Even if Google shelves its "Project Glass," I predict that someone else will quickly step in to fill the void. And that option could turn out to be the better bet for investors.
After all, with its $200 billion market cap Google is such a big company that these glasses, as cool as they are, may not move the stock's price all that much.
Either way, however, we win.
If Google Glasses do hit the market in time for the holiday, then we can all go out and grab a pair. If not, then we can look for a small-cap leader that's gearing up to bring them (or something similar) to market and then invest in that company.
In that case, what we hope for as tech investors is a firm like InvenSense Inc. (NYSE: INVN).
This is a small-cap leader that makes motion sensors used in a wide range of electronics, including smartphones equipped with Google's Android operating system.
Even after a huge recent sell off, the stock has returned more than 35% so far this year. Compared with Google's year-to-date loss of about 6%, InvenSense is on fire.
As it turns out, there are two small companies on my radar screen with products in the same space as Google's glasses.
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Android@Home, Project X, and Other Secrets of Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG)
Lately, Google Inc.'s (Nasdaq: GOOG) Mountain View, CA-based headquarters have looked more like the clandestine lair of a Bond villain than a business center.
The company has poured more than $120 million dollars into construction projects that are fit to house testing labs and top-secret initiatives with names like "Project X."
One theory about what's going on at the Googleplex involves the development of a driverless car.
And that may well be true - but the more immediate and practical use for the renovation would be to expand the base from which the company competes with rival Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL).
Google's war with Apple continues to escalate as the two companies fight for ground in three major consumer markets: mobile devices, Internet search and digital media.
Google fired its first salvo at Apple with the introduction of its Android operating system, which has come to dominate the smartphone market.
Apple recently retaliated by introducing Siri - the voice-activated search engine that has been a major selling point for the latest iPhone.
Still, the biggest clash is set to take place in your living room.
Google and Apple are fighting to be the company that supplies your media at home, stores it for you in a cloud drive, and then distributes it to your wireless devices.
Google has even expressed interest in bringing other appliances into the fold, connecting things like lighting, heating, and air conditioning via the Android operating system - a seamless integration dubbed "Android@Home."
The goal is to let you control every electronic device in your home through a smartphone or tablet.
This is a battle for what futurists call the "digital living room."
And it's just getting started. Here's a sneak peak at what's in store.
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We Told You So: S&P Does an About-Face on its Call to "Sell Google"
Apparently it's not time to "Sell Google" after all.
When Standard & Poor's Equity Research downgraded the shares of Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) from "Buy" to "Sell" last week - and slashed its target price for Google shares from $700 to $500 - we were blunt in stating that the ratings agency had blown the call.
Looks like S&P must've heard us.
On Monday, just three days after downgrading Google, S&P did an almost-total about-face on its much-debated call - and upgraded Google shares from "Sell" to "Hold." Frankly, these ratings firms seem determined to operate in a flawed manner - the S&P/"Sell Google" saga only underscores what we've been saying since 2007, when Money Morning warned readers that these firms failed to warn us about the subprime-mortgage disaster. (Don't forget, it was another unit of S&P that downgraded U.S. debt earlier this month. That downgrade, to be really credible, should have been announced several years ago, during the height of the global financial crisis.)
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By Downgrading Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG), S&P Gets it Wrong – Again
Standard & Poor's Equity Research downgraded the shares of Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) from "Buy" to "Sell," saying the merger with Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI) will likely "negatively impact" Google's growth.
S&P also cut its target price for Google shares to $500 from its earlier target of $700.
Needless to say, we think S&P got it wrong - again. (Don't forget, it was another unit of S&P that downgraded U.S. debt earlier this month. That downgrade, to be really credible, should have been announced several years ago, during the height of the global financial crisis.) -
The Google-Motorola Deal: Winners and Losers
Every tech company with a stake in mobile computing will feel the ramifications of Google Inc.'s (Nasdaq: GOOG) plan to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI) for $12.5 billion.
Google partners could well become rivals, while the other major players in the mobile computing arena, such as Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) all will be affected - some negatively, but some positively.
The new partnership also could inspire other merger and acquisition activity in the sector, between large, cash-rich companies and small, struggling ones.
Let's take a look at how the Google-Motorola deal, which was announced on Monday, will alter the mobile computing landscape, company by company:
Google: A Mixed Bag
Primarily, Google bought Motorola to acquire its vast patent portfolio to better defend its mobile operating system, Android, from a rising number of patent lawsuits.
"Motorola has a strong patent portfolio which will help protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies," Google CEO Larry Page said in Monday's conference call.
Although most of the lawsuits have been aimed at handset makers such as HTC Corp. (OTC: HTCXF), Samsung Electronics LTD (PINK: SSNLF), and Motorola, the common thread was Android. Microsoft focused on collecting licensing fees for each handset, while Apple's strategy was to halt the sale of devices competing with its own iPhone and iPad products.
The typical defense to patent lawsuits is another patent lawsuit, but you need to possess a broad portfolio to do that. Google, which had a mere 700 patents before, will add Motorola's 24,000 patents to its arsenal.
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Why It's Time to Buy Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG)
By announcing its plans to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI) yesterday (Monday), Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) is forcing me to make a statement that I never thought I would make: It's time to buy Google.
The $12.5 billion deal will see Google acquire the phone-making half of the Motorola Inc. spin-off that took effect in January. Google is paying $40 a share in cash - about a 63% premium to Motorola Mobility's closing price on Friday. The deal - which Google says will help it "supercharge" its Android smartphone business - will close late this year or early in 2012.
I used to look at Google as the next Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT). But Google has achieved a status that Microsoft shot for - and missed: It's become an online leader and a factor in the everyday life of consumers. Google also has massive growth potential available, and hasn't quit trying to grow.
And that's a good reason - perhaps the best reason - to own Google today and into the future.
Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility will showcase this potential. It positions Google to pair Motorola smartphones with its Android software and compete against iPhone-maker Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL).
However, Google's new purchase does a lot more than dangle a bigger slice of smartphone market share - and this reason is why I finally decided Google is a "Buy." (**).
Motorola Mobility: All About the Patents
The game-changing benefit for Google in the Motorola Mobility deal is the intellectual property Google is picking up. We are talking about 17,000 patents in this purchase.
A stronger patent portfolio allows Google to reduce royalty costs by using cross-licensing agreements with handset makers. And it protects the Android smartphone market from getting slammed with patent fees (and lawsuits) as sales continue to climb.
The number of Android-software-powered phones jumped 300% last quarter.
Motorola Mobility's patent portfolio will enable Google to move to hardware design for its Android phones. That will give Google both the phone operating system and the intellectual property to act as a gatekeeper in the mobile space.
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