With Steve Jobs’s departure, Apple – riding high as one of the world’s most valuable companies – has the equivalent of the 1927 New York Yankees in terms of a product line. The iPod, the iPhone, Apple TV, the iPad, the iMac, and MacBook – each of which are impressively designed and developed. For the past decade, the consumer technology industry has been playing catch up to the Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple.

However, it seems the Apple’s hold on its various markets may be heading south. In the past two years, Google’s Android operating system has been taking a significant share of the market from Apple (similarly to Microsoft’s ascent in the 1980s and 1990s with Windows adoption). Now, the tablet market (and possibly the mobile market as well) may not be as friendly to Apple as it has been.

Seattle-based Amazon this week announced the debut of the Kindle Fire, the second-generation tablet that now features full high definition color and access to Amazon’s library of movies, music, and books. With the changes occurring at Hewlett-Packard in respect to WebOS, Amazon has a strong chance of taking significant market share from the Apple iPad due to the price point.

The Kindle Fire – with a 7″ inch screen – is only $199, more than half of what Apple is charging for it’s iPad. Additionally, another edition of the Kindle, the new Kindle 3G, allows for free (yes, free) 3G wireless access anywhere that has cell coverage to download books. Compare this to iPad contracts with Apple and Verizon, which are not only costly, but limited in the amount of data one can download.

This week also brought serious rumors that HP – now helmed by former eBay CEO Meg Whitman – may be selling Palm, the mobile phone maker that it purchased just last year, to Amazon. This would place Amazon on the same level as Google, Apple, and RIM and with an arsenal of products and services already out there, the build up to such a service would be minimal.

Amazon has already been a leader in business solutions, with it’s EC2 platform and other web services it provides. It’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, has been somewhat of a business-style Caesar – buying companies and allowing them to continue under their own name, as was the case with Zappos. Can Bezos lead Amazon from a 24/7 digital storefront into a comprehensive media provider?

Corporate America never knew what hit it.

Occupy Wall Street (aptly titled for the Twitter era as #OCCUPYWALLSTREET) is now in Day 14. Inspired, according to their website, by  ”the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the Spanish acampadas,” the movement has garnered over 20,000 followers on Twitter and thousands on the streets of lower Manhattan.

Only yards away from the site of the World Trade Center memorial at Liberty Plaza, protesters from across the country have come to New York in order to make their voice heard.

The goal of Occupy Wall Street is to bring to light – in an America reeling from the 2008 recession still – the growing disparity between the poor and the rich as well as the decimation of the American middle class. With unemployment still stubbornly high, student loan debt possibly the next big bubble to explode, and financial institutions making questionable changes in response to Dodd-Frank, Occupy Wall Street aims to change the conversation in America from a hopeless public to a proactive people.

Signs emblazoned with “end the war” and “tax the rich” – made of cardboard and other by products – have become a symbol of the disaffected youth in the United States, much like the movements in Cairo and other Middle Eastern nations that have toppled the leadership in those countries, most directly seen in Egypt with the resignation of President Hosni Mubarek after thirty years of control.

And the difference with this movement compared to it’s Middle Eastern counterpart is the attention from political and academic leaders. Former N.Y. Governor David Paterson made a visit to the site on Thursday, as did Harvard Academic Cornel West.

“Democratic awakening is taking place. It’s the U.S. Fall responding to the Arab Spring,” West said on Twitter on Friday afternoon.

However, the sentiment is not the same with New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who founded Bloomberg, L.P. over twenty years ago as a service to the financial industry that has now grown to become a financial news giant.

“People in this day and age need support for their employers. We need the banks, if the banks don’t go out and make loans we will not come out of our economy problems, we will not have jobs. And so anything we can do to responsibly help the banks do that, encourage them to do that is what we need,” Bloomberg said to WOR-AM in New York.

“Also we always tend to blame the wrong people. We blame the banks. They were part of it, but so were Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and Congress.”

In cities across the United States, similar efforts are underway. In Albany, an “OccupyAlbany” group has been forming that plans on staging similar action either at the New York State Capitol or the Empire State Plaza. In other major cities such as Chicago, Washington, and Los Angeles, smaller but similarly composed groups are outside financial institutions.

With any movement, the continued strength in numbers remains a question for the future and entering now it’s third week, Occupy Wall Street enters the “make-or-break” phase. For its supporters, their confidence in numbers keeps the spirit alive.

Photo Credit: Mary Elizabeth Elkordy

The madness can stop. At least with the Facebook ticker.

In the past week, social network Facebook has made significant changes to its interface, including the debut of the ticker (which was previewed in August). The ticker, which is an ongoing newsfeed of recent events above the chat feature, has met heavy criticism from privacy experts and users who complain that Facebook’s continuing to add features that haven’t been requested.

However, one developer has come up with a solution – via Google Chrome – to end the ticker on users’ browsers.

Developed by Arik Fraimovich, the extension to Google Chrome eliminates the ticker on the newsfeed, but based upon comments, keeps it up on applications and games inside Facebook (i.e. FarmVille, etc.).

So far, over 37,500 have downloaded the product to five-star success.

Here’s the link.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/inbogeebjloglncnccgemjfedfhobfak

The Chinese stock market was pummeled on Thursday following a report that the U.S. government is gaining traction in their investigation of Chinese accounting irregularities. By the middle of the day, various Chinese giants such Youku.com, Baidu and SINA were down between 10-22%, although they gained traction by the end of the day and came closer to only an average 5-10% loss. These Chinese related issues are publicly traded on NASDAQ, which had a rough day in general, including downward trends for Apple Inc. and Amazon.com.

Reuters reports:

A top securities regulator said U.S. criminal authorities are investigating accounting irregularities at Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges.

“There are parts of the Justice Department that are actively engaged in this area,” said Robert Khuzami, director of enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In an interview with Reuters this week, Khuzami revealed that a number of federal prosecutors around the country are looking into the issue, but declined to name them.

The involvement of the Justice Department adds investigative firepower to the SEC and the FBI, which are also probing Chinese accounting fraud.

“I think that you will see greater (Department of Justice) involvement as time goes on,” said Khuzami, a former federal prosecutor himself, when asked why no criminal charges have yet been filed in the massive Chinese accounting scandal.

He declined to elaborate on which Chinese companies or auditors the Justice Department may be targeting.

The SEC has been investigating accounting fraud in U.S.-listed Chinese companies for more than a year and has suspended trading by numerous companies after their auditors resigned. The agency has struggled to gain access to documents it needs to investigate the cases because strict Chinese laws have made auditors reluctant to turn over work papers.

It’s Friday! There’s no punchline to that, simply rejoice! Oh, and I’m still ignoring Chris Christie. You should too. Welcome to Tidbits.

Layoff notices were sent out via email. Meanwhile, PEF President Ken Brynien wants the governor to head back to the negotiation table, but he doesn’t seem interested. (CapCon, NYDN)

PEF doesn’t see how scheduling a revote would change the outcome. I also don’t understand why Cuomo is asking for that. They voted no, knowing full well–as you said–the outcome. (WNYC)

In uninspired arguments: one executive board member accused the Governor of religious insensitivity. (SoP)

Brian Amaral shares where some layoffs are taking place up in Watertown, including “~30 at the St Lawrence Psych Center.” One poorly timed layoff: a rabbi at the Watertown Correctional Facility. (WDT’s Twitter Feed)

In non-layoff related news…

Follow Jordan Carleo-Evangelist on Twitter as he covers Mayor Jennings’ releasing the budget for next year and follow #ALBBUD.

A new coalition has formed to promote a new Livingston Ave Bridge–complete with bike and pedestrian accommodations!

Saratoga County’s 2012 budget trims $2 million. (Saratogian)

A new website for the slowly growing national movements in solidarity with Occupy Wall St. Also: Occupy Albany.

Greene County asks the state legislature to waive the property tax cap in wake of Irene flooding. (Daily Mail)

Chris Ward is leaving the Port Authority and it’s kind of angering the Cuomo administration. (CAP)

Dean Skelos will beg Mark Grisanti not to leave the GOP, who are working to maintain their Senate majority. I say cut the baggage. (Buffalo News)

Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (not Controller, Daily News, jeez) says the Health Department wastes a lot of money continuously.(NYDN)

Photos of the Grand Central Station’s tennis court. (Gothamist)

Some blogger calls Erie County Executive Chris Collins “Palin, Perry, Bachmann, and Romney” all rolled up in one. (Daily Kos)

Happy Friday!

Tuesday opened with an announcement from Governor Andrew Cuomo at the New York Open for Business conference, relating to UAlbany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), where a “consortium of tech companies will be investing $4.4 billion in chip fab research facilities” that will bring some 2,500 jobs to New York, here in Albany and elsewhere across the state. The state is also putting $400 million of its own money into CNSE. This resolves a little bit of the intrigue that I highlighted a while back as to what exactly is happening at Washington and Fuller.

But the real show was keynote speaker Bill Clinton, back in Albany for the first time since he spoke at the UAlbany Speaker Series. Opening with Lieutenant Governor Bob Duffy calling Cuomo “the greatest governor in our history,” the narrative was set immediately that the conference was going to be a gigantic pat on Cuomo’s back. It’s unsurprising that Clinton touched on some of the same points he made at UAlbany–calling for increased investment in energy efficiency and technology projects. Off the bat, he highlighted the similarities between what Cuomo is doing now in New York and what he did during his term as President when he invested in education and the information technology revolution. But he did so with more context and had some initiatives, on the part of the Governor like the on-bill financing that he thinks has the potential to be a true engine for job creation in this state along with improving energy efficiency and generating cost-savings, to point to show the opportunity he believes New York has at its disposal and that he urges us not to ignore.

And though the affair was largely a round of applause for Cuomo’s perceived successes, there were a few moments where Clinton’s accolades for Cuomo didn’t seem to match his rhetoric. An interesting contrast, for instance, was when he first lauded the Governor for closing the budget deficit without raising taxes then only a few moments later highlighting that you “can’t balance the budget without a combination of adequate revenue, appropriate spending cuts, and growth.” So, in Clinton’s view, Cuomo’s approach to New York’s problems–sweeping budget cuts across the board and demanding concessions from labor while allowing the millionaires’ tax to expire–is flawed.

Clinton also said that the cause of our problems was that we “got too interested in the present” that we “lost our commitment to the future.” In Clinton’s view, what caused the economic crisis was that we put all our eggs in just a few baskets–”housing, finance, and consumer spending”–which are riddled in chance and are inherently “self-limiting.” I completely agree with that. My concern is that the Governor may be making a similar mistake in focusing all the state’s efforts and money into just a few areas. I’m not going to sit here and argue that our investment in NanoTech is bad because I don’t believe that it is–I just think it’s exactly the thing that Clinton is warning us against. While the state is investing $400 million solely into UAlbany’s NanoCollege, that’s coupled with 40% reduction in SUNY’s operating budget since 2008. We should not prune our university system in this state to solely be an engine to fuel jobs in green energy and nanotechnology. That’s exactly the kind of focus on short-term gains that Clinton is urging us not to have.

Clinton repeated over and over again that we need to commit to the future–even if that means we have to sacrifice a little in the present. And that sacrifice should not be carried solely by the middle and lower class who aren’t even responsible for the economic crisis in the first place. So I hope Cuomo was listening and took away some serious lessons from Clinton’s message.

The Capital District Perspective is a running dialogue on issues pertinent to the Capital Region and New York State as a whole. What did you think of Clinton’s message? Please add your comments below!

Wilbraham, Mass.-based Friendly’s Restaurants is preparing for a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and sale, sources close to the ice cream-based company disclose to the Wall Street Journal.

The company, which employs about 10,000 people and operates over 500 restaurants, has the option to protect its assets from creditors starting in early October.

A bankruptcy auction is not off the table.

Friendly’s has been a landmark for a number of generations as the company, first formed in 1935, has seen shakeups in management trickle down to lackluster innovation in the restaurant business.

Correction: Original post did not include attribution (ed.)

On Wednesday, the majority of Alabama’s immigration law, which had been challenged by the Obama administration, were upheld by a federal judge. Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn of Federal District Court in Birmingham, a Bush senior appointee, made the decision in support of the law, which includes many portions that have been blocked in other states. The decision makes it that much more likely that the fate of these recent anti-illegal-immigration laws will now be decided by the Supreme Court. The decision also makes Alabama the state with the strictest such laws on the books. Yes, even stricter than Arizona.

Strictest and strongest seem to be two sides of the same coin. While the laws have been lampooned by activists on the left, in response to the decision yesterday Alabama Governor Robert Bentley said, “Today Judge Blackburn upheld the majority of our law…With those parts that were upheld, we have the strongest immigration law in the country.”

Despite the majority of the law being sustained, there were preliminary injunctions against several sections of the law, including sections that outlawed the harboring or transporting of illegal immigrants and another that banned illegal immigrants from enrolling in or attending public universities. However, it is possible that these sections will still be upheld.

Police in Alabama are now preparing to enforce what is unarguably the toughest immigration law in the United States, including provisions which require state and local law enforcement officials to try to verify a person’s immigration status during routine traffic stops or arrests, so long as a “reasonable suspicion” exists that the person is in the country illegally.

Three lawsuits have been filed against the Alabama law, including a challenge from President Barack Obama’s administration. The decision is very likely to be appealed by the administration.

Despite the recent Solyndra Energy Scandal, for which the Obama administration has taken flak for not only loaning but show-piecing a now defunct solar panel producing company that had a questionable financial record and financial future and which had questionable ties to the administration, the Department of Energy will be announcing later today that it has finalized a $737 million loan guarantee for a Nevada solar project.

The loan will aid in financing construction of what is dubbed the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, a 110-megawatt solar power generating facility in Nye County, Nev. The decision is being made just a few brief days before the advanced energy loan-guarantee program expires.

The project is sponsored by Tonopah Solar, a subsidiary of California-based SolarReserve. Earlier this month, the department also announced a $1.2 billion loan guarantee to Abengoa Solar for a solar generation project in California and a $150 million loan guarantee to 1366 Technologies for a Massachusetts solar manufacturing project.

The loan has caused an explosion of posts in the right-wing blogosphere, many of which are attempting to claim cronyism by linking SolarReserve to its investment partner PCG. Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law happens to be the number two man at PCG.

Former President Bill Clinton, citing analysis by the Brookings Institution, recently spoke with a group of bloggers on the sidelines of the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting in NYC had the following to say regarding right-wing attacks on technology innovation:

“They can take nothing like Solyndra and say that proves all green energy is bad. Why? Because those of us on the other side don’t say: Whatever the truth is, here’s the mega truth. We can’t burn up the planet. We’ve got to find an economically sustainable way to save it. Green energy jobs have grown at twice the rate of overall economy jobs in the last decade, they pay 20 to 30 percent more, they’re directly responsible for a $60 billion trade surplus.

“Do whatever you want about Solyndra, but do not insult my intelligence by trying to say that the big oil companies are right and the green tech people are wrong.”

Anybody else tired of hearing about Chris Christie? Ugh. Just announce already. Welcome to Tidbits, Christie free.

The layoff notices are heading out to nearly 3,500 PEF members after rejecting the negotiated contract. Here’s the layoff list. The hardest hit agencies are the Office of Mental Health, followed by the Department of Correctional Services and the Department of Transportation. (Business Review, CapCon, NYT))

PEF Secretary/Treasurer Arlea Igoe says there hasn’t been a revote scheduled, asking what the sense of it be? Here’s video of her talking to the press. (DN, GNS)

Apparently, Cuomo isn’t answering PEF President Ken Brynien’s calls. (WSJ)

A good catch by Azi Paybarah, where a “jarring setback” becomes merely a rejection of a negotiated “package of wage and benefit concessions” in the Grey Lady. (CAP)

Meanwhile, shortly after Cuomo finally decided to release his schedules online, members of the media hold a discussion panel talking about…his relationship with the media–at one point, discussing how he seems to favor the Post’s Fred Dicker. (CAP)

In other news…

Conservationists in the Adirondacks warned that tampering with the streams in the name of flood control may actually magnify the problem. (TU)

Broome County Legislature hosts a public forum on the budget in wake of flooding. Only two spoke. (YNN)

Anthony Weiner won in the write-in race. (Politico)

Counties are mulling the idea of not sending their Medicare payments to the state. (Observer)

WNYMedia has launched a new website, dubbed Buffalo Watchdog, devoted to open government and transparency in Western New York. Right on. (Via WNY Media on Facebook)

Another town clerk refuses to have anything to do with gay marriage. She also is still town clerk. I wish I could refuse to do my job and still keep it. (NYT)

The Democrat and Chronicle wants to know where the plan is to repair NY’s roads and bridges? A corollary: where’s the money to pay for it? (D&C)

Times Square is getting a redesign. (NYT)

New York’s health exchange could be a new public authority, says the authority on public authorities. (Albany Law)

Watertown Mayor Jeff Graham’s opponent doesn’t want to appear on the mayor’s old radio show. (WDT)

MTA CEO Jay Walder said his replacement doesn’t need a transportation background. Personally, I just hope they have a background in accounting. (TranspoNation)

A New Rochelle mayoral candidate owes money in child support. (Journal News)

SUNY report card shows improvement in graduation and retention rates. (Ithaca Journal)

Folks up in Clinton County are discussing student transit and getting students out of their cars and onto alternatives. (Press-Republican)

That’s a good lead-in for this: don’t knock transit before you try it. (Atlantic Cities)

The New York Magazine profiles FBI agent James Gagliano, who is trying to topple Newburgh’s status as murder capital of New York. (NYMag)

A Rick Perry chia pet, if your heart so desires. (H/T Dave Weigel)