Nameservers in a Nutshell

The seventh instalment of Fresh Insights reports on a major iOS vulnerability, commends Google’s brand convergence and makes it easy for your mom to understand DNS:

Google Retires Picasa, Blogger Brands

Google’s foray into social has already increased its market cap by$20 billion. The search giant is now retiring its Picasa and Blogger brands to focus on its growing social network, Google+, reports Mashable.

This is a smart move because weak brands dilute core brands in saturated markets. Perfect branding lies in the sweet spot between unique and recognizable. Smaller brands with many competitors strengthen the core Google brand by living under the mothership’s umbrella.

Google’s Facebook

The sixth instalment of Fresh Insights looks at Google+, face recognition at Facebook, Zynga’s IP and the true cost of domain names:

Domain names are big business. Your ISP’s monthly cap is a loss leader for hosting services with 500% mark-ups. They gave you a generic email address to sell you a nicer .CO.ZA domain for R300+, but what do domains really cost?

- read more about Google+, the $35m MySpace sale and subscribe to get it fresh.

BlackBerry Burns

The fifth instalment (24 June) of Fresh Software Insights looks at RIM’s 20% price dip and ten criteria for choosing a great domain name:

In October 2010, Michael Mace predicted RIM’s demise in his excellent analysis, What’s Really Wrong With Blackberry. RIM’s decline in sales growth is another reason why the (highly profitable) Apple is undervalued…

- read more about BlackBerry and subscribe to get it fresh.

Why Apple Is A Steal

The fourth instalment (17 June) of Fresh Software Insights tells why Apple is undervalued and takes a stab at Facebook’s IPO:

My new iPhone 4 is a beautiful harlot: it sparkles, connects to any WiFi hotspot and is impossible to type on. Forgiving the retarded iTunes, here’s why I would invest in Apple shares:

1. Ridiculously low P/E of 15.50
2. …

- read more about Apple and subscribe to get it fresh.

Perfect Domain Branding

The third instalment (13 June) of Fresh Software Insights outlines domain name branding and predicts the Google Antitrust probe:

Consider the following:

1. What if content from one company dominated Google’s search results?
2. What if this company provided all the videos, maps, places, weather and flight search results in search results?
3. What if this company was owned by Google? Wait. I’ll let you Google that.

- read the rest and subscribe to get it fresh.

$20 billion Groupon IPO & .domain fever

Fast-tracked my 2nd Fresh Software Insights to bring you the latest news:

“…Domain names are 21st century real estate. ICANN runs all these virtual estate names on the interwebz, so you have to apply for a gTLD like .home or .coffee through them (dibs on .hustler).

All you need is a meager $185k application fee and $25k per year, granted no conflicting applications or disputes arise (like .xxx vs .sex). If, however, a dispute doth arise, thou shalt pay an adjudication fee on the order of $70k to $122k per hour. Yes folks, I ain’t talkin’ rich, I’m talkin’ wealthy [video]. This may upset the whole domain market, but I think otherwise…