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| Dec 2008 | Nov 2008 | Oct 2008 | Sep 2008 | Aug 2008 | Jul 2008 | Jun 2008 | May 2008 | Apr 2008 | Mar 2008 | Feb 2008 | Jan 2008 | Dec 2007 | Nov 2007 |Sat, 29 Nov 08
Verizon Wireless Offers Touchscreen Samsung Omnia
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63274
On Wednesday, Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America brought the Samsung Omnia to market for the holiday shopping season. The newest Samsung device offers a touchscreen, a customizable user interface, and Windows Mobile 6.1 capabilities.
"The Omnia is an interesting device that further demonstrates the tremendous set of choices for consumers looking for high-end or high-feature phones for the holiday season," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of mobile strategy for Jupitermedia. "It also demonstrates the diversity of the Windows Mobile device ecosystem."
Verizon is billing the Omnia as an all-in-one smartphone with state-of-the-art features, including Samsung's TouchWiz user interface. TouchWiz offers widgets that let users customize and personalize the way they use the phone by using icons to offer one-touch access to customers' favorite and most commonly used applications and features.
The Omnia also has a full on-screen QWERTY keyboard for text messaging, mobile IM, and e-mail messages. The haptic feedback on the touchscreen provides subtle vibrations to confirm selections. And an optical mouse provides easy navigation with finger swipes. It supports the Opera 9.5 Mobile browser.
A true multimedia phone, the Omnia has a 5.0-megapixel camera with digital zoom and power LED flash, a camcorder, stereo Bluetooth wireless, and Wi-Fi. An FM radio is built into the device.
While the BlackBerry Storm, the T-Mobile G1 Android-based phone, and Apple's iPhone 3G may be the ultimate winners this holiday shopping season, analysts said there is room for Windows Mobile-based devices like the Omnia.
With Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Omnia users can tap into Microsoft Outlook Mobile to stay connected to e-mail, schedules and contacts that can be synchronized over the air. Office Mobile enhances productivity with the ability to manage Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the smartphone.
Windows Mobile 6.1 also enables access to Verizon's VZAppZone, where consumers can download games,...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Google Releases Another Beta for Chrome Browser
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63272
Google has just unleashed a new Chrome update that includes notable performance improvements for its fast Web browser. Current Chrome beta users will automatically receive the new beta release over the next few days, Google Chrome Program Manager Mark Larson said.
Beyond introducing a number of fixes the company previously rolled out to its development channel, Chrome beta 0.4.154.25 adds features such as a new bookmark manager. Users will be able to "search bookmarks, create folders, and drag and drop bookmarks to new locations," Larson added.
Other notable Chrome changes are intended to give users better control of Web privacy. A new privacy section is accessed by opening the wrench menu, clicking on "options" and selecting the "under the hood" tab. "It groups together all of the configuration options for features that might send data to another service," Larson said.
Google also has improved Chrome's pop-up blocker, which had minimized pop-up windows on the lower right corner of the browser window, creating one "constrained" window for each pop-up, Larson said.
"Now Google Chrome displays one small notification in the corner that shows the number of blocked pop-ups," Larson explained. "A menu on the notification lets you open a specific pop-up, if needed."
Additionally, the latest beta release fixes a design flaw that allowed downloaded HTML files to read other files on the user's PC, and even send them to sites on the Internet. "We now prevent local files from connecting to the network and also prompt you to confirm a download if it is an HTML file," Larson said.
This week's beta upgrade is Google's latest step toward preparing Chrome, which currently runs only on Windows, for an official release in early 2009. Last week, Google Vice President Sundar Pichai told The Times newspaper, based in London, that...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Sun Debuts New Data-Erasure Service for Data Protection
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63269
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) today announced the Sun(TM) Data Protection Services, Data Erasure, a new on-site service to help enable customers to remain compliant with internal corporate data erasure policies during the removal, redeployment or relocation of equipment containing sensitive data. The service also empowers customers' to become compliant with the ever increasing policies of regulatory agencies for the removal or destruction of data, by providing a global, audit-ready solution that erases data at the platter level.
Data security is an issue IT administrators must address, and the topic is as pertinent as ever due to increasing pressure from government regulations being put in place to protect privacy and prevent fraud. Company security policies must ensure that businesses remain competitive and compliant with government requirements. In response to this, Sun's new Data Protection Services, Data Erasure provides a scalable, global solution for eradicating non-critical data from customers' hard disks, Sun Data Protection Services, Data Erasure meets or exceeds the requirements of most company security policies by standardizing on the stringent DOD 5220-22M policy for data erasure. In addition, Sun's software enabled service can scale to match the policies of up to 14 different erasure standards to satisfy both public and private security regulations.
"An effective data destruction policy can create a competitive advantage for businesses," said Michelle Dennedy, chief data strategy and privacy officer, Sun Microsystems. "It frees you up to focus on today and the future and to stop worrying about yesterday's inventory. Holding on to old data not only opens you up for undue risk of loss, it allows old technology to lie around and exposes you to vulnerabilities that you may not even be able to track."
During the life cycle of datacenter equipment it can be relocated due to corporate change, redeployed in eco-recycling efforts, returned...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Live Web Suicide Shows Dual Nature of Forums
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63261
For a 19-year-old community college student in Pembroke Pines, Florida, the message boards on BodyBuilding.com were a place to post messages, at least 2,300 of them, including more than one about his suicidal impulses. In a post last year, he wrote that online forums had "become like a family to me."
"I know its kinda sad," the student, Abraham Biggs, wrote in parentheses, adding that he posted about his "troubles and doubts" online because he did not want to talk to anyone about them in person.
Last Wednesday, when Biggs posted a suicide note and listed the drug cocktail he intended to consume, the Web site hardly acted like a family. On BodyBuilding.com, which includes discussions of numerous topics besides bodybuilding, and on a live video Web site, Justin.tv, Biggs was "egged on" by strangers who, investigators say, encouraged him to swallow the antidepressant pills that eventually killed him.
Biggs's case is the most recent example of a suicide that played out on the Internet. Live video of the death was shown online to scores of people, leading some viewers to cringe while others laughed. The case, which has prompted an outpouring of sympathy and second-guessing online, demonstrates the double-edged nature of online communities that millions of people flock to every day.
Online communities "are like the crowd outside the building with the guy on the ledge," said Jeffrey Cole, a professor who studies technology's effects on society at the University of Southern California. "Sometimes there is someone who gets involved and tries to talk him down. Often the crowd chants, 'Jump, jump.' They can enable suicide or help prevent it."
On blogs and forums last week, some people wondered whether Biggs had hoped that by broadcasting his suicide, he would attract attention and cause someone to intervene. Viewers eventually called the police, but only...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Beware New Holiday Spam Scams
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63256
The holiday season and the poor economy are bringing out all kinds of e-mail spam scams. Here are the latest you may receive or will soon receive -- don't respond to them:
Survey and Gift Scam: An e-mail comes from a financial institution stating, "You've been selected to take part in our quick and easy eight-question survey. In return, we will credit $80 to your account." You're directed to an online survey page where you're asked innocuous questions and then asked for your bank account information. Don't do it -- these scammers will simply use that information to drain your account of cash.
Investment Proposal Scam: The e-mail writer urgently needs your help in getting a person's money out of a country by using your bank account as a place to electronically deposit the money. They'll need your account access information, of course, to set up the transfer. And there will, indeed, be a transfer: All your money transferred from your account to the scammer.
Get Quick Cash Scam: Money's tight, and these scammers know it. They entice you with seemingly quick and easy loans, transferred immediately into your account. "All applications accepted. No credit check," the e-mail promises. Click the application link or call and, once you're approved (you always are), give them your account info. Don't fall for this scheme.
Remember: As a rule of thumb, unsolicited e-mail schemes are never legit. Free offers that are made to look like they come from legitimate businesses and institutions you've never dealt with are almost always scams.
Times are tough -- don't let e-mail scammers make them harder for you.
Don't forget the lesson of the good-natured woman who simply wanted to help someone in need and responded to an e-mail plea for help. She lost $400,000 to heartless thieves.
These scammers didn't care that they cleaned...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Twitter Appears To Have Declined Facebook Acquisition
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63250
A social-media giant that has been wooed by the likes of Yahoo and Microsoft is now looking at an emerging social-networking play. Facebook recently held acquisition talks with micro-blogging phenom Twitter, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The Times cited people familiar with the matter who confirmed that Facebook offered to acquire Twitter in an all-stock deal.
Twitter is a service that lets users stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one question: What are you doing? It's a real-time messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices, including PCs and smartphones. And Facebook would reportedly love to add it to its social-networking services.
Last year, Microsoft offered Facebook $15 billion to become part of Redmond's growing Web 2.0 assets. Facebook declined, and now it appears that Twitter is offering the same response to its social-networking elder.
Despite the rebuff, there is lingering conversation over Twitter's value. Twitter isn't reporting any revenue just yet. The two-year-old company is still building its user base, yet this darling of Silicon Valley has reportedly been valued at $500 million.
"There certainly is a natural fit between Facebook and Twitter, but it does seem like the price was the issue," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. "Of the recent startups in the past couple of years, Twitter has broken out from the pack in terms of success and adoption. But Twitter hasn't figured out a good business model."
Twitter insists it has many opportunities to generate revenue. A statement on its Web site, though, indicates the company is holding off on implementation for now because it wants to focus on building the service and researching the best business model.
"Twitter could certainly do something with its mobile usage in terms of location-based advertising or brand advertising. There are...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Despite Economy, 'Tis the Season for LCD TVs
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63244
Against the backdrop of an economy that grows more precarious by the day, the outlook for holiday gift spending is bleak. Even so, consumers will be buying gifts, and consumer electronics will be high on their shopping lists, even if spending will be lower this year.
Amid the diminished expectations, some product categories will hold their own this season, industry and retail analysts say. An early November survey of consumer intentions by the Consumer Electronics Assn. found that U.S. shoppers expect to spend an average of $1,437 on gifts this year, less than the $1,671 they spent in 2007. Still, consumers say they'll allocate a larger percentage of their spending -- 28 percent vs. 22 percent last year -- to consumer electronics. The idea is that families will opt for at-home entertainment rather than travel and dining out.
And despite what you may have heard about video entertainment migrating to the Web, the TV set is still the king of the home entertainment universe. Prices are coming down quickly. In September, the average price on a 32-inch LCD TV was $858, a drop of about $100 from the same period in 2007. Now, it's possible to buy a 32-inch LCD set for as little as $399.
One reason, says iSuppli analyst Riddy Patel, is that there is an oversupply of LCD panels, so manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, and Sharp can pass favorable component pricing on to consumers. "The prices are suddenly very attractive on these sets," Patel says. "The only question is how consumers will react." Her firm recently slashed its 2008 forecast for LCD TVs by 5 million units, to 94 million. It also trimmed its 2009 forecast to 112.5 million units, from 124 million units, meaning the market is growing, though more slowly than before.
Consumers may also be...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Consumers Hit the Net, Not Stores, for Holiday Shopping
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63243
With an unstable economy and the biggest holiday shopping season of the year upon us, many consumers are expected to stay at home, using their computers and wireless devices to do their holiday shopping. More people are expected to shop online this holiday season to do comparison shopping, take advantage of free shipping, and search for gifts using search engines instead of driving from store to store.
Total online shopping sales in the United States is expected to reach $44 billion this year, a 12 percent increase from last year, according to the Forrester Research Online Holiday Retail Forecast 2008 report.
Twelve percent is not a huge increase compared to previous years, but considering the economic conditions, retailers will be happy with any increase. Offline holiday shopping sales are expected to increase only 2.2 percent from 2007, according to the National Retail Federation's September 2008 report.
As holiday shoppers become more comfortable with using online e-commerce systems -- and more savvy with technology -- they are also getting comfortable with the advantages and perks of shopping online.
While some shoppers will not break away from their traditional shopping -- fighting the crowds for the hottest gadgets and newest toys and smelling, touching and holding that perfect gift -- others are using their fingertips to find the best deals.
Free shipping has always lured online shoppers, and this year will be no different. More than 50 percent of online holiday buyers and 33 percent of overall online users said that getting free shipping will motivate them to buy more online during the holidays, according to Forrester's report. As a result, free shipping offers are expected to become ubiquitous among retailers and will not be a differentiator for retail competitors.
Forrester suggests that retailers use other differentiators, such as...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Plentitube: Your Agent for Online Video
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63239
In the age of YouTube, online video has opened a world of possibilities for artists like James and Tyler McFadden. Over the last two years, the duo has produced a collection of quirky, short, animated films with their Web-based production studio, GoPotato TV. But all the technology in the world hasn't changed one thing for the McFadden brothers. "Making money is not an easy thing to do with online video," says Tyler McFadden, 27, who heads up business development for the company.
Sure, Big Media is starting to see the Web as a source of high-quality video talent; on Nov. 24, Fox Interactive Media unit IGN.com said it reached production and distribution deals with a dozen independent Web producers, including Black 20 Digital Studios, CollegeHumor, and ScrewAttack.com. But for every indie producer that lands a deal, scores are struggling to get noticed.
That's where Plentitube comes in. An online talent scout, Plentitube is trying to become a middleman of the new media, a matchmaker for the YouTube generation. In the 1950s, a leggy blonde would get discovered while waiting tables at Chasen's restaurant in Los Angeles. But in the Digital Age, Plentitube founders Jon Labes and Talia Pulver believe the future of talent discovery will happen increasingly in online venues like the one they are building. "We are creating new types of matchmaking services," says Labes, 25, who is also Plentitube's CEO.
Before they signed on with Plentitube, the McFadden brothers managed to license a few shorts with Viacom's Comedy Central and with Web players such as Atom.com. They've pulled in some revenue from advertisements shown on their videos on Google's YouTube. And they have been trying to break into the big leagues by working on an informal basis with UTA Online, the division of Hollywood agency United Talent that represents...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Business Strategy: Cutting Costs To Increase Profits
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63238
Thanks to some timely tailoring, shares of Gap jumped 27 percent on Nov. 21 even as the retailer's sales fell 8 percent.
The reason for the favorable reaction was another round of successful cost-cutting at Gap, which boosted profits despite the reluctance of consumers to spend at Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy stores.
Across the economy, corporate executives are looking to follow a similar strategy. As a potentially nasty recession sets in and revenues drop, firms are forced to cut their way toward higher profits.
Some analysts predict the Gap can continue boosting profits next year even as revenues decline. But eventually, many analysts say, Gap must find a way to draw more shoppers' dollars -- not just cut costs through inventory controls, shrinking real estate holdings, or other measures.
"While expense management has been impressive, we continue to wonder how sustainable earnings growth is longer-term with deteriorating sales and given a bleaker economic outlook in '09," wrote Banc of America analyst Dana Cohen. (BofA handles banking services for Gap.)
Many other firms are taking similar cost-cutting steps, which often involve large rounds of layoffs. Dell was also able to increase profits last quarter despite falling sales. The computer maker said it has cut 11,000 jobs in the past year.
"It's a necessary strategy, but it's a short-term strategy," says Dan Genter, chief executive and chief investment officer at RNC Genter. After a certain point, you're no longer cutting fat from your budget, he says -- you're cutting bone.
For some firms, cost-cutting can be a healthy process that repositions them for future growth. Greg Estes, portfolio manager at Intrepid Capital Management, cites Starbucks, which is shutting down less profitable coffee shops after "growing too fast" for several years. "If and when a positive environment returns, they'll be in a better position (with) better...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
What's in a Typo? For Shoppers, Maybe a Deal
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63234
Looking to save money on a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes this holiday season? Try searching for Manolo Blahnicks.
A handful of new Web sites with names like Typo Bay and Typo Buddy are out to help shoppers save money by searching eBay for misspelled brand names. Such items often have fewer bidders because they do not appear in search results for people who spell the items correctly, and therefore they can be bought at a lower price.
It's a well-known strategy among longtime eBay shoppers, but one that owners of these sites are hoping will translate into big business -- relatively speaking -- as shoppers look to save money this holiday season.
Typo Buddy started about six months ago and has as many as 80,000 visitors on its top days, said its president, Jonathan Lieberman, an Internet entrepreneur in San Diego. "I expect in this market, where people are ever more vigilant for deals, that we'll do really well this holiday season," he said.
Joseph Mantha, the co-creator of Typo Bay, which started in 2007, said October had been the site's busiest month. (A big month for Typo Bay means about 4,000 visitors -- and about $500.) He said he expected traffic to grow in the weeks before the holidays.
Apparently there are deals to be found. Heather Guinther, a customer service representative from Newport Beach, California, recently used Typo Buddy to find an $850 pair of "Manolo Blahnick" shoes for about $350.
"I knew I could find some Manolos on there because it's not an easy name to spell," she said.
Abercrombie & Fitch, Louis Vuitton and Banana Republic are among the most misspelled brands, Lieberman said. (It's the word "banana" that gets them.) There are misspelled categories, as well: eBay is host to a thriving marketplace for "jewlry."
Visitors to these sites enter the...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Hands-Off Hackers: Crooks Opt for Surgical Strikes
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63199
Internet criminals have been getting more "professional" for years, trying to run their businesses like Big Business to get better and more profitable at selling stolen data online. Now the bad guys of the cyber-underworld are exhibiting other unexpected traits: remarkable patience and restraint in stalking their victims.
A new report by antivirus software vendor Symantec Corp. details a startling trend that highlights the inventive ways criminals are figuring out ways to make money online.
Hackers are sometimes breaking into online businesses and not stealing anything. Gone are the bull-in-the-China-shop days of plundering everything in sight once they've found a sliver of a security hole.
Instead of swiping all the customer data they can get their hands on, a small subset of hackers have concerned themselves with stealing only a very specific thing from the vendors they breach -- they want access to the compromised companies' payment-processing systems, and nothing else, according to the "Symantec Report on the Underground Economy," slated for release Monday.
Those systems allow the bad guys to check whether credit card numbers being hawked on underground chat rooms are valid, the same way the store verifies whether to accept a card payment or not.
It's a service the crooks sell to other fraudsters who don't trust that the stolen card numbers they're buying from someone else will actually work, and it's good business.
The bad guys hardly touch anything. The customer data for that store's clientele remains intact. They don't install malicious software that turns the compromised machines into spam-spewing robots.
Think of it like taking a used car to a mechanic for an inspection before buying. Only in this case the mechanic's a squatter who's holed up illegally in some other guy's shop and using his tools when no one's around at night. And he cleans up spotlessly once he's done.
"They treat...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Web 2.0 Security: Getting Collaborative Peace of Mind
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63130
Web 2.0 applications have opened up a lot of communication channels -- and opportunity -- for business professionals. They can, more than ever before, reach out to individuals from across the globe and share content and web applications. Through blogs, wikis, and social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, people are becoming more and more electronically intertwined. "There's a sense of security in a Web 2.0 world where people trust their personal information to others," says Jordan Frank, VP of sales and marketing for Traction Software. "They trust these sites." Frank points out that some people trust such systems just because their friends do, and because sites such as Facebook haven't let people down -- yet. He cautions that a breach could cause a backlash against such networks. "Ensuring success in Web 2.0 means that trust doesn't get broken," says Frank.
Most companies don't want to inhibit the collaborative flow that Web 2.0 has brought with it; they don't want it to hinder their overall operations and they want to continue to build on their Web 2.0 platforms. A Gartner Executives Programs survey of 1,500 CIOs from across the globe revealed that half of the respondents expected to invest in Web 2.0 technologies for the first time in 2008.
Internet experts agree that part of that investment must include security measures to protect organizations' intellectual property. One reason that Web 2.0 garners more attention for security safeguards than its predecessors is that its open nature makes it naturally more vulnerable to breaches. "The fact that security is becoming an issue speaks to the growth that Web 2.0 applications are having in the business world," says Isaac Garcia, CEO and co-founder of Central Desktop, which offers a web-based business collaboration platform.
Companies need to recognize the fact that the benefits that new technologies...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Intel, Micron Chip To Boost Storage for Small Devices
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63248
A joint venture between Intel and Micron Technology is preparing to mass-produce a 32-gigabit memory chip featuring Intel's multi-level cell memory technology. The new NAND chips to be manufactured by IM Flash Technologies will go up against similar products from rivals Samsung and Toshiba, beginning next year.
Developed and manufactured using low-power 34-nanometer technology, the industry's only monolithic 32Gbit NAND chip fits into the industry's standard 48-lead packaging and represents the smallest NAND geometry on the market, the companies said.
"We have made great strides in NAND process capability and are now in a leadership role with 34nm production," said Brian Shirley, vice president of Micron's Memory Group. "The tiny 34nm, 32Gbit chip enables our customers to easily increase their NAND storage capacity for a number of consumer and computing products."
Less than the size of a thumbnail, IMFT's 32Gbit chip is expected to cost-effectively enable high-density solid-state storage in small form factor applications such as digital cameras, personal music players, and digital camcorders. For example, a single 32Gbit chip could be used to store more than 2,000 high-resolution digital photos, more than a thousand music tracks, or about 20 hours of high-definition video.
The partners said the new chip also will enable the creation of more cost-effective solid-state drives for netbooks and other portable computing devices, dramatically increasing their current storage capacity. When stacked, the chips could even drive PC memory capacities beyond 256GB, they noted.
Unlike standard single-level cell products, IMFT's flash-memory chip employs multiple levels per cell to enable more bits of information to be stored. The use of a denser storage method also means the chips will be cheaper to produce.
The chips will be manufactured on 300-millimeter wafers, each of which will produce approximately 1.6 terabytes. The partners say they expect to begin sampling...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Blockbuster Eyes Netflix with MediaPoint Player
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63247
Blockbuster is finally making an aggressive move against Netflix. The perennial movie-rental chain has partnered with 2Wire to launch the 2Wire MediaPoint digital-media player. It's Blockbuster's version of an on-demand video solution that gives movie watchers instant access to Blockbuster OnDemand content through their television sets.
Blockbuster is pulling out all the marketing stops to gain traction in the marketplace. The MediaPoint digital-media player is available free with the advance rental of 25 Blockbuster OnDemand movies for $99. After the initial 25 rentals, movies are available for as little as $1.99 each. The players will begin shipping in time for the holiday season.
"The MediaPoint digital player, featuring Blockbuster OnDemand, is entertainment made easy. We are bringing Blockbuster, and the thousands of movies in our digital library, straight to customers' televisions," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster's chairman and CEO. "The player is simple to use, delivers DVD-quality video, and there's no monthly subscription commitment."
As Keyes stated, there is no monthly subscription commitment -- an important consideration, considering that Netflix does charge a monthly fee for movie rentals. Blockbuster is also touting newer movie releases than its competitors, making some titles available within weeks after they stop showing in theaters.
"Blockbuster's offer looks like a marginally better deal than what Netflix offers," said Phil Leigh, senior analyst at Inside Digital Media. "If you subscribe to 25 movies you get the box for free, whereas at Netflix you have to buy the Roku box for $100. At the same time, Blockbuster doesn't tell you exactly when they are going to ship it, other than to say before Christmas."
While the uncertain ship date may cause some would-be buyers to hold on to their money -- or spend it somewhere else -- this holiday season, 2Wire does have a solid track record in the industry. Leigh...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
TiVo Launches Mobile Site for TV Junkies
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63246
TiVo on Tuesday launched a mobile version of its Web site that aims to give people the ability to record their favorite programs.
TiVo Mobile is a free mobile phone-optimized Web site that allows subscribers and non-subscribers to browse, search and discover television shows regardless of mobile platform, carrier or browser.
Consumers can access the site with any Internet-enabled phone through any network. The company expects TiVo Mobile to open up the service to millions of cell-phone owners.
"TiVo started out making television a more convenient, personal experience, and this is the next step to give television lovers total control over their media," said Jim Denney, vice president of product marketing at TiVo. "Whether you are standing in line at the bank or talking about a new show with friends at dinner, you can now find and record shows whenever, wherever -- a perfect tool for everyone."
The new mobile site is located at m.tivo.com. TiVo Mobile will let television viewers stay in touch with their TiVo DVR when they are away. Specifically, TiVo Mobile users can schedule recordings directly to their TiVo box from a mobile phone.
The TiVo Mobile site is optimized for use on a small screen. Visitors can search for programs by actor, title, director and keyword and tap into additional features, such as daily recommendations and most popular.
The TiVo Mobile site also leverages TiVo's recommendations engine through the "If you like this ..." tool to help users find new shows. Anyone can browse, search and discover television shows whether they have a TiVo DVR at home.
"What TiVo really does is show us what the other companies are going to do 12 months from now," said Phil Leigh, senior analyst at Inside Digital Media. "So look for the other companies to do this in 12 to...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Jurors Deliberate MySpace Suicide Case
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63245
Jury deliberations were under way Tuesday in the landmark case against Lori Drew, a suburban Missouri mother charged with conspiracy and computer fraud in a MySpace hoax that led to the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier.
After three days of testimony by more than a dozen witnesses, including Megan's mother, Tina Meier; Drew's assistant, Ashley Grills; and computer forensic experts, the case went to the jury of six men and six women ranging in age from the mid-20s to the 70s.
Drew is charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of computer fraud. If found guilty on all four counts, she could receive a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors painted an ugly picture of Drew, her daughter, and Grills in the torment of Meier, who was taking antidepressants and was vulnerable. Prosecutors said the Drews and Grill had knowledge of Meier's mental-health issues, but continued a six-week ruse.
U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien portrayed Drew as the master puppeteer behind the plan to humiliate Megan by inventing a fictitious boy who would court her on MySpace.com, then be revealed as a person who did not exist. O'Brien in his summation that Lori Drew wanted to humiliate Meier and the only way she could was through the use of a computer, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. Assistant Attorney Mark Krause provided additional ammunition, saying Drew instructed her daughter Sarah and Grills what to write and, in doing so, violated the MySpace terms of service. Krause told the jurors that MySpace rules are simple and say users should not lie, not pretend to be another person, and not use the Web site to harass others, according to the Associated Press.
The defense stressed to jurors that the case against Lori Drew is not homicide and...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
EMG Sues Apple over iPhone Browser Technology
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63223
EMG Technology has filed a patent suit against Apple in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
The suit alleges that Apple is infringing on U.S. Patent No. 7,441,196 in the way the iPhone navigates the Internet. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages against Apple.
"Web sites are just beginning to develop their mobile sister sites for fast and easy navigation," said Stanley Gibson, an intellectual property expert and partner at the law firm of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of EMG Technology.
Gibson offers the example of NBC. To access NBC on a computer, the URL is NBC.com. For the mobile site on the iPhone, the URL would be m.NBC.com. EMG's patent, he explained, covers the simplified interface of reformatted mobile content to provide optimum viewing and navigation with single touches on a small screen.
EMG's Elliot Gottfurcht is one of the named inventors of five U.S. patents for navigating the Internet on mobile devices and Internet Protocol Television. Gottfurcht is also a real-estate developer in West Los Angeles.
The patent was issued on October 21, 2008, and includes 76 claims supported by specifications filed in 1999 by Gottfurcht and others, according to the plaintiff's law firm.
Gibson explains that the "patent claim covers the display of Internet content reformatted from HTML to XML on mobile devices -- the industry standard currently displayed by the iPhone. Additional patent claims include the technology for manipulating a region of the screen for zooming and scrolling."
Gibson has a good track record in IP litigation. He was one of the lead attorneys who successfully prosecuted the patent-infringement lawsuit of Gary Michelson, M.D., against Medtronic. That suit resulted in a $570 million verdict. Dr. Michelson received a $1.35 billion payment from Medtronic.
Despite Gibson's winning record, it may...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Facebook Wins Big Against Canadian Spammer
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63222
Facebook's leaders are smiling as the company announced an antispam victory. The popular social-networking Web site was awarded more than $873 million in damages Friday against a Canadian spammer who was sending sexually explicit images to Facebook users.
Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital were ordered to pay Facebook the damages by U.S. District Court Judge Jeremey Fogel in San Jose, Calif. And Guerbuez can no longer access Facebook. The ruling came after four months of court arguments.
Guerbuez and Atlantis were ordered to pay $436.6 million in statutory damages and $436.6 in aggravated statutory damages, according to court documents posted on Justia.com.
The award is the largest judgment awarded under the CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003).
"This judgment is the result of the tireless effort of our security experts, legal team, and other significant resources we've devoted to finding, exposing and prosecuting the sources of spam attacks," wrote Max Kelly, Facebook's director of security, on his blog.
Guerbuez runs the crazypricks.com Web site, according to Neil Schwartzman, executive director of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE), a consumer-advocacy group formed to fight for antispam laws which now works to defend Internet users. "He is a Nazi skinhead who was videotaping homeless people beating each other up," Schwartzman said.
The court found Guerbuez illegally accessed Facebook's user-profile data to launch his spamming activities. He sent Facebook users four million messages and conned some into providing their log-in details. Each violation under CAN-SPAM can be punished by a $11,000 fine.
CAN-SPAM covers e-mail that is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service.
The Federal Trade Commission is the enforcer and the Department of Justice handles criminal violations.
Other federal and state agencies can enforce the law against organizations under their jurisdiction, and companies...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
T-Mobile's G1 Gets Visual Voice Mail, Opera Browser
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63221
A new visual voice-mail application and the Opera Mini browser were made available Monday for T-Mobile's Android-based G1 smartphone.
The Opera Mini 4.2 mobile browser, released as a beta earlier this month, is now out in a free final version. It includes a performance increase of up to 30 percent over the beta, thanks to a farm of U.S.-based servers that preprocess and compress Web requests. It also includes skins, syncing with notes, support for multiple languages, and other features.
Opera Software describes the browser as "the world's most popular mobile Web browser," with more than 20 million users. Other features include staying in touch with friends via Facebook, searching with Google, and secure online banking,
The browser is also available for the Samsung Instinct and newer Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones. It offers browsing of full Web pages, with the user being able to zoom into a page whose text has been formatted correctly for the small screen.
The Opera Mini browser is available from the Opera Software site, as well as the Android Market, a Google app store comparable to Apple's iPhone App Store. The Android Market is also offering the beta version of Fusion Voicemail Plus from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based PhoneFusion.
Voicemail Plus lets users centralize voice-mail boxes they may have at home and at work, in addition to the one on their mobile device, and see a list of messages in one place. They can also see information about the messages and play the voice mail from the device.
PhoneFusion, which describes its voice-mail application as "iPhone-like," had previously released the product for BlackBerries and smartphones with Windows Mobile 5 and 6.
The availability of the two popular software products could help propel the already growing sales estimates for the G1, manufactured by...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Are You Ready for Mobile Banking (Again)?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63210
Mobile banking is a "twice new" trend in the retail banking industry. It first came onto the banking scene five years ago, but after a few years with slow to no consumer adoption, most institutions abandoned mobile banking efforts.
Reasons for its failure to successfully launch were varied, but industry experts point to consumer hesitation and uncertainty and a lack of full commitment from the banking industry. Consumers simply weren't ready to trust cell phones with sensitive financial data like money transfers, account balances and bill pay -- after all, text messaging hadn't yet taken off. Fast forward to 2008: the number of cell phone users and text message subscribers has increased exponentially, giving rise to the popularity of mobile platforms -- a precursor to mobile banking adoption.
Another factor partly responsible for the market's readiness is the maturation of Generation Y, which ranges in age from 14 to 27 -- the prime demographic for all things mobile. According to Celent, a research and advisory firm, four in 10 Generation Y-ers say that mobile banking services are a factor in their choice of bank.
Studies show that bank executives are right to target this customer base: The Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions reported that Generation Y has more than 75 million members and a collective annual income of $1.89 trillion. Deloitte predicts Gen Y earnings will increase by 85 percent over the next 10 years to $3.5 trillion, exceeding Baby Boomers' earnings by some $500 billion.
This segment of the population is accustomed to real-time, self-service transactions and demands instant access to information -- all tenants of a mobile banking offering. The uptick of smart phone use, which makes banking via phone easier, has also contributed to its increased adoption and rising popularity.
Experts at the Mercator Advisory Group predict that 33.1...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Dell's Earnings Slip but Exceed Forecasts By Wall Street
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63209
Dell, one of the world's largest makers of personal computers, reported better-than-expected earnings as the company's cost-cutting efforts, including the elimination of 8,300 jobs over the past year, blunted the pain from falling revenues in the early stages of the world economic slowdown.
With most economists predicting that the deepening slump would hammer corporate technology spending over the next year, Dell said Thursday that it intended to keep slicing costs and would be cautious with its $8.9 billion cash hoard, even as it realigned its business model from direct sales to one that relies more on retailers to sell its laptops and desktop personal computers.
Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, reported revenue of $15.16 billion in the third quarter, which ended Oct. 31. That was a 3 percent drop from the same quarter a year earlier and more than a billion dollars shy of the $16.22 billion that analysts had expected, according to Thomson Reuters.
But the company's profits greatly exceeded Wall Street's forecasts, largely because of the company's strong emphasis on cost cutting and a gradual shift toward more profitable products.
Dell posted net income of $727 million for the third quarter, a 5 percent drop from the $766 million it earned a year ago. However, stock buybacks reduced the number of shares outstanding by 14 percent over the past year, so on a per-share basis, net income for the quarter rose 9 percent to 37 cents, compared with 34 cents a year ago. Wall Street analysts expected net income of 31 cents a share.
Dell's shares, which have tumbled from $28.40 over the past year, closed at $9.81 in regular trading Thursday, down 54 cents. The stock recouped those losses in after-hours trading as investors digested the earnings report, which was released after the market closed.
Over the past two years, Dell's earnings...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Thrifty Viewers Look to Shows Online
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63201
Matthew Bowers of Chicago has been paying to have HBO piped into his home every month for nearly two decades. He tunes in for the occasional episode of "Entourage" and every couple of months orders a movie on demand. Recently, the whole family watched "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."
But when his company laid him off in September, he started to think about the value he was getting out of the premium cable channel. "It's ridiculous to pay for this service I rarely use when I can get the same stuff online and save a lot of money," he said. The result? HBO is losing a customer.
Does an economy in tatters slow down or speed up the shift to watching TV shows and movies on the Web and mobile devices? The entertainment industry does not like the answer that is rapidly becoming clear: A global economic crisis almost certainly means a sharp acceleration in the move to new ways of consuming content, setting the stage for a new clash between consumers and studios.
Historically, the movie factories haven't been terribly afraid of tough economic times. In fact, they have almost welcomed them. During the Great Depression, people continued to turn to the movies for escape. VHS rentals boomed during the recession of the early 1980s, while DVDs got a lift from the downturn earlier this decade.
An HBO spokesman said he was sorry to see Bowers go, but he dismissed the notion that many other people would be joining him. "No industry is recession-proof, but pay television has performed very well in previous downturns," said the spokesman, Jeff Cusson.
But the current gloom has the Hollywood establishment rattled. DVDs are now where the industry makes its money, and Nielsen VideoScan reported a 9 percent drop in DVD sales in the third...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
The Venerable Computer Mouse: Soon To Be Extinct?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63197
The computer mouse may someday become an endangered species.
Instead of rolling a mouse around to move a cursor around on the screen, more and more users will gesture with their fingers on touch screens and multi-touch track pads, analysts say.
Or they will tilt or shake the phones or other hand-held devices themselves to manipulate them, said Steve Prentice, vice president and fellow at Gartner, a market-research firm based in Stamford, Conn.
Apple's iPhone, Nokia and other smart phones are already undergoing such a transformation with touch screens, he said in an e-mail, and the switch "will accelerate over the next two to three years."
On an iPhone or iPod touch, a user can scroll through album covers by flicking a finger across the screen, or tilt and turn the device to control actions in a game.
Prentice, based in Egham, England, said it is likely users will stop connecting a mouse to their laptop computers within the next five years, if they haven't already. And the use of a mouse will diminish on office desktop computers after that. The new track pads are seen as offering more versatility.
"The demise will be hastened by the move toward 3D environments, which encourage a more complex range of movements to move around, and by the growth of multimedia applications and manipulation, which encourage a more natural user interface," he said.
Already, Hewlett-Packard makes a TouchSmart personal computer with a touch-screen monitor. Apple's new laptop computers have track pads that support gestures with two, three or four fingers. And the upcoming Microsoft Windows 7 will also support multi-touch.
Not so fast, says Logitech International, the Swiss maker of mice and other peripherals. Touch screens will continue to develop, but, "I don't see a world where it would override the effectiveness of the mouse and keyboard," said Erik Charlton,...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
In-Flight Net Access Takes Off on Virgin America
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63191
Today, Virgin America plans to become the latest airline to offer in-flight Wi-Fi Internet, a service with a problematic past that still promises far-ranging flexibility in entertainment.
The San Francisco-based carrier has scheduled the service for one Airbus A320 aircraft, joining American Airlines as the only carriers in the world to offer full Internet access.
Dubbed Gogo, the service lets passengers browse the Web, use e-mail and instant messaging, download video and connect to secure networks through three wireless access points on the plane. Voice calls over the Internet are not allowed. The cost is $9.95 to $12.95 a flight, depending on route length.
If Virgin America's test flight is deemed successful after about a week of flying, the airline will expand the service to 24 other planes in its fleet by mid-2009.
With two carriers offering the service commercially, in-flight Internet is making a serious comeback after a two-year period of dormancy.
The previous generation of in-flight Wi-Fi, operated by Connexion by Boeing, was shut off at the end of 2006. Its satellite-based system proved to be too expensive for domestic carriers, and Connexion couldn't find enough passenger demand for the $30-a-flight service.
Still, customers and airlines' interest in affordable in-flight Wi-Fi persisted, leading to several technology companies vying for the business. Working with its entertainment subsidiary, LiveTV, JetBlue introduced a text message/e-mail service last year on one aircraft as a trial.
In June, Chicago-based Aircell began offering its Gogo Internet service on 15 of American Airlines' Boeing 767 aircraft. LiveTV and Aircell rely on existing cell towers to beam transmissions. While this "air-to-ground" technology is less expensive for airlines to install, it limits access to flying over land.
"The speed was comparable to my home DSL," says frequent traveler David Ralph, music director of Webster Hall in New York who recently tried American's Internet.
"You can put...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Police Probe Roles in Live Online Video of Suicide
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63220
A South Florida teen committed suicide last week as a Webcam audience watched in real time. The Pembroke Pines teen died of a lethal drug overdose 12 hours after he shared his intent to kill himself on a blog, according to investigators.
A toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat insomnia and depression, killed Abraham Briggs. The 19-year-old man died Wednesday, the Broward County medical examiner's office confirmed. Briggs had a prescription for the antidepressant, but authorities are unsure how he obtained the others.
It's not clear how many people watched the suicide, but police are investigating the Web site moderator's role in the live video streaming of the suicide on Justin.tv. Investigators are also looking at comments on the discussion board at bodybuilding.com that linked to the streaming video.
Police reports indicate some of the people watching Briggs at Justin.tv encouraged him to end his life, while others tried to talk the teenager out of it. Some were discussing whether or not it was a hoax, or whether he took enough pills to actually kill himself. Briggs had reportedly threatened to kill himself on the bodybuilding.com site previously.
The debate soon ended as a visitor to the forum notified the moderator about Briggs' post and the moderator called the police. Law enforcement traced Briggs' location to Pembroke Pines near Miami. But when they arrived at his house at 3:30 p.m., they discovered he was dead. Briggs started blogging at 3 a.m.
"There seems to be a lack of control as to what people put out on the Internet," Abraham Biggs Sr., the young man's father, told ABCNews.com. "There's a lot of garbage out there that should not be, and unfortunately this was allowed to happen."
Justin.tv CEO Michael Seibel commented on the situation in a formal statement: "We regret...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Underground Economy Thriving Online, Report Says
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63219
As politicians, Wall Street, and retailers watch economic indicators with a hopeful eye, Symantec has offered insight on a different economy.
Symantec on Monday released its Report on the Underground Economy. The overarching takeaway is that the online underground economy has matured into an efficient, global marketplace in which stolen goods and fraud-related services are regularly bought and sold. It estimated the value of goods offered by individual traders in the millions of dollars.
"As evidenced by the Report on the Underground Economy, today's cybercriminals are thriving off of information they are gathering without permission from consumers and businesses," said Stephen Trilling, vice president, Symantec Security Technology and Response. "As these individuals and groups continue to devise new tools and techniques to defraud legitimate users around the globe, protection and mitigation against such attacks must become an international priority."
Symantec observed trading in advertised goods with a potential value of more than $276 million in a yearlong period from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008. Symantec determined the value by the advertised prices of the goods and services and measured how much the advertisers would make if they liquidated their inventory.
Credit-card information is the most advertised category of goods and services in the underground economy, accounting for 31 percent of the total. The potential worth of all credit cards advertised during the reporting period was $5.3 billion, according to Symantec. The security firm suggested that credit cards are the most popular because they are regularly used for online shopping and it's difficult for merchants to identify and address fraudulent transactions before goods are delivered.
At 20 percent of the total, the second most common category of goods and services advertised was financial accounts. While stolen bank account information sells for between $10 and $1,000, the average advertised stolen...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Ballmer Ordered to Testify in 'Vista Capable' Case
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63218
The advertising and marketing company hired to create Apple's commercials poking fun at Microsoft's Vista operating system might get new material to work with. After Microsoft tried to protect its top brass from testifying in a case involving "Windows Vista Capable" PCs, a judge has ordered CEO Steve Ballmer to give a deposition.
In September, Ballmer tried to avoid being pulled into the suit and having to go through the discovery process, but U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman has denied a motion to exclude Ballmer, according to the judge's order posted on SeattlePI.com's blog.
The plaintiffs showed evidence that Ballmer had personal knowledge of the situation, according to court documents.
"We will, of course, comply with the court's order," said David Bowermaster, a Microsoft spokesperson, in an e-mail. "Mr. Ballmer's knowledge about the Windows Vista Capable program comes from the executives he empowered to run the program and make decisions, and two of those executives already testified in this case."
Bowermaster is referring to two former Microsoft executives, Jim Allchin and Will Poole. Allchin retired in Jan. 2007 on the same day Microsoft officially released Windows Vista to consumers while Poole left Microsoft last month "to pursue other interests."
Microsoft thought the former executives' testimonies would take the pressure off Ballmer. Instead, Pechman ruled that Ballmer would have to testify based on several pages of e-mail correspondence in which he was included.
Ballmer will have to testify about his knowledge of Microsoft releasing "Windows Vista Capable"-labeled PCs that weren't powerful enough to run all Vista's features and could only run a stripped-down version.
In 2006 Microsoft, a year before the company released the Vista operating system, authorized original equipment manufacturers such as Dell and Sony to place a sticker on PCs indicating that the PC was certified as Windows Vista...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Google Kills SearchMash as SearchWiki Emerges
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63217
While there is plenty of buzz around Google's new SearchWiki, another Google experiment is quietly disappearing: SearchMash. Once located at SearchMash.com, the service was Google's experimental search interface, a non-branded search engine that Google used to test new technology.
SearchMash let users search the Internet in different ways. Specifically, it let searchers reorder results and see the top three image results next to Web results. SearchMash also recognized classes of proper nouns and displayed refinements for them and adjusted for spelling mistakes.
Google wasn't immediately available for comment. But Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, could only speculate on one reason Google made SearchMash extinct: It was no longer needed.
"SearchMash was a fairly low-visibility site where Google experimented with search technology," Sterling said. "Google must feel they can get those experiments in a different way through more effective methodology."
Could that methodology be Google's new SearchWiki?
Google announced the new service last week that aims to give users more control over search experiences. SearchWiki lets users add, delete, resort or comment on search results for any query to create customized search results.
Google is marketing the new service as a way to "mark up" Google search results. For example, if a searcher is an avid skier whose favorite ski-gear site is in the fourth or fifth position, SearchWiki allows moving it higher. Or if the favorite site isn't included, SearchWiki can add it and even add some notes about any site. SearchWiki is available to signed-in Google users.
"These modifications will be shown to you every time you do the same search in the future. We store your changes in your Google account. If you are wondering if you are signed in, you can always check by noting if your username appears in the upper right-hand side...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Bay Area Cities Unveil Electric-Car Initiative
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63216
The mayors of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, Calif., have joined with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Bay Area Council, and mobile network-technology provider Better Place to foster the development of plug-in electric vehicles and other elements of green infrastructure.
"This initiative will help to put the Bay Area in the forefront of developing the science, engineering and public-policy innovations that simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead us to the next economic boom -- the clean energy century," said Dan Kammen, director of the transportation sustainability research center at the University of California, Berkeley.
Better Place has already deployed an open model for both fixed-battery and battery-exchange electric vehicles to operate on mobility networks in Israel, Denmark and Australia. The company estimates that a $1 billion investment will be required to fully deploy this model for the Bay Area.
Infrastructure deployments are slated to begin in 2010, with the goal of having electric cars available as mass-market offerings in 2012. This should make the Bay Area a proving ground for how the nation can move to a sustainable mobility model, the plan's promoters say.
"The green-technology industry is going to boom, and it is our job is to ensure it booms here, in the Bay Area and California," said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council. "We have the venture capital, we have the research universities, we have management talent, and, perhaps most importantly, we have the visionary elected leaders [to] clear the field for green-tech companies, like Better Place, with progressive public policy."
The Bay Area plan is in sync with Google CEO Eric Schmidt's recommendation that the nation put millions of plug-in electric vehicles on the road and fuel them with green electricity. The goal is to cut oil use for cars by...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Rumors Have Microsoft Live Search Becoming Kumo
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63189
The Web's rumor mill kicked into overdrive during the weekend, with speculation that Microsoft is preparing to rebrand its Live Search service. Several sites noted that the software giant has taken control of a domain that could be the new Live Search -- Kumo.com.
The question of whether Live Search will become Kumo is being debated among those who follow the attempts by Microsoft to better position its search engine. According to LiveSide.net, "Kumo means 'cloud' or 'spider' in Japanese."
LiveSide, noting that there has been speculation for months among industry observers about a new branding and positioning for Live Search, said ownership of the Kumo.com domain was hidden behind the registrar, but it's pointing to an internal Microsoft test site.
In October, newlivesearch.blogspot.com posted "Windows Live Search Secrets," with screenshots of a possible new interface for the search service. The images had the brand of Windows Live Search. The site also quoted a comment on a Microsoft company blog by Group Marketing Manager David Beaupariant that the company recognizes "there is a brand issue across Windows Live."
LiveSide also reported that it had received a tip from a reader in the United Kingdom who said he had been shown new computers at a store and, in the process, was also shown a video touting Windows Live services, "coming in 2009." He sent the site some shots from his camera phone.
Like Beaupariant, Microsoft officials have, from time to time, expressed interest in organizing the various Live services into a more easily understood and differentiated set of services, especially since the company is continually adding new ones.
A new Microsoft manta, "software plus services," has been expressed frequently by the company, but even some industry observers have noted confusion at sorting out the different services and their names. Live.com has a variety of...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Obama Privacy Breach Common, Advocates Say
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63188
Verizon Wireless has apologized to President-Elect Barack Obama after several employees took a peek at his cell-phone records, but privacy advocates say what happened to Obama is just an example of what is happening to thousands of Americans.
Verizon, which has 71,000 employees nationwide, said it learned last week about the access. Obama's device was a basic flip phone and did not include e-mail or other features. The account had been inactive for several months.
"We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day," said Lowell McAdam, president and chief executive at Verizon Wireless. Verizon said the information was not shared outside the company.
"If that information was disclosed, there would have been an investigation by the FBI to find out if any federal laws were violated," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and a teacher of privacy law at Georgetown University Law Center.
"As the circumstances of each individual employee's access to the account are determined, the company will take appropriate actions," McAdam said. "Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action."
Verizon spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson declined to answer any of our questions and referred to a prepared statement. Later in the day, Verizon reportedly fired some employees involved in the incident.
The peek into Obama's cell phone records is just one example of how Obama's privacy has been breached.
Obama's passport information was accessed earlier this year by snooping State Department employees who also took a peek at passport information for Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain.
"The larger point here is the privacy problems (Obama) is experiencing is what is being...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
LittleBigPlanet Revitalizes a Stale Genre
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63179
The platform game has fallen on hard times. Maybe it's that name, which came about in the 1980s when Mario was actually jumping on moving platforms in "Super Mario Bros." But the genre needs a catchier title, like "running-jumping-bouncing-super-fun-action-adventure." There has to be a Japanese word that encompasses all that.
Platform games used to represent a huge chunk of the video-game market, but now they're largely restricted to the kiddie market. There's the occasional gem like Nintendo's "Super Mario Galaxy," but platformer addicts usually have to settle for media tie-ins like the new "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" game.
Still, a few developers are keeping the faith. Insomniac Games' superb "Ratchet & Clank" series has upped the ante with an amusing assortment of bizarre weaponry. The independently developed "Braid" added mind-bending puzzles. And Sony's "LittleBigPlanet" could inspire a rush of fresh, creative approaches to the genre.
_"LittleBigPlanet" (Sony, for the PlayStation 3, $59.99): The most innovative game to appear yet on the PS3 is an old-school, 2D platformer at heart. Just about anyone who's played a video game will understand that the goal is to move its hero left to right (and occasionally up and down) from the beginning to the end of each level.
That hero, Sackboy, is one of the most endearing game characters in recent memory. He looks like a doll that's been sewn from a burlap sack, but developer Media Molecule has created a delightfully expressive character from limited facial features and body language. You accumulate more wardrobe options along the way, and can even make a Sackgirl if you like.
Sackboy's universe is equally appealing. The levels in "LBP" are built from 3D objects that appear to have real texture; for example, Sackboy can grab onto cloth objects but slides right across glass. The settings are drawn from around the world,...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Dell To Keep Investing in Asia Even as China Slows
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63177
Dell Inc. plans to keep investing in Asia even as its sales growth in China slows, the computer maker's regional president said Friday.
"We will continue to invest" in Asia, said Steve Felice, president of Dell Asia Pacific and Japan, adding that Dell would likely expand its research and development and call center facilities in the region, but currently has no plans to expand manufacturing capacity.
"We're going to have to see how the world grows. That will determine where we put resources," he said in a conference call with reporters.
"There could be opportunities to shift activity to Asia," Felice said. "Outside the U.S. our business is growing faster than it is in the U.S."
The Round Rock, Texas-based company, the world's second-biggest PC maker, has been on a cost-cutting campaign, eliminating 2,200 jobs in the quarter, and slashing about 9 percent of its workforce over the last year. But Felice said cost-cutting in Asia would be "minimal."
Felice acknowledged that the company's sales growth in China has slowed, but declined to be more specific. Felice said spending by small and medium-sized companies in China has been squeezed by the credit crunch, but he believes the government's $586 billion stimulus package will help reinvigorate IT spending.
Indian companies are also spending less, he said, but he sees room to grow Dell's market share, especially in the small and medium enterprise and consumer markets, which have powered four quarters of "hyper growth" for Dell in the country.
Despite the global slowdown, Asia has remained a bright spot for Dell.
Dell said Thursday that its third-quarter profit fell 5 percent, to $727 million, as businesses around the world cut back on technology spending. Global sales slipped 3 percent, to about $15 billion.
But revenues in the quarter grew 18 percent in China and 48 percent in India, Felice said. Revenues...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Engineers Face Jail in Economic Espionage Case
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63174
Two engineers from China who pleaded guilty to the rare charge of economic espionage against the U.S. are facing sentencing Friday, in a case that highlights national security threats surrounding sensitive technologies.
Fei Ye, a U.S. citizen, and Ming Zhong, a permanent resident of the U.S., admitted in 2006 that they stole computer chip designs from their Silicon Valley employers and tried to smuggle the secrets to China to launch a government-backed startup there. The engineers each face a maximum of 30 years in prison.
Their guilty pleas represented the first convictions for the most serious crime under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. Unlike garden-variety industrial espionage -- the theft of a trade secret -- economic espionage alleges that someone acted to benefit a foreign government.
Only a handful of cases have been filed under the law, mostly because it's difficult to prove someone was trying to benefit a foreign nation, even if investigators suspect it. Prosecutors say the trail of evidence often goes cold because of a lack of cooperation by other countries in investigations.
The case against Ye and Zhong stretches back seven years, when they were arrested at San Francisco International Airport trying to board a flight to China. Their luggage was allegedly stuffed with sensitive documents on chip designs stolen from four tech companies they had worked for.
Other papers seized from the men allegedly showed they were trying to solicit funding from Chinese government agencies to help get their startup going. Prosecutors say the documents showed that Ye and Zhong were promoting the startup as something that would elevate China's chip-making smarts and help China compete better against other countries in microelectronics.
Those documents were critical to federal prosecutors' assertion that Ye and Zhong were trying to help China -- but the papers say nothing about whether anyone in the...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Study: Call Centers Not Properly Aligned With Web Sites
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63043
With the proliferation of the Internet, consumers have discovered the ease and fun of shopping online. No longer is it necessary to burn gas and precious time to find the latest fashions, food or device. Consumers only need a way to connect to the Web.
The result of this influx in eCommerce is not all roses, however, as recent research has shown that adults are experiencing problems completing transactions online. For a channel that can serve as an excellent deflection of contact center traffic, the reality is that many contact center agents are now busy trying to defuse frustrated consumers.
Yet the results of the 4th annual survey of online consumer behavior conducted by Harris Interactive for Tealeaf found that nearly 9 out of 10 online adults in the UK who have conducted an online transaction in the past year have experienced problems doing so.
Another 41 percent of online adults who experience problems transacting reported that they would switch to a competitor or abandon a transaction entirely if they experienced an online transaction problem. In addition, four in five online adults who experienced problems -- or 84 percent -- share their experiences with others both online and offline.
This represents a $57 billion potential impact to revenue on shopping sites alone, which is a huge opportunity for companies to harness, simply by ensuring their Web sites work.
A recent Forrester Research report cited that 91 percent of business decision-makers revealed that customer experience is either very important or critical to their 2008 efforts.
While customer service is increasingly important to businesses, this survey highlights that companies need to take immediate steps to ensure they understand the experience of their customers who are transacting online.
These studies have highlighted that there is a lack of integration between the contact center and Web channels of these businesses....
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Speech Analytics Market Experiencing Strong Growth
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63041
DMG Consulting LLC, a provider of contact center and real-time analytics research, market analysis, business strategy, operations and technology consulting services, has published the 2008 Speech Analytics Market Report. A comprehensive and timely guide to this growing market, this report examines this technology and its impact on the market and customers. According to this report, the speech analytics market grew by a significant 106 percent in 2007, producing a four-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 268 percent.
DMG has forecasted continued market expansion at a rate of 70 percent in 2008 and 50 percent in 2009, regardless of the challenging economic conditions. The market is growing rapidly and there are now 22 competitors as well as many new entrants that are planning to introduce solutions within the next few months.
A great deal of attention has been placed on speech analytics as it has a proven ability to provide enterprises with insights into customer needs and wants. This ability is translating into significant productivity savings for contact centers, as well as increased customer retention and revenue for enterprises.
"The incredible growth in speech analytics usage is evidence of the growing realization that enterprises need more insight into their customers' preferences and behavior," says Donna Fluss, president of DMG Consulting, in a company statement.
"A better understanding of customer behavior will help enterprises enhance the customer experience and improve customer loyalty. Speech analytics solutions deliver quantifiable benefits that improve productivity, customer retention and loyalty, yielding one of the more rapid and compelling ROIs among contact center applications."
Contact centers are growing in importance for organizations around the world as customers are demanding more in terms of customer service. The challenge is that these centers also cost money and in slower economic times, the organization must be able to extract more from this division than just...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Google Wants to Preinstall Chrome Browser on PCs
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63187
As in the real-estate market, a key factor in the browser wars has been location, location, location. In the virtual space that browsers inhabit, the most valuable location is to be preinstalled on the computer you buy -- and Google wants that choice location for its Chrome browser.
According to news reports, the search giant will try to convince computer makers to preinstall the Chrome browser. Google Vice President Sundar Pichai told The Times of London that the company will "probably" do some distribution deals, including working with original-equipment manufacturers to ship PCs with Chrome already installed.
Chrome could certainly use a boost. Currently, its market share is less than one percent of Web users, with Microsoft's Internet Explorer at more than 70 percent, Mozilla's Firefox about 20 percent, and others, such as Opera, making up the difference.
Pichai said that Google will launch a major marketing effort to support Chrome, which could encourage computer makers to come on board. "We will throw our weight behind it," he told The Times.
"We've been conservative because it's still in beta," he added, "but once we get it out of beta we will work hard at getting the word out, promoting to users, and marketing will be a part of that."
First launched in September, Chrome is still in its testing phase. Pichai told The Times that the beta phase will end in January.
Observers have noted that Microsoft's preinstallation of its Internet Explorer browser on millions of desktops gave it an insurmountable lead over its first major browser rival, Netscape's Navigator, and a positioning that no amount of features or performance could overcome. This positioning of IE, in fact, was a major factor in the U.S. government's subsequent antitrust complaints against Microsoft, a history that might help Google because any blocking efforts...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Florida Teen Commits Suicide in Front of Webcam
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63186
A Florida teenager died of a lethal drug overdose in front of a live online webcam audience 12 hours after he started blogging about his plan to commit suicide, an investigator said Friday.
Abraham Biggs, 19, died Wednesday from a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat insomnia and depression, said Wendy Crane, an investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office. At least one of the drugs was prescribed to him, but it was unclear how he got the others, Crane said.
Some of those watching encouraged Biggs, others tried to talk him out of it, and a few were debating whether the dose he took was lethal, Crane said. It's unclear how many people were watching.
Biggs stated his intentions on a forum at bodybuilding.com, where some users said they did not take him seriously because he had made previous statements about killing himself, Crane said. Biggs posted a link from there to Justin.tv, a site that allows users to broadcast live videos from their webcams.
Someone finally notified the moderator of the body building site's forum, who traced the teen's location to Pembroke Pines and called police, Crane said. Biggs was dead by the time they got to his house in midafternoon on Wednesday, Crane said. He had started blogging about 12 hours earlier.
"He was just seen laying on the bed at that point," she said.
Condolences poured into his MySpace page, where the mostly unsmiling teen is seen posing in a series of pictures with various young women.
A woman who answered the phone at Biggs' home and identified herself as his sister said the family was still dealing with his death and declined immediate comment.
Biggs' father, Abraham Biggs Sr., told ABCNews.com that he was not home when his son died. He said his son struggled with depression...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
One More Update, Then IE8 Will Be Final in 2009
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63185
Microsoft has announced that its final update of the current beta Internet Explorer 8 browser will be released in next year's first quarter -- after which it will launch the final release. Some observers had been expecting the final update to be released this year.
After one more update of beta IE8 early in 2009, the next public release is "typically called a 'release candidate,'" Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch explained earlier this week on a company blog. The release candidate, he noted, indicates the end of the beta period.
"We want the technical community of people and organizations interested in Web browsers to take this update as a strong signal that IE8 is effectively complete and done," he added. "They should expect the final product to behave as this update does."
Practically speaking, he noted, this means testers should feel comfortable testing sites and services with the early 2009 beta release, he said, making changes if needed for customer experience and reporting any critical issues back to Microsoft. The final release, Hachamovitch said, will be delivered after the company responds to any feedback on critical issues.
He added that "we will be very selective about what changes we make between the next update and final release."
However, a posting by a Microsoft technical manager earlier this year noted that IE 8 will be more favorably disposed to Internet standards, rather than proprietary Microsoft standards, as in the past. So browsing with the default settings could cause problems for pages and services designed for earlier IE versions.
The default mode will include greater compatibility with W3C Internet guidelines, CSS 2.1, and HTML 5, as well as improved support for AJAX techniques. An upcoming add-in from Microsoft can be used by developers so their pages are displayed according to IE7.
Hachamovitch reported that...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Google Offers SearchWiki Custom Search Tools
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63184
Google has added SearchWiki tools that will enable Web surfers to create customized search results by adding, deleting, re-sorting or commenting on query results. The program's development team said SearchWiki is a good example of how search is becoming increasingly dynamic.
"We have been testing bits and pieces of SearchWiki for some time through live experiments, and we incorporated much of our learnings into this release," said Product Manager Cedric Dupont and software engineer Corin Anderson in a blog. "We are constantly striving to improve our users' search experience, and this is yet another step along the way."
Search aficionados can now add, remove and rearrange results as well as comment on individual listings, noted the program's lead engineer, identified only as Amay.
"Every time you do that search while logged in to your Goggle account, you'll see your custom-tailored search results," Amay explained. If the user is unsure about being signed in, he or she can check by noting if the appropriate user name appears in the upper right-hand area of the page, he said.
Click on the up or down arrows that appear next to individual search results to move a listing to the top or bottom of the page. The arrows for moved individual entries are subsequently displayed in green.
Listings that do not specifically pertain to the user's search requirements can be removed by clicking on the delete box located to the right of the entry. The deleted listings, which the user can hide by clicking on the tab provided, will be displayed at the bottom of the list.
To make a favorite site always show up for a particular search term, the user can enter its URL in the "add a result" box at the very bottom of the page. To see all the changes that have been...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Apple's iPhone Update 2.2 Adds Multiple Features
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63183
Features galore are included in Apple's new 2.2 software update for the iPhone, which became available a day earlier than expected. Apple released the new software one day before Verizon Wireless and Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm hit store shelves, but analysts say it was just a coincidence.
One of the major features of Apple's iPhone update includes the ability to download the millions of free podcasts available on the iTunes Store over both a Wi-Fi connection and a cellular network connection, according to Apple.
The 2.2 update also includes enhancements to the Maps and Mail apps, and improvements to the performance of Safari and visual voice mail. It also rids the iPhone of problems with dropped calls and failing call setup. iPhone owners can now press the Home button from any Home screen and be greeted with the first Home screen. iPhone users can also now turn off the auto-correction feature on the virtual keyboard.
Enhancements to Maps include the Google Street View feature, which takes the user on a virtual walking tour while navigating street-level photos of places the user has located in Maps. Also included in the Maps update is walking directions, public-transit schedules, and information on fares and travel times. And if an iPhone user is meeting someone who cannot quite find the meeting place, there is a Share Location feature that sends an e-mail to the person with a Google Maps URL.
Apple also thought of those iPhoners who have been lagging behind on updates. By implementing the 2.2 update, iPhone owners also get all the features that were available in the 2.1 and 2.0 updates.
Lately, every move by Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple is being analyzed under a microscope and turned into a conspiracy theory, and the 2.2 upgrade didn't escape the scrutiny.
"When it comes to Apple, it...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Microsoft Lets Zune Music Subscribers Keep Tunes
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63181
Microsoft Corp. is giving an early holiday gift to people who pay for all-you-can-listen access to the Zune digital music store: 10 songs to keep each month, included in the $14.99 monthly subscription fee.
The decision may appeal to people who have been reluctant to test out the subscription model, preferring to own their music instead of rent it. Microsoft's Zune Pass, RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody and others give users unlimited access to millions of songs in exchange for a monthly fee. But as soon as the user stops paying, the music stops playing unless he or she forks over extra money to buy each track.
With the new Zune Pass perk, subscribers can use the Zune desktop software as usual to buy individual songs, and the service keeps track of how many free ones remain for the month. In most cases, the song will come in the MP3 format, which can be freely copied to multiple devices and computers.
"I think the 10 free tracks is going to be a huge accelerant" to subscriber numbers, said Adam Sohn, Zune's marketing director. "People will enjoy owning that music, and I think they'll be more apt to transact more in the store."
The company did not disclose how many subscribers it has.
Microsoft's Zune is a minor player compared with Apple Inc.'s line of iPods. Apple snagged 71 percent of MP3 player sales from January to September of this year, to Microsoft's 3 percent, according to market researcher NPD Group.
Microsoft and Apple both sell digital tracks for 99 cents, but so far, Apple has resisted the idea of a subscription service while Microsoft has tried to use it as a way to stand out.
The Orchard, a large independent music distributor who signed onto the new plan, said it hoped the offer...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Witness Recalls Last Messages in MySpace Hoax Case
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63175
A Missouri woman knew her 13-year-old neighbor was depressed and suicidal when she sent cruel Internet messages to the teenager, her former assistant testified. The girl killed herself after being told the world would be better off without her.
Ashley Grills, 20, told jurors Thursday she helped Lori Drew set up a fake MySpace profile of a 16-year-old boy to lure Megan Meier into an online relationship. Testifying for the prosecution under a grant of immunity, Grills also said she sent the last message from the fictitious "Josh Evans" to Megan in October 2006 on the day the girl hanged herself.
When she learned of Megan's death, Grills said Drew told her, "We could have pushed her overboard because she was suicidal and depressed.'"
Testimony was to resume Friday in the case against Drew, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization. Each count carries a potential sentence of five years in prison.
Prosecutors say Drew, 49, her then-13-year-old daughter, Sarah, and Grills created the MySpace alias in September 2006 to befriend Megan to find out if she was spreading rumors about Sarah.
The case is believed to be the nation's first cyberbullying trial. Its results could set a legal precedent for dealing with the issue of online harassment.
Defense attorney Dean Steward told jurors that Drew did not violate the Computer Use and Fraud Act -- used in the past to address computer hacking -- and reminded them that she was not facing charges dealing with the suicide. Steward has repeatedly asked U.S. District Judge George Wu to exclude testimony about Megan's suicide and twice sought a mistrial.
Grills, who helped Drew with her coupon magazine business, testified that she told Drew they might get in trouble for the scheme, but that Drew replied, "It was...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Study Finds Online Activities Help Teens' Development
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63168
Online games, social-networking Web sites, and chat rooms are empowering and motivating for teens and help with their development, according to a study released Thursday by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation at the American Anthropological Association's annual meeting. The study covered three years and 5,000 hours of observing teens online.
The report is part of a $50 million initiative to investigate how digital media affect the way teenagers learn and socialize. Twenty-eight researchers conducted the study.
"When adults look at teens today, they think what they are doing is different and seem to be wasting a lot of time online hanging out with their friends or playing video games, and these are activities that can seem quite foreign," said Mizuko Ito, the report's lead author and a researcher at the University of California Irvine. "But when we look closely at what kids are doing, it's not much different than what their parents did. They are hanging out with their friends, finding romantic partners, and trying to identify their status and identity."
Ito added that today's teens are being raised with technologies that allow them to pursue self-directed learning on their own terms, on their own time, and without the restrictions of a classroom setting. This gives the teens a feeling of freedom and autonomy.
"This is very different from how kids learn in school when they are handed a set body of knowledge they are asked to master and the expertise really resides in the teachers," Ito said.
"Our feeling after spending time with kids was that a lot of the worries about predators are overblown given what kids are really doing online," Ito said in a phone interview. "When kids are engaged in friendship-driven (interactions online), they are communicating with kids they already know. They actually think it is...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
IBM, Partners Aim To Build Brain-Like Computer Systems
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63167
IBM, in collaboration with five universities, announced plans Thursday to create computing systems that simulate and emulate the brain's abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction and cognition while rivaling its low power consumption and compact size. The goal is to solve the problem of information management.
IBM and its collaborators -- Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University, Columbia University Medical Center, and University of California-Merced -- have been awarded $4.9 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the first phase of DARPA's Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) initiative.
According to IDC, digital data is growing 60 percent each year, giving businesses access to incredible new streams of information. But without the ability to monitor, analyze and react to this information in real time, most of its value may be lost. Until the data is captured and analyzed, decisions or actions may be delayed.
Cognitive computing offers the promise of systems that can integrate and analyze vast amounts of data from many sources in the blink of an eye, allowing businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions in time to have a significant impact.
"Exploratory research is in the fabric of IBM's DNA," said Josephine Cheng, an IBM fellow and vice president of IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif. "We believe that our cognitive-computing initiative will help shape the future of computing in a significant way, bringing to bear new technologies that we haven't even begun to imagine. The initiative underscores IBM's capabilities in bold, exploratory research and interest in powerful collaborations to understand the way the world works."
Big Blue offers some examples of cognitive-computing benefits. Bankers, for instance, have to make split-second decisions based on constantly changing data that flows at a fast pace. And monitoring the world's water...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
BlackBerry Storm Rolls Out, But It's Not an iPhone
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63166
All eyes were on Research in Motion Friday as the BlackBerry Storm rolled out across the United States with Apple-like fanfare. The phone is available exclusively through Verizon Wireless.
The smartphone boasts an innovative touchscreen that actually depresses slightly when the screen is pressed. That means the user can feel the screen being pressed and released with a gentle "click," similar to the feeling of a key on a physical keyboard or a button on a mouse. The "clickable" touchscreen gives the user positive confirmation that a selection has been made.
"The BlackBerry Storm offers our customers more ways to stay connected to both their personal and professional lives -- whether in their communities or around the globe," said Mike Lanman, vice president and chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless.
In addition to the familiar navigation keys common to other BlackBerry smartphones, the Storm adds support for multi-touches, taps, slides and other touchscreen gestures, so customers can easily highlight, scroll, pan and zoom for smooth navigation. The Storm also features a built-in accelerometer that allows its touchscreen to automatically switch between landscape mode and portrait mode as the user rotates the handset.
The Storm is a multimedia BlackBerry. It comes preloaded with DavaViz Documents to Go, which allows users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset. It has a 3.2-megapixel camera with variable zoom, autofocus and a flash that also provides continuous lighting when recording video. It also makes room for built-in GPS to support location-based applications and services, as well as geotagging of photos.
A media player can play movies smoothly in full-screen mode, display pictures and slideshows quickly and manage an entire music collection. Playlists can be created directly on the handset and there's an equalizer with 11 preset filters -- including Lounge, Jazz...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Retail Web Sites Wage Pre-Holiday Price Wars
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63154
As deserted malls and department stores struggle to court cash-short consumers with steep discounts this holiday season, a similar and even more ferocious price war is being waged online.
Internet retailers, trying to navigate what is shaping up to be the first truly dreary holiday shopping season on the Web, are engaging in price-cutting and discounting so aggressive it threatens their profit margins and, in some cases, their survival.
For example, Sony introduced its HDR-SR11 high-definition digital video recorder in April with a suggested retail price of $1,200. This week, Dell.com was selling it for $899, and the electronics retailer Abe's of Maine had it on its site for $750 -- and both were throwing in free shipping.
At Lori's Designer Shoes, a Web site that sells women's accessories, a brown leather Hype tote bag started at $338, fell to $246 and is now available with a 20 percent discount coupon for $196.80 . Lori Andre, the owner, said she generally tried to avoid online promotions "because then you train the customer and they'll expect that, and you're not going to make any money." But last week, traffic hit a wall and sales on the site fell by nearly a quarter. "We've been in business for 25 years and never seen the bottom drop out like this," she said.
Traditional retailers are facing the same problem, and discounts are proliferating from suburban malls to Fifth Avenue. The price-cutting, though, is fiercest on the Web, where customers can easily shop for the best price with a quick search on Google or on specialized shopping engines such as Shopping.com. Online, the competition is only a click away. For many Web sites, the discounts and price cuts are the only way to hold on to customers as online buying unexpectedly plummets. The research company comScore reported...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
A Yahoo Acquisition Is Out, Microsoft CEO Says
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63150
Microsoft Corp. is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo Inc., CEO Steve Ballmer said Wednesday, though he told shareholders that the company would still be "very open" to a collaboration on Internet search. His comments sent Yahoo shares diving more than 20 percent.
"Let me be clear," Ballmer said at Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting. "We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo."
Yahoo spurned a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft in May, and later rejected Microsoft's bid to buy only its search engine. Ballmer has said repeatedly of late that the buyout remains off the table, though a search-related deal is possible.
But Wednesday marked the first time he had renewed that stance since the resignation announced this week by Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who had resisted Microsoft's overtures. Yahoo shares rose when Yang said he would step aside, because investors hoped it meant a deal with Microsoft would now be more likely.
Ballmer said the companies are not currently talking about a search deal.
Yahoo shares plummeted $2.41, or 20.9 percent, to close at $9.14, its lowest level since early 2003, on a split-adjusted basis, and well below the $33 per share Microsoft offered in May. Microsoft shares tumbled $1.33 cents, 6.8 percent, to end the session at $18.29, a 10-year low.
Michael McDonald, a shareholder who flew from Atlanta to attend the meeting, blames Microsoft's run at Yahoo for depressing its share price and hopes the software maker doesn't try again.
McDonald, a retired advertising executive, called the race to win in Web search and advertising "the dot-com bubble all over again. The economic period we're in now is going to prove the questionable value of search."
Instead, he'd rather see Microsoft cut employees and expenses, or spend cash to buy business software companies.
"We don't need three Googles," he said.
Some analysts...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Apple's Superlative Sequel: The Latest iPod Touch
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63149
They say sequels often fail to live up to the original. That's not so with the second generation of Apple's iPod touch. Apple has managed to make the touch look better, work better, and deliver more features -- all for a $229 starting price, significantly cheaper than the previous entry-level $299 version. The changes, while subtle, are so significant that I give the second-generation touch a rare perfect score.
The touch, while an iPod, is close to the iPhone in lineage. It has the same touchscreen, plays music and videos the same way, and includes a wireless Internet connection that lets you access the Web from your home network and wireless hotspots, such as those set up by AT&T in Starbucks.
Apple tweaked the look of the touch, too. It's a lot thinner than the previous touch, measuring 4.1 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.33 inches, and weighs a scant 4.05 ounces. The back sports a contoured stainless steel casing, whereas the updated iPhone switches to glossy black or white plastic.
A year ago, when I reviewed the original touch, many readers took me to task for complaining that there was no dedicated volume button for music and no built-in speaker for listening to music without headphones. In the new generation, Apple's engineers addressed both complaints by adding a rocker volume button on the left side and speakers on the bottom. The also added software to let you fetch e-mail and use other applications previously limited to the iPhone.
Perhaps the biggest shocker is Apple's decision to sell $29 headphones with a built-in microphone. The upshot? Users can download third-party applications from iTunes that will turn a Web-connected touch into a Skype phone. In effect, the combination of features turns your touch into a poor man's iPhone, letting you make cheap calls anywhere...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
IBM Extends Lotus Notes to Millions of Nokia Phones
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63163
Nokia and IBM on Thursday launched IBM Lotus Notes support for Nokia's S60-based mobile phones. That means millions of Lotus Notes users will be able to access their e-mail on Nokia devices in December.
Lotus Notes has almost 140 million licensed users. The announcement opens the door for more than 80 million Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices to connect to corporate e-mail accounts through Lotus Domino Server software known as Lotus Notes Traveler. The software provides real-time access to e-mail, calendars, address books, journals and to-do lists.
According to Soren Petersen, senior vice president at Nokia, the deal with Big Blue is another affirmation of the company's business mobility vision: To establish partnerships with the world's leading enterprise vendors.
"This collaboration means nearly 90 percent of business e-mail can be mobilized with Nokia devices, without needing to purchase additional servers, middleware or licenses," Petersen said. "With the presence, position and technology that IBM has in the corporate e-mail market, they are an essential partner for us in enterprise."
According to IBM's Institute for Business Value, this year, for the first time, more people in the world will have a mobile device than a landline telephone. In fact, Big Blue predicts one billion mobile Web users by 2011 and a significant shift in the way the majority of people will interact with the Web over the next decade. Mobile devices already outnumber television sets, credit cards and personal computers.
While Nokia casts the announcement as affirmation of its vision, IBM calls it a major development in its efforts to expand mobile support for the Lotus software portfolio. Secure connection to e-mail is an example of IBM's Tomorrow at Work, an initiative
that examines a changing work environment and anticipates trends in technology, business, society and culture.
Lotus Sametime for instant messaging...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Glitches Reported as BlackBerry Storm Nears U.S. Debut
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63162
The BlackBerry Storm has been debuting around the world, but rumors are spreading about a possible shortage in the U.S. News reports also indicate Research In Motion discovered a security flaw in the Storm that has left Verizon Wireless scrambling to update the firmware in the final hours before its U.S. release on Friday.
Neither RIM nor Verizon were immediately available for comment. The much-anticipated BlackBerry Storm will be available exclusively from Verizon in the U.S.
"The BlackBerry Storm is big deal for Verizon Wireless customers," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. "There's pent-up demand for a touchscreen BlackBerry and there's pent-up demand for a touchscreen smartphone at Verizon, especially since AT&T has the corner on the iPhone."
The Storm was designed to appeal to both consumers and businesses. Ir combines the communications features, global connectivity, and productivity tools expected from a BlackBerry with a touchscreen technology to make typing easier and more precise.
RIM is billing the BlackBerry Storm as having the world's first "clickable" touchscreen. It does qualify as RIM's first attempt at an iPhone-like experience. The company said it responds much like a physical keyboard and also supports single-touch, multi-touch and gestures for intuitive and efficient application navigation.
"The BlackBerry Storm is a revolutionary touchscreen smartphone that meets both the communications and multimedia needs of customers and solves the longstanding problem associated with typing on traditional touchscreens," said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive officer at RIM. "Consumers and business customers alike will appreciate this unique combination of a large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface."
BlackBerry Storm customers can tap into a full HTML high-performance browser that works in either portrait or landscape orientation. Users will navigate Web sites with the touchscreen interface that lets them double-tap to zoom in and slide...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Hewlett-Packard Intros Notebook with Multi-Touch Screen
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63161
Hewlett-Packard has taken the wraps off the TouchSmart tx2 -- the PC maker's first convertible notebook screen to include capacitive multi-touch technology.
The machine's touch-sensitive screen and MediaSmart software work together to recognize and execute commands based on motions such as pinch, rotate, arc, flick, press and drag, as well as single and double taps. The technology combo enables users to more naturally select, organize and manipulate photos, music tracks, video clips and other Web content by touching the screen -- including content from 10 cable-TV channels and online brands owned by MTV Networks.
"With the introduction of the TouchSmart tx2, HP is providing users with an easier, more natural way to interact with their PCs," said Ted Clark, the manager of HP's notebook group.
Empowered by Windows Vista Home Premium, the tx2 sports an AMD Turion X2 dual-core mobile processor, a built-in Webcam with integrated microphone, and a rechargeable digital ink pen. The laptop's convertible design also incorporates a twist hinge that enables the machine to be configured in three different modes: PC, display and tablet.
Users can transform the tx2 into a tablet PC in order to write, sketch, draw, take notes or graph right onto the screen, with handwriting automatically converted into typed text. The tx2 also ships with a notebook stand that elevates the unit while stationary, which enables the user to put the machine in an upright position to allow for full interactivity with the device's touchscreen.
Rival Dell blazed a trail in the multi-touch notebook field late last year with the introduction of the Latitude XT -- a convertible tablet PC priced at $1,829 that features both pen and capacitive touch capabilities. However, HP's TouchSmart tx2 is available now at a base price of $1,149.
With its release of the tx2, HP has...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
NASA Successfully Tests 'Interplanetary Internet'
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63160
Although the crew of the spacecraft Endeavour experienced a glitch in the first space walk when an astronaut accidentally let her tool bag float away, NASA had a lot to celebrate as it announced success with a high-tech space program.
NASA, along with Vinton Cerf, a Google vice president, successfully tested a deep-space network modeled after the Internet. Engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., have transmitted dozens of images to and from the spacecraft located 20 million miles from Earth using disruption-tolerant networking (DTN) software.
DTN, which sends information differently from the TCP/IP protocol used by the Internet, was developed a decade ago by NASA engineers and Cerf, who is known to many as the "father of the Internet" and is a visiting scientist at JPL.
"This is the first step in creating a totally new space communications capability, an interplanetary Internet," said Adrian Hooke, team lead and manager of space-networking architecture at NASA.
The month-long experiment is the first of many planned tests to qualify the technology for use on future space missions. If NASA continues to succeed with DTN, astronauts on manned missions will be able to communicate with researchers worldwide. NASA is planning its next round of testing next summer, using DTN software on the International Space Station.
"We have been doing this test for a month and it has been working well and it's exciting getting the word out that we had a good round of testing," said Leigh Torgerson, manager of the DTN experiment operations center at JPL, in a phone interview.
"We needed some way of automating and routing this process in a standard way so any other space agency can pick up the protocol and use it," Torgerson said. "The more nodes you have, the more paths you have to get data back and...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
T-Mobile's Web2go Will Use Yahoo's oneSearch
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63147
Yahoo has won another wireless carrier for its mobile Internet search tool. The company joined T-Mobile in announcing Thursday that oneSearch will be the search utility for T-Mobile's web2go service.
Yahoo said more than 70 mobile operators worldwide are now using its mobile search tool.
T-Mobile said oneSearch will provide web2go users a better Web-browsing experience "by making it easier to view and navigate the Web through a customizable home page," as well a simplified shopping and download experience.
oneSearch enables users to search for a variety of information on the Web. It also allows users to find content on the T-Mobile store, including ringtones, wallpaper and games.
The search results will place relevant ads at the customer's fingertips, with either sponsored search results or display ads.
Since a mobile user's display space is limited, the Yahoo tool has been designed to provide results grouped around a given search term. For instance, a search for a movie title returns theaters with show times, reviews, information on the actors, and related articles. Or a search on a sports team returns relevant scores, schedules, profiles for teams, news, and a link to the team's Web site.
The basic idea is that, rather than having to use a mobile device to drill down into search links as one might do on a computer, the most common collection of related data comes to the top on the first search. This approach, said T-Mobile USA Chief Development Officer Cole Brodman, "delivers a more intuitive mobile experience that places the most relevant information at the fingertips of T-Mobile customers."
Sean Ryan, an analyst at industry research firm IDC, noted that efforts have been ongoing to determine the most useful way to search on a mobile device. "It's limited, of course, by the small screen, alphanumeric...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
MySpace Hoax Trial Resumes After Mother Testifies
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63146
The trial of a Missouri woman charged in a tragic MySpace hoax resumed Thursday. Testimony began Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in the controversial trial of Lori Drew, who is charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of computer fraud.
The charges stem from her alleged participation in a MySpace hoax which may have caused the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier. Drew is being tried under the Computer Abuse and Fraud Act.
Tina Meier, Megan's mother, took the stand on the first day of the trial. She told the court her daughter, who was battling depression and had attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, took her own life after reading a message from a fictitious boy on the social-networking site named Josh Evans, according to the Associated Press.
"Josh Evans" was not who he said he was for the six weeks he and Meier communicated on MySpace.com. Instead, he was a fictitious person allegedly created by Lori Drew, her then-13-year-old daughter, and her then-18-year-old personal assistant, Ashley Grills.
The case involving Drew has drawn much attention from families in the Missouri town where Drew and Meier live and across the nation as families learned about the cyberbullying that may have caused Meier to hang herself in her bedroom closet.
Attorneys for Drew and the judge have made it very clear that Drew is not on trial for homicide. Drew, however, faces charges that she broke MySpace's terms, which prohibit users from creating false identities. The case is being tried in California, where MySpace's servers are located.
Grills admitted on live television that she created the online account, but added that Drew and her daughter participated in the six-week-long ruse.
As a result of Meier's suicide, Missouri has passed a cyberbullying law. That law defines harassment as knowingly communicating with another person...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Microsoft's Morro Could Challenge Security Giants
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63145
McAfee and Symantec could be affected as Microsoft moves to provide free antivirus software. If the software, code-named Morro, successfully protects against viruses, analysts said, it could mean an exodus from well-known security brands.
On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a security offering focused on protecting against malware. The software giant is addressing what it sees as a growing need for a security solution that meets the unique needs of emerging markets and smaller PC form factors.
"This could be third-time lucky for Microsoft in regards to an antivirus product," said Graham Cluley, a senior security consultant at Sophos. "They tried with MSAV in Windows 3.11/MSDOS 6.2, which wasn't terribly successful -- especially when it detected Windows 95 as a virus."
The secret sauce for Morro is in the architecture. It will offer comprehensive protection from various forms of malicious software, including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans, by focusing on a smalle