Good week/Bad week
We examine who's in a pickle and who's relishing life in the channel this week
Good week
Surface
Microsoft's Surface well, er, resurfaced on the small screen again this week as it starred in its first ever TV advert. The ad, which was released in the US but can be sneakily viewed through YouTube, shows off the tablet's click-in keyboard feature alongside... not a lot else, actually.
As the potential iPad killer made its online debut, Microsoft also spilled the beans on the tablet's pricing. In the UK, the Windows RT version will start at £399. Touch covers for the device will be about £99.99 and a Type cover will set you back £109.99.
Prices for the Windows 8 Pro model have yet to be revealed. But be prepared to have watering eyes when they are announced.
M&A activity
It seems consolidation was alive and well in the channel last week, with two players announcing they had added to their acquisition tally.
Private investment firm Blackhawk Capital, run by former Teksys head honcho Alan Watkins, snapped up Leeds and Nottingham-based Computer Systems Integration, and IBM partner Portal grabbed Cognos expert Planit CPM.
ChannelWeb gets the impression there may be some deep pockets out there and a growing appetite for acquisition (for the right price). So if you're looking to sell, it's time to start dressing the bride. But remember: don't be too greedy or you could end up on the shelf.
Bad week
Channel hair
Dell's past reputation as a direct-only vendor seemingly preceded itself when it announced its takeover of Wyse earlier in the year.
Whereas some vendor takeovers may be a cause for concern for soon-to-be acquired companies, Wyse claimed this week that its channel partners were so stricken with fear that they were "running through the streets with their hair on fire" when they heard the news.
Following the dramatic scenes at camp Wyse, the thin-client vendor claims there was no need to panic after all, as Dell is fully supportive of its channel partners, and can only improve things for them.
Let's hope Dell's first act is to provide a medical pack containing scalp burn cream.
Honest Joes
The reputation of honest folk across the land fell into disrepute this week, as figures from fraud-fighting body CIFAS showed that instances of fraud in the UK have rocketed over the past nine months.
Identity fraudsters increased their activities by 16.5 per cent as the number of recorded incidents hit 95,000, while account takeover fraud rose 73 per cent.
CIFAS called for firms to take more care over anti-fraud measures, claiming the consequences will grow more serious if the issue is left alone. Understatement of the year, maybe.
So if you see anyone lurking around your premises looking dodgy, you have been warned.
Google
There's nothing worse than losing one of your best people to a competitor.
Apart from losing another of your best people to the same competitor. Especially when the first person you lost to said competitor, pinched the second one. Confused?
Well, Yahoo's chief executive Marissa Mayer poached Henrique de Castro from Google to be the firm's chief operating officer, just months after joining Yahoo herself from Google.
And we were under the impression that nobody ever left Google. But with a package estimated at $58m, how could he possibly have refused?