Archive for February 20th, 2010
As South Florida Chinese drywall lawsuits head to trial in federal court, local construction companies are rushing to market with offers to remediate properties affected by the material.
But legal experts debate whether or not homeowners are signing their legal rights away in exchange for a property that can never be truly remediated.
In late December, Homestead residents Jason and Melissa Harrell saw movement in their lawsuit against Palm Holdings, Banner Supply, South Kendall Construction and Keys Gate Realty over Chinese drywall issues that forced them out of their home in 2006.
Their victory could open the door to a wave of new suits — if homeowners don’t let builders attempt to remediate, according to Allison Grant, a member of the commercial litigation and construction litigation practice groups at the law firm Shapiro, Blasi, Wasserman & Gora in Boca Raton.
Grant said builders pressured homeowners into contracts to remediate their home from Chinese drywall. Now, she warns homeowners not to buy into the remediation hype — and speaks from personal experience. Her $200,000 investment property was diagnosed with Chinese drywall. She can’t rent the unit, and the property is now appraised at $17,000. Remediation wasn’t the answer.
Read the rest of my story on The Real Deal.
February 20th, 2010
On Thursday, Microsoft 
and Yahoo received something they’ve been waiting for since July — a nod from both the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission on a search agreement that could help the companies compete with Google. With the regulatory approvals, Microsoft and Yahoo can implement the deal that calls for transitioning Yahoo’s search platforms to Microsoft.
Once the transition is complete, Microsoft and Yahoo will offer a unified search experience the companies expect will breed innovation and better volume and efficiency for advertisers. They also expect it to provide better monetization opportunities for web publishers with a larger pool of search queries.
“Nobody is going to see any immediate changes. The question is whether or not this will somehow challenge, damage or threaten Google,” said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. “The answer in the near term is no, and we’ll have to wait and see in the long term.”
Read the rest of my story on Newsfactor.
February 20th, 2010
Apple is one step closer to potentially taking a bite out of Nokia’s U.S. market share. The U.S. International Trade Commission on Thursday said it will review the iPhone maker’s complaint against the Finland-based mobile-phone giant. The ITC is also reviewing a similar complaint from Nokia against Apple.
The ITC is an independent federal agency that, among other things, reviews complaints against unfair trade practices involving patent, trademark and copyright infringement. It has the authority to order U.S. customs officials to block goods from entering the U.S. If Apple wins its bid, it would effectively block Nokia from bringing its handsets into the U.S.
“Obviously there is a lot of money to be made in mobility. Over time, if it turns out there are legitimate claims on anyone’s part, usually there is some sort of licensing deal,” said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. “This does show that companies like Apple will continue to be targets because you don’t sue companies that don’t have money.”
Read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.
February 20th, 2010
Cisco Systems on Thursday moved to end its long-term relationship with Hewlett-Packard. With the two companies increasingly competing in servers and networking, Cisco decided to formally cut HP from its reseller program, effective April 30.
Cisco’s decision means HP will no longer have access to proprietary information from its newly found rival. Although HP can still sell Cisco products to its client base, the computing giant won’t be able to tap into incentives.
Keith Goodwin, senior vice president of Cisco’s Worldwide Partner Organization, said partnering is a critical element of the company’s growth and innovation strategy. But after evaluating its relationship with HP, Cisco decided the companies have “conflicting visions of how to deliver value to customers.”
Read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.
February 20th, 2010
