Tuesday, September 2, 2008

If you're thinking about Google's "Chrome,"

Lehman-Korea Deal May Be CEO Fuld's Last Hurrah
Sep 02, 2008 11:56am EDT by Aaron Task in Investing, Newsmakers, Banking
Related: LEH, FNM, FRE, XLF
Play VideoNow PlayingUpdated from 11:56 a.m. EDT

Lehman Brothers' shares rallied Tuesday as the firm's on-again, off-again discussions with the state-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB) switched back to the "on" position.

At issue is both the terms of the deal -- Britain's Sunday Telegraph says $6 billion for a 25% stake in Lehman -- and what other firms are involved. KDB officials want to "form a consortium with private banks as [they] believe it is more desirable to acquire Lehman Brothers jointly rather than alone,'' The New York Times reports.

Also at issue is whether Lehman's embattled CEO Richard Fuld can afford to play hardball over the price -- as is also being reported -- and whether he can survive at Lehman's helm regardless.

Update: After trading as high as $17.53 early Tuesday, Lehman shares were recently down 1.8% to $15.80. The broader market has failed to sustain its early gains and any deal with KDB faces stiff regulatory hurdles, The Wall Street Journal reports.

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Embed this video:Google Launches Cloud Operating System, Calls It a Browser
Sep 02, 2008 10:27am EDT by Henry Blodget
Related: goog, msft, aapl
Play VideoNow PlayingFrom Silicon Alley Insider, Sept. 2, 2008:

If you're thinking about Google's "Chrome," which launches today, as just another web browser, you're missing the larger point. Chrome will no doubt function just fine as a browser, giving you yet another icon choice to add to your browser collection alongside IE, Firefox, and Safari. It will also likely include some whizbang new features that force Microsoft and Mozilla to immediately retool their own offerings. But that's almost beside the point.

In a couple of years, you won't be downloading Google's "browser." You'll be downloading "Google's software" (or, rather, you'll be clicking on a series of Google icons that come pre-installed). Specifically, you'll be working within a Google software environment that works sort of like Windows that will include:

Browser
Google Gears (offline and online apps, including email, messaging, chat, etc.)
Google desktop search
Google Earth
Open source development platform
etc.
The software will be seamlessly integrated, and it will make Google's (and other) online apps, games, etc., richer and simpler to use, especially if/when you're offline. It will feature a Google search window (and, unlike Microsoft, Google won't get in trouble when it sets the default to Google). It will be capable of running directly on any device without Windows. Unlike Windows, it will be free. And it will come pre-loaded -- just like Windows -- because who really wants to bother with downloading

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