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AT&T and Verizon Ads Duel on Airwaves and in Court
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70300
What would the holidays be without bickering between siblings? AT&T and Verizon are swamping TV with ads attacking facets of each other's wireless networks. While the ads stick fairly close to the truth, there's a lot they don't say.
AT&T Inc. has been running ads with actor Luke Wilson checking off points in AT&T's favor over Verizon Wireless. It's the continuation of a spat that started a month ago, when Verizon started airing cheeky commercials that highlighted how its fast, third-generation ("3G") network has wider coverage than AT&T's 3G system.
Verizon's ad used the slogan "There's a map for that," a play off Apple Inc.'s ads for the iPhone, which tout the diversity of third-party applications for the phone with the line "There's an app for that."
AT&T sued Verizon Wireless over the "map" ads, not because the maps were incorrect, but because AT&T felt there was a danger that viewers could get the impression that AT&T had no coverage at all where it doesn't have 3G. Last week, a judge declined to force Verizon to pull the ads.
AT&T and Verizon, two offspring of Ma Bell, are getting more aggressive in their marketing, though it's not clear how much they are spending. Verizon and AT&T are both pulling away from their smaller rivals, so instead of competing with Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA, they're increasingly focused on each other. Verizon Wireless has more subscribers than AT&T -- 89 million versus 81.6 million. But AT&T added more wireless subscribers in the latest quarter -- 2 million versus 1.2 million at Verizon, which is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC of Britain.
Here is a look at some of the arguments being raised in the ads:
_ Coverage: It's incontrovertible that Verizon's 3G network has broader coverage that AT&T's, which is...
Sat, 28 Nov 09
Should Broadband Access Be Universal?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70297
Making broadband Internet access universally available is this century's version of building highways or extending railroads coast-to-coast, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday.
Julius Genachowski said broadband is "a critical infrastructure challenge of our generation." As part of the federal stimulus package, the FCC is charged with creating a plan -- due in February -- to make broadband available everywhere in the country. The stimulus money also includes $7 billion in grants for broadband access, and the recipients will be announced soon, Genachowski said in a speech at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.
About 10 percent of the country doesn't have broadband available, and in Arkansas that number is about 13 percent, he said. In those areas when high-speed broadband is available, about 50 percent of Arkansans don't use it, he said. The national rate of "non-adoption" by people who don't use broadband -- even though the infrastructure is in place -- is 37 percent, he said.
"Often, people don't see the value of Internet in their homes or don't have the skills necessary to take advantage of connectivity," Genachowski said. "Others cite price. They aren't able to afford the service or the hardware."
Broadband access is critical for the country's economic development, Genachowski said, adding that putting the infrastructure in place will create jobs, help small businesses and make the U.S. more competitive.
In agriculture, for example, high-speed Internet access can help a farmer plan crops, buy feed, sell products and find weather information, Genachowski said.
"There is evidence that farmers can earn more, while consumers pay less, as a result of broadband-driven efficiencies," he said.
According to a report released last week by the FCC, the use of broadband varies greatly among different demographic groups. For example, nearly 90 percent of families with incomes of $100,000 or higher...
Sat, 28 Nov 09
Inside the Motherboard: Your System's Support Structure
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70236
[Let's] check out motherboards, the support structure for your system. Today's motherboards come Gigabit LAN, an onboard 7.1 sound chip, graphics chip and even rudimentary RAID for your hard drives.
Additional features include BIOS overclocking options, which should interest those who want to overclock their CPU. But BIOS features that concern everyday users are the power saving features called Speedstep for Intel and Cool 'N Quiet for AMD. With these enabled, your operating system can use speed and voltage throttling so the CPU does not run at full speed all day long. And this offers huge savings in terms of power consumption because a standard dual- core CPU consumes about 65 watts of power while higher-end quad- cores take 100W to 165W.
On all motherboards, you should find four to six Serial ATA ports for your hard drives and DVD writers, a PCI-E X16 slot for your graphics card and PCI-E X1 for additional sound, LAN or TV Tuner cards. For legacy support, you can still find the PCI slot and IDE port for that old hard drive or DVD writer.
You may wonder why there are still serial and parallel ports. Well, these are for programmers who want to program code into microprocessors.
Since the motherboard is the support structure of the PC, it is usually the first to go bust -- due to age, power surges through the power or phone line, overheating or short circuits. Motherboards are not built to last, and capacitors -- those cylinder things you see on the motherboard -- are the first to go, with a life expectancy of about two to three years. Manufacturers consider that long enough as you would have upgraded your PC by then. Nevertheless, all motherboards have a one-year warranty.
Capacitors do not only burst due to old age, but also heat or...
Sat, 28 Nov 09
Getting More Life from Your Netbook Battery
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70216
Q My netbook battery doesn't last very long -- are there any ways to get more than a few hours of power between charges?
A Netbook battery life can range anywhere from less than two hours to almost seven, depending on the model and what the computer is doing. For example, watching videos with the screen brightness turned all the way up will usually drain the battery much more quickly than typing a report in a word-processing program.
Check the netbook's system settings or Control Panel area for power-management options designed to prolong battery life. Some models come with customized power systems designed to maximize battery life for that machine.
In general, dimming the screen brightness is one way to cut down on the netbook's battery consumption when you are away from an electrical outlet. Quitting unused programs and focusing on doing just one thing at a time -- like writing a blog post -- also cuts down on battery drain.
If you are not using the Internet, turning off the netbook's WiFi radio saves juice, as can turning off Bluetooth. Using USB-based hardware like mice, music players and flash drives with your netbook can also deplete battery power.
If you are not on the Internet and not using external devices, temporarily turning off your antivirus software and any other programs that run in the background can save energy. If you use Windows, keeping your netbook defragmented makes the hard drive have to work less -- which can save power, too.
If you find that you still need more time between charges than the netbook can give you, consider getting an extended-life battery. These batteries can add hours to the time between charges and are available online from battery sites. When shopping, make sure you get a battery that fits your netbook model. Prices average about...
Sat, 28 Nov 09
Software Spending Expected To Begin a Rebound in 2010
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70068
The year 2009 will go down in IT history as a year of drastic budget cuts. But 2010 should see a software spending resurrection as companies in many countries increase their budgets and prepare for growth.
So says a Gartner survey that reveals organizations plan to increase their software budgets an average of 1.53 percent in 2010. Although North America will continue to see a slight spending decline, there is a clear growth opportunity in developing nations. Specifically, software budgets will rise 2.54 percent in Latin America and 4.34 percent in the Asia/Pacific.
"Software vendors should continue to build, fund and invest in software sales and marketing programs, even during tight market conditions to maintain customers and expand revenue opportunities," said Joanne Correia, managing vice president at Gartner. "A market downturn is a disrupter that creates great marketing and sales opportunities for organizations prepared to take advantage of the right products, marketing programs, and funding."
With this growth in mind, Gartner is making several recommendations for software vendors heading into 2010. For starters, the research firm said, vendors need to differentiate their software products with key integration technologies and offer vertical market solutions to reach a diversified customer base.
Gartner said software vendors also need to work on strengthening relationships and building trust with IT departments and ultimately deliver results that truly enhance the client's business. Finally, the firm said, software vendors need to align go-to-market functions with the maturity of the demand. Gartner stressed that tactics in an emerging or high-growth software market are not appropriate in consolidating or maturing markets.
"Vendors need to use a consultative selling approach to understand and then address the most critical needs of IT and the business of their current and prospective clients," Correia said. "Software vendors also need to develop a stronger presence...
Fri, 27 Nov 09
Stocks: Three Overstuffed Turkeys
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70243
Sometimes a stock looks so enticing that investors just can't help themselves.
The market appetite is such that the stock rockets higher, leaving behind most reasonable measures of the company's worth. To commemorate this week's Thanksgiving feasts, BusinessWeek went hunting for stocks that have arguably inspired feeding frenzies over the past year.
Arguments over what a stock ought to be worth are always subjective. And many of these firms deserve premium valuations: They are among the most innovative firms in the market. But, by most metrics, investors should beware before taking a second helping of these stocks.
Despite recession and weakness among consumers, online retailer Amazon.com has had a stellar year. And many investors expect a profitable holiday season and good prospects for the firm's growth initiatives, including the Kindle electronic book reader.
Amazon is so popular among investors that its stock is up 279 percent from a year ago. That has brought its valuation to stratospheric heights.
The most popular measure of valuation is the price-to-earnings ratio, or p-e ratio. According to data provider Capital IQ, Amazon's p-e ratio based on projected earnings in the next 12 months is an eye-popping 57.4. According to Thomson Reuters, the forward p-e for the entire Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is 14.9.
Investors are willing to pay so much for Amazon stock because of its rapid growth. The firm has grown earnings at a long-term rate of almost 25 percent, according to CapIQ.
"As long as this company is growing at a fast clip, people are going to be willing to overpay for that growth," Morningstar analyst Larry Witt says.
But if any part of Amazon's growth plans falter or its growth slows just a bit, the stock could be punished severely. And there are several reasons to worry, Witt says: New online competition from Wal-Mart poses a threat....
Fri, 27 Nov 09
Mobile Shopping's First Christmas
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70214
U.S. consumers are shopping via cell phone more than ever before. According to Deloitte's 24th Annual Holiday Survey of retail spending and trends, published in October 2009, one in five shoppers plan on using a mobile phone to assist with holiday purchases, from researching prices and other product information to actually buying presents. Along with mass-market types like Target and Wal-Mart Stores, specialty retailers such as Tommy Hilfiger have developed mobile shopping apps just in time for the holiday season. Retails Systems Research managing partner Paula Rosenblum, whose expertise is in technology as its applied to retail, explains why the new shopping channel is here to stay.
Six months ago, it felt like shopping via phone was a far-flung idea, at least here in the U.S. What changed?
For one thing, retailers are more excited about the opportunity. Smartphones are getting smarter, and applications are getting easier to use. Today, you not only have the iPhone, but the Pre, myTouch, and the Droid. I think it goes back to being time-starved. If you're out and about and you have five minutes of idle time and remember that you forgot to buy that water filter or whatever, why not order it in 60 seconds via Amazon?
Why are these applications suddenly so much easier to use?
Developers are making them more Web-friendly. That's no mean trick because each phone has a different set-up. You create different applications for each phone.
How can retailers take advantage of yet another point-of-sale?
The good ones will start distributing coupons via their apps. They've got this pool of money that used to be dedicated to mass marketing. They should be using it to engage the consumer in new ways.
What kind of retailers will this platform really work well for?
For something like eBay, it's a natural. You can now follow auctions no...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Amazon Rolls Out Improvements To Kindle 2
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70317
Back in August, Nicholson Baker wrote a devastating review of the Kindle 2 in the New Yorker. Noting that everyone from Newsweek to the tech blogs to just-plain-folks was calling the new Kindle "important," Baker gave Amazon's latest version of the device a thorough test-read. He was unimpressed, to put it mildly.
"The problem was not that the screen was in black-and-white; if it had really been black-and-white, that would have been fine. The problem was that the screen was gray. And it wasn't just gray; it was a greenish, sickly gray," Baker wrote.
"This was what they were calling e-paper? This four-by-five window onto an overcast afternoon? Where was paper white, or paper cream? Forget RGB or CMYK. Where were sharp black letters laid out like lacquered chopsticks on a clean tablecloth?"
Since the introduction of the Kindle 2 in February, Amazon has also released a higher-end product, the Kindle DX, which offered a longer battery life and wide-screen viewing.
Now Amazon has released an improved Kindle 2, with a battery that lasts 85 percent longer than previously, and a software upgrade that supports PDF viewing and rotation.
Owners of older Kindle 2 devices will get an automatic update in the near future, but impatient users will be able to download the update now and transfer the enhancements to their Kindle via USB.
The Dvice blog offered some impressions of the upgrade. Unlike the iPhone, Kindle books still don't automatically change when the user rotates the device. Users have to press a button and then choose an orientation and keyboard placement, the site said. Still, "it works well, spreading the text out from edge to edge in either portrait or landscape orientation."
Dvice also reported that while the Kindle 2 can now read native PDF files, users still can't zoom in...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
GPS Prices Will Drop Even Lower for Black Friday
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70316
If you shelled out hundreds of dollars for a new GPS navigation device a couple of years ago, it may drive you crazy to see what they're selling for on Black Friday. In response to changes in the market, portable navigation devices (PNDs) will go for as little as $59 for a TomTom at Wal-Mart and $99 for a Garmin at Best Buy. Radio Shack lists the Mio M400 for $79.99. Those are bound to be hot tickets when stores open Friday.
"Typically, doorbuster deals tend to be loss leaders designed to attract store traffic," said Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association in Arlington, Va. "The idea being to get you to the store to buy other merchandise."
But don't be surprised if the shelves empty quickly.
"This year in particular, while we are seeing the regular raft of deals, there are very limited quantities on hand," Koenig said. "The sales channel is being very conservative because of the recession. They want to estimate demand and not get stuck with inventory after the holiday season. They need to clear merchandise and turn over the shelves to next year's models that will be shipping soon."
"That being said, there is an abundance of deals that are really highlighted over the Black Friday weekend," he said.
Initially a hot item as drivers grabbed up the chatty devices to avoid fumbling with maps or printing directions from Google or MapQuest, GPS sales doubled from 2005 to 2006. But the devices, which use technology formerly available only to the military, have sold much slower in subsequent years.
The PNDs are facing stiff competition from factory-installed units and the increasing availability of navigation services on cell phones, such as Verizon's VZ Navigator and AT&T's Navigator. The Verizon service costs $2.99 per one-day use or $9.99...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Spam King Gets More Than Four Years Behind Bars
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70315
One of the world's most notorious spammers has reached the end of the road -- or at least a rest stop -- that could last for the next 51 months. Alan Ralsky, known as the spam king, was sentenced Tuesday to more than four years in prison by U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani in Detroit. In June, Ralsky pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, and to violations of the CAN-SPAM Act.
The case against Ralsky and a number of other defendants was brought mostly in the Eastern District of Michigan. The scheme focused on using spam to promote stocks for U.S. companies owned and controlled by people in Hong Kong and China, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The indictment focused on the period from January 2004 to September 2005.
The e-mails, according to the DOJ, contained false or misleading information and were sent via software that made it difficult to trace. Various strategies -- including falsified headers, proxy computers (i.e. botnets), and falsely registered domain names -- were used to evade antispam software and entice recipients to read the bogus messages.
Henry Stern, senior security researcher at Cisco, applauded the sentencing. "My understanding of all the evidence that I've seen over the past number of years is that Mr. Ralsky is one of the founding fathers of modern spam," he said.
Ralsky's main innovation, according to Stern, significantly worsened the problem. "He was one of the first persons who used botnets for spam," Stern said. "That is going away from using their own hardware to using people's computers that are compromised with viruses. That was a big change in spamming, taking it from small scale to the spiraling snowball we have now, the massive spam volumes."
Mike Murray, chief information security officer for Foreground Security, said...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Senators Ask EC to Speed Up Oracle-Sun Probe
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70313
Oracle has received help from lawmakers seeking to speed up the review by the European Commission of its planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Fifty-nine U.S. senators have asked the EC to quicken its investigation and have accused the EC of stalling to hurt U.S. businesses.
The EC has been vocal about the $7.4 billion acquisition, saying it may be anticompetitive, and last week pushed the deadline for its review to Jan. 27 from Jan. 19. Some people familiar with the inner workings of the commission said Oracle's hearing could be as early as Dec. 10, according to Reuters.
In August, the U.S. Department of Justice said combining the two companies would not be anticompetitive and approved the acquisition. The EC fears the deal could have a negative impact on the database market in Europe. Opponents, including the Open Rights Group and Knowledge Ecology, are worried that Sun's open-source MySQL database will be hurt.
The senators want the EC to follow the DOJ's lead since the Sun subsidiary brings in only $25.7 million in revenue while competitors have capitalizations in the tens of billions of euros.
"The deal between Oracle and Sun was announced in April and seven months have gone by without a resolution," said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in the letter to Angelos Pangratis, the EC's acting head of delegation.
The EC's delay is having a negative impact on American jobs and businesses, the senators said in the letter. With each day that passes, the nearly defunct Sun continues to lose more money. For a company that had losses of $120 million in the fourth quarter, each day of delay is a big deal.
"Continued delay of the European Commission's decision on clearance threatens thousands of American jobs, so we felt compelled to ask for a speedy resolution," Kerry said.
While...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Google Puts Movie Search Service on Mobile Devices
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70312
Google launched a mobile version of its movie search service Tuesday that is compatible with Apple's iPhone as well as all mobile devices running Android and the Palm webOS. The new offering promises to make it easier for movie fans to plan their next theater trip while on the go.
Google's movie search results are available now in English on mobile devices in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. To access the new mobile service, users go to Google.com in the handset's web browser, search for "movies" and then tap on the "more movies" link, wrote Google mobile team member Nick Fey on the Google Mobile Blog.
"From there, you can either browse a list of movies or select the 'Theaters' button to browse a list of theaters near you," Fey wrote.
Google's new movie listings page incorporates buttons that enable web visitors to play the latest movie trailers on their phones. Mobile users also are able to drill down to access more details about a film, such as the movie's rating, Fey noted.
"Just touch the poster or movie title and you'll see our new movie-details page that has a synopsis of the movie, a more detailed list of showtimes, the cast and crew, and pictures," Fey wrote.
The new service also provides users with new ways to explore films by genre. "Sometimes, you might feel like seeing a sci-fi flick or a romance, but you're not sure what's out in theaters," Associate Product Manager Dan Stokeley wrote on The Official Google Blog. "With genre filters you can start browsing right away and quickly find the right movie for you."
Alternatively, users browsing by theater will see a map of the venues nearest to them. "Then just tap on the link to any particular theater...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Magazines Reported Building 'Online Newsstand'
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70289
With iTunes and Hulu.com as models, major magazine publishers are getting ready to tackle online publishing. According to news reports, Time, Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith and others are planning an online newsstand that will provide their properties in various formats and be jointly run.
As with the music and TV industry, the reported consortium is an attempt to use digital media to stem dwindling revenues. Printed periodicals such as magazines and newspapers have been battling sharp drops in circulation, and moving to a venue without the costs of paper production or distribution is, in theory, highly attractive.
The intent would be to provide a central location for a wide variety of publications, as a newsstand does, and with commonly agreed platforms, file formats, and, assumedly, user interfaces. Between them, the publishing giants have some of the biggest brand names in the magazine business -- Time; People; Sports Illustrated; The New Yorker; Vogue; O, The Oprah Magazine; Esquire; Better Homes and Gardens; and many others.
The New York Times reports the target platforms include iPhones, BlackBerrys and the e-book readers from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony and others. A Time executive, John Squires, has reportedly been named the interim CEO for the company.
Squires will have a term of six months while the new company looks for a permanent CEO. He has reportedly been the driver behind bringing these usually competitive publishers together. The new company is expected to be announced within a few weeks.
While there are some resemblances to iTunes and Hulu.com, there could be substantial differences in the way the magazines are ported to digital media. Downloadable songs on iTunes are the same essential experience as in CDs, and watching a TV show on Hulu is not unlike watching one on cable, except the watching is usually done on a...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
$197 HP Laptop Among Best Buy's Black Friday Deals
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70288
After a dismal 2008 holiday shopping season, retailers are gearing up early with major Black Friday discount announcements. Best Buy is at the head of the pack with several steals.
Best Buy is selling a limited number of HP G60-507DX laptops, which typically retail for $549.99, for just $197 on Friday. The company is also trying to drive excitement with deals on Android smartphones, Sprint MiFi, Samsung products, and VIP contests.
"Best Buy is committed to continuing to offer a superior shopping experience during the holidays," said Josh Will, vice president of home theater at Best Buy. "While our stores are closed on Thanksgiving, bestbuy.com is open and our customers can be confident that they are getting some of the best prices in the industry this week and throughout the season."
This holiday, Best Buy Mobile will offer five smartphones using the Google Android platform across three carrier networks for $99 each with a new two-year activation. They are the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment from Sprint, myTouch 3G and Cliq from T-Mobile, and the DROID ERIS by HTC from Verizon Wireless.
Palm won't be left out of the holiday spree at Best Buy. The electronics retailer also announced that the Palm Pre will sell for $79 on Friday and Saturday.
Best Buy is also offering the Sprint MiFi device free with a two-year contract on Friday and Saturday. The MiFi is a portable 3G device that lets consumers create a personal Wi-Fi cloud. With the MiFi, users can connect cell phones, laptops, portable music players, and other gadgets that offer wireless Internet connection capabilities.
"With the somewhat improved economy compared to where we were last year at this time, retailers are going all out to see if they can dislodge some of that discretionary cash from consumers' wallets, particularly money they thought...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Apple Moves To Shut Down Psystar's Mac Cloning
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70287
Apple is getting more aggressive against a Mac clone company it has been battling in court. The technology giant asked a federal judge to close Psystar's Mac clone operation and ante up $2.1 million in damages, court documents reveal.
Apple has been silent since U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ruled in favor of Apple in a copyright suit against Psystar. In his Nov. 13 ruling, Alsup also ruled that Psystar violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by installing Apple's Mac OS X on the cloned computers it sold.
Alsup's order granted Apple's motion for a summary judgment and nullified a similar motion from Psystar, and marked a major defeat for the cloner. But Apple is seeking to drive the final nail into Psystar's infringement coffin.
On Monday, Apple filed a motion requesting Alsup to grant a permanent injunction. If granted, the injunction will force Psystar to stop selling computer bundled with Apple's Mac OS X.
The permanent injunction would also ban Psystar from using, selling or owning software that makes it possible to crack Apple's OS encryption key, which would let it run Mac OS X on Psystar's hardware. Finally, the injunction would ban Psystar from "inducing, aiding or inducing others in infringing Apple's copyright."
Apple insists a permanent injunction is its only option in the face of Psystar's continued copyright violations. "Psystar has announced its intention to continue infringing (and to contribute to the infringement of) Apple's copyrights in, and circumventing the technology protection measures in, the current upgrade of Mac OS X, version 10.6," Apple said.
But Apple isn't content with a permanent injunction against Psystar. The Mac maker is also seeking $2.1 million in damages. Psystar isn't expected to be in a financial position to pay the damages, but Apple is making a point.
"Psystar's whole business...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Supercomputing Edges Toward the Masses
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70269
For decades, supercomputers have been the tightly guarded property of universities and governments. But what would happen if regular folks could get their hands on one?
The price of supercomputers is dropping quickly, in part because they are often built with the same off-the-shelf parts found in personal computers, as a supercomputing conference [held] last week made clear. Just about any organization with a few million dollars can now buy or assemble a top-flight machine.
Meanwhile, research groups and companies like IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Intel are finding ways to make vast stores of information available online through cloud computing.
These advances are pulling down the high walls around computing-intensive research. A result could be a democratization that gives ordinary people with a novel idea a chance to explore their curiosity with heavy computing firepower -- and maybe find something unexpected.
The trend has driven some of the top computing experts and scientists in the world to work toward freeing valuable stores of information. The goal is to fill big computers with scientific data and then let anyone in the world with a PC, including amateur scientists, tap into these systems.
"It's a good call to arms," said Mark J. Barrenechea, chief executive of Silicon Graphics, which sells computing systems to labs and businesses. "The technology is there. The need is there. This could exponentially increase the amount of science done across the globe."
The notion of sharing information among leading research centers is hardly new. Some of the earliest incarnations of what we now know as the World Wide Web came to life so that physicists and other scientists could have access to large data stores from afar.
The current thinking, however, is that the labs can accomplish far more than was previously practical by piggybacking on some of the trends sweeping the technology industry. And,...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Kingston Drives Have Strategic Purpose
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70268
Fountain Valley [Calif.]'s Kingston Technology Co. is looking to spur sales of a new type of data storage drive with a low-cost version that is targeted at niche users.
Kingston, the largest maker of computer memory products, is selling a drive that stores 40 gigabytes of data in flash memory chips. The drive is going for less than $100 after promotions at some online stores.
Similar but smaller drives sell for about $120. Intel Corp. sells one that's nearly $400.
The move is part of Kingston's push for what are known as solid state drives, which, unlike traditional disk drives, have no moving parts.
"We want to drive awareness of solid state drives to a wider base," said Ariel Perez, Kingston's solid state drive business manager.
Solid state drives are seen as the biggest development in data storage in years. They use memory chips instead of spinning disks to store data. They're seen as faster and more reliable, and they use less power than disk drives.
Kingston is one of several players going after the market for solid state drives. Others include disk drive makers Seagate Technology LLC, Western Digital Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co.
Santa Ana's STEC Inc. has an early lead in solid state drives for servers and data storage computers used by corporations.
By lowering the price for its latest solid state drive, Kingston is trying to get around a problem that's slowed adoption -- the drives still are as much as five times more expensive than traditional disk drives.
"Part of Kingston's business model has always been to drive down costs," Perez said.
Kingston's main business is buying memory chips and assembling them as memory modules and cards for computers and consumer electronics. It has a quarter of the market for memory products with yearly sales of about $4 billion.
"With the size of the...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
HP Profit Jumps on Cost Cuts, New Market Expansion
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70259
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s cost-cutting and push into new markets is helping soften the blow from weakness in the company's mainstay businesses.
HP on Monday reported big revenue declines in four of its main divisions -- PCs, servers, software and printers -- in the latest quarter. A bright spot was technology services, a division HP beefed up last year with the $13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems and which posted better profits. HP is eliminating 24,600 jobs as part of that takeover.
HP's numbers reinforce trends other companies have reported: Consumers and China are showing stronger demand, while businesses remain hesitant. Other tech heavyweights such as Google Inc., IBM, Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have reported better conditions in some of their businesses.
HP said after the market closed that its earnings jumped 14 percent to $2.4 billion, or 99 cents per share, in the three months ended Oct. 31. That compares with $2.1 billion, or 84 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding one-time items, net income totaled $1.14 per share. Sales fell 8 percent to $30.8 billion, or dropped 5 percent if currency fluctuations are stripped out. By both metrics, the results exceeded the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
HP also added $8 billion to its stock buyback program, boosting the total amount available to $12 billion.
HP's latest moves represent a shift away from the company's dependence on the PC market, which is vulnerable to swings in consumer and corporate spending, as well as to fluctuations in prices for components like memory chips and LCD screens. On the other hand, companies will pay for things like outsourcing services even in lean times, because they save money in the long run. IBM has ridden that model to better profits in the recession, despite slumping sales.
The PC division supplies a third of HP's...
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Protecting Your Lost-Smartphone Data
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70234
Your smartphone is small, shiny and expensive. That makes it an attractive target for thieves.
Your smartphone also contains a treasure trove of sensitive data and documents. If it's a work phone, a criminal could gain entry into your company's network.
Fortunately, you can track your phone and even erase your data remotely. Find links to programs mentioned at tulsaworld.com/komandonews.
Find my Phone is part of Apple's MobileMe service ($100 yearly). It will help you track a stolen phone. GPS coordinates are used to plot the phone's location on a map.
You can play a loud sound to help you find it yourself. If you haven't set a passcode lock, you can remotely add one to keep your iPhone secure until you have it back.
You can also wipe the phone's data remotely via the MobileMe site. And iPhones can be remotely wiped via a Microsoft Exchange Server wipe command.
SmrtGuard ($45 yearly) works with many different BlackBerry models. You can back up your BlackBerry remotely. This also lets you access your data via the Web. SmrtGuard also provides tracking options.
You can wipe data remotely, including data stored on a memory card. This also uninstalls certain applications.
SmrtGuard also lets you listen remotely to the phone's surroundings. Business users can remotely wipe their phones via a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The phone can be reset to factory settings. It can also be disabled.
When you activate your Pre, you set up a Palm Profile. This lets you back up your phone and receive wireless updates. It also lets you remotely erase the data on your phone. Business users can also wipe a Pre via Exchange ActiveSync. Your IT manager can erase your data should your phone go missing.
For Android phones, there's SMobile Anti-Theft and Identity protection ($20 yearly). The software pinpoints a missing phone on an online map.
You...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
Hacked Climate Change Emails Set Off Political Storm
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70286
Internet security and climate change had a surprising run-in last week, as thousands of emails from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit wound up on climate-skeptic web sites. The University says it is cooperating with police and launching its own investigation into how the emails wound up online.
While many universities have suffered data breaches by cybercriminals, the fact that this data was released to anti-climate change sites strongly suggests the breach was politically motivated, said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Security. "There is no doubt in my mind that the break-in was a targeted attack," Storms said.
"Cybercriminals seek assets worth value on the black market -- private and personal information primarily. Large amounts of emails about climate research aren't worth much when it comes to identity theft," Storms said. "Further, if the attackers felt there was monetary value in this information, they would not have leaked it so readily."
Even if the investigations find there was a criminal trespass by hackers with a political agenda, the release of the documents have put climate scientists and politicians trying to pass climate-change legislation back on their heels.
An aide to Rep. Darrell Issa (R. Calif.), the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said congressional investigators are studying the purloined emails, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The aide said the investigation is centering on emails sent by White House Science Adviser John Holdren. In a series of emails sent in 2003, Holdren, then at the Woods Hole Research Center in Woods Hole, Mass., defended research by Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University, a scientist who believes human activities account for global warming.
Mann reportedly sent an email in 2003 suggesting climate researchers stop contributing to the journal...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
Controversial Photo of First Lady Remains in Google Images
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70285
The top search result for First Lady Michelle Obama via Google images is a crude manipulation adding ape features to her face. And Google says there's nothing it can do about it.
After initially removing the link to a blog, Hot Girls, which shows the image along with undoctored photos of the first lady and President Barack Obama, Google did an about-face Monday and restored the image with a disclaimer.
"Sometimes Google search results from the Internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries," the disclaimer says. "We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google."
The Google message notes that ranking in its search results was based on "algorithms using thousands of factors to calculate a page's relevance to a given query," and had nothing to do with the "beliefs and preferences of Google employees and the general public."
"Accordingly, we do not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it," the disclaimer says. "We will, however, remove pages from our results if we believe the page (or its site) violates our webmaster guidelines, if we believe we are required to do so by law, or at the request of the webmaster who is responsible for the page."
Reports of the Google disclaimer seem to have driven traffic to the Hot Girls blog, since there are no comments before the story broke on Tuesday. The Obama images were posted last month.
The blogger who featured the manipulated photo doesn't comment on it. But visitors left mixed feedback.
"Shame on you for the photo above," wrote an anonymous reader.
"Disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself," wrote another.
But the comments also included "the photo is great" and "is this photo actual?"
A site meter on...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
eBay Unveils Bargain-Hunting Deals App
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70284
The ongoing holiday selling season -- both online and in the malls -- will enter the home stretch with the celebration of Thanksgiving, and eBay wants to be ready.
On Tuesday, the company announced the Deals app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Deals is designed, eBay says, to make it easier to find the best offers from amid the millions of listings on the site. The free app can be downloaded from iTunes.
eBay Deals is not the company's only recent development. eBay has also upgraded its existing iPhone app with social-networking integration and other features. The company also has made available a mobile web interface (m.ebay.com), which works on any browser-equipped mobile phone.
Steve Yankovich, vice president of business solutions and mobile for eBay, said the new application takes a different approach than the mobile apps already offered by the company. The current apps focus on finding products that the user is actively looking for, while Deals monitors auctions against stored keywords and sends notices -- which are simply accessed and reacted to -- even if the customer isn't currently using the system. Saved searches, Yankovich said, become icons on the user interface.
"The Deals is a little different in that what comes up may not be something on your [immediate] shopping list," Yankovich said. "It's basically an efficient way to get through the roughly 200 million listings to find something that is good for you."
Clearly, Deals aims to optimize eBay's revenues during the holiday shopping season. Andrew Lipsman, director of industry analysis for comScore, said the online outlook in general is shaping up as somewhat better than last year, but qualifies the good news by noting that the comparison is to the months when the financial meltdown was at its worst.
Tuesday, comScore released research...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
Android 1.6 Phones Get Google Maps Directions
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70281
Google has expanded the availability of its free Google Maps Navigation service, which previously ran only on handsets equipped with the company's Android 2.0 operating system. Now handsets running Android 1.6 and higher -- such as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and the G1 -- have access to the beta software, according to navigation manager Michael Siliski.
"If you have a phone running Android 1.6, you can download an updated version of Google Maps from Android Market," Siliski said. "So if you're traveling this Thanksgiving, you'll be able to enjoy the benefits."
Google Maps Navigation is an Internet-connected GPS system featuring 3-D map views, turn-by-turn voice guidance, and automatic rerouting capabilities similar to personal navigation devices. "But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection," said software engineer Keith Ito.
One feature that differentiates the fledgling service from rival navigation offerings is its delivery of satellite views. Another comes from the ability it gives users to access online information about their destinations by either typing or saying the location's name.
"Typing on a phone can be difficult, especially in the car, so with Google Maps Navigation you can say your destination instead," Ito said.
Even if users don't know the exact address, they can simply enter the name of a business, a landmark or just about anything into the search box, and Google will find it. "And since locating an address can sometimes be tricky, we'll show you a picture of your destination as you approach the end of your route so you'll know exactly what to look for," Ito said.
Google's latest beta release includes a new Layers feature, which gives users the ability to overlay geographical information on the map, including transit lines and...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
Amazon's Kindle Gets a Big Battery Boost
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70280
On Tuesday, Amazon.com unveiled two new improvements in the latest-generation Kindle: 85 percent more battery life and a native PDF reader. With the latest enhancements, Kindle users can now read e-books for seven days -- even with wireless connectivity turned on -- before running out of battery power. If users leave the wireless connectivity turned off, the Kindle will run for two weeks without the need to recharge.
"Kindle, already the number-one best-selling, most-wished-for, and most gifted product on all of Amazon.com, is now even better -- with 85 percent more battery life and a built-in PDF reader," said Ian Freed, vice president of Amazon Kindle. "These two significant enhancements are available now."
As Freed mentioned, the six-inch Kindle now has a built-in native PDF reader that lets Kindle users read professional and personal documents in the original PDF format without conversion.
Kindle users who want to read personal or professional PDFs can e-mail them to their Kindle e-mail address, or move them over using a USB stick. Customers who prefer to have their PDF documents converted to the Kindle format can type "convert" in the subject of the e-mail when sending documents to their "@kindle.com" address.
Amazon also announced Tuesday that previous purchasers of the Kindle will also receive the battery-life improvements and native PDF support via a firmware update automatically delivered through Whispernet wireless.
"We are in the early days of the e-book reader wars and companies are looking to differentiate themselves. Amazon has over a year's head start with its next generation of devices," said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. "Maybe the best reason I can think of for buying a Kindle if you are in the market for an e-book reader is because the Kindle has got availability and everyone else doesn't yet."
Gartenberg...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
Troubled Joost Sells Video Platform, Content To Adconion
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70279
Joost, a provider of online TV, movies and music, has received a boost. The company, which operates out of offices in the U.S., the U.K., and the Netherlands, has been acquired by Adconion.
Adconion, based in Santa Monica, Calif., has acquired the technology behind Joost's video platform, access to its content library, and the Joost trademark. It has extended job offers to about a dozen Joost employees.
The acquisition comes less than six months after Joost announced it was looking for ways to find additional revenue. In June, Joost CEO Mike Volpi said tough economic times had forced the independent, ad-supported online video platform to seek additional lines of revenue, provide online videos for cable and satellite providers, broadcasters and video aggregators, and lay off some of its employees.
That same month Joost began winding down operations and closed a Netherlands office. At that time, Matt Zelesko, vice president of engineering, took over as Joost's CEO while still running the company's engineering department. Volpi stepped down as CEO, but remained chairman of the board.
Before being acquired, Joost gave users a way to watch music, TV and movies over the Internet. It also allowed users to search their choices by title or category or via other people's suggestions.
Joost founder Janus Friis said selling the company's assets to Adconion was in the best interest of the company, since Joost has a strong platform of 200 million unique monthly users and a solid business model.
Before acquiring Joost, Adconion offered targeted video and television commercials to audiences through Adconion TV as well as other branded services through its RedLever production subsidiary.
"Adconion will continue to operate Joost.com, and will also continue to pursue Joost's strategy of providing white-label video platforms to content owners and publishers," said Kerry Vance Summers, a spokesperson for Adconion.
Wed, 25 Nov 09
Ailing Nokia Launches 'Designer' Slide Smartphones
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70278
Nokia announced two new slider 3G phones Tuesday -- the 6700 Slide and the 7230. The Finland-based company described the new models as "made for the design-conscious consumer and optimized for socializing and sharing." The devices are among a series of steps Nokia is taking to recover from a downturn.
The phones are expected to be available in the first quarter. The 6700, offered in half a dozen color choices, is compact and designed for a pocket or small bag. In addition to its high-speed 3G connectivity, the phone offers a five-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, and a 2GB microSD card.
The 6700 also features a dedicated camera key and a one-click upload to Ovi, Nokia's Internet service. It has a 2.2-inch QVGA screen, which slides out to show a keypad. Frames are available in pink, petrol blue, lime, purple or aluminum.
A Symbian-based phone, the 6700 has WCDMA 900/1900/2100, WCDA 850/1900/2100, and GSM 850/900/1800/1900, as well as Bluetooth 2.1.
The 7230, also compact but with color choices of only pink or graphite, has a 3.2-megapixel camera with 4x zoom, a 2.4-inch TFT display, and a missed-call feature that shows a soft illumination. A Series 40 phone, the model supports WCDMA 850/1900/2100 and 900/1900/2100 networks, as well as Bluetooth.
Nokia is promoting both phones as colorful, social and offering easy ways to snap pictures and share the results. Both also feature a FM radio and a music player.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said the new models "don't bring anything particularly new," but he noted that they offer high-end cameras at modest prices. The retail prices for the phones are about $240 for the 6700 and $150 for the 7230, without carrier subsidies.
Although no U.S. carrier partner has...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
TiVo Data Will Help Google TV Ads Measure Audience
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70266
On the heels of Google's Teracent acquisition, TiVo has announced a deal of its own with the search giant. TiVo has entered into an audience-research agreement with Google to empower the Google TV Ads platform.
Google will license and integrate TiVo television viewing data into its audience measurement system for advertisements sold through the Google TV Ads platform. Google TV Ads is a digital system for buying TV advertising using the familiar AdWords interface. Launched in 2007, Google TV Ads allows advertisers to reach up to 96 million households. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Google TV Ads is focused on enabling advertisers to target and measure television advertising more effectively," said Mike Steib, Google's director of emerging platforms. "This deal with TiVo will give advertisers access to even more anonymized viewership data, making Google's data set one of the best in the industry. Advertisers can use this data to understand which audiences and ads are most effective, which we think will ultimately lead to more relevant ads for viewers."
Google's deal with TiVo will let Google TV Ads draw on anonymous, second-by-second DVR viewing data from TiVo's subscribers. Google expects the deal to improve the measurement and accountability of ad impressions for inventory sold using the Google TV Ads auction-based system.
Google TV Ads has served more than 100 billion TV ad impressions. Tapping into TiVo's audience base gives Google a broad reach into living rooms across the country. The TiVo sample covers all television-signal sources, including digital cable, analog cable, satellite, telecom and over-the-air television, in live and time-shifted viewing.
Todd Juenger, vice president and general manager of TiVo Audience Research & Measurement, said working with Google represents a shared approach to developing products and services to help the media industry better understand the effectiveness of ad campaigns in...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
AOL Has Savvy But Needs Time, Says Former Exec
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70258
As it struggles to reinvent itself, AOL has the savvy, technology and assets to succeed, but may not have the time, according to a former executive of the company. "AOL has quite a number of hidden gems and Internet properties that many users don't even know are part of the brand," says Jules Polonetsky, who was AOL's chief privacy officer and a senior vice president from 2002 to 2008. "That includes dozens of the most highly visited blogs, like the leading technology blog Engadget, that draw substantial advertising revenue."
He also cited the popular AIM messaging service, AOL Music, and the celebrity news site TMZ, which has its own TV show.
Another property that many users may not connect to AOL is the social-networking site Bebo, which it bought last year for $850 million. Though more popular outside the U.S., Bebo (which stands for Blog Early, Blog Often) has an estimated 40 million users, making it third in worldwide membership behind Facebook and MySpace.
The challenge, Polonetsky said, is time as the company struggles with plummeting revenues.
"The challenge for AOL has been developing a big enough audience and ad revenue to replace the declining ISP business," says Polonetsky, who is now co-Chairman and director of the Future of Privacy Forum, a think tank supported by AOL. "The technology and editorial savvy is there. The challenge for [AOL CEO] Tim Armstrong will be growing it quick enough."
AOL announced Monday that it will split from parent company Time Warner on Dec. 10, shifting its name slightly to Aol, and offering shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
America Online, as it was formerly known, was once the primary portal to the Internet for up to 30 million users worldwide, offering chat rooms, clubs, and games in a "walled" environment. But over time, AOL saw...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
Sony Hopes Online Service Will Build Brand Loyalty
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70241
Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday.
Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai said the service, set for launch next year, highlights an advantage that Sony has over rivals like Samsung Electronics Co. and other manufacturers that don't produce their own content. Sony's business empire spans gaming, electronics, movies and music.
"That's the kind of combination that I think is not seen anywhere else," Hirai said in an interview at Tokyo headquarters. "That I think is where our core competence lies, and that's a differentiator for Sony."
The online service will include games, movie downloads and other interactive entertainment, which will be accessible on Sony products, such as Bravia TVs, Cyber-shot digital cameras and Reader electronic books.
But Kazuharu Miura, analyst with Daiwa Securities SMBC in Tokyo, said it was unclear whether online services will boost gadget sales.
"I understand what Sony is trying to do, and that's the best way to showcase its strengths," he said. "But whether that will really get people to buy a Sony camera or a Vaio computer all depends on what Sony does with the online service."
Hirai said Sony already offers streaming video, comic delivery and a news service, but could expand into any of the gamut of services available for personal computers, such as fitness and financial services.
Sony is targeting annual sales of 300 billion yen ($3.4 billion) from its networked services businesses and 350 million network-connected products by the fiscal year ending March 2013.
Sony's service for PlayStation 3 video game machines, which began three years ago, has attracted 33 million users. The new service will be expanded to other Sony products.
In outlining a turnaround strategy Thursday, Chief Executive Howard Stringer flagged network services as a major area...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
Getting More Out of Your Smartphone
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70237
Many people today rely as much on their smartphones as they do on their computers. So questions about how best to use smartphones, how to make them last longer on a charge, and how to protect them are common. Read on for some answers.
Q: My smartphone has Wi-Fi, but I never use it. When should I use it?
A: More phones today offer Wi-Fi connectivity, which essentially allows you to use local Wi-Fi hotspots -- either public or private -- to wirelessly connect to the Internet.
This service allows one to skip use of the 3G or other network provided by your cell carrier to surf the Web, send and receive e- mail, make voice over IP (VOIP) phone calls, and more. There are both advantages and disadvantages to using Wi-Fi.
First, Wi-Fi can save you money. Unless you have an unlimited data plan with your wireless carrier, you're only allowed to send and receive a certain amount of data. Using Wi-Fi rather than your carrier's network allows you to skirt any data cap while still being able to access the data you need.
Second, Wi-Fi access speeds may be more robust than the network connection provided by your carrier, which can translate into faster Web-enabled application performance. Third, Wi-Fi may provide you with data coverage where your wireless carrier's network signal is weak.
Wi-Fi is, in short, another option for accessing data that may be both cheaper and more reliable than your default network.
Engaging your phone's Wi-Fi capability may, unfortunately, result in shorter battery life, since the internal Wi-Fi chips themselves require additional power. Turning Wi-Fi off when you don't need it should extend your phone's battery life, which of course can be critical on the road. Accessing data over Wi-Fi may also not provide the level of security you require.
The best way for...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
South Koreans To Get Apple's iPhone This Week
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70231
Apple Inc's iPhone is coming to South Korea this week, a local carrier announced Sunday, bringing the iconic communications device to one of the world's most sophisticated mobile phone markets.
KT Corp. began accepting orders for the iPhone both online and in stores Sunday and service will start Nov. 28 as part of an official launch, said Alice Park, a spokeswoman for the country's second-largest mobile carrier.
The announcement ends a long wait in South Korea, which has lagged behind other countries in Asia in introducing the sleek smartphone that has grabbed headlines around the world and solidified Apple's status as a purveyor of cutting-edge consumer electronics.
The South Korean market is dominated by domestic manufacturers Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., which are also big players overseas. Speculation has focused on how South Korean consumers, known for favoring the local makers, will react to the iPhone's introduction.
Steve Park, Apple's spokesman in Seoul, confirmed KT's announcement, but declined further comment and would offer no sales projections.
The iPhone made its formal debut in China late last month via local partner China Unicom Ltd. It went on sale in Japan last year and is also available in India and Australia, as well as other countries in the region.
Worldwide the iPhone is available in 86 countries and territories and will be soon in four more, according to Apple's Web site. Despite KT's announcement, the site still did not mention South Korea.
"We are thrilled to bring iPhone to South Korea," Kim Woo-sik, CEO of KT's personal customer group, said in a press release. "Our customers will enjoy the power and benefits of using the revolutionary iPhone on KT's 3G network."
The iPhone's introduction was delayed by regulatory hurdles, the last of which was overcome on Wednesday when the Korea Communications Commission approved the granting of a business...
Wed, 25 Nov 09
Fox CEO Wants U.S. To Join France on Internet Piracy
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70227
The chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment said Monday the U.S. should join France in cutting off the Internet connection of users who repeatedly download copyright-protected films.
CEO Jim Gianopulos said Internet piracy is the single biggest threat to the film industry worldwide, and independent films are the hardest hit.
"The bad news is that the Internet is big, and it's anonymous," Gianopulos told a news conference in Athens.
But he said Internet service providers can track down subscribers whose IP address -- the unique number assigned to every computer that connects to the Internet -- has been spotted downloading films illegally and issue warnings.
Gianopulos said punishing repeat offenders would help create "a level playing field" for filmmakers.
"If we can do that, it would be a big victory against piracy," he said, cautioning that taking away the small percentage of profit many films make threatens the industry.
Gianopulos said that it is equally important to inform young people about the problem of piracy.
"It is important to show them that there is a connection between what they're doing and theft, and what they're doing and people's jobs," Gianopulos said. He was in Greece for a lecture, and talks with Greek film industry professionals.
France has already created what it says is the first government agency to track and punish online pirates.
The European Parliament initially opposed efforts by European Union governments to cut off a user's Internet connection without a court order -- but the two sides reached a compromise this month and EU lawmakers and governments agreed on new rights for Internet.
Film and record labels have heavily lobbied the 27-nation bloc, demanding better enforcement of copyright rules to protect profits that are shrinking in the face of online file-sharing, in which people swap music files without paying.
Tue, 24 Nov 09
Samsung Omnia II Smartphone Heads To Verizon
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70253
Verizon Wireless said Monday that it will begin shipping Samsung's Omnia II smartphone on Dec. 2. The new handset features Samsung's TouchWiz 2.0 user interface, which provides users with the ability to customize and personalize their devices in a number of different ways.
For example, the Omnia II will be able to directly connect to the Samsung Widget Store, where users will be able to download hundreds of free handset widgets, including shortcut widgets that provide one-click access to Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. The online store also will deliver downloads of handset-personalization elements -- such as birthday reminders that users can simply "drag and drop" onto their home screens.
With TouchWiz, the goal is "to provide our consumers with a more rewarding and engaging user interface; one that's more fun, easier to use and more personal," noted Geesung Choi, president of Samsung's telecommunication business.
The new smartphone's 3.7-inch touch-sensitive screen integrates a virtual QWERTY keyboard featuring Swype input technology, which will enable users to input text by moving a finger or a stylus from letter to letter, lifting between words. Utilizing error-correcting algorithms in order to guess the word typed, Swype also incorporates a tapping predictive text system in the same interface. According to Swype's creators, users can achieve input speeds of more than 50 words per minute.
Samsung says the device's active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display ranks among the brightest and clearest ever to be offered on a mobile phone in the United States. The Omnia II also integrates a wide video graphics array screen, which means that the handset's Opera 9.5 browser will be able to render web sites designed for an 800-pixel-wide window in full page width.
The new smartphone is equipped with a 5.0-megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, which also doubles as a camcorder as well...
Tue, 24 Nov 09
Google Acquires Technology To Customize Display Ads
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70252
On Monday, Google announced it plans to acquire yet another advertising company. The search giant has targeted Teracent, a San Mateo, Calif., startup that customizes display ads for different situations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Teracent's trademarked Intelligent Display Advertising makes ads fully customizable to specific consumers and sites. The technology relies on machine-learning algorithms to decipher and select the optimal creative elements for each ad impression.
"As you know, we've been busy releasing new features and products to help improve display advertising on the web for everyone. We believe that Teracent's technology fits neatly into these efforts," Neal Mohan, Google's vice president of product management, and Joerg Heilig, Google's engineering director, wrote on the company blog.
Teracent's technology can pick and choose from thousands of display-ad creative elements in real time. Advertisers can change images, products, messages or colors. These variables can be optimized based on factors such as geographic location, language, the content of the web site, the time of day, or the past performance of different ads.
"This technology can help advertisers get better results from their display-ad campaigns," Mohan and Heilig said. "In turn, this enables publishers to make more money from their ad space and delivers web users better ads and more ad-funded web content."
Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, agrees that Teracent's technology could bring Google users better display-advertising results -- and he noted it's an important capability in mobile advertising as well.
"The promise of mobile advertising is 'right time, right ad, right place.' In search, the user expresses that need or interest in the form of a query and you get an ad back that generally or directly satisfies that query," Sterling said. "So search is not as much of an issue as display advertising, which has historically been static."
Tue, 24 Nov 09
Android, RIM Devices Grow, But Apple Tops Wireless Use
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70251
Things are changing in the world of smartphones, according to the October Mobile Metrics Report from AdMob. The organization, which is in the process of being acquired by Google, traced the operating systems and handsets running on devices served by its network, said Nicole Leverich, the company's director of corporate communications.
The AdMob network, she said, serves ads and applications for more than 15,000 web sites around the world.
Among BlackBerrys, the firm found that the lion's share of Research in Motion's traffic is still generated by older BlackBerry Curve 8300 and Pearl 8100 series. Newer devices, such as the BlackBerry Tour and updated versions of the Curve 8900 and 8520, are increasing usage on the network.
The BlackBerry Storm generated 12 percent of requests, a constant measure during the past year. Newer BlackBerry devices like the 8220 and 8230 Flip -- RIM assigns numbers to devices based on the carrier, Leverich said -- constituted less than two percent of RIM traffic in October.
Leverich said Android's progress was also assessed in the October report. This is particularly timely because of the recent release of several Android-based phones, most notably Motorola's Droid. "It was put out mid-month," she said. "We did a quick snapshot and found that on Nov. 18, 24 percent of [smartphone] traffic was from Android on our network. So [the Droid] had an immediate impact."
While Android and RIM products are competitive, the champ continues to be Apple. AdMob said the iPhone and the iPod touch count for half of all smartphone traffic. If feature phones -- the category below smartphones but above traditional cell phones -- are mixed in, Apple's devices still claim a healthy 32 percent of the traffic.
Aside from the raw numbers, the interesting element of the report in Leverich's eyes was...
Tue, 24 Nov 09
3G Coverage? Apple Joins AT&T-Verizon Ad Battle
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70250
Is an iPhone an acceptable device for business users? Verizon Wireless and AT&T have been involved in a public multimillion-dollar spat over the question with dueling television advertising campaigns -- and a lawsuit to boot. Now Apple is stepping into the fray with its own ads.
Verizon started running ads last month claiming that AT&T's 3G network is inferior. "If you want to know why your 3G coverage works so well on Verizon Wireless, there's a map for that," Verizon's ad said, riffing on Apple's "there's an app for that" tagline.
"If you want to know why some people have spotty 3G coverage, there's a map for that too," the ad concludes.
The ads showed two maps -- one of Verizon's 3G coverage, showing almost total coverage of the 48 states, and one of AT&T's 3G coverage, which is depicted as limited to major cities. AT&T responded to this attack with big guns -- a lawsuit filed in federal court requesting an injunction and a temporary restraining order against the ads, which it termed "misleading." AT&T's request was rejected.
Meanwhile, AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S., launched its own television and print ads defending its 3G network. Now Apple is joining the battle with ads that tout the iPhone's -- and AT&T's -- ability to let users simultaneously speak on the phone and download data. The ads will run on House on Fox, Dancing With the Stars on ABC, and How I Met Your Mother on CBS.
AT&T's GSM network allows simultaneous voice and data connections, while Verizon's CDMA network does not. The new Apple ads promote the AT&T network as superior for business users and consumers. In one ad, an announcer says, "Say you're on a call with a client and he asks, 'Did you see my e-mail?'...
Tue, 24 Nov 09
News Corp. May Move Content From Google To Bing
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70247
Microsoft's decision engine Bing may get the push it needs to better compete with search-engine giant Google. News Corp., a global media company and publisher of several news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, and Fox, and online networks such as MySpace.com may pull its search content listings from Google and move them to Bing.
In an effort to add revenues to the company's bottom line, media mogul and News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch is not just planning to pull back News Corp.'s content from Google's search engine and take it to Bing. He is asking other publishers to join him in the company's delisting efforts, the Financial Times reported.
It's not yet clear how News Corp. would benefit from moving its content to Bing, and talks with Microsoft are still in the early stages. News Corp. wouldn't comment on the report and Brianna Pinder, a Microsoft spokesperson, said, "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation."
Until now publishers have not been paying attention and need to charge users to view news content, Murdoch told Sky News Australia earlier this month. He said it costs publishers a lot of money to provide content to users both offline and online and users need to pay for the information they want to read.
The executive, who owns a third of the company's shares, said he has never believed it to be a good idea to offer news content free for two reasons. First is that people should be willing to pay for valuable editorial content, and second, all the advertising in the world would not make all the News Corp. web sites profitable.
Observers, however, said the move shows the media empire is in trouble.
It has been no secret that the company has been hit hard by the recession. In...
Tue, 24 Nov 09
Apple Defends App Store Rules as Developers Defect
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70233
While Apple's App Store has been king of its particular hill, there are indications that at least some developers are getting annoyed at its policies -- and are increasingly developing for other platforms, such as Google's Android. Now Apple is beginning to push back.
In an interview Sunday with Business Week, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president for worldwide marketing, defended the company's policy of selecting which applications it allows in the online store.
The intention, Schiller said, has been to build "a store for the most part that people trust." This has meant being highly selective about what applications are accepted. The App Store now has more than 100,000 apps, more than any other app store for mobile devices, but it's also dealing with about 10,000 new submissions every week.
Schiller said the store's role is to decide which products end up on its shelves, much as any quality retailer would.
Apple has said app rejections that have gained attention in the developer community are mostly for technical reasons. According to Schiller, the rejections have included apps that help steal content or personal information, as well as apps with illegal use of trademarks or with inappropriate content.
To deal with apps that are accepted but whose content is not for kids, the App Store has added parental controls to block certain titles. These include apps with adult content or depictions of violence.
This gatekeeper role by the maker of the device does not exist for the unlimited range of software that is available for PC or Mac users. However, the market for third-party applications for mobile devices was fragmented until Apple demonstrated the value of an online store.
At the same time that Apple is facing these issues, Google may be seeing an opening for its growing Android platform....
Tue, 24 Nov 09
New Worm Steals Data From Jailbroken iPhones
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70226
Just two weeks after Apple iPhone users in Australia reported jailbroken iPhones came under siege by attackers, a new version of the iPhone worm is posing a threat. Symantec reports the new worm targets jailbroken iPhones running SSH that are still using the default password. The worm can reportedly steal data stored on the iPhone as well as connect back to the attacker, giving them control of the phone.
"Unlike the first iPhone worm, this one appears to cover a much broader range of IP addresses, including UPC in the Netherlands, Optus in Australia, possibly a Hungarian and a Portuguese provider, T-Mobile and potentially many others," said Symantec's John McDonald. "And although this particular incarnation seems to be very similar in functionality to the hack tool we blogged about, this one supposedly runs and spreads directly from an infected iPhone, not from a computer."
This latest attack appears to be designed to create a botnet of iPhones -- an army of hijacked iPhones under the control of remote hackers, according to Graham Cluley, a senior security consultant at Sophos.
"The hackers can then order the iPhones to do whatever they wish," he explained. "For instance, they could be instructed to send spam, spread more malware, or steal information. In this case the worm appears to be specifically trying to steal information from users of a Dutch bank."
The earlier Ikee worm wasn't written with an obvious financial motivation and appears to have been designed to spread a picture of Rick Astley, Cluley said. However, he added, there is no doubt that the author of Ikee helped the creators of this worm by releasing his source code, giving them a template upon which to create their own more malicious attack.
After the release of the first iPhone 3G worm two weeks ago, Sophos...
Tue, 24 Nov 09
Is MySpace Buying Music Service Imeem?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70213
Imeem's expected fire sale to MySpace shows that the plight of ad-supported streaming music services is worsening.
News Corp.'s social networking site MySpace is close to clinching an agreement to purchase Imeem, an online music business started in 2003, a person familiar with the matter says. MySpace would pay about $1 million in cash and as much as $9 million to employees, the person says. That would amount to an abysmal return on a company that raised $24.8 million in funding, and it bodes ill for other ad-supported online music services once considered a ray of hope for the hobbled music industry.
More than a dozen startups are struggling to make a profit using a formula similar to Imeem's. The service, which lets users play virtually any song over the Web at any time for no charge, pays record labels small fees for each play. As it grew in popularity and reached millions of Web users, Imeem was unable to generate sufficient ad revenue to offset the resulting higher royalty fees. Technology blog TechCrunch first reported that MySpace was in talks to acquire Imeem on Nov. 16.
Spotify, a U.K.-based music startup that also lets surfers access free music and relies mainly on revenues from advertising, recently said it would delay its entrance into the U.S. market because it couldn't reach favorable deals with record labels. MySpace Music, the social network's own ad-supported free streaming service, has deals in place with the four major labels for free streaming. Yet MySpace Music has made recent cutbacks, such as no longer automatically playing songs each time a user visits a profile page, that leave outsiders suspecting it, too, is having a hard time wringing profit from ad revenue.
Neil Smith, vice-president for business management at Rhapsody, an online music service owned by Real...
Tue, 24 Nov 09
Wal-Mart Has High Hopes for the Holidays
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70210
Raul Vazquez wants to be the Grinch who steals Christmas -- for Wal-Mart, that is.
Vazquez, the CEO of Walmart.com, told BusinessWeek he expects as much as a 30 percent gain in online sales this holiday season compared with last year. That would far outpace the 8 percent to 10 percent projected rise in industrywide retail e-commerce this year. Total U.S. holiday retail sales are expected to be $438 billion, down 1 percent vs. last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Wal-Mart does not break out financials for its Web site, but Vice-Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright has said it generates several billion in annual sales. That's a drop in the bucket for the $400 billion retailer, but certainly growing at a much faster clip than the company's overall sales, which rose 1.1 percent in the third quarter. By integrating the inventory of three third-party retailers under a program dubbed Marketplace that launched in August, the site now offers 1.5 million items, 10 times the inventory of a typical Wal-Mart Supercenter. New categories include health and beauty aids, which were added in October. "We don't have food -- yet," Vazquez says, smiling portentously.
Vazquez, an El Paso native who joined Walmart.com's marketing department in 2002 and rose to the top job about three years ago, says his goal is for Walmart.com to become "the most visited and most valued online retailer." Right now, the two most visited e-commerce sites are Amazon.com and eBay, and Vazquez clearly has both of them in his crosshairs. According to market research firm Experian Hitwise, Amazon is the leading online retailer with a 15 percent share of visits, while Walmart.com is No. 2 with 7 percent. (Hitwise excludes eBay as primarily an auction site.)
Vazquez claims that Walmart.com's sales growth so far this year has bested...
Tue, 24 Nov 09
Yahoo Jumps on Twitter Bandwagon To Improve Search
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70206
Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently.
Beginning Thursday, Yahoo will mine the short messages posted on Twitter to find fresher information about hot topics.
Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. had earlier announced plans to incorporate Twitter messages into search results, but Yahoo said it will be the first among them to include such "tweets" on its main search results.
The addition comes at a pivotal time for Yahoo. The company, based in Sunnyvale, California, is bogged down in a three-year financial slump partly because it has losing ground in the lucrative Internet search market to Google and, to a lesser extent, Microsoft.
The Twitter twist is the latest sign of Yahoo's resolve to spice up its search results even as it prepares to lean on Microsoft for most of the technology powering its search engine. That transition is scheduled to begin next year.
Microsoft so far is listing Twitter results in a special section of its search engine, Bing.
Google, the Internet's search leader, also plans to include Twitter's chatter in its search results, but has yet to say when that change will occur or how it will do it.
Yahoo is relying on Twitter to highlight the latest news about specific subjects. When a user enters a search request tied to breaking news, Yahoo will top the results page with four tabs -- one for direct links to news sites, one for photos, one for video and one dedicated to Twitter.
Clicking on a Twitter tab will show news links posted by Twitter users. Some of the links will be drawn from Twitter accounts set up by the news media, such as CNN and The Associated Press, while others will be pulled from people pointing out a story they find...
Tue, 24 Nov 09
Suit Over Search-Engine Keywords Tries New Angle
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70204
A lawsuit in Wisconsin is bringing a fresh challenge to the practice of paying for keywords on Google and other search engines to boost one company's link over a rival's.
The practice has occasionally prompted a rival to file legal challenges alleging trademark infringement. Now a Wisconsin law firm is trying a new angle -- accusing its competitor of violating privacy laws.
Habush Habush & Rottier is one of Wisconsin's largest law firms, specializing in personal-injury cases. But search for iterations of "Habush" and "Rottier" and a sponsored link for Cannon & Dunphy attorneys often shows up, just above the link for the Habush site.
Habush alleges that Cannon paid for the keywords "Habush" and "Rottier," in effect hijacking the names and reputation of Habush attorneys.
Cannon acknowledged paying for the keywords but denied wrongdoing, saying it was following a clearly legal business strategy.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Milwaukee, where Habush is headquartered. Cannon is based in nearby Brookfield.
Habush based its lawsuit on a Wisconsin right-to-privacy statute that prohibits the use of any living person's name for advertising purposes without the person's consent.
"We believe this is deceptive, confusing and misleading," firm president Robert Habush said of Cannon's strategy. "If Bill Cannon thinks this is a correct way to do business he needs to have his moral compass taken to the repair shop."
William Cannon, the founding partner of Cannon & Dunphy, said every business uses the same tactic to remind consumers of their choices.
"This is equally available to Habush if he weren't so cheap to bid on his own name," Cannon said.
One legal expert said it wasn't clear how successful Habush's lawsuit would be.
Ryan Calo, a fellow at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, said the statute seemingly was meant to protect people from having their names and images misused...
Tue, 24 Nov 09
EU Extends Oracle/Sun Review Deadline
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70202
European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle Corp.'s planned $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc.
The European Commission said Oracle had asked for more time "in order to have the opportunity to further develop its arguments in response to the Commission's concerns."
The EU executive gave them an extra six working days.
Regulators sent a formal charge sheet to Oracle earlier this month laying out competition problems that they see with the deal, claiming Oracle's purchase of open-source database software MySQL could eliminate a crucial rival and hike prices.
The EU can block the takeover -- which has already been approved by the United States -- or demand changes to eliminate competition concerns. Officials complained that Oracle had not tried to offer any solutions -- possibly selling off MySQL, which Oracle says it doesn't want to do.
Oracle has criticized the EU for not understanding the database market or open-source dynamics well enough.
MySQL is popular among Web-based companies and regulators say it will increasingly pose a threat to Oracle's market-leading database software as it adds features and attracts more customers. Sun paid $1 billion for it last year.
The EU objection ratchets up tension about the fate of the deal, which Sun badly needs to go through. It lost $120 million in the quarter ended Sept. 27 and is rapidly shedding market share to rivals like IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
Tue, 24 Nov 09
Travel Travails? Social Media To the Rescue!
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70092
When a visa snafu marooned honeymooners Bethany Thomas and Dmitri Zagidulin in Frankfurt en route to St. Petersburg last week, their journey had all the makings of a disaster: a tepid response from their travel agency, Expedia, a closed consulate and luggage that had gone on to Russia without them.
Alerted by a blog post from Thomas (a fantasy writer in Peaks Island, Maine, who goes by the name Catherynne M. Valente), the author's supporters launched a volley of calls and online missives to Expedia. And less than 24 hours after the duo's drama began, they were headed to Russia with a promised refund of their $2,000 trip, reimbursement for last-minute visas and other expenses in Frankfurt, plus a $3,000 credit for future travel -- thanks to the power of Twitter and Facebook.
Their happy ending is "a huge triumph for social networking," says Thomas, who met her Ukraine-born computer programmer husband online in 2003. "Without it, we'd still be stranded in Frankfurt."
Expedia spokesman Adam Anderson says the agency should have directed the couple to the U.S. State Department's site instead of assuring them they didn't need visas. Adds Expedia customer service senior director Thomas Seibert, "Social media played an important role in alerting us to our error."
The horror honeymoon-turned-fairy tale is another example of how travelers are using social media to help solve problems. Writes IndependentTraveler.com's Ed Hewitt: "Calling the 800 number and sitting on hold for 45 minutes waiting for your complaint to be heard isn't your only option anymore."
This summer, months after baggage handlers at United Airlines broke Dave Carroll's guitar and United refused to pay for the $1,200 repair, the Canadian singer fought back with a music video titled United Breaks Guitars that has been viewed about 6 million times on YouTube.
United now uses the incident in training...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
Ballmer Says Windows 7 Sales Double Those of Vista
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70223
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer isn't talking turkey when it comes to the software giant's newest operating system. At a shareholder meeting Thursday in Bellevue, Wash., Ballmer told investors that Windows 7 sold double the number of copies in one month as its previous Windows Vista operating system.
During the meeting, which was broadcast over the Internet, Ballmer wouldn't say exactly how many licenses or copies were sold to consumers and businesses, but previous reports that put Vista's sales in the first month at 20 million makes it easy to calculate sales of Windows 7 at about 40 million.
Since its Oct. 22 release, Windows 7 has received good reviews from consumers and developers. That doesn't mean, however, that Microsoft can sit back and relax.
Gartner analysts expected the launch of Microsoft's Windows 7 to have a minimal impact on PC sales, although inventory adjustments around the same time could artificially affect shipments during the third and fourth quarters.
Recent Windows releases haven't driven PC market growth, according to Gartner's Mikako Kitagawa. The timing of Windows 7, however, is favorable for the industry because of expected economic improvements and an overdue hardware replacement cycle.
Gartner also anticipates more consumers and small businesses will upgrade during the holiday season because of the Windows 7 release. On the corporate level, analysts expect Windows 7 adoption won't ramp up until late 2010.
While analysts predicted the PC market this year would suffer substantially compared to 2008, shipments of PCs have been doing better than expected, according to a Gartner report.
Worldwide PC shipments totaled 80.9 million units in the third quarter, a 0.5 percent increase from the third quarter 2008, according to Gartner.
While most PCs are shipped with Windows operating systems, Apple continues to increase its share of Mac shipments year over year, according...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
Flat Shipments Hurt Dell Despite Increased Earnings
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70222
Dell's earnings are up and expectations are solid, but the company's stock still took a hit Friday afternoon after analysts signaled the company isn't playing a key role in the PC market recovery. Dell's shipments were flat in the third quarter and down five percent from the year-ago period despite improvements in the large-enterprise and small-and-midsize business segments and increased demand and revenue from business customers.
Dell's total revenue for the third quarter was $12.9 billion, a one percent improvement over the second quarter but a 15 percent decline from the year-ago period. Earnings per share were 17 cents. Cash flow from operations totaled $801 million. Operating expenses were 12.8 percent of revenue, or $1.7 billion, 10 percent lower than last year's third quarter.
"We are seeing improvement in overall underlying IT demand that is continuing into the fourth quarter," said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO. "The same is true with momentum in Dell's business, specifically in our large-enterprise and SMB segments. The launch of Windows 7 is being very well received by SMBs and consumers, and we'll see the benefits of that more fully in our fiscal Q4."
Dell had an active third quarter. The company completed the acquisition of Perot Systems in early November. Dell hopes the acquisition will give the company an advantage in delivering more practical solutions to help customers reduce IT costs. Dell is in the process of integrating Perot Systems into its business.
"Consistently generating strong cash from operations allows us to expand our own capabilities and acquire new ones," said Dell CFO Brian Gladden. "Those investments will mostly be in higher-margin enterprise solutions, like our purchase of Perot Systems. Adding Perot best positions us to provide streamlined solutions that help customers get the most from their IT budgets."
Dell had a strong quarter...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
Barnes & Noble Nook E-Reader Will Arrive After Christmas
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70221
In what may remind many consumers of the Amazon Kindle's early days, Barnes & Noble expects shipments of its nook e-book reader to be delayed. On Friday, the giant book retailer said it has sold out its first batch of nooks amid high demand -- and new shipments won't be available until after the holiday shopping season ends.
"While we increased production based on the high consumer interest, we've sold out of our initial nook allotment available for delivery before the holidays," the company said.
Running out of hot products isn't new in the technology world. Beyond Amazon's Kindle, Apple has also had issues keeping iPhones in stock at launch. Sony is also facing shortages of its Daily Edition e-book reader.
Barnes & Noble customers who order the nook won't get the device until January. The next batch of nooks will ship the week of Jan. 4, according to the company. Consumers who want to purchase a nook as a holiday gift will receive a certificate that highlights the January availability.
Sony's Daily Edition is available on a first-come, first-served basis and Sony isn't making guarantees about holiday delivery of its latest e-book reader. As a result, Amazon may be the big e-reader winner this year. Amazon has a strong supply of various versions of the Kindle.
"Part of the problem with the delays is that Barnes & Noble is not a device company. So they are working with suppliers and getting into businesses that they are somewhat unfamiliar with," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. "I also think they are dealing with a category that is emerging, and therefore it is incredibly hard to predict the demand. But new e-book readers are debuting at CES, so if they wait too long there will be more competition."
Sat, 21 Nov 09
California's Plasma-TV Ban Could Be Costly, CEA Warns
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70220
California's ban on plasma-screen televisions to reduce energy consumption could cost as much as $50 million per year in sales taxes because consumers are free to buy the sets online or in other states. "At a time when the state of California is facing its worst money crisis in history, this is going to be disastrous," said Jennifer Bemisderfer, a spokesperson for the Consumer Electronics Association, which lobbied against the ban.
The California Energy Commission's ban on plasma sets 58 inches or smaller is the first in the nation. It came after two years of debate on skyrocketing home energy costs and takes effect in 2011.
Commission Chairman Karen Douglas said the new regulations will save $8.1 billion in energy costs.
"The real winners of these new TV energy efficiencies are California consumers, who will be saving billions of dollars and conserving energy while preserving their choice to buy any size or type of TV," Douglas said. "Californians buy four million televisions each year and they deserve the most energy-efficient models available."
The Virginia-based Consumer Electronics Association, which represents 2,000 manufacturers, retailers and suppliers, estimated the $50 million tax loss. It also warned that the ban could kill 4,000 retail jobs in California.
The nation's most populous state, California represents one quarter of the market for plasma TVs, Bemisderfer said. "The [CEC] considers TVs low-hanging fruit," she added. "They have estimated the amount of TVs used in the home at 10 percent. Our estimate is that about half that. And in the last two years alone, manufacturers have improved energy efficiency by 41 percent."
Last month, a manufacturer's group, the Plasma Display Coalition, accused the commission of a "flagrant misinformation campaign" about plasma energy usage.
A Zogby International poll commissioned by the CEA found that 57 percent of California residents opposed the ban.
Bemisderfer...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
New Pogoplug 'Personal Cloud' Does Social Networking
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70219
On Friday, Cloud Engines released its newest version of the Pogoplug, a small "multimedia sharing device" that connects hard drives to the Internet and allows a user to access the files remotely. The company described Pogoplug as "your own personal cloud that broadcasts safely from your home."
You connect Pogoplug to your router by Ethernet, attach hard drives or USB flash drives, and then access files by logging in from anywhere through a browser. You can also securely give access to others for downloading or uploading, the company said.
The shared content can be searched remotely by file type or other parameters and, with a downloadable desktop application, the drives can work as if they were local to whatever machine you happen to be on. Mobile-compatible devices include iPhone, BlackBerry and Android-based phones.
The newest Pogoplug offers multiple USB ports for as many as four external drives, a drag-and-drop interface to create slide and audio shows, and capabilities for sharing with friends on social-networking sites.
Essentially, Pogoplug is a gateway to deliver your content to yourself or others from a home or office through the Internet. Cloud Engines CEO Daniel Putterman said the company is "giving our customers the best way to access their data from anywhere in the world."
The newest incarnation of this product enables Pogoplug to sync with a Mac or PC, so content can be automatically imported from iTunes, Windows Media Player, or iPhoto. With this "set it and forget it" feature, users can access new photos, videos or music remotely.
The new model also allows creating a slideshow of photos, videos and music, and then sharing the show via a link. There's an address book to share e-mail addresses, and global search across multiple Pogoplugs and drives. Videos can be played back directly from Pogoplug.
Ross Rubin, director...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
Google's Chrome OS Will Be Optimized for Speed
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70218
Google is showcasing how its Chrome OS will change the user experience when it launches before next year's holiday season. The new operating system will initially appear on netbook-style devices that will feature bigger keyboards than today's netbooks offer, the company said.
First and foremost, the Chrome OS design team is obsessed about speed, noted Group Product Manager Caesar Sengupta and Engineering Director Matt Papakipos.
"We are taking out every unnecessary process, optimizing many operations, and running everything possible in parallel," Sengupta and Papakipos said. "This means you can go from turning on the computer to surfing the web in a few seconds."
Though Chrome OS still has a long way to go before all its specs are finalized, Google is already showing off some of the features it has in mind. To minimize the amount of screen space devoted to the Chrome OS, the system's user-interface window is expected to combine apps and standard web pages into a tab strip at the top of the screen.
Called the apps menu, the primary OS access point will provide ready access to frequently used web apps and tools featuring desktop functionality. Moreover, individual apps will open in tabs along the strip.
"Within these application tabs, most things behave the same way as they do in Chrome today," said Google spokesperson Glen Murphy.
Some secondary apps will open in small overlays that Google calls panels. Designed to handle specific functions, such as chat and music players, the panels will float on top of other open applications. Or if the user prefers, they can be docked to a bar at the bottom of the screen or placed in a sidebar. Additionally, Google may offer a split-screen mode that will enable users to view two different content selections side by side.
Sat, 21 Nov 09
Smart Spending: Online Help for Holiday Shopping
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70195
Shoppers face a dizzying array of offers of help in the form of new Web sites, services and mobile phone applications as they set out for their holiday shopping this year.
To make the most of new services, experts advise employing them often and early, even before the season kicks off with Black Friday next week.
Here are four ways to track down holiday bargains and a look at whether each could work for you:
1. GET SOCIAL. Many consumers are following their favorite brands and retailers to networking Web sites like Facebook and Twitter, where the companies are posting deals not seen in stores.
"I don't think it's going to be all about the Black Friday or Cyber Monday," said Michelle Madhok, CEO and editor in chief of shopping sites Shefinds.com and Momfinds.com. "I think those deals are going to go on and on."
This year's best deals will be online, she said. It's easier for retailers to launch and retract deals online, where matching inventory with customers is less of a challenge than in stores.
- IS IT FOR YOU? If you're a regular on Twitter or Facebook, social networks are good places to start shopping. But if you're new to social networking, it may take time before you can efficiently find deals. And there are other ways to find bargains online (see No. 3).
2. GET ORGANIZED. Other new services include budget applications for mobile phones; they can help you stay within your limits even though they're intended to help coax shoppers into spending.
JPMorgan Chase's "GiftPlanner" lets users list recipients and how much they want to spend and then track their total budget. Both GiftPlanner and AOL's "Holiday Plan" are free for the iPhone, and the latter enables users to click through to sponsor Walmart.com to start shopping.
- IS IT FOR YOU? You may...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
TV on the Go Leaves a Little To Be Desired
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70190
You have to really love TV to spring for a portable TV like the FLO TV Personal Television I've been testing. While you can already "snack" on live and pre-recorded mobile TV offerings on some cell phones, this brand new FLO handheld is a dedicated television you might schlep in addition to a phone.
FLO's pitch is that you can use this stand-alone digital TV to keep you and the troops entertained on the go. You might watch on the bus or train to the office. You might pass FLO TV to the kids in the back seat during a lengthy trip. Heck, you might even watch it in the bathroom or prop it up on your desk at work.
Only, for now, its pickings are too slim, the quality of the TV signal is so-so and its price too high.
The device arrives from FLO TV Inc., a Qualcomm subsidiary whose initial mobile TV fare is available on certain smartphones and soon in automobiles as well. Programming comes from the likes of CBS Mobile, CNBC, CNN Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile, Fox News, MSNBC, MTV, NBC 2Go and Nickelodeon. FLO can carry up to 20 channels, but only half that number are on the Personal Television at the moment.
Some shows are simulcast the same time they're broadcast on regular TV. Others are time shifted, so you can watch the Late Show with David Letterman or The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien the day after the previous evening's broadcasts.
Prime time doesn't mean the same in mobile TV land. FLO says its usage peaks around 1 p.m., with the average daily viewer spending more than 25 minutes watching the service. The company says its largest ever audience came during Michael Jackson's memorial in July. FLO can add channels during live events such as college...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
Watchmakers Seize the Moment for iPhone
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70189
It was not so long ago that the spread of the mobile phone sent waves of fear through the reserved world of fine watchmaking. The practicality of a portable phone that doubled as an accurate digital timekeeper made the necessity for a wristwatch vanish almost overnight.
But now, with the popularity of the iPhone and its myriad applications, the watch industry finally has been able to embrace a product that once was considered the biggest threat to its survival.
A wide range of brands, from the big names like Breitling, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, Dior and Bell & Ross to independents like Dewitt, have introduced iPhone applications in the past six months that highlight their watch lines. The applications, all free, are available from the online Apple store.
Some might argue that the efforts are just another way of marketing to timepiece aficionados, but within the industry they are seen as a way to reach a younger and more digitally savvy customer and a natural extension of the close-knit world of watch collectors that thrives online with fan forums and blogs.
After all, Apple announced in early November that it now has more than 100,000 applications available. "The high-end watch world has indeed flourished since the Internet has become so widespread," says Elizabeth Doerr, author of "12 Faces of Time," a book on independent watchmaking scheduled to be published in February by teNeues. "The independents, in particular, have greatly profited from the technology in that they can communicate more directly with aficionados and collectors."
"The apps that have thus far appeared -- and will continue to do so until the next big social marketing tool is discovered -- are an extension of the rapidly changing world of watch marketing," she adds. "Brands are looking for less costly ways of more effective and direct marketing,...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
Intel Leads Big Retreat in World Markets
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70188
World stocks slid Thursday after analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch reportedly downgraded their recommendations on a series of U.S. technology stocks, including Intel Corp. That feeded mounting concerns that current valuations are not justified by the pace of the global economic recovery.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 74.43 points, or 1.4 percent, at 5,267.70 while Germany's DAX fell 85.43 points, or 1.5 percent, to 5,702.18. The CAC-40 in France ended 67.94 points, or 1.8 percent, lower at 3,760.22.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 149.72 points, or 1.4 percent, at 10,276.59 around midday New York time while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 19.12 points, or 1.7 percent, at 1,090.68.
Technology stocks in the U.S. were at the sharp end of Thursday's retreat in the U.S. after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded their recommendations on ten stocks, including Intel Corp., Texas Instruments Inc. and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, said David Buik, markets analyst at BGC Partners. Intel was down over 5 percent, making it the biggest faller on the Dow.
The downgrades fed into a growing feeling in the markets that stock valuations are now pricing in too rapid an economic recovery.
Stock markets have rallied strongly since March's lows as investors reined in their economic doomsday expectations to factor in a swifter than anticipated global economic rebound, but recent disappointing U.S. housing figures have dented the optimism.
Figures Thursday from the Mortgage Bankers Association showing that more than 14 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of September added to the gloom.
Mixed earnings from some of the country's leading retailers have also weighed on sentiment as household spending in the U.S. is key for recovery -- it...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
Review: $100 Palm Pixi Is Stylish But Sluggish
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70184
Palm Inc. is fighting harder than ever to snag a chunk of the smart phone market, and just six months after releasing the stylish Pre it's back with a lighter, more petite and affordable version called the Pixi.
It's too bad such a good-looking phone is so aggravating to use.
With its trim candy bar-shaped body, full keyboard and $100 price tag (with a two-year Sprint Nextel contract and $150 in rebates), it's clear that Palm is aiming the Pixi at younger, text messaging-savvy consumers.
The Pixi is one of the most attractive phones I've seen. Its glossy black face features a crisp-though-diminutive 2.6-inch touch screen and a full keyboard that's about the size of a Pink Pearl eraser. The keys are the sticky, rubbery kind familiar to Palm fans. In between the screen and keyboard sits a small area where you make finger swipes to switch between applications.
The Pixi felt great in my hand. The sides of the device are rounded and its sides and back are a matte, rubberized plastic. At 3.3 ounces, it's a featherweight compared to the Pre, iPhone and most BlackBerry phones -- the Pre and iPhone each tip the scales at 4.8 ounces. The Pixi includes 8 gigabytes of storage for photos, music and videos.
The Pixi's display is an elfin version of its older brother's. Like the Pre, it has Palm's easy-to-navigate WebOS software, which organizes your open applications like little playing cards that stretch across the screen, waiting for you to tap on them to bring them to the foreground. (You use an upward finger flick to dismiss them.)
A notable WebOS feature has been its ability to aggregate your contacts and calendar entries from such services as Facebook and Google. The Pixi takes things a little further by letting you include your contacts from Yahoo and...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
Sony Ericsson Closes Sites as HQ Moves
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70182
Cell phone handset maker Sony Ericsson will move its North American headquarters from North Carolina to Atlanta and close a half-dozen sites worldwide as it retrenches against what it expects will be a tighter market and cuts about 1,600 jobs globally.
The joint venture between Sweden's LM Ericsson and Japan's Sony Corp. will consolidate product development operations by closing sites in Research Triangle Park; Seattle; Miami; San Diego; Kista, Sweden; and Chennai, India, spokeswoman Stacy Doster said.
The site closures are new elements of a plan announced in April to cut a worldwide staff of 10,000 by 20 percent, Doster said. About 400 jobs have been cut since then and about 1,600 remain to meet that goal by the middle of next year, she said.
The cost-cutting follows the loss of 2,000 jobs last year.
The 8-year-old company has about 425 workers left in Research Triangle Park after shedding hundreds of jobs in the past year. Operations include customer support, sales, finance and research and development.
Doster said she did not know how many were employed at other locations the company planned to close. She also did not know how many would be added in Atlanta when that site takes over North American headquarters functions.
"There's a project team looking at what makes sense in what areas of the business," Doster said. "We've got to figure all that out across the whole organization."
Atlanta was chosen in part because of its proximity to AT&T Inc., one of the company's largest customers, Doster said. The city also is desirable as a "gateway into Latin America" because of its international connections through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, she said.
Product development would be consolidated in Sony Ericsson operations in Redwood Shores, Calif.; Lund, Sweden; Tokyo; and Beijing, Doster said.
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said the headquarters relocation "will be another boost to...
Sat, 21 Nov 09
FAA Glitch Causes Widespread U.S. Air Travel Delays
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70178
Air travelers nationwide scrambled to revise their travel plans Thursday after an FAA computer glitch caused widespread cancellations and delays for the second time in 15 months.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the problem, which lasted about five hours, was fixed around 10 a.m., but it was unclear how long flights would continue to be affected.
Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Union, said controllers were still entering flight plans manually in some locations.
Aviation officials told The Associated Press that the problem began at the computer center in the Salt Lake City area. The officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto said the problem started between 5:15 and 5:30 a.m. and affected mostly flight plans but also traffic management, such as ground stops and ground delays.
Airplane dispatchers had to send plans to controllers, who entered them into computers by hand.
"It's slowing everything down," Takemoto said.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest, has been particularly affected. Chicago and Washington, D.C., and New York metro airports also reported delays due to the glitch. The problem was exacerbating delays caused by bad weather in the Northeast. Orlando International Airport, Florida's busiest, also reported about a dozen delays due to the chain reaction around the country, and flights in Tampa, Fla., were also delayed.
Mary Rulo, an educator from Atlanta, was trying to get to Philadelphia for a conference. She said her 9 a.m. flight was delayed until 3 p.m. and AirTran was not able to help with other arrangements.
"This is really going to affect my conference schedule," she said. "It's really frustrating."
AirTran canceled at least 22 flights and dozens more flights were delayed as of 8 a.m. Delta Air Lines was also affected.
Passengers were asked to check the status of their flights...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
Auto-Updating Chrome OS Will Focus on Security
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70198
Google sketched out more details Thursday about its Chrome operating system, which is slated to become available before the end of next year. Google said the project's initial target is to get Chrome OS up and running on the computing devices that depend most on Internet connectivity.
Chrome OS marks a radical departure from today's operating systems because all the applications and even the user's data will reside in the cloud, noted Google Vice President Sundar Pichai. "We are initially focused on netbook-like form factors with a color display and real keyboard," Pichai said, though the company eventually wants Chrome OS "to run on full laptops and desktops."
Google touted the enhanced stability and security that Chrome OS is expected to offer. For example, every time users restart their machines, the operating system will verify the integrity of its code and if it needs a fix or an upgrade, the appropriate version of the OS will download to the machine automatically.
"If your system has been compromised, it is designed to fix itself with a reboot," noted Caesar Sengupta, Google's group product manager. "While no computer can be made completely secure, we're going to make life much harder -- and less profitable -- for the bad guys."
Because of the changes that Google has made to the Chrome OS file system, all user data will become encrypted and synced back to the cloud, which offers security advantages, noted Engineering Director Matt Papakipos. So if the machine is lost, damaged or stolen, all the user's data is protected from theft and "will sync back to a new machine in a matter of seconds," he said.
Moreover, unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn't trust the applications that users run on their machines. Instead, each app is contained...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
Office 2010 Integrates with the Web, But Weakly
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70197
With the public beta of Office 2010, Microsoft is offering an intriguing future for the world's most popular productivity suite. The new version features integration with web-based, lightweight versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint; a mobile version; and social-networking features bolted onto Outlook.
One long-awaited development is Office Web Apps, Microsoft's competition for Google Docs and other online office suites. While the current beta only makes Excel and PowerPoint available to consumers via Windows Live, Word and OneNote are available to businesses via SharePoint Server. By the time Office 2010 launches in mid-2010, all apps will be available online to both sectors.
But based on the current versions, a PC World reviewer said, Office Web Apps are "no match" for Google and Zoho. "For example, Excel can't create charts, Word has no support for revision mode, and the slide-creation tools in PowerPoint pale next to the wealth of choices in Zoho Show," Yardena Arar wrote.
The problem with web apps has always been how can Microsoft compete with Google's free offerings without cannibalizing sales of its flagship desktop products? "The availability of Office compatibility with the web actually supports the web-apps approach that Google is taking," Greg Sterling, principal analyst with Sterling Market Research, said in an e-mail. But the company really has no choice. "Microsoft needs to do this; it's the direction the market is going in," Sterling added.
The approach continues to be to make the online software an adjunct to the real desktop. "The offerings' lack of features suggests that Microsoft isn't trying to create a web-based productivity ecosystem so much as it is attempting to give customers a Microsoft option for basic editing when they don't have access to the desktop software," Arar said.
The beta also includes a version of Office for Windows Mobile devices,...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
Google Will Add Text Captions To YouTube Videos
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70194
In a move to make YouTube's massive inventory more accessible to deaf and hearing-impaired people, Google announced plans to add automatic captioning technology to the video site. Google has combined its automatic speech-recognition technology with the existing YouTube caption system. Called auto-caps for short, the captions rely on the same voice-recognition algorithms in Google Voice to automatically generate captions for YouTube videos.
Ken Harrenstien, a Google software engineer who is deaf, said the hundreds of thousands of captioned videos on YouTube and Google Video suggest that more people are becoming aware of how useful captions can be.
"As we've explained in the past, captions not only help the deaf and hearing-impaired, but with machine translation they also enable people around the world to access video content in any of 51 languages," Harrenstien said. "Captions can also improve search and even enable users to jump to the exact parts of the videos they're looking for."
In addition to automatic captions, YouTube is also launching automatic caption timing, or auto-timing, to make it significantly easier to create captions manually. With auto-timing, video uploaders no longer need to have special expertise to create captions in YouTube. Harrenstien hopes this technology encourages more members to caption their videos.
Here's how it works: Create a text file with all the words in the video, then upload the file and Google's automatic speech-recognition technology figures out when the words are spoken and creates captions for the video. As Harrenstien sees it, the process should significantly lower the barriers for video owners who want to add captions, but who don't have the time or resources to create professional caption tracks.
YouTube visitors should expect to see both new features in English by the end of the week. For the initial launch, auto-caps are only visible on a...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
AT&T Fires Back at Verizon with 'X and V' Commercial
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70192
AT&T isn't holding back in responding to attacks from Verizon Wireless. After losing a court fight to stop Verizon from airing commercials that pointed out holes in AT&T's 3G service, AT&T is responding with its own commercial.
On Wednesday, the wireless carrier unveiled a commercial featuring actor Luke Wilson. In the commercial, Wilson gives AT&T an X for everything he said AT&T provides to subscribers, including a 3G network, the ability to surf the Internet while on the phone, and access to a phone with more than 100,000 apps.
Verizon, on the other hand, gets credit only for starting with the letter V.
AT&T's move comes after its complaint in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, asking a judge for a restraining order to stop Verizon from airing the controversial ads, was denied.
The Verizon ads feature a Verizon smartphone user with access in most places throughout the U.S. as shown on a map of nationwide coverage. Verizon aimed the television and radio ads against AT&T's 3G network, which has been the source of complaints from smartphone users for some time.
Verizon stood behind its ad and said AT&T's complaint had no merit. "With more and more people buying 3G smartphones, PDAs and embedded laptops, our ads serve to inform customers where their 3G smartphone apps will work," Verizon's Nancy Stark told us.
AT&T also took its argument to the web.
"As the U.S. market leader in wireless data service, we typically don't respond to competitors' advertising," wrote the company on its web site. "However, some recent ads from Verizon are so blatantly false and misleading, that we want to set the record straight about AT&T's wireless data coverage."
AT&T goes on to tell customers that its coverage reaches 303 million people and consists of three different types of technology, including 3G, EDGE and...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
AOL Offers Voluntary Resignations Instead of Layoffs
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70191
After announcing a spin-off from parent company Time Warner on Monday, AOL is moving to reduce its head count about one-third. AOL is looking for employees who are willing to resign from their jobs at the once-dominant Internet firm.
As part of a voluntary layoff program that will begin Dec. 4 and run through Dec. 11, AOL will accept up to 2,500 resignations. That would shave about 30 percent of its 6,900 employee base -- if the packages are healthy enough to convince employees to quit their jobs in the midst of a recession.
"We will need to do an involuntary layoff if we do not reach the target numbers through the voluntary option," said AOL spokesperson Tricia Primrose. "We believe the voluntary program gives people more choice and decision-making ability instead of waiting for the final cost recommendations and involuntary layoffs."
AOL's costs will decline with the job cuts, but there is no guarantee the layoffs will translate directly to an improvement in the company's market position, according to Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.
"AOL is getting rid of what they perceive to be fat. But if you are asking people to voluntarily resign, then you are not necessarily getting rid of fat," Sterling said. "You may be losing some good people who decide it's not going to be worth it to be there."
As Sterling sees it, AOL has a lot of assets, but also a lot of challenges. The company needs to figure out its role, how it is different from Yahoo, and how it is going to compete and when. Those are the questions that AOL is must answer, Sterling said.
The layoffs aren't unexpected. When Time Warner first announced plans to spin off AOL, a company it acquired in 2000, Time Warner Chairman and...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
Apple Tablet Rumored Delayed as Publisher Gears Up
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70185
Like Elvis, there have been so many sightings and rumors of an upcoming, groundbreaking Apple tablet that it has taken on legendary status. But now the legend is undergoing revisions, with new reports that the tablet will be delayed and that a major publisher is getting ready -- and still no word from Apple.
Taiwan-based DigiTimes reported Thursday that the launch of the tablet computer is being delayed from March to the second half of 2010 so it can include a model using a 9.7-inch OLED display from LG. OLED, or Organic Liquid Crystal Display, technology is considered to have superior black levels and other features, compared to LCD screens.
DigiTimes said there will also be a 10.6-inch LCD-based model, and Quanta Computer and Pegatron Technology will manufacture both models. Because of the high price of OLED, the publication said the retail price could be as high as $2,200, with the LCD model in the $800-1,000 range. The OLED screen alone is reported to cost about $500. However, the delay could help the final price, as the cost of OLEDs could drop.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who has frequently said the Apple tablet is real, noted Thursday that the delay won't hurt Apple's revenue projections, since most analyses of the company's expected 2010 results don't include a tablet product.
And, he said, if Apple does release a modestly priced tablet in the fall -- in the range of $600 -- it could expect to sell about 650,000 units. If the tablet, which is expected to have 3G and Wi-Fi, is bundled with multi-year plans from a wireless carrier like AT&T, its price could be partially subsidized. Earlier reports have speculated the price would be between $500 and $700.
There are also new reports about...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
U.K. Police Make Trojan Computer Virus Arrests
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70171
British police have made the first European arrests connected to the spread of a data-thieving virus thought to have infected tens of thousands of computers worldwide, Scotland Yard said Wednesday.
The electronic crimes unit of London's police force said a man and a woman, both 20, were arrested in the English city of Manchester on Nov. 3 on suspicion of helping infect computers with programs sometimes known as "Zbot" or "ZeuS."
One expert described the viruses as the "most notorious pieces of malware of recent times."
"This is one of the most frequent families of worms that we encounter," said Graham Cluley, a technology consultant with British security firm Sophos PLC. "The ferocity with which it's been spammed out on occasions has really hit our radar."
Cluley said the Zbot family of viruses first came to his attention in 2007. Since then it has periodically swept across the Internet, stealing personal information from computers across the world and feeding it back to cyber-criminals. The viruses are commonly known as Trojan Horses or Trojans because they sneak onto computers and attack them from the inside, harvesting millions of lines of data -- including banking information, credit card numbers and social networking passwords.
The viruses spread by sending e-mails or other messages from infected computers, impersonating banks, tax officials, credit card companies or even friends and enticing potential victims to click on a link that downloads the Trojan.
Police said given the amount of information stolen "the potential financial gains to the culprits and losses to individuals and institutions are very substantial."
Cluley said it was impossible to know how much money had been lost to the viruses, adding that attacks were ongoing -- including two big waves in the past week alone.
Police said the Manchester pair were arrested on suspicion of breaking Britain's fraud and computer laws. It...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
Computer Security Firm Fortinet Plans IPO This Week
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70160
Fortinet Inc. plans to go public Wednesday in an initial public offering, giving investors a chance to tap a network security provider with sales expected to grow.
If shares price at the top end of their projected range of $9 to $11, the IPO could be valued at $137.5 million, or more if the offering's underwriters exercise their overallotment options.
Fortinet's line of business is unified threat management -- offering various security functions, such as antivirus and firewall protection, in one package. The market research firm IDC pegs Fortinet's share of the unified threat management market at a little more than 15 percent. The firm expects the overall market to reach $3.5 billion in sales by 2012, up from $1.3 billion in 2007.
Fortinet said it will issue roughly 5.8 million shares. At the midpoint of the expected pricing range, the IPO would bring the company estimated proceeds of $52.4 million. The company plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.
Company insiders plan to offer another 6.7 million shares, up from a previously announced 6.2 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company will not receive proceeds from those shares. The integrated approach is intended to simplify management and cut costs.
David Menlow, president of IPOfinancial, said the public offering should be a straightforward opportunity for investors. "The growth rate of the company continues to improve," he said. "There's no rocket science with this."
Fortinet, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., said its revenue climbed from $38.7 million in 2004 to $211.8 million last year.
The company breaks its revenue into two categories: Product revenue, the biggest segment, includes one-time sales of security hardware and software. Services revenue includes subscriptions to antivirus, Web filtering and other programs.
The company says it became profitable in the third quarter of last year and has remained...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
GAO: Los Alamos Computer Security Has Weaknesses
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70149
Security weaknesses uncovered in Los Alamos National Laboratory's classified computer network could increase the risk of a breach of classified information, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a new report.
The GAO audited key parts of the nuclear weapons lab's classified computers from November 2008 to July 2009. The classified computer network consists of more than 3,900 computers and devices for about 3,800 users, the report said.
Preventing leaks of sensitive information on the northern New Mexico lab's classified computer network is "critical to national security," the report stated.
"While the laboratory has taken steps to protect information on its classified computer network, a number of security weaknesses remain," the report said.
Lab spokesman Kevin Roark said Tuesday the vast majority of the issues raised by the report already have been resolved.
"All classified data at Los Alamos is extremely well protected and isolated from the Internet and all indications -- including other external audits -- confirm that this most important of information continues to be safe," Roark said.
Among the GAO's findings:
- The lab failed to mark the classification level of documents stored on its classified computer network or keep an inventory of the numbers and types of classified documents stored there. The report said that increased the risk that the lab may not be able to detect inappropriate uses.
- The lab also cannot effectively monitor the actions of computer users. While it monitored the network regularly, certain events were not being logged, which increased the risk that an unauthorized user would not be detected.
- Not all users were provided with the necessary specialized security training.
- Each division at the lab was responsible for securing its own computer systems that are connected to the classified network, which has resulted in a patchwork of cyber security practices.
The lab has had a number of high-profile security...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
House Lawmakers Push Ban on Peer-to-Peer Software
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70148
Stung by an embarrassing electronic leak last month revealing ethics investigations into dozens of lawmakers, Congress moved Tuesday to prohibit federal employees from using the same type of Internet file-sharing software blamed for the disclosure.
The Secure Federal File Sharing Act, introduced in the House, would bar government employees and contractors from downloading, installing or using so-called peer-to-peer file sharing software such as Limewire without official approval. The bill also would require the White House to develop rules for employees and contractors working on home or personal computers.
The software is popular among computer users trading music, movies and other files over the Internet, often in violation of copyright owners. The underpinning technology also makes other information on a person's computer vulnerable to being downloaded, especially if the software isn't configured properly.
A House ethics committee report outlining inquiries involving dozens of members of Congress leaked onto the Internet after a junior committee staff member saved it on the hard drive of a home computer. The staff member, who had peer-to-peer software, didn't realize the file was unprotected but was subsequently fired anyway.
The secret report detailed investigations that included financial dealings, travel and campaign donations.
The White House Office of Management and Budget advised federal agencies in 2004 not to use peer-to-peer software. Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., the new bill's sponsor, said putting the prohibition in federal law gives it much greater weight.
"We can no longer ignore the threat to sensitive government information that insecure peer-to-peer networks pose," said Towns, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "Voluntary self-regulations have failed so now is the time for Congress to act."
Critics of the software, including the entertainment industry, have complained that personal data, including Social Security numbers, medical records and tax returns, are being unwittingly shared because users are unaware of how the...
Fri, 20 Nov 09
Microsoft Told To Stop Some Windows Sales in China
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70147
A Beijing court has ordered Microsoft Corp. to stop selling some versions of its Windows operating system in China in a licensing dispute with a local supplier.
The order Monday said Microsoft exceeded its rights under licensing agreements with Zhongyi Electronic Ltd., a Beijing company that developed Chinese character fonts used in the software.
Microsoft must stop selling versions of Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 with Zhongyi's fonts, the Beijing People's No. 1 Intermediate Court said in its ruling, a copy of which was released by Zhongyi.
Microsoft said it would appeal.
"Microsoft respects intellectual property rights. We use third party IPs only when we have a legitimate right to do so," the company said in a statement. "We believe our license agreements with the plaintiff cover our use of the fonts."
Microsoft did not respond to a question about what proportion of its products sold in China use Zhongyi fonts or how many copies might be affected.
Zhongyi said its agreement with Microsoft allowed the Seattle-based software producer to use its fonts only in Windows 95 and they were added to later products without permission.
China is a leading source of pirated copies of software, movies and other goods and its government has long been accused of failing to do enough to stop the thriving underground industry.
China's small but ambitious technology companies say they are among the biggest victims of piracy and are turning to the courts to help defend their intellectual property.
In December, a group of 11 people who were convicted of selling unlicensed copies of Microsoft software were sentenced by a Chinese court to up to 6 1/2 years in prison.
Fri, 20 Nov 09
Senators Blast Web Sites for Scamming Shoppers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70146
With Cyber Monday, the unofficial start of the Internet holiday shopping season nearing, a Senate committee Tuesday condemned three online companies, saying they are tricking consumers into signing up for subscription services they don't want.
Internet companies Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty are using aggressive sales tactics to scam millions of customers, the Senate Commerce Committee said.
According to a committee report, the three companies enter into agreements with other more familiar Internet shopping sites that sell movie tickets, flowers and other items.
Just before a customer completes the sales confirmation process the customer gets an offer that often promises $10 cash back or other rewards, and appears to be connected to the shopper's original transaction.
When the shopper clicks "continue," or "yes," the shopper -- often without knowing -- enters into a new financial contract with a membership club operated by Affinion, Vertrue or Webloyalty, the report said. The shopper's credit card information is sent to the membership club company, which charges monthly fees, by the shopping site the shopper originally visited.
"Beware if you're a consumer," said the committee's chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. "I worry about this because the holiday shopping season is just beginning." He added that while the companies insist they are not breaking any laws, "just because what you say you do is legal doesn't make it right."
While the day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday, historically the point when retailers start to turn a profit, the following Monday has become known as Cyber Monday because it's the day when many shoppers begin trolling the Internet for bargains from computers at work or home.
The three Internet companies said in statements that they have put additional safeguards into effect, including clearer disclosure statements and new requirements that customers must enter the last four digits of their credit card number to...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
IE9 Expected To Let Browser Access PC Hardware
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70174
Microsoft told its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles Wednesday that it's already working on the next version of Internet Explorer. In addition to demonstrating some of the progress on performance and interoperability standards in IE9, Microsoft said it intends to make more PC hardware capabilities available to web developers from within the browser.
"Specifically, we demonstrated hardware-accelerated rendering of all graphics and text in web pages, something that other browsers don't do today," said Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch.
IE8 has been criticized for running significantly behind rival browsers in industry tests such as Sunspider and Acid3. However, browser performance is "a super-complex problem" because different sites -- and even different activities within the same site -- can place varying loads and demands on the many different subsystems within the browser, Hachamovitch said.
"As we continue to improve support in IE for technologies that site developers use, IE9's Acid3 score will continue to go up," Hachamovitch said. However, Microsoft's ultimate goal "is to deliver better performance across the board for real-world sites, not just benchmarks," he added.
According to members of the company's browser development team, the performance of the JavaScript engine that will ship with IE9 is already on par with the numbers being delivered by the latest Mozilla Firefox beta. They also claim to be making progress in helping IE9 catch up to the red-hot performance delivered by Google Chrome's latest V8 engine.
"We've been working on a bunch of performance optimizations centered on the JavaScript engine," said IE9 team member John Montgomery. "One of the things we've heard very clearly from customers is that we need to get better there."
Microsoft also intends to help web developers by changing IE so they can use the DirectX family of Windows APIs. "The starting point...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Salesforce Chatter Brings Social Networking To Business
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70173
Social networking has been the face of Web 2.0 for many years now. But until now the phrase has been synonymous with Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. Despite the efforts of companies like LinkedIn to bring social networking into the business world, in many ways organizations have been slow to adapt to the new technology.
Salesforce.com wants to change that. Speaking to 19,000 attendees at the company's Dreamforce conference, CEO Marc Benioff announced Salesforce Chatter, a social-networking product for Salesforce customers.
"Why do I know more about strangers on Facebook than my own employees?" Benioff asked. "Now, through Salesforce Chatter, my business is tweeting me. My employees can use the models they love to get the collaboration they need."
Why should businesses enable social networking, which to many people is the epitome of time-wasting Internet use? According to Salesforce's promotional materials, the "Collaboration Cloud" allows companies to "stay on top of everything that's happening in your company with real-time updates on people, groups, documents and your application data. And all of it will fuel better -- and faster -- business decisions."
Chatter features pretty much every trick in the social-networking toolbox, including profiles (Facebook), status updates (Twitter), Groups (Yahoo), feeds (RSS), collaborative documents (Google Docs), collaborative applications (Salesforce), as well as integration with Facebook, Twitter and Google directly.
So should small and midsize businesses rush out to add social networking to the mix? Maybe not so fast, Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT, said in a telephone interview. King pointed out that IBM beat Salesforce to the social-networking party with LotusLive, introduced in January.
Before launching the service, IBM deployed LotusLive internally to every employee around the globe for VoIP telephony and avatar-driven virtual meetings. IBM's work may represent the largest beta test ever of social networking in the enterprise and the jury is...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Microsoft Releases Betas of Office 2010 and More
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70172
Microsoft has released the beta version of Office 2010, along with betas of the 2010 versions of SharePoint Server, Visio, Project and Office Web Apps for business customers. Office Mobile 2010 has also reached the beta milestone.
"We are hoping to have millions of people download and test the products, as we depend on that feedback to shape the final product," said Kurt DelBene, senior vice president of the Office Business Productivity Group at Microsoft. "To get the broadest range of feedback we are making this beta available in seven languages -- English, Spanish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Russian, French and German -- more than any other Office beta program in the past."
A centerpiece of the announcement is Office Mobile 2010, which DelBene said makes the Office experience across the PC, phone and browser a reality. Office Mobile 2010 includes mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and new SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010, and is available worldwide in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile for Windows Mobile 6.5 phones.
"We're also announcing several new features in Office 2010," DelBene said. "One key new offering is the Outlook Social Connector, which brings communications history, business collaboration, and social-network feeds directly into Outlook, with support for Windows Live and SharePoint Server."
Microsoft also announced plans to deliver a new product named Duet Enterprise for Microsoft SharePoint and SAP. With tens of thousands of joint customers around the world, DelBene said bringing SAP applications and business processes together with Microsoft SharePoint creates the opportunity to release a new wave of productivity gains for end users.
DelBene said Duet Enterprise for Microsoft SharePoint and SAP will make way for customers and partners with the opportunity to compose solutions based upon Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and SAP. The solution is for release in the second half...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Shatters Game Records
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70167
Flying in the face of recessionary cautions about the video-game industry, Activision Blizzard is shattering record after record with its latest release. Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 continues to break box-office and sales records for a five-day worldwide sell-through.
In the biggest entertainment launch in world history, the latest installment of Call of Duty set a worldwide estimated five-day record of approximately $550 million, according to internal Activision estimates.
"In just five days of sell-through, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the largest entertainment launch in history and a pop-culture phenomenon," said Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. "The title's success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media."
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's launch beat nine records -- that's every previous first- and five-day entertainment industry box-office, book and video-game sell-through records, including the largest reported five-day opening worldwide box-office gross figures previously held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at $394 million.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 also surpassed the largest reported five-day opening domestic box-office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight at $203.8 million, and the largest reported five-day worldwide video-game sales record, held by Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold six million units for $500 million in sales.
And that's just the beginning. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 also beat the largest
reported opening first-day domestic box-office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight at $66.4 million; the largest reported first-day book sales, held by Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows at $220 million; and the largest reported first-day worldwide video-game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV at $310 million.
Activision's blockbuster hit is also helping Microsoft. According to...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Apple Clears Final Hurdle To Sell iPhone in South Korea
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70166
Apple will soon begin offering its iPhones through carriers in South Korea. On Wednesday, Apple jumped its last hurdle in getting the iPhone into the hands of mobile-phone users in South Korea.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based software maker has been granted the license it needed from the Korea Communications Commission. Regulators in the nation that relies heavily on domestic manufacturers, including LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics, for their mobile-phone needs said companies offering location-based services such as maps and directions need permission before offering devices to consumers.
In September, the commission granted Apple that permission, and on Wednesday the commission said it would grant Apple's South Korean unit a license to allow the collection of information on locations and offer features such as maps and directions.
Being cleared to sell the popular smartphone may help Apple sell more iPhones in a market where 96 percent of people have at least one mobile phone and there are 47 million mobile-phone users, according to eMarketer. Still, some analysts say it's not a huge deal for Apple.
"My sense is that Apple will see only a small increase in shipments since it is a small market," said Ramon Llamas, an IDC analyst. "Your remaining categories (including consumers, carriers and competitors) will definitely take notice, and expect domestic vendors LG and Samsung to come out swinging with their own devices."
On a recent trip to Seoul, Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi found people excited about the iPhone.
"I am sure that for Apple this will certainly help drive sales," she said. "Although the Korean market sees higher-than-average (prices) for devices, I think it will still be interesting to see what the premium on the iPhone will be, as that will make a difference."
"Culturally, South Korea is very brand- and fashion-conscious, so this should play at Apple's advantage," Milanesi...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Windows Azure Is Ready To Deliver Cloud Services
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70165
Microsoft showed Tuesday that it has its head firmly in the clouds as it announced the Windows Azure platform will be at full capacity on Jan. 1. The announcement by Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles described Azure and SQL Azure as "core elements of the company's cloud-services strategy."
As the world moves into "an era of solutions that are experienced by users across PCs, phones and the web" and delivered from remote data centers, Ozzie said, Windows Azure and SQL Azure will meet those needs because they were built "specifically for this era of cloud computing."
Ozzie described Microsoft's vision of the future of software delivery as "three screens and a cloud," with the screens being PCs, phones and TVs connected by cloud-based services.
The company intends for Azure to provide a platform that remotely handles the complexity of development and deployment environments, with access to virtually unlimited additional capacity quickly and on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Also unveiled was an online marketplace for the company's partners to sell their applications. Called Microsoft Pinpoint, one of its products will be the company's own information service, code-named Dallas, that allows developers to gain access to data sets and content on any platform. Dallas' offerings include content and data from the Associated Press, WaveMarket, the United Nations, NASA, infoUSA and others.
In Microsoft's vision, developers would use .NET Framework, Visual Studio tools and technologies, and such third-party tools as Eclipse. A customer's applications could be located in private or public clouds and extended with cloud-based services, and resources quickly provisioned if needed.
Also introduced was Windows Server AppFabric, a set of integrated technologies for developing and managing IIS-based apps on either a server or in the cloud. AppFabric's hosting and caching technologies, combined with the...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Smartphones: A Bigger Target for Security Threats
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70126
Cheaters beware. In late October, Indonesian developer Sheran Gunasekera released mobile-phone software that can help someone eavesdrop on your conversations. A distrusting partner or spouse can secretly download the free application, called PhoneSnoop, onto your BlackBerry, remotely turn on the microphone, and listen to conversations held in proximity to the device.
PhoneSnoop, downloaded more than 2,000 times since its release, is one of a growing number of applications that can be downloaded onto a smartphone without a user's knowledge. FlexiSPY similarly can be downloaded onto Research In Motion's BlackBerry or the Apple iPhone. Smartphones and the growing number of people using them are becoming a bigger target for unauthorized and potentially harmful software, including worms, viruses, and spyware that tracks a user's Web activity. The smartphone security threat "is imminent," says Jeff Wilson, a principal analyst at consultant Infonetics Research.
Smartphones are increasingly prevalent and adept at handling more tasks, including trading stocks, paying bills, and buying stuff online. That makes them all the more attractive to thieves and hackers, says Khoi Nguyen, group product manager for mobile security at antivirus vendor Symantec. The number of smartphones shipped is expected to rise to 330 million units in 2014 from 178.3 million this year, according to ABI Research.
Hackers can attack phone users through app stores, the Web, and e-mail. In early November, the so-called Rick Astley worm struck certain iPhones and turned their wallpaper to an image of the '80s music icon. A few days later, a related worm, iPhone/Privacy.A, began gaining access to users' e-mail and SMS messages, calendar appointments, contacts, and photos. Hackers could use that information to steal a phone owner's identity or personal data.
Mobile applications, sold or distributed through online app stores, are emerging as an especially attractive avenue for potential security breaches. Apple reviews...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Virtual Wallets Enter Evolution of Money
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70122
For almost as long as Americans have been hearing about jetpacks and picture phones, they have been hearing that money -- bills, coins and plastic cards -- might cease to exist, or at least become a novelty.
Instead of leather wallets, consumers could soon carry virtual wallets, with their credit card and bank information stored on remote computers accessible everywhere and anytime. They could have access to them whenever they wanted to buy something, whether on the Web, on cell phones or at cash registers.
With a new cell phone application called ShopSavvy, for instance, a shopper can use the phone's camera to scan an item's bar code in a store to see if it is available for a lower price online. If so, a shopper can purchase it with one click if credit card and shipping information have already been entered on the Web site of a service called PayPal.
"What we're trying to do and what we think is very important is to displace the use of cash or checks," said Scott Thompson, president of PayPal, which is a leader in digitizing money. "We'll just have one wallet, and it lives in the cloud."
The way that consumers pay for things has been transformed only a few times. Coins replaced bartering, paper bills mostly replaced coins and bank drafts and checks developed as an alternative to cash. In the 1950s, the credit card was introduced, and today, Americans pay for more on plastic than they do with cash. Some airlines and restaurants no longer even accept cash. The evolution to digital money that is accessed over the Web is under way, led by companies like PayPal, MasterCard and Visa, as well as start-ups and retailers.
"It just keeps getting more and more convenient to get access to your money and to transfer it...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Dell Makes New Green Move with Bamboo Packaging
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70119
Bamboo has sprouted all over. It's being used everywhere from floorboards to tableware to inline skates and T-shirts, as consumers increasingly seek out products considered gentler on the Earth.
Now, computer maker Dell Inc. is using the fast-growing member of the grass family as a replacement for paper, plastic and plastic foam packaging materials.
Starting Tuesday, the molded cushions that protect two of Dell's computer models from damage during shipping will be made of crushed bamboo.
Dell's bamboo comes from China's Jiangxi province, which the company points out is far from the grazing grounds of the endangered giant panda. Dell said the forest is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international organization that makes sure the bamboo isn't genetically modified or grown with hazardous pesticides. The council also sets standards for working conditions and tracks the bamboo from the forest to the delivery of finished packaging at Chinese contract manufacturers that put new Dell computers into boxes.
The process of turning bamboo stalks into pulp is mechanical, not chemical. Dell said it worked with the company that supplies the molded cushions, Unisource Global Solutions, to build a system that captures and recycles water used in the process.
Making the cushions from bamboo instead of paper pulp takes a little longer, but it costs less, said Oliver Campbell, Dell's senior manager of packaging.
Dell is among the first companies to use bamboo in this way. Others include Method Products Inc., a maker of environmentally friendly cleaning supplies.
The downside of being early at this: Many municipalities don't yet recycle the bamboo material. For now, people who order the Dell Mini 10 and Mini 10v netbooks, the first to ship with the new packaging, will have to toss the cushions into the trash.
Campbell said the company is getting the packaging certified as recyclable, a monthslong process that involves...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
UK: Millions of Customer Records Sold
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70113
Rogue employees at a major mobile phone company illegally sold millions of customer records to rival firms, Britain's information watchdog said Tuesday.
Christopher Graham, the information commissioner, said the case was a serious breach of data privacy, and he called for harsher punishments for offenders.
"The existing paltry fines ... are simply not enough to deter people from engaging in this lucrative criminal activity. The threat of jail, not fines, will prove a stronger deterrent," he said.
The mobile phone company -- which Graham said could not be identified because an investigation was ongoing -- alerted Graham's office after it found out about the suspected trade. Personal data, including customers' contract expiry dates, were sold to several rivals, which then used the material to cold-call customers to offer them an alternative deal, the office said.
"The number of records involved runs into the millions, and it appears that substantial amounts of money changed hands," the government body said in a document submitted to the Ministry of Justice.
Graham said his office was considering the evidence and preparing to prosecute those responsible.
The Data Protection Act prohibits the selling on of data without prior permission from the customer. Offenders could be fined thousands of pounds (dollars).
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Lock-and-Load Security for Your PC
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70086
While most people know about the dangers of suspicious Web sites and unknown email attachments, what about physical security? Leaving your computer unsecured or unattended could be the biggest mistake you ever make, according to Christina Hansen, a product specialist for CableOrganizer.com.
"In this day and age, many of us are 'running errands' on our computers," she says. "And even though shopping, banking, doing taxes, and accessing medical records online have become everyday activities, we need to give them special consideration because our personal information, and very identities, are at stake."
But it's not just people who need to be concerned: Companies are at risk too. "The hard drives of company computers can contain a lot of personal or proprietary information, from employee Social Security numbers to classified information dealing with product or technology development," says Hansen. She adds that the loss of such information can present a major liability risk to companies, whether it's from an old PC in a storage closet or a laptop carried by a traveling executive.
Securing computers against theft or unauthorized access doesn't have to be hard. "It's really not difficult, or necessarily expensive, for companies to secure on-premises computers against theft," says Hansen. "The key is to invest in products that have been specifically designed as theft deterrents."
Hansen explains that desktops and laptops in high-traffic workplaces can be secured in security cabinets, such as those manufactured by Black Box Network Services. And back-office server installations can be secured with floor enclosure server racks, which can be configured to prevent access to secure hardware while permitting access to other components.
Security should also be a concern when traveling, Hansen says. "Whether you're working outside the office or surfing the web on your laptop in a public place, it's important to protect your computer when it's outside its 'natural...
Thu, 19 Nov 09
Phishing Scams Edge Into Social Networks
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70080
If you're always on Facebook or Twitter and keep up with the latest funny videos, you may want to think twice before clicking on the next link, image, or video that a friend forwards to you.
A recent FBI report indicates that phishing scams are becoming more common on social networking sites through a combination of viruses, hacked accounts, and decoy messages.
The report, titled "No, Your Social Networking 'Friend' Isn't Really in Trouble Overseas," describes the scam. Messages, which generally masquerade as warnings related to service agreements or other notifications, contain malicious code that covertly installs software on victims' PCs, letting thieves steal account names and passwords.
The thieves then use the accounts to distribute messages to friends of the victim, requesting large sums of money and spreading the malicious code even further.
The FBI suggests that users should adjust privacy settings to protect personal information, disable options such as photo sharing when possible, and carefully scrutinize links before deciding to click on them, regardless of their apparent source.
The FBI issued its report in conjunction with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which reports that it has recorded nearly 3,200 cases of account hijacking since 2006. For more information on such scams and safeguards, check out www.ic3.gov or www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com.
Wed, 18 Nov 09
T-Mobile Resumes Sidekick Sales Despite Costly Risk
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70139
Observers say T-Mobile's resumption of sales of the Sidekick -- which had been sidelined since last month's massive loss of customer data -- is a good start. But, they say, the incident has proven costly and points to a risky tactic that the carrier's competitors have stopped using.
The failure hit at a bad time for T-Mobile. "This was a fairly high-profile black eye for T-Mobile at a particularly challenging time for them," said Al Hilwa, director of application development for IDC. "It is not the kind of publicity anyone wants. ... In the whole scheme of things, the company didn't lose a lot of data. But it's clear that people get upset. People have zero tolerance for this."
The problem was traced to servers run by Microsoft subsidiary Danger, which operates the cloud-based service for T-Mobile. T-Mobile declined to comment on what steps were taken to prevent a recurrence. Microsoft didn't provide information after a phone inquiry to its PR firm.
Regardless, the Sidekick is back. T-Mobile said sales have resumed under revised pricing. The Sidekick LX2009 will cost $149.99 with a two-year contract, and the Sidekick 2008 will run $49.00 with the same commitment. Previously, the LX2009 was $179.99 and the 2008 was $99.99 with two-year commitments. T-Mobile also is offering $100 gift cards to subscribers who lost data.
The next few months likely will be key. "The Sidekick environment is probably going to bounce back," Hilwa said. "The whole scheme of smart devices is very challenging for Sidekick right now. There is a lot going on with the iPhone, Android and even Windows Mobile. T-Mobile and Microsoft will have to go back and win the trust of users again."
The situation illustrates the downside of T-Mobile's high-risk, high-reward tactic of putting its brand on the device. "T-Mobile is the only one...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
Bing Gains Market Share -- At Yahoo's Expense
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70138
Bing is up. Yahoo is down. Google still dominates. That's the latest story line from comScore. The market-research firm just issued its October U.S. search-engine rankings.
Not surprisingly, Google's share of the search-engine market continues to grow. Google earned 65.4 percent of the market in October, compared to 64.9 percent in September, according to comScore.
Microsoft is gaining momentum, thanks to its new Bing decision engine. Microsoft's total share of the U.S. search market rose to 9.9 percent in October. That's half a percentage point higher than comScore's September rankings.
Yahoo was the big loser in October. Despite Yahoo's continued investments into innovative features, the once-dominant search engine slipped to 18 percent market share compared to 18.8 percent in September.
Microsoft seems to be gaining momentum at Yahoo's expense. Microsoft has steadily watched its search-engine ratings rise since it launched Bing in June. Microsoft hedged its search-engine bets by inking a search-partnership deal with Yahoo in July to target Google. Still, the two search companies combined have less than half the market share Google boasts.
Yahoo may have cause for concern. At 18 percent, the company is sinking to new lows. In September, Yahoo launched a global brand campaign to realign its business around simplifying and enhancing the web experience for people around the world.
As part of that rebranding effort, Yahoo launched a new Yahoo "search experience" that works to make search more personally relevant. The new design features intelligent search results that aim to make it easier to see results from more sites, along with a search-assist expansion tool on the left-hand column of the page that lets users explore concepts related to the search query. But the new design wasn't enough to stem the tide of Yahoo's losses.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has been building Bing's features. In June,...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
Verizon Says AT&T's Lawsuit Seeks To Hide 3G Truth
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70136
Verizon Wireless has filed a legal response to a complaint before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in which AT&T claims that its wireless rival's "There's a Map for that" ad campaign has been distorting facts about AT&T's wireless coverage. The dueling lawsuits demonstrate that the smartphone battle lines are being sharply drawn around the issues of 3G coverage, speed and reliability.
Verizon's legal team says AT&T is seeking a temporary restraining order to end its TV campaign because the ads featuring "side by-side, apples-to-apples" 3G coverage comparisons confirm what the marketplace has been saying for months.
"AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business, and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly," Verizon's lawyers said. "AT&T may not like the message that the ads send, but this court should reject its efforts to silence the messenger."
AT&T sued because Verizon's ads are true and the truth hurts, Verizon claims. "Remarkably, AT&T admits that the 3G coverage maps -- the one thing that is common to all five ads -- are accurate and that the ads' express statement that Verizon has '5X More 3G Coverage' than AT&T is true," the carrier's legal team told the court.
Nevertheless, AT&T is asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order to stop its rival's TV campaign. The carrier claims that the ads are "false and misleading" because they allegedly imply that AT&T's phones don't work at all outside the carrier's 3G coverage area, which Verizon said makes no sense.
"Not only can the ads be interpreted to refer to the comparatively limited geographic scope of AT&T's 3G service, they cry out for that interpretation," the firm's lawyers told the...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
Rumors of Steep Mac Discounts Seen as Unlikely
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70135
Apple rumors are always the most popular during the holiday season. With Black Friday coming next week, the rumor mill is operating at top speed hinting that Apple is about to offer super-steep discounts on iPods and Macs (but not iPhones). The rumors also say that an Apple posting for a game designer verifies the long-awaited Apple tablet.
The Boy Genius Report posted an image of an e-mail that allegedly will be sent out in time for the day-after-Thanksgiving sale. The pitch is notable because of the steep discounts it offers: "Up to 30 percent off all iPods" and "up to 25 percent off all Macs." In small print, the promotion says iPhones and iPod shuffles are not included in the deal.
Those details suggest Apple is going to be pushing the iPod touch, which is currently priced at $199 to $399, while the iPhone 3G is priced at just $99 and the 3GS is priced at $199 to $299. Since the iPhone is more capable, albeit with a hefty AT&T bill, Apple may be looking to bring the touch into line with iPhone pricing.
Pricing like this might create a stampede to Apple stores, but Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies, wrote in an e-mail, "Apple traditionally does not do discounting, so this rumor seems like wishful thinking."
The Unofficial Weblog, which covers all things Apple, voiced its disbelief more strongly. Steven Sande posted a version of the Boy Genius graphic with the comment, "There is no flippin' way this is going to happen!"
Why not? First, as Bajarin said, Apple rarely offers discounts, Black Friday or otherwise. Secondly, Apple doesn't need to attract customers to its retail stores. "Let's face it, most of the Apple stores are going to be packed on November 27th, so why would Apple want to create...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
Social-Networking 'Unfriend' Becomes Word of the Year
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70134
Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace have invaded families' living rooms, corporate offices, and mobile phones. Now they are making their mark on the New American Oxford English Dictionary.
The dictionary has chosen "unfriend" as its word of the year, making it clear that the lingo on social networks trumped lingo in other markets. Unfriend, meaning to disapprove someone from being your friend, was chosen over other contenders, including netbook, sexting, intexticated, hashtag and paywall.
"The words that become word of the year are there because they have a special significance in that calendar year," said Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer of U.S. dictionaries for Oxford University Press. "Unfriend represents an entire social-networking culture and has that appeal of addressing the fact that Facebook is here to stay and not just a means of communication."
Unfriend was also chosen for its linguistic appeal, according to Lindberg. The Oxford dictionary provides a citation for the verb form of unfriend as early as 1659, and the essence of the meaning hasn't changed much.
"It is a very old word that has been adopted by a new generation," Lindberg said. "Now it has a very explicit designation as a verb used for social networking."
Personally, Lindberg likes the word because it fits into the criteria of making a statement about a subculture, and it also holds up linguistically.
Picking a word of the year isn't an easy task, she said. "If they think it is something we just threw together at the last minute, nothing is further from the truth," she added.
Lindberg, one of many lexicographers for the dictionary, said she jots down words as she hears them throughout the week. By the end of any given week she has a collection of notes. After checking if the words have...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
Adobe Releases Betas of AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.2
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70110
The pace of interactive multimedia continues to evolve with the release Tuesday of Adobe Systems' beta versions of its AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1 software. The updates are available for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. The 10.1 player is also available for x86-based netbooks and, at some point in 2010, for smartphones and other mobile devices.
AIR 2, Adobe said, allows developers to create "more reliable and feature-rich applications in a desktop context." It also adds to AIR 1.0 apps the functionalities offered by AIR 2, such as greater support for mass storage devices and peer-to-peer networking.
Flash Player 10.1 is an update of the highly popular player that is virtually ubiquitous on every desktop and laptop computer, and becoming increasingly available on mobile devices. According to Adobe, Player 10.0 was downloaded and installed onto 93 percent of all computers in its first 10 months.
Player 10.1 is the first "consistent browser runtime release" of the Open Screen Project, which is an Adobe-led industry initiative to allow seamless rich Internet experiences across a wide variety of devices using Flash Player. About 50 companies are part of the effort.
Among other things, 10.1 can take advantage of new content-protected, streaming media delivery, and of hardware decoding for H.264 video.
AIR enables the development of applications for both the browser and the desktop, using the same code, assets, tools and other aspects. The desktop applications can also have online components. Both AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1 utilize gestural interaction and multi-touch points, as is becoming common on mobile devices.
Jeffrey Hammond, an analyst at industry research firm Forrester, described both releases as "incremental" improvements on the previous versions, with new features and better desktop support.
The big breakthrough contribution of AIR 1.0, he said, was that...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
YouTube Direct Lets Citizens Become Journalists
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70109
On Tuesday, YouTube announced a new service that lets news and media outlets request, review and even rebroadcast clips YouTube users shoot and upload to the site. Dubbed YouTube Direct, the new tool is built from YouTube's API. YouTube Direct is an open-source application that makes it possible for media organizations to allow customized versions of YouTube's upload platform on their web sites.
YouTube Direct also creates a virtual assignment desk that lets news and media organizations ask YouTube users to submit breaking news videos, user-generated reports, or reactions to questions or news events of the day.
"People around the world are taking up cameras and covering news in ways big and small -- from documenting global events to filming local town halls in American neighborhoods," said Steve Grove, head of news and politics at YouTube. "YouTube Direct empowers news and media organizations to easily connect with these citizen reporters and use the power of our platform to cover the news better than ever before."
News and media organizations can farm out assignments to citizen reporters, allowing them to upload their videos directly into the YouTube Direct application. YouTube Direct then enables the hosting news organization to review video submissions and select the best ones to broadcast on-air and on their web sites.
The YouTube Direct videos, however, aren't exclusive to the news organizations. These citizen-journalist-created videos also appear live on YouTube, so amateur videographers can reach their own audience while getting broader exposure and editorial validation for the videos they create.
YouTube already has an established audience of news consumers. In fact, YouTube is the biggest news video repository in the world, with nearly 300 global and local news partners and hundreds of millions of views of news and political videos every week. YouTube has a large archive of news...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
Would People Pay for An iPhone with Ads?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70099
Some of the best-loved technology on the planet: That is how Apple describes its products when recruiting new employees. It is a fair description.
But the love that consumers send Apple's way could flag if the company puts into place new advertising technology it has developed. In an application filed last year and made public last month by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple is seeking a patent for technology that displays advertising on almost anything that has a screen of some kind: computers, phones, televisions, media players, game devices and other consumer electronics.
Filing a patent application, of course, does not necessarily mean the company plans to use the technology. But the application shows, at the least, that Apple has invested in research to develop what it calls an "enforcement routine" that makes people watch ads they may not want to watch.
Its distinctive feature is a design that does not simply invite a user to pay attention to an ad -- it also compels attention. The technology can freeze the device until the user clicks a button or answers a test question to demonstrate that he or she has dutifully noticed the commercial message. Because this technology would be embedded in the innermost core of the device, the ads could appear on the screen at any time, no matter what one is doing.
The system also has a version for music players, inserting commercials that come with an audible prompt to press a particular button to verify the listener's attentiveness.
The inventors say the advertising would enable computers and other consumer electronics products to be offered to customers free or at a reduced price. In exchange, recipients would agree to view the ads. If, down the road, users found the advertisements and the attentiveness tests unendurable, they could pay to make the...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
Could This Be the Season for Web TV?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70091
You have good reason to be skeptical when someone says millions of ordinary television viewers are about to start surfing the Internet on the living room's electronic hearth.
We've heard that Web-on-your-TV convergence promise for more than a decade, with ambitious efforts to make it happen including AOL TV and WebTV Networks. Each time, the optimists have been wrong.
This year might be different.
Big TV manufacturers including Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Vizio say that they're poised to revolutionize television this Christmas shopping season: They're about to launch the first major marketing push for a new generation of sets that can easily integrate Web content with traditional TV news and entertainment -- without the fuss of connecting the TV to a set-top box.
"When we all open up the newspapers on Jan. 1, and they talk about the hot items from the holiday selling season, Internet-connected TVs are going to be at the top of the list," says Randy Waynick, senior vice president at Sony's Consumer Group.
The campaign could be risky. Consumers may balk if TV sets become too computerlike and complicated. Manufacturers are in a race with cable companies and gadget providers -- including makers of DVRs, Blu-ray players and game machines -- who offer alternative ways to blend the Internet with TV.
But the new versions of Web TVs will soon become the norm in consumer electronics stores. In 2014, consumers in North America will buy 45 million of these sets, representing 69% of all TV sales, ABI Research says. That's up from 6 million and 14% of sales in 2009.
As they catch on, television will become "a completely new ballgame," says Matthew McRae, general manager of advanced technology products at Vizio. Software developers will flock to the new platform, making Web TVs "the next area of innovation" following computers and cellphones,...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
Retailers Try the Lure of Free Shipping
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70090
Two words have become mandatory music to the ears of holiday shoppers: free shipping.
This holiday season -- with cash-strapped consumers searching harder for deals -- more online and catalog shoppers now consider free shipping not a bonus but the price of entry for their business.
"You're delighted the first time you get free shipping, but you expect it the second time," says Rebecca Lieb, vice president at Econsultancy, a digital marketing news publisher.
Folks also want their free shipping without strings, and more of that's on tap. While 25 percent of retailers offered no-strings free-shipping deals during the holidays five years ago, 57 percent say they'll do so at some time this holiday season, according to the eHoliday Study by Shop.org, the e-commerce division of the National Retail Federation.
"Consumers feel it's their right to buy online without paying for shipping," says Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org.
For retailers, the motive isn't always winning that single sale. Many view the holidays as their annual opportunity to lure new customers and make them regulars, Silverman says. And it's often regular online shoppers who most detest shipping charges.
The unofficial kickoff day for free-shipping offers is the Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 30). And on Dec. 17, about 500 sellers -- from Toys R Us to Crate & Barrel -- will join in the second annual Free Shipping Day organized by freeshipping.org, which tracks and promotes deals. Until then, here are some current offers:
*Free shipping with no strings. David's Cookies offers free shipping on all online and phone orders through Dec. 31, to all entering the code FREESHIP at checkout. "Free shipping is critical," says Harris Beber, David's vice president of e-commerce. Shoe site Zappos.com says it has free shipping and free return shipping every day, not just on holidays.
*Free shipping for current customers. LandsEnd.com has free...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
How Many Jobs Do Small Employers Create?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70088
Myth: When measuring share of small business employment, the terms "small firm" and "small establishment" mean the same thing.
Reality: To determine the share of employment small businesses account for in the U.S., I've always used data from the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration which provides data produced by the U.S. Census on small business employment. The Census data on the SBA Web site shows that, in 2006 (the latest year available), 50.2 percent of U.S. employment lies in businesses with fewer than 500 employees.
But recently I began looking at data from payroll provider Automatic Data Processing, which uses payroll data to track U.S. employment. ADP's data shows that the share of U.S. employment in businesses with less than 500 employees is more than 30 percentage points higher. In 2006, the ADP data showed that 82.9 percent of U.S. employment was in businesses with less than 500 employees.
Huh?
A 32.7 percent gap in the share of employment in businesses with fewer than 500 employees is much too large to be the result of just some slight difference in measurement. So something else must be going on.
To figure out what could explain the differences, I took a look at what the two sources are measuring. Both are comparing employment in businesses of less than 500 employees to the overall number of people employed and both exclude employment on farms. So it's not the size of the businesses or the exclusion of agriculture that's the cause of the difference.
It's also not their labor force figures. The two sources' estimates of the number of people employed aren't that far off each other -- 119,917,000 for the SBA in 2006 and 113,475,000 for ADP in 2006. Even if we assume that every employee counted by the SBA and missed by...
Wed, 18 Nov 09
Egypt To Apply for First Arabic Domain Name
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70074
Egypt will apply for the first Internet domain written in Arabic, its information technology minister said Sunday at a conference grouping Yahoo's co-founder and others to discuss boosting online access in emerging nations.
Tarek Kamel said Egypt on Monday would apply for the new domain -- pronounced ".masr" but written in the Arabic alphabet -- making it the first Arab nation to apply for a non-Latin character domain. The effort is part of a broader push to expand both access and content in developing nations, where the Internet remains out of reach for wide swaths of the population.
The registering of the domain "will offer new avenues for innovation, investment and growth, and hence we can truly and gladly say ... the Internet now speaks Arabic," Kamel said at the start of the Internet Governance Forum -- a U.N.-sponsored gathering that drew Net legends like Yahoo Inc.'s Jerry Yang and Tim Berners-Lee, known as one of the Internet's founding fathers.
"It is a great moment for us," Kamel said of the domain name, which translates as ".Egypt".
The new domains stem from a decision taken at the end of October by the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a key Internet oversight agency, to develop a "fast-track" mechanism for domain names in languages such as Chinese, Korean, Arabic and others that do not use the Latin alphabet.
The decision marks a key step in the Arab world, where a mixture of censorship, limited content and access have stymied efforts to boost Arabic-language content on the Web.
The dearth of content has opened new market opportunities for Internet companies, with Yahoo, for example, recently acquiring Arab online community Web site Maktoob.com.
Yang said that while there are over 300 million Arabic speakers in the world, less than 1 percent of the content online is...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
Motorola's Droid Appears Strong Out of the Gate
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70106
The early returns are good for Motorola's Droid, the Android-based smartphone that the company introduced on Nov. 6 on the Verizon Wireless network. While most quantitative measures won't be available for a while, an early assessment by Flurry, a mobile analytics service provider, estimates that 250,000 Droids were sold during its first week of availability. This compares favorably to the 60,000 estimated sales for the myTouch 3G.
Given the significant differences in the launch landscape, the DROID results even stack up well against the first week of iPhone 3G availability, which Flurry pegged at about 1.6 million units.
A direct comparison is a bit unfair, said Peter Farago, Flurry's vice president of marketing. He pointed out that the iPhone 3G launched in eight markets simultaneously -- the U.S., Canada and six European countries -- while the Droid only launched in the United States. In addition, the third-generation iPhone 3G was working from an installed base of 27 million users, of which more than six million were expected to upgrade.
Droid can't claim those numbers, of course, but the common wisdom is that it has had a successful beginning. "I think the handset is off to a good start and is doing well for a company starting from a standing start," Farago said. "Overall, when you look at the numbers, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. With that said, Motorola has a really good handset. It has done some deep reinvention and is rising like a Phoenix."
Flurry directly tracks about two-thirds of iPhone and Droid handsets, Farago said. Based on these and other numbers, it creates what the company says are very accurate estimates for the other third.
Analysts, working from anecdotal evidence rather than hard numbers, generally agreed with the positive assessment, but...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
Revised Google Books Settlement Proposed
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70105
The Google Books settlement is back. On Friday, Google and the author and publisher groups that originally sued over the search engine's massive scanning operations offered a revised version of the settlement.
Back in September, Google pulled the proposed settlement on the eve of a federal district court's decision on whether to approve the deal. While the deal faced blistering attacks from Google competitors, consumer and privacy groups, and the Open Books Alliance, it was serious concerns voiced by European governments and the U.S. Justice Department that forced reworking of the deal.
The Justice Department made no initial response to the new proposal. A spokesperson said the department's investigation is ongoing.
The proposal's most drastic change is that it removes most of Europe from the agreement. The European Union and individual countries like Germany objected strenuously to the deal because it would have allowed Google to scan European books never offered for sale in the U.S. Britain, Canada and Australia are included in the proposal, however.
The revised deal also offers a number of accommodations to authors, including the right to reject arbitration and the appointment of an independent fiduciary to represent the rights of authors who have not opted out.
The deal's harshest critic, the Open Book Alliance, said the revised deal fails to address fundamental problems. "By performing surgical nip and tuck, Google, the AAP, and the AG are attempting to distract people from their continued efforts to establish a monopoly over digital-content access and distribution; usurp Congress' role in setting copyright policy; lock writers into their unsought registry, stripping them of their individual contract rights; put library budgets and patron privacy at risk; and establish
a dangerous precedent by abusing the class-action process," Open Book Alliance co-Chairman Peter Brantley said.
While opponents like OBA may never be satisfied...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
YouTube Inks Content Deal with Univision
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70104
YouTube has inked a "bueno" deal with Univision Interactive Media. The digital division of Univision Communications -- and the leading Spanish-language media company stateside -- has partnered with YouTube to broadcast short-length and long-form Univision videos on the popular viral video site.
This could drive new traffic YouTube's way. The U.S. Hispanic television-viewing audience is growing faster than the general TV audience, according to Nielsen. Hispanic TV homes are expected to increase 2.3 percent for the 2009-2010 season, compared to just 0.3 percent for total U.S. homes.
"Clearly, Univision has established itself as a premier provider of Spanish-language television content here in the U.S.," said Chris Maxcy, head of content partnerships at YouTube. "This deal is a big win for us and marks one of the most comprehensive partnerships for full-length programming signed to date. There is a huge demand to watch Spanish-language content on YouTube."
With YouTube's Univision partnership, Maxcy said, the YouTube community in the United States can watch and enjoy programming from Univision's three major networks, which include Univision, TeleFutura and Galavision.
YouTube will update its content to include relevant Univision offerings as well as an extensive archive of library programs. In addition to top Univision shows, users will have access to Univision.com videos across key content categories, as well as unique footage from Univision celebrity interviews and special events, such as next year's "Premio Lo Nuestro a la Música Latina (Lo Nuestro Latin Music Awards).
p
Univision will also be using YouTube's leading Content ID technology to more effectively track user engagement and monetize Univision content uploaded by YouTube users. Univision will create new display ads for YouTube and offer advertisers one more opportunity to reach U.S. Hispanic audiences.
p
This is a very exciting milestone, as it represents the first time that any Univision programming is available on the web...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
AMD Powers Cray To Fastest Supercomputer Title
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70103
Cray Systems' Jaguar supercomputer, running Advanced Micro Devices six-core Opteron processors, was awarded the top slot Monday among the world's fastest 500 machines after running an industry benchmark at an astounding performance level of 1.759 petaFLOPS, or 1.759 quadrillion calculations per second. By contrast, IBM's BlueGene/P supercomputer achieved just 825.5 TeraFLOPS on the identical Linpack benchmark.
p
AMD Vice President Patrick Patla said the chipmaker supplied high-performance computing (HPC) chips for four out of the world's top five supercomputers, according to the Top500 Project's latest list -- which is compiled by researchers at Germany's University of Mannheim, the University of Tennessee, and NERSC/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
p
We've seen the trend in the HPC industry's move to multi-core x86-based supercomputing and it's clear that the six-Core AMD Opteron processor is the ideal choice right now for a world-class supercomputer, Patla said.
p
subhead
Better Balanced Platforms
/subhead
p
At the heart of AMD's supercomputing vision is ATI Stream -- a set of advanced hardware and software technologies for enabling AMD's graphics processor chips, working in tandem with the system's central processing unit, to accelerate many advanced software applications. The technology is capable of solving parallel problems unrelated to graphics delivery that nevertheless map well on the company's GPU architecture, the company said.
p
AMD's technology is still evolving. The chipmaker said it's currently working with industry partners and academic institutions worldwide to build a complete ATI Stream computing ecosystem containing all the tools, applications and performance enhancements for implementing the company's low-cost application acceleration vision.
p
Meanwhile, some supercomputer customers continue to see merit in running processors from multiple vendors. China's new Tianhe-1 (River in Sky) supercomputer for solving complex petroleum exploration and aircraft design problems, which is number five on the latest Top500 Project list, features a hybrid design -- with each node consisting of two AMD GPUs attached to two...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
Psystar Loses Mac OS X Challenge Against Apple
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70100
Apple has won its lawsuit against Psystar, which has been selling Mac OS X in Mac clone computers. The decision in Apple's favor is expected to pave the way for Apple to argue its copyright-infringement case against future violators.
p
The Cupertino, Calif.-based software maker's claim against Psystar was granted, according to U.S. District Judge William Aslup's decision, and Psystar's anticompetitive claim against Apple was denied.
p
I cannot say I'm surprised, said Ilan Barzilay, an associate with Wolf Greenfield, a Boston IP law firm. Psystar was relying on interpretation of copyright laws that were stretched to begin with. When they were down to their defense, I believed they were close to being cooked.
p
It is likely Apple will be entitled to attorney fees from Psystar and recover whatever damages Apple can prove, according to Barzilay. It is likely that they want to just shut Psystar down, he said.
p
A hearing on what, if anything, Apple will receive in damages will be Dec. 14, according to court filings.
p
subheadPrice Is Right/subhead
p
Apple first sued Psystar last year after the company began selling PCs with Mac OS X installed at a fraction of the cost of Apple computers.
p
Attorneys for Apple argued that the company's end-user licensing agreement forbids third parties from installing Mac OS X on anything other than Apple computers. Aslup agreed, telling Psystar it could not sell Apple software.
p
The Miami, Fla.-based Psystar then countersued in August 2008, claiming Apple was monopolizing its Mac OS X and wiping out competition, but that suit was dismissed two months later.
p
While battling with Apple, Psystar last month added more fuel to the fire by offering Rebel EFI software that allows generic PCs to run Mac OS X.
p
There are people clamoring for lower-cost computers that will run Apple's software, Barzilay said. But people cannot do that by buying...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
Palm Releases Pixi Amid Rumors of a Nokia Takeover
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70095
Palm released its new Pixi smartphone Sunday, hoping to keep its new and well-received webOS mobile platform moving forward. The smartphone, which will be available through Sprint Nextel, comes amid rumors that Nokia is interested in buying the struggling device maker.
p
The Pixi, said Senior Vice President Kevin Packingham, is fun and easy to use. He noted its multi-touch screen, full QWERTY keyboard, messaging and social-networking capabilities, and $99.99 price with a two-year service agreement and rebates. There are reports that the Pixi will sell as low as $30 through mass retailers, such as Wal-Mart.
p
subhead
'Like Flipping' Cards
/subhead
p
Palm highlighted Pixi's ability to keep multiple activities open and allow users to move between them with natural gestures, like flipping through a deck of cards. The company said this allows a user to move easily between e-mail and web browsing while enjoying music.
p
Other features include linked contacts, where a single view links contacts from various sources, and layered calendars, so the user can toggle between one calendar and a variety of them. There is also combined messaging, enabling all conversations with the same person to be seen in a chat-like view, even if it started in IM and moved to text messaging.
p
Avi Greengart, an analyst with Current Analysis, noted the Pixi's small form factor and described it as Sprint's bid for an entry-level touchscreen smartphone.
p
The new product, he said, is aimed at the same crowd that bought Palm's successful Centro model. He said he enjoys the new webOS, and that it would be a no-brainer for anyone looking for a webOS product to pay slightly more for the Palm Pre and its additional features -- not the least of which is a larger screen with higher resolution.
p
subhead
Nokia, Dell, HP?
/subhead
p
Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein has told news media that he expects to sell about 10...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
Samsung Will Debut Go Netbook on ATT's Network
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70069
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Samsung is rolling out the Go netbook through ATT next week. The 2.8-pound device will operate Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition and connect via ATT's 3G network.
p
The Samsung Go is small enough to fit in a briefcase and comes in midnight blue with rounded edges. The interior is black, and a pebble-style keyboard with larger-than-average spacing aims to make typing on the device more comfortable. The Go offers an LED-backlit, borderless glass screen with a scratch-resistant coating. And Samsung promises photo-like image quality, along with better viewing angles and text legibility that works to reduce eyestrain.
p
The Go is powered by an Intel Atom processor and offers connectivity tools such as a 3-in-1 memory card reader and three USB 2.0 ports. The Go also comes with a 160GB hard drive to store digital photos, videos and music, and a four-cell battery that lets users stay connected for up to four hours on a single charge.
p
The portable, lightweight design and robust feature set of the Samsung Go allows users to stay connected whenever, wherever, said Douglas Albregts, vice president of sales and marketing for Samsung Electronics America. The Go makes everything from updating your social-networking sites to surfing the web, or even catching up on work e-mails, fast and fun.
p
subhead
Counting the Costs
/subhead
p
Of course, like other netbooks consumers buy through wireless carriers, the Go comes at a heavy discount but with an ongoing price. The Samsung Go is available for $199 after a mail-in rebate and the purchase of a two-year ATT DataConnect service agreement, with pricing starting at $35 per month.
p
ATT offers two ATT DataConnect plans for netbooks, including a 200MB option for $35 per month or a 5GB plan for $60 per month. ATT DataConnect plans offer subscribers access to the carrier's 3G...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
Retailers Use Social Media To Advertise Deals
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70061
You may want to check Facebook and Twitter before heading to the mall the day after Thanksgiving.
p
Office supplies chain Staples Inc. this week used social media to advertise price cuts of nearly 50 percent for Nov. 27 on certain laptops, GPS devices and computer monitors, and still other merchants are expected to follow suit.
p
Dan de Grandpre, editor-in-chief of dealnews.com, said retailers are smart to use social networking sites because shoppers probably will stick around as followers of the company even after the sale.
p
Twitter and Facebook are now major ways to disseminate information, Grandpre said.
p
One in five shoppers plans to use the sites in their holiday shopping this season, according to Deloitte Research.
p
Hundreds of Black Friday bargains from retailers as diverse as OfficeMax and Old Navy already are being leaked on deal sites, even though the big sales blitz is still a couple weeks away.
p
And the fun won't end Nov. 27, traditionally seen as the day that the holiday shopping season launches.
p
After that, an iPhone application from dealnews.com that now tracks Black Friday deals, for instance, will show sales for the following Monday, now known as Cyber Monday because it's the first weekday after the Thanksgiving weekend and many consumers shop from their desks that day.
Tue, 17 Nov 09
NPD: October Video Game Sales Tumble 19 Percent
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70059
After a slight reprieve in September, U.S. video game retail sales slumped again in October, unable to escape the economic turmoil that's cutting into consumer spending and swelling the ranks of unemployed.
p
Market researcher NPD Group said Thursday total sales of video game hardware, software and accessories fell 19 percent in October from the same month last year, to $1.07 billion. Year-to-date sales were down 13 percent at $11.43 billion. It is unlikely that the industry will be able to match last year's record sales, which topped $21 billion.
p
But for a business that makes most of its money during the holidays, things may not be as bleak as they seem. Industry analysts expect November sales to pick up again.
p
Based on typical industry seasonality, the industry is on track to generate full-year revenues in the range of ($20 billion to $21 billion) in the U.S., which would put it just a bit below last year's sales, said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
p
Not included in the October sales figures is Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which went on sale Tuesday and broke entertainment records on its first day in stores. According to its publisher, it raked in an estimated $310 million in North America and the United Kingdom in 24 hours.
p
With that game, and others such as Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 2 and Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros., November is poised to be a strong month for the industry.
p
Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, said Thursday his company expects a strong holiday season.
p
October sales of gaming hardware fell by nearly a quarter to $380.7 million.
p
The Wii from Nintendo Co. was the month's best-selling gaming system, followed by the handheld DS, also from Nintendo. Sony's PlayStation 3 was in third place.
p
All three of the gaming console makers -- Sony, Microsoft Corp....
Tue, 17 Nov 09
Swiss Privacy Watchdog To Sue Google Street View
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70056
Google Inc.'s unstoppable drive to map and photograph the world has run into an immovable object -- Switzerland's strict tradition of personal privacy.
p
The country's privacy watchdog announced Friday that he plans to haul the search engine company before a federal court to force it to make changes to its Street View application.
p
Google criticized the decision and said it would defend itself in the case.
p
Street View allows Internet users to view panoramic street-level pictures of more than 100 cities around the world. It already has been criticized in several European countries and Japan for allowing individuals to be identified without their knowledge or consent -- potentially exposing embarrassing facts about their private lives.
p
Switzerland's federal data protection commissioner wants Google to ensure that all faces and car plates are blurred, remove pictures of enclosed areas such as walled gardens and private streets, and declare at least one week in advance which town and cities it plans to photograph and post online.
p
Numerous faces and vehicle number plates are not made sufficiently unrecognizable from the point of view of data protection, especially where the persons concerned are shown in sensitive locations, e.g. outside hospitals, prisons or schools, the commissioner, Hanspeter Thuer, said in a statement.
p
The height from which the camera on top of the Google vehicle films is also problematic, he said. It provides a view over fences, hedges and walls, with the result that people see more on Street View than can been seen by a normal passer-by in the street.
p
Thuer requested in August that Google take various measures to protect personal privacy in its Street View online service.
p
Google for the most part declined to comply with the requests, the commissioner said, prompting him to take the matter to Switzerland's Federal Administrative Tribunal.
p
Google said it was disappointed by the move and would vigorously...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
After AMD: Intel's Next Big Battle
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70055
Intel couldn't afford to let it drag on. The world's largest chipmaker announced on Nov. 12 that it would pay $1.25 billion to resolve allegations by Advanced Micro Devices that its larger rival competes unfairly in the market for computer chips.
p
On one hand, the agreement lets Intel and AMD move past the conflict that's put the companies at legal loggerheads for years, and it may help Intel resolve ongoing antitrust tussles with U.S. regulators. But a more important benefit of the agreement is that it lets Intel turn attention to what may become an even greater headache in the coming years: the challenge posed by ARM Holdings, maker of the technology used in chips running in a widening array of mobile devices, including the Apple iPhone. Intel now gets to focus on its real long-term threat, says Jack Gold, founder of Gold Associates, a research firm. No, it's not AMD -- it's ARM Holdings.
p
A host of chipmakers, including Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Freescale, and Nvidia, license ARM technology to create chips for handhelds, phones, and other mobile devices. ARM-based chips are valued because they consume less power than the x86-based chips, which are made by Intel and AMD and power most of the world's computers and servers, the machines that run corporate networks.
p
PC and server chips make up the majority of industry profits today. Still, demand for server chips may diminish as businesses replace large numbers of aging servers in data centers with a single server powered by fewer, more powerful chips. Meantime, demand is surging for mobile devices, many of which don't require the computing power of relatively pricey x86 chips. Getting past the distraction of the AMD lawsuits helps Intel place greater emphasis on sales in markets now being inundated with ARM technology, says TBR analyst John Spooner. For...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
Operating System Dilemma: 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70054
As soon as you decide to upgrade to Windows 7, you have another decision to make: should you upgrade to the 32-bit edition or the 64-bit edition? While Microsoft has made the transition to 64-bit computing as seamless as possible for most, there are still some very important questions that need to be answered before you make the commitment to a 64-bit operating system. Here are a few.
p
bQ/b: What's are the advantages of the 64-bit version of Windows 7?
p
The most frequently-cited advantage is that your operating system will have access to more than 4 gigabytes (GB) of memory (RAM). That's a big deal for some. More available memory means being able to run more applications at the same time or being able to give memory-hungry applications more room in which to work. The result could be increased productivity, better overall system performance, and fewer memory-related glitches. Of course, to get these advantages, you'll have to outfit your computer with more than 4 GB of RAM, which will increase overall system costs.
p
Those who have made the move successfully to 64-bit Windows 7 generally report few glitches other than having to overcome a minor learning curve. For instance, on 64-bit Windows 7 you'll find two program files folders on your C drive: one is called Program Files and the other is named Program Files (x86). The latter is used to store 32-bit applications. You'll probably find most of your programs installed into that folder, since most applications are still 32-bit. The other Program Files folder is reserved for 64-bit applications. At installation, you will not have to choose which Program Files folder receives the installation files. The operating system does this for you automatically.
p
bQ/b: What are the disadvantages of 64-bit Windows 7?
p
bA/b: There are two potential disadvantages: driver support and program...
Tue, 17 Nov 09
Finding Handy, Free Windows 7 Utilities
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70053
Windows 7 comes with more handy utilities than any previous version of Windows. Disk imaging, automated backup, and sticky notes are just a few. But no Windows system has ever been complete without a passel of utilities that make life with your PC easier, and Windows 7 is no different.
p
The fact is, although Windows 7 offers a lot, it's still lacking in some important areas: file zipping, encryption, and antivirus, to name a few. The good news: There are some outstanding free utilities on the market that have been tested with Windows 7. Here are a few.
p
subhead
Task Switcher
/subhead
p
Microsoft has tried to make task switching simpler and more elegant with each new version of Windows. First there was Alt-Tab. Then, in Vista, Flip3D was introduced -- activated by pressing Windows Key-Tab.
p
But the programmers who developed the free Switcher (http://insentient.net) have outdone all of Microsoft's efforts with a utility that takes the guesswork and finger strain out of task switching once and for all. Once installed, Switcher is activated with the key combination of the Windows key and the letter S on the keyboard. Once pressed, you can release the keys.
p
Switcher takes a snapshot of all running applications and shows them, along with their contents, as different-sized thumbnails on your computer screen.
p
Switching to a particular application is a simple matter of surveying what you have open and clicking the program you'd like to use.
p
Switcher gives you a good amount of control over how the thumbnails are displayed, too. And if you have so many applications open that finding the one you want is still a bit of a chore, you can simply start typing the name of an application, at which point you'll realize that there's a Switcher search box in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Type Word, for instance,...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Rumor Says Google's Chrome OS Close To Release
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70067
The next big thing for Google may almost be here. TechCrunch's Michael Arrington reported Friday that a reliable source -- he doesn't say whether within or outside the company -- tells him that the Chrome operating system will be available "within a week."
The rumors could be true, but shoppers shouldn't expect to be able to buy a Chrome-driven netbook anytime soon, said Jeff Orr, a senior analyst for ABI Research. "Reading into it from my own experience doing launches and the general history, this may be a developer's preview or something along those lines. We will not likely see widespread availability from netbook manufacturers. I think the second half of 2010 is still correct for that."
The idea of an incremental release -- not a full-blown introduction -- was echoed by Andrew Borg, a senior research analyst for wireless and mobility for the Aberdeen Group. Borg said netbooks driven by the Chrome OS are extremely unlikely to be on store shelves for the holidays, though a demonstration model and a release to developers is possible.
Plans for the Chrome OS were unveiled during the first week in July. The introductory blog posting, attributed to Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, the company's engineering director, called the Chrome OS a "natural extension" of the Chrome browser.
The July 7 posting said the Chrome browser aims at folks who spend most of their time on the web. It relies, however, on operating systems introduced before the web existed. The Chrome OS, the post said, is designed to provide the browser with more appropriate support.
The post goes into some detail on the operating system. The theme is that the open-source OS will be lightweight and most of the heavy lifting will be shifted to the Web....
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Qualcomm Shows Off World's First 'Smartbook'
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70065
During a briefing before financial analysts Thursday, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs briefly demonstrated the world's first smartbook, which is based on the company's Snapdragon microprocessor. Though the new device from Lenovo will not formally debut until the Winter CES show in January, Jacobs said it's already slated to run on AT&T's wireless network in the United States.
Designed to fit a mobile market niche that falls midway between a smartphone and a netbook, the device integrates many of the features found on today's smartphones but within a slightly larger form factor that sports a larger display and a full keyboard. Jacobs also noted that Lenovo's smartbook represents the first full implementation of Adobe Flash 10 on an ARM-based processor that can even run video in high definition.
"One of the things that some of our competitors have been saying is that you can't get the full Internet experience on ARM because we didn't have Flash, and that's wrong," Jacobs told investors.
During the briefing, Jacobs placed his own handset next to the new smartbook to demonstrate that Lenovo's device is about the same thickness as a Palm Pre. Lenovo's smartbook also sports a surprisingly big battery, which is mostly for supporting the display, Jacob noted.
Turn on the device and the screen instantly presents the user interface, which consists of six active widgets. "These are always on and always synchronizing your e-mail, Facebook status, the web, and all sorts of other stuff," Jacobs observed.
Jacobs said he believes Lenovo's smartbook will prove a compelling product. "It's going to change the experience of using the Internet on a device that has a full keyboard and a full-sized screen," he said.
However, Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi believes the industry is "getting a little carried away" with coining new names...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Google Buys Internet Calling Software Maker Gizmo5
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70064
Google has fired up its buying power once again, acquiring Gizmo5, a provider of Internet-based calling software. Acquiring Gizmo5 will give Google the assets it needs to improve Google Voice and better compete with rival Skype.
Gizmo5 provides session initiation protocol (SIP) services. SIP is a protocol used for creating sessions on an IP network. The sessions in this case are two-way phone calls. Google is expected to use the SIP service in Google Voice.
Google Voice is a service launched by the company in March that provides users with a phone number to make and accept domestic calls free of charge. The service is maintained by the user in an application similar to that of Google's Gmail and includes voice mail, conference calling, call screening, blocking of unwanted calls, and text of voice mail messages. One feature Google Voice lacks is the ability to make PC-to-PC calling.
"While we don't have any specific features to announce right now, Gizmo5's engineers will be joining the Google Voice team to continue improving the Google Voice and Gizmo5 experience," wrote Craig Walker and Wesley Chan, group product managers, in a blog posting.
Google's Sara Jew-Lim said the company would not share details on how it plans to use Gizmo5's assets and instead directed us to Walker and Chan's posting.
Observers, however, are betting the service will help Google lure customers from Skype, a PC-to-PC calling service.
"They will now discover they're faced with a whole new set of competitors as well as other parties, such as carriers, that will likely be concerned about Google's role in mobile communication, especially with their Android beachhead," said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret.
Although existing Gizmo5 users will still have access to the service, Google is suspending any new users, according to the company. Existing users will also...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
First Windows 7 Exploit Appears To Evade SDL Process
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70063
Windows 7 escaped the monthly patching process earlier this week, but it didn't escape the notice of hackers. What some security researchers are calling the first zero-day exploit in Windows 7 has been identified and Microsoft is investigating the issue.
Security researcher Laurent Gaffié called Microsoft on the carpet for its Secure Development Lifecycle (SDL) process on Wednesday. Gaffié also published proof-of-concept exploit code that he says will crash both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
p
This bug is a real proof that SDL #FAIL, Gaffié wrote in his blog post. The bug is so noob, it should have been spotted two years ago by the SDL if the SDL had ever existed.
p
subhead
The SMB Flaw
/subhead
p
At the core of the vulnerability is the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol, the foundation of Windows file sharing. According to Gaffié, the bug triggers an infinite loop on SMB and can be triggered remotely via Internet Explorer. Gaffié notified Microsoft on Nov. 8 before releasing his proof of exploit on Nov. 11.
p
When Microsoft released Windows 7 to manufacturing, rumors were rampant about a showstopper bug that could threaten the success of the all-important Vista successor. At that time, technology researchers claimed to have found a bug in the new operating system that causes a massive memory leak and could cause the company to delay the final release. But Microsoft was not able to reproduce the crash.
p
Other than that, security issues have been nonexistent -- until now. Although Microsoft did have issues with the SMB in the past, security researchers have noted that the SMB vulnerability was difficult to exploit with default firewall conditions. There is a workaround: Blocking ports 135, 139 and 445 on the router or firewall to prevent outside SMB traffic from getting into a system.
p
subhead
Bragging Against Microsoft
/subhead
p
Chet Wisniewski, a senior security adviser at...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Comcast Will Offer TV Everywhere on Multiple Devices
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70052
Comcast's new TV Everywhere is launching next month. That's the word from Comcast Interactive Media President Amy Banse, who described some of the details of the anticipated service in an interview this week at the NewTeeVee Live 09 event in San Francisco.
p
The new service, now in a trial phase in 5,000 homes, will allow Comcast subscribers to watch favorite shows over the web with no additional charges.
p
subhead
On-Demand Online
/subhead
p
To access the service, which Banse said will be called On Demand Online, subscribers will sign in online at Fancast.com or Comcast.net, get their identity authenticated as a Comcast subscriber, and then they will be able to watch cable shows online and on-demand shows over various devices.
p
At a subscriber's home, there is a one-time download for the player, and then up to three devices can be authenticated. Once authenticated, the laptop or other devices can be used anywhere.
p
The advertising model is still being worked out, with Banse describing the upcoming launch as the first inning of how the business will work.
p
If you're an HBO subscriber, you'll be able to watch Entourage on your laptop, she said, referring to the hit HBO series. She added that the trial shows people like the video quality, the user interface, having access to content they watch on TV, and, in particular, being able to watch on-demand content.
p
Before Banse's comments, there had been speculation among industry observers that the service would only work if the user was on a Comcast broadband connection, which would have limited its appeal. There are reports that using the service at home will contribute to a user's monthly download limit.
p
subhead
'Absolutely Makes Sense'
/subhead
p
Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for consumer technology at the NPD Group, said that TV Everywhere -- everywhere as long as you're a Comcast...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Dell Will Debut Mini 3 Smartphone in China and Brazil
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70051
Dell confirmed Friday that it plans to enter the smartphone market with wireless carriers in China and Brazil for its new Mini 3 device. Dell has inked deals with China Mobile, the world's largest telecommunications company with more than 500 million customers, and Claro, which serves more than 42 million consumers in Brazil.
p
Dell said its entrance into the smartphone market reflects its ongoing expansion into mobile Internet products and services through value-added relationships with operators. The company pointed to its move to embed China Mobile's 3G technology and services into its netbooks earlier this year, giving Dell a stronghold in the Asian netbook market.
p
Our entry into the smartphone category is a logical extension of Dell's consumer product evolution over the past two years, said Ron Garriques, president of the Dell Global Consumer Group. We are developing smaller and smarter mobile products that enable our customers to take their Internet experience out of the home and do the things they want to do whenever and wherever they want.
p
subhead
Dell's Grand Opportunity
/subhead
p
Dell's opportunity in China is grand. According to Research and Markets, smartphone shipments in China grew 30 percent to 23.6 million in 2008 despite China's uncertain economy and overall stagnation in handset shipment growth. Mobile Internet applications, GPS and multimedia functions have been the most important drivers of this growth.
p
Meanwhile, In-Stat estimates that the compound annual growth rate of China's smartphone market will be 25 percent through 2013 and the next wave of smartphone market growth will be driven by lowered entry barriers for both the OS and the chipset platform.
p
America Movil, which operates Claro, expects the Brazilian wireless industry to grow faster than other Latin American countries through 2010. America Movil has 25 percent of the market in Brazil and saw 19 percent customer growth in the third quarter, gaining...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
ATT Demands That Verizon Pull Its Comparison Ads
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70043
ATT on Wednesday upped the ante in its legal spat with Verizon, accusing it in an amended complaint of twisting facts in a trio of holiday ads to make ATT's wireless network coverage look a lot worse than it is.
p
ATT on Wednesday night asked the federal court in Atlanta to force Verizon to pull the ads immediately.
p
Verizon spokesman Jim Gerace says it is holding firm: What we are saying doesn't change.
p
What Verizon has been saying is this: ATT's advanced 3G wireless coverage is paltry in comparison with Verizon's. Its ad campaign, launched in October, features side-by-side coverage maps. The ads, which sparked ATT's initial lawsuit, say Verizon has five times more 3G coverage than ATT.
p
ATT doesn't dispute the accuracy of the maps, but it says they are misleading. It says white space in the maps, which denotes no 3G coverage, could be read to mean that ATT has no coverage at all in those areas. We are entering into the critical (holiday) quarter for the industry, when wireless carriers typically sell the most, says ATT spokesman Mark Siegel. If customers think they can't make calls in the vast majority of the country ... that could do us irreparable harm.
p
In its own ads, ATT claims to have the nation's fastest 3G network. But a relatively small percentage of its network -- ATT won't say how much -- is 3G. Most is powered by slower 2.5G or Edge technology. ATT, however, says it reaches 75 percent of the population with 3G.
p
ATT is the exclusive distributor of the Apple iPhone, and many of those customers have complained about network performance, especially slow downloads and dropped calls.
p
The reality is that (ATT's) network is not performing well in many markets, says Walter Piecyk, a Pali Research analyst. And the perception among consumers is even worse...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Booming Gray Market Threatens Cell-Phone Industry
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70040
Gray is the new black. Just as trafficking in black market goods has eroded sales of consumer electronics, a burgeoning gray market for cheap look-alike cell phones now threatens the wireless handset industry.
p
Just ask the folks at China Unicom and Apple. When China Unicom recently began offering Apple's iPhone for as much as $1,172, the company sold a measly 5,000 units its first weekend, according to Reuters. By contrast, when the iPhone 3GS was released in the U.S. earlier this year, it sold more than 1 million units in its first weekend. At full price, the phone flopped.
p
Part of the reason is that since 2007, the Chinese market has been flooded with iPhones sold in other countries and then modified, or unlocked so they work on other networks, before being sold for as little as $650. In other cases, Chinese consumers had already purchased low-priced, repurposed used phones.
p
But much of the blame lies with a burgeoning gray market for copycat phones, often made to look like the real thing but sold for a fraction of the price. Anyone who'd buy an iPhone from China Unicom is insane, says Charlie Wolf, senior analyst at Needham. Fewer than 5 percent of Chinese can afford China Unicom's iPhones, says Neil Mawston, an analyst at consultant Strategy Analytics.
p
subhead
Knockoffs Make Up 13 percent of Handsets
/subhead
p
Lackluster iPhone sales dealt a blow to China Unicom, which hoped the iPhone would boost subscriber growth the way it helped ATT, the exclusive U.S. iPhone provider. It was also bad news for Apple as it tries to forge ties to wireless carriers in new countries, beyond the 64 where the iPhone is already sold.
p
The gray market extends well beyond China, however. In Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and even the U.S., handset clones are on the march. Gray market phones...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Judge Denies Heartland Restraining Order Request
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70034
A New Jersey federal judge denied a request by payment processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. for a temporary restraining order against VeriFone Holdings Inc. for allegedly misleading customers about their legal spat, the companies said Wednesday.
p
A subsidiary of VeriFone, the maker of point-of-sale equipment where consumers swipe their cards, sued Heartland, the company that actually processes the payments, for patent infringement in early September in federal court in Northern California.
p
At issue is a new terminal that Heartland is preparing to roll out that would provide end-to-end encryption of data after its system was breached by a hacker last year. It will be Heartland's first terminal. The current system only encrypts a portion of the data flow.
p
VeriFone claims that Heartland's new terminal infringes on its patent and that Heartland is gearing up to be a competitor. Heartland sued VeriFone, claiming the company is trying to impede competition.
p
VeriFone began telling merchants that its relationship with Heartland will end after Dec. 31 and they should contact VeriFone directly for support and ensure continuity of service.
p
But Heartland claims that it can still process the payments and provide technical support without VeriFone's help, and sued VeriFone a second time in New Jersey for its statements to the contrary. Heartland also sought a temporary restraining order.
p
Heartland claims that VeriFone wanted to be the exclusive equipment maker for the new system and suggested merchants be charged an extra fee for enhanced data security. VeriFone disputed Heartland's allegations in its second lawsuit filed last week.
p
Judge Mary Cooper denied the temporary restraining order request on Monday and set a trial date of Dec. 7.
p
Shares of Heartland, based in Princeton, N.J., fell 4 cents to $12.15 while shares of San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone were up 26 cents to $14.72 in afternoon trading.
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Small Businesses Downsize Real Estate, Save Money
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70032
There's a downsizing trend under way at many small businesses: Moving to smaller offices because of shrinking staffs and as more workers telecommute.
p
Owners say they're saving money on real estate, office furniture and other expenses by letting employees work from home or by using independent contractors who don't work on-site. And those who have cut staffers obviously don't need to provide space for them.
p
Adrienne Giannone, CEO of Edge Electronics, has turned seven salespeople in Texas, Florida and California into telecommuters, enabling her to shut those offices. That helped her to expand her headquarters space in Bohemia, on New York's Long Island, and hire more employees there.
p
I'd rather keep my people and not spend the money on the bricks and mortar, said Giannone, whose company sells electronics components and displays.
p
The workers weren't sure at first about working from home, but Giannone said they soon realized they were saving money and time by not commuting. There's a big savings overall, she said.
p
Like many other owners, Giannone found that the Internet made it easy to keep in close touch with far-flung workers.
p
Many kinds of businesses can downsize their real estate by having more people work off-site. Employees whose job is to handle customer service calls can do that at home. So can writers or graphic artists. Anyone whose work is done in client offices probably doesn't need a permanent desk either, and should be able to share with other staffers who are also moving about.
p
The constant improvements over the years in technology have helped many kinds of businesses use less real estate. Law firms, for example, don't need to have the huge libraries filled with books that were crucial before cases and commentaries became available online. Machines like photocopiers and computers have become more compact. And software has made it possible for businesses...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Call of Duty Game Sells $310M in 24 Hours
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70027
First-day sales of Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 broke records, raking in an estimated $310 million in North America and the United Kingdom alone.
p
The video game went on sale all over the world on Tuesday, but Activision provided figures Thursday only for North America and Britain. The company estimates that it sold about 4.7 million copies of the game in the first 24 hours in those markets, making it the biggest-selling launch in the history of entertainment.
p
The latest installment in the Call of Duty action franchise was expected to at least match last year's Grand Theft Auto IV, which was the most successful video game release in history and at the time may have been the top entertainment launch ever.
p
That game, from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., had sold 3.6 million units on its opening day, worth $310 million worldwide. Call of Duty made that much in just North America and Britain.
p
The launch of Call of Duty also easily brought in more than last year's record $155 million opening weekend for the Batman movie The Dark Knight.
p
Shares of Activision, which is based in Santa Monica, rose 23 cents, or 2 percent, to $11.61 in morning trading Thursday.
p
Like the previous five Call of Duty games, which are all rated M for mature (not for kids under 17), this one lets players shoot their way through a complex series of scenes. The game's developer, Infinity Ward, spent two years creating realistic graphics that are amplified in many players' homes by big-screen, high-definition TVs sets and powerful speakers.
p
Players can fight one another, whether they're at the same game console or in separate locations and connected online. Or a player can dive in alone and get swept into the game, which includes jarring depictions of war and an intricate story of...
Sat, 14 Nov 09
Windows 7 and Vista Offer Best File Search
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69940
Ever wonder where you stored a certain file on your computer? If you have the new Windows 7 or even Windows Vista on your computer, you won't need any extra software to answer that question. The functionality already built into Windows 7 and Vista beats the performance offered by four free search programs, the experts at Germany's Computer Bild magazine found.
p
Both Windows 7 and Vista scored above the best add-on program. Windows 7 rated 2.84 on a scale of 1 to 5, with lower scores better than higher ones, and Vista rated 2.97. The best add-on program was rated 3.03.
p
The search function on XP managed a 3.42 on average and as such was deemed more accomplished and convenient than the other three test candidates. Two earned grades of 4.08 and 4.30 (acceptable) while the third was stamped inadequate (4.75) by the tests.
p
Windows 7's superior file search capabilities are based on its exceptional quickness in creating an index, which is the key preparatory step. Working with a test hard drive containing 22,000 files, the database required only twelve minutes to catalog the files. The slowest test candidate -- one of the free programs -- required almost 45 minutes.
p
Once that index had been created, all of the solutions were fast: no file search lasted longer than one second. One of the four extra programs received a demerit, though: prior to the start of a search an advertisement was shown in the results window. A click on the link led to a Web site that the browser classified as unsafe.
Fri, 13 Nov 09
HP Will Buy 3Com for $2.7B and Challenge Cisco
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70050
Hewlett-Packard rocked the networking world Wednesday with the announcement that it plans to buy 3Com for $2.7 billion. The acquisition is expected to make HP the number-two networking vendor behind Cisco Systems and set the two companies up for a battle of titans.
"Companies are looking for ways to break free from the business limitations imposed by a networking paradigm that has been dominated by a single vendor," said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager for HP's enterprise servers and networking group.
The move is the latest skirmish between HP and Cisco. In 2005, Cisco started building servers and HP responded by putting funding and new management behind its ProCurve networking gear. With the 3Com acquisition, it's game on.
"Businesses are expected to spend $100 billion on data-center software and hardware this year, research company IDC forecasts," explained The Wall Street Journal's Stephen Grocer. "And tech companies don't want to share those data-center dollars any more. They want to be the one-stop shop for customers."
"By acquiring 3Com, we are accelerating the execution of our Converged Infrastructure strategy and bringing disruptive change to the networking industry," Donatelli said. "By combining HP ProCurve offerings with 3Com's extensive set of solutions, we will enable customers to build a next-generation network infrastructure that supports customer needs from the edge of the network to the heart of the data center."
3Com CEO Bob Mao said the combined company will have strong synergies. "Our extensive product line and innovative technology, together with HP's breadth and scale, will expand our global opportunity," Mao said. He boasted that 3Com's products deliver "better performance, require less power, and eliminate administrative complexity."
3Com's major market segments are banks, ISPs, utilities and retailers. With 3Com under its belt, HP will compete vigorously in China, the company said.
The deal...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
AMD Unveils Two-Year Processor Road Map
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70049
Advanced Micro Devices gave analysts a briefing on its computing platform road map through 2011 Wednesday, with company executives saying they intend to differentiate the company's chips from rival offerings by enabling a complete computing experience featuring stunning graphics and video. The executives also said AMD remains on schedule to deliver a new family of Fusion processors in 2011 that promise to dramatically lower power consumption in server and mobile-device applications.
"We've got the opportunity at AMD to change the game, to redefine the way that people think about computer technology and, in particular, to redefine the way that people interact with computers going forward," said AMD CEO Dirk Meyer.
Starting next year, OEMs will be able to use quad-core processors featuring a 2M cache and DDR3 memory support. Code-named Danube, the chips are expected to help laptop makers deliver seven or more hours of notebook battery life. Moreover, AMD's third-generation Nile platform promises to deliver the same level of battery performance when deployed in ultra-thin notebook designs.
AMD also plans to launch a six-core processor targeting gaming enthusiasts. Called Leo, the new chip will include support for the company's latest ATI Eyefinity technology as well as DirectX, which AMD spokesperson John Taylor predicts will "bring incredible graphics capabilities and stunning HD video to AMD's new notebook platforms."
Two DDR3-based processing platforms will also become available for use in server applications for data centers, where IT managers have been asking for more performance, but without incurring any corresponding increase in power consumption, according to AMD Senior Vice President Rick Bergman.
"We are in the midst of one of the biggest performance increases on our server platforms in the history of AMD," Bergman told analysts. "In 2009, 2010 and 2011 we will be seeing a huge uptick on...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
Smartphone Sales Remain Strong in Third Quarter
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70048
Third-quarter reports from Gartner and IDC show that the smartphone market is alive and well -- indeed, very well -- despite the bad economy.
Gartner, which released its report Thursday, said mobile-phone sales ticked up .01 percent compared to last year's third quarter, finishing at 308.9 million units. The numbers would have been considerably worse if the smartphone category hadn't saved the day: The number of smartphones sold increased 12.8 percent compared to the year-ago quarter, totaling more than 41 million units.
Gartner's smartphone numbers, which were included in a report on the overall status of mobile devices, showed no change in position among the top five players. However, the market share of these players has changed, in some cases dramatically.
Leader Nokia saw its slice of the smartphone pie recede from 42.3 percent to 39.3 percent. BlackBerry, which is made by Research In Motion, rose almost five percent -- from 15.9 percent to 20.8 percent. Apple rode the coattails of the iPhone to a 17.1 percent share, easily beating the 12.9 percent it held during last year's third quarter. HTC rose from 4.5 percent to 6.5 percent, and Samsung was up a bit, from three percent to 3.2 percent.
Perhaps most interesting is that customers are migrating toward the big five, as the "others" category slipped eight percentage points, from 21.3 percent to 13.1 percent.
IDC reported its quarterly smartphone numbers last week. The firm said 43.3 million units were shipped, a 4.2 percent increase from the 41.5 million units shipped during last year's third quarter and 3.2 percent more than the 41.9 million units shipped in the second quarter.
The numbers were about what IDC expected, said Ramon Llamas, the senior research analyst for mobile devices. "I think they are on a very...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
Apple Plans To Launch 40 to 50 Retail Stores in 2010
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70045
Apple is getting aggressive with its retail strategy, opening a new store on New York's Upper West Side this weekend and planning 40 to 50 new stores in 2010. The first 2,500 visitors to the new store will receive a limited edition, commemorative T-shirt.
Apple's latest Manhattan Apple Store is located at 67th Street, just minutes from Lincoln Center and Central Park. The store features an all-glass arched roof on the outside, and more Macs, iPods and iPhones than any store in the world. The store showcases a 45-foot Genius Bar on the lower level for personal training and technical support.
"We opened our first store in Manhattan seven years ago, and the response has been incredible," said Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of retail. "We hope our new store on the Upper West Side will become as much a part of the community as our stores in SoHo, the Meatpacking District, and on Fifth Avenue."
Apple will employ more than 200 people at its Upper West Side site. All are trained to offer free advice and expert tech support to consumers. Alternatively, customers who buy a Mac there can join the One to One program for $99 and get personal set-up service and training.
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, store visitors can get free tips from Apple specialists to help find the best product for themselves or someone else. Shoppers can also reserve an Apple product online and pick it up at any Apple store Dec. 15-24. Apple will even gift wrap any iPod or portable Mac for $5.
The Apple Store Upper West Side is the company's fourth in Manhattan and Apple's 15th in the New York metro area. Apple also has stores in SoHo, West 14th Street, and Fifth Avenue. In all, Apple now operates...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
Microsoft Insists Windows 7 Not Copied from Mac OS
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70044
That sound you hear is Microsoft backtracking as fast as possible, following a report of some indiscreet comments by one of its managers Wednesday that Windows 7 created a "Mac look and feel." Before the end of the day, Microsoft issued a statement saying the employee "was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7," and his comments were "inaccurate and uninformed."
In an interview with PCR-Online, Microsoft partner group manager Simon Aldous noted that one of the things "that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it's very graphical and easy to use." In fact, he added, "what we've tried to do with Windows 7 -- whether it's traditional format or in a touch format -- is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics."
Aldous then spun his point back to praising Vista and Windows 7, noting that, in the new OS, Microsoft has "significantly improved the graphical user interface, but it's built on that very stable core Vista technology, which is far more stable than the current Mac platform, for instance."
The Microsoft refuting statement was posted on its Windows Blog by employee Brandon LeBlanc, and pointed to several articles in the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, and others praising Windows 7. It also noted a company blog post describing the design process for the new OS.
The "Mac's UI is better than Windows" argument among fans of each has lost much of its fervor in recent years as the visual approach to personal computing has become standard. Much of the criticism of Vista, for instance, was based on stability issues, backward compatibility with existing peripherals, hardware requirements, and other non-interface factors.
Al Hilwa, program director at industry research firm IDC, said "there's...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
Socially Connected Guide Lists What's on Internet TV
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70026
On Tuesday, Clicker Media officially launched a programming guide to Internet television. Clicker.com is billed as an unbiased resource for navigating all broadcast and broadcast-quality programming online.
Clicker Media said Clicker.com offers a hub where consumers can discover what programming is available online and where to watch it. In all, Clicker.com indexes more than 400,000 full episodes from more than 1,200 sources and in more than 1,200 categories.
Clicker also catalogs more than 30,000 movies from Netflix Instant Streaming and Amazon Video On Demand and more than 50,000 music videos from more than 20,000 artists. All this represents a 33 percent increase in content coverage since the site made its beta launch in September.
Jim Lanzone, founder and CEO of Clicker Media, said the last era of television was simple to navigate in retrospect. That, he said, is because shows came on at specific times and viewers had a schedule laid out in a neat grid. All that has changed.
"Even the growth from three TV networks to 150-plus cable channels was nowhere near as dramatic as today's changes toward a world of nearly infinite video on demand, scattered among thousands of online destinations," Lanzone said. "Helping viewers navigate this new landscape, to discover what's on online and where to find it, is the singular need Clicker was built to fulfill."
At its core, Clicker.com is a browsable directory of programs by title, category, popularity, air date, and network. Consumers can leverage the on-site search engine to find a specific show or video. They can also build a Clicker Playlist to track which episodes of their favorite shows they've watched, set season passes for high-priority content, and receive alerts when new content becomes available.
Clicker.com also offers an entertainment guide -- from charts of most-popular shows and episodes by category to...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
Intel Will Pay AMD $1.25B To Settle Competition Charges
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70025
Intel has settled a lawsuit with chip manufacturer and archrival Advanced Micro Devices. Intel agreed to pay AMD $1.25 billion to settle complaints stemming from as early as 2000.
AMD filed complaints in 2000, 2003 and 2006, claiming Intel acted in an anticompetitive manner. Specifically, AMD said Intel illegally gave rebates to computer makers such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo and NEC on condition that they purchase all or most of their x86 processors from Intel.
Intel was also accused of paying Europe's largest computer retailer, Media Saturn Holdings, to stock only computers with Intel chips. Because the alleged moves took a toll on AMD's market share, AMD took its complaints to the European Commission, which fined Intel $1.45 billion.
Intel denied all the allegations. In September, however, the EC released documents detailing communications and interviews from executives at HP, Dell and others to prove the allegations.
Intel said the EC had its facts and economics wrong and appealed the $1.45 billion fine, which is 4.15 percent of its 2008 turnover and less than half the allowed fine, which was 10 percent of a company's annual revenues.
"While the relationship between the two companies has been difficult in the past, this agreement ends the legal disputes and enables the companies to focus all of our efforts on product innovation and development," the companies said in a joint statement.
Separately, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said his company is "anxious to show our side of the story," referring to e-mail communications between Intel executives and the vendors. Otellini said that, of 200 million pages of documents produced, only four or five e-mail snippets were used in the complaints against Intel, and many of the comments were taken out of context.
AMD and Intel also adopted...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
Web-Based E-Mail Features Come To Desktop Software
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70012
E-mail has taken a full circle.
Over the years, Web-based e-mail services have gotten much better, sporting many features once available only with the e-mail programs that reside on the computer desktop.
Now, those desktop programs are borrowing from their Web-based counterparts, such as Google Inc.'s Gmail.
The new version of Mozilla's Thunderbird, due out in the next few weeks, lets you keep your inbox clutter-free with a Gmail-like "archive" button for permanently storing older messages, while removing them from day-to-day sight.
Thunderbird 3 also introduces tabbed e-mail -- akin to tabbed browsing available on most Web browsers, including Mozilla's own Firefox. You can quickly jump back and forth between e-mail messages by opening them in separate tabs.
David Ascher, CEO of Mozilla Messaging, said that when Thunderbird was first created, the only decent programs around were desktop-based ones such as Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook. For the latest version, Ascher said, Mozilla looked for ideas everywhere, including other e-mail programs that happened to be Web-based.
That might suggest the time has come to ditch desktop programs completely, now that they are playing catch-up rather than the other way around.
But Ascher said desktop systems still provide advantages for many users -- particularly those with multiple e-mail accounts over multiple services.
The new Thunderbird software offers improvements for merging messages from those accounts into a single mailbox. Before, you could do that only for e-mail systems supporting the POP3 protocol; that's been expanded to include IMAP, used by Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and many workplace systems.
Search has also improved to be more like the Web. Think of e-shopping sites that let you narrow your choices by clicking on a specific brand name or price range to the left. Thunderbird will now let you do that with e-mail, narrowing the search results using such criteria as whether there's an attachment and...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
Drug Industry Presses FDA To Allow More Online Ads
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70011
As federal regulators take their first tentative steps toward policing the wild west of medical information online, pharmaceutical companies are pressing their case to market drugs via Google, Twitter and other Web sites.
The Food and Drug Administration will convene a two-day meeting beginning Thursday to hear the drug industry's position on Internet marketing. The agency has agreed to consider developing rules for online advertising after companies complained that the current guidelines for traditional media -- which require a detailed list of possible side effects -- have left them hamstrung on the Web.
An estimated 83 percent of Internet users search for health information online, according to a recent survey from the Pew Research Center.
A few drugmakers have begun trying to reach patients via social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube. But overall the industry's online presence trails other sectors, including retail, financial services and computer makers.
In the first half of 2009, pharmaceutical companies represented just 4 percent of the $10.9 billion spent on online advertising, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Industry observers say companies have largely steered clear of the Web for fear of running afoul of FDA regulators, who have not defined the rules of operating online.
In a public statement announcing the meeting, the FDA acknowledged that "emerging technologies may require the agency to provide additional guidance." But some industry experts worry the FDA's rule development process -- which often takes years -- cannot keep pace with online innovation.
"What's happening is these new media are emerging at an increasingly rapid rate, and are being regulated by an agency that moves very slowly," said attorney Mark Senak, who advises drug companies as a consultant for communications firm Fleishman-Hillard. "In essence, you have a regulatory communication crisis developing."
The vast majority of the pharmaceutical industry's roughly $4.5 billion in annual marketing is still...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
Nokia Launches Critical N900 Phone
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70006
When thousands of suppliers, developers, and analysts converged on Stuttgart in September to attend Nokia World, the Finnish company's annual in-house trade fair, the buzz was all about the new Booklet 3G netbook -- Nokia's first foray into the hot category of pint-sized PCs. But away from the show floor, some Nokia execs had a surprising take: An even more crucial upcoming product, they said privately, was the company's new N900 handset and its computer-like operating system, called Maemo.
On Nov. 10, Nokia finally began shipping the N900 after a two-month delay. Though no larger than an Apple iPhone or other Internet-friendly handsets from the likes of Research In Motion or HTC, the N900 may well be the closest that Nokia or any company has come to packing a real computer into a pocket-size package. But the high-end gizmo -- aimed primarily at tech-savvy users -- and its sophisticated software may not yet be the iPhone killer that Nokia shareholders have been hoping for. "Maemo is really only a small step in the right direction," says Neil Mawston, an analyst at market researcher Strategy Analytics.
The N900, priced at $750 before operator subsidies, comes with enough memory to compete with laptops of a few years back: 32 gigabytes worth, enough to hold 40 hours of high-quality video, Nokia says. But aside from its top-of-the-line specs, what really sets it apart is the Maemo 5 software. A variant of the open-source Linux operating system, Maemo 5 lets users run several programs at once, browsing the Internet wirelessly and displaying graphics and video as fast as a PC. "A computer platform allows us to drive the convergence of mobile and Internet much more radically," says Michael Halbherr, a Nokia vice-president who works on mobile mapping applications from offices in Berlin.
As Nokia...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
To Filter Noise on Twitter, Location Is Everything
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70004
Does Twitter have an information overload problem?
Simply put, there is way too much information on Twitter. Lately, it defies navigation. In January, there were 2.4 million tweets a day, according to Alessio Signorini, a researcher at the University of Iowa. By October, he reports, there were 26 million tweets a day.
The promise of Twitter -- the reason Google and Microsoft have paid to be able to search millions of Tweets -- is that it gives the best approximation of the pulse of the world: How popular is the new iPhone? Did Kanye West make a spectacle of himself at an awards show? What is it like when there is a shooter loose on an Army post?
Until lately, the main way to make sense of an urgent outpouring of tweets on a particular subject was to use text searches: Look for the phrase "Fort Hood," for example, or maybe an agreed-upon label, "#fthood," within tweets.
Yet during events like the [recent] shootings at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead, this method is useless. Hundreds of "relevant" tweets pop up every minute, most repeating the same news reports over and over again or expressing concern from far away.
Which is why a new feature that Twitter says it could introduce in the next few weeks -- "geolocation" -- holds such potential to make the Twitter rapids navigable.
The idea is to take advantage of global positioning systems on cell phones to allow Twitter users to include a precise location with each tweet. Users would be able, right off the bat, to limit their search by location.
"Proximity can be this proxy for relevance," said Ryan Sarver, the director of the Twitter platform, who led a "fairly small team" of programmers who after a few months are close to completing the geolocation project. "We are about...
Fri, 13 Nov 09
Schools Shun Kindle, Saying Blind Can't Use It
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70002
Amazon's Kindle can read books aloud, but if you're blind it can be difficult to turn that function on without help. Now two universities say they will shun the device until Amazon changes the setup.
The National Federation of the Blind planned to announce Wednesday that the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Syracuse University won't consider big rollouts of the electronic reading device unless Amazon makes it more accessible to visually impaired students.
Both schools have some Kindles that they bought for students to try this fall, but now they say they won't look into buying more unless Amazon makes changes to the device.
"These universities are saying, `Our policy is nondiscrimination, so we're not going to adopt a technology we know for sure discriminates against blind students,'" said Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation for the Blind.
Amazon.com Inc. spokesman Drew Herdener said many visually impaired customers have asked Amazon to make the Kindle easier to navigate. The company is working on it, he said.
According to the National Federation for the Blind, there are about 1.3 million legally blind people in the U.S. Many more people have other disabilities such as dyslexia that make it difficult to read.
The Kindle could be promising for the visually impaired because of its read-aloud feature, which utters text in a robotic-sounding voice. For blind students in particular, the Kindle could be an improvement over existing studying techniques -- such as using audio books or scanning books page by page into a computer so character-recognition software can translate it for a text-to-speech program.
But activating the Kindle's audio feature probably requires a sighted helper, because the step involves manipulating buttons and navigating choices in menus that appear on the Kindle's screen.
The federation says the device should be able to speak the menu choices as well.
Electronic books still make...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Tracking Features Added To Google Latitude
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70019
Google has added two features -- Google Location History and Google Location Alerts -- to Google Latitude, which is a feature of Google Maps. Software engineer Chris Lambert wrote in a blog post that the additions are the result of requests from users to upgrade Latitude, which launched in February.
"One of the most popular ideas was for Latitude to keep track of location history, allowing you (but not your friends) to see where you've been at any point in time. Another popular idea was to notify you when you're near your Latitude friends so you can easily meet up or grab lunch."
Location History enables a user to review where he or she has been, and it can be seen on Google Earth, Google Maps, or played back on the user's device. Location Alerts, which is in beta form, provides friends with updates on a user's comings and goings.
Lambert's posting said Location Alerts only works in conjunction with Location History. This way, once the system is "trained" -- which takes about a week -- text-message alerts are not issued if the person is carrying on business as usual. So only going to a strange location or a familiar location at odd times will trigger an alert.
Tina Teng, the senior analyst for wireless communications for iSuppli, said the new Latitude features face some challenges. The first is how widely distributed Gmail is, since the e-mail program is needed to use Latitude on a desktop PC or a laptop. "So there is a community issue," Teng said.
Perhaps even more serious are issues of privacy and security in an era in which people are concerned about stalking and other potentially problematic uses of tracking technology. Teng said some people don't want their precise location to be tracked, and even pointed...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Google Introduces Go Programming Language
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70018
Ready, set, go ... Google moved into yet another IT realm Tuesday with a computer programming language called Go. Google is betting Go will address key trends in the computing landscape.
"Go combines the development speed of working in a dynamic language like Python with the performance and safety of a compiled language like C or C++," Google's Go team said in the company blog. "Typical builds feel instantaneous; even large binaries compile in just a few seconds. And the compiled code runs close to the speed of C. Go lets you move fast."
Google cited five reasons why a new programming language is needed. First, computers are much faster than they have ever been, but software development has not kept pace. What's more, Google said, dependency management is a big part of today's software development, but the header files of languages in the C tradition are antithetical to clean dependency analysis -- and fast compilation.
As Google sees it, there is a growing rebellion against cumbersome languages like Java and C++, pushing developers toward dynamic languages such as Python and JavaScript. Google also noted some fundamental concepts such as garbage collection and parallel computation that are not well supported by popular languages, and the emergence of multi-core computers with the worry and confusion they've generated among software developers.
"Go is a great language for systems programming with support for multiprocessing, a fresh and lightweight take on object-oriented design, plus some cool features like true closures and reflection," the Go team said. "Want to write a server with thousands of communicating threads? Want to spend less time reading blogs while waiting for builds? Feel like whipping up a prototype of your latest idea? Go is the way to go!"
Google said it's possible to compile a large Go program in...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Second Beta Release of Firefox 3.6 Fixes 190 Bugs
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70017
Mozilla's developer community has released the second beta of Firefox 3.6 to fix 190 bugs in the original release. Moreover, all current Firefox 3.6 beta users have been issued an update containing improvements of interest to users as well as web and add-on developers.
The bug fixes released Tuesday include a mechanism to prevent incompatible software from crashing the browser, noted Firefox Director Mike Beltzner. However, Firefox 3.6 remains prerelease software, which means testers may encounter compatibility problems with some web sites and add-ons.
"Most add-ons have not yet been upgraded by their authors to be compatible with Firefox 3.6 Beta," Beltzner cautioned.
The release of a second beta of Firefox 3.6 in less than two weeks is a good indication that Mozilla is keen to bring its browser upgrades to market as quickly as possible. One possible reason why is that Google has recently been seeing accelerated use of its Chrome browser, which may pose the biggest threat to Firefox's long-term prospects for growth.
StatCounter reports Firefox continued to maintain its number-two position globally in October with a 31.8 percent share of the browser market -- an improvement of 6.5 percentage points over the past 12 months. Though Microsoft's Internet Explorer continues to lead with a 58 percent market share, its slice of the global browser market has fallen 10 percentage points in the past year, data from the Dublin web-metrics firm shows.
By contrast, StatCounter's data indicates that Chrome's market share has risen by more than 3.2 percentage points to a 4.17 percent share during the past 12 months. By contrast, the use of Opera's browser is declining and the market share for Apple's Safari browser has fallen slightly behind Chrome for the past two months.
Mozilla hopes the final release of Firefox 3.6 will give it a boost...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Can New Bing Features Unseat Google?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70016
When it comes to the Web, Microsoft's Job One is to get its Bing search engine a chunk of the market share long controlled by Google. In the short term, at least, Microsoft's strategy is to load up Bing with new features and integrated results, as evidenced by a flurry of new announcements.
Just this week, Microsoft has announced enhancements to Bing's maps, improving functionality so users can now easily click and drag the maps around; the integration of MSN videos with the search engine; and Wednesday, the inclusion of Wolfram Alpha search results for health and food-related queries.
Promoting the deal, by which Bing uses Wolfram's API to integrate data into Bing results, a Wolfram Alpha blog revealed a deep geek connection between founder Stephen Wolfram and Bill Gates.
The story goes like this, according to the post: "Highlighting examples of Wolfram|Alpha to the most senior executives at Microsoft, Stephen Wolfram entered the query "2^2^2^2^2". Upon seeing the result, Bill Gates interrupted to say, 'What, is that right?' A profound silence fell over the entire room. Stephen replied, 'We do mathematics!' Amused, Stephen, Bill, and the other executives dissected the calculation and determined that the result was, indeed, correct."
Microsoft seems to be doing something right. Experian Hitwise released numbers for October, showing Bing achieved a seven percent gain in market share, from approximately nine percent to more than 9.5 percent. Good news, but Bing's traffic is still one-seventh of Google's, which controls a whopping 70 percent of search.
Microsoft's attempts to improve the user experience and leverage its many media properties and partners "so far are not enough to dramatically change the landscape," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst with Sterling Market Research.
"Bing may be incrementally growing its share at the expense of AOL and Ask and...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Samsung Launches Bada Mobile Operating System
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70013
There's another mobile operating system to add to the mix that includes Windows Mobile, Research in Motion's BlackBerry, Palm's webOS, Apple's iPhone, Symbian and Google's Android. On Tuesday, Samsung Electronics announced the launch of its own open mobile platform, called bada.
The Korean company said the new OS "enables developers to create applications for millions" of Samsung phones, providing a "rich smartphone experience to a wider range of consumers across the world."
Samsung said it chose the name bada, which means ocean in Korean, to "convey the limitless variety of potential applications which can be created using the new platform."
The company said the new OS will be an open platform, which presumably refers to the open software development kit and the ability of developers to create applications for devices running on bada. Third-party applications are becoming an increasingly important factor in purchasing decisions, with online markets for thousands of applications for phones using operating systems from Apple, Microsoft, Palm, Android and others.
Samsung emphasized that its new platform will be "simple" for developers to build on, including a "groundbreaking" user interface. The company also said the platform will be easy to integrate so wireless operators can offer "unique and differentiated services" to customers.
In addition to bada, Samsung said its mobile application ecosystem includes the Mobile Innovator program, which gives developers access to the company's Virtual Device Lab, the Application Seller Site, and the Application Store.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said it isn't clear yet exactly what bada will offer. That didn't stop him, however, from relaying an associate's observation that there might be a very catchy, Soprano-esque brand name if bada is someday merged with Microsoft's Bing search engine.
Nonetheless, he noted that "Samsung has realized that the market has shifted from hardware differentiation...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Logitech Will Buy Video-Conferencing Company for $405M
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=70010
Logitech International, a Switzerland-based provider of PC video communications, said Wednesday it will acquire LifeSize Communications for $405 million in cash. The deal will give the smaller company the backing it needs to grow while opening a door for Logitech to the enterprise market.
The acquisition of the Austin, Texas-based LifeSize will enable Logitech to expand its PC video business beyond the desktop with HD video conferencing. It will also allow Logitech, which has 8,000 employees worldwide, to tap into LifeSize's 9,000 video-conferencing customers spread across 80 countries.
"Logitech, the world leader in webcams and a pioneer in the development of PC-based video calling, is a natural fit for LifeSize -- from a business, innovation and cultural perspective," said LifeSize CEO Craig Malloy. "With Logitech's backing, LifeSize will be able to scale more effectively to deliver technology solutions to more customers and partners around the world."
LifeSize, which has 300 employees worldwide and $90 million in revenue expected this year, will continue to operate as a separate division with Malloy remaining as CEO and reporting to Logitech CEO Gerald Quindlen.
Logitech, considered a household name, provides consumers with computer peripherals, including webcams, keyboards and mice. The acquisition will allow Logitech to expand beyond the consumer market tapping into LifeSize's enterprise customers.
Joining forces with a company the size of Logitech with expected annual revenues of $2 billion will help LifeSize gain traction in a market that is expected to reach approximately $4.6 billion in the next five years, according to Wainhouse Research. For end-point systems in video conferencing, the market size in the third quarter was $385 million.
For the next two years, the deal will not affect any existing LifeSize partners or customers, change any products on the market, or result in any market disruptions, according to Andrew Davis, a partner...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Light Patch Tuesday Release Fixes Serious Threats
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69995
After a record-breaking October, IT administrators are welcoming a relatively light Patch Tuesday this month. But security researchers said there are serious issues that need to be addressed quickly.
Of the six patches Microsoft released Tuesday, three are critical. The three critical fixes focus on bugs in several versions of Windows, but Windows 7 is apparently immune. There are also three updates rated important that IT administrators need to deploy.
MS09-065, a bug in the Windows kernel, is this month's most serious issue, according to Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle. That's because the vulnerability allows for remote code execution, and the attack code can be embedded inside Microsoft Office files or be hosted on web sites.
"Simply browsing an infected web site will compromise unsuspecting users -- not great for all the holiday shoppers looking to get a jump on their shopping," Storms said. "The novelty value of this bug is likely to attract many researchers. A lot of people will try to be the first to publicly post exploit code."
There are three vulnerabilities this month that target a listening service, noted Tyler Reguly, a senior security engineer at nCircle. While none of them are likely to be considered great candidates for exploit, he said, they are worth noting as they all primarily affect the enterprise.
"It is unlikely that the home user will be running a license-logging server or have Active Directory up and running," Reguly said. "While Web Services on Devices affects Vista and Server 2008, the attack vector requires that you be on the local subnet, meaning the home user is unlikely to see any real risk."
As a researcher, Reguly found MS09-063 to be the most interesting bug. The bug affects the Web Services on Devices API, a product only introduced in Vista....
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Review: Modern Warfare 2 Has Combat, Weak Story
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69986
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," almost certain to be the year's best-selling video game, has also become its most notorious. That's because of a prerelease leak showing a terrorist raid on an airport -- exactly the sort of thing that's guaranteed to rile up anti-violence watchdogs and generate free publicity.
Now that I've played "Modern Warfare 2" (Activision, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99), I can report that the airport massacre is absolutely essential to its story. The rationale behind your character's participation in the assault, however, is idiotic: You're really a good guy who has infiltrated the terrorist cell. So fire away.
The remainder of "MW2" deals with the repercussions from the terrorist attack, which causes escalating global tensions to explode into all-out war. Tanks rumble through the Virginia suburbs, helicopters circle the Washington Monument and millions die -- all because of an awesomely ill-conceived plan to get intel on a terrorist.
I'm not giving anything away that you haven't already seen in Activision's TV ads. The sight of D.C. in flames is spectacular, and it's a terrific setting for virtual combat. "MW2" is filled with such mind-blowing set pieces, from the slums of Rio de Janeiro to the snowy mountains of Russia.
It's in getting from one set piece to the next that developer Infinity Ward stumbles. The overarching story concerns a special forces team's efforts to bring down Vladimir Makarov, the terrorist mastermind who engineered the airport attack. But it's easy to lose sight of that goal when the White House is under siege.
Granted, the plot isn't that much more ridiculous than a typical season of "24." In comparison with some other video games -- say, "Metal Gear Solid 4" -- the "MW2" script is almost elegant.
And most players won't give much thought to the story, given the frenetic,...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Deadline in Google Book Deal Extended
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69976
A judge has given Google Inc. more time to revise a legal settlement that has drawn government scrutiny because it would give the Internet search leader the digital rights to millions of out-of-print books.
Under a change approved Monday, Google and groups representing U.S. authors and publishers now have until Friday to change an agreement reached more than a year ago. It marked the latest twist in a copyright lawsuit that the authors and publishers filed against Google's digital book project four years ago.
The revisions to the settlement were supposed to be filed by the end of Monday, but Google and its negotiating partners told U.S. District Judge Denny Chin they still needed to address objections raised in September by the U.S. Justice Department. Chin signed off on the extension without comment.
The Justice Department has warned it probably would try to block the current agreement from taking effect because antitrust regulators had concluded it threatened to thwart competition and drive up prices.
Some of the Justice Department's preliminary findings echoed concerns from a chorus of critics that include Google rivals Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
Google, based in Mountain View, California, had insisted the settlement merited court approval until the Justice Department raised red flags.
In its current form, the settlement would entrust Google with a digital database containing millions of copyright-protected books, including volumes no longer being published. The Internet search leader would act as the sales agent for the authors and publishers, giving 63 percent of the revenue to the copyright holders.
The Justice Department believes the arrangement could lead to collusion that would raise the prices for digital books -- a format that is expected to become increasingly popular with the advent of electronic readers such as Amazon's Kindle.
Google contends its plan to make digital copies of so many hard-to-find...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
EU Objects To Oracle's Takeover of Sun
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69974
European antitrust regulators have formally objected to Sun Microsystems Inc.'s planned $7.4 billion sale to Oracle Corp., escalating a battle over a deal that has already been cleared in the U.S.
The so-called "statement of objections" that Sun received Monday from the European Commission isn't entirely surprising, since the commission already expressed concerns about possible harm to the database market from an Oracle-Sun tie-up when it launched a formal antitrust probe of the deal in September.
The objection, though, ratchets up tension about the fate of the deal, which Sun badly needs to go through, and presents an interesting challenge for the Obama administration, which has vowed to vigorously pursue antitrust cases and now finds itself at odds with European regulators.
Uncertainty about the deal, which both companies had hoped would close this summer, has wounded Sun, which is losing market share in computer servers to rivals like IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. Last week Sun revealed that it lost $120 million in the quarter ended Sept. 27.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, Sun stressed that European regulators' objections are the result only of a preliminary investigation and that the commission hasn't made its final decision about the matter. Sun and Oracle are allowed to argue their case to the commission, which Oracle said it will do to correct what it called a "profound misunderstanding" about the companies' markets.
The EU responded Tuesday that such criticism was "facile and superficial." EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said regulators were obliged to investigate "a whole series of complaints from customers of these companies expressing their concerns" that Oracle's purchase of open-source database software MySQL could eliminate a crucial rival.
The EU executive has until Jan. 19, 2010, to decide whether to clear or block the deal. Todd would not confirm that regulators had sent...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Framed for Child Porn -- By a PC Virus
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69950
Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography.
Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses -- the malicious programs better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it's your reputation that's stolen.
Pedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs to remotely store and view their stash without fear they'll get caught. Pranksters or someone trying to frame you can tap viruses to make it appear that you surf illegal Web sites.
Whatever the motivation, you get child porn on your computer -- and might not realize it until police knock at your door.
An Associated Press investigation found cases in which innocent people have been branded as pedophiles after their co-workers or loved ones stumbled upon child porn placed on a PC through a virus. It can cost victims hundreds of thousands of dollars to prove their innocence.
Their situations are complicated by the fact that actual pedophiles often blame viruses -- a defense rightfully viewed with skepticism by law enforcement.
"It's an example of the old `dog ate my homework' excuse," says Phil Malone, director of the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. "The problem is, sometimes the dog does eat your homework."
The AP's investigation included interviewing people who had been found with child porn on their computers. The AP reviewed court records and spoke to prosecutors, police and computer examiners.
One case involved Michael Fiola, a former investigator with the Massachusetts agency that oversees workers' compensation.
In 2007, Fiola's bosses became suspicious after the Internet bill for his state-issued laptop showed that he used 4 1/2 times more data than his colleagues. A technician found child porn in the PC folder that stores images viewed online.
Fiola was fired and charged with...
Thu, 12 Nov 09
Phishing Schemes Snag Unwary Internet Users
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69941
Dear Action Line: I got an e-mail, apparently from my bank, about "suspicious activity" on my account. Before giving the information it requested I called my bank and was told the e-mail was a "phishing attack." What the heck is this? -- Mrs. S.O., Tulsa.
Phishing: This work is abbreviated Internet jargon for "password fishing" -- an attempt by criminals to obtain credit card, bank account, routing and ID numbers so they can steal from you. Most often they appear to originate at banks or credit unions.
APWG: The Anti-Phishing Working Group Web site -- tulsaworld.com/APWG -- says the "number and sophistication of phishing scams reaching consumers continues increasing dramatically." While online banking and e-commerce is very safe, as a general rule you should be careful about giving out your personal financial information over the Internet.
Digital signatures: The group compiled a list of recommendations for avoiding such scams, warning us to be suspicious of e-mails bearing urgent requests for our personal financial information. Unless the e-mail is digitally signed -- see S/MIME digital signatures at tulsaworld.com/DigitalSignatures -- you can't be sure it wasn't forged or "spoofed" -- constructed to mimic.
Getting personal: Phishers typically include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in e-mails to elicit immediate, impulsive reactions. They ask for user names, passwords, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, etc. Phishing attacks are not usually personalized, but they can be. Valid messages from your bank or e-commerce company generally are personalized (addressed to you, using your full name or the name you sign your accounts with). Always call to check if you are unsure -- don't just assume the communication is real and type in what it asks for.
No links: Don't use the e-mail links or information from an instant message or chat room to get to any Web...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Facebook Hijacking Points To Social-Networking Holes
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69994
The takeover of administration rights to a large number of Facebook groups by an organization that calls itself Control Your Info is just one example of the many security issues facing social-networking sites in general and Facebook in particular, according to experts.
Indeed, this nontechnical exploit can be called a benign example of what is at risk if better controls aren't put in place. Control Your Info hijacked almost 300 groups by simply taking over unadministered groups. Dave Amsler, the cofounder and CIO of Foreground Security, said the illegitimate administrators have access to profile information, e-mail addresses and other data that members have provided. He pointed out that credit-card numbers aren't involved.
Control Your Info posted this message at those groups:
"Hello, we hereby announce that we have officially hijacked your Facebook group.
"This means we control a certain part of the information about you on Facebook. If we wanted we could make you appear in a bad way which could damage your image severly [sic]."
The group didn't respond to a request for an interview sent to the e-mail address at its web site.
Facebook's press-relations department e-mailed a statement which read in part that "there has been no hacking and there is no confidential information at risk. The groups in question have been abandoned by their previous owners, which means any group member has the option to make themselves an administrator in order to continue communication to the group. Group administrators have no access to private user information and group members can leave a group at any time.
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Bigger Problems
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The situation is evidence of significant vulnerabilities in Facebook, Amsler said. The social-networking sites -- Facebook being the most important -- have major security issues, he added. No one is bothering to secure anything.
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He said the company seemed unconcerned when contacted. We've...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Intel Reader Converts and Speaks Printed Text
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69991
Intel has developed a mobile e-reader about the size of a paperback book designed to convert printed text to digital text and then read the text out loud to users at speeds that match individual needs. Intel said the device aims to help people who have learning disabilities such as dyslexia or vision problems that make reading printed words difficult or impossible.
p
The device's original concept came from Ben Foss, an Intel researcher identified in elementary school as one of the estimated 20 percent of people nationwide who are dyslexic to some degree. Foss noted that there are an estimated 55 million people with specific learning disabilities and vision impairments in the U.S.
p
This population is expected to grow as we all age and the baby boomers reach their senior years, Foss said. The public-policy impact of this is massive -- the lost workers, the cost in daily time for parents and kids to help with reading and homework, the unnecessary increase to the dropout rate.
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Convenient and Flexible Access
/subhead
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With an Intel Atom processor, a high-resolution camera, and 2GB of user storage, the Intel Reader enables users to photograph book pages, newspaper articles, and magazine spreads on the fly and then access an audio or large-print version of the content. According to Foss, the device is a necessity for people who otherwise would not have access to printed material. It gives them independence, confidence and, hopefully, more success, Foss said.
p
The Intel Reader's menus and help files are delivered in a variety of user-designated audio and text formats, or even in a combination of both. Moreover, users can even listen to an audible version of a text while simultaneously viewing any accompanying illustrations.
p
Intel has also developed a companion device to make it easy for users to capture large amounts of text...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Sophos, Microsoft Disagree on Windows 7 Security
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69988
Conventional wisdom calls for IT managers to wait for the first service pack before installing a new Windows operating system. But since Windows 7 builds on all the security improvements Vista made over Windows XP, there may be a temptation to ignore the rule.
p
That could be a problem because Windows 7 is far from secure, security firm Sophos says. In a company blog, Chester Wisniewski wrote that Windows 7 is highly vulnerable to the latest viruses.
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We grabbed the next 10 unique (virus) samples that arrived in the SophosLabs feed to see how well the newer, more secure version of Windows and UAC [User Control Account] held up. Unfortunately, despite Microsoft's claims, Windows 7 disappointed just like earlier versions of Windows, Wisniewski wrote.
p
The good news is that, of the freshest 10 samples that arrived, two would not operate correctly under Windows 7, he added.
p
subhead
Antivirus Still Required
/subhead
p
Not surprisingly, Sophos' recommendation includes purchasing antivirus software. Lesson learned? You still need to run antivirus on Windows 7 ... Windows 7 is no cure for the virus blues, so be sure to bring your protection when you boot up, Wisniewski wrote.
p
Microsoft was not amused by this. While agreeing that all computer users, including Windows 7 users, should run antivirus software, Paul Cooke, Microsoft's director of Windows Enterprise Client Security, wrote in a blog post, I'm not a fan of companies sensationalizing findings about Windows 7 in order to sell more of their own software.
p
Cooke emphasized that viruses don't come from the ether. They enter systems via the web and e-mail. Thus, Internet Explorer features like SmartScreen Filter will notify you when you attempt to download software that is unsafe -- which the SophosLabs methodology totally bypassed in doing their test.
p
And of course, Microsoft offers its own free antivirus software, Microsoft Security Essentials.
p
subhead
Seat Belts Still...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Mac OS X Update Fixes Problems in Snow Leopard
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69987
Users of Apple's Snow Leopard operating system have experienced some glitches. So Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.2 on Monday to eliminate several operating-system issues, problems with MobileMe, and issues affecting the quality and security of the OS.
p
The update, available on Apple's support site, addresses three times the glitches that version 10.6.1 covered.
p
Included in this update are fixes for a bug that unexpectedly logs out users, a problem that causes Mail to disable while setting up Exchange server and warn that an account has exceeded bandwidth limits, and a problem preventing authentication of an administrative user.
p
Other issues wiped away with the update is the distortion of web sites on Safari, the address book not responding during editing, a problem adding images to the address book, and not being able to open files downloaded from the Internet.
p
subheadHackintosh Users Beware/subhead
p
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has a history of keeping tight control of its products, and this update is no different. Apple has displayed that control on several occasions, including when it twice stopped Palm from allowing Palm Pre users to sync with iTunes.
p
Apple has issued a warning about what the update will do to netbooks with Intel Atom processors that are running Snow Leopard. These are known in the Apple community as Hackintosh computers.
p
You may experience unexpected results if you have third-party system software modifications installed, or if you've modified the operating system through other means, Apple warns on its support Web site.
p
Some users are opting for a less-expensive netbook in the economic downturn, but they want the power of Intel's Atom and the features of Snow Leopard. That has led to running Snow Leopard on Atom-based netbooks. Apple's update will wipe out the ability to create a Hackintosh -- at least for now. Observers think the...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Free Amazon App Lets PC Users Read Kindle Books
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69985
On Tuesday, Amazon.com rolled out Kindle for PC, a free application that lets consumers read digital books on personal computers. The application allows consumers who don't own a Kindle e-reader access to the Kindle Store's more than 360,000 books. Amazon's digital book inventory includes new releases, along with 101 of the 112 New York Times best sellers. The books are typically priced at $9.99 or less.
p
Amazon's unique value proposition to digital media lovers is that the Kindle Store is the only place where consumers can find some of today's most popular books in digital formats.
p
Kindle for PC is the perfect companion application for customers who own a Kindle or Kindle DX, said Ian Freed, vice president of Amazon Kindle. Kindle for PC is also a great way for people around the world to access a huge selection from the Kindle Store and read the most popular books of today, even if they don't yet have a Kindle.
p
subhead
Similar Features
/subhead
p
The Kindle for PC application features Amazon's Whispersync technology, which automatically saves and synchronizes bookmarks and last page read across devices. That means whether consumers are reading on a Kindle, Kindle DX, Kindle for iPhone, or some other Kindle application, they can pick up on the page where they left off. According to Amazon.com, the Whispersync technology helped make the Kindle for iPhone application the most popular books app in Apple's App Store.
p
Kindle for PC offers many of the same features Kindle users have. For example, Kindle for PC users can purchase, download and read books from the Kindle Store, read the beginning of any book free before deciding to buy, and access a library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon's servers.
p
subhead
The Windows 7 Connection
/subhead
p
Kindle for PC users can also read books in full color, choose from more than 10 different...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Motorola's Droid 'Doing Fine' with About 100,000 Sold
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69984
With sights set on Apple's iPhone, the opening weekend for Motorola's Droid smartphone was watched carefully. Although some initial reports indicated a less-than-overwhelming reception, it now appears that Verizon Wireless may have done well, selling about 100,000 units.
p
Marc McKechnie, an analyst with Broadpoint AmTech, told news media that most of Verizon's retail outlets sold more than half their inventory, and some were nearly sold out. Verizon reportedly had 200,000 units for sale, but hasn't made any official comment on sales figures.
p
subhead
The 'iDon't' Droid
/subhead
p
By comparison, Apple reported it sold more than one million units of the iPhone 3GS during its launch weekend in June.
p
Verizon is the exclusive carrier in the U.S. for the Droid, which uses Google's open-source Android operating system, and its aggressive iDon't ad campaign has been touting the things the iPhone doesn't have but Droid does.
p
iDon't have a real keyboard, the ad said, touting other iDon't shortcomings of the iPhone. The ad, which ran extensively on TV and in print, ends with Everything iDon't ... Droid Does.
p
Verizon is trying to counter a recent net gain of 800,000 new customers by rival ATT, the exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.S., although Verizon still leads in the total number of mobile customers. ATT's customer boost has been seen by industry observers as largely due to the iPhone.
p
Motorola is looking to the Droid and Android-based devices to boost its falling market share, which stood at 4.7 percent last quarter, compared to the second quarter's 5.5 percent. McKechnie has predicted that Motorola will sell a million Android-based phones in the fourth quarter, including the Droid, and another 10 million next year.
p
subhead
Droid 'Doing Fine'
/subhead
p
Only a handful of phones on the market use Android, but the number is expected to increase rapidly in the next few months. Android is also beginning to...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Google Offers Free Holiday Wi-Fi at Major Airports
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69972
On Tuesday, Google announced an early Christmas present for the traveling masses: Free Wi-Fi at major airports across the country. Google is teaming up with scores of airports, as well as Boingo Wireless, Advanced Wireless Group, Airport Marketing Income, and others to offer the holiday gift starting Tuesday and running through Jan. 15, 2010.
p
Forty-seven airports, including Las Vegas, San Jose, Boston, Baltimore, Burbank, Houston, Indianapolis, Seattle, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, St. Louis, and Charlotte, are part of the holiday cheer. And once the project is over, the Burbank and Seattle airports will offer free Wi-Fi indefinitely.
p
We're very happy to extend our Holiday Wi-Fi gift to the millions of people who will spend time in airports over the next few months, said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google. We know that this is a very hectic travel season for people, and we hope that free Wi-Fi will make both traveling and connecting with friends and family a little bit easier.
p
subhead
The Convenience of Wi-Fi
/subhead
p
The Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays create one of the heaviest travel seasons of the year. According to FAA estimates, more than 100 million people will pass through the 47 participating airports between now and Jan. 15.
p
Due to bad weather and other extenuating circumstances, travelers often have extra time in the airport after they pass through security. Wi-Fi is handy for road warriors, bored children, and others who just want to surf the Internet.
p
What's more, a recent study by the Wi-Fi Alliance reported that 50 percent of business travelers take red-eye flights in order to be reachable during business hours, and an overwhelming 82 percent said being connected through Wi-Fi would help solve that problem.
p
In addition to the obvious bonus holiday travelers will enjoy, sponsored access will increase overall...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Hold the Phone: Expedia Drops $20 Charge for Callers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69959
In the latest example of online travel agencies eliminating service fees to lure customers, Expedia is hanging up its $20 charge for booking airfares by phone -- undercutting both its rivals and the airlines themselves.
p
The move is aimed at what general manager Tim MacDonald calls an overlooked minority of phone users. According to online travel consulting firm PhoCusWright, just 7 percent of U.S. airline passengers booked through airline call centers last year, vs. 21 percent via online travel sites, 29 percent through airline Web sites and 43 percent through traditional travel agencies (mostly corporate). MacDonald says the percentage of Expedia's airline bookings made by phone are in the high single digits.
p
Though Priceline started the wave of online agency fee waivers in 2007, the practice has escalated as agencies scramble for competitive share in a slumping economy. Major online agencies now sell most airline tickets without an online booking fee, and most no longer charge for changing or canceling a hotel reservation.
p
Expedia's new phone policy for air bookings contrasts with that of its competitors: Orbitz and Travelocity, for example, charge $25 a ticket for phone-based bookings, while Priceline doesn't allow any phone orders for airline tickets. Southwest Airlines doesn't charge for phone reservations, but most other carriers do -- from $5 a ticket on Spirit to $35 a ticket for international flights on US Airways.
p
PhoCusWright's Lorraine Sileo says Expedia's latest move isn't a game changer, because unless it's a complicated itinerary, most people don't need to talk to someone to book an airline ticket. She adds that while eliminating fees has driven some new business to online agency sites, loyalty is still elusive: Consumers will go wherever they think they can find the best deal.
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Skype Legal Settlement Clears Path for Expansion
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69958
Months of legal wrangling over the fate of Skype ended Nov. 6. That's when parties sparring over the technology at the heart of the Internet-calling service reached a settlement, changing ownership of the business and removing a major impediment to eBay's attempt to sell most of Skype to a group of investors. The resolution lets Skype's new owners turn their attention more fully to ramping up growth and adding new features.
p
Under terms of the agreement, Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will join the group of investors that's been trying to purchase Skype from eBay. Zennstrom and Friis will get a 14 percent stake, while Skype takes ownership of software previously owned by their company, Joltid. Zennstrom and Friis also agreed to contribute what eBay terms a significant capital investment. The amount was not disclosed, but the founders' stake is valued at $886 million.
p
The settlement also witnesses the departure of one of the original investors, Index Ventures and its partner Mike Volpi, credited with spearheading the acquisition, initially for a 65 percent stake in Skype. Although Skype has the potential to be a great investment, the deal terms changed for Index such that it no longer matches our investment criteria and thus we have decided not to participate in the transaction, Index partner Danny Rimer said in a statement.
p
Besides the founders, Skype's new owners include Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The settlement ends a handful of lawsuits that were standing in the way of an acquisition that when announced on Sept. 1 was viewed as a fresh start for the widely used Skype and a way for eBay to sharpen its focus on core e-commerce businesses.
p
subhead
EBay, Investor Stakes Shrink
/subhead
p
The pending transaction quickly became mired in litigation as Skype's founders alleged that Volpi illegally...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Software Companies Eye Patent Case in High Court
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69952
With the technology industry looking on, the Supreme Court on Monday will explore what types of inventions should be eligible for a patent in a pivotal case that could undermine such legal protections for software.
p
A ruling that sides with the Patent Office could bar patents on processes and methods of doing business, such as online shopping techniques, medical diagnostic tests and procedures for executing trades on Wall Street. And it might even undercut patents on software.
p
In a worst-case scenario for the high-tech industry, the ruling could invalidate many existing software patents or at least make them more difficult to defend in lawsuits. And it could make such patents harder to obtain in the future because software is generally patented as a process for doing something rather than as a physical invention.
p
Technology companies care about this case because it will define what you can and cannot get a patent on, said Emery Simon, counselor to the Business Software Alliance, which represents large technology companies including Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. The scope of patentability could have ramifications for the path that technology takes.
p
It's impossible to know what products might never have come to market without patent protection for software. But tech companies say these patents have played a critical role in keeping the U.S. at the cutting edge by giving people control over their inventions for nearly 20 years.
p
The software industry would lose an important incentive to innovate if the government ceased issuing software patents, warned patent attorney James Carmichael, a former judge on the Patent Office board of appeals.
p
Although technology companies insist they'll keep innovating no matter how the high court rules, an unfavorable outcome might force them to write patent applications in a different way or rely more on copyright and trade secret protections. And it might even draw...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Electronic Arts Acquires Playfish for $275 million
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69948
As its packaged video games business lags, Electronic Arts Inc. has snapped up Playfish Inc., the creator of popular social networking games such as Who Has the Biggest Brain and Pet Society, for $275 million in cash.
p
With the acquisition, EA is diving further into the lucrative world of social online games, which tens of millions of people play on Facebook, MySpace, the iPhone and other platforms.
p
The purchase will help EA move into gaming in online communities at a time when declining consumer confidence is cutting into traditional packaged video game sales. Just last week, the company launched a version of Spore, a game that lets players create an evolving universe, on Facebook.
p
In addition to the upfront cash payment, EA said Monday it will pay an additional cash sum up to $100 million contingent on Playfish hitting certain financial targets though December 2011, plus $25 million in equity-based retention agreements with employees.
p
Games are a popular pastime on Facebook, with the top 10 games attracting more than 100 million active users, according to Facebook Platform Manager Gareth Davis. This is about a third of the site's total active users. In all, 22 of the top 25 applications people use on Facebook are games, said Barry Cottle, senior vice president and general manager of EA Interactive.
p
Playfish, a two-year-old startup based in London, will run as a standalone business within EA Interactive, which is also home to online gaming platform Pogo.com and EA Mobile, which publishes such games as Rock Band and Tetris for the iPhone.
p
Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish's co-founder and CEO, called social gaming a massive addressable market. The games run on the assumption that people want to play the addictive, easy-to-learn games with their friends -- and that they are willing to pay small amounts of money for digital add-ons in those games.
p
Playfish...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
New User Interfaces May Make the Mouse Obsolete
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69942
Scientists developed the so-called X-Y position display for monitor systems all the way back in the 60s. That breakthrough begat the mouse, which gained dominance in the '80s. It has remained the number one user input device ever since.
p
Yet new developments are nibbling away at the rodent's lead. More and more displays are designed using touchscreens. Computers are learning to take voice commands. New sensors are even allowing controls to be given via gestures.
p
After years of quiet, a series of new user interface technologies have achieved market readiness, say the IT market researchers at Gartner, a US-based technology research firm. That includes Microsoft's Surface computer employing multi touch technology and the controls on Nintendo's Wii console.
p
Project Natal is Microsoft's codename for a system featuring a camera with a depth sensor, microphone, and built-in processor. It is rumored to be coming to the Xbox gaming console in the near future. The device will not just be able to interpret gestures, Microsoft has indicated, but will also be able to transfer speech and pantomimed actions onto the screen, regardless of the lighting. Many game developers have already announced plans to work with the new user interface.
p
The Natal approach is extremely important, says Franz Koller, general director at the consulting firm User Interface Design in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The system permits a new degree of freedom: For example, I can point to an object and tell it what I want to do, he says.
p
The experts warn against overly high expectations, though. We'll be using the mouse for a while yet, Koller says. Nintendo's Wii remote has also been exceptionally well received by gamers. Even so it's unlikely I'll ever want to do my bookkeeping using a Wii remote control, says Koller.
p
Koller believes instead that more and more future devices will offer a user interface...
Wed, 11 Nov 09
Windows 7: Tips and Tricks for Maximum Productivity
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69939
Nothing will make you feel more at home with a new operating system like knowing the tips and tricks that can help you to be as productive as possible. And Windows 7 is packed is full of productivity secrets. Let's explore a few.
p
subhead
Keyboard Magic
/subhead
p
Windows 7 allows you to use the keyboard in some pretty imaginative ways. For instance, to quickly dock the current application to the left or right side of your screen, hold down the Windows key and tap the left or right arrow keys. To quickly maximize the current window, hold down the Windows key and tap the up arrow key. To return the application to its former size, hold down the Windows key and tap the down arrow key. To minimize all open applications except the one in the foreground, hold down the Windows key and tap the Home key. The same key combination returns all applications to the state they were in before you pressed Windows key-Home.
p
The Windows key in combination with the numbers along the top of your keyboard can be used to activate minimized applications as they are represented in your Windows taskbar. Windows key+1 restores the first application icons on the taskbar. Windows key+2 restores the second application, and so on. For instance, if Internet Explorer is the first icon on your taskbar, pressing Windows key+1 will bring Internet Explorer to the foreground. Press Windows key+1 again, and Explorer is minimized again to the taskbar.
p
If you have multiple instances of Windows Explorer -- or another application -- minimized to the taskbar, keep pressing the Windows key and the appropriate number to cycle through the instances of the running application.
p
subhead
Drag and Snap
/subhead
p
Windows 7's new drag and snap feature will automatically dock and resize a running application if you drag it to either the left...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
Five Years Ago, Firefox Revived the Browser Market
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69968
Firefox is five years old. Five years ago, Microsoft seemed to have an absolute lock on the browser market with Internet Explorer, having long ago crushed Netscape. The browser wars were over. Or so it seemed.
According to Net Applications' Market Share, 64.6 percent of Web users run Internet Explorer, compared to 24 percent running Mozilla's Firefox. Other browsers like Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome, and Opera have another 10 percent of the market. Two years ago, IE controlled almost 80 percent of the browser market and Firefox had only 15 percent.
On a blog celebrating the fifth anniversary of the browser, Mozilla took stock of Firefox's accomplishments. Firefox 1.0 was the forerunner of today's modern browsers -- Safari, Chrome, Opera and Firefox 3.5, Christopher Blizzard writes on the blog.
"The modern browser is built for the future of web applications -- super-fast JavaScript, modern CSS, HTML 5, support for the various web-apps standards, downloadable font support, offline application support, raw graphics through canvas and WebGL, native video, advanced XHR capabilities mixed with new security tools, and network capabilities," Blizzard said.
Firefox has been a major positive for consumers, Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies, said in an e-mail. "Creating an open-source competitor allows for more flexibility in browser design and also speeds up the development of new features and functions so that it can evolve faster than a corporate browser like IE," he said.
"Consumers like this pace of innovation and Firefox has used this to help them gain serious market share in the browser wars," he added.
There's still much work to be done, Blizzard said, but the technology is in place -- thanks to Firefox -- to advance the web over the next five years. "We're helping to standardize and implement some new CSS capabilities that are being developed...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
RIM Unveils New BlackBerry Developer Tools
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69967
The focus of smartphone development is moving, at least to some extent, from the hardware to software and applications. The 2009 BlackBerry Developer Conference, which is being held Nov. 9-12 in San Francisco, is centered on ensuring that the applications for the BlackBerry are as useful and flexible as those for Apple's iPhone, Palm's Pre, the Droid from Motorola, and other smartphone platforms that are competing for market share.
"It's a commitment to keep investing in the platform, a commitment to provide a richer environment and better capabilities for BlackBerry developers," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for the NPD Group. "RIM has done very well in terms of market share, but needs to evolve its broadband capabilities and user interface to keep competitive with more recent operating systems."
Research in Motion has already made several developer-related announcements. The BlackBerry Advertising Service will enable developers to integrate advertising into apps. The ad units, which will be available from specialty advertising networks, will be compliant with Mobile Marketing Association guidelines.
Subscribers will be able to add calendar or contact entries and link to BlackBerry App World applications from an ad. Sophisticated reporting information -- such as ad impressions, clicks, conversions and earnings -- also will be available.
RIM also announced the BlackBerry Payment Service, which will create revenue streams for developers by enabling the sale of premium content, game upgrades, and other value-added functions. The availability of push services will be expanded to all registered developers from its current status as an exclusive service for members of the BlackBerry Alliance Program.
RIM said new GPS functionality includes cell-site geolocation -- a more accurate means of locating a device -- as well as reverse geocoding and Travel Time, an application that can provide estimates of the time necessary...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
Microsoft Expects Savings with Exchange Server 2010
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69966
Microsoft formally introduced Exchange Server 2010 Monday at the company's Tech-Ed Europe 2009 conference in Germany. According to Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop, customers already using the new e-mail platform are reporting significant cost savings, thanks in part to new support for low-cost attached-storage options.
"For example, the U.K. office of NEC Philips expects to increase their e-mail storage capacity by a factor of eight, and at the same time they expect to cut costs by a full 75 percent by using Exchange 2010," Elop said. "Exchange 2010 helps you save money through integrated e-mail archiving as well."
Among other things, Exchange 2010's integrated e-mail archive makes it easier to store and query e-mail across the organization. "Customers are expected to see productivity gains of more than 20 percent with a universal inbox that delivers e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging, and text messaging consistently across virtually any device," Elop said.
What's more, the new platform is designed to simplify the way organizations provide always-on communications and disaster recovery, with the goal of helping IT administrators spend less time managing their e-mail systems. And when deployed in combination with Microsoft Outlook 2010, Exchange 2010 promises to give workers more control over their communications through the addition of new features such as MailTips and Voice Mail Preview.
MailTips warn users before making a mistake like sending email to large distribution groups -- either within the company or outside. Voice Mail Preview enables workers to see text previews of their voice mail directly in Outlook.
More than 45,000 Microsoft partners are already trained on Exchange Server 2010 and Windows Server 2008 R2, Elop said. A new Forester Research study commissioned by Microsoft indicates that a customer can see a payback period of less than six months when upgrading to either product, he added.
On...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
Google Boosts Mobile-Ad Offerings with AdMob Purchase
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69962
In a move to gain ground in an ultracompetitive mobile advertising market, Google on Monday announced it has agreed to acquire mobile-ad technology provider AdMob for $750 million in stock. Google painted a win-win portrait of the acquisition, noting it will enhance the company's expertise and technology in mobile advertising and give advertisers and publishers more choice in this emerging market.
"Mobile advertising has enormous potential as a marketing medium and, while this industry is still in the early stages of development, AdMob has already made exceptional progress in a very short time," said Susan Wojcicki, vice president of product management at Google. "AdMob is the quintessential Silicon Valley startup -- generating impressive year-on-year revenue growth -- and we're excited to welcome this talented team to Google."
Google is jockeying for position in a mobile market that's projected to be worth billions in just a few years. Jupiter Research issued a recent report, Mobile Advertising: Delivery Channels, Business Models & Forecasts, that predicts the mobile-advertising market will grow to $5.7 billion by 2014.
"Regardless of mobile's advantages -- its personal nature, the facility for highly targeted advertising -- advertising will not commit more budget until they perceive that the audience for their advertisements has reached a critical mass," said Jupiter principal analyst Windsor Holden.
AdMob founder and CEO Omar Hamoui believes people underestimate how important ads have been to funding the development of innovative content on the Internet. As he describes it, AdMob's goal has been to make it possible for developers and publishers to bring their products and ideas to mobile with the same business model.
"As publishers and developers generate more revenue from their mobile products, they will invest more, and their mobile offerings will become richer, more creative and more robust," Hamoui said.
Google said the AdMob...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
Nokia Recalls Millions of Mobile-Phone Chargers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69953
Finnish mobile-phone maker Nokia is recalling millions of phone chargers. The Espoo, Finland-based company on Monday said chargers made by a supplier have shown some defects.
Nokia, the world's top mobile-phone maker, is recalling the AC-3E and AC-3U models manufactured by China's BYD Electronic Company between June 15 and Aug. 9 this year, as well as the AC-4U model manufactured between April 13 and Oct. 25 this year. While Nokia hasn't disclosed the number of faulty chargers affected by the recall, reports say the number is upward of 14 million.
"The reliability and quality of our products is Nokia's top priority," Nokia wrote on its charger-exchange Web site. "If you have confirmed that your charger is eligible to be replaced, we advise that you stop using it and seek a free replacement charger."
Consumers who own the specific Nokia chargers are being asked to return the defective chargers in exchange for a free replacement, according to the company.
An exchange program has been arranged for all markets in which affected chargers have been sold, according to the company. "To minimize inconvenience to our customers, the exchange will take place at the country level," it said.
To do so, customers are being encouraged to visit Nokia's exchange Web site at http://chargerexchange.nokia.com. Users need complete four steps to confirm if their charger is one of the faulty models being recalled. Consumers need to first enter the charger's model number, then the identification number. Once that is complete, consumers are asked to fill in certain details and the company will then verify whether the charger can be exchanged.
The company identified a problem with the specific Nokia-branded chargers manufactured by BYD, which has also made mobile-phone pieces for Motorola, during a routine quality-control process. The plastic covers on the...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
Cisco Adds Features To Unified Communications System
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69935
Cisco Systems is moving the ball forward on unified communications with an announcement Monday of a new platform release. Designed to "reduce costs and increase operating efficiencies between and within global enterprises," Release 8.0 of its Unified Communications System features new capabilities for e-mail, customer care, videoconferencing, sharing documents, social-networking, and other areas.
Among other things, the networking giant will offer a new enterprise e-mail product based around its WebEx conferencing service. In a direct jab at Microsoft, WebEx Email allows access to Outlook from a browser, and, since the service is hosted, a company doesn't need Microsoft Exchange.
The Release 8.0 announcement is designed to enable "interoperable communications," including the collaborative use of Cisco's Unified IP Phones, the ability to combine on-premise capabilities with cloud-based ones, and the incorporation of video throughout communications.
The new Unified IP Phone 9900 and 8900 series support interactive business video, Wi-Fi, USB and Bluetooth. The latest Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator brings dial-via-office, corporate directory, call-log access, and other features to iPhones and BlackBerrys.
In addition, unified communications services such as softphone, voice mail, and high-definition video can work on such clients as the Microsoft Office Communicator, Cisco's Unified Personal Communication, or WebEx Connect.
For both legacy environments, such as PBXs, and virtualized environments, Cisco said its unified communications applications can be readily deployed. On the desktop, the Unified Personal Communicator offers access to a range of services, including presence, integrated software, instant messaging, visual voice mail, directory access, communications history, desk phone control, high-definition video, and video and Web conferencing.
For customer communication, the company is offering its Unified Customer Voice Portal, enabling contact centers to provide speech- and video-enabled self-service in an interactive voice-response system that can be integrated with an existing contact center. New features include courtesy callback so customers can...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
Worm Infects Jailbroken iPhones with SSH in Australia
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69930
Apple iPhone owners Down Under are reporting their jailbroken iPhones have been hit with a worm that hijacks their wallpaper, changing it to an image of 1980s pop star Rick Astley, and eats up their bandwidth. Although the worm may have spread beyond Australia, there are no confirmed reports yet.
The hacker, who calls himself ikex, claims to have infected 100 iPhones with the malware. The true identity of ikex is 21-year-old Ashley Towns, who shows no public remorse about the hack.
SophosLabs is analyzing the worm's code, which suggests that at least four variants have been written. One of the attributes of the latest variant is that it tries to hide its presence by using a file path suggestive of the Cydia jailbreaking tool.
Sophos said Towns was able to hack jailbroken iPhones if the users did not change the default password after installing SSH (Secure Shell). Installing the SSH server turns the iPhone into a cell-phone modem using the data connection. In order to avoid the hack, users would have needed to change their root password to something different than the default.
What makes this outbreak interesting is that it's the first virus to ever spread between iPhones in the wild, said Graham Cluley, a senior security consultant at Sophos.
"In itself it's not the most dangerous piece of malware we've ever seen," Cluley said. "It breaks into jailbroken iPhones that have not been properly secured and changes the wallpaper to a picture of Rick Astley before finding other iPhones to infect."
The result, as Cluley explained it, is that affected users would need to take action to repair their iPhones from the unauthorized modifications, a nuisance that takes time.
What's more, he explained, the worm's author will have cost each infected iPhone user all the bandwidth...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
eBay Settles Lawsuit Filed by Skype Founders
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69924
EBay Inc. has settled a legal skirmish with the founders of Skype that threatened to complicate eBay's plans to sell most of the Internet phone service to a group of investors for $2 billion.
The online marketplace operator said Friday the settlement gives Skype ownership of critical software that had been licensed from Joltid Ltd., which is a company founded by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. The settlement effectively ends Zennstrom and Friis' litigation against the investor group and eBay.
In return, Zennstrom and Friis will get a 14 percent stake in Skype. They also agreed to make a "significant" capital investment in Skype, eBay said.
When eBay announced the sale in September -- after exploring plans to spin out Skype through a public stock offering -- it said the investor group would buy 65 percent of Skype for $1.9 billion in cash and $125 million to be paid later. EBay was to own the remaining 35 percent.
Now with the stake going to Zennstrom and Friis, the investor group will own 56 percent of Skype, while eBay will keep 30 percent.
Skype's founders filed a copyright infringement suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco soon after the sale was announced, alleging that Skype was operating in a way that violated an agreement over the use of the Joltid technology. That suit followed a licensing dispute between Joltid and Skype in a U.K. court.
Another suit was filed shortly thereafter against Mike Volpi, who once had headed another Friis-Zennstrom company, Joost NV, and had been a Skype board member. Volpi is now a partner at Index Ventures, which was part of the investment group that planned to buy Skype from eBay. The suit against Volpi alleged he breached his legal duty to Joost by using confidential information in the Skype deal.
EBay said Friday...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
Fiorina's Record at HP Will Be Key To Senate Race
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69921
Carly Fiorina's claim to fame -- her five-and-a-half years as chief executive at Hewlett-Packard Co. -- could also be her greatest vulnerability in next year's U.S. Senate race in California.
Hours before Fiorina made her candidacy official on Wednesday, her campaign aides sent reporters an 11-page report touting her record at HP. At the same time, Sen. Barbara Boxer's team was portraying Fiorina as an insensitive CEO who oversaw the firing of thousands of workers and a then-controversial merger with Compaq Computer Corp.
"California needs a senator who's going to fight to create jobs, not write off 28,000 workers and ship jobs overseas," Boxer campaign spokesman Rose Kapolcznyski said.
Boxer is likely to keep up the attack even as Fiorina tries to fend off conservative state lawmaker Chuck DeVore in the Republican primary, where issues such as government spending, abortion and gay marriage will play a greater role. If Fiorina survives to face Boxer in the general election, which side wins the race to define her tenure at HP could well determine her prospects for the campaign.
Fiorina's time as head of Hewlett-Packard Co. was so unique and tumultuous that at least three books were written on the subject, including her own best-selling memoir.
With that scrutiny transitioning to the campaign trail, Fiorina said she is ready to defend her record.
"Barbara Boxer has been calling me a failed CEO for the entire year," she said. "It is yet another of her works of fiction, but nevertheless, she conveniently in this charge forgets that I led Hewlett-Packard through the worst technology recession in 25 years and doubled our revenues, improved our profitability, tripled our rate of innovation, quintupled our cash flow, added jobs and created a market leader in the process."
HP dismissed Fiorina in February 2005, giving her a $21 million severance package. Board members, seeing...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
New Call of Duty Could Set Entertainment Record
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69918
This holiday season's biggest entertainment blockbuster likely will be a sequel to a popular franchise, with jarring depictions of war and an intricate story of good versus evil. It could easily rake in more than last year's record $155 million opening weekend for "The Dark Knight."
But this blockbuster is not a movie.
It is "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," a video game that Activision Blizzard Inc. is releasing Tuesday. Fans worldwide are expected to spend at least half a billion dollars on the game in the first week.
That would at least match last year's "Grand Theft Auto IV," which was the most successful video game release in history and might have been the top entertainment launch ever.
Justin Criswell, 31, plans to line up at a GameStop store in Brooklyn on Monday night so he can buy the new "Call of Duty" when it goes on sale after midnight, for $60. It's available for PCs, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.
"Ever since they announced it, me and most of the friends that I play with have been crazy excited about it," Criswell said. Once he gets a copy, he plans to stay up much of the night to play it online with friends and relatives scattered in Tennessee, California, Ohio and Florida.
"Those who have to work the next day have taken the day off," he said.
Like the previous five "Call of Duty" games, which are all rated "M" for mature (not for kids under 17), this one lets players shoot their way through a complex series of scenes. The game's developer, Infinity Ward, spent two years creating realistic graphics that are amplified in many players' homes by big-screen, high-definition TVs sets and powerful speakers. It's like stepping into a movie.
A big part of the game's appeal is in its multiplayer...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
More School Report Cards Go Online
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69917
When report cards went out for students in the Clarksville-Montgomery County school district in October, most of the 29,000-plus students did not have a printed version for their parents to sign.
That's because the district went largely paperless with its report cards for the first time, making grades available to parents with secure accounts online, says communications manager Michelle Newell.
A growing number of districts nationwide are making the change says Ann Flynn, director of education technology with the National School Boards Association.
Districts in Louisiana, Colorado, South Carolina and Texas are among those that have gone paperless since 2008. Although Flynn could not say how many other districts are doing it, she says those making the change "are no longer the exception. They are becoming the rule."
Marion Mellar, who has two kids at Kenwood High School in the Clarksville-Montgomery district, says she likes the idea because she doesn't have to "rely on my children to bring them to me."
Newell says paper copies of report cards will remain available for those without computers -- about 11 percent of the district's households according to a 2008 survey. Other districts are also making that accommodation.
Among the districts making the change:
*Calcasieu Parish Public School System, Lake Charles, La.: By the end of the year, teachers at all 13 of the high schools should be using an electronic grade book that parents can see online, said Jim Crawford, the district's director of management information services. *Richland County School District One, Columbia, S.C: The 23,000-student district took a 4-year-old pilot program districtwide in 2008, says Cynthia Ferjani, district data integration and application support coordinator.
* Plano Independent School District, Plano, Texas: The 54,000-student district rolled out a parent portal last fall, said Jim Hirsch, associate superintendent for technology services.
*Jefferson County Public Schools, Golden, Colo.: The district expects to make...
Tue, 10 Nov 09
Apple's Steve Jobs Named CEO of the Decade
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69913
He single-handedly saved Apple, wrought a revolution in online music, created a world-beating smartphone and led Pixar to dominate computer animation.
So it's no surprise that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs was named CEO of the decade Thursday by Fortune magazine, which said that Jobs' success in reordering four industries -- computers, music, movies and mobile telephones -- was "unheard of."
"It's often noted that he's a showman, a born salesman, a magician who creates a famed reality-distortion field, a tyrannical perfectionist," the report said. "It's totally accurate, of course, and the descriptions contribute to his legend."
Comparing Jobs favorably to Henry Ford, PanAm's Juan Trippe and Conrad Hilton, the report said: "In the past decade, Jobs and Apple have entered and changed the industries of music, movies and cell phones. The company has also remained in the computer business, where it continues to innovate as it has done for decades. Remaking any one business is a career-defining achievement; four is unheard of."
The report surveyed Jobs' achievements since he returned to Apple in 1997, 12 years after being ousted from the company he founded.
It took him several years to get the company back in shape. Even as he introduced his long-term digital lifestyle strategy and the revolutionary iTunes software and music player in 2000, the company was facing bankruptcy.
It now has 34,000 employees and is valued at over 170 billion dollars. During this period he also nurtured computer animation shop Pixar, which he sold to Disney in 2006 for 7.5 billion dollars, making him the largest shareholder in the entertainment conglomerate.
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Verizon's Buzz for Motorola's Droid Fizzles at Day's End
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69928
Motorola's Droid smartphones may have been dropping out of the sky like meteors in Verizon Wireless commercials, but they weren't selling with as much force on the first day of launch.
Verizon stores throughout the nation made the Droid available Friday after heavily marketing the Android 2.0-based device during the World Series. Motorola and Verizon are hoping the Droid will have as much success as the Motorola Razr during in its four-year run, when it sold 110 million units.
Anxious consumers lined up at midnight to have first dibs at purchasing the Droid, and some shorter lines formed Friday morning when Verizon stores opened. But the excitement fizzled by the end of the day despite Verizon's efforts.
Some purchasers praised Motorola for the Droid's features, saying it is equipped with everything they need. The features also have some observers predicting the Droid will hurt Apple's iPhone sales.
The device is equipped with a 3.7-inch-high and 854-pixel-wide screen, features voice-activated search, the ability to toggle between applications, a thin QWERTY keyboard, a five-megapixel camera, a 16GB memory card, and turn-by-turn directions with the Google Maps Navigation beta.
Preloaded apps include YouTube, Verizon Wireless Visual VoiceMail, Facebook, Google Talk, and Gmail. It also comes with a $299 price. If purchased with a two-year contract, the price is $199 with a $100 mail-in rebate.
"We have plenty of inventory, so customers are walking out with the Android phone of their choice, either the Droid by Motorola or the Droid Eris by HTC," said Brenday Raney, a Verizon spokesperson.
Verizon requires a nationwide voice plan starting at $40 a month and an Internet data plan for an additional $30 a month. It also offers a modem plan called Mobile Broadband Connect for $30 more a month that does not yet include tethering so other wireless devices can connect...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Is Google Dashboard Really Transparent or a PR Stunt?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69927
A new product that gives users a new level of insight into what the world's biggest search engine knows about them was launched Thursday. Google Dashboard lets users see reports on the data Google has collected on them.
In a blog post, Google said the Dashboard is an improvement on past efforts like the Privacy Center to give users access to retained information. Dashboard is "an effort to provide you with greater transparency and control ... (and) designed to be simple and useful," the posting said.
"The Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your personal settings," Google wrote. At launch, Dashboard included 20 Google products, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Web History, Orkut, YouTube, Picasa, Talk and Reader.
While Dashboard offers a new level of user access to their data, it's also raising privacy concerns about how secure the service is. "If you want to make that stuff private -- or just find out if it's even possible to make it private -- you have to go deep into the settings of each Google app. If you don't already know where to go to change this setting, you may not get there," complained Robert X. Cringley on InfoWorld.
Google's programs contain scads of potentially damaging information about users. For instance, an article on the Dumb Little Man site details how a burglar could easily discover when a Google Calendar user is away from home just by looking at a public calendar and using a few easy research techniques. The author details his pursuit of one user like this:
"In literally 20 minutes, I now know the name, address, phone number, and schedule of this woman. If I can do it, you can be ... sure...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
EMI Wins Beatles Music Injunction Against BlueBeat.com
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69926
On Friday, EMI won an injunction against BlueBeat.com, forcing the web site to stop selling Beatles songs without permission. The London-based record label alleged that the music site was breaching its copyrights.
A Los Angeles federal court moved swiftly to issue a temporary restraining order against BlueBeat. EMI, which represents The Beatles works, filed suit against the BlueBeat site on Tuesday.
BlueBeat.com was selling songs from the British band's archives for 25 cents each. By contrast, Apple's iTunes Store sells songs for about $1, but does not have The Beatles' catalog. BlueBeat had all its Beatles bases covered, offering original recordings and remastered versions of Beatles classics.
"EMI did not authorize its content to be sold or made available on BlueBeat.com," the label said earlier this week. BlueBeat insists it was selling different sound recordings that were not EMI copyrighted by using a technique called psycho-acoustic simulation.
"It appears BlueBeat is arguing that they are substantially altering The Beatles material, but if the copyrighted material is the source, you are still in violation of copyright," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
That's the perspective under U.S. copyright law. But in other parts of the world copyright law is not as strict. Enderle pointed to a case in Eastern Europe involving a Harry Potter book that was rewritten using different characters. In court, the defendant's case held up because the book was substantially altered.
"We're pretty strict in the United States with how we consider copyright. If by listening to the song you can connect it back to the copyrighted work, that would be enough to suggest that you violated the copyright," Enderle said. "We've seen musicians with pieces that were vastly different in terms of lyrics, but the beats were the same as the copyrighted work -- and they...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
World Smartphone Market Grows Despite Economy
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69925
Having a device that enables users to take pictures, e-mail colleagues, browse the web, and send text messages is no longer a nice-to-have device but a need-to-have device. That mentality is creating a recession-proof smartphone market.
While technology businesses continue to suffer because of the downturn in the economy, the smartphone market continues to thrive, according a report by IDC, a technology research firm. In fact, in the third quarter the market set a new record for quarterly shipments, according to IDC. Vendors shipped 43.3 million units worldwide during the quarter, an increase of 4.2 percent from the 41.5 million shipped in the same quarter in 2008.
The five mobile-device makers leading the market are Apple, HTC, Nokia, Research In Motion, and Samsung. Nokia had the highest market share in the quarter with 37.9 percent and 16.4 million units shipped.
Behind Nokia was RIM, with 19 percent of the market and 8.2 million units shipped. Apple, HTC and Samsung each had less than eight percent of the market.
There is no one driving force behind the increase in shipments of smartphones for the quarter, analysts say.
"It is a perfect storm," said Ramon Llamas, mobile analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "Even though there is a recession going on, demand has been steady because people are willing to pay more because they are more than just phones to make phone calls."
"Think of your smartphone as not just a phone but a mobile computer sitting in the palm of your hand," Llamas added.
Another factor increasing shipments was a lowering of prices. Apple dropped the price of its iPhone to $199.
"That was a strategic move, because they were able to catch a lot more users that way," Llamas said.
Other vendors, including RIM and Palm, followed Apple's...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Internet, Cell Phones Don't Increase Isolation, Study Says
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69922
If you're worried that your employees or children are disengaging from the world by using the Internet and cell phones, relax. A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that these technologies have not increased social isolation in the U.S.
The Personal Networks and Community Survey is the first to examine this issue. It found that the amount of "severe isolation" has hardly changed since a previous study, which was conducted in 1985 before these technologies emerged. About six percent of adults, roughly the same as in 1985, report they have no one in their life that they consider "especially significant" and with whom they can discuss important issues in their lives.
The study found that Internet-based activities and cell-phone ownership led to "larger and more diverse" discussion networks. And the use of social media is more likely to lead to discussion networks among people from different backgrounds, such as those of another race or a member of another political party. Facebook and blog writing were specifically cited as helping a person have a more diverse social network.
In spite of worries that using a global Internet would tend to limit people's local activities, the study found little or no such impact. Internet users, for instance, are as likely to visit neighbors as non-Internet users, and cell-phone users, people who use the Internet often at work, and bloggers are more likely to belong to a young group, a charitable organization, and the like.
Some kinds of social networking, such as MySpace or Facebook, have become a kind of neighborhood involvement, according to Pew. Any frequent Facebook user, for instance, can describe using the service to keep up with friends, even if they live nearby. In fact, the Internet is used as much for contact with people in...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Motorola, Carriers Have High Hopes for Droid's Launch
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69911
With the launch of its new Droid smartphone at Verizon Wireless stores Friday, Motorola finally appears poised to recover from a three-year slide during which its mobile handset shipments fell from 22.5 percent to a 5.4 percent share of the global market, according to iSuppli. Verizon is looking for Droid to help overcome the advantages that AT&T has long enjoyed from its exclusive iPhone deal with Apple.
iSuppli Senior Analyst Tina Teng believes Motorola is finally in a good position to reinvigorate its brand. "Droid is potentially a game-changer for Motorola," Teng said. "Motorola now is no longer just emphasizing slick form factors, such as it did with its RAZR handset."
T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel, which already support Android on their networks, are widely expected to find their own ways to capitalize on the Android market buzz. According to iSuppli, both carriers have plenty of Android options, given that the mobile OS is licensed by seven key smartphone makers, including HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
Though Friday's media hoopla was largely focused on Verizon's launch of the Droid, Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi advises not to overlook new offerings from HTC, which has had "some issues with product delays recently on the Windows OS, but on Android things are going well."
"The HTC Hero, which is the first device with the enhanced user interface, called 'Sense,' is a very good product," Milanesi said. "And the HTC Tattoo will also do well over the holiday season, in my opinion."
Still, HTC has been mired in the No. 4 global smartphone sales slot behind Apple for more than a year and competition in their core space is increasing, Milanesi observed. "If they want to grow share, they need to appeal to a wider consumer segment than they have been...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Windows 7 Tops Vista's Rollout as Patch Tuesday Looms
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69910
Score one for Windows 7. The initial sales of the latest version of Microsoft's flagship operating system surpassed Vista's performance during its first few days on the U.S. market, according to the NPD Group.
Windows 7 unit sales in the U.S. were 234 percent higher than Vista's first few days of sales. A combination of early discounts on pre-sales and a lack of promotional activity for the Ultimate version resulted in dollar sales that were 82 percent higher than Vista.
"Microsoft's program of early low-cost pre-sales, high-visibility marketing, and aggressive deals helped make the Windows 7 software launch successful," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. "In a slow environment for packaged software, Windows 7 brought a large number of customers into the software aisles."
While boxed software sales were up compared to the Vista launch, PC hardware sales had more of an uphill battle. PC sales growth was higher than any week during the high-volume back-to-school third quarter, but not as strong as growth during the Vista launch, NPD said.
Total Windows PC sales were up 49 percent year-over-year and 95 percent over the week before launch. However, PC sales growth during the Vista launch was stronger, soaring 68 percent over the previous year and 170 percent over the week preceding the launch. Windows PC sales were down six percent compared to PC sales during the Vista launch week.
"A combination of factors impacted Windows 7 PC sales at the outset, but the trajectory of overall PC sales is very strong leading into the holiday season," said Baker. "Vista had a slight advantage at launch, as January traditionally has a bigger sales footprint than October. The other hurdle Windows 7 faced was that sales of PCs with older operating systems (XP and Vista) were high, making up...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Psst! Private-Sale Shopping Sites Are Hot
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69907
During last year's bleak holiday shopping season, fashion designer Lauren Merkin greatly overestimated the number of handbags she'd sell in upscale retail stores such as Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's.
She found a good way to sell them elsewhere without consigning them to a bargain-basement rack that might tarnish the brand in the eyes of would-be customers. All year, she's been selling the excess goods for half-price on the members-only Web site Gilt Groupe, during 36-hour sales that are hidden from the view of the general public. "What we're selling is first-rung, but if it sits around at a sale I think the consumer gets the wrong impressions about the product," Merkin says.
Saddled with overstock from the retail recession, makers of luxury apparel, home furnishings, and other high-end goods are selling their wares at reduced prices through Gilt Groupe and other private shopping sites. Many of these companies help fuel pent-up demand by limiting membership, forcing would-be clients to park on a waiting list or be referred by existing members.
Luxury brands can use these members-only sites to hide markdown prices from retail shoppers willing to pay the full amount, while attracting scores of wannabe fashionistas willing to wait for haute couture at a low price. "The brands they offer are of such high quality, and because they're at discount prices it makes them much more attainable," says Meghan Donovan, a 24-year-old San Francisco resident who shops on Gilt.com.
The private-sale model also makes sense for Gilt Groupe and other sites that act as middlemen, because they carry no inventory and earn a wide margin on sales. Combined revenue at Gilt Groupe, Rue La La, and Ideeli, three of the top four players in the U.S., is expected to exceed $300 million this year. That, along with sales at other private-sale...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Startup Aims To Protect At-Risk Data
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69894
In the wake of the charred devastation wrought by the Witch Creek fires in San Diego, [CA] two years ago this week, Dina Moskowitz and Marc Zimmerman saw something that made them wonder.
Was there any service available to the homeowners that could have protected them from losing highly valued items, such as birth certificates, memorabilia, family photos and videos and business records?
They found that plenty of services offered digital document storage for large firms. But they found nothing for homeowners needing digital storage of their documents and interior videos that could be privately accessed via the Internet.
Combining their experience in real estate, business and technology, they came up with the idea for their San Diego-based startup, Critical Digital Data Inc.
"It was clear people did not have the best way of organizing and taking care of their most important information," Moskowitz says.
Their research showed that 19 percent of Americans have been evacuated from their homes at least once.
By May of last year, company CEO Moskowitz and President Zimmerman raised "about six figures," in start-up cash from friends and family, and developed a prototype. In August they rolled out their main product, HomeDataGuard Online File Cabinet.
It allows users to scan, upload, organize and retrieve all their home-based valuable information. Password-protected items such as documents, videos, images and any other digital files can be retrieved at any time from any computer with Internet access.
With graphics and sound effects of a traditional metal file cabinet, HomeDataGuard is designed to put the non-technical at ease.
The company charges $99 to video the rooms of a home for digital storage, and $150 for two hours of home-based document scanning. To put the data in a secure hosted server online, it charges $4.95 a month or $49.95 a year.
Marketing efforts have begun with direct mail, public...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Study: Internet Use Leads To More Diverse Networks
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69892
A new study confirms what your 130 Facebook friends and scores of Twitter followers may have already told you: The Internet and mobile phones are not linked to social isolation.
Online activities such as e-mail, blogging and frequenting Internet hangouts can even lead to larger, more diverse social networks, according to the study released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The study refutes research earlier in the decade suggesting that people's growing embrace of technology has come at the expense of close human connections.
"Social isolation has not changed that much since 1985," said Keith Hampton, the main author of the study professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. This means that very few adults -- 6 percent of the population -- say they have no one to talk to about important matters in their lives.
The 2008 survey of 2,512 adults did find that Americans' core discussion networks -- that group of people you count on being able to confide in -- has gotten smaller in the past two decades. It's down, on average, to about two people instead of three. They've also become less diverse because they contain fewer friends and more family members.
This trend, however, was not linked to the use technology. It's not the Internet's fault you have fewer good friends.
The Internet also hasn't pulled people away from public places like parks, cafes and restaurants -- just the opposite.
The study, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points and accounted for differences because of age, education and other factors, also found that people now tend to use cell phones more than landlines to stay in touch with closest family and friends.
In fact, people now text these close friends and family members as much as they use traditional landline...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
A Growing PayPal May Soon Overshadow Parent eBay
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69891
Most people know eBay Inc. for its online marketplace, where deals abound on everything from gadgets to antique furniture. But soon, eBay's biggest business will likely be PayPal, the online payments service that has been growing steadily even as the economy has stumbled.
EBay has spent much of the past two years trying to improve its faltering marketplace business, hoping to increase buyers' trust and clean up the look of its Web site. In the meantime, PayPal has thrived as more consumers and merchants use it to send money online.
Its growth is expected to continue in spite of competition from Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc., which have services that online retailers sometimes offer alongside PayPal.
PayPal bills itself as a shopper's online wallet. Users set up accounts and link them to bank accounts and credit cards, making it easy to transfer cash into the account. Then users can make payments through PayPal using either their cash balances or the underlying credit card. PayPal users can also send cash to someone based on as little information as an e-mail address or cell phone number.
But unlike what happens with a credit or debit card online, PayPal doesn't share your financial information with merchants. That brings peace of mind to people who might otherwise worry about shopping at a site they've never heard of.
PayPal, which began in 1998 as a way for people to beam cash from one Palm Pilot to another, was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002 and has been a steady performer. The service charges fees for certain transactions, and in the most recent quarter it reported $688 million in revenue, a 15 percent jump from last year. As of the end of September, 78 million people had active PayPal accounts, up from 65 million a year ago.
To try to...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Cisco Forecasts First Revenue Growth in a Year
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69889
Cisco Systems Inc. doesn't want Wall Street to interpret its forecast for its first quarterly revenue growth in a year as evidence that the U.S. and other economies are roaring back.
A slow improvement in orders is under way but the pace is still slow and the recovery is fragile, executives from the world's No. 1 maker of computer-networking equipment told analysts Wednesday.
Cisco forecast that revenue will grow 1 percent to 4 percent in the current quarter, which ends in January. That would translate to revenue of $9.2 billion to $9.5 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting a decline from last year.
Cisco's results are seen as a gauge of how large corporations and government agencies and Internet providers are managing their technology budgets. Rising sales suggests they are loosening the pursestrings to buy Cisco mainstays such as routers and switches, which direct data traffic.
Cisco's CEO, John Chambers, said orders are rising again after passing a "tipping point" in the downturn this summer.
Cisco executives urged caution, though, saying sales could still sputter if the economic recovery wobbles.
"There's still uncertainty in the economy on a global basis," Cisco's chief financial officer, Frank Calderoni, said in an interview. "It's not completely back to normal levels, and with that kind of uncertainty, you really have to take things quarter by quarter."
Cisco's numbers for the fiscal quarter ended Oct. 24 indicate that the company is still suffering from the downturn, which has forced its biggest customers to rein in spending, but is seeing green shoots that pleased investors.
Cisco's net income dropped 19 percent to $1.8 billion, or 30 cents per share. Excluding one-time charges, Cisco earned 36 cents per share. Revenue fell 13 percent to $9 billion.
Wall Street was expecting even steeper declines, though. Cisco's shares climbed 82 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $24.11...
Sat, 7 Nov 09
Productivity Gains May Be Bad News for Job Seekers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69887
Companies across the economy are finding ways to do more with fewer workers, dimming hopes that hiring will take off anytime soon.
Employers became leaner and more efficient in the third quarter. Wages, meantime, remain flat or falling. The result is that productivity -- output per hour of work -- jumped at the fastest pace in six years.
The good news for companies, though, is bad news for the jobless. As long as companies can get their workers to produce more, they have little reason to hire -- at least until consumer spending picks up. And the squeeze on incomes could depress consumer spending, putting the economic recovery at risk.
Productivity rose at an annual rate of 9.5 percent in the July-September quarter, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was much better than the 6.4 percent gain economists had expected. Unit labor costs fell at a 5.2 percent rate.
Still, while companies aren't doing much hiring, they're also not cutting as many workers. The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level in 10 months
The 9.5 percent productivity rise followed a 6.9 percent surge in the second quarter and was the fastest since a 9.7 percent increase in the third quarter of 2003.
The gain reflected that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew for the first time in a year -- at an annual rate of 3.5 percent. The higher output came as companies continued to lay off workers. That meant employers produced more with fewer workers.
The 5.2 percent drop in unit labor costs marked the third straight decline and was larger than the 4 percent decrease economists were expecting.
Productivity is the key ingredient to rising living standards. It lets companies pay their workers higher wages. The increases are financed by...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Motorola's Droid May Appeal To BlackBerry Users
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69909
Friday could be a landmark day in the history of the smartphone industry. Motorola's Droid smartphone hits the U.S. market after an advertising blitz on the World Series. The phone will be exclusively available through Verizon Wireless, which hopes the phone will woo customers away from AT&T.
To celebrate the launch, some Verizon stores around the country will open at 7 a.m. The phone boasts a physical keyboard, a full web browser, and an open "app store" environment. It runs on Google's Android mobile operating system.
Early reviews are favorable but not over the moon. Writing in The New York Times, gadget reviewer David Pogue said, "The Droid wins on phone network, customizability, GPS navigation, speaker, physical keyboard, removable battery, and openness (free operating system, mostly uncensored app store). The iPhone wins on simplicity, refinement, thinness, design, web browsing, music/video syncing with your computer, accessory ecosystem, and quality/quantity of the app store."
But comparisons with Apple's iPhone may miss the real point, Greg Sterling, principal analyst with Sterling Market Research, said in a telephone interview. Business users may consider dumping their BlackBerrys for the new Droid phone. "It's the best-reviewed of the Android phones. A lot of business users will take a close look at it," Sterling said.
"The fact that Verizon is the carrier will give it a lot of attention from business users," Sterling added. "Verizon and AT&T are playing offense in this sector, while Sprint and T-Mobile are playing defense."
It's not just Apple that might see some erosion as a result of this entry, Sterling said. "BlackBerry is under tremendous pressure. BlackBerry users might look at the physical keyboard and the Verizon network, plus the real Web browser and the app offerings, and think about switching."
The new phone may beef up Motorola's standing in the investment community...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Dell Unveils Super-Thin Adamo XPS Laptop
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69908
Dell painted a picture in broad strokes Thursday of the company's forthcoming Adamo XPS laptop, which is slated to hit the market in time for the holidays. The new machine -- which is housed in a finely machined aluminum case and comes in the user's choice of pearl or onyx -- is even thinner than the inaugural Adamo laptop that Dell began shipping last March.
Measuring 13.4 x 10.7 inches and tipping the scales at just over three pounds, the new machine is just four-tenths of an inch in thickness, yet packs a host of high-tech goodies. With the Adamo XPS, however, Dell is clearly aiming to appeal to trend-conscious consumers looking for gadgets with more than a modicum of visual appeal.
"I think when you see Adamo for the first time, it's just a stunning, elegant, minimalist form," said Dell Senior Vice President Alex Gruzen. "We think the Adamo XPS will inspire an emotional connection with anyone who sees it."
Under the hood, the Adamo XPS sports a 1.4GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 13.4-inch high-definition display and 4GB of DDR3 memory. What's more, the machine's 128GB solid-state drive runs cooler than traditional hard drives and also boots up faster.
On the wireless side, the new laptop offers both high-speed Wi-Fi (802.11n) and Bluetooth, together with the requisite location-awareness technology for delivering local maps that show users where they actually are in real time. Dell's design team also did not compromise when it came to providing wired connectivity options, such as display and audio ports, two USB 2.0 connectors, and Ethernet connectivity via a dongle.
"So even though you have a very thin product, the user has the ability to stay connected -- either through the landline or wireless, and still have enough ports to really be productive," said lead designer Nicolas Denhez.
Dell...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Verizon Launches Prepaid Mobile Broadband Plans
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69906
Laptop-toting road warriors who don't want to commit to a long-term mobile broadband data plan might be interested in a new offering from Verizon Wireless. On Thursday, the wireless carrier rolled out three new mobile data plans as part of the company's prepaid portfolio.
The plans let customers tap into the mobile broadband speed they need on Verizon's 3G network with daily, weekly or monthly pay-as-you-go access. The plans will be available beginning Nov. 15.
"As more and more people begin to use these devices in different ways, all of a sudden it's not just the device. The network and the ability to connect to the network becomes very important," said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. "Verizon has a very strong reputation for their coverage and connectivity. Prepaid mobile broadband is going to be more important going forward, particularly for people who don't need it on a daily basis and don't necessarily want to pay a monthly fee."
Verizon is billing the new options as ideal for customers who need Internet access for occasional or seasonal use on vacation, while enjoying a weekend getaway, or for students away at school. Customers who want to tap this option, however, have to purchase a Verizon USB760 modem for $129.99.
The USB760 comes with a high-performance internal antenna, removable memory of up to 8GB, and support for Windows 2000, XP and Vista; Mac OS X; and Linux. Daily users will pay $15 for 75MB of data. Weekly users will pay $30 for 250MB, and monthly users will pay $50 for 500MB.
To help customers decide which package meets their needs, Verizon offers a chart that indicates how much data usage various Internet functions demand. Users could send about 25,000 text-only e-mails, view 500 web pages, and 150 low-resolution digital photos on the...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Microsoft Will Eliminate 800 More Jobs Worldwide
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69905
Software giant Microsoft said Thursday it will cut 800 positions worldwide. The latest round is part of Microsoft's previously announced move to eliminate 5,000 jobs or five percent of its workforce.
Microsoft has been eliminating jobs for nearly two years to reach a healthier operating position and save $1.5 billion a year. The Redmond, Wash.-based business needs to make the job cuts because of decreased sales, specifically in enterprise IT. Microsoft announced it would begin the major cuts in January after reporting a $465 million shortfall in OEM revenue, according to the company's financial reports.
"Earlier this year, we announced that in order to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and prioritize our focus areas, we would eliminate approximately 5,000 positions by June 2010," said Microsoft spokesperson Lou Gellos in an e-mail. "Today, we are eliminating around 800 positions spread across multiple businesses and locations and have completed our reduction plan sooner than we had anticipated 11 months ago."
In May, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company was close to achieving the 5,000 cuts. The most recent head count taken on Oct. 23 shows 91,005 employees worldwide, down 1,758 from the reported 92,763 it had just four months ago and the 95,000 it had in January.
While Microsoft is still hiring in specific areas of the company, it may have to reduce the number of employees again, the spokesperson told us.
"At the same time we continue to hire in priority areas, but also understand that continuing to manage our businesses closely, as we always do, can mean additional head-count adjustments," Gellos said.
Analysts say the move makes sense. "I think the past year has been difficult for technology companies of any size," said Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT. "Even for a company that has long been profitable and successful like Microsoft,...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Commerce Search Aims To Help Retailers Boost Sales
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69904
As part of its quest to organize the world's information, Google is upping its commitment to organizing everything you can buy. On Thursday, the search giant announced Google Commerce Search, a new hosted enterprise search product that will help customers find products at online retail stores and e-commerce sites.
Google noted that, while the last 15 years have seen advances in e-commerce, the search methods used for e-commerce have been a barrier to growth. "The average online retailer conversion rate is just three percent," the company said, "but could potentially be five to 10 times higher" by improving the shopping experience for consumers and the conversion rate for retailers.
Commerce Search uses proprietary ranking technology to analyze products and provide "the most relevant match" in what the company said would be subsecond response times to customer searches. The idea is that faster and more accurate searches increase conversions, since customers are less inclined to leave the site or use complex navigation.
In addition to speed and accuracy, the new search product offers aids, such as sorting, spell checker, and synonym suggestions. Results can be filtered by category, price, brand or other parameters. In addition, administrators can update marketing approaches in real time to create product promotions that follow search trends. Retailers can also customize web-site searches through an API.
The product can be implemented and scaled up very quickly, since it is cloud-based. Scaling can be an issue for retailers, particularly with the huge bump of the Christmas holiday season, where spikes in traffic are hard to predict. David Girouard, president of Google Enterprise, told news media that the company is "excited" to bring the product to market in time for the holidays.
As might be expected, Commerce Search also integrates with such Google tools as Google Analytics and Google Product Search, its consumer-facing...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
EU Ready To Guarantee Internet Access and Neutrality
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69901
A compromise reached in Brussels Thursday by negotiators representing the European Union's Parliament, Council, Commission and 27 member states has cleared the way to pass sweeping telecommunications legislation containing a key provision that establishes Internet-access protection for consumers. Previously the telecom reform bill had stalled over disagreements among EU member states about the degree to which access to the Internet should be protected.
The agreement sends "a strong signal that the EU takes fundamental rights very seriously, in particular when it comes to the Information Society," noted EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding. "The reform will substantially enhance consumer rights and consumer choice in Europe's telecoms markets, and add new guarantees to ensure the openness and neutrality of the Internet," she said.
Under the compromise reached Thursday, EU citizens will be entitled to legal protections with respect to any measures that individual EU member states implement to block the unauthorized downloading of copyrighted digital content and other illegal activities -- including the so-called "three strikes" rule currently being contemplated in the United Kingdom.
"These include the right to a prior, fair and impartial procedure, the right to be heard, and the presumption of innocence," said European Consumers Organization Director General Monique Goyens.
Thursday's compromise also includes provisions for keeping the issue of Internet neutrality under close scrutiny as well as the delivery of regular status reports on this issue to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
"Under the reformed rules, the (European) Commission will be Europe's first line of defense when it comes to Net neutrality," Redding said.
The EU's Council of Ministers and Parliament now have six weeks to adopt the draft as required under previously established conciliation procedures. Following the legislation's approval, consumer watchdogs will keep a close eye on developments in all member states to ensure...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Google Dashboard Lets Users Review Collected Data
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69886
On Thursday, Google launched a new feature that aims to silence privacy advocates who have criticized the search industry's data-collection and storage practices. If the initiative appeases the critics, other search engines could move to adopt similar strategies.
The initiative is called Google Dashboard. For Google users who have wondered what data is stored in conjunction with their Google accounts, Dashboard offers a new level of transparency. Google Dashboard lets users see what data the search engine is storing and offers some control over how it's used. Users can even delete some data.
Google software engineer Alma Whitten, Google product manager Yariv Adan, and Google Vice President of Search Products and User Experience Marissa Mayer made the Dashboard announcement on the company's blog.
The trio pointed to Google's 11-year focus on building innovative products for users and how hundreds of millions of people are using those products around the world. Google, they wrote, is very aware of the trust that consumers have placed in the company and its responsibility to protect user privacy.
"In the past, we've taken numerous steps in this area, investing in educating our users with our Privacy Center, making it easier to move data in and out of Google with our Data Liberation Front, and allowing you to control the ads you see with interest-based advertising," they wrote. "Transparency, choice and control have become a key part of Google's philosophy and today, we're happy to announce that we're doing even more."
Google Dashboard is the "even more." It offers more transparency and more control. Google said the Dashboard is designed to be simple and useful. It summarizes data for each product that consumers use when they are signed in to their account and provides direct links to control personal settings.
Google is the first Internet company...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Garmin Reports Surge in 3Q Profit
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69882
Navigational device maker Garmin Ltd. reported a 24 percent increase in third-quarter profit as lower costs offset a drop in sales.
The results beat Wall Street estimates but did little to calm investors' concerns that consumers are more likely to turn to cell phones equipped with increasingly sophisticated navigational features of their own.
Shares plunged $3.66, or 11.7 percent, to $27.75 in afternoon trading.
Garmin makes devices that use Global Positioning System technology for drivers, boaters, pilots and outdoors enthusiasts. The company's shares have been pressured since last week, when Google Inc. used the Droid smartphone to unveil new mapping software that could challenge standalone personal navigational devices, or PNDs.
During a conference call with analysts, Chief Operating Officer Cliff Pemble argued that PNDs were still superior to what is being offered on cell phones, which he said are difficult to use for turn-by-turn directions in the car, can have less accurate maps, require monthly payments and are sometimes limited by their wireless carrier's network.
At the same time, Garmin has tried to enter the wireless market with its own smartphone device, called the nuvifone G60, which incorporates navigational features and went on sale through AT&T Inc. last month.
But Pemble said the device's sales have been "relatively slow." He said AT&T plans to cut the device's price to $199 from $299, and Garmin will increase advertising for the G60 heading into the holiday season.
He also said the company still planned to rollout new nuvifone devices next year, including one based on Google's Android platform.
Garmin, based in the Cayman Islands with headquarters in Olathe, Kan., reported earning $215 million, or $1.07 per share, during the July-September period, up from $171.2 million, or 82 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding foreign exchange rate effects, Garmin said it would have earned $1.02 per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
KeyOn: Why an Obscure Net Provider's Stock Soared
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69874
Although the U.S. stock market has soared since spring, few companies can match the meteoric rise of a small Internet company based in Omaha. Since May 1, the stock of KeyOn Communications Holdings, which provides Internet connections to companies and individuals, has climbed to $2.10 from 4 percent, an increase of more than 5,000 percent. No company in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index or the Russell 2000 Small Cap Index came close to that over the same period.
Investors have bid up KeyOn's stock on hopes it will get a slice of the billions the federal government is doling out to expand broadband Internet service in the country. The company has applied for about $150 million in grants and loans, which KeyOn says it will use to expand its operations and improve its financial performance. Today, the company provides wireless Net service to 15,000 rural customers in 11 Western and Midwestern states. "We certainly weren't worth [just) 4 percent," says Jonathan Snyder, KeyOn's chief executive. "We have a real business with real customers and real product, and a business that can generate real cash flow."
But KeyOn isn't generating cash now, and it's far from clear the company will ever be able to deliver on investors' high hopes. The stock's run has been fueled by bullish comments from an analyst who has been paid by the company, a questionable practice that has not always been disclosed to investors. KeyOn is losing so much money that Snyder has had to sell stock eight times this year to cover its cash needs. And it's quite possible KeyOn will never see a penny of broadband money from the government, since requests for funds total seven times the amount of money available. One KeyOn competitor says Snyder, in essence, is betting his company's future on...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Ancestry.com Hopes To Raise $100 Million in IPO
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69871
Genealogy Web site Ancestry.com hopes to raise about $100 million when it goes public this week. With more than a million paying subscribers, little competition, a small debt load and a record of increasing revenues, it may fare better than other IPOs that have recently priced below their filing ranges.
The Provo, Utah-based company, which is the world's largest online resource for birth certificates and marriage records, expects to price the shares between $12.50 and $14.50 apiece on Wednesday. Underwriters are being offered up to an additional 1.1 million shares to cover overallotments, which would boost total proceeds to about $115 million.
Five of the last nine IPOs have closed below their offering price in the first day. But experts say that shouldn't be the case for Ancestry because technology IPOs have collectively performed about twice as well as other sectors so far this year.
The company is a profitable niche market leader and it's growth story will likely resonate well with investors, said Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique, who is optimistic about the stock debut.
"Currently they're alone out there, and for the time being their financials are showing it," Sweet said. "There is definitely strong demand for researching and building a family tree, and the people who do get involved with this really get deeply involved, going as far back as the software will allow them out of curiosity."
Not only does the Web site make family history research less painstaking and time consuming, but it lets customers collaborate with other subscribers. That gives it the edge of a social networking Web site, Sweet said.
Ancestry's revenue jumped from $122.6 million in 2004 to $197.6 million in 2008. In the nine months that ended Sept. 30, the company earned $12.2 million, or 30 cents per share, a more than threefold increase...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Google's 3Q Lobbying Costs Eclipse $1 Million
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69870
Google Inc.'s quarterly lobbying expenses eclipsed $1 million for the first time during the summer as the company tried to build on its dominance of Internet search and expand into other markets.
The Mountain View, California-based company spent nearly $1.1 million trying to influence lawmakers and regulators in the third quarter, a 50 percent increase from the July-September period last year, according to a recent disclosure statement.
Google's lobbying budget has been steadily rising during the past year even as it tightened its belt in other areas to bolster its earnings during the worst U.S. recession in 70 years.
Through the first nine months of this year, Google's lobbying costs came to $2.9 million, a 41 percent increase from the same time last year. That contrasted with a 2 percent decline in Google's companywide expenses during the same period.
Convinced the worst is over, Google's management last month said the company intended to increase its spending again on technology development, computers and acquisitions. The executives didn't indicate how the loosening purse strings will affect Google's lobbying costs in upcoming quarters.
The recent uptick in Google's political spending has come as the company has been muscling into new markets, including telephones, business software and electronic book sales. At the same time, Google has been steadily increasing share of the lucrative search market; it fields nearly two out of three every search requests in the United States.
Google's success and unbridled ambition has raised more concerns about its growing power, attracting more scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers.
Last year, Google scrapped a proposed Internet search partnership with rival Yahoo Inc. to avoid a legal showdown with the U.S. Justice Department, which asserted the alliance would have broken federal laws seeking to preserve competition.
The Justice Department also has raised objections to another agreement that would give Google the digital rights...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Former HP CEO Fiorina Announces Bid for U.S. Senate
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69869
Former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina said Wednesday she is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by liberal stalwart Barbara Boxer of California.
Fiorina, who is a Republican, ended months of speculation with an announcement in an opinion piece in the Orange County Register. She was expected to make a formal announcement later in the day in Garden Grove.
Her entry into the race could present Boxer with her most formidable re-election challenge, but Fiorina first would have to survive a Republican primary against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who has worked feverishly over the past year to court Republican voters.
"For many years I felt disconnected from the decisions made in Washington and, to be honest, really didn't think my vote mattered because I didn't have a direct line of sight from my vote to a result. I realize that thinking was wrong," Fiorina wrote in her opinion piece.
"I now understand, in a very real way, that the decisions made by the Senate impact every family and every business, of any size, in America. This is what motivates me to run for the U.S. Senate," she wrote.
Fiorina echoed standard Republican complaints that the government taxes, spends and regulates too much.
"Let's put every government budget and every government bill on the Internet for every citizen to see," she wrote.
"Tax, spend and borrow is not a governing philosophy; it's a cycle of dependency and it is one that must be broken," Fiorina wrote. "Washington must show the discipline to cut spending and create policies that encourage and empower businesses to put people back to work."
Fiorina, who recently completed breast cancer treatment, also called for health care reform -- but not in the form of a national health system.
She instead suggested expanding community clinic access and putting stricter restrictions on medical malpractice lawsuits.
The 55-year-old...
Fri, 6 Nov 09
Urgency Shapes Race in Web Search
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69865
There's a new race in the Internet search business and, like most races, it's about speed.
Start-ups including LeapFish, Factery and Aardvark hope to lap the field by supplementing conventional search results, such as what you'd find on Google, with instant access to social networks including Twitter.
"This is going to become mainstream very fast," says Sean Suchter, general manager of the search technology center at Microsoft. "Everybody in the world is going to expect that they can find out anything, anywhere, instantly."
Last month, Google and Microsoft's Bing signed deals that give them access to Twitter's public postings, called tweets.
Yahoo is working with start-up OneRiot and others to display real-time search results.
To keep users from being overwhelmed, companies sort results by their relevance to what you're searching for, timeliness and, in some cases, the expertise of the source, says Nick Halstead, CEO of Tweetmeme, the No. 2 real-time search site after Twitter.
Real-time searches are mostly for Web users who want to know "what's being tweeted, what people are talking about," says Danny Sullivan, editor of the blog Search Engine Land.
That can be important for people tracking unfolding news events. But that audience may be small.
"Most people don't have this burning need for immediate, precise results unless it's the Iran elections or Michael Jackson's death," says Greg Sterling, principal of Sterling Marketing Intelligence.
The new companies say that they offer more than speed. LeapFish, which launches this week, says it's the first site that lets consumers both contribute and search for information in audio and video as well as text.
Factery will launch a site in mid-November that enables users to pose questions to people in social networks who may give immediate answers.
"Old-fashioned search engines just don't work in this real-time (Web) world," says co-founder and President Paul Pedersen.
"People are looking for recommendations from those...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
New York Charges Intel with Anticompetitive Actions
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69885
Intel's antitrust troubles haven't ended with the European Union's record-breaking $1.45 billion fine. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed suit Wednesday against the company, alleging bribery, coercion and other anticompetitive activities.
"Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," Cuomo said. "Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors but also hurt average consumers, who were robbed of better products and lower prices. These illegal tactics must stop and competition must be restored to this vital marketplace."
The suit says Intel essentially bribed major personal-computer manufacturers by offering huge rebate checks if they agreed to buy chips only from Intel rather than archrival Advanced Micro Devices. But Intel offered not just a carrot to stifle competition but also a stick, according to Cuomo, who said, "Intel also threatened to and did in fact punish computer makers that they perceived to be working too closely with Intel's competitors."
Intel threatened to cut off those PC makers from payments, fund the manufacturer's competitors, and cut off joint-development projects, he said.
Intel spokesperson Chuck Molloy vehemently denied Cuomo's allegations. "We never threatened anyone," he told National Public Radio.
The so-called "rebates" to PC makers actually had no legitimate business purpose, Cuomo said, and to make matters worse, Intel attempted to cover its tracks by "eliminating crucial but flagrantly objectionable provisions from written agreements or by camouflaging language about illegal guaranteed market shares with terms like 'volume targets.'"
AMD, which has filed its own suit against Intel, high-fived the lawsuit, crowing, "The New York attorney general's 83-page complaint, filed on behalf of New York State consumers and governmental entities, details explicit evidence of Intel's harm to U.S. consumers and computer manufacturers," according to Tom McCoy, AMD's executive vice president of legal, corporate and public...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
HTC's HD2 Smartphone Functions as a Wireless Router
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69884
HTC has unleashed a new smartphone with a spacious 4.3-inch touch-sensitive screen and a five-megapixel camera. Even better, the new HD2 can even function as a 3G wireless router for other devices such as a laptop, the company said.
The HD2 is also the first Windows device to ship with HTC Sense -- a customized interface for enabling handset users to function in a more simple, natural and personal way. For example, users can choose to run with an animated background as well as place shortcuts to people, web sites, or applications on the home screen.
This makes the new smartphone "more simple and natural to use by enabling people to personalize their mobile experience in their own unique way," said HTC CEO Peter Chou.
Measuring 4.7 x 2.6 inches and tipping the scales at 5.5 ounces, the 0.43-inch thick HD2 is powered by Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon processor, which is capable of rendering high-resolution 3-D games, images and maps. Snapdragon also has optimized power-management capabilities that enable HTC's new smartphone to deliver up to eight hours of video playback or 390 hours of standby operation off a single charge of the handset's 1230-mAh Lithium-ion battery.
Under the hood, HTC's multiband cellular handset has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS capabilities. What's more, built-in sensors enable the display to automatically adjust screen brightness based on lighting conditions and even scale down the ringer volume the moment the user picks up the handset.
The HD2's integration of a capacitive touch display with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.5 OS means users will be able zoom in or out of Web sites, Microsoft Office files, PDF documents, and pictures by spreading or pinching their fingers. Also on tap is Microsoft's new My Phone service, which enables users to automatically back up and synchronize photos, music tracks, contacts...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
Microsoft Previews Revised MSN.com Home Page
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69879
Microsoft on Tuesday showed a preview of its redesigned MSN.com home page. The page hasn't had such a sweeping change in 10 years and features Bing search, the top news and entertainment stories, and some of the most popular social networks.
The home page taps the new MSN Local Edition to offer visitors a localized experience. Microsoft said the redesigned site with a bright look and feel began rolling out Wednesday and will become widely available to U.S. customers early next year.
"Both Yahoo and Microsoft have suddenly realized that their portal properties are incredibly valuable and they should invest in them," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "Both companies got so focused on Google that they forgot they had these incredibly powerful sites that pull massive amounts of traffic. Traffic for both Yahoo and MSN has been going up steadily."
Microsoft's research shows that 90 percent of surveyed consumers find home pages such as MSN valuable, and they like the convenience of a comprehensive site. But there is one pain point -- clutter. The surveys show people want less clutter and easier access to information and services they care about, including search.
"Now is the time to clean up the mess on the web -- people need less clutter and less hassle to find what matters most to them," said Erik Jorgensen, corporate vice president at Microsoft. "Microsoft is uniquely invested in search, media experiences, and technical innovation. Combining these assets to deliver our new MSN home page is a tremendous win for customers and advertisers."
The new MSN home page aims to cut through the clutter with 50 percent fewer links and a simplified navigation across news, entertainment, sports, money and lifestyle. The new page also integrates Bing and offers quick access to Facebook, Twitter and Windows...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
AT&T Sues Verizon To Stop 'Misleading' Map Ads
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69876
Verizon Wireless is using commercials to take shots at rival AT&T's 3G network coverage, which has been the source of complaints from smartphone users for some time. AT&T has fired back with a lawsuit claiming Verizon's ads are misleading.
AT&T filed its complaint in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, asking a judge for a restraining order to stop Verizon from airing the controversial ads. The ads feature a Verizon smartphone user with access in most places throughout the U.S. as shown on a map of nationwide coverage.
The alleged misleading part of the commercial is when an AT&T smartphone user fails to get 3G coverage and shows a U.S. map with very little coverage and an "AT&T 3G" label below the map. AT&T said the ad is misleading because it shows areas without coverage where AT&T clearly has network coverage.
Verizon says the lawsuit is without merit.
"Ads are very straightforward -- maps are clearly labeled 3G coverage, and clearly state 'voice and data service available outside 3G coverage area,'" Verizon's Nancy Stark said. "With more and more people buying 3G smartphones, PDAs and embedded laptops, our ads serve to inform customers where their 3G smartphone apps will work."
Analysts see Verizon's ads as clever.
"It does seem pretty clear that Verizon is referring to 3G coverage in their ads," said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. "In an age where many customers' data is as important or more important than voice, Verizon Wireless' 'there's a map for that' seems a very effective message."
Verizon and AT&T have been in a tug of war for customers since AT&T became the exclusive wireless carrier for Apple's iPhone. AT&T took some of Verizon's market share after the iPhone launch.
From June through August 2008, 30 percent of U.S. customers who bought Apple's iPhone switched...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
PayPal Opens Payments Platform To Developers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69863
PayPal everywhere. That could be the slogan of the online payment company's expanded Global Payments Platform, following an announcement Tuesday of new application programming interfaces (APIs) that make it easier to integrate PayPal into third-party applications. The announcement at the PayPal X Innovate 2009 conference in San Francisco also included a new portal and introductory pricing for developers.
The updated Adaptive Payment APIs expand payment capabilities for multiple recipients and multiple platforms, including mobile devices.
Osama Bedier, PayPal's vice president of platform, said the new software development kit for mobile will allow a developer to "just tell us how much you want to get paid and what the payment is for, and the funds will be transferred in seconds, not days or weeks."
New capabilities in the APIs include currency conversion for global payment applications and a Pay Anyone option, so financial institutions can let customers send money when they are logged into their bank accounts without needing a PayPal account.
Developers can also now create "reusable payment agreements" between buyers and sellers. Payment approval takes place online, but the actual movement of money can take place offline, at various intervals, and through devices that do not need to be online at the time.
The APIs open up PayPal's payment system to developers. Upgrades also include the ability for developers to create person-to-person or business-to-business solutions, and allow developers to take a percentage of a transaction.
With parallel payments, applications can let buyers send money to several recipients at once, which means not only can different items be purchased from different sellers at once, but payroll applications are also possible. A new pricing model to entice developers will begin in the second quarter of next year.
Laura DiDio, an analyst with industry research firm Information Technology Intelligence Corp., said the announcement means...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
VCE Gives Cisco, EMC and VMware a Single Face
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69859
In a move to push cloud computing into the mainstream, Cisco Systems, EMC and VMware launched the Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) coalition on Tuesday. The companies will work together to deliver business-ready IT that aims to simplify and accelerate virtualization and the transition to cloud computing.
The foundation for VCE is a shared vision for the future of private clouds -- virtual IT infrastructures securely controlled and operated by one organization that can be managed internally or by a third party and can exist on or off premises, or both. The vision includes Vblock Infrastructure Packages that work to integrate virtualization, networking, computing, storage, security and management technologies backed by end-to-end vendor accountability.
Cisco and EMC also introduced Acadia, a joint venture focused on accelerating build-outs of private cloud infrastructures by service providers and large enterprise customers. Also capitalized by VMware and Intel, the companies said Acadia's model for delivering Vblock solutions will offer choice, flexibility and cost advantages. But will the new deal hurt the companies involved if it fails?
VCE exists to drive sales of the members' various technologies and to make real their vision of private cloud computing, but the most significant part of the announcement is the coalition itself, according to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. While the IT industry as a whole loves the notion of collaboration, he said, the shape of most such relationships is conventional in the extreme, focusing on simple product interoperability and customer issues.
"By comparison, the VCE coalition allows Cisco, EMC and VMware to present clients a single face and common responsibility while preserving the partners' independence," King said. "That is, while the three will contribute significantly to VCE, they will also continue to work closely with various partners and with clients who prefer other vendors' products."
King said organizations can...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
Augmented Reality Goes Mobile
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69848
It was the shake heard 'round the world. On Aug. 27, 2009, uberblogger Robert Scoble uncovered a hidden software feature buried within an iPhone application that provides access to Yelp.com reviews.
The secret, it turns out, was that users needed to shake the phone to activate the capability, known as Monocle. In the wake of Scoble's discovery, shared publicly via FriendFeed, iPhone users far and wide could be seen shaking their iPhones to get access to the new feature. Yet the frenzy was about more than the novelty of how to open it, or even the trove of Yelp.com reviews.
The bigger prize was in how that information shows up on the phone. Once Monocle is activated, users looking through the iPhone camera can see reviews and other information about restaurants, stores, and other businesses in the direction the camera is pointing. Monocle was one of the first smartphone applications in the U.S. to use a technology known as augmented reality, which meshes digital information with actual images of the subject of that data. For many, augmented reality evokes images of what the Terminator sees as he homes in on a potential target, or the real time data seen by Luke Skywalker as he scans the barren Tatooine desertscape through a pair of field goggles.
Augmented reality, also known by the acronym AR, has been around for at least two decades, but it has been largely relegated to applications in key areas such as training and inspection in automotive and aerospace manufacturing. In 1992, Tom Caudell coined the term augmented reality when he was working at Boeing on a project to make it easier to assemble large bundles of electric wire for aircraft on the factory floor. But recently, the technology has started to jump from high-end expensive equipment...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
Net Security Stocks: A Solid Corner of Tech
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69847
With more and more people using the Web for business transactions and routinely typing in their credit-card digits on various sites, rising concerns about identity theft and other cybercrimes have put companies that provide Internet security products in the catbird seat.
While Symantec and McAfee have hitched their wagons to Microsoft, on hopes that the new Windows 7.0 operating system will drive sales of their security software, other companies' business models aren't tied to the fortunes of Redmond & Co.
Like VeriSign, for example. The Mountain View [Calif.] company collects $6.87 for every new dot-com Web site it registers and $4.24 for every dot-net address it assigns under an exclusive seven-year contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers, known as ICANN, a nonprofit oversight body that coordinates domain names for the U.S. Commerce Dept.
Analysts estimate the Web infrastructure and security outfit added about 1.4 million domain names in the third quarter, which would be a 27 percent increase over the preceding quarter and ahead of the company's forecast of 900,000 to 1.2 million additional registrations, according to Oppenheimer analyst Shaul Eyal in an Oct. 22 research note. That bodes well for third-quarter earnings, which the company is scheduled to report on Nov. 5. As the global economy continues to recover, "international growth could again crank up and provide a kick-start to recovery" in domain name additions, Eyal said.
While the company enjoys a virtual monopoly in the domain name business, there are still concerns about the profitability of one of its key businesses: security socket layer, or SSL, certificates, which merchants buy from the company in order to enable the encryption of sensitive information during online transactions and authenticate information about the certificate owner. While VeriSign has a 75 percent market share in these certificates, its average...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
Moving Smoothly From XP To Windows 7
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69846
If you're thinking about upgrading to Windows 7 from Windows XP, you're not alone. Legions of individuals and businesses either skipped the Windows Vista upgrade or, once they had tried it, decided to revert back to XP.
Windows 7, though, is a different story. Given the almost universally favorable reviews it has received, many tried-and-true XP users are preparing to give Microsoft's latest operating system a try. But Windows 7 is quite a bit different from XP, and that means a lot of upgraders have a lot of questions. Here are a few.
Q: I have some ancient proprietary software that runs well in Internet Explorer 6 but not in 7 or 8. I'm running Internet Explorer 6 on my XP machine. Can I run Internet Explorer 6 on Windows 7?
A: No. Internet Explorer 6 will not install on Windows 7. But Windows 7 does offer you the capability of running the Windows XP Mode add-in, available at (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx). XP Mode allows you to run a complete Windows XP system inside of Windows 7. That means, essentially, that you have two operating systems in one. So if you find that you have one or more older applications that simply require Windows XP, you can run them in XP Mode.
XP Mode requires that you download and install two components: the Windows XP Mode installation program itself and Windows Virtual PC. You should install XP Mode first, followed by Virtual PC. Once both are installed, you'll need to restart your machine. After your machine is back up, open the Start menu, and navigate to All Programs -- Windows Virtual PC -- Windows XP Mode.
Before XP Mode starts, you'll be asked some questions, similar to those you see during the installation of an operating system because, in fact, you will be installing a separate operating...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
Lawmakers Seek Ban on Laptops in Airliner Cockpits
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69844
Lawmakers are moving to ban the use of computer laptops and other personal electronic devices in airline cockpits to prevent another incident like the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, chairman of the aviation subcommittee, said in an interview that his staff is working on a bill that he expects to introduce in about a week. He said he was surprised to learn after the Oct. 21 incident that the Federal Aviation Administration doesn't specifically prohibit pilots from using laptops, DVD players, MP3 players and other devices during flight except below 10,000 feet while the plane is taking off or landing.
The two pilots of Northwest Flight 188 told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that they didn't notice repeated attempts by air traffic controllers and airline dispatchers to contact them because they were working on a new crew scheduling program on their laptops. The plane carrying 144 passengers was out of communication with anyone on the ground for 91 minutes, prompting the military to ready fighter jets for launch and the White House situation room to alert senior White House officials.
The plane zoomed past its Minneapolis destination before the pilots were alerted to their situation by a flight attendant. By that time, the plane was over Wisconsin.
"We now understand from this flight at least that this can happen and there ought to be a more clear understanding by everyone in the cockpit that there is a national standard that would prohibit this and that they need to take it seriously," said Dorgan, D-N.D.
Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last year, has a policy prohibiting the use of personal laptops by pilots during flight. The airline has suspended the two pilots -- Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain, and Richard Cole of Salem, Ore.,...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
Nokia Siemens Networks To Lay Off Up To 5,700
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69843
Nokia Siemens Networks said Tuesday it will lay off up to 5,700 workers globally as part of a move to cut annual costs by euro500 million ($740 million).
The mobile network equipment maker -- a joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG of Germany -- said it will reduce its five business units to three by January, and strengthen its business through partnerships and acquisitions.
The savings program could include cutting 7 to 9 percent of its current global work force of some 64,000 employees, the mobile network equipment maker said.
The company has been hard hit by waning demand in the recession and cited "changes in the global economy and competitive environment" for the cost cuts. It said it will also reduce overheads, expand its portfolio and consider acquisitions "where assets would add scale to existing product areas or customer relationships."
"As our customers make purchasing decisions, they want a partner who engages in issues well beyond a traditional discussion of technology," said Rajeev Suri, the new chief executive officer of Nokia Siemens Networks.
The company, formed in April 2007 by Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, and industrial conglomerate Siemens, saw a 21 percent drop in sales in the third quarter to euro2.8 billion, with an operating loss deepening to euro1.1 billion, from euro1 million a year earlier.
Last month, Nokia upgraded estimates for the global network infrastructure market, predicting a 5 percent fall in euro terms in 2009, but warned that it expects Nokia Siemens' loss in market share to be bigger than its previous forecast of a "moderate decline."
Nokia Siemens' main rivals in the mobile infrastructure industry are global market leader L.M. Ericsson of Sweden and French-American company Alcatel-Lucent.
Nokia's share price fell was almost unchanged at euro8.66 ($12.79) in afternoon trading in Helsinki. In Frankfurt, Siemens stock was down...
Thu, 5 Nov 09
U.S. Cyber Center Opens To Battle Computer Attacks
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69824
The United States is well behind the curve in the fight against computer criminals, Sen. Joe Lieberman [said], as Homeland Security officials opened a $9 million operations center to better coordinate the government's response to cyberattacks.
Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said legislation being drafted by his committee will require federal agencies and private companies to set up a system to share information on cyber threats.
And Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, said the Homeland Security Department must identify weaknesses in the systems that run power plants and other critical infrastructure.
As Lieberman laid out his proposal to Chamber of Commerce executives, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano unveiled the new National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center in northern Virginia.
Standing in front of a wall of broad video screens, that displayed vivid charts and maps of possible cyber threats and suspicious Internet traffic, Napolitano said the watch center will allow the high-tech teams that monitor government networks to work better together.
With 61 computer stations spread across the room, the center will merge the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team and the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications.
U.S. officials have said that government computer systems are probed or scanned millions of times a day, and face an increasing threat from hackers, cyber criminals looking to steal money or information, and nation-states aimed at espionage or the destruction of networks that run vital services.
Officials have called for a more coordinated effort by the federal government to monitor and protect U.S. systems and work with the private sector to insure that transportation systems, energy plants and other sensitive networks are equally protected.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the ranking Republican on the homeland security panel, said it will take more than a White House coordinator to secure the country's networks. And she pointed to the...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Microsoft Cuts Prices for Cloud-Based Productivity
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69858
Microsoft's move to cut pricing on a number of its online services wasn't unexpected, but could put pressure on its channel partners, according to an analyst. The price reductions are an extension of a promotion that already was garnering success.
"It's not much of a surprise," said Rob Sanfilippo, research vice president for Directions on Microsoft. "The interesting thing about it is that it is cutting margins even more."
Microsoft announces updates to its online services every 90 days. The price cuts, on a per-seat, per-month basis, ran across several products and the comprehensive Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) offering as a whole. Exchange Online was reduced from $10 to $5, SharePoint Online from $7.25 to $5.25, and Office Communications Online from $2.50 to $2. BPOS now is $10 per seat per month. Microsoft also announced that it has increased mailbox storage to 25GB.
The urgency to become more price competitive was underscored by the loss in late October of a contract to provide services to about 30,000 employees of the city of Los Angeles. While the winner of the deal -- Google Apps -- has the highest profile, the online productivity sector is rife with established and start-up companies.
The new pricing will impact smaller businesses, though Sanfilippo said the coming versions of the company's dedicated and standard packages will grow more similar as Exchange Server 2010 and SharePoint 2010 --- the technologies underlying the services -- move further into the cloud.
Dedicated services -- in which the client gets its own equipment in the Microsoft data center -- are aimed at organizations with 5,000 or more seats. The standard package, which is based on shared equipment usage, focuses most strongly on companies buying 5,000 to 30,000 seats. The large overlap, Sanfilippo said, is geared to providing customers with...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Cisco Partners With EMC, VMware on Private Clouds
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69857
Cisco Systems, EMC and VMware announced a collaborative effort Tuesday to help businesses transition to private cloud environments through the use of pervasive data-center virtualization technology. Called the Virtual Computing Environment coalition, the joint effort promises to enable organizations of all sizes to realize efficiencies that will result in significant reductions in both capital and operating expenses.
The joint offering will be based on fully integrated, tested and validated Vblock Infrastructure Packages that combine virtualization, networking, computing, storage, security and management technologies from the three partners.
In a parallel move, Cisco and EMC unveiled a new joint venture called Acadia that is committed to helping customers build, operate and transfer private cloud infrastructures based on the Vblock architecture.
"This coalition is about more than technology and partnership," said Cisco CEO John Chambers. "It is about an entirely new and unique approach to the data center that improves utilization, power consumption, and security of information -- all in a way that lowers the total cost to the customer -- not via a box, but with a network-based architectural approach for optimizing virtual resources."
With respect to Cisco's rivals, "this will keep them on their toes," said Frank Gillett, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. However, the unveiling of Cisco's deal with EMC is merely incremental to the company's announcement earlier this year that it would become a server vendor, which clearly caught rivals off guard.
Moreover, it is only when companies intend to replace entire racks of gear that the new joint offering applies, Gillett observed. "What they are basically saying is, 'We will sell you a preintegrated stack of stuff that you don't have to integrate because we have set up a company called Acadia specifically to do this for you,'" he said.
The potential appeal of the new joint...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
XP's End Means Enterprises Will Move To Windows 7
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69856
To upgrade or not to upgrade? Enterprises may not have the choice they did between Windows Vista and Windows XP, when many opted to continue with XP rather than switch to Vista.
The move from XP to Vista entailed serious hardware upgrade costs, not to mention the soft costs of installation, training and support. If Vista offered security enhancements over XP, the benefits were more than overwhelmed by user dissatisfaction, upgrade headaches, and the cost.
With Windows 7, will enterprises continue to hold on to XP? It's unlikely, since Microsoft has announced an end-of-life deadline for XP in 2014, but the reality is that XP will be fully phased out long before then.
That's because hardware manufacturers are unlikely to offer XP on new machines much longer. As PCs are upgraded, Windows 7 will rapidly enter the enterprise, regardless of any resistance to operating-system upgrades.
While the move to Windows 7 may be inevitable, IT shops won't resist to the very end of XP's life. Technology consulting firm Gartner Group issued a research note this week advising companies to switch over by 2012.
"Microsoft will support Windows XP until April 2014, [but users should] plan to be off Windows XP by the end of 2012 to ensure ongoing support by independent software vendors for new applications," Gartner analyst Stephen Kleynhaus wrote.
Software vendors and integrators will stop supporting XP "beginning in late 2011 and accelerating through 2012," Kleynhaus wrote. With migration likely to run 12 to 18 months, "organizations should therefore begin migration planning immediately to maximize their options and enable a controlled and cost-effective migration to Windows 7," the analyst said.
A recent survey of enterprise IT shops by Information Technology Intelligence Corp. (ITIC) and Sunbelt Software -- shows some pent-up demand for the new OS. According to the survey,...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Costs May Outweigh iPhone Sales for China Unicom
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69855
China Unicom's agreement to offer the Apple iPhone 3GS may take a bite out of the Beijing company's bottom line. The wireless carrier's costs for marketing and subsidies may outweigh sales of iPhones and subscriptions.
Since solidifying its three-year, non-exclusive deal with Apple to sell the iPhone 3GS, China's number-two wireless carrier said Tuesday that it has secured one million new 3G network subscribers since the launch and foresees adding an additional one million subscribers each month. The company claims to have 5,000 subscribers already signed up for the iPhone 3GS in just four days since its launch.
Analysts, however, said the cost associated with rolling out the 3G (WCDMA) network, advertising and marketing the iPhone may take a toll on China Unicom's bottom line.
China Unicom, number two behind China Telecom, began focusing on its 3G network construction in January when it received its 3G operating license. The company has been able to reduce some costs due to bulk purchases, but expanded coverage from the original 284 cities planned earlier in the year to 335 has increased the rollout cost.
The company, however, isn't alone. China Unicom and its top rivals China Telecom and China Mobile have all had to deal with costs associated with the new 3G network, and all reported lackluster quarterly earnings last month.
The financial woes will not change for some time because of marketing expenses and network construction costs, Tong Jilu, vice president and chief financial officer at Unicom, told Reuters.
After reaching its multi-year agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone, China Unicom said it will implement several measures to steadily grow its mobile business while cushioning the decline of its landline business.
With 5,000 iPhone subscribers signed up, China Unicom is confident that the launch of the iPhone 3GS, which will...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Sony Ericsson's Android Phone Focuses on Multimedia
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69854
Sony Ericsson has unveiled its first Android phone, which could represent a new level in multimedia for Google's open-source platform. The catch: The phone won't be out until the first quarter of next year. The company said the phone, called the Xperia X10, introduces a new user experience platform "where communication truly becomes entertainment," and it is part of its "make.believe philosophy" to push new boundaries.
New applications in the X10 include Timescape, where all communication with one person can be managed from one place. Communications in Facebook, Twitter, e-mails and text are brought together, and an "infinite button" guides a user through the connections with that individual.
Another new app called Mediascape lets content be accessed from the phone, YouTube and other sources. Mediascape and Timescape can automatically recognize connections between contacts, content and media. As an example, face recognition can identify up to five faces in a photo and connect the image to those people's contacts and communications.
The phone features a four-inch touchscreen with 480x850 resolution, an 8.1-megapixel camera with up to 16x digital zoom and geo-tagging, Bluetooth stereo, GPS, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and, being Android, a host of Google applications, such as Gmail, Calendar, Maps with Street View, Talk and Voice Search.
The X10 supports GSM GRPS/EDGE and UMTS HSPA, can utilize applications from either the Android Market or Sony Ericsson's Play Now Arena, and is built around a 1-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said the X10 seems "terrific" in its described capabilities, but the key problem is that "it won't be out until first quarter" and Sony Ericsson will miss the holiday season.
The company has "had trouble keeping up with the industry," he said, particularly Apple, but also other handset makers. Greengart noted that it's unusual...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Twitter-Only Device May Appeal To Frugal Tweeters
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69853
Defying the down market, one brave mobile-device maker is betting Twitter can help generate new revenues. Peek just rolled out the world's first Twitter mobile device on Amazon.com.
Also the maker of a dedicated e-mail and texting device, Peek designed the TwitterPeek to empower consumers who don't want to invest in a full-fledged smartphone. With TwitterPeek, consumers can tweet their status, share stories, and spread news as it happens in real time without shelling out a monthly fee for a data package.
"TwitterPeek will make it easy and affordable for everyone who doesn't have a smartphone to really enjoy Twitter on the go," said Peekster-in-Chief Amol Sarva. "Twitter diehards will appreciate its always-on instant tweet delivery, and newbies will finally get Twitter once they have TwitterPeek in hand. Even businesses that Twitter will dig TwitterPeek as a convenient way to stay connected with their customers."
No one will dispute that Twitter has become a worldwide phenomenon. But Sarva is betting there are millions of Twitter users without a smartphone that haven't been able to fully experience the fun of tweeting on the go. TwitterPeek, a palm-sized gadget that sells for $99 with unlimited nationwide service for six months, aims to change that.
TwitterPeek users can send unlimited tweets and direct messages, enjoy always-on instant tweet delivery, and view links as plain text and Twitpic images. The device also offers a full QWERTY keyboard, a color screen, and a click-and-scroll wheel. Peek is offering a one-year warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee.
"This is clearly not a device for the Twitterati who are debating which is the best Twitter client to use on the iPhone and may have five or six of them," said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. "This is designed for a user that has embraced Twitter...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Best Buy Launches On-Demand Digital Entertainment
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69842
In a move to compete more aggressively in the digital age, Best Buy is launching its own on-demand video service through a strategic partnership with Sonic Solutions. As part of the multi-year agreement, Best Buy will license and deploy Sonic's Roxio CinemaNow technology platform. The deal opens the door to on-demand digital content delivery as a standard feature on the electronics devices consumers purchase at Best Buy.
"Our relationship with Sonic Solutions allows Best Buy to quickly establish a strong position in the digital delivery of video entertainment," said Brian Dunn, CEO of Best Buy. "It also enables us to make deeper and more meaningful connections with our customers and expand our relationships with content owners and hardware vendors to create compelling new home-entertainment solutions."
Best Buy plans to embed the Roxio CinemaNow technology on many different devices it sells, from Web-connected TVs to portable media players, from PCs to Blu-ray Disc players, and from set-top boxes to mobile phones. Using the service, consumers can buy or rent premium content, including movies, TV shows, independent films, and older catalog movies, and access them on the devices.
Best Buy expects new titles to often be available on the same day they launch on DVDs at retail. Together with their studio partners, Best Buy and Sonic also plan to collaborate on new service and content offerings, including leveraging digital copies to bridge physical disc sales and electronic sell-throughs.
"With Best Buy's ability to drive in-store promotion and education, consumers will come to quickly understand and appreciate the convenience, flexibility and control that digitally delivered video entertainment affords them," said Dave Habiger, president and CEO of Sonic Solutions. "With Best Buy's focus, we expect on-demand entertainment to quickly grow into a mass-market activity, with digital sell-through and rental becoming a significant new revenue...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Beta Versions: Approach with Caution
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69828
There's a sense of exclusivity in being able to download a beta version of a new computer program and become one of the first people to test it before its official release.
And, in many ways, it is important work. Users report problems to software designers, making them vital to the creation of multiple programs, operating systems and web browsers. But there are risks. In a worst case scenario, beta testers risk crashing their whole system.
"In business jargon, we refer to them as banana products -- the software has to ripen with the customer," says Frank Felzmann of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).
That means there are risks, including that "the software doesn't yet work properly. It can also lead to security problems if the software accesses the system." Beta versions have also been known to affect the stability of a system.
That's why experts recommend unskilled users avoid offering themselves and their computers up as test subjects. "In general, I would only recommend beta versions to experienced users. Everyday users, who put a lot of stock in having a stable system, should wait for the final product," recommends Martin Michl of the German computer magazine Chip.
Hajo Schluz, who writes for another German computer magazine, c't, agrees.
Nonetheless, he understands why some computer users want to test programs before their official release. Microsoft recently released an advance version of its Windows 7 operating system to registered users. Google did the same with the beta version of its Chrome browser.
Whether you're an old hand or a beginner, anyone who installs a beta version on their computer should take certain precautions.
"Our recommendation is to install a beta version, if you do it at all, on a computer where there's nothing else running," says Felzmann. That at least minimizes the fallout from any damage.
If...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Windows 7's Hidden Gems and Noteworthy Features
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69827
Windows 7's headline features naturally get all the attention. If you've read anything about Microsoft's latest operating system, you probably already know that Windows 7 is faster, more compatible, and less annoying than Windows Vista. But Microsoft has also sneaked quite a few less visible but still noteworthy features into Windows 7. Here are a few.
Let's say you have dozens of applications open on your Windows 7 desktop -- so many, in fact, that that you have a difficult time sorting through them all, or you have difficulty concentrating on the foreground application because of everything else that's open. Sound familiar?
In previous versions of Windows, you'd typically have to close all of those applications in order to get some sanity back into your desktop. Not anymore -- thanks to the new feature dubbed "shake." True to its name, the feature is activated by grabbing the title bar of an open application with your mouse cursor and then "shaking" the program back and forth a few times. When you do, everything else that's open on your desktop is minimized automatically.
Perform the shake operation again, and the clutter returns to your desktop, exactly as it was before.
How often have you had to try to describe a problem you're having with your Windows computer, and the person you're describing the problem to acts like you're talking in a foreign language? Or how often have you, as the local computer expert, had to rely on someone's fuzzy description of a problem?
In Windows 7, there's help for both scenarios in the form of the new Problem Steps Recorder. In a nutshell, the Problem Steps Recorder, or PRS for short, will record exactly what you're doing on your PC that results in a problem. Optionally, you can use the tool's Add Comment feature to add...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
PCs Shed Pounds and CD Drives, Gain Touchscreens
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69821
Personal computers are changing -- and not just because of the recent launch of Windows 7. Visit an electronics store and you might also find laptops are missing a familiar component. You could experiment with new ways of controlling some computers. And you'll see portable PCs slimming down.
Even with all the attention lavished on Apple's iPhone and Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle this year, your PC likely is still the center of your digital universe. Here's a look at what the season's computer trends mean for you.
- We're over drives.
Computers have come with "optical drives," slots for CDs or DVDs, for years. They've been useful for installing new software, watching movies or transferring music libraries into digital form. But one of the biggest lessons from the craze for "netbooks" -- inexpensive little laptops designed mainly for browsing the Web -- is that people were so excited about the small, easy-to-carry size that they didn't miss having a CD or DVD drive.
Apple Inc. got rid of an optical drive two years ago when it introduced the first sliver-thin MacBook Air. That wasn't seen as a trendsetting step at the time because the computer, which cost $1,800 then, wasn't meant for mainstream consumption. But netbooks, which start at $250 on BestBuy.com, surely are made for everyone. The wee laptops' popularity is proof that people are finding it easy enough to download software, movies and music to portable computers, especially with the widespread availability of Wi-Fi and cellular Internet service. And plenty of services let you store files over the Internet, eliminating the need to burn backups to discs.
Taking out the optical drive doesn't significantly lower prices. Doing so does let PC makers design much thinner laptops. Companies including Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. have pulled DVD drives out of mid-range to more expensive computers,...
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Microsoft CEO: IT Spending Won't Fully Recover
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69820
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Monday corporate spending on information technology will not recover to levels seen in recent years before the global economic slowdown.
"The economy went through a set of changes on a global basis over the course of the last year which are, I think is fair to say, once in a lifetime," Ballmer told a meeting of South Korean executives in Seoul.
Spending on information technology, which accounted for about half of capital expenditures in developed countries before the crisis, was unlikely to rebound fully because capital was more scarce these days, he said.
"While we will see growth, we will not see recovery," Ballmer said.
Ballmer was in Seoul to meet corporate and government officials and tout the Redmond, Washington-based company's new Windows 7 operating system. The latest edition of Windows, the software that runs personal computers, was released last month.
He said company purchases of PCs and servers were down about 15 percent globally.
"It reflects the fact that CEOs have much more tightly constrained IT budgets," he said.
Separately, South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics Co. said it will work with Microsoft to find ways to make computers more energy efficient.
The announcement followed a meeting between Ballmer and Samsung CEO Lee Yon-woo. The company also said it will upgrade its corporate PCs worldwide with Microsoft's new operating system next year.
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Internet Believers: Pastors Open Online Churches
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69819
Church volunteers greet visitors entering the lobby. The worship band begins its set and a pastor offers to pray privately with anyone during the service.
When the sermon is done, it's time for communion, and the pastor guides attendees through the ritual. Later, worshippers exchange Facebook and e-mail addresses so they can stay in touch.
There is nothing remarkable about this encounter, which is replicated countless times each weekend at churches around the world. It's all happening online.
The World Wide Web has become the hottest place to build a church. A growing number of congregations are creating Internet offshoots that go far beyond streaming weekly services.
The sites are fully interactive, with a dedicated Internet pastor, live chat in an online "lobby," Bible study, one-on-one prayer through IM and communion. (Viewers use their own bread and wine or water from home.) On one site, viewers can click on a tab during worship to accept Christ as their savior. Flamingo Road Church, based in Cooper City, Fla., twice conducted long-distance baptisms through the Internet.
"The goal is to not let people at home feel like they're watching what's happening, but they're part of it. They're participating," said Brian Vasil, Flamingo Road's Internet pastor.
The move online is forcing Christians to re-examine their idea of church. It's a complex discussion involving theology, tradition and cultural expectations of how Christians should worship and relate. Even developers of Internet church sites disagree over how far they should go. Many, for example, will only conduct baptisms in person.
The staunchest critics say that true Christian community ultimately requires in-person interaction. They deride the sites as religious fast food or Christianity lite.
But advocates consider the Internet just another neighborhood where real relationships can be built. Rob Wegner, a pastor at Granger Community Church of Indiana, which will soon launch its Internet campus,...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Firefox 3.6 Beta Checks for Outdated Plug-Ins
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69841
A milestone on the road to Firefox 3.6 was achieved late last week when Mozilla released the first beta of the browser. Downloaded versions will be automatically upgraded as changes are made until the final release of the browser is reached.
Among the changes in Firefox 3.6 is the ability for users to change the browser's appearance with a single click. This is known as "Personas." Mozilla says the browser will automatically alert users to out-of-date plug-ins and display videos in full screen.
The browser is based on the Gecko 1.9.2 rendering engine and offers improved JavaScript operation, better overall performance, and faster startup, Mozilla says. It includes new support for cascading style sheets, the JavaScript Document Object Model, and HTML 5.
Computerworld reported the release of Firefox 3.6 was delayed due to last-minute bugs. It said changes are more "under the hood" than things that will be obvious to users.
The identification of outdated plug-ins, the web site said, is the latest change aimed at improving browser security. Firefox 3.5.3 and 3.0.14 checked for out-of-date Adobe Flash players. Computerworld reported that manual plug-in checking was added before the beta release, which makes that function automatic. Support for some Windows 7 features was added, it said.
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Droid Offers iPhone Solid Competition
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69840
Motorola's new smartphone -- dubbed Droid in the U.S. and Milestone in Europe -- may be the strongest competitor yet to Apple's iPhone. Slated to arrive in America on Nov. 6, Droid runs on Verizon's 3G network and Google's Android operating system, and promises a rich universe of apps free from Apple's oft-criticized approval process.
Motorola announced the new phone with a striking advertising campaign knocking the iPhone as the "iDon't." The ads issue zingers such as, "iDon't have a real keyboard," "iDon't allow open development," and "iDon't run simultaneous apps."
Droid may have these things -- iPhone's lack of a physical keyboard has been an irritant since its initial release -- but it's not clear that these features will really matter to customers. For instance, David Worthington wrote on Technologizer.com, "Those points resonate with me, because I'm a member of the tech punditocracy . . . Apple's draconian policies don't really affect my overall experience. I haven't met too many disaffected iPhone users, probably because the user experience -- while imperfect -- is pretty great."
One thing that potentially would make a difference is the network. AT&T has come under withering criticism from iPhone users for its weak 3G network. "Verizon's network has much better coverage than AT&T when it comes to next-generation voice and data, so this does give them an edge over AT&T," said Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies. "And there is a lot of pent-up demand for a top-notch smartphone that is similar to if not equal to Apple's iPhone."
But if the Droid is the best iPhone competitor yet, it still falls short of Apple's "gold standard," Bajarin said. That means the primary market for Droid will be existing Verizon customers. "I believe that Droid is a good option for Verizon customers, but it...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Windows Vista Rated More Secure Than Windows XP
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69839
A Microsoft report released Monday indicates that Windows Vista significantly outperforms Windows XP when it comes to enhanced security. Infection rates for Vista were significantly lower than XP during the first half of 2009, the Security Intelligence Report said.
But whether the user is running Vista or XP, Microsoft said the most current service pack available is always the least susceptible to security attacks. That's hardly a surprise given that service packs include previously released security updates, together with changes to default settings and additional security features. However, Microsoft Vista SP releases consistently beat those for Windows XP in all service-pack configurations.
The infection rate of Windows Vista SP1 was 61.9 percent less than Windows XP SP3 during the first half of this year, according to the report. Moreover, comparing release to manufacturer (RTM) versions, the infection rate of Windows Vista was a staggering 85.3 percent less than Windows XP, the software giant added.
On the downside, web browsers continue to represent one of Microsoft's vulnerability hot spots. Microsoft software accounted for six of the top 10 browser-based vulnerabilities that were attacked on PCs running Windows XP, but only one out of the top 10 on Vista machines, the report said.
For browser-based attacks on PCs running Windows XP, Microsoft vulnerabilities accounted for 56.4 percent of the total. By contrast, Microsoft vulnerabilities accounted for just 15.5 percent on Windows Vista-based machines, the report said.
Still, browser-based vulnerabilities should continue to be a top concern for businesses, whether they are using Vista or still running XP. The good news is that Windows security can be immediately improved without having to upgrade to Windows 7, noted Gartner Vice President Neil MacDonald, who is urging businesses to "get off" Internet Explorer 6.
"I don't care if you go to IE7, IE8, Firefox, Chrome...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Microsoft Targets Google's AdSense with OpenX Deal
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69838
Microsoft just added yet another layer of weapons in its battle against Google and others for search advertising. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant inked a deal with OpenX Technologies that will directly compete with Google's AdSense business. Pasadena, Calif.-based OpenX is an independent ad server for web publishers.
OpenX will be the preferred partner for Microsoft's enterprise ad-serving business and will also promote Microsoft's Content Ads -- a program that matches ads to specific editorial content, giving advertisers increased effectiveness -- and future products to its web publishers.
"Microsoft believes that rapid innovation and openness is foundational to great advertising technology," said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Advertiser & Publisher Solutions, the company's ad technology and monetization platform. "We are pleased to partner with a company that supports this vision. OpenX is a leading technology provider of valuable options and solutions to the publisher community and, by extension, the digital advertising ecosystem as a whole.
As part of the agreement, OpenX will promote Microsoft's Content Ads in two ways. First, OpenX will integrate Content Ads so the program can be used by publishers who sign up for OpenX Market.
The OpenX Market is a marketplace where publishers can directly connect to advertisers to sell their inventory of advertisements, and advertisers can access targeted inventory. The market runs a real-time auction for each advertisement impression.
The company will also build a plug-in to OpenX Ad Server so existing publishers can easily sign up for Content Ads and implement the program on their web sites. This is the first time Microsoft has approved a reseller to build a plug-in for Content Ads.
Through its multi-year agreement with OpenX, Microsoft will be able to distribute its money-making products through OpenX's more than 150,000 web sites that serve more than 300 billion advertisements...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Sprint Offers Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook for $199
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69837
On Monday, Sprint Nextel unveiled its first netbook offering, the Dell Inspiron Mini 10. The netbook is selling at some San Francisco Bay Area stores for $199 with activation on a Sprint Mobile Broadband plan and a two-year service agreement.
The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 features embedded EV-DO Rev. A wireless service from Sprint. The service promises faster data rates and higher system capacity so users can send and receive large amounts of data at broadband speeds comparable to DSL.
The netbook weighs 2.6 pounds and measures 10.3 by 7.2 inches. It's just more than one inch thick with a 10.1-inch LED screen. The machine has an Intel Atom Processor Z520, Microsoft Windows Home XP SP3, a built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, a 160GB hard drive, integrated Intel 500 Media Accelerator Graphics, 5-in-1 media reader, Bluetooth technology, and Wi-Fi 802.11g.
"Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is a fun way to easily access the speeds of Sprint's network to catch-up on e-mail, surf the Web, and more," said Kevin Packingham, senior vice president of product development at Sprint. "It offers an affordable way to stay in touch and stay connected."
Sprint said the faster speed lets customers to take advantage of applications and services, such as wireless VoIP, high-speed video telephony, music on demand, and video messaging.
Average upload speeds are 350-500 Kbps and download speeds are between 600 Kbps and 1.4 Mbps. Peak download data rates increase to 3.1 Mbps and peak upload rates to 1.8 Mbps. The speed comes at a price -- $59.99 a month for a 5GB data plan.
"Netbooks and data cards seem to be the first place that carriers look when they roll out faster networks because the difference in speed correlates directly to usability," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. "If you are working on a notebook...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
New Multimedia Device Joins Parade of E-Readers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69826
The e-reader market is getting yet another entry, with a report that Creative Labs is unveiling a tablet. The device, called a Mediabook, was shown at the Singapore-based company's general meeting last week.
Although Creative hasn't made an official announcement, news reports indicate that the Mediabook has a touchscreen, Internet connectivity, slots for SD memory cards, text-to-speech capability, and is based on the company's Zii technology.
There was no word on the Mediabook's launch date, but the e-reader category is already beginning to have more than a few entries. There's the best known, Amazon's Kindle, as well as Sony's recently updated e-readers and the newly released nook from Barnes & Noble, among others.
There are also reports that tiremaker Bridgestone is developing a flexible e-book reader, although so far it's only a prototype. And there have been many reports that Apple is preparing to enter the market early next year with its own tablet e-reader.
Creative Labs' fan site Epizenter.net originated the Mediabook report, and quotes Willie Png, vice president of strategic business, as downplaying the Kindle as "just another electronic device which displays books in text." By contrast, Png told the site, the Mediabook will allow the merger of "videos, pictures, text and services into one device that supports a media-rich experience."
Epizenter also reports that Creative is in discussion with a variety of publishers about providing content.
There was also no word on what kind of screen the Mediabook would use. Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with industry research firm Forrester, pointed out that, while LCD screens are good for video and graphics, electrophoretic screens have higher contrast and make reading text easier.
She noted that E Ink, a company based in Cambridge, Mass., "now has about 100 percent market share" in electrophoretic screens, but that will change...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Security Report Finds Enterprise Infections Up 100 Percent
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69825
Microsoft released its latest security intelligence report on Monday -- and the picture looks grim for enterprises. Enterprise worm infections rose nearly 100 percent in the first half of 2009 from the previous six months. In the same period, consumers continued to struggle with rogue software.
According to the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIRv7), rogue security software remained the single largest threat category for the first half of 2009. Despite progress combating rogues, this is still a major issue for computer users. Also known as "scareware," rogue security software takes advantage of customers' desire to protect their computer from threats.
But there is good news for enterprises and consumers. The report highlights a significant decrease in Zlob Trojan infections, from 21.1 million at its peak in 2007 to 2.3 million in the first half of 2009. Microsoft is offering some security best practices to help PC users ward off threats.
"It's been said that knowledge is power -- and when it comes to security intelligence, a lack of accurate information can be detrimental to separating real threats from hype," said Vinny Gullotto, general manager of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center. "Microsoft is committed to providing not only security intelligence for our customers and the community, but also the most accurate and comprehensive view of the realities of the threat landscape."
Ten years after the Melissa worm appeared and defined mass-mailing worms as a class of malicious threats, Microsoft reports Conficker is the top worm threat detected for the enterprise. Conficker is not in the top 10 for consumers because home computers are more likely to have automatic updating enabled. Microsoft said these findings stress the need for enterprises to have a robust security-update management program in place.
With detections up 156 percent since the second half of 2008, the Taterf worm is an emerging...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Motorola's Promising Comeback
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69815
Is Motorola back?
The mobile-phone giant has struggled for years as rivals from Nokia to Research In Motion to Apple have stolen away its customers. To get back on track and win over dispirited investors, Motorola has undergone a painful overhaul, chopping expenses and laying off employees, including 9,700 workers this year.
Now, finally, Motorola is showing real signs of progress. This month, the company debuted two impressive new smartphones, the Cliq and the Droid, which appear to be viable competitors for Apple's popular iPhone and RIM's BlackBerrry. And on Oct. 29, the company dazzled investors with quarterly financial results that were much stronger than expected. The company reported a surprising $12 million profit on $5.5 billion in sales, compared with a loss of $397 million on $7.5 billion in revenues in the year-earlier period. The company's shares rallied 9.8 percent, to 8.74, on the news.
Sanjay Jha, the Motorola co-chief executive who oversees the mobile-phone business, says the days of retrenchment are likely in the past and the company can now focus on one clear goal: revving up sales of mobile phones. "From here on, our smartphone traction is the critical driver of our financial performance," said Jha during Motorola's earnings call.
Some analysts on Wall Street believe Motorola is turning the corner. Impressed by the Droid handset announced Oct. 28, RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to outperform. Michael Mahoney, senior managing director at Falcon Point Capital, bought some Motorola shares earlier in October. He expects the stock to rise as high as 12 if Motorola manages to revive and stabilize its handset business and eventually split the company into two or more pieces, as it still plans to do. "I think they may have a real winner on their hands," he says.
With Droid, the thinnest Qwerty keyboard slider smartphone around...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Reports: Cyberattacks Were Traced To NKorea
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69806
The North Korean government was the source of high-profile cyberattacks in July that caused Web outages in South Korea and the United States, news reports said Friday.
The IP address -- the Web equivalent of a street address or phone number -- that triggered the Web attacks was traced back to North Korea's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, the chief of South Korean's main spy agency reportedly told lawmakers.
The ministry leased the IP address from China, Won Sei-hoon of the National Intelligence Service told lawmakers Thursday, according to JoongAng Ilbo newspaper. South Korea's Yonhap news agency carried a similar report.
The spy agency declined to confirm the reports. Two lawmakers on parliament's intelligence committee contacted Friday also refused to confirm the reports. The Unification Ministry, which monitors North Korea, said it cannot comment on intelligence matters.
The July attacks, in which floods of computers tried to connect to a single Web site at the same time to overwhelm the server, caused outages on prominent government-run sites in the U.S. and South Korea. Affected sites include those of the White House and the South's presidential Blue House.
North Korea immediately was suspected of involvement in the attacks but there has been little concrete evidence.
South Korean media reported at the time that North Korea runs an Internet warfare unit that tries to hack into U.S. and South Korean military networks to gather confidential information and disrupt service, and that the regime has between 500 and 1,000 hacking specialists.
Computer experts say the Web attacks like those waged in July are not difficult to launch.
"Many different parties could pull this off. This was not a particularly complex ... attack to launch," Rod Beckstrom, former head of the National Cybersecurity Center in the U.S., said Friday during a visit to Seoul.
"It's definitely credible that anyone who had $50 million...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
New Portable Nintendo DS Console Meant for Groups
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69805
The newest version of Nintendo's popular handheld game console, with its large screen that's easier on the eyes and bigger stylus similar to an ordinary pen, has led some to assume it is intended to lure older gamers.
But the company's president said Friday the new Nintendo DS is designed to let small groups gather around a single device, watching and participating in game play. This would be a dramatic change -- gaming on portable consoles, a popular category that also includes the rival PlayStation Portable from Sony, has until now been a private affair.
"It is bigger and about 100 grams heavier, so it is a little less convenient to carry around, but in exchange we hope it is accepted as a DS that is left on the kitchen table, which is bought for each household and shared among the family," said company President Satoru Iwata.
The new Nintendo DS, called the "LL" for its size, is to go on sale in Japan from Nov. 21 at a suggested price of 20,000 yen ($220). It also has larger dual screens that can be seen clearly from sideways as well as straight on, encouraging group play.
If successful Iwata said it could help open up a new market for handheld consoles.
Nintendo could use a boost.
The console was announced Thursday, the same day the company said its first-half fiscal profit plunged and forecast annual earnings would fall for the first time in six years.
The well-known maker of Super Mario and Pokemon games has suffered as sales of its Wii set-top console have fallen. The Wii, with an innovative wandlike controller that senses motion, has been a smash hit since its 2006 debut, selling 56.14 million units around the globe.
But sales have fallen recently, and Nintendo has cut prices ahead of the upcoming holiday season.
Iwata said...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Okla. Hearing Aimed at Shaping 'Sexting' Measure
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69804
Teenagers may think it's harmless, but sending sexually explicit pictures and messages over cell phones can lead to emotional problems and criminal charges that will affect them for the rest of their lives, criminal justice officials said.
Investigators and prosecutors on Thursday warned of the dangers of electronically transmitting racy images and words at a hearing organized by Rep. Anastasia Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, into the practice of "sexting," distributing nude or seminude self-portraits over cell phones.
"Sexting alone just by itself will land a kid in jail," Pittman said. "They are not aware of the implications, the consequences. It's their future that we're trying to save."
Pittman said she hopes to craft a bill for the Legislature to consider next year that will clarify language in existing criminal statutes that could be used to prosecute teens who send or receive naughty images of themselves or others.
"What I'm trying to do is be proactive," Pittman said. Major concerns are the long-term consequences of filing a felony child pornography or indecent exposure charges against a minor and requiring them to register as a sex offender.
"We want to educate our children on the very real effects," Pittman said.
Kim Sardis, juvenile services division director for the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs, said at least 10 cases have been referred to state juvenile courts since 2005 involving teens accused of distributing or possessing child pornography. Three of the cases involved the distribution of images over a cell phone.
Trent Baggett of the Oklahoma District Attorney's Council said he is not aware of any "sexting" cases prosecuted in adult courts. But the practice has led to child pornography charges against teens in several states.
Several states have adopted legislation to define and prohibit "sexting." Pittman said a law went into effect in Colorado this year that adds obscene text messages to...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
iPhone Comes To China Without Key Feature
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69803
Apple's iPhone made its long-awaited formal debut in the world's most populous mobile phone market, without a key feature and at higher prices than widely available black market models.
Apple's local partner, China Unicom Ltd., hopes the sleek smartphone will give it an edge against giant rival China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest phone company by subscribers.
Unicom started selling iPhones equipped for third-generation service Friday night at 2,000 stores in areas as farflung as Tibet. Chinese news reports say Unicom hopes to sell 5 million in three years, but the company declined to confirm that.
"Ever since we first launched the iPhone, we greatly anticipated bringing it to China," an Apple vice president, Greg Joswiak, said at a launch ceremony at a Beijing shopping mall.
Unicom's first iPhones lack WiFi, a possible handicap with sophisticated, demanding Chinese buyers. The technology, a key part of the iPhone's appeal, allows the phones in other markets to use free wireless networks in cafes and offices to download e-mail and the latest applications.
"There's going to be a perception that the phone they have is dumbed down from the one that somebody has in California," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China Ltd., a Beijing-based technology research firm. "We've seen before that Chinese consumers don't like to be treated like second-class citizens."
Apple Inc. and Unicom also could face competition from an unusual source: unlocked iPhones brought in from abroad that have WiFi.
There are already an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million such phones using China Mobile 3G service that allows Internet access and other features.
Unicom's prices range from 4,999 yuan ($730) to 6,999 yuan ($1,025) for the high-end, 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS. That is 20 percent above the 5,700 yuan ($835) charged by merchants at Chinese street markets for a 3GS with WiFi.
"We're not just offering the hardware, the...
Tue, 3 Nov 09
Windows 7 Upgrade Headaches May Slow Rollout
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69801
It's conventional wisdom that it's unwise for IT to rush a new operating system release onto enterprise PCs and servers. It's better to watch other people do the bug-testing and wait for that first service pack release. Certainly, no one ever got fired for not installing the initial version of Windows Vista.
But with Windows 7's origins in Vista, some feel that the operating system should be good to go immediately. Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry told NewsFactor last week that "Windows 7 is Vista with the rough edges removed," and "there's no benefit to waiting."
Not so fast, advised security firm Rescuecom. "From the calls we're getting, as well as our own experience in the past with all Microsoft's operating systems, we're recommending that people stick with their time-tested OS and wait for the dust to settle," Josh Kaplan, president of Rescuecom, told Computerworld.
Problems with upgrading from older operating systems have been a consistent issue when Microsoft releases new versions of Windows -- and there's some evidence that pattern is continuing with Windows 7.
Some users have been reporting that upgrading to Windows 7 throws their machines into an endless reboot cycle. With scant technical information coming from Microsoft on that or other upgrade issues, the Windows message boards have been rife with workarounds.
Microsoft's reaction to that has caused a minor firefight between the company and the more outspoken bloggers. Microsoft's Eric Ligman wrote a scolding blog post saying, "When these posts and write-ups state that you can install clean from an Upgrade piece of software and they fail to mention that you need to own a qualifying software license to be legal to use the Upgrade software for the installation, they give the impression that because it is technically possible, it is legal to do."
Paul Thurrott,...