More than half of Americans already own smartphones, and are pretty loyal to their brands. Apple and Samsung dominate the market, but Google hopes to change that with the Moto X. The phone is assembled in the U.S., and Google hopes to lure customers with the relatively low $200 price. But a cheaper Apple iPhone is scheduled to hit the market later this fall.

"Consumers are smart now, and they're pretty sophisticated as to what they want, so you've got to show them everything they currently have with their product, and then something that's better that's worth switching," Google CEO Eric Schmidt told CNN.

Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside said he is confident the Moto X is a better product than what is already out there, and compared it to Google's recent forays into the self-driving car.

"We think of this as the self-driving phone, it actually responds to you when you speak to it, you don't have to touch the phone to get it to do things," said Woodside. "That's a huge advantage if you're in the car and you want to make a phone call, or you want to navigate."
FULL POST

Hollywood has "it" girls.

Wall Street has "it" words.

"He's got to stop with the bond buying and start to taper," said Keith McCullough, CEO of Hedgeye Risk Management.

Taper is the latest "it" word on Wall Street, and refers to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's toughest job yet: How does he taper down from historic stimulus? It will likely be the final challenge for this chief.
FULL POST