jenniferleclaire.com » 2009

Are condo-hotels making a comeback?

July 10th, 2009

Hotel gets $12M loan despite crunch

A pair of Miami developers managed to close a multimillion-dollar loan to build an economy hotel at the edge of Coral Gables, attracting notice and offering an indication of where the market is headed.

Struggling locally based Ocean Bank loaned $11.68 million to Elias and Jorge Kasabdji, principals of Flagler 4100 Property, to build a Best Western Hotel at 4100 West Flagler Street in Miami.

They’re building a seven-story, enclosed-corridor hotel with 144 rooms. Construction is underway and the finished product is expected to come to market in mid-2010.

Is Ocean Bank making a mistake by lending into a struggling hotel market in a global recession? Or is it making a smart bet that will drive revenue in a down economy? Or is it being pushed to lend because it has few other options?

Click here to read the rest of my story on The Real Deal.

Add comment July 10th, 2009

Sprint Outsources Network Operation

In its latest cost-cutting measure, a struggling Sprint Nextel announced Thursday a seven-year network service agreement with Ericsson. Dubbed Network Advantage, the deal turns over the operation of Sprint’s networks to Ericsson.Sprint will pay Ericsson $4.5 billion to $5 billion over the term of the renewable contract. About 6,000 Sprint employees will be transferred to Ericsson sometime in the third quarter.

“No other U.S.-based carrier has followed through on the business-enhancing vision inherent in Network Advantage,” said Steve Elfman, president of network operations and wholesale at Sprint. “Our best-ever network performance will become even better by leveraging Ericsson’s world-class leadership in network services, their proprietary tools, and the knowledge of more than 30,000 dedicated and highly specialized service professionals to power Sprint’s Now Network.”

Click here to read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.

Add comment July 10th, 2009

Amazon Launches Online Store for Mobile Phones

Amazon is moving into yet another retailing realm. This time, it’s mobile phones.Amazon on Thursday rolled out AmazonWireless.com, a beta Web site that offers cell phones, service plans, comparison shopping features, easy rebate redemption, and free two-day shipping on AT&T and Verizon Wireless phones.

Sprint and T-Mobile are noticeably missing from the short roster of carriers. However, Amazon said it plans to add carriers and expand its selection during the beta phase, as well as test features and gather input from customers to optimize the experience.

“We have taken our eight years’ experience selling cell phones to create a new site that makes a potentially confusing transaction much easier for customers,” said Paul Ryder, vice president of consumer electronics for Amazon.com.

Click here to read the rest of my story on CIO Today.

Add comment July 10th, 2009

IE Attack Active as Apple Closes Safari Vulnerability

Apple and Microsoft are grappling with bugs this week.On Wednesday, Apple released an update to Safari. Safari 4.0.2 fixes two bugs in the browser’s WebKit. The first bug fixes an issue with the WebKit’s handling of parent and top objects that could open the door to a cross-scripting attack if a user visited a malicious Web site.

The second bug is a memory-corruption issue in the way the WebKit handles numeric character references. Apple said visiting a maliciously crafted Web site could lead to the browser shutting down unexpectedly or an attacker executing arbitrary code.

“Exactly one month after releasing Safari 4.0, Apple delivered the first set of patches for its brand-new browser application. The updates offered apply to both Mac and Windows, but as of yet it isn’t clear if the iPhone is affected,” said Andrew Storms, director of security operations for nCircle.

Click here to read the rest of my story on Sci-Tech Today.

Add comment July 9th, 2009

Google Bets on Market Rearrangement with Chrome OS

The speculation is building around the Google Chrome Operating System. Some see a netbook war with Microsoft , while others are calling it a wash before it even debuts. Still others are predicting a Windows revival in the face of Google competition.The Google Chrome OS is an open-source lightweight operating system initially targeted at netbooks. It will run on both x86 and ARM chips, and Google is working with hardware manufacturers, including Acer, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Toshiba to bring netbooks to market with an OS that touts speed, simplicity and security .

Click here to read the rest of my story on Sci-Tech Today.

Add comment July 9th, 2009

Google Pokes Microsoft Where It Hurts with Chrome OS

Google isn’t satisfied to challenge Microsoft with office-productivity software, search and the browser. On Tuesday the company announced an operating system to challenge Windows.Google Chrome Operating System is the company’s attempt to “rethink what the operating system should be.” Google Chrome OS is an open-source, lightweight operating system initially aimed at netbooks. Google Chrome OS will run on x86 as well as ARM chips, and the company said it is working with multiple OEMs to bring several netbooks to market in 2010. Google plans to open-source the code later this year.

“Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the Web in a few seconds,” said Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management and Linus Upson, engineering director, in the Google blog. “The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the Web.”

Click here to read the rest of this story on Sci-Tech Today.

Add comment July 8th, 2009

Archive for July, 2009

Are condo-hotels making a comeback?

Hotel gets $12M loan despite crunch

Sprint Outsources Network Operation

Amazon Launches Online Store for Mobile Phones

IE Attack Active as Apple Closes Safari Vulnerability

Google Bets on Market Rearrangement with Chrome OS

Google Pokes Microsoft Where It Hurts with Chrome OS