World's Most Valuable Brands

10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . and 1

Brandz is known for ranking the world's brands in terms of their global value. This year's ranking has a surprise in the #8 position.

Here they are, the world's most valuable brands:

10. McDonald's (US-based) - All-day breakfast and healthy menu items have helped keep this brand on the list.

9. IBM (US-based) - Venerable tech brand is leveraging cloud computing and its Watson brand for growth.

8. Tencent (China-based) - Wildly popular WeChat messaging platform has moved this company into the global eye.

7. Visa (US-based) - Plastic is big again...and Costco's switch from Amex to Visa was a boost for growth.

6. AT&T (US-based) - Telecom giant that's trying to get even bigger by acquiring Time Warner. Will the deal go through?

5. Facebook (US-based) - Of course FB is on the top 10 list. Advertising revenue is growing every day, and Facebook Live is increasing its reach.

4. Amazon (US-based) - Surprised that this brand is only #4? I was. This is the home of Alexa, Prime, and Amazon Web Services. Not to mention Amazon Prime Day.

3. Microsoft (US-based) - A mainstay of top 10 brand lists. Tech has been prominent for more than a decade, and Microsoft remains a leader in software and game tech.

2. Apple (US-based) - Often topping brand lists, this year it's #2 despite solid product sales and high brand preferability ratings.

1. Google (US-based) - Often trades places with Apple on brand rankings, this year Google tops the list because of its innovative image and lifestyle tech (AI and more).

Microsoft Markets the Launch of Windows 10

Not known for giving much away, Microsoft is introducing the long-awaited new Windows 10 operating system as an upgrade freebie (for now). Ultimately, Win 10 will be in place across platforms, so users don't have to learn new systems for each product.

One obvious result is that current Windows users are more likely to upgrade to Win 10, a major consideration at a time when some PC users are considering changing to Apple products because of their good experiences with the iPhone, the iPad, and other well-known products. Another result is that PC sales--currently stalled while users await reviews of Win 10--should begin to edge upward for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons.

Free means users have an opportunity to experience all the bells and whistles without financial risk. And Microsoft is playing up the user-friendly aspects of Win 10, including Windows Hello (facial recognition as a security feature) and Microsoft Edge (a new Internet browser that could reignite the browser market-share wars).

Microsoft thoroughly tested this new OS with more than 5 million beta testers, and decided to roll it out around the world, with launch events on every continent. From Beijing to Berlin, New York to Nairobi, engineers who worked on Win 10 will meet with fans and discuss the new features and benefits. Of course the 20 million Windows fans on Facebook already know some of the details from frequent posts.

Will Windows 10 gain rapid acceptance and diffusion among users? Will it polish Microsoft's reputation for user-friendly innovation? We'll have to give the new OS time and see how reviewers and users react in the coming months.

Mobile Changes the Web Browser Wars

This map from the current Economist magazine shows that the Google web browser Chrome (green) has captured considerable market share worldwide during the past 12 months.

The days of Netscape (intro in 1994) vs Microsoft's Internet Explorer (intro in 1995) are so far in the past that Netscape is an unfamiliar brand to most Millennials. Opera (1996) was an early IE competitor, but once Mozilla Firefox was launched (2004), Firefox gained share very quickly. And when Chrome came along (2008), the marketing muscle of parent Google gave it a huge headstart in capturing share.

However, the rapid rise of mobile browsing is changing the equation again. Firefox seems to be having difficulty achieving significant momentum in the mobile market. Opera reportedly has 100 million mobile users in China. And Google is increasing integration of its Chrome for mobile with other Google apps/functionality (like Google Docs).

Which browser will be on top next year at this time?

Microsoft Rebrands Hotmail as Outlook

Microsoft is rebranding its market-leading Hotmail Web-based e-mail service, naming it after the company's well-known Outlook e-mail software.

More than 300 million people use Hotmail, which has an estimated 36% share of the global market for online e-mail. Gmail has been catching up quickly, with an estimated 31% of the market (Yahoo! mail has an estimated 32% share). AOL is still hanging in, with about 24 million users, and it's just redesigned its interface.

Despite Gmail's rapid growth and tight integration with Google's offerings, Outlook has a real opportunity to capture more share, for several reasons:

• The brand is familiar to millions of Microsoft users, both consumers and businesspeople.
• Microsoft says it won't display ads geared to e-mail content, the way Gmail does--a plus for people irritated by overexposure to ads.
• The Outlook e-mail interface is clean and uncluttered, easy to navigate.
• Outlook will have a social media look/feel/functionality and, just as important, it will connect with SkyDrive and (soon) Skype.

Goodbye Clamshell, Hello Friendly Packaging

clipped from www.nytimes.com Packages You Won’t Need a Saw to Open

Today's NY Times reports that Sony and Microsoft, among other manufacturers, are finally doing away with those impenetrable plastic clamshell packages on electronics items. "Shrink" (aka shoplifting) is an undenial problem, as I know from my years in retail management. However, making 99.5% of the people suffer because of the thievery of .5% (I'm approximating here) doesn't make sense. Using cardboard or plastic packaging (with a zipper-like opening, perhaps, as the Times article noted) is more customer-friendly.

Last year I complained about how overpackaged the iPod is. Now have a similar complaint about the Samsung YP-K3 MP3 player. The itself player is very slick, light, tiny, and fun. It accepted a downloaded e-audiobook with no fuss at all. Its packaging, however, is reminiscent of the iPod. And of course, since it came (via DHL) from an electronics store, it was encased in clamshell plastic. Can't wait to say goodbye to the clamshell, an environmental nightmare as well as almost impossible to open without trauma to the product or the opener.