http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/24/eveningnews/main6239941.shtml
SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 24, 2010
Box of Clean Cheap Energy Blooms in Calif.
Inventor Unveils Much-Hyped Device That Makes Energy From Air, Natural Gas
John Blackstone
In California, one energy company said they have the answer to America's power problems with the bloom box. As John Blackstone reports, this idea is backed by some serious celeb-power.
Seldom has the unveiling of a grey box the size of a parking space been surrounded by such hype.
But its inventor says what's inside the box can supply the world with clean, cheap energy, reports CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone.
Following its television debut on CBS News’ "60 Minutes" Sunday, the Bloom Box was formally introduced to the public at eBay’s headquarters in San Jose, Calif.
"The core of our technology is simply sand," Bloom Energy founder K.R. Sridhar said at Wednesday's unveiling.
The sand is the raw material used to make wafers that can make electricity.
Bloom's fuel cell works like this: Oxygen is pumped in on one side and natural gas on the other. The two combine inside the cell to create a chemical reaction that produces electricity. No burning, no combustion, no power lines from outside.
Bloom's founder has persuaded some big names that by making them out of sand he can make fuel cells that are efficient and inexpensive.
"Will it work for 10 or 20 years without something going wrong? We'll find out," former Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, a Bloom Energy board member, said Wednesday.
Bloom Energy says the best proof that its fuel cells work is in the ones already working like those at eBay's headquarters, but Bloom is not the only company pursuing this kind of technology.
One of Bloom's many competitors, UTC Power has built fuel cells for some supermarkets, a casino and even a high school, but they are expensive. Now the race is on to see who can make them affordable.
A half-dozen big companies have already bought Bloom Boxes at a cost of $700,000 to $800,000. But Sridhar's goal is a $3,000 box that anybody can use to power their home.
"There's always the hope that the price will come all the way down like they did on computers," said University of California Berkeley physicist Richard Muller.
But even the Bloom Box's inventor says home use is 10 years away.
"Don't start signing up for orders yet," said Sridhar. "This is a product of the future."
A future that's at least a decade away.
Showing posts with label eBay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eBay. Show all posts
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
A-albionic’s Ebay Inventory Liquidation Auction
The latest “rule and fee changes” imposed by the insane, grasping Ebay Management has made it impossible to us to continue our Inventory Liquidation Auction at the Ebay site.
We will be closing our site when the new rules go into effect on March 1, 2010. In the meantime, we have marked down all our listing 65% and urge you to take advantage of these “close-out” prices on over 300 items.
As usual, feel free to negotiate for even lower prices with Ebay’s “Make Offer” button.
A-albionic’s Ebay Inventory Liquidation Auction:
http://stores.ebay.com/A-albionic-Research
We have already created our own impromptu auction site at:
http://a-albionic.org
Go to our new site to check-out the many new items we have already listed.
Sincerely yours,
Lloyd Miller, Research Director
A-albionic Research
We will be closing our site when the new rules go into effect on March 1, 2010. In the meantime, we have marked down all our listing 65% and urge you to take advantage of these “close-out” prices on over 300 items.
As usual, feel free to negotiate for even lower prices with Ebay’s “Make Offer” button.
A-albionic’s Ebay Inventory Liquidation Auction:
http://stores.ebay.com/A-albionic-Research
We have already created our own impromptu auction site at:
http://a-albionic.org
Go to our new site to check-out the many new items we have already listed.
Sincerely yours,
Lloyd Miller, Research Director
A-albionic Research
Friday, February 13, 2009
Meg Whitman off and running
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=35596
Meg Whitman off and running
Carla Marinucci
February 09 2009
We told you more than a year ago that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman was eyeing a 2010 run at the GOP nomination for governor. Now she's made it official, announcing she has formed an exploratory committee. Now look for the battle royale to begin between her and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who has been working this turf for more than a year.
Here's her press release this morning:
SACRAMENTO -- Republican Meg Whitman, former President and CEO of eBay, today announced the formation of an Exploratory Committee to seek the nomination for Governor in 2010. Former California Governor Pete Wilson will serve as Campaign Chairman, joining Exploratory Committee Co-Chairs House Chief Deputy Republican Whip Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, State Senator Tony Strickland, Assembly Republican Whip Nathan Fletcher and former State Assemblywoman Sharon Runner. In the coming weeks, through speeches in Silicon Valley, Orange County and at the California Republican Party Convention in Sacramento, Whitman will offer a vision for the Golden State.
''After careful consideration and with tremendous loyalty to our Golden State, I have formed an Exploratory Committee, the first step in the process of running for Governor in 2010,'' Whitman said. ''California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history -- a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses, and an exploding state budget deficit. California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it fail. Now is the time for people across the state to join in a cause for change, excellence and a new California.''
Whitman, 52, retired from eBay in March 2008 following a decade with the company. Under her leadership, eBay grew from a startup with 30 employees, $4.7 million in revenues, and 300,000 users to a global e-commerce leader with operations in 38 countries, more than 15,000 employees, almost $8 billion in revenues, and more than 300 million registered users. There are more than 12 million eBay users in California alone.
Jeff Randle, president and CEO of Randle Communications, is Whitman's senior adviser and has worked with her since 2007. Randle joins Henry Gomez, one of Whitman's closest advisers during her tenure at eBay. Together, Randle and Gomez are developing a campaign organization that includes some of America's most respected campaign professionals.
''Meg Whitman is a tremendous leader and team-builder,'' Randle said. ''California today has serious problems, but Meg is committed to working to restore the state's greatness. With new leadership and a new direction, Meg will forge a new California, which will once again be the number one state in economic growth, job creation and quality of life.''
Stay tuned.
Meg Whitman off and running
Carla Marinucci
February 09 2009
We told you more than a year ago that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman was eyeing a 2010 run at the GOP nomination for governor. Now she's made it official, announcing she has formed an exploratory committee. Now look for the battle royale to begin between her and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who has been working this turf for more than a year.
Here's her press release this morning:
SACRAMENTO -- Republican Meg Whitman, former President and CEO of eBay, today announced the formation of an Exploratory Committee to seek the nomination for Governor in 2010. Former California Governor Pete Wilson will serve as Campaign Chairman, joining Exploratory Committee Co-Chairs House Chief Deputy Republican Whip Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, State Senator Tony Strickland, Assembly Republican Whip Nathan Fletcher and former State Assemblywoman Sharon Runner. In the coming weeks, through speeches in Silicon Valley, Orange County and at the California Republican Party Convention in Sacramento, Whitman will offer a vision for the Golden State.
''After careful consideration and with tremendous loyalty to our Golden State, I have formed an Exploratory Committee, the first step in the process of running for Governor in 2010,'' Whitman said. ''California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history -- a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses, and an exploding state budget deficit. California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it fail. Now is the time for people across the state to join in a cause for change, excellence and a new California.''
Whitman, 52, retired from eBay in March 2008 following a decade with the company. Under her leadership, eBay grew from a startup with 30 employees, $4.7 million in revenues, and 300,000 users to a global e-commerce leader with operations in 38 countries, more than 15,000 employees, almost $8 billion in revenues, and more than 300 million registered users. There are more than 12 million eBay users in California alone.
Jeff Randle, president and CEO of Randle Communications, is Whitman's senior adviser and has worked with her since 2007. Randle joins Henry Gomez, one of Whitman's closest advisers during her tenure at eBay. Together, Randle and Gomez are developing a campaign organization that includes some of America's most respected campaign professionals.
''Meg Whitman is a tremendous leader and team-builder,'' Randle said. ''California today has serious problems, but Meg is committed to working to restore the state's greatness. With new leadership and a new direction, Meg will forge a new California, which will once again be the number one state in economic growth, job creation and quality of life.''
Stay tuned.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
EBay's Whitman appears set to run for governor
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11374287
EBay's Whitman appears set to run for governor
By Mary Anne Ostrom
Mercury News
01/05/2009
Meg Whitman, the guiding force behind eBay for a decade, is running for California governor, according to sources close to the Internet giant's former CEO.
Whitman, who rocketed onto the national political stage in 2008 as a high-profile backer of Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and John McCain, plans to make a formal announcement soon that she is seeking to become the GOP's nominee to replace termed-out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2011.
On Dec. 31, Whitman resigned from eBay's board of directors as well as two other corporate boards. One close associate called the moves "a clear signal" that she is running for governor and does not want "her corporate activities to interfere."
The source asked not to be named because Whitman, 52, wants to make a formal announcement in four to six weeks. But he added that Whitman, who has been openly considering a run for months, made her final decision after consulting with her family over the holidays.
Despite her wealth and ties to the eBay brand, Whitman is almost certain to face State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner of Los Gatos, a tech-multimillionare Republican who has been preparing a run for governor for more than a year. Former GOP Congressman Tom Campbell who lives in San Jose, also has formed an exploratory campaign. And should she beat them, she's likely to face a well-known Democrat; among those who have expressed interest in the Democratic nomination are Attorney General Jerry Brown, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and perhaps even U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Whitman spokesman Henry Gomez said she resigned from the corporate boards of eBay, Procter & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation "for personal reasons. She wanted to clear her calendar of obligations in the new year. In terms of her political ambitions, I cannot comment."
A hands-on corporate leader with a marketing background and Harvard MBA, Whitman joined eBay in 1998 as the 30th employee. By the time she resigned as chief executive last March, eBay had more than 15,000 employees and annual revenue of nearly $7.7 billion.
In recent speeches, including a nationally televised one at the September Republican National Convention, Whitman has touted her credentials not just as a corporate job creator but as one who understands the workings of the small businesses around the globe that use eBay as their selling platform.
Her eBay tenure also made her immensely wealthy; Forbes estimated her 2007 net worth at $1.4 billion. But as of her last SEC filing on Nov. 18, Whitman owned 24.2 million shares of eBay, and those shares alone have lost $400 million in value compared with a year ago.
Though she is not an eloquent speechmaker, her corporate experience — combined with her ability to self-finance a campaign— led the Web site Politico.com to name her one of the top 10 political newcomers of 2008.
But history is not on Whitman's side. Self-financed candidates seeking the state's top job have failed many times.
And unlike Campbell and Poizner, Whitman has never been through the rigors of a statewide campaign. She already endured some bad press after it was disclosed she only registered as a Republican in 2007, switching from decline-to-state. And she has had a spotty voting record during her time as a California resident.
Gomez, her spokesman, said Whitman regrets her failure to vote but had her "head down" running a company and raising a family. She has two college-age sons. And she chose to switch to a GOP registration, Gomez said, so she could vote for Romney in the 2008 California presidential primary.
Quipped Poizner campaign chief Jim Brulte on Monday: "Welcome to the Republican Party."
Mercury News Data Manager Jack Davis contributed to this report. Contact Mary Anne Ostrom at mostrom@mercurynews.com or (415) 477-3794.
EBay's Whitman appears set to run for governor
By Mary Anne Ostrom
Mercury News
01/05/2009
Meg Whitman, the guiding force behind eBay for a decade, is running for California governor, according to sources close to the Internet giant's former CEO.
Whitman, who rocketed onto the national political stage in 2008 as a high-profile backer of Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and John McCain, plans to make a formal announcement soon that she is seeking to become the GOP's nominee to replace termed-out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2011.
On Dec. 31, Whitman resigned from eBay's board of directors as well as two other corporate boards. One close associate called the moves "a clear signal" that she is running for governor and does not want "her corporate activities to interfere."
The source asked not to be named because Whitman, 52, wants to make a formal announcement in four to six weeks. But he added that Whitman, who has been openly considering a run for months, made her final decision after consulting with her family over the holidays.
Despite her wealth and ties to the eBay brand, Whitman is almost certain to face State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner of Los Gatos, a tech-multimillionare Republican who has been preparing a run for governor for more than a year. Former GOP Congressman Tom Campbell who lives in San Jose, also has formed an exploratory campaign. And should she beat them, she's likely to face a well-known Democrat; among those who have expressed interest in the Democratic nomination are Attorney General Jerry Brown, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and perhaps even U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Whitman spokesman Henry Gomez said she resigned from the corporate boards of eBay, Procter & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation "for personal reasons. She wanted to clear her calendar of obligations in the new year. In terms of her political ambitions, I cannot comment."
A hands-on corporate leader with a marketing background and Harvard MBA, Whitman joined eBay in 1998 as the 30th employee. By the time she resigned as chief executive last March, eBay had more than 15,000 employees and annual revenue of nearly $7.7 billion.
In recent speeches, including a nationally televised one at the September Republican National Convention, Whitman has touted her credentials not just as a corporate job creator but as one who understands the workings of the small businesses around the globe that use eBay as their selling platform.
Her eBay tenure also made her immensely wealthy; Forbes estimated her 2007 net worth at $1.4 billion. But as of her last SEC filing on Nov. 18, Whitman owned 24.2 million shares of eBay, and those shares alone have lost $400 million in value compared with a year ago.
Though she is not an eloquent speechmaker, her corporate experience — combined with her ability to self-finance a campaign— led the Web site Politico.com to name her one of the top 10 political newcomers of 2008.
But history is not on Whitman's side. Self-financed candidates seeking the state's top job have failed many times.
And unlike Campbell and Poizner, Whitman has never been through the rigors of a statewide campaign. She already endured some bad press after it was disclosed she only registered as a Republican in 2007, switching from decline-to-state. And she has had a spotty voting record during her time as a California resident.
Gomez, her spokesman, said Whitman regrets her failure to vote but had her "head down" running a company and raising a family. She has two college-age sons. And she chose to switch to a GOP registration, Gomez said, so she could vote for Romney in the 2008 California presidential primary.
Quipped Poizner campaign chief Jim Brulte on Monday: "Welcome to the Republican Party."
Mercury News Data Manager Jack Davis contributed to this report. Contact Mary Anne Ostrom at mostrom@mercurynews.com or (415) 477-3794.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Nectar of the demigods
http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/nectar_of_the_demigods_b_list
Nectar of the demigods: B-list-celebrity-endorsed foodstuffs
by Genevieve Koski, Josh Modell, Nathan Rabin, Kyle Ryan
February 7th, 2008
A-list celebrities don't really pimp food products. It's like doing TV commercials—it's okay in Japan, out of sight, but it seems far beneath the likes of Tom Cruise or Russell Crowe to do something so gauche in America. The exception is Paul Newman, whose vast food empire is about more than releasing a quickie, crappy product. The A.V. Club's Tasha Robinson has had a bottle of Olympia Dukakis-brand salad dressing (brought to you by the same defunct company that once foisted Erik Estrada corn chips on the world) on her desk since 1999: Inspired by that, we dug up some currently available products endorsed by marginal celebs. Sadly, the Dirt McGirt Rap Snacks did not show up in time to make this article.
Smokey Robinson Down Home Pot Roast
The most striking thing about Smokey Robinson's line of frozen entrées isn't the fact that he has a line of frozen entrées; it's his frighteningly dead eyes staring out from the surface of the package. They look cataract-stricken, or maybe devil-infested. Still, that doesn't stop Smokey from putting his name on seafood gumbo, red beans and rice, and other reasonably priced foodstuffs.
Level of celebrity: With an older crowd, fairly high. Younger supermarketeers might just think he's a creepy, dead-eyed chef.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Appropriate. Smokey offers comfort with his music, and cheap comfort with his meals.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Moderate to high. For frozen entrees, these aren't half-bad. Or maybe they're exactly half-bad.
Marketing hyperbole: "The soul is in the bowl," which implies that you're actually consuming Smokey Robinson's soul. His creepy eyes agree.
Buy it at: Lots of grocery stores.
Dwight Yoakam's Chicken Lickin's Chicken Fries And Buffalo Style Bites
Just how much chicken-breast deliciousness can you get for $1? Not a whole lot, judging by Dwight Yoakam's suspiciously cheap frozen chicken treats. Tasters at The A.V. Club aptly described these microwavable goodies as "breaded nothing," though to be fair, breading only constitutes about 65 percent of each "chicken fry" or Buffalo-style bite. Check out modernfoods.net for more stomach-churning info.
Level of celebrity: High. Yoakam is a respected country singer, hotshot guitarist, and distinguished character actor. When it comes to selling chicken to rubes, however, he's no Colonel Sanders.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Moderate. Yoakam has long appealed to a more upscale, diverse fan base than his country peers, but this downscale item's cheap packaging and bargain price screams "midnight snack at the trailer park." Then again, there's a long tradition of country musicians lending their names to questionable products. Yoakam is clearly channeling his inner Krusty The Clown with his line of quasi-edible foodstuffs.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Questionable, though these should appeal to misers who refuse to pay more than $1 for a chicken fix, and to folks enamored of products that look and smell like food, yet lack anything resembling flavor.
Marketing hyperbole: The label says "Wow! Only $1," but it just as easily could read "Yikes! Only $1!" Sadly, you get what you pay for with Dwight Yoakam's chicken treats.
Buy it at: 7-Eleven.
Mike Ditka Coach's Cut pork chops
Most former athletes or coaches can only hope to land a commentating gig (which Da Coach has), but name another one who has his own restaurants, resort, cigars, record label, food products, and wine ("Kick Ass Red," so you don't think he's a wuss or nothin'). His food, naturally, comes in gigantic proportions suitable for the fat-ass super-fans immortalized by Saturday Night Live.
Level of celebrity: In the football world, near the top. Everywhere else, not so much.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Perfect. Gargantuan meat products are perfectly suited for a man who's had a heart attack.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Pretty good, at least among chronic overeaters.
Marketing hyperbole: "Finally Da Coach brings his own kick-ass twist to gourmet food!" Good, because real men only eat gourmet food that's ass-kicking, you fairies.
Buy it at: We got it at Dominick's.
Dexter Holland Gringo Bandito hot sauce
Of all celebrity foodstuffs, hot sauce seems the most common. Why? It's probably the easiest and cheapest to make—mix some vinegar with peppers, and voila, hot sauce. Joining sauce-marketers Cheech Marin, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Ron Jeremy, Patti LaBelle, and untold others we've missed, is Dexter Holland, singer-guitarist for long-running punk outfit The Offspring.
Level of celebrity: Among the Warped Tour set, pretty high. In the mainstream music world and beyond, middling.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Pretty appropriate. The label on the bottle features a drawing of Holland as a bandolier-laden Mexican gangster. And he's from southern California—that's close to Mexico, right?
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Slim, unless you live in L.A. or Orange County, where you can find it in some restaurants.
Marketing hyperbole: Holland doesn't take it too seriously, referring to it as his "not-so-famous" sauce and mocking the need for nutrition information on the label. ("It's vinegar and peppers, for God's sake. What did you expect?") But he's attuned to his customers in another way: "I tried to make it easy on the pooper, too."
Buy it at: gringobandito.com
Jeff Foxworthy Grillin' Sauces, original BBQ
Barbecue sauce is just one of the many products available at thefoxworthystore.com, which offers apparel, books (both volumes of the Redneck Dictionary!), CDs and DVDs, and food. (Rolling over a link to any elicits a Foxworthy quip: "Apparel! Are ya nekkid?") The groceries section—"Groceries! I'm hongry!"—features five varieties of barbecue sauce and three types of beef jerky.
Level of celebrity: Moderate, thanks to his current gig hosting Fox's Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Perfect. Game-show hijinks aside, Foxworthy made his name with his "You might be a redneck if…" shtick. Offering only jerky and barbecue sauce in his "groceries" section is a redneck joke in itself.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Low, at least non-ironically.
Marketing hyperbole: On the label, Foxworthy tells of his father's accident-prone grilling legacy: "There was a good chance that there was going to be a call to 911 whenever he fired up the grill… You always knew, though, that when Big Jim was grilling, the food was going to be good and the burns would eventually heal." Foxworthy signs off "Bone appateet!"
Buy it at: thefoxworthystore.com
Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt energy drink
Steven Seagal is truly a powerful man. But even man-gods sometimes need a boost, so the mystical thespian—according to his website—traveled to Asia to find the perfect balance of energy and power. That follows through in the Cherry Charge and Asian Experience varieties of his energy drink, but what will the mystics think about Root Beer Rush?
Level of celebrity: Near the bottom of an extremely long downhill slope.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Damn near sublime.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Zero; purchase will be limited to fans who are really buying a souvenir can/conversation starter.
Marketing hyperbole: "The name Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt was an inevitable afterthought. When Steven Seagal finished creating a drink that holds untold natural power, there was only one equivalent in nature—The Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt. Both mysterious and powerful, it's a symbol of the untold energy the earth has to offer—Such is Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt energy drink." Doesn't that say it all? More than it all, really.
Buy it at: lightningdrink.com or Wal-Mart
Ben & Jerry's celebrity flavors
It isn't like consumers really need an excuse to gorge themselves on rich, goody-laden ice cream, but really, who hasn't wondered what Willie Nelson tastes like? (For the record, it's not bong water and beef jerky, but rather peach ice cream studded with cinnamon-sugar crumbles. Weird.) A handful of entertainers have earned the right to be immortalized in dairy form by Vermont ice-creamery Ben & Jerry's, with predictably delicious results.
Level of celebrity: Varies, but usually somewhere in the realm of cult favorite: Stephen Colbert (Americone Dream), Willie Nelson (Country Peach Cobbler), Wavy Gravy, and Monty Python (Vermonty Python) have all merited flavors. A high ratio of jam-band tributes—Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, and Dave Matthews' Band's Magic Brownies—speaks to B&J's hippie-centric origins and philosophy.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Americone Dream, Vermonty Python, Wavy Gravy, and Cherry Garcia depend more on name recognition and puns than a strong conceptual connection to their respective celebrities, but Phish Food (which contains fudge fish), Country Peach Cobbler, and Magic Brownies have subtle tie-ins to their namesakes. (Also, Cherry Garcia, the company's longest-running celebrity flavor, swapped in black cherries instead of its usual Bing cherries for a month following Jerry Garcia's death in 1995. Aww.)
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Pretty damn likely. Cherry Garcia and Phish Food rank among B&J's top-selling flavors, and all but Wavy Gravy are still in production.
Marketing hyperbole: None necessary. Interest in the company's products is high enough that new celebrity-endorsed flavors tend to create their own hype: The debuts of Colbert and Nelson's flavors sparked a faux-feud (egged on by Colbert, of course) between the two entertainers.
Buy it at: Everywhere.
The Cheech "Waatsappenin'" hot sauces
Cheech Marin is in good company as a minor-ish celebrity pimping hot sauce, but "The Cheech" really appears to take pride in this stuff—the packaging is great, and the three sauces (garlic, mango, and chipotle) were considerably different from each other, and all quite tasty. No, there isn't a weed-flavored sauce, and only a very vague weed reference. Will Chong sauce follow?
Level of celebrity: Well, he's far outstripped Tommy Chong, with lots of TV and voiceover work, and even the occasional film role. (Robert Rodriguez is clearly a fan.) But still, he isn't exactly a superstar—which is par for the course for a guy with his own salsa.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: High. Cheech is a proud Mexican-American, and his sauces can only serve to bolster his culture's already-delicious food. The sauces are even manufactured in Costa Rica.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Reasonably high. There are plenty of hot sauces on the market, but Cheech's recognizable face and a solid product could send him straight up the charts.
Marketing hyperbole: "3 new sauces hot-nuf to joggle your jibber!"
Buy it at: thecheech.com
Rickey's hot sauce
There's no celebrity on the packaging or anywhere on the company's website, but fans of last year's video-gaming documentary The King Of Kong know the public secret: Rickey's hot sauce was brought into the world by Billy Mitchell, classic-arcade-game champion and outsized character. Don't get sticky fingerprints on your Donkey Kong console.
Level of celebrity: Practically nonexistent in the grand scheme, but massive in the very small world of video games. He's the first guy to ever get a perfect Pac-Man score, and he's got amazing hair.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Strangely perfect. Hot sauce can be mysterious, as can Mitchell.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Extremely high. Mitchell surely sells more sauce to people who have no idea who he is than to fans. And that's because the sauces—especially the simple green jalapeno—are delicious.
Marketing hyperbole: Actually, it's anti-hyperbole in this case: "Rickey's does not want to change anyone's recipes or their way of cooking, we only want to enhance the flavor."
Buy it at: 800hotsauce.com
Sammy Hagar Cabo Wabo tequila
He's every Van Halen fan's second choice for lead singer, but Sammy Hagar doesn't need to slog it out on the road any more—in a way, he's getting the last laugh. His VH partners invested in his Mexican bar way back when, but when it faltered, he bought them out. Fast forward a few years, and Sammy's got an incredibly successful tequila—Cabo Wabo—to go along with his place. Last year, he sold an 80 percent stake to Campari, and presumably got even more stinkin' rich. In a related note, former VH bassist Michael Anthony has his own line of hot sauces.
Level of celebrity: Unusual. Drinkers still love him, but a VH tour with Sammy wouldn't generate nearly the excitement that last year's David Lee Roth-led tour did.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Hagar and tequila go together like Roth and Van Halen, which is to say very well.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Drink enough, and you'll be a fan.
Marketing hyperbole: Sammy pimps like a madman for Cabo Wabo. Bikini chicks onstage with his band, the Waboritas, serving tequila? Oh yeah, he's got that.
Buy it at: Many liquor stores.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Big Mo' candy bar
Guys who drive around in circles really, really fast have to get hungry. Is there a better way to satisfy that kind of hunger than with a big-ass candy bar, available with peanut butter or caramel filling? Perhaps. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Big Mo' bar has quantity, but not quality. It tastes and looks cheap.
Level of celebrity: Pretty high? It's tough to tell how big NASCAR is; sometimes it seems omnipresent, but nerds on pop-culture websites can probably go years without giving it a thought.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Low. Dale should have some jerky or an energy drink. Candy bars are for ladies, not race-car drivers.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Very low, and repeated consumption seems almost unthinkable. If it were tasty, non-fans could get over Dale's face, but the taste doesn't cut it.
Marketing hyperbole: "Creating the exclusive recipe of the Big Mo' bar included numerous taste-tests by Earnhardt Jr., and was tailored to please his palate."
Buy it at: These were kinda tough to find, but eBay has a few. They may have been discontinued already.
Nectar of the demigods: B-list-celebrity-endorsed foodstuffs
by Genevieve Koski, Josh Modell, Nathan Rabin, Kyle Ryan
February 7th, 2008
A-list celebrities don't really pimp food products. It's like doing TV commercials—it's okay in Japan, out of sight, but it seems far beneath the likes of Tom Cruise or Russell Crowe to do something so gauche in America. The exception is Paul Newman, whose vast food empire is about more than releasing a quickie, crappy product. The A.V. Club's Tasha Robinson has had a bottle of Olympia Dukakis-brand salad dressing (brought to you by the same defunct company that once foisted Erik Estrada corn chips on the world) on her desk since 1999: Inspired by that, we dug up some currently available products endorsed by marginal celebs. Sadly, the Dirt McGirt Rap Snacks did not show up in time to make this article.
Smokey Robinson Down Home Pot Roast
The most striking thing about Smokey Robinson's line of frozen entrées isn't the fact that he has a line of frozen entrées; it's his frighteningly dead eyes staring out from the surface of the package. They look cataract-stricken, or maybe devil-infested. Still, that doesn't stop Smokey from putting his name on seafood gumbo, red beans and rice, and other reasonably priced foodstuffs.
Level of celebrity: With an older crowd, fairly high. Younger supermarketeers might just think he's a creepy, dead-eyed chef.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Appropriate. Smokey offers comfort with his music, and cheap comfort with his meals.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Moderate to high. For frozen entrees, these aren't half-bad. Or maybe they're exactly half-bad.
Marketing hyperbole: "The soul is in the bowl," which implies that you're actually consuming Smokey Robinson's soul. His creepy eyes agree.
Buy it at: Lots of grocery stores.
Dwight Yoakam's Chicken Lickin's Chicken Fries And Buffalo Style Bites
Just how much chicken-breast deliciousness can you get for $1? Not a whole lot, judging by Dwight Yoakam's suspiciously cheap frozen chicken treats. Tasters at The A.V. Club aptly described these microwavable goodies as "breaded nothing," though to be fair, breading only constitutes about 65 percent of each "chicken fry" or Buffalo-style bite. Check out modernfoods.net for more stomach-churning info.
Level of celebrity: High. Yoakam is a respected country singer, hotshot guitarist, and distinguished character actor. When it comes to selling chicken to rubes, however, he's no Colonel Sanders.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Moderate. Yoakam has long appealed to a more upscale, diverse fan base than his country peers, but this downscale item's cheap packaging and bargain price screams "midnight snack at the trailer park." Then again, there's a long tradition of country musicians lending their names to questionable products. Yoakam is clearly channeling his inner Krusty The Clown with his line of quasi-edible foodstuffs.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Questionable, though these should appeal to misers who refuse to pay more than $1 for a chicken fix, and to folks enamored of products that look and smell like food, yet lack anything resembling flavor.
Marketing hyperbole: The label says "Wow! Only $1," but it just as easily could read "Yikes! Only $1!" Sadly, you get what you pay for with Dwight Yoakam's chicken treats.
Buy it at: 7-Eleven.
Mike Ditka Coach's Cut pork chops
Most former athletes or coaches can only hope to land a commentating gig (which Da Coach has), but name another one who has his own restaurants, resort, cigars, record label, food products, and wine ("Kick Ass Red," so you don't think he's a wuss or nothin'). His food, naturally, comes in gigantic proportions suitable for the fat-ass super-fans immortalized by Saturday Night Live.
Level of celebrity: In the football world, near the top. Everywhere else, not so much.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Perfect. Gargantuan meat products are perfectly suited for a man who's had a heart attack.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Pretty good, at least among chronic overeaters.
Marketing hyperbole: "Finally Da Coach brings his own kick-ass twist to gourmet food!" Good, because real men only eat gourmet food that's ass-kicking, you fairies.
Buy it at: We got it at Dominick's.
Dexter Holland Gringo Bandito hot sauce
Of all celebrity foodstuffs, hot sauce seems the most common. Why? It's probably the easiest and cheapest to make—mix some vinegar with peppers, and voila, hot sauce. Joining sauce-marketers Cheech Marin, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Ron Jeremy, Patti LaBelle, and untold others we've missed, is Dexter Holland, singer-guitarist for long-running punk outfit The Offspring.
Level of celebrity: Among the Warped Tour set, pretty high. In the mainstream music world and beyond, middling.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Pretty appropriate. The label on the bottle features a drawing of Holland as a bandolier-laden Mexican gangster. And he's from southern California—that's close to Mexico, right?
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Slim, unless you live in L.A. or Orange County, where you can find it in some restaurants.
Marketing hyperbole: Holland doesn't take it too seriously, referring to it as his "not-so-famous" sauce and mocking the need for nutrition information on the label. ("It's vinegar and peppers, for God's sake. What did you expect?") But he's attuned to his customers in another way: "I tried to make it easy on the pooper, too."
Buy it at: gringobandito.com
Jeff Foxworthy Grillin' Sauces, original BBQ
Barbecue sauce is just one of the many products available at thefoxworthystore.com, which offers apparel, books (both volumes of the Redneck Dictionary!), CDs and DVDs, and food. (Rolling over a link to any elicits a Foxworthy quip: "Apparel! Are ya nekkid?") The groceries section—"Groceries! I'm hongry!"—features five varieties of barbecue sauce and three types of beef jerky.
Level of celebrity: Moderate, thanks to his current gig hosting Fox's Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Perfect. Game-show hijinks aside, Foxworthy made his name with his "You might be a redneck if…" shtick. Offering only jerky and barbecue sauce in his "groceries" section is a redneck joke in itself.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Low, at least non-ironically.
Marketing hyperbole: On the label, Foxworthy tells of his father's accident-prone grilling legacy: "There was a good chance that there was going to be a call to 911 whenever he fired up the grill… You always knew, though, that when Big Jim was grilling, the food was going to be good and the burns would eventually heal." Foxworthy signs off "Bone appateet!"
Buy it at: thefoxworthystore.com
Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt energy drink
Steven Seagal is truly a powerful man. But even man-gods sometimes need a boost, so the mystical thespian—according to his website—traveled to Asia to find the perfect balance of energy and power. That follows through in the Cherry Charge and Asian Experience varieties of his energy drink, but what will the mystics think about Root Beer Rush?
Level of celebrity: Near the bottom of an extremely long downhill slope.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Damn near sublime.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Zero; purchase will be limited to fans who are really buying a souvenir can/conversation starter.
Marketing hyperbole: "The name Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt was an inevitable afterthought. When Steven Seagal finished creating a drink that holds untold natural power, there was only one equivalent in nature—The Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt. Both mysterious and powerful, it's a symbol of the untold energy the earth has to offer—Such is Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt energy drink." Doesn't that say it all? More than it all, really.
Buy it at: lightningdrink.com or Wal-Mart
Ben & Jerry's celebrity flavors
It isn't like consumers really need an excuse to gorge themselves on rich, goody-laden ice cream, but really, who hasn't wondered what Willie Nelson tastes like? (For the record, it's not bong water and beef jerky, but rather peach ice cream studded with cinnamon-sugar crumbles. Weird.) A handful of entertainers have earned the right to be immortalized in dairy form by Vermont ice-creamery Ben & Jerry's, with predictably delicious results.
Level of celebrity: Varies, but usually somewhere in the realm of cult favorite: Stephen Colbert (Americone Dream), Willie Nelson (Country Peach Cobbler), Wavy Gravy, and Monty Python (Vermonty Python) have all merited flavors. A high ratio of jam-band tributes—Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, and Dave Matthews' Band's Magic Brownies—speaks to B&J's hippie-centric origins and philosophy.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Americone Dream, Vermonty Python, Wavy Gravy, and Cherry Garcia depend more on name recognition and puns than a strong conceptual connection to their respective celebrities, but Phish Food (which contains fudge fish), Country Peach Cobbler, and Magic Brownies have subtle tie-ins to their namesakes. (Also, Cherry Garcia, the company's longest-running celebrity flavor, swapped in black cherries instead of its usual Bing cherries for a month following Jerry Garcia's death in 1995. Aww.)
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Pretty damn likely. Cherry Garcia and Phish Food rank among B&J's top-selling flavors, and all but Wavy Gravy are still in production.
Marketing hyperbole: None necessary. Interest in the company's products is high enough that new celebrity-endorsed flavors tend to create their own hype: The debuts of Colbert and Nelson's flavors sparked a faux-feud (egged on by Colbert, of course) between the two entertainers.
Buy it at: Everywhere.
The Cheech "Waatsappenin'" hot sauces
Cheech Marin is in good company as a minor-ish celebrity pimping hot sauce, but "The Cheech" really appears to take pride in this stuff—the packaging is great, and the three sauces (garlic, mango, and chipotle) were considerably different from each other, and all quite tasty. No, there isn't a weed-flavored sauce, and only a very vague weed reference. Will Chong sauce follow?
Level of celebrity: Well, he's far outstripped Tommy Chong, with lots of TV and voiceover work, and even the occasional film role. (Robert Rodriguez is clearly a fan.) But still, he isn't exactly a superstar—which is par for the course for a guy with his own salsa.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: High. Cheech is a proud Mexican-American, and his sauces can only serve to bolster his culture's already-delicious food. The sauces are even manufactured in Costa Rica.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Reasonably high. There are plenty of hot sauces on the market, but Cheech's recognizable face and a solid product could send him straight up the charts.
Marketing hyperbole: "3 new sauces hot-nuf to joggle your jibber!"
Buy it at: thecheech.com
Rickey's hot sauce
There's no celebrity on the packaging or anywhere on the company's website, but fans of last year's video-gaming documentary The King Of Kong know the public secret: Rickey's hot sauce was brought into the world by Billy Mitchell, classic-arcade-game champion and outsized character. Don't get sticky fingerprints on your Donkey Kong console.
Level of celebrity: Practically nonexistent in the grand scheme, but massive in the very small world of video games. He's the first guy to ever get a perfect Pac-Man score, and he's got amazing hair.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Strangely perfect. Hot sauce can be mysterious, as can Mitchell.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Extremely high. Mitchell surely sells more sauce to people who have no idea who he is than to fans. And that's because the sauces—especially the simple green jalapeno—are delicious.
Marketing hyperbole: Actually, it's anti-hyperbole in this case: "Rickey's does not want to change anyone's recipes or their way of cooking, we only want to enhance the flavor."
Buy it at: 800hotsauce.com
Sammy Hagar Cabo Wabo tequila
He's every Van Halen fan's second choice for lead singer, but Sammy Hagar doesn't need to slog it out on the road any more—in a way, he's getting the last laugh. His VH partners invested in his Mexican bar way back when, but when it faltered, he bought them out. Fast forward a few years, and Sammy's got an incredibly successful tequila—Cabo Wabo—to go along with his place. Last year, he sold an 80 percent stake to Campari, and presumably got even more stinkin' rich. In a related note, former VH bassist Michael Anthony has his own line of hot sauces.
Level of celebrity: Unusual. Drinkers still love him, but a VH tour with Sammy wouldn't generate nearly the excitement that last year's David Lee Roth-led tour did.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Hagar and tequila go together like Roth and Van Halen, which is to say very well.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Drink enough, and you'll be a fan.
Marketing hyperbole: Sammy pimps like a madman for Cabo Wabo. Bikini chicks onstage with his band, the Waboritas, serving tequila? Oh yeah, he's got that.
Buy it at: Many liquor stores.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Big Mo' candy bar
Guys who drive around in circles really, really fast have to get hungry. Is there a better way to satisfy that kind of hunger than with a big-ass candy bar, available with peanut butter or caramel filling? Perhaps. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Big Mo' bar has quantity, but not quality. It tastes and looks cheap.
Level of celebrity: Pretty high? It's tough to tell how big NASCAR is; sometimes it seems omnipresent, but nerds on pop-culture websites can probably go years without giving it a thought.
Appropriateness of product to celebrity: Low. Dale should have some jerky or an energy drink. Candy bars are for ladies, not race-car drivers.
Likelihood of consumption by non-fans: Very low, and repeated consumption seems almost unthinkable. If it were tasty, non-fans could get over Dale's face, but the taste doesn't cut it.
Marketing hyperbole: "Creating the exclusive recipe of the Big Mo' bar included numerous taste-tests by Earnhardt Jr., and was tailored to please his palate."
Buy it at: These were kinda tough to find, but eBay has a few. They may have been discontinued already.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Google eyes high-speed data freeway
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-google21jul21,0,4303522.story?coll=la-home-center
From the Los Angeles Times
Google eyes high-speed data freeway
The search giant may help transform public airwaves, driving down the cost of internet access.
By Jim Puzzanghera
Times Staff Writer
July 20, 2007
WASHINGTON -- If Google Inc. has its way, your cell phone will work on any wireless network and companies will sell high-speed Internet access for cut-rate prices.
Google thinks that would be a wonderful world -- for consumers as well as its own bottom-line -- and is proposing to pony up $4.6 billion in a long-shot bid to create it.
The king of Web search Friday offered to dig into its mountain of cash to transform a chunk of prime public airwaves into a high-speed data freeway. If successful, it could drive down the price of Internet access by creating more competitors to phone and cable companies.
Google promised to bid in an upcoming federal auction of spectrum that is ideal for fast wireless Internet service -- but only if regulators agree to the company's proposals to require open access to those airwaves. That means any device, service, software application or network could operate on it with no restrictions.
"That would be revolutionary," said Bob Williams director of HearUsNow.org, a Web site run by Consumers Union that promotes telecommunications competition. "If you want high-speed Internet service, you basically have a choice of two, and in a lot of places you don't have any choice ... and that situation has to change."
Google told the Federal Communications Commission it would put up the minimum bid of $4.6 billion. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company wanted to prove its seriousness and counter big wireless companies such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., which say the conditions would make the spectrum virtually worthless.
The offer is unlikely to sway the FCC. The agency thinks the airwaves being given up by TV broadcasters in 2009 as they switch to digital signals could fetch much more for the federal coffers.
But Google is showing its intention to influence one of the biggest spectrum auctions in the nation's history.
Google's offer comes at a time when investors are raising questions about how much money the company is spending to put its ambitious plans in place. Its stock fell more than 5 percent, to $520.12, Friday after big investments on hires and other expansion costs caused its second-quarter earnings to miss Wall Street's expectations.
Despite its promise to bid, Google actually might not want to license the airwaves itself. But it does want to force them open to increase competition with cable and phone companies -- and make it cheaper for people to get on the Web and use Google's growing array of services.
Wireless companies now control all access to the spectrum they license from the government, which is why, for example, Apple Inc.'s iPhone can't be used on any network other than AT&T's. Under Google's plan people could connect any device to any network and run any software they want on their phones, such as free Internet-based calling systems.
But most important for boosting competition, companies would have the right to use the airwaves at a wholesale price to offer their own Internet access.
"In short, when Americans can use the software and handsets of their choice, over open and competitive networks, they win," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin on Friday.
The effort is backed by public-interest groups and a coalition of major technology companies, including Intel Corp., eBay Inc., Yahoo Inc., DirecTV Group Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp. But it faces huge obstacles in Washington, where the politically powerful phone companies have been fighting it.
Last week, Martin supported Google's plan to allow people to use any device or software on a network but not the more controversial open-access requirement that many view as the key to creating a viable nationwide competitor to phone and cable companies in broadband access.
Martin worried that imposing the conditions could make it difficult for auction winners to get funding to build their networks.
The FCC is still drawing up the rules for the airwave auction, and Google's plan is a longshot.
AT&T slammed Google's bid offer Friday, saying it was just an attempt to pressure the FCC to "stack the deck in its favor."
Under the traditional auction rules, Google says it and other companies can't outbid the big phone companies because of their built-in advantage of existing networks of cellular towers and pools of customers.
"It doesn't matter whether or not Google has the deep pockets -- at some point you've got to say this is just an unreasonable investment," said Richard Whitt, Google's telecom and media counsel in Washington. "We're just trying to un-skew things enough to give Google ... or a DirecTV or an EchoStar or a Yahoo or whoever comes in there at least a decent shot for the spectrum."
The spectrum is being given up by TV broadcasters in 2009 as they switch to digital signals and is considered ideal for providing wireless high-speed Internet access.
Rob Sanderson, an analyst with American Technology Research, said Google had much to gain from lowering the price of high-speed Internet access. But he doubted Google wanted to buy any airwaves and provide the service itself.
"They're really trying to encourage an environment where others ... can step in and become competitors," he said.
From the Los Angeles Times
Google eyes high-speed data freeway
The search giant may help transform public airwaves, driving down the cost of internet access.
By Jim Puzzanghera
Times Staff Writer
July 20, 2007
WASHINGTON -- If Google Inc. has its way, your cell phone will work on any wireless network and companies will sell high-speed Internet access for cut-rate prices.
Google thinks that would be a wonderful world -- for consumers as well as its own bottom-line -- and is proposing to pony up $4.6 billion in a long-shot bid to create it.
The king of Web search Friday offered to dig into its mountain of cash to transform a chunk of prime public airwaves into a high-speed data freeway. If successful, it could drive down the price of Internet access by creating more competitors to phone and cable companies.
Google promised to bid in an upcoming federal auction of spectrum that is ideal for fast wireless Internet service -- but only if regulators agree to the company's proposals to require open access to those airwaves. That means any device, service, software application or network could operate on it with no restrictions.
"That would be revolutionary," said Bob Williams director of HearUsNow.org, a Web site run by Consumers Union that promotes telecommunications competition. "If you want high-speed Internet service, you basically have a choice of two, and in a lot of places you don't have any choice ... and that situation has to change."
Google told the Federal Communications Commission it would put up the minimum bid of $4.6 billion. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company wanted to prove its seriousness and counter big wireless companies such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., which say the conditions would make the spectrum virtually worthless.
The offer is unlikely to sway the FCC. The agency thinks the airwaves being given up by TV broadcasters in 2009 as they switch to digital signals could fetch much more for the federal coffers.
But Google is showing its intention to influence one of the biggest spectrum auctions in the nation's history.
Google's offer comes at a time when investors are raising questions about how much money the company is spending to put its ambitious plans in place. Its stock fell more than 5 percent, to $520.12, Friday after big investments on hires and other expansion costs caused its second-quarter earnings to miss Wall Street's expectations.
Despite its promise to bid, Google actually might not want to license the airwaves itself. But it does want to force them open to increase competition with cable and phone companies -- and make it cheaper for people to get on the Web and use Google's growing array of services.
Wireless companies now control all access to the spectrum they license from the government, which is why, for example, Apple Inc.'s iPhone can't be used on any network other than AT&T's. Under Google's plan people could connect any device to any network and run any software they want on their phones, such as free Internet-based calling systems.
But most important for boosting competition, companies would have the right to use the airwaves at a wholesale price to offer their own Internet access.
"In short, when Americans can use the software and handsets of their choice, over open and competitive networks, they win," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin on Friday.
The effort is backed by public-interest groups and a coalition of major technology companies, including Intel Corp., eBay Inc., Yahoo Inc., DirecTV Group Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp. But it faces huge obstacles in Washington, where the politically powerful phone companies have been fighting it.
Last week, Martin supported Google's plan to allow people to use any device or software on a network but not the more controversial open-access requirement that many view as the key to creating a viable nationwide competitor to phone and cable companies in broadband access.
Martin worried that imposing the conditions could make it difficult for auction winners to get funding to build their networks.
The FCC is still drawing up the rules for the airwave auction, and Google's plan is a longshot.
AT&T slammed Google's bid offer Friday, saying it was just an attempt to pressure the FCC to "stack the deck in its favor."
Under the traditional auction rules, Google says it and other companies can't outbid the big phone companies because of their built-in advantage of existing networks of cellular towers and pools of customers.
"It doesn't matter whether or not Google has the deep pockets -- at some point you've got to say this is just an unreasonable investment," said Richard Whitt, Google's telecom and media counsel in Washington. "We're just trying to un-skew things enough to give Google ... or a DirecTV or an EchoStar or a Yahoo or whoever comes in there at least a decent shot for the spectrum."
The spectrum is being given up by TV broadcasters in 2009 as they switch to digital signals and is considered ideal for providing wireless high-speed Internet access.
Rob Sanderson, an analyst with American Technology Research, said Google had much to gain from lowering the price of high-speed Internet access. But he doubted Google wanted to buy any airwaves and provide the service itself.
"They're really trying to encourage an environment where others ... can step in and become competitors," he said.
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