TechBiz

By Anton Wahlman

In this article, I deal with two related issues:

1. Driving the Tesla (TSLA) Model S for the first time, why are the investors so surprised that it is so awesome?

2. Should Apple (AAPL) expand its product line into TVs -- or cars?

Last Friday saw Tesla's first customer deliveries of its Model S to non-insiders. The goal is to ramp production from one car per day now to 80 cars per day by November, for a total of 5,000 delivered by the end of the year. Next year, the goal is to deliver at least 20,000 cars, probably with some upside from the Model X minivan, which launches at the end of 2013.

By Chris Ciaccia

Facebook (FB) has had its share of bumps in the road since going public just over a month ago. One investment bank, however, believes the stock could offer as much as 25% future upside.

Nomura analyst Brian Nowak initiated coverage on the social networking giant with a "buy" rating and a $40 price target, an increase of just over 25% on Thursday's closing price of $31.84. Despite near-term issues and concerns about being able to monetize its 900 million users, Nomura believes there are three ways Facebook can improve its ability to generate long-term revenue: charging for branded pages, improved advertising units, and generating revenue from mobile.

By Therese Poletti

The young tablet market is already littered with floundering or failed devices.

With the tablets such as Motorola's Xoom, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)  TouchPad, to Research In Motion (RIMM) PlayBook, Microsoft (MSFT) has plenty of failures to learn from, including its own previous ill-fated attempts, when it rolls out the Surface later this year.  (Microsoft owns and publishes TechBiz, an MSN Money site.)

While some of the aforementioned tablets aren't necessarily finished yet, the market is still led by Apple (AAPL) and the iPad. The only device to really knock out some of its dominant market share so far has been Amazon.com's (AMZN) cheaper Kindle Fire, which has since lost some momentum that it had last December.

Microsoft (MSFT) made a big splash this week when it unveiled Surface, a new line of Windows 8-powered tablets ostensibly meant to take down the mighty iPad. But Surface has more than Apple's (APPL) Retina display touchscreens in its cross hairs, says Jesus Diaz at Gizmodo. With a detachable magnetic cover that doubles as a keyboard, Microsoft's soon-to-be-released device transforms itself into an ultra-portable productivity center that could supplant laptops.  (Microsoft owns and publishes TechBiz, an MSN Money site.)

Does Surface threaten the lightweight MacBook Air as well as the iPad?

By Richard Saintvilus

Something happened last week that appears to have flown completely under the radar. Search giant Yahoo (YHOO) and CNBC, which is owned by Comcast (CMCSA), the largest cable provider in the U.S., formed a content-sharing alliance to distribute business news and original content as a way to not only shore up their respective digital online presence, but also extend their individual web audience.

Yahoo, which continues to battle credibility issues, has been under a considerable amount of scrutiny of late. The company has absorbed more punishment from Wall Street than any company deserves due to the scandal that surrounded Scott Thompson, its recently ousted CEO. It understands now that what it needs more than anything is a fresh start. While the partnership with CNBC does not wipe the slate clean as would be the case if acquired by a name such as Microsoft (MSFT), it does remind investors that the company is still a dominant media power and likely will be for many years to come. (Microsoft owns and publishes TechBiz, an MSN Money site.)