Looks to me like the iPod HiFi has an interesting iPod-less application. Connect an iPod HiFi to an Airport Express using a fiber optic cable, and you have digital remote speakers wherever you want.
One other thing that's going to make the x86 Xbox code easier to emulate is that the DirectX libraries will likely be native PowerPC code - and that's where all of the heavy computation happens. Even if it can't keep up 100% on emulated code, it can make up for lost time with native libraries.
3. Google is largely financed by venture capital (Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital - two top VC firms), and therefore must produce a "liquidity event".
VC firms aren't in it for revenues, they're in it for shareholder value. They can't get the cash they need out of a company without selling it, either to the public or a big company with deep pockets. Both VC firms are represented on Google's board of directors, and probably make up the most influential members.
Google doesn't really have a choice now - they committed to this when they made the deals that financed their rapid growth.
Slashdot Mirror
Looks to me like the iPod HiFi has an interesting iPod-less application. Connect an iPod HiFi to an Airport Express using a fiber optic cable, and you have digital remote speakers wherever you want.
All for only $480 per node...
One other thing that's going to make the x86 Xbox code easier to emulate is that the DirectX libraries will likely be native PowerPC code - and that's where all of the heavy computation happens. Even if it can't keep up 100% on emulated code, it can make up for lost time with native libraries.
You missed an option:
3. Google is largely financed by venture capital (Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital - two top VC firms), and therefore must produce a "liquidity event".
VC firms aren't in it for revenues, they're in it for shareholder value. They can't get the cash they need out of a company without selling it, either to the public or a big company with deep pockets. Both VC firms are represented on Google's board of directors, and probably make up the most influential members.
Google doesn't really have a choice now - they committed to this when they made the deals that financed their rapid growth.