Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) were once favorite friends. When Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple's board of directors, though, the gloves came off. With Apple's venerable and extremely popular iPhone selling for $99 (for the base edition), Google's "Android" phones -- made by several manufacturers and sold by many carriers -- have not matched those low Apple prices. Not any more.

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) is selling the Samsung Moment and the HTC Hero for $99 through December -- matching Apple's iPhone pricing for a two-year contract. That's with no rebates, either. So, the question is this: will Google's Android-powered phones start gaining traction on the iPhone? With AT&T's (T) penchant for poor service and for exorbitant calling plan prices, this may be enough to get those on the iPhone fence switching over to a touchscreen Android phone.

Imagine taking the personal connections and interactions that occur every day on the likes of Facebook and Twitter... and bringing them to bear on an education. To a large extent, this hasn't been done yet, but the potential is profound. In a new report by the Center for Community Survey for Student Engagement, two-year programs aren't taking advantage of the tools at their disposal -- plenty of growth is still possible. Kay McClenney, director of the CCSSE, says, "Colleges are not taking advantage of that particular set of tools for making connections with students to the extent that they could."

Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) has become a leader in DVD sales in the last half-decade, but the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S. may see that the future of the movie rental business is in downloading -- not discs.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) has been a pioneer in this space, as the largest DVD mail-order rental firm has begun embedding its software in Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, and other devices to stream digital content over the internet -- no disc needed. Best Buy apparently wants a little piece of that action.

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) may be the world's largest electronics retailer, but it realizes that it faces a huge threat to a hefty chunk of its business. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is moving plenty of movies and other soon-to-be former DVD fare through iTunes, staking a claim on a business that once belonged to Best Buy. The big box store is getting ready to fight back (finally?).

Using technology it's licensing from Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), Best Buy is opening an online store for movies and television shows. Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn says this move will expand the company's presence in services and will bolster company loyalty. That's the press release version, of course. The reality is that Best Buy needed to do something to protect this portion of its revenue and probably should have made the move several years ago.

Analyst upgrades:

• FBR Capital upgraded Overseas Shipholding (NYSE: OSG) to Outperform from Market Perform following the Q3 results as it believes the worst quarters are behind the company. The firm raised its target on shares to $48 from $35.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Corporate Executive Board (NASDAQ: EXBD) to Hold from Sell following the Q3 results to reflect the company's lower costs. The firm raised its target on shares to $22 from $18.
• RBC Capital upgraded Enbridge (NYSE: EEQ) to Sector Perform from Underperform after the company's partnership produced significantly higher than expected DCF. In addition, the firm raised its price target by $5 per unit to $46 to reflect an improved distribution schedule and more favorable debt leverage.
• Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
• BioForm Medical (NASDAQ: BFRM) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Alliance Data Systems (NYSE: ADS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.

Once upon a time, retailers measured success by the number of people walking by in the mall, how many entered the store, the percentage they spent, and basket size. Now, a world of zeroes and ones has changed their perspective entirely. Social media is expected to be the star during the coming holiday season, with retailers pushing Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter content to get in front of consumers and affect either online or in-store purchases. Smaller Christmas budgets are expected, so the fight is on to garner as large a share as possible of a shrinking pie.

Of course, nobody would come out and say, "Social media is nonsense, and I'm not getting anything for my investment." So, when the likes of Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), JCPenney (NYSE: JCP), and Target (NYSE: TGT) say that social media is connecting them with their customers and leading to more effective campaigns and product launches, do take it with a grain of salt. What can't be ignored, however, is that they're committing more resources to social media marketing, even though it's still far too soon to tell if it will be effective.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), simply put, had a quarter to die for, the kind that all shareholders have on their wish lists. The Q3 numbers, which were released on Thursday after the bell, speak for themselves. Net sales: up 28%. Operating income: up 62%. Per-share profit: up 67% to 45 cents. Free cash flow for the trailing twelve months: up 98%. Yep, Amazon's fundamentals seem to be heading in the right direction.

According to our earnings preview, Wall Street was on record as wanting to see 33 cents per share on the bottom line. Amazon's management did a fine job of supplying further evidence to the market that the company's online business model is not only here to stay, but that it should provide shareholders with a significant amount of value over time.

Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) may be starting to realize that consumer lifestyles sometimes don't fit into the neatly-packaged 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. workday. As such, the leading consumer electronics retailer plans to open its first 24-hour location in NYC's Union Square. What does Best Buy gain by this?

Well, the ability to see if gadget consumers (which we all are in one form or another) need to get their fix at all hours of the day or night. Already, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) ensures its supercenter big-box locations are open 24 hours a day, although it's hard to see consumers scrambling to buy that iPhone charger or flat-screen television at 3:00 am. Still, Best Buy's new 24-hour location will be just a sniff away from Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) 4th Avenue retail location.

One thing you can say about Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the DVD rental pioneer doesn't stand still. It has been innovating for years in bringing video content to consumers over as many mediums as it can. DVDs and Blu-ray discs are still the staple of its business, but Netflix can now be found embedded in newer Blu-ray disc players and even TVs.

No more waiting for discs to show up -- it can stream thousands of movies instantly to that living room flat screen television. So, it stands to reason that a house brand of leading consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) will now come with Netflix technology built-in.

In a sign that this holiday retail season may be as competitive as any in recent memory, consumer electronics behemoth Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) will be delivering that new 52-inch LCD television and setting it up with all your equipment -- for free.

That alone will one-up merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and others who move mass merchandise only but offer zero support after that. Well, unless you need to return a defective item, that is. Best Buy's gambit here is a good one: free delivery and especially hookup of a new (and complicated) flat-panel television is a huge benefit over the competition. Will competitors follow?

As you walk by the corner of East 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, it's hard to miss Manhattan's temple to retail tech. The Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) store stands out amid the older, more traditional stores in the area -- both for its giant glass cube and what happens when you descend into it. So, is it so hard to believe that Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) move into the space could be successful?

At the turn of the century, the notion of Apple stores was mocked, with BusinessWeek proclaiming in May 2001, "Sorry, Steve: Here's Why Apple Stores Won't Work." Of course, it turns out BusinessWeek is what doesn't work, as evidenced by its recent acquisition by Bloomberg.

Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) new operating system, Windows 7, is set to be released on October 22, 2009, but it's unlikely to have an impact on PC prices. So, if you're feeling the urge to rush out and buy a new box, try to hold out until the end of the month. You'll get a bit more life out of it.

Fortunately, PC prices aren't expected to get much lower, so the entire supply chain -- from chips to software -- has nowhere to go but up. The effect, though, has been to put some serious pressure on manufacturers and retailers to keep from screwing up the release.

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) wants to make the U.S. consumer believe that the e-reader is the "must-have" gadget of this holiday season. To that end, the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer has launched a special website (not active yet, apparently) where it will make the e-reader category and associated gadgets headliners of this holiday season's gift giving.

It's more than just Best Buy believing this. Analyst firms like iSuppli are behind the agenda as well. Best Buy's holiday gadget selection will feature more than 120 products priced between $25 and $75, with brands like Sony, Leapfrog and Sharper Image.

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) continues to delve outside its retail roots and add services anywhere it can. But, this latest venture is a bit baffling: backup services for your mobile phone?

Just a few weeks after speculation that Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) may be on the lookout for buying up video game retailer Gamestop Corp. (NYSE: GME), the CFO of the largest consumer electronics company in the U.S. is now saying that the used video game industry is "strategically very interesting." This is sly-speak for "we're on the prowl for the acquisition in the space that makes the best sense."