2017-08-05

Tech Review: Why Radio Spectrum Is Worth US$ Billions (video)

Tech Review (TR 2017-08-05)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news:
Features • 1) Why Radio Spectrum Is Worth Billions (US$), 2) Amazon 1492 health care tech, 3) FCC & Broadband, 4) Tech Firms Expand in UK, 5) ICYMI Tech News.

1) Why Radio Spectrum Is Worth Billions (US$)

Governments around the world have reaped billions of dollars from selling something we can’t see, taste or weigh: radio spectrum. These invisible electromagnetic waves carry radio, TV broadcasts and, increasingly, YouTube videos to our smartphones. With demand exploding, mobile capacity is being strained. TV stations will need be squeezed into a narrower swath of spectrum as mobile operators buy up the old airwaves to keep our smartphones online. (Video by Tom Gibson, published Jul 28, 2017, by Bloomberg.com.)

Other Tech News:

2)  Amazon has a secret skunkworks lab called 1492, dedicated to health care tech. Areas of exploration include a platform for electronic medical record data, telemedicine and health apps for existing devices like the Amazon Echo.--cnbc.com

3) The FCC now defines broadband internet as the ability to download information at 25 Mbps and to upload it at 3 Mbps--"For around $30 a month, New York City internet providers offer basic packages of 100 Mbps service. In Saguache County [Colorado], such a connection is rare; if a household wants a download speed of 12 Mbps with an upload speed of 2 Mbps, they can expect to pay a whopping $90."--The Worst Internet In America | FiveThirtyEight.com

4) What's Brexit? Tech Firms Expand Presence in U.K.

Amazon.com Inc. is expanding the size of its new U.K. headquarters to support the growth of its Prime Video service in Europe. Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde reports on "Bloomberg Technology" on Jul 25, 2017.

5) ICYMI Tech News:
  • Uber, Lyft Mangle Rental Cars & Taxis. Other Sectors Next | WolfStreet.com"Overall car ownership might experience “negative growth,” as more people in densely populated urban areas might decide that it’s easier and cheaper to pay per ride when needed, and use mass transit at other times, or use a combination of both, rather than paying 24/7 for the overall expense and hassles of owning, driving, parking, and maintaining a car, including paying for tickets and taxes."
  • China's second-largest mobile search engine Sogou, controlled by Sohu.com [SOHU.O] and 45 percent owned by Tencent Holdings [0700.HK], will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) as it aims to build a next-generation search engine. It also plans an Sogou IPO in the U.S. "as early as market conditions permit"--Reuters.com
  • China's Problems Go Beyond Anbang Ins. Group Co. | Bloomberg.com"... It is one thing to crack down on future transactions, as has been done with other prolific dealmakers such as Fosun International Ltd. Or even to intervene in local business, as with Dalian Wanda Group Co. It's quite another to inject the state into already-closed private deals abroad ..." 
  • The five largest market capitalization stocks today, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon trade at premium valuation ratios. "When looking back to 1994, and 1990, concentration levels today are higher in the top-five, and top-ten, S&P 500 market capitalization equities."--SeekingAlpha.com

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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