After much deliberation, the European Commission approved Microsoft’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Internet calling innovator, Skype.  Although Microsoft’s stock prices have been slowly declining, along with just about everything else, this opportunity would allow Microsoft to take advantage of Skype’s soaring popularity to boost its stock prices and regain its reputation as a market innovator and leader.  However, Microsoft needs to be careful and avoid making drastic changes to an already popular product that might either prevent new customers from coming or push away the millions of existing users.  When Google bought the popular site YouTube 2006, it decided to make changes to the site to help business, but those changes actually pushed existing and potential customers away from the site.  Now, that’s not to say that Microsoft shouldn’t work to build Skype into an extremely lucrative subsidiary, but rather that it must be careful in its decisions about the website and avoid any tremendous reformatting that would impede user experience and force a decrease in customers.

Much to the dismay of many Apple Inc. enthusiasts, the iPhone 4S was released just days ago to an unprecedented amount of negative press.  The reason for this is simple: people wanted an iPhone 5, not an iPhone 4.5.  However, this isn’t the first time that Apple has done this in recent memory.  Just a few years ago, shortly after the release of the second installment of the iPhone, the iPhone 3G, Apple released what it called the iPhone 3GS.  Rather than a complete redesign, Apple simply revamped the software and added video capability to the phone.  These changes are almost identical to those made to the iPhone 4 to create the iPhone 4S.  Apple added the Core A5 dual-core processor to the phone (although this means nothing to the average consumer, the dual-core chip boosts performance by leaps and bounds, particularly during uploading/downloading and while multitasking), which is the same chip currently in the iPad 2.  Apple also upgraded the camera to an 8-megapixel camera to compete with companies such as HTC and Samsung, as well as adding some software updates such as iCloud and iOS 5.  Combined, this makes the iPhone 4S a major improvement over its predecessor.

Currently in the works in the European Union are talks to have foreign airlines pay for carbon pollution caused by their activity in the EU.  For obvious reasons, many major foreign airlines, including Continental Airlines and American Airlines, are fighting back with the help of the U.S. Air Transport Association as they feel they additional €6-€12 per ticket is ludicrous.  However, the airlines fighting back against the proposed EU legislation are not isolated to the United States.  In fact, both India and China have threatened to retaliate if the legislation is passed; with China threatening to cancel an order for 10 Airbus A380 jets, due to Airbus’ manufacturer being based in the EU.  The proposed legislation, while admirable with regard to respecting the environment, comes at the wrong time for the rest of the world.  While all 27 countries in the European Union would benefit due to their terrible financial situation, the rest of the world is in a similar situation as well; not to mention the fact that airline travel only accounts for 3% of all global carbon emissions.

The mysterious and much anticipated Apple iPhone 5 has still yet to be released, leaving many to wonder what exactly Apple is waiting for.  However, Apple’s decision to hold the release of its newest upgrade to the ever-popular iPhone is actually working to Apple’s benefit.  Rather than releasing the phone mid-Summer as it did with the iPhone 4, Apple is building anticipation for the product and it opened up an opportunity for Apple to promote its iCloud technology because the consumers themselves were creating the hype for the iPhone 5.  However, the delayed release will also present Apple an opportunity to rebound from the losses it has incurred in its stock value due to the recessing Nasdaq.  Whether or not this move was calculated, we may never know, but Apple will surely be able to exploit the opportunity presented to close the year out with a profit; something that many major corporations will not be able to achieve.