Newsfactor Technology
Main
Technology
Army TechnologyCyberwars
Military Technology
Newsfactor Technology
Technology World
Yahoo Technology
Random Feeds
Archives
| Feb 2012 | Jan 2012 | Dec 2011 | Nov 2011 | Oct 2011 | Sep 2011 | Aug 2011 | Jul 2011 | Jun 2011 | May 2011 | Apr 2011 | Mar 2011 | Feb 2011 | Jan 2011 | Dec 2010 | Nov 2010 | Oct 2010 | Sep 2010 | Aug 2010 | Jul 2010 | Jun 2010 | May 2010 | Apr 2010 | Mar 2010 | Feb 2010 | Jan 2010 | Dec 2009 | Nov 2009 | Oct 2009 | Sep 2009 | Aug 2009 | Jul 2009 | Jun 2009 | May 2009 | Apr 2009 | Mar 2009 | Feb 2009 | Jan 2009 | Dec 2008 | Nov 2008 | Oct 2008 | Sep 2008 | Aug 2008 | Jul 2008 | Jun 2008 | May 2008 | Apr 2008 | Mar 2008 | Feb 2008 | Jan 2008 | Dec 2007 | Nov 2007 |Thu, 29 Jul 10
U.S. Orders for Dell Streak Overflow Even Without a Price
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74530
Though the Dell Streak took its inaugural bows on Telefonica's O2 network in the United Kingdom early last month, U.S. consumers are still waiting to get their hands on the hybrid tablet-smartphone. Despite a large volume of pre-orders on the company's web site, Dell has yet to announce pricing or provide a firm U.S. launch date.
The reason for the delay is that the Streak is the most successful pre-sale device that the computer maker has ever offered, according to Dell blogger Lionel Menchaca. "There are many pieces that need to fall into place to release a product like this, and the reality is that we need more time to work out some things," Menchaca wrote Monday.
Once Dell launches the device in the United States, the main question will be to what extent it impacts Apple's iPad sales, given that the Streak will offer similar features but be small enough to carry just about anywhere. IDC Research Manager Francisco Jeronimo expects to see the iPad and the Dell Streak successful in two different market segments.
The iPad will be the choice for people with "a clear preference for a bigger screen" who primarily wish to use their devices at home, Jeronimo said. However, another segment of users will be attracted to a smaller go-anywhere device that sports a screen large enough to view web pages in their natural form -- something they are unable to do on a smartphone.
"For these users, the Dell Streak will be a much more attractive proposition," Jeronimo said. "There's definitely a need on the market for a mobile device that falls midway between a netbook and a smartphone."
Unlike the iPad, the Streak will be able to place and receive calls as well as offer support for Adobe Flash 10.1 multimedia...
Thu, 29 Jul 10
Safari 5.0.1 Released with Extensions Gallery, Bug Fixes
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74529
On the heels of an iMac refresh, Apple on Wednesday released the next version of its web browser. As promised, Safari 5.0.1 comes complete with extensions and a Safari Extensions Gallery. In June, Apple rolled out extensions support to help developers create extensions using HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The result is a growing gallery currently at 100 extensions.
The gallery lets Apple fans find extensions that add new features to the browser, such as toolbars that display live web feeds and sophisticated programs that filter web content. Safari 5.0.1 users can download and install extensions from the gallery or directly from a developer's web site.
"The Safari Extensions Gallery puts Safari right up there with Chrome or Firefox with its ability to add functionality to the browser," said Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group. "It looks like they've got a good collection of extensions already up in the gallery. What's interesting is that once again there is a Bing extension built in. Other than the extensions, this is a minor release."
Apple is getting kudos from some of its heavy-hitting technology colleagues (and competitors), including Microsoft, Twitter and Amazon.com. Gianna Puerini, vice president of worldwide design and community at Amazon, pointed to how the browser helps its customers build wish lists.
"With Safari 5, we were able to quickly build the Add to Amazon Wish List extension that lets customers add items from any web site to their Amazon wish list with the click of a button," Puerini said.
Jeff Henshaw, general manager of Microsoft's Bing User Experience, said the software giant is excited about working closely with Apple to bring "visually
compelling Bing experiences to Safari."
"The Bing Extension for Safari brings Bing search intelligence to everyday browsing with Safari," Henshaw said. "When a user selects text in Safari,...
Thu, 29 Jul 10
Amazon Kindle Sold Out Amid Reports of an Upgrade
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74528
Amazon.com has depleted its inventory of basic Kindle e-readers just a month after a substantial price drop from $259 to $189. Amazon now lists the second-generation Kindle as "temporarily out of stock," but is still taking orders that will ship when available.
The company seems focused on selling the deluxe Kindle DX, with its larger screen at 9.7 inches instead of six inches, and a price of $379. Both devices feature free 3G coverage to download some 630,000 commercial e-books as well as 1.8 million free public-domain titles.
The depletion of the basic Kindle supply comes amid reports, unconfirmed by Amazon, that it is preparing an upgraded version.
"One of the possible reasons that Amazon's e-reader inventory has been moving briskly is in preparation for a third-generation Kindle device," said ABI Research mobile-devices analyst Jeff Orr. "A price cut on gen-2 readers could test the waters for a future tiered offering [of the lower-priced model]; different screen sizes or Wi-Fi-only, for example." No current Kindle models offer a Wi-Fi connection.
Amazon faces a crowded field of competitors, including Barnes & Noble's nook and Sony's Reader, as well as a range of tablet computers rushing to market to compete with Apple's popular iPad, which has far more functionality and offers access to Apple's growing library of e-books, currently at 75,000.
Apple says it has sold 3.27 million iPads in about three months since its debut, and analysts predict sales for 2010 may reach as high as 12 million. Amazon hasn't released sales figures for the Kindle.
But Orr said the devices are reaching different markets.
"Kindle and iPad do not compete any more than Kindle and iPhone compete," said Orr. "Avid book readers are choosing between a dedicated e-reader or sticking with books. Computer users that want a home companion device may opt for a media tablet...
Thu, 29 Jul 10
Amazon-Facebook Deal Could Lead To Social Shopping
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74522
The leading e-commerce site and the leading social network just shook hands on a tie-up that could lead to social shopping. Amazon.com launched a new beta feature Tuesday that lets shoppers connect their Amazon and Facebook accounts. The feature serves up gift recommendations for users and their friends based on the information stored in Facebook profiles.
Privacy advocates haven't launched any missives yet, but Amazon was nonetheless quick to stress that it will not share any user account information or purchase history with Facebook. Amazon also promised not to try to contact anyone's friends on the social network.
When you connect Amazon and Facebook, the Internet book-selling giant said it will improve your shopping experience via an Amazon Facebook page. Amazon offers three reasons why shoppers should make the Amazon-Facebook connection.
First, the company said it helps shoppers discover recommendations for movies, music and other products. Second, you can see upcoming birthdays of your friends and buy them a gift they'll enjoy because you can see their Amazon wish lists. Finally, you can explore your friends' profiles to see who has similar interests.
Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, said the Amazon-Facebook deal could significantly improve product recommendations that Amazon offers, as well as increase frequency and engagement with the site.
"Ultimately it could help Amazon incrementally sell more stuff to people," Sterling said. "This was not an explicit part of the deal, but I also wonder whether Amazon will become a product data provider to any 'social shopping' initiative that Facebook might consider doing. I'm not sure, but it's interesting."
Amazon didn't go so far as to integrate the "Like" button on its product detail pages. Taking that step would have opened the door for Facebook to collect information about a customer's book, music and other...
Thu, 29 Jul 10
Rambus Patent Battle with Nvidia Grinds On
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74500
Chipmaker Rambus Inc. said Monday that The U.S. International Trade Commission plans to stop competitors from bringing products into U.S. that contain its patented technology.
In April, the trade commission decided that Nvidia Corp.'s technology infringes on several of Rambus' patents.
Rambus had filed a complaint against Nvidia, which makes computer graphics chips and other technology, plus device manufacturers including PC makers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Asus Computer International Inc., in 2008. Rambus argued that Nvidia chips infringe on its patents related to the workings of memory systems in computers, gaming consoles and mobile devices.
Rambus said in a statement Monday that the trade commission intends to issue a limited exclusion order, which bars Nvidia and the device makers from importing and selling products that contain the technology in question.
The companies could import and sell the products during a 60-day review period, Rambus said, if they post a bond of 2.65 percent of the value of the products.
The trade commission's final determination has not yet been published.
Nvidia spokesman Hector Marinez said in a statement that the ruling will not affect the company's customers or business, because the chipmaker plans to use a license the European Commission required Rambus to make available as part of an ongoing antitrust investigation there.
The license will prevent the trade commission's order from being enforced, Marinez said.
Nvidia said it plans to appeal the case and press its arguments before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Shares of Los Altos, Calif.-based Rambus jumped $1.47, or 7.5 percent, to $21.06 in after-hours trading, while Nvidia's stock dipped 15 cents to $10.40.
Thu, 29 Jul 10
WikiLeaks Vows To Put More Documents Online
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74499
It has no headquarters and its public face -- a wiry, silver-haired Australian with a physics Ph.D. -- carries his desktop computer in a backpack as he moves from place to place.
WikiLeaks is a bare-bones organization on a mission to root out the secrets of the high and mighty, from Sarah Palin to the Church of Scientology. Its founder, Julian Assange, said his group's biggest coup so far -- the publication of tens of thousands of classified U.S. military reports on Afghanistan -- will likely unleash a new wave of leaks.
"It is our experience that courage is contagious," Assange said Monday, telling reporters at London's Frontline Club that his greatest fear was "that we won't be able to do justice to the material that we're getting in."
According to Assange, the torrent of leaked information being uploaded to his Web site is enormous, with a reserve of unexamined documents so unwieldy that the site has been more or less inactive since December.
What's in the backlog? The 39-year-old former computer hacker refuses to say.
"We have files that concern every country in the world with a population of over 1 million," he said. "Thousands of databases and files about all sorts of countries."
WikiLeaks has been posting sensitive information to the Web since 2006, when Assange set up the Web site from a house outside the University of Melbourne. Since then it has published everything from Church of Scientology documents to U.S. Embassy cables, passing along transcripts, secret videos and more. Its enemies have included everyone from British bankers to Kenyan politicians.
Assange has pledged to keep publishing -- just as soon as he can get his Web site reorganized to handle the volume of data rushing in.
WikiLeaks rose to prominence in the U.S. when it published a chilling video shot from the cockpit of...
Thu, 29 Jul 10
Business Software Maker SAP Posts Profit
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74494
Business software maker SAP AG said Tuesday that growth in the United States and emerging markets helped it to a 15 percent increase in second-quarter net earnings.
SAP earned euro491 million ($636 million) in the April-June period, up from euro426 million in the same period a year earlier, according to the company's preliminary earnings statement.
Total revenue increased 12 percent to nearly euro2.9 billion from euro2.6 billion a year ago, it added. Revenue from software and software-related services was up a stronger 16 percent, to euro2.26 billion from euro1.95 billion.
SAP, based in Walldorf, Germany, also said it has completed its cash tender offer for U.S. database software maker Sybase Inc. -- a $5.8 billion takeover that won clearance from the European Commission last week.
SAP, whose programs help companies like Apple Inc.'s iTunes do back-office work such as payroll, inventory management and accounting, said it was seeing increased investment from companies of all sizes and from many sectors.
"We had outstanding growth in strategic markets like the U.S. and we saw continued double-digit growth in key emerging markets in Latin America and Asia," co-CEO Bill McDermott said in a statement. He credited "renewed customer confidence" as a factor in the second-quarter performance.
First-half net earnings were up 41 percent at euro878 million from last year's euro622 million. Total revenue was up 9 percent at euro5.4 billion, while software and software-related service revenue climbed 14 percent to euro4.2 billion.
Including Sybase, SAP said it expects full-year software and software-related revenue to increase by between 9 and 11 percent in constant-currency terms.
With the acquisition, SAP said it expects that it "will be able to extend its reach into new user categories well beyond its traditional user base."
Sybase will continue to operate as a separate company under its current CEO, John Chen, SAP said. It added that "Sybase's expertise...
Thu, 29 Jul 10
Don't Bite at Phish Bait -- Keep Your Data Secure
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74493
Making sure a computer is secure should be Job One for anyone who uses the Internet. Unfortunately, most people don't pay enough attention to it . . . if they think about it at all.
That changes once you've suffered the consequences of inattention and been the victim of a virus, spyware, a hacking intrusion or online identity theft. These are preventable if you take the proper steps.
In this installment of my Computing 101 series on the basics of computer literacy, I'll look at what you need to know to keep your computer and your personal data safe. [You can find past installments at chron.com/computing101.]
I suspect much of this you've heard before, even if you're not computer savvy. It's common sense: Your best defense is often your own behavior.
* Be click-wary. Don't open attachments in e-mails you weren't expecting, and don't click on random links sent via e-mail, which often are attempts to lure you to malicious sites. Even e-mails that look official may contain links that take you to booby-trapped Web pages. For example, if you get an e-mail telling you your Amazon order has shipped -- but you hadn't ordered anything recently from that store -- hover your cursor over the link. If it says something other than an Amazon.com address, delete the e-mail.
* Don't click on pop-ups. Some Web sites that have been compromised may display pop-ups trying to sell you security software, usually by declaring that your PC is already infected. Do NOT click on them, and don't download the offered product or let them scan your system. These are usually spyware programs masquerading as antispyware products, and once on your system, they demand that you pay money to remove them. In general, it's a good idea never to buy something that comes at you unsolicited online,...
Thu, 29 Jul 10
Good Virus Protection Doesn't Have To Be Expensive
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74478
They're out there on the Internet, waiting: viruses, worms, hackers and phishers. And these days, those who fail to protect their computers against them are rightly accused of negligence -- particularly because you don't even have to spend money to get decent protection.
Even so, not all free software is equal. You will sometimes have to install multiple free programs to be assured of reasonable protection.
"You can achieve reasonable security with free programs," says Matthais Gaertner from the German Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology (BSI). This was confirmed by a recent test by German computer magazine c't. Four of six no-cost programs delivered very good results.
All free scanners are capable of removing viruses, Trojans, or rootkits relatively effortlessly. "One of the two biggest problems with free virus scanners is the artificially inflated signature update intervals. Updates are not made every couple of hours, but rather just once a day. The other is the thoroughly underwhelming behavior identification systems," explains c't editor Christiane Ruetten.
The first disadvantage, the delayed update of signatures, isn't that serious an issue, the expert feels. After all, identifying the virus signatures, a bit like a fingerprint for malicious software, is just one of several ways that malware is detected. "There's also the heuristic approach, the statistic analysis, and behavior recognition," Ruetten explains.
The second disadvantage, the lack of behavior recognition systems, is a bigger problem. That functionality is one of the primary pillars for raising the alarm if a program acts in a suspicious way. Ruetten therefore recommends installing extra free software like Threatfire to identify suspicious behavior if your free virus scanner of choice lacks that function.
Another factor to consider: so-called drive-by infections. These come when malicious software is unintentionally downloaded while surfing the Internet. Programs that monitor the data flow on the web include Avast...
Thu, 29 Jul 10
iCampaigning? Political Candidates Turn to Phone Apps
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=73944
Running for office? You can make an app for that.
Maintaining a Facebook page and Twitter feed has become standard practice for political candidates seeking to get their message out. And some are even creating iPhone applications so supporters can follow their campaigns and make contributions on the go.
The method has grown in popularity -- especially since President Barack Obama's widely chronicled and successful embrace of social media during the 2008 campaign. He even had a sophisticated iPhone app that let people get in touch with local organizers and find local events.
"The demand for it, to be able to do it, is going to grow a lot, particularly if it's shown that apps are an effective way to raise money for a political campaign," said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California-based First Amendment Coalition.
Doug MacGinnitie, a Republican running to be Georgia's secretary of state, has an iPhone app that provides information about his campaign and helps supporters donate money. Friends approached him about making one for the campaign last year, and it's been downloaded roughly 200 times, he said.
"I don't think it's going to change the course of history, but I've gotten comments from people who think it's cool," MacGinnitie said. "It reinforces the notion that I come from the business world, which is generally quicker to embrace technology."
Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who's running to be the Democratic nominee for governor, has an app that lets people follow her calendar, read news releases, familiarize themselves with her background and make campaign contributions.
"It shows that our campaign is a modern campaign," said Kelliher spokesman Matt Swenson. "We're connecting with people where they are right now through the phones in the palms of their hands."
Illinois state Sen. Dan Rutherford, who's the Republican candidate for state treasurer, said his campaign has...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
Out-of-Stock Droid X May Become Best-Selling Android Phone
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74506
With Verizon Wireless estimated to have sold roughly 300,000 Droid X smartphones, the powerful handset is fast becoming the best-selling Android-powered device.
But new adopters will have to wait until at least Aug. 4 to get one. Analyst Mark McKechnie of Gleacher and Company has found that the phones are out of stock at Verizon stores everywhere, and Motorola, riding high as it's about to release quarterly figures, is expected to ramp up production of the Droid X.
All this comes as Apple continues to catch flak over an iPhone 4 antenna problem. Perhaps feeling a threat, the company posted on a web page a video of the Droid X supposedly having its own signal problems when held the same way that causes the iPhone 4 problems -- with fingers touching the edge of the device. But several bloggers said they could not duplicate that in their own tests of the Droid X.
Meanwhile, as the iPhone 4 launches in more countries, a poll of consumers in the United Kingdom found that one in four are less likely to buy an iPhone because of media coverage of the antenna issue, and three out of five said they have no intention of buying an iPhone. Forty-five percent of current iPhone users said they were less likely to upgrade from the iPhone 3GS to iPhone 4.
The negative media coverage was seen by 82 percent of iPhone owners and 57 percent of consumers overall, the Opinium Research survey of 2,089 adults between July 16 and July 19 found.
"With 90 percent of iPhone owners stating that they are satisfied with the level of service they receive, it's interesting to compare how few people would now purchase an iPhone after the media attention surrounding the antenna fiasco," said James Endersby, managing director of Opinium Research. "Our...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
Apple Refreshes iMacs, Launches Magic Trackpad
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74505
Forget about mobile devices for a moment. Apple on Tuesday updated its iMac lineup just in time for the back-to-school rush. A new 21.5-inch 3.06-GHz Intel Core i3 iMac has a suggested retail price of $1,199.
The latest iMacs come with dual-core Intel Core i3 and i5, and quad-core Core i5 and i7 processors. The processors are equipped with an integrated memory controller to access system memory directly, Apple said.
Optional is a new Magic Trackpad, a multi-touch mouse-like device that lets users scroll up and down a page, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with fingers, and swipe three fingers to flip through web pages or photos. The trackpad is made from aluminum and glass and sells for $69.
Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group, said the refresh reminds people that Apple is still in the computer business. He called the timing of the refresh "important" because it gets the 27-inch stuff into the stores before back-to-school purchases are done, so they can tap into both the school and holiday seasons.
"The multi-touch track pad is really interesting," he said. "It's the first step in Apple evolving beyond the mouse, which was really synonymous with Macintosh from day one, in order to enable better multi-touch experiences without having to go to things like a touchscreen."
Apple also unveiled a new Mac Pro line with up to 12 processing cores. The new machines feature quad-core and six-core Intel Xeon processors, all-new ATI graphics, and as option for up to four 512GB solid-state drives (SSD). Prices start at $2,500.
"The new Mac Pro is the most powerful and configurable Mac we've ever made," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. With up to 12 cores, he said, the Mac Pro outperforms Apple's previous...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
Free Tools Can Fix Windows Shortcut Vulnerability
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74504
Security firms G Data Software and Sophos have released free tools that eliminate a vulnerability in an operating-system component called the Windows Shell for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. According to Microsoft, the vulnerability exists because Windows incorrectly parses shortcuts in such a way that malicious code may be executed whenever the icon of a specially crafted shortcut is displayed.
Microsoft introduced an automated tool of its own on July 21 that will block any attempts to exploit the vulnerability of .LNK shortcut files. However, the software giant's homegrown fix replaces the graphics-based icons on the PC's Task and Start menu bars with generic white icons.
The free tool downloads from G Data and Sophos likewise block the automatic execution of malicious code but display the PC icons in their usual graphic form. "Microsoft's current workaround leaves systems almost unworkable with broken-looking icons," noted Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos.
Microsoft warned earlier this month that the shortcut vulnerability in Windows can be exploited locally through a malicious USB drive, or remotely via network shares and WebDAV. Moreover, an exploit can be included in specific document types that support embedded shortcuts, the software giant's security team said.
The free third-party tools from Sophos and G Data, which run alongside existing antivirus software, will intercept any shortcut files that contain the exploit and even warn users about the executable code that attempted to run. For example, the G Data tool displays safe desktop symbols in their usual form but activates a red warning icon if a malicious mechanism is detected.
Fixing the problem is important because the vulnerability gives cybercriminals a wide range of possibilities for infecting a PC, noted Ralf Benzmueller, head of G Data SecurityLabs. "They only need to make sure that a .LNK...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
Ask.com Reverts To Origins and Answers Questions
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74503
Asking Ask.com may now result in answers, not just links. On Tuesday, the search engine launched a new version that it described as "the first step in a multi-pronged strategy" to provide answers to users' questions, either from content on the web or from "previously unpublished knowledge shared by any of the millions of Ask.com users."
The company, an operating business of the IAC network of sites, said this functionality allows it to combine its proprietary search technology with the Ask.com community.
Ask.com President Doug Leeds said that, "with 87 million monthly users and more than a decade of Q&A experience, Ask.com is uniquely positioned to answer the long tail of questions that are impossible for search engines alone to address."
The new answer service was formerly an invitation-only beta. The company said "subjective and complex questions" that stump traditional search engines are directed to the Ask user community, utilizing Q&A matching technology which routes questions to appropriate possible answerers, based on interests and expertise. Each question will be returned with any possible answers from web content as well as Ask.com member responses.
The newest version of Ask.com includes proprietary semantic search technologies that display the most relevant answers at the top of the page, so no click-through is required to read a short answer. The search engine also includes what Ask.com described as the "largest Q&A database on the web," with more than 500 million questions and answers indexed, and the ability to mine hundreds of thousands of sources for specific question-and-answer pairs.
There is also a revamped user interface, which features highlights of the most popular questions, as well as auto-suggestion of questions when users start typing into the search field.
The company is reverting to its origins as AskJeeves.com, in which conversational questions were the promoted...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
Google Apps for Government Has FISMA Certification
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74502
On Monday, Google introduced a new version of its Google Apps suite specifically designed for use by federal, state and local government agencies in the U.S. Google Apps for Government provides the same applications that are otherwise available, but with Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) certification, as well as other support for governmental regulations. The apps include Gmail, Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites, and video sharing.
Among government customers, Google Apps is being used by the U.S. Navy to coordinate disaster relief operations and by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Google's list price for government use is $50 per user per year. The Berkeley lab has said it expects to save as much as $2 million annually over the next five years.
Other customers include the cities of Los Angeles, Calif. and Orlando, Fla. The Los Angeles, Calif., project has encountered some snags over performance and security concerns, which caused Google to miss a June 30 implementation deadline. But the company says the project is now on track to save as much as $5.5 million for the city over the next five years.
Matthew Glotzbach, director of product management for Google's enterprise products, has told news media that it would have been easier for the company to first tackle smaller municipalities, but Los Angeles was ready to go.
Google said Google Apps for Government is the first multi-tenant cloud-based application suite to receive government certification, with an authority to operate at the FISMA-Moderate level.
This certification of Google's security controls, the company said, can benefit all of its customers, including those in the private sector, and it is making its FISMA documentation available for review by interested agencies so a comparison to existing security controls can be made.
The company said an independent auditor has assessed the level of operational risk...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
Yahoo Japan Rejects Microsoft's Bing, Selects Google
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74501
Score another win for Google. Despite Yahoo's intimate relationship with Microsoft's Bing search engine, Yahoo Japan has snubbed Bing in favor of the world search leader.
Yahoo Japan on Tuesday said it will tap Google's technology to power both its search engine and search ad-delivery system. But the decision may not have rested fully on Yahoo's shoulders.
Yahoo only owns 34.8 percent of Yahoo Japan. SoftBank, Japan's largest distributor of computer, software, peripherals and systems, as well as Japan's largest publisher of computer-related computer magazines and books, owns 38.6 percent, giving it majority control. Financial terms of the four-year, non-exclusive partnership were not disclosed.
"At the present time, we feel there are quite a few areas where Microsoft is not yet ready," said Yahoo Japan CEO Masahiro Inoue at a Tuesday press conference in Tokyo. "Google is one step ahead in Japanese-language services."
Yahoo Japan has long partnered with Google. In 2001, Google announced its first alliance with Yahoo Japan to give Japanese users access to Google's search results. Yahoo Japan was then, and is now, one of the most visited web sites in Asia, and the partnership opens the door to more opportunity for Google.
Google owns 37.3 percent of Japan's search market, according to Net Ratings. But Yahoo Japan leads with 53.2 percent. Microsoft's MSN and Bing have grabbed a collective 2.6 percent. That's somewhat of a role reversal from the U.S. market, where Google has a dominant 85 percent, compared with only 6.2 percent for Yahoo.
"From the outside it's a surprise, but when you consider that Yahoo only owns a minority stake in the entity, it's less so. Its majority owned by SoftBank," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. SoftBank also owns shares in Alibaba Group, which runs Yahoo's China portal.
"Yahoo Japan...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
IBM Faces European Union Antitrust Probes
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74482
The European Union opened two antitrust investigations against IBM Corp. Monday, accusing the American technology giant of abusing its dominant position in the mainframe computer market.
One investigation stems from complaints by emulator software vendors T3 and Turbo Hercules, which accuse IBM of tying the sale of mainframe hardware to its mainframe operating system, the European Commission said.
The other, begun at the EU executive's own initiative, accuses IBM of "discriminatory behavior toward competing suppliers of mainframe maintenance services."
The opening of EU antitrust investigations does not mean the European Commission has proof of any wrongdoing, only that it sees cause for a deeper look into corporate behavior.
The European Commission said T3 and Turbo Hercules complain that IBM, by tying its hardware and operating systems together, "shuts out providers of emulation technology which could enable the users to run critical applications on non-IBM hardware."
Its own complaint addresses the concern that IBM "may have engaged in anticompetitive practices" by keeping competitors in maintenance services at bay, "by restricting or delaying access to spare parts for which IBM is the only source."
Mainframes are powerful computers used by large corporations and governments to store and process critical business information. It is estimated the vast majority of corporate data worldwide resides on mainframes.
The European Commission estimated worldwide sales of mainframe computers and operating systems in 2009 at euro8.5 billion. It put sales in Europe at about euro3 billion that year.
T3 and Turbo Hercules make "emulators" software that acts as if it is running on an IBM mainframe whereas it is actually running on cheaper servers.
Wed, 28 Jul 10
Wal-Mart To Roll Out Smart Tags on Men's Basics
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74474
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is putting electronic identification tags on men's clothing like jeans starting Aug. 1 as the world's largest retailer tries to gain more control of its inventory. But the move is raising eyebrows among privacy experts.
The individual garments, which also includes underwear and socks, will have removable smart tags that can be read from a distance by Wal-Mart workers with scanners. In seconds, the worker will be able to know what sizes are missing and will also be able tell what it has on hand in the stock room. Such instant knowledge will allow store clerks to have the right sizes on hand when shoppers need them.
The tags work by reflecting a weak radio signal to identify the product. They have long spurred privacy fears as well as visions of stores being able to scan an entire shopping cart of items at one time.
Wal-Mart's goal is to eventually expand the tags to other types of merchandise but company officials say it's too early to give estimates on how long that will take.
"There are so many significant benefits in knowing how to better manage inventory and better serve customers," said Lorenzo Lopez, a Wal-Mart spokesman. "This will enhance the shopping experience and help us grow our business."
Before the rollout, Wal-Mart and other stores were using the tags, called radio frequency identification tags, only to track pallets or cases of merchandise in their warehouses. But now the tags are jumping onto individual items, a move that some privacy experts describe as frightening.
Wal-Mart, which generated annual revenue of a little more than $400 billion in its latest fiscal year and operates almost 4,000 stores, has huge influence with suppliers. That makes other merchants tend to follow its lead.
"This is a first piece of a very large and very frightening tracking system,"...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
CTIA Sues San Francisco Over Radiation Law
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74473
The wireless industry sued the city of San Francisco on Friday to stop a law that requires cell phone stores to post how much radio energy each model emits.
It's the first law of that kind in the U.S. The industry trade group known as CTIA -- The Wireless Association said the law will mislead consumers into thinking that one phone might be safer than another on the basis of radiation measurements.
Studies have not conclusively found that cell phone radiation is a health risk. Research continues on brain tumors.
In its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the industry group said the city is usurping the authority of the Federal Communications Commission, which sets limits for phone radiation.
Dennis Herrera, the city attorney, said the ordinance gives cell phone buyers access to the same information at stores that they could get from other sources, such as the FCC's Web site.
"I think San Francisco is on solid legal ground in its effort to inform and protect consumers," he said.
Previously, Mayor Gavin Newsom's office has said that the ordinance is "a quite modest measure that will provide greater transparency and information to consumers for whom this is an area of interest or concern."
The local ordinance requires cell phone retailers to disclose a measure of much energy will theoretically be absorbed by a user's head. FCC limits this specific absorption rate, or SAR, to an average of 1.6 watts per kilogram. Measurements for phones sold in the U.S. are available on the agency's site, but not usually in stores.
"Nobody should be suggesting to consumers that they ought to be shopping for phones based on a difference in SAR values," said John Walls, vice president for public affairs at CTIA. "There's no scientific basis to suggest, as the ordinance does, that two phones with...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
FCC, Public Safety at Odds Over Broadband Plan
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74471
Two years ago, the Federal Communications Commission stumbled as it tried to create a nationwide wireless broadband network for police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers, delaying the construction of what everyone agrees is an urgently needed system.
Now the agency is hoping to rework the plan, which relies on a prime slice of airwaves called the D Block. But many public safety officials say the commission is, once again, going about it the wrong way.
In 2008, the FCC attempted to auction off the block to the wireless industry, with a requirement that the winning bidder help build out a sturdy communications network that would be shared with first responders and give them priority in an emergency. But those conditions proved too onerous, and the auction failed to attract any serious bidders.
So this time around, the agency hopes to auction off the D Block to wireless carriers and use the proceeds -- projected to be as much as $4 billion -- to help pay for a public safety network on a separate slice of spectrum already set aside for first responder broadband use. In frequency terms, the existing public safety airwaves are right next door to the D Block and just as big. Both pieces of spectrum were freed up in last year's transition from analog to digital TV signals.
The existing public safety block, the FCC says, provides plenty of capacity for day-to-day operations -- letting first responders access everything from surveillance video to fingerprint databases using laptops and handheld devices in the field. And in an emergency, the FCC proposal would give public safety users priority access to the D Block and other airwaves from the digital transition.
The FCC says its proposal would fulfill a Congressional requirement to auction off the D Block and ensure public safety benefits from the...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
UAE: BlackBerry Threatens National Security
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74468
The United Arab Emirates has declared BlackBerry smartphones a potential threat to national security, saying the devices operate beyond the jurisdiction of national laws and are open to misuse.
The move raises concerns of another attempt by the government to control the flow of information in the Arab Gulf nation, which actively censors Web sites and other forms of media seen as harming national security or conservative local values. At the same time, however, the UAE is trying to establish itself as an international business hub.
This is the second major controversy over the Blackberry in the UAE. A year ago, the Middle East country's biggest state-run mobile operator was caught encouraging unwitting BlackBerry users to install software on the devices that could allow outsiders to peer inside. The government has never made fully clear what happened in that case.
In the latest flap, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority voiced fears that the BlackBerry manages data in a way that could allow it to be misused. BlackBerry devices were singled out because they are the only phones operating in the country that automatically relay users' information to privately managed data centers overseas, the regulator said.
"As a result of how Blackberry data is managed and stored, in their current form, certain Blackberry applications allow people to misuse the service, causing serious social, judicial and national security repercussions," the regulator said in a statement carried on the state news agency late Sunday.
It said that BlackBerry devices operate "beyond the jurisdiction" of national laws because they immediately send data abroad to be "managed by a foreign, commercial organization."
That is apparently a reference to BlackBerry maker Research in Motion's system of relaying data such as e-mail messages to network servers that are separate from those operated by local mobile providers.
The TRA said the devices were launched in the...
Wed, 28 Jul 10
Is Your Smartphone Conflict-Free?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74467
Does that smart phone in your pocket contribute to rape and murder in the depths of Africa? Soon, you'll know: A new U.S. law requires companies to certify whether their products contain minerals from rebel-controlled mines in Congo and surrounding countries.
It's a move aimed at starving the rebels of funds and encouraging them to lay down their arms.
But experts doubt the law will stop the fighting. Furthermore, they say, it could deprive hundreds of thousands of desperately poor Congolese of their incomes and disrupt the economy of an area that's struggling for stability after more than decade of war.
"For many, many people, it's the only livelihood they have," said Sara Geenen, a researcher at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, who just returned from a trip to the Kivu provinces in eastern Congo.
At issue are three industrial metals -- tin, tantalum and tungsten -- and gold. Tin is used in the solder that joins electronic components together. Tantalum's main use is in capacitors, a vital component in electronics. Tungsten has many uses, including light-bulb filaments and the heavy, compact mass that makes cell phones vibrate.
Exports of these metals from eastern Congo have been the subject of a campaign by nonprofit advocacy groups for a few years, one that's borne fruit with the addition of a "Conflict Minerals" provision to the financial-regulation legislation that President Barack Obama signed into law Wednesday.
A recent YouTube video modeled after Apple Inc.'s well-known ads is titled "I'm a Mac ... and I've Got a Dirty Secret." The video says "a lot" of the world production of the four metals comes from Congo, though the contribution is relatively small.
While Congo has vast reserves, poverty and war mean most of the mining and processing is done by hand, so production is slow. The country produced 5 percent...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
LG Display Says It Can't Keep Up with iPad Demand
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74487
For all the talk about smartphone shortages -- the HTC Droid Incredible, EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and Apple iPhone 4 -- it seems smartphones aren't the only mobile devices in danger of short supply this summer. The iPad may be the next supply-chain victim.
Although consumers in some markets have already witnessed short iPad supplies, there are indications that the growing demand for the tablet devices may make the shortage worse before it gets better. One of Apple's suppliers, LG Display, is admitting it may not be able to keep up with the demand for LCD components.
LG Display said it may cut production of LCDs next month as demand from TV makers wanes. But that's not necessarily good news for Apple. Less focus on TV LCDs doesn't equate to more availability to produce iPad screens. The bottom line: LG said it's not able to meet the rising demand for Apple's iPad.
"We are now running at full capacity, but we are considering production cuts in August," Reuters reported LG Display CEO Kwon Young-soo as saying. "The level of reduction will be smaller than the industry average."
Apple has sold nearly 3.5 million iPads since the tablet device made its market debut in April. But the next 3.5 million may depend on Apple finding an additional supplier.
"Demand [for iPad screens] keeps growing and we can't meet it all," Young-soo said. "Apple may have to delay launches of the iPad for some countries due to tight component supplies and strong demand. We are considering increasing production lines for iPad products, but overall supply is likely to remain tight until early next year."
With Apple expanding the iPad to nine new markets, and with demand expected to swell in the months ahead, the iPad could see even greater shortages than HTC and Apple...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
AT&T Rolls Out Second Wi-Fi Supplement To 3G
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74486
AT&T launched a new hot-zone pilot Monday in downtown Charlotte, N.C., to provide supplemental Wi-Fi coverage for smartphone subscribers in an area that consistently experiences high 3G traffic and mobile data use. The wireless carrier also told media outlets that it will be introducing a software patch over the next three weeks to improve the performance of an Alcatel-Lucent app that has been slowing mobile-device data speeds for less than two percent of its wireless customers.
To cope with rising mobile data demand, AT&T has been implementing a variety of network upgrades over the past several months that are finally kicking into high gear. In the coverage areas where AT&T has completed higher-speed HSPA 7.2 service, AT&T CFO Rick Lindner said internal data is showing speed improvements in the 32 to 47 percent range.
"AT&T also continues to add more cell towers to its network," Linder told financial analysts last week. "We're upgrading high-capacity antenna systems, and we're building out fiber backhaul throughout our footprint."
Continued network improvements will be required to keep pace with the new mobile devices landing on AT&T's nationwide network. The wireless carrier said it has seen an organic net gain in total mobile subscribers of 1.6 million, for a total of 90.1 million.
Both integrated devices and connected devices continue to be strengths for AT&T, Linder told analysts. For example, iPhone activations during the second quarter reached a record 3.2 million, and AT&T expects to see some acceleration "as the iPhone 4 availability continues to improve from a supply standpoint," Lindner said.
AT&T also saw 400,000 to 500,000 iPad tablets activated on the network during the latest quarter. "The majority of those -- probably in the 75 to 80 percent range -- came on at the higher data package," Lindner said. "We also added...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
iPhone 4 Will Go on Sale in 17 Additional Countries
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74485
Apple's iPhone 4 will ramp up its world tour Friday, reaching new markets in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia. The popular but trouble-plagued handset has been available since late June in France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom for the same cost as the U.S. version, $199 for the 16-gigabyte model and $299 for the 32-gigabyte iPhone. Apple has not announced price points for the new markets.
"iPhone 4 will roll out to many more countries later this year and Apple will announce availability and local pricing for these additional countries at a later date," the company said.
iPhone sales in Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, have been strong as new carriers join the scene, said Carolina Milanesi, the U.K.-based vice president of mobile devices for Gartner Research.
"Europe -- all countries combined -- is now the largest market for Apple," said Milanesi. "Spain will move to more carriers at the end of this month, which leaves Germany as the only market with an exclusivity deal. In Asia, there are many carriers Apple is working with. The largest markets [by country] remain Australia and Japan, with Hong Kong, China and Korea following."
The new countries for the iPhone 4 are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Additional markets will be named in August with the eventual goal of selling the iPhone in 88 countries by September.
Bad publicity for Apple from the signal difficulty experienced by some users because of the iPhone's unusual antenna design is not expected to take a major toll on iPhone sales. In disclosing third-quarter earnings last week, Apple executives said 8.4 million iPhones were sold, although most of them were before the iPhone 4 was released on June...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
Library of Congress Says iPhone Jailbreaking Is Legal
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74484
Jailbreaking may no longer be the appropriate term for downloading unapproved but legally acquired applications onto Apple's iPhones, in the wake of new rules announced Monday by the U.S. government. The Library of Congress' Copyright Office, which, every three years, reviews exemptions to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibiting unauthorized uses of certain products, has issued a new ruling that jailbreaking is legal.
The ruling, which could have a substantial impact on Apple's ability to control what goes onto its devices, says a three-year exemption will be granted to "computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset."
The librarian of Congress, on the recommendation of the register of copyrights, announced which classes of work are exempt to the "prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works," as specified in the DMCA.
The specified classes are exempt, and therefore legal, for the next three-year period. In addition to the exemption for jailbreaking, the new rules include audiovisual works in a college or university that are video-clip compilations intended for educational use, computer programs and video games in obsolete formats where circumvention of technical protections is needed for preservation purposes, and computer programs that are protected by obsolete dongles.
In addition, books in the fast-growing e-book category can have their technical protections legally overridden when they prevent either accurate rendering by screen readers or the read-aloud function, both of which might be needed by people with disabilities.
Firmware in telephone handsets can also now legally be broken "when circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network." This exemption could impact the growing...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
HTC Switches To Sony Screens To Ease Phone Shortage
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74483
HTC is working to end the summer of the smartphone shortage. After assuring Android-based smartphone users that Samsung was its screen manufacturer of choice, the handset maker is switching to Sony products.
On Monday, HTC announced it will begin using Super LCD display technology in a variety of smartphones, including the HTC Desire and the global Nexus One set to launch later this summer. HTC seems to be shifting from the Samsung AMOLED screens that are in short supply and hindering the manufacture of popular smartphones. Sony makes the Super LCD displays.
"HTC is experiencing high demand for many of our phones, specifically our phones with 3.7-inch displays. The new SLCD display technology enables us to ramp up our production capabilities quickly to meet the high demand," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC. "The SLCD displays provide consumers with a comparable visual experience to HTC's current 3.7-inch displays with some additional benefits, including battery performance."
HTC's decision is no surprise. Widespread shortages of the Droid Incredible at Verizon Wireless and the HTC EVO 4G at Sprint Nextel are robbing the company of opportunities to gain market share in a competitive smartphone landscape.
SLCD is the latest generation of LCD technology. HTC said it offers improved performance from earlier LCD panels, including approximately five times better power management. HTC also said SLCDs offer an enhanced viewing experience with wider viewing angles from Sony's new VSPEC III technology.
Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, said HTC has assured him that the Super LCD screens are almost identical to the AMOLED displays the company has been using in its popular Android handsets. But he can't speak from firsthand experience.
"I have also been promised a review unit as soon as possible. I have an original Incredible, so once they do send in the new version...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
India Tells Internet Service Providers To Move To IPv6
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74480
With the supply of current Internet addresses predicted to run out by the end of next year, India has issued orders for a transition to a new Internet protocol. Last week, the Indian government said all Internet service providers and telecommunications providers must be IPv6-compliant by the end of next year, and all government agencies and public-sector companies will need to switch by March 2012.
When the ISPs and telcos make the change, they can only offer IPv6 service, meaning the entire country will be compelled to upgrade. India in particular could be hard hit by the coming scarcity of Internet addresses because of its upcoming roll out of 3G and other broadband wireless services in the second most populous market on earth.
Last week, the Indian Department of Telecommunications issued the new road map. "The current Internet protocol IPv4 served well in the last 25 years," said Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot, "but it has practical limitations."
John Curran, president and CEO of the American Registry for Internet Numbers, told news media last week that the supply of unique addresses will run out in about a year. ARIN is a nonprofit that handles the distribution of IP addresses in North America.
According to Curran and others, the nearly 4.5 billion addresses in the current Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) has only about six percent of its available addresses left for new devices.
Three main factors are behind the upcoming shortage. One is the explosion in web access from multiple devices for each user, primarily in developed countries. Each of those smartphones, laptops, tablets, desktops and other devices that access the web require a different IP address. And the demand for device addresses is increasing rapidly, with TVs, game consoles, even automobiles beginning to offer web access.
A...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
Salesforce.com's Eclectic Leader Breaks the CEO Mold
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74456
Whether he's swimming with dolphins in the Pacific Ocean or drawing inspiration from rappers, Marc Benioff has broken the CEO mold while running Salesforce.com Inc. for the past decade.
Some of his antics seem calculated to make a point about the importance of daring to be unconventional, a method that has worked well for him.
Benioff, 45, wouldn't be a billionaire and Salesforce.com wouldn't have emerged as an even better investment than Google if he hadn't been able to persuade so many corporate decision makers to change their ways.
Salesforce.com rents software for managing customer relationships and delivers its product exclusively over the Internet. The concept, often called "cloud computing," is hot now, but it was considered a pie-in-the-sky notion when Benioff started Salesforce at the height of the dot-com boom in 1999.
Back then, companies preferred to install all their software on computers sitting on their own premises. They bought prepackaged software so they could own the applications, even if it meant paying huge fees for installation and maintenance.
That mindset was so deeply ingrained in corporate America that Benioff was worried Salesforce.com might fail two years after he started the company.
There's no such worry now. Salesforce.com has more than 77,000 customers, nearly 5,000 employees and steadily rising revenue that's expected to hit $1.5 billion in the company's current fiscal year.
His most impressive accomplishment of all: A $10,000 investment in Salesforce's June 2004 initial public offering would now be worth nearly $84,000, based on the company's July 21 stock price of $92.16. By comparison, a $10,000 investment in Google's August 2004 IPO would now be worth about $56,000.
Benioff, who learned the art of promotion as a protégé of Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison, is now studying the ideas of a 26-year-old whiz, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The goal: building business tools similar to Facebook's...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
New Entrepreneurs Can Keep Startup Costs Down
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74454
Starting a business can be expensive, as people find when they become entrepreneurs after losing their jobs. But many of these brand-new company owners have also found ways to keep those costs down.
p
The biggest money saver is working out of your home. Asking friends and family to refer good but low-cost help, from accountants to graphic artists to lawyers, is another way.
p
Keeping startup costs down is essential when a business is young and money isn't yet flowing in. But always watching your expenses and being sure they don't get out of hand is a good way to help any company weather the downturns.
p
We didn't have a choice but to keep costs low, said Michael Volpatt, co-owner of the public relations firm Larkin/Volpatt Communications. What I've learned in the last 10 years is that financial stability is about sustainability. And that, Volpatt said, means making sure a business isn't ever undermined by costs.
p
Here's a look at ways that new entrepreneurs can keep their startup costs down:
p
subhead
Work at Home, or in a Friend's Space
/subhead
p
Since many people who have lost their jobs tend to be at home, that's where they start their businesses. They can't beat the low overhead.
p
When Volpatt and Kate Larkin started the public relations firm Larkin/Volpatt Communications 10 years ago, they both worked out of their homes. Volpatt is based in Sonoma, Calif., while Larkin is in New York.
p
It made sense financially, Volpatt said.
p
Working at home requires some adjustments. A new entrepreneur needs to have space for an office. If there are children and pets around, it's easy to be distracted. Some people find it isolating to be home much of the time.
p
There can be a financial plus in working out of your home besides keeping costs down. The federal tax code allows people with home-based businesses to deduct some...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
Twitter To Open Huge Data Center in Utah
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74453
Twitter Inc. has announced -- in a tweet, of course -- that it will build a huge data center in Utah, making it the latest company to set up computer-intensive operations in a state with cheap electricity and a business-friendly reputation.
p
The San Francisco-based company's engineering program manager, Jean-Paul Cozzatti, announced Wednesday that Twitter's technical operations would move to the Salt Lake City area.
p
Cozzatti said the move was necessary for the microblogging Web site to keep up with demand for a service with about 100 million users worldwide.
p
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said the state's tech-savvy work force makes it perfect for companies like Twitter.
p
Twitter will contribute to the development of critical mass in our software and technology economic cluster, which has already attracted companies such as Oracle and eBay and has enabled Omniture and others to prosper, Herbert said Thursday.
p
Orem-based Omniture Inc., now owned by software maker Adobe Systems Inc., analyzes traffic for other companies' Web sites.
p
The state's utility, Rocky Mountain Power, was reluctant because of confidentiality reasons to confirm arrangements it would have to make for yet another data center in its service territory.
p
Typically when a customer wants to locate here, they talk to us -- there are certain infrastructure requirements which they must pay, said utility spokesman Dave Eskelsen, who avoided any mention of Twitter.
p
We have seen these facilities look to our service area because our prices are low -- we're in the lower fifth nationwide for electricity prices. It's only understandable that people with largest electricity needs would look to Utah, he said.
p
Most of Utah's power comes from coal-fired plants that export a lot of the electricity to other states.
p
Salt Lake City and its suburbs also are becoming a hub for large data centers because of the region's high-speed communications networks, which can process large volumes of data...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
Verizon Posts 2Q Loss, But Reports Wireless Gains
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74452
Verizon Communications Inc. on Friday said it lost $198 million in the second quarter due to a buyout for 11,000 workers.
p
Excluding the severance costs and other items, earnings beat Wall Street expectations while revenue was slightly lower than analysts had expected. CFO John Killian projected earnings for the rest of year that would be roughly in line with analyst expectations.
p
Its shares rose $1.09, or 4 percent, to $28.09 in morning trading Friday.
p
The nation's second biggest phone company said it lost the equivalent of 7 cents per share in the April to June period. That compares with net income of $1.48 billion, or 52 cents per share, in the same period last year.
p
Excluding various charges, mainly for the buyouts, earnings would have been about 58 cents per share in the latest quarter. That is 2 cents more than analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected, on average.
p
Verizon said its revenue slipped 0.3 percent to $26.8 billion from $26.9 billion a year ago, though that was in part because of the one-time effect of a change in accounting for wireless data plans. Without that change, revenue would have grown 0.7 percent, still slightly short of analyst expectations at $27.1 billion.
p
The New York-based company has been laying off workers quickly in the shrinking traditional phone business. It offered a buyout to union workers in May, with a $50,000 one-time bonus per employee, improvements to pension payouts and other benefits. Verizon expects 11,000 to take advantage of it, and said two-thirds of them had left the payroll as of early July.
p
Verizon ended the quarter with 210,800 employees, 24,500 fewer than a year ago.
p
Verizon did well in the highly competitive wireless business, attracting 665,000 customers under contract. That's fewer than in past years, but contract-signing customers have been drying up for all carriers this year,...
Tue, 27 Jul 10
Personal Web Sites Are New Hacker Target
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74448
The explosion of personal Web sites is creating new opportunities for hackers bent on taking advantage of Internet vulnerabilities, computer experts say.
p
As the public gains greater access to sophisticated Web services allowing non-technical people to start up very complex Web sites, hackers increasingly identify weak points in the Web sites to find various ways to harm users, LiveScience.com reported.
p
Web sites are the next battleground in the war for computer security, computer scientist Michalis Faloutsos says.
p
We are in the early stages of this war, and any Web site is vulnerable, Faloutsos says.
p
The number of vulnerable sites is growing with the popularity of companies that offer -- often at low prices -- to host pages with simple directions and only basic technical support.
p
The Web site-building customers do not have the training necessary to adequately protect their pages, leaving the sites exposed to malware and infiltration, LiveScience reported.
p
The only way to stop the damage from Web site attacks is to start sufficiently protecting Web sites now, Faloutsos said.
p
Five years from now, it will be commonplace for Web sites to have protection, he said. This is just the beginning; this is not a problem that will just go away.
Tue, 27 Jul 10
Dell Settles SEC Charges of Playing Accounting Games
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74446
Dell agreed Thursday to pay $100 million to settle the Securities and Exchange Commission's charge that the computer maker used accounting games to meet earnings targets for years.
p
The settlement is the largest for accounting or financial disclosure problems since mortgage giant Fannie Mae paid the SEC $400 million in 2006.
p
The SEC alleges that from 2002 to 2006, Dell met or beat analysts' earnings expectations by not accurately disclosing payments that it received from computer-chip maker Intel not to use chips from Intel's rival Advanced Micro Devices. These payments accounted for 76% of Dell's operating income in early 2007, the SEC says. Dell also covered earnings shortages by dipping into reserves and said the seemingly strong results were due to strong management and operations, the SEC says.
p
Several current and former Dell executives also settled with the SEC and paid fines. Founder and CEO Michael Dell and former CEO Kevin Rollins each agreed to $4 million fines for allegedly not disclosing important information to investors. Former CFO James Schneider agreed to a $3 million fine and a suspension from acting as an accountant for companies that file to the SEC for five years. Nicholas Dunning, Dell's former regional vice president of finance, agreed to a $50,000 fine. Dunning and another former Dell accounting staff member, Leslie Jackson, agreed to three-year suspensions.
p
The SEC initially approached Dell in 2005, and in 2007 the company acknowledged accounting errors and restated its financial results from fiscal year 2003 through its first quarter of 2007, Dell spokesman David Frink says.
p
Dell is pleased to reach a settlement ... and focus on our customers, Frink says. Michael Dell, in a statement, said, We are pleased to have resolved this matter. Dunning's lawyer Joseph Warin issued a statement saying that Dunning was happy to put the matter behind him. The...
Sat, 24 Jul 10
Surprising Poll Finds Most iPhone Users Like AT&T
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74460
Amid reports that Apple's iPhone may soon be sold by rivals T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless, a new poll has found that nearly three-quarters of current iPhone users are just fine with AT&T.
Despite three years of bad publicity about the handset's connectivity issues with AT&T as its sole U.S. wireless carrier -- even before the antenna issue with the iPhone 4 -- a Yankee Group poll found 73 percent very satisfied with AT&T's service -- a higher percentage than even AT&T customers as a whole and smartphone users as a whole, who came in at 68 and 69 percent, respectively.
Carl Howe, author of the study, said the high satisfaction rate -- above the wireless industry average -- is likely more of a reflection on Apple than AT&T, the nation's second-largest carrier. "Consumers transfer the high gloss of their Apple iPhone experience to AT&T," Howe said. "The iPhone creates a halo effect that rubs off."
The Yankee Group, which focuses on global connectivity, hadn't published details about the survey on its web site as of Friday afternoon, but the key findings were published elsewhere. The report didn't say how many iPhone users were polled, when or how they were contacted.
"It would be interesting to see how many users were interviewed," said Carolina Milanesi, vice president of mobile devices research at Gartner, who has said AT&T was preventing even wider adoption of the popular iPhone. "My comments are based on feedback from clients we have in the U.S., especially in metropolitan areas, and my personal experience when roaming on the AT&T network. I have to admit I am very surprised by the results."
A March ChangeWave survey found that AT&T had the most dropped calls of top U.S. wireless carriers, and Apple's handset has been lampooned on Saturday Night Live and on...
Sat, 24 Jul 10
The Internet Is Running Out of Addresses Under IPv4
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74459
To the list of dwindling worldwide resources add Internet addresses. According to experts, the nearly 4.5 billion current addresses aren't enough, only six percent of available addresses are left, and the Internet will run out of addresses by sometime late next year.
Three main factors are behind the upcoming shortage. One is the explosion in web access from multiple devices for each user, primarily in developed countries. Each of those smartphones, laptops, tablets, desktops and other devices that access the web require a different IP, or Internet protocol, address. And the demand for device addresses is increasing rapidly, with TVs, game consoles, even automobiles offering web-browsing capability.
A second factor is a rapidly growing user base in developing countries, such as Brazil, India or China. Many of users there access the web through mobile devices, which means the device-per-user ratio in those countries is also likely to increase rapidly.
And, third, the Internet is becoming the communications network for non-user-based equipment, such as smart electricity grids, sensors, RFIDs and smart houses.
But all is not lost. The current Net uses Internet protocol version four (IPv4), which dates back to 1980 and a time when 4.5 billion addresses seemed like a lot. A newer technology, IPv6, utilizes 128-bit addresses, instead of IPv4's 32-bit, and IPv6 proponents say the new technology could offer -- if needed -- a vast number of addresses that should keep humanity happy until the sun burns out.
Some experts say IPv6 could provide four billion addresses for each person on Earth. But Dave Evans, Cisco's chief technologist for its Internet business solutions group, has said the actual number is closer to "50 thousand trillion trillion addresses per person."
In addition to zillions of new addresses, IPv6 brings other improvements, including in routing, network auto-configuration,...
Sat, 24 Jul 10
AOL Goes Mobile with Portal and Two Android Apps
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74458
AOL is working to leverage the trends of the times with a new smartphone portal and two Android apps it hopes will capture consumer attention in an increasingly competitive mobile marketplace.
The new portal, m.aol.com, optimizes AOL for smartphones. Meanwhile, an AOL app for Android aims to make it easy for Android-powered smartphone users to access AOL's most popular properties quickly. AOL credits the new mobile-focused direction to David Temkin, the company's new vice president of mobile.
"AOL is making a renewed commitment to mobile, recognizing its importance as a distribution platform for the company's content and publications," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. "AOL's choice to do a couple of apps on Android before the iPhone is partly a reflection of Android's increasing market share -- and a calculated PR move that the company knew would get it attention."
AOL's smartphone portal works on any mobile browser. AOL hopes to drive more mobile traffic to its already-popular mobile web sites, whether consumers are using the iPhone, Droid X, BlackBerry or some other mobile device.
For smartphones supporting HTML5, including iPhone and Android devices, the portal offers a touch-driven interface that lets users to scroll through articles and content. AOL's mobile portal also offers location-based services that deliver local weather, movie, traffic and other updates. And an application directory works to help users find their favorite mobile apps as well as support for video content.
The free AOL application for Android-based devices lets users read content from some of AOL's most popular sites like PopEater, Engadget and FanHouse. Users can also access sites like MapQuest and AOL Mail as well as hit the AOL app list to find links to all available AOL apps for Android.
AOL also announced that its DailyFinance app is now available for Android devices....
Sat, 24 Jul 10
Apple App Makes Getting Free iPhone 4 Cases Easy
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74457
As promised, Apple is gearing up to give away free bumper cases for the iPhone 4. The cases remedy an issue with the antenna that has caused perhaps more media attention than consumer complaints. Apple also announced a major delay in the release of the white iPhone 4.
Apple set up a web page and deployed a special iPhone app that lets iPhone 4 owners know how to get the promised case, which prevents users from touching the antenna band that encircles the smartphone's edges. Consumers complained that signals dropped when their finger touched the bottom left side of the phone.
Apple will give away free cases to anyone who buys an iPhone before Sept. 30. But users have to download the app for the App Store in order to get the free case. Users can choose a rubber bumper or one of several plastic cases from third-party vendors Apple works with. The cases should ship in three to five weeks.
Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, calls Apple's moves clever. Clever in the sense that Apple has run ads saying, "There's an app for that." And now there is even an app that placates irate iPhone 4 consumers. Apple has information stored about which devices have been registered, Greengart said, so an app is a clever and convenient way for both consumers and Apple to handle the issue.
"Apple is handling this in such a way that the user doesn't have to jump through too many hoops," Greengart explained. "If you bought your case via credit card, they are automatically refunding that so you don't have to do anything at all. If you bought it from AT&T, then you actually have to fill out a coupon the way a normal offer might be fulfilled. But if you haven't...
Sat, 24 Jul 10
Tablet Computer for $35 or Less Developed in India
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74445
A tablet computer for $35. That's the estimated retail price of a prototype basic touchscreen tablet developed by the government of India.
The device, which uses the open-source Linux operating system, was unveiled Thursday by Kapil Sibal, India's human-resource development minister. "This is our answer to M.I.T.'s $100 computer," he told the Economic Times.
His reference is to the $100 laptop that M.I.T. Media Lab cofounder Nicholas Negroponte set as a goal when he founded One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) in 2005. The main idea was to build an innovative, inexpensive computer to be used by children in developing countries.
But the Indian government thought that even $100 was too expensive, so it started developing its own. In the meantime, OLPC's laptop was developed and released, but at an eventual price of about $200. OLPC announced in the spring that it would develop and launch a basic tablet computer for $99.
The Indian tablet was developed by researchers and students at the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science at Sibal's urging. He has told news media that the goal is to eventually get the price closer to $10. The Indian government, which is undertaking a major educational technology initiative, will subsidize the tablet, bringing the near-term price down to $20.
The prototype has no hard drive but uses a memory card, can run on solar power, and incorporates open-source software. The government said it supports web browsing, word processing, video conferencing, and other applications.
A previous effort by the Indian government, announced last year, to develop a $10 laptop ended with a prototype handheld device that has apparently been abandoned.
The government has said that at least one Taiwanese manufacturer, in addition to other computer makers, is interested in building the device, although no arrangements have been made....
Sat, 24 Jul 10
Windows 7, Office Drive Record Microsoft Revenue
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74444
With Apple breezing past Wall Street estimates this week by reporting $15.7 billion in revenue for its third business quarter, the pressure was on Microsoft -- and the software giant delivered. Microsoft said Thursday it earned a record $16.04 billion in revenue during the second quarter, driven by the launch of Office 2010 and strong Windows 7 sales.
With 175 million licenses sold to date, Windows 7 is the fastest-selling operating system ever and now runs on more than 15 percent of all PCs worldwide, Microsoft CFO Peter Klein told financial analysts on a conference call.
"This quarter's record revenue reflects the breadth of our offerings and our continued product momentum," Klein said. In addition to Windows 7, Windows Server and the Xbox 360 video-game console also exhibited strong performance in the quarter even as the software giant's Bing search engine "achieved its 13th consecutive month of share gain," he added.
According to a preliminary estimate from Gartner, worldwide PC shipments rose 20.7 percent year over year to 82.9 million in the second quarter -- slightly above the research firm's earlier outlook of 19.3 percent growth. However, Microsoft told analysts it estimates even higher PC market growth of 22 to 24 percent in the quarter, and with the consumer and business segments growing at roughly the same rate.
"From a geographic perspective, emerging markets remain a significant driver of the PC market with almost twice the growth of mature markets," said Bill Koefoed, general manager of investor relations at Microsoft.
Gartner's PC growth estimate may go up another one to two percentage points once all the numbers for the second quarter are in, noted Mikako Kitagawa, a principal analyst at the research firm. "So our final figure could be low side of their projection," she said. "But consumer growth...
Sat, 24 Jul 10
When Will Wi-Fi in the Sky Truly Take Off?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74436
Travelers used to getting a free wireless Internet connection on land are not willing to pay for one at 30,000 feet (9,000 meters).
Wireless Internet service on airlines has not caught on, mostly because of the price. Travelers already paying $25 to check a bag and $20 for a roomier seat do not want to fork over $5 or more for Wi-Fi unless it is a necessity. They're saving their Web surfing for solid ground, where "hot spots" offer the service without charge.
Airlines have offered promotions, including some free service, to draw attention to their Wi-Fi. But experts say only about 10 percent of passengers on Web-enabled flights have taken advantage.
Airline technology consultant Michael Planey thinks Wi-Fi will be free as early as mid-2011. But if airlines want to go that route, there is a catch: They still have to compensate the service provider, such as Aircell, whose Gogo Inflight Internet serves every major airline except Southwest.
Planey thinks the airlines have a few options to cover the costs:
_Getting big companies like Google or Verizon to sponsor free Internet service. Those providers would make money through advertisements.
_Pay for some part of the service themselves, and then use it to cut costs. For example, a flight attendant could use the inflight Wi-Fi to connect with reservations at the terminal and make new arrangements for passengers who missed a connecting flight.
_Airlines could arrange ways to get a commission when travelers buy things online.
Planey predicts that discount carriers like JetBlue, AirTran and Southwest will stop charging first, promoting free Wi-Fi to win passengers away from bigger airlines.
The major airlines have equipped most of their planes with Wi-Fi and promoted the service. Prices of $4.95 to $12.95 aren't exactly exorbitant, but passengers will not shell out money for something they don't see as a necessity after...
Sat, 24 Jul 10
Hynix Swings to 2Q Net Profit Amid Record Sales
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74435
Hynix Semiconductor turned a net profit in the second quarter after a loss the year before as sales rose to a record and prices for its mainstay computer memory chips increased.
Hynix, the world's second-largest manufacturer of computer memory chips, earned 664.8 billion won ($550.2 million) in the three months ended June 30, it said Thursday in a regulatory filing. The company reported a net loss of 58 billion won a year earlier.
Sales nearly doubled to an all-time high of 3.28 trillion won from 1.68 trillion won the year before, Hynix said. Operating profit -- seen as a direct indicator of business performance before taxes, dividends, asset sales and other items figured into net profit or loss -- rose to a record high of 1.05 trillion won.
The net profit result was Hynix Semiconductor Inc.'s fourth straight quarter in the black. The company recorded its first net profit in two years in the third quarter of last year as prices for memory chips rose amid a rapid recovery in the market.
Since 2008, the company has also closed its U.S. factory, cut costs, slashed executive pay and positions and encouraged early retirements. It also received an infusion of fresh capital via bank loans and a share offering.
Hynix manufactures DRAM chips, used mostly in personal computers and ranks No. 2 behind South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co. It also ranks No. 4 in the world in NAND flash memory chips, used in products such as digital cameras, music players and smartphones.
Hynix supplies NAND chips to Apple Inc. for its iPod and iPhone products and mobile DRAM chips for the iPad, according to Hynix.
Besides Samsung, Icheon, South Korea-based Hynix also competes with Japan's Toshiba Corp., Micron Technology Inc. of the United States and others.
Hynix said in a release that the average selling price for its...
Sat, 24 Jul 10
Nokia Second-Quarter Profit Falls 40 Percent
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74434
Nokia Corp. said Thursday that second-quarter net profit fell 40 percent to (EURO)227 million ($290 million) as the world's largest mobile phone maker lost market share and sales remained flat. Analysts, however, noted its sales of smart phones were better than expected.
The profit was down from a net profit of (EURO)380 million in the same period last year, the company said. Revenue grew a mere 1 percent in the period to (EURO)10 billion from (EURO)9.9 billion a year earlier.
Nokia's overall market share fell to 33 percent in the quarter 2010, down from 35 percent a year earlier. But it said market share in the smart phone sector remained at 41 percent -- unchanged from the previous year and the first quarter of 2010, despite strong competition from iPhone-maker Apple Inc., and Research in Motion Ltd., which makes BlackBerry handsets.
"Nokia managed to hold onto that market," said Neil Mawston, analyst at London-Based Strategy Analytics. "They actually sold 24 million smart phones, more than our forecasts, and that's what maybe is helping to support the shares a little bit."
Nokia shares closed up 2.5 percent at (EURO)7.17 ($9.21) on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
The company repeated its prediction that the global mobile market will grow 10 percent this year while its own growth would remain flat. Nokia said it sold 111 million handsets in the quarter, up 8 percent on 2009.
It also sold a record 24 million smart phones, up 42 percent on a year earlier.
The company remains the leader in the global mobile market, with 432 million devices sold last year, more than its three closest rivals combined, but competition in the smart phone sector was seen as being too much for the former industry bellwether.
Now, Mawston says, those rivals may be feeling some pressure as well.
"The challenges are no longer unique to...
Sat, 24 Jul 10
Dell Streak: A Smaller Tablet With a Big Phone
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74431
The iPad has energized the market for tablet computers, paving the way for an expected onslaught of slate-type devices.
The Dell Streak that I've been testing for a few days is a tablet, too. And that's pretty much where comparisons with the iPad cease.
Oh, sure, folks will ask the same basic question of the Streak that they asked before the iPad appeared: Is there room for a slate that's larger than a smartphone but smaller than a typical laptop? But where the iPad has a near-10-inch screen and a form that brings it into the ballpark of some notebooks, the Streak is at the other end of the spectrum. With its 5-inch, multitouch-screen, Streak resembles a smartphone that went on an eating binge, like an old-fashioned PDA. And Streak, unlike an iPad, will fit in your pants pocket, albeit with a bulge, or jut out of a shirt pocket by an inch or so.
Streak actually doubles as an Android-based smartphone. But phoning is not its strength nor the reason to consider buying one. I couldn't hang up on a call when the dial pad was on the screen covering the "End Call" button. And while the Streak is petite for a tablet, it is gargantuan by modern standards for a phone -- like a handset that belongs to the past century. It weighs in at 7.8 ounces. Streak is attractive and thin, though better suited for tablet duties.
Alas, I didn't love the virtual keyboard. And Dell is a generation behind when it comes to Android. It runs Android version 1.6, making it a tad listless. Dell has added its own tweaks to Google's operating system and says an over-the-air update to version 2.2, or Froyo, is in the cards.
Here's a closer look:
*Availability. Dell won't say but indicates the Streak is coming...
Sat, 24 Jul 10
New Computer Memory Boosted By Poplar Tree Protein
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74429
Is there any connection between poplar tree and computers? Yes.
Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in showing how it is possible to greatly expand the memory capacity of future computers through the use of memory units based on silica nanoparticles combined with protein molecules obtained from the poplar tree.
In doing so, they have developed an alternative avenue to miniaturize memory elements while increasing the number and capacity of memory and functional logic elements in computers, according to a news release published on Wednesday.
This approach could replace standard fabrication techniques in use until now for increasing computer memory capacity, a process which involves ever-increasing manufacturing costs.
The project involves the genetic engineering of poplar protein to enable its hybridization with a silicon nanoparticle. In this process, the nanoparticles are attached to the inner pore of a stable, ring-like protein (the poplar derivative), and these hybrids are arranged in a large network, or array, of very close, molecular memory elements.
The practical result of the research, carried out by Professor Danny Porath and his colleagues, is a cost-effective system that greatly increases existing memory capacity while significantly reducing the space required to carry out this volume of activity.
A related article has been published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Sat, 24 Jul 10
Google Revamps Image Search as Bing Heats Up
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74428
Google on Tuesday launched a major redesign of its image search, an effort intended to open a new source of advertising revenue for the Mountain View search giant and parry competition from Microsoft's Bing search engine.
Google won't say what share of its searches are for photos and other images, but says image searches have become one of its most popular search functions, receiving 1 billion page views a day. Bing's growing traffic for image searches was one area of success Microsoft executives cited last week when they met with the media to mark the first anniversary of Bing's launch.
The revamp of Google Image Search, the most extensive redesign since the service was launched in 2001, includes new features like an "infinite scroll," which gives users up to 1,000 images per search page, a "hover pane" that pulls up a larger image and data about the image when users place their cursor over it, and a better landing page that can more easily take users to the Web page where the image is stored.
Google also launched Image Search Ads, a service that allows advertisers to buy space to display images of their related products along with the results of users' image searches.
"We really think this new interface is the best in the world," said Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president for search products and experience.
"We give you better information about the image on the result page so you can make a better decision about what image you are interested in," said Ben Ling, director of search products for Google.
The revamped image search, which now indexes more than 10 billion images, launched Tuesday morning and was available to about half of Google users later that day, and expected to be available to everyone else by the end of the week. It will run...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
Fast-Growing Facebook Passes 500M Members
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74421
Half a billion. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called it a nice number. It's the number of active Facebook users, at least on Wednesday morning. By now, the world's leading social-networking site has probably added thousands more to its community.
"This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world," Zuckerberg said. "Now a lot more people have the opportunity to stay connected with the people they care about."
So how long will it take to get to a billion? With Facebook translations beginning to catch on in many European countries where foreign languages are predominant, could Zuckerberg be announcing the billion-member mark in the next couple of years? Not necessarily, according to Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Current Analysis.
"As we've seen with MySpace and LinkedIn, the speed of adoption decreases and increases for social-networking sites. This is a fickle audience that they are playing to," Shimmin said. "Facebook is in danger, as any social-networking site would be, of losing its constituency because of one bad misstep or an accumulation of a of missteps."
And that's what worries Shimmin about Facebook. The social-networking behemoth has made a number of missteps over the past year that have drawn the ire of privacy advocates and consumers alike. Although Facebook seems to try to do the right thing, he noted, it's been a parade of errors.
"Google and Wikipedia have changed very little in their time and they haven't put themselves in a position to get in trouble with their users because of that," Shimmin said. "We always make fun of Google for throwing spaghetti at the wall and see it if sticks with their projects; when it comes to their crown jewel they don't change it that often. Facebook makes too many changes."
In celebration of the...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
HP's Slate Tablet Temporarily Returns To Web Site
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74420
Reports of the demise of the Hewlett-Packard Slate appear to have been greatly exaggerated. The tablet computer made what some may consider a surprise -- apparently temporary -- appearance on HP's web site this week, reincarnated as the Slate 500-1002TU and powered by Microsoft's Windows 7.
The device made no pretense of being a productive business, home office, or homework tool. The emphasis is on entertainment.
"No matter where you are or what kind of fun you're in the mood for, the HP Slate 500 is all you need," reads the product description, which doesn't include the price or a release date. "Exclusive HP software gives you access to photos, videos and everything on the Internet with just a touch, while Windows 7 Premium gives you the power to do what you want."
The Slate has an 8.9-inch screen, video and still cameras, a gigabyte of memory, a 1.6-gigahertz processor, and supports input from an electronic pen "to write or draw as if on a piece of paper," HP said.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the Slate in January, but three months later came insider reports that the device was dead on arrival as HP's acquisition of Palm made it more likely the company would want to promote Palm's webOS rather than Windows 7. On July 12, at Microsoft's developer conference, Ballmer pointedly did not mention HP or the Slate as he touted relationships with Toshiba, Acer, Dell, Samsung and Sony for Windows-based tablets. (HP's logo did, however, appear on a slide display alongside other companies as he spoke.)
HP has suggested that the Slate's appearance online was a trial balloon, saying it is "in customer evaluations now and will make a determination soon on the next steps."
The Slate mystery deepened late Wednesday afternoon when the tablet posting disappeared from HP's site.
Releasing the...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
Flipboard Offers a Personal Magazine on Apple's iPad
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74419
If you feel overwhelmed by every new story or piece of news from friends in your online social networks, there's a new iPad "personal social magazine" to organize them. On Wednesday, a new publication called Flipboard announced a new kind of magazine that "brings to life the stories, photos, news and updates being shared across Twitter and Facebook."
The company, founded by former Tellme CEO Mike McCue and former senior iPhone engineer Evan Doll, creates a magazine format out of a given user's social content, which it complements with other content. The app is available free at the company's web site and in Apple's App Store.
McCue said social networks are resulting in a "huge influx of incoming messages and links people must sort through across multiple web sites just to stay up to date." Flipboard, he said, intends to use "the timeless principles of print" to make social media "less noisy, more visually compelling, and ultimately more mainstream."
In the iPad magazine, a user can flip through Facebook and Twitter sections that contain the most recent stories, photos, videos and other updates from friends in those networks. Links to content and images are rendered in the magazine, so there's no need to click on link after link.
Users can create sections about topics or people, using Flipboard's suggested topics, such as sports, news, tech or style. Content is added from feeds provided by the user's social networks, or by Flipboard, or from popular Twitter feeds. Custom sections can also be created, and a user can choose from news feeds, such as from The Wall Street Journal or technology blogs.
While the exact business model wasn't specified, Flipboard has indicated that revenue streams will include advertising and possibly some form of subscriptions.
Also on Wednesday, Flipboard announced it has purchased the...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
Unsexy Yahoo Muddles Into Disappointing Results
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74408
Yahoo shares took a hit Wednesday morning after the company reported disappointing second-quarter sales. Despite seeing profits rise, Yahoo missed analysts' estimates.
Yahoo generated sales of $1.13 billion, excluding revenue passed on to partner sites, in the second quarter. That's a two percent gain over the second quarter of 2009. Yahoo's net income rose to $213.3 million, or 15 cents a share, from $141.4 million, or 10 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Yahoo profits rose 51 percent, buoyed in part by 19 percent year-over-year growth in display advertising. But search advertising dipped eight percent. The positive news didn't overcome analyst disappointment, and its stock fell as much as eight percent in pre-market trading. Analysts expected Yahoo to post second-quarter earnings of 14 cents a share on $1.16 billion net revenue.
"We're pleased that we continued to deliver strong operating income and margin expansion," said Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. "Our search fundamentals are improving and we posted another quarter of healthy display advertising growth."
Bartz has to remain optimistic in the second year of the turnaround effort she's spearheading, despite the fact that Yahoo continues to lose momentum in the search market. Yahoo's story is that it's continuing to progress toward its objectives. But Yahoo seems to be moving too slow, much like the general economy, even while Google and Apple defy the recession.
"Yahoo is in an enormously competitive environment, especially with Facebook on the one side with display advertising and Google on the other side with its dominance in the search space," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. "Investors were disappointed and some of the analysts were critical that it came in below the guidance."
Under Bartz, Yahoo appears more disciplined. The company has looked at cost-cutting measures to drive up margins. But...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
Strong Mac, iPad and iPhone Sales Boost Apple's Profit
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74407
Apple posted a net profit of $3.25 billion for its third business quarter, driven by robust Mac, iPhone and iPad sales. The gadget maker said Mac sales were up 33 percent year over year to a record 3.47 million for the quarter, even as it outgrew the global market in both the desktop and portable categories.
Though Apple increased its iPhone sales 61 percent to 8.4 million in the quarter, this was in line with IDC's expectations. However, the company's shipment of 3.27 million iPads exceeded the 3.2 million forecast from Piper Jaffray.
"It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple's history with iPhone 4," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year."
Apple said it sold more than 1.7 million iPhone 4s during the quarter in the initial five countries where it launched. And moving forward, the company expects iPhone 4 sales to benefit from the iPhone distribution agreements that Apple already has with 154 carriers in 88 countries.
The iPhone 4's headline-making antenna problem didn't impact Apple's latest financial results, since the new model didn't start shipping until the end of the quarter. However, IDC Research Manager Francisco Jeronimo noted that the issue does kill the myth that the iPhone is perfect and better than any other smartphone. "For most consumers there was no other 'dream phone,' but now they may consider other devices," Jeronimo said.
Jeronimo expects iPhone upgrades to slow since users don't want to buy a high-end device with reception problems. "In a recent survey, IDC found out that 66 percent of iPhone owners are delaying their purchase of the...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
Microsoft Sets $149.99 Price for Kinect Game Controller
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74406
Microsoft has announced pricing for Kinect, its highly anticipated, controller-less game controller -- $149.99, including a game called Kinect Adventures. When packaged with a new Xbox 360, which comes with 4GB of internal memory, the price is $299.99.
Some industry observers are describing Kinect's pricing as high, while others suggest such a revolutionary peripheral could have been priced higher.
The company said Kinect Adventures offers 20 adventures that take advantage of the new controller, including roaring rapids and mountain obstacle courses. The new Xbox 360 4GB console, with Wi-Fi N, touch-sensitive buttons, and a black matte finish, can be purchased by itself for $199.99. The controller works with any existing Xbox 360.
When Kinect goes on sale Nov. 4, Microsoft said, there will be 15 games specifically designed for Kinect, including Kinectimals, Kinect Sports, Kinect Joy Ride, and MTV Games' and Harmonix's Dance Central.
The Kinect controller, formerly code-named Project Natal, could radically redefine user control for video games and other devices. It reads players' body movements and recognizes certain speech commands, turning movements and commands into actions or characters on the screen.
As Microsoft has said, "You are the controller."
To see a ball, the company said, you just kick it, hit it, or catch it. To start a movie, the user only needs to say "Xbox, play," and browsing through a music list can be accomplished by a hand wave.
Kinect employs a video camera that tracks the body, plus a monochrome camera that determines the distance between your body and the game console. There's also a specialized microphone for receiving voice commands, and, of course, highly customized software for managing it all.
"What Microsoft is doing," none other than Hollywood director Stephen Spielberg said at Kinect's announcement, "is not about reinventing the wheel -- it's about...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
Netflix Makes International Debut in Canada
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74400
Netflix Inc. will make its international debut this fall when the rapidly growing movie subscription service offers video over the Internet in Canada.
The expansion announced Monday resolves the mystery of where Netflix will take its first step outside the United States. The company had laid out plans to move beyond the U.S. borders earlier this year without identifying a target market.
The question of how much the Canadian service will cost remains unanswered. Netflix's most popular packages in the U.S. cost $9 to $17 per month. The company, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., could provide more details Wednesday when it's scheduled to release its second-quarter earnings.
This will mark the first time that Netflix has offered a service confined to delivering video over high-speed Internet connections. All its U.S. subscription packages combine Internet streaming with DVDs delivered through the mail.
DVDs remain the most popular feature among Netflix's 14 million subscribers, although Internet streaming is steadily gaining usage as Netflix makes more titles available for digital delivery and more households connect their TVs to the Web.
Netflix's lowest priced package for DVDs and unlimited Internet video is $9 per month.
The Canadian service initially will be available in English only, with a French version expected to come later.
If Internet streaming catches on in Canada, many analysts expect Netflix to enter other countries, with Britain considered to be the next logical candidate for expansion.
Thu, 22 Jul 10
FCC: Broadband Market Not Serving All Americans
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74399
Federal regulators have concluded that the broadband market is not bringing high-speed Internet connections to all Americans quickly enough.
In a report set to be released as early as Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission says broadband is not being made available to all Americans in "a reasonable and timely fashion." Although the report is the FCC's sixth look at the state of broadband since Congress mandated in 1996 that it start tracking high-speed Internet connections, it marks the first time that the agency has concluded the market is not working in all corners of the country.
The FCC's national broadband plan, released in March, found that between 14 million and 24 million Americans do not have access to broadband. The plan, mandated by last year's stimulus bill, lays out a roadmap for bringing high-speed connections to all Americans.
Two of its top recommendations include tapping the federal fund that subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural communities to pay for high-speed Internet connections and unleashing more spectrum for wireless Internet services, particularly in rural areas where it does not make economic sense for phone and cable companies to build landline networks.
Rick Kaplan, chief counsel to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, said the findings of the FCC's latest broadband report underscore the need to push ahead with those two proposals. He added that the agency is not seeking to impose heavy-handed new rules -- such as line-sharing requirements -- on the phone and cable companies that provide most Internet connections in the U.S.
Still, word of the upcoming FCC report raised concerns among telecommunications companies, which fear it could lead to more regulation. The industry has mounted an intense lobbying campaign to derail a proposal by Genachowski to define broadband access as a telecommunications service subject to "common carrier" obligations to treat all traffic equally. The...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
What Drove Motorola's Path To Breakup?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74398
For decades, Motorola Inc.'s products told the story of the march of electronics into the hands of consumers: car radios in the 1930s, TVs in the 1940s and cell phones starting the 1980s.
Now, the iconic company is breaking up, the victim of changing markets and the need to present simpler stories to investors.
Motorola's cell phone business, which as late as 2007 was riding high on the success of the Razr, is struggling to reshape itself. And its survival may ride on whether it succeeds in turning a once-mass-market cell phone business into a much smaller mold, focused on playing in the same niche as Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone.
Early next year, Motorola is slated to separate the business that makes cell phones and set-top boxes from the one that makes police radios and bar-code scanners, Enterprise Mobility.
In a prelude to that split, Motorola announced Monday that it is selling the bulk of its wireless networks division for $1.2 billion to Nokia Siemens Networks, freeing Enterprise Mobility from a Networks business that has been holding it back in the eyes of investors.
Enterprise Mobility is the part of Motorola that's currently doing the best -- what Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt calls the company's "crown jewel." Its customers are police departments, government agencies and big retailers, putting it outside the view of consumers.
Its roots also stretch back further than any other Motorola business: the company, then called Galvin Manufacturing, sold its first two-way police radio system in 1940 to the police department in Bowling Green, Ky.
By contrast, Networks, which supplies equipment to wireless carriers, has an aging product portfolio and is too small to compete in today's global market. Wireless carriers have been consolidating into larger companies and now prefer to deal with only a couple of equipment vendors each, narrowing the scope...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
Free Speech Fight Fizzles in Lost iPhone Saga
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74397
A brewing free-speech debate touched off by a lost prototype of Apple's iPhone has ended quietly with a blogger's agreement to cooperate with investigators.
Thomas J. Nolan Jr., a lawyer for Jason Chen of Gizmodo.com, said Monday that technology Web site agreed to the deal with prosecutors to resolve the case as quickly as possible.
A judge on Friday ordered a search warrant withdrawn and seized items returned to Chen. The Web site posted images in April of a prototype iPhone left in a Redwood City bar by an Apple employee.
Gizmodo said it paid money for the phone.
Investigators from the multi-district Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team had raided Chen's house and seized computer equipment as part of its investigation into whether any laws were broken.
The Web site and other media organizations objected, saying the raid was illegal because state law prohibits the seizure of unpublished notes from journalists.
"The search was clearly illegal," said Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer Matt Zimmerman, who added that issue won't be fought in court after Gizmodo's agreement with authorities.
Zimmerman said there's little debate that Chen qualifies as a journalist, who are explicitly protected from seizures of unpublished notes. Journalists can also invoke California's so-called shield law to fight orders to testify about their sources and newsgathering.
"We still think the search warrant is and was inappropriate," Nolan said. "It is a very practical resolution that doesn't require us to litigate any further."
Nolan said once investigators review what is turned over to them, he believes they will drop their investigation without filing charges.
Chen purchased the iPhone from Brian Hogan, who said he found it on the floor of a Redwood City bar. Hogan is also under criminal investigation, though no charges have been filed.
Lawyers for both men didn't immediately return telephone calls.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs mentioned the case briefly...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
IBM Forecast Clouded by World Market Instability
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74396
Uncertainty about the stability of world markets is clouding encouraging signs about the health of the technology sector.
Shares of IBM Corp. fell nearly 4 percent Monday after the computer company beat earnings expectations in the second quarter and raised its guidance for the year.
IBM disclosed a reduction in the value of services contracts, and revenue fell short. And for a company that consistently raises Wall Street's expectations, IBM's boost to its 2010 net income forecast wasn't enough.
IBM reported Monday that its net income jumped 9 percent to $3.39 billion, or $2.65 per share, in the April-June quarter. That topped analyst projections for $2.58 per share. A year ago, IBM earned $3.10 billion, or $2.34 per share.
Revenue in the latest period rose 2 percent to $23.7 billion, from $23.3 billion. That was below the $24.2 billion that analysts expected.
IBM said changes hurt revenue by $500 million in the quarter, something the company said analysts didn't include in estimates.
The turmoil over Europe's debt crisis has hurt IBM because of weakness in the euro relative to the dollar. Because IBM does most of its business outside the U.S., deals done in other currencies are now worth less when they're converted to greenbacks.
The company also reported a 12 percent decline in the value of services contracts signed during the quarter, to $12.3 billion.
IBM blamed the signings shortfall on an unusually high number of contract extensions it signed last year as customers renegotiated their deals in the recession. IBM's chief financial officer, Mark Loughridge, said that trend is mostly "in the rearview mirror."
Still, investors have been worried about the ability of the governments of Greece, Portugal and Spain to repay perilously high debts. Sluggishness in the U.S. economy's improvement has helped stir fears of a "double-dip" recession.
Such worries have dampened Wall Street's reaction to the...
Thu, 22 Jul 10
Go Ahead and Surf! Playboy Launches Office-Safe Site
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74392
Finally, something for those guys who say they read Playboy for the articles: a chance to prove it.
Playboy Enterprises Inc. launched a Web site Tuesday that it swears will be safe to browse while at work, eliminating the need for men to throw themselves over their computer screen when the boss walks by.
TheSmokingJacket.com will contain none of the nudity that makes Playboy.com NSFW -- not suitable for work. Instead, it'll rely on humor to reach Playboy's target audience, men 25 to 34 years old, when they are most likely to be in front of a computer screen.
"A lot of our audience logs on (to Playboy.com) after work and we saw that we were missing a golden opportunity to reach guys when they're online the most: when they're sitting at their desk, not working, sending e-mails to their friends," said Jimmy Jellinek, Playboy's editorial director.
The site, named after one of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's favorite pieces of clothing (silkpajamas.com was taken), won't include the long interviews or in-depth articles found in Playboy.
Instead, it's meant to be decidedly un-serious. Or, in the parlance of its audience, ROFL -- rolling on the floor, laughing. And cool, "basically a juke box of cool," said Jellinek.
Among the original content visitors to the site will see is a list of signs that show a man has given up trying to attract women. They include wearing Velcro sneakers and pants with elastic waistbands -- clothing Hef wouldn't be caught dead in, if he thought of wearing anything but his trademark jammies.
The site will dip into the Playboy archives with photographs like those from the 1983 Playmate Playoffs, in which bathing suit-clad women competed in games such as a tug-of-war. There will be links to the kinds of things people are already e-mailing their friends, from funny moments...
Wed, 21 Jul 10
Rumors Have Verizon Adding More Droid Phones
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74405
With three Droid smartphones on the shelves (and, in some cases, in short supply), Verizon Wireless may be ready to add two more to take advantage of the popularity of the Android operating system.
Openly intended as an alternative to Apple's iPhone -- a recent Verizon ad even mocked the iPhone 4's antenna problems -- the original Droid launched with much fanfare last November is widely believed to have two new siblings in the making. They are the Droid 2 and the Droid Mini, both of which would have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard featured on the original Motorola Droid but not the Droid X or HTC-made Droid Incredible. The iPhone has never had a slide-out keyboard.
Tech blogs in recent days have displayed photos of the Droid 2 running Android 2.2 or Froyo (for frozen yogurt) and packaging one blog says will be used for the device.
A Korean web site, Hiapk.com, has displayed what it says is the Droid Mini, a scaled-down, possibly cheaper version of the Droid. A blurry image shows the trademark red eye on its screen reminiscent of the cyborg eye sported by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator movies.
Verizon won't confirm or deny that it has commissioned the devices. "We don't comment on speculation or rumors," spokesperson Howard Waterman told us in an e-mail. "We have the original Droid, the Droid Incredible, Droid X, plus the LG Ally that has the Android OS, all available now."
Consumer devices researcher Avi Greengart of Current Analysis declined to speculate on whether the devices will be released. But he said the series is working out well.
"What I can say is that Verizon Wireless has done an excellent job building its own sub-brand around Android, and that we're definitely seeing the Android ecosystem fill out with different vendors, form...
Wed, 21 Jul 10
Microsoft Warns of Windows Shortcut Vulnerability
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74404
Microsoft has released a security advisory addressing a vulnerability in the way Windows parses shortcuts. In Advisory 2286198, issued Friday and updated Monday, the software giant said "malicious code may be executed when a specially crafted shortcut is displayed," even without any user action to run the executable. The company said it is working on a security update.
In the advisory, Microsoft said the vulnerability "is most likely to be exploited through removable drives." It added that, for systems with AutoPlay disabled, users would have to manually browse to the compromised folder in the removable drive for the vulnerability to be exploited. Windows 7 automatically disables AutoPlay functionality for removable disks.
Until a fix is issued, Microsoft suggests that icons for shortcuts be disabled, but, as some observers have noted, this is highly problematic in a visual-based interface. Another suggestion from Microsoft is disabling the WebClient service used for WebDav, which, for SharePoint users, could also be a problem.
The vulnerability affects all currently supported Windows versions. These include XP Service Pack 3, XP Pro x64 Edition Service Pack 2, Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2, Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems, Vista Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2, Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2, Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2, Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2, Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2, Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems, Windows 7 for x64-based Systems, Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems, and Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems.
XP Service Pack 2 and Windows 2000 are no longer supported by Microsoft, so a patch for those operating systems isn't...
Wed, 21 Jul 10
Facebook Scores Below IRS, at Level of Disliked Airlines
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74403
Although Facebook is rapidly approaching 500 million members, a new survey indicates consumers aren't too pleased with the social-networking site. According to an American Customer Satisfaction Index report, Facebook's score fell well below rankings achieved by some of the world's top portals, search engines, and online news sites.
Among the four social-media web sites added to the annual survey released Tuesday, Facebook came in third with a score of 64 on the ACSI's 100-point scale and only one point higher than rival MySpace.
"Facebook is a phenomenal success, so we were not expecting to see it score so poorly with consumers," said Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results, which supports the production of the ACSI report founded by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "At the same time, our research shows that privacy concerns, frequent changes to the web site, and commercialization and advertising adversely affect the consumer experience."
Overall, the Internet social-media category generated an average ACSI score of 70, versus 77 for Internet portals and search engines, and 74 for Internet news and information. "Social media has become too big to ignore, so we added it to our list of e-business measures," said Claes Fornell, ACSI founder and a professor of business at the university. "We are quite surprised to find that satisfaction with the [social-networking] category defies its popularity."
Wikipedia led the social-networking category with an ACSI score of 77, followed by YouTube at 73. By contrast, Facebook and MySpace scored consumer satisfaction levels that were even lower than IRS e-filer web sites, researchers said.
What's more, Facebook and MySpace ranked in the bottom five percent of all measured private-sector companies and in the same range as airlines and cable companies -- two perennially low-scoring industries with terrible customer satisfaction, Freed observed. "Compare...
Wed, 21 Jul 10
Ocarina Purchase Gives Dell Storage-Optimization Tech
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74402
In a move to beef up its networking business, Dell has signed an agreement to acquire Ocarina Networks. With the purchase, Dell gets access to storage-optimization technology -- including compression and deduplication -- that promises to reduce data-management costs and streamline operations for its EqualLogic customers.
Ocarina offers what's called "content-aware optimization technology" that reduces storage space demands by reducing redundant data. The market for this product class is driven by the exploding volume of data from the Internet, e-mail and images even as requirements to retain data get stricter. The technology works to reduce the costs of disk capacity, network bandwidth, power and cooling, data-center space, and management.
"Content-aware deduplication allows us to provide a true global approach to deduplication across the data center and has a tremendous ripple effect of cost savings that frees up budgets for strategic investments," said Brad Anderson, Dell senior vice president of the enterprise product group.
Dell pointed to the "virtual era" and its strategy to drive an open and integrated approach to data management as a key reason for the Ocarina purchase. The company said Ocarina deduplication technology complements its EqualLogic solutions. Ocarina CEO Murli Thirumale said the Dell acquisition will bring deduplication technology to "not only primary storage, but also to key storage work flows, including backup, replication, migration and tiering."
Photobucket, a customer of both Ocarina and Dell, is excited about the possibilities. James Goss, vice president of operations at Photobucket, sees the opportunity for Dell to take Ocarina's technology and expand capabilities for the online photo site's business, which manages billions of unique image files that consume petabytes of storage.
"Ocarina solutions are reducing our storage footprint by over 40 percent, over and above the existing JPEG compression, which is making a big impact on our storage and networking costs," Goss said....
Wed, 21 Jul 10
Amazon Sells More E-Books Than Hardcover Copies
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74385
The Kindle is dead. Long live the Kindle. That seems to be the current flavor of the iPad versus Kindle e-book battle.
As Apple prepared to launch the iPad, complete with an e-bookstore, some pundits questioned whether it would cripple the market-leading Kindle. Amazon.com's latest numbers offer a clear answer. Amazon announced that Kindle sales grew each month in the second quarter -- both on a sequential month-over-month basis and year over year.
"We've reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle -- the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "In addition, even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format. Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books -- astonishing when you consider that we've been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months."
The U.S. Kindle Store has a much broader selection than Apple's effort, with more than 630,000 books. The catalog includes new releases and 106 of 110 New York Times best sellers. More than 510,000 of these books are $9.99 or less, including 75 best sellers. More than 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available to read on Kindle.
Over the past three months, Amazon reports selling 143 Kindle e-books for every 100 hardcovers. And over the past month, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon has sold, it has sold 180 Kindle e-books. This is across Amazon's entire U.S. book business and includes sales of hardcover books where there is no Kindle edition. And that's not counting free Kindle books, either. Amazon said if it included the freebies, that number would rank even higher.
Amazon's e-book news...
Wed, 21 Jul 10
UltraViolet Locker Would Put Entertainment on Any Device
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74384
Buy a movie and then watch it from virtually any device. That's the vision behind the launch of UltraViolet, a "digital locker" for movies, TV shows, and other entertainment, announced Tuesday by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem LLC (DECE).
The consortium of nearly 60 companies said UltraViolet is intended to complement physical DVD and Blu-ray markets. A consumer will be able to access the purchased content from the UltraViolet digital store via connected TVs, PCs, game consoles, smartphones, tablets and other devices. A token is stored in the digital locker, certifying the user's proof of purchase of a specific piece of content.
The concept is being compared by DECE to an ATM, where bank accounts can be accessed from a wide variety of cash machines. A key driver is Apple's growing hold on content, with Apple-defined specifications defining the devices that will play the content.
DECE President and Sony Pictures Entertainment CTO Mitch Singer said the goal is to establish UltraViolet as the "symbol for digital entertainment -- one that gives consumers the freedom of access wherever they are, the confidence of knowing how it will work, and the broadest choice of content, stores and devices." He added that the name was chosen because UltraViolet is "outside the visible spectrum, but it's all around you and it's ubiquitous."
A cloud-based UltraViolet account will include a Digital Rights Locker and account management. The account can be created free via one of the participating service providers, or through the UltraViolet web site. Purchases and rentals are then made through the account.
DECE said technical specifications, such as a proposed common file format and licensing details for companies who want to participate, will be available later this year. A retail test is scheduled to begin by the end of 2010. One cost situation to be...
Wed, 21 Jul 10
Robust Tech Firm IPOs Revive Hope in Market
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74378
The strong performance of two technology IPOs Friday, which came despite a big tumble in the stock market, is rekindling hope that the capital markets can fund the growth of companies.
p
Shares of business analytics software company Qlik Technologies Inc., based in Radnor, Pa., rose 29 percent to $12.88. Shares of RealD Inc., a Beverly Hills, Calif., company which makes glasses and projectors for viewing movies in 3-D, jumped 25 percent to $20.04
p
The two companies spiked despite a 2.4 percent tumble in the Standard Poor's 500, while the Dow Jones industrial average lost 223 points. Shares tumbled after a big slide in a measure of consumer confidence and disappointing bank earnings.
p
The bottom in the IPO market had been reached, said David Menlow, owner of research firm IPOfinancial, because companies and underwriting banks are offering investors shares for less than they would have asked earlier this year.
p
Qlik and RealD both priced above expectations, suggesting there was strong demand for their shares. That's been rare this year, with 46 percent of companies pricing low, according to IPO research firm Renaissance Capital.
p
During the second quarter, companies struggled to raise as much money as they had hoped for, and 17 had to cancel their offerings. Only 39 went public, about half as many as in the second quarter of 2007, before the financial crisis took hold.
p
While big-name companies such as options exchange CBOE Holdings Inc. and electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. amassed double-digit gains on their first day of trading, most companies have struggled this year to trade higher without first giving investors low initial prices on shares.
p
The success of Qlik and RealD will have a spillover effect on the other IPOs that are looking to come forward, Menlow said. It gives a bit more confidence in overall market psychology.
p
Qlik chose to start...
Wed, 21 Jul 10
Avoid a Self-Inflicted Second Recession
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74372
We can all agree that the period since September 2008 has been rough for everyone. Yes, it can be difficult to put your best foot forward when you're going through hard times. But seriously, folks.
p
Since the recession began, one or another of our family members has gotten married, bought and furnished a home, had a baby, sent a child off to college, started a new business, and experienced major storm damage to the roof of a home. As a result we've dealt with lots of different retail stores, service providers, contractors, suppliers, and the like. In those dealings, we've noticed a peculiar pattern. Our customer experience has frequently been bad. Unusually bad. As in: the worst since your humble columnists first became adult consumers some 30 years ago. These experiences were not merely disappointing and frustrating, but surprising -- given that this is when you might think companies would gladly go the extra mile to secure scarce revenues.
p
What exactly do we mean by bad?
p
-- How about the carpet store that never returned the six calls we made? The message we left each time was: We'd like to place our $5,000 order now.
p
-- The home improvement store that refused to let us take home a second tile sample within a 7-day period? We had bought $3,000 worth of tile after taking home the first sample.
p
-- The 1:40 delivery time -- a full 60 minutes beyond the promised delivery time -- from our (formerly) favorite pizza chain? This experience was enhanced by our being told every 20 minutes that the driver had left the store 15 minutes ago and should be there any minute. The delivery driver's explanation when he finally arrived: Well, we're busy tonight.
p
-- The brochure printer who said it was just too hard to accurately match the colors in...
Wed, 21 Jul 10
Good Gaming Laptops Need Quality Graphics
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74371
The dominant role of the workplace PC is slowly giving way to the ever-present laptop, as people begin to favor mobile computing over fixed-place work.
p
That trend has, until now, mostly centered upon the workplace because, as interested as gamers might have been in laptops, the size of laptops' displays and the quality of their graphics cards have proven too insurmountable a hurdle.
p
Thus, while laptops have proven fine for less computing-intensive activities like surfing, email and photo viewing, the leap into graphics-intensive gaming has often meant either giving a laptop a major makeover or risking intense disappointment. And even those makeovers cannot promise complete satisfaction.
p
But now, there is hope for gamers who want to take their games on the go.
p
Some major, established laptop manufacturers have developed laptops for gamers. But there are also options from lesser-known manufacturers like Schenker, Deviltech or Alienware, which specializes in gaming notebooks and was recently purchased by Dell.
p
Such gadgets usually weigh about three kilograms and have displays measuring a relatively generous 43 to 46 centimeters.
p
But on-the-go gaming still faces one major limitation. You can just forget the battery life with these devices, says Florian Muessig of the German computer magazine c't. Most of them run through their charge after about an hour and a half.
p
This means there's no hope of ever finishing that new 3D shooter game on your next plane trip. And adapters for gaming netbooks tend to be bulky, so even if you're traveling on a train where you can plug in, the experience can still be a nuisance.
p
The advantage is that a gaming laptop takes up much less space than a PC. That can be helpful if you get children and suddenly have to turn your hobby room into a kid's room, says Daniel Visarius of Gamestar, a gaming magazine.
p
Experts say a notebook's...
Wed, 21 Jul 10
The iPad as a Global Travel Companion
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74370
Should I or should I not? Owners of the Apple iPad are faced with the question of whether it is worth their while taking the gadget with them every time they decide to go on holiday. The iPad can be a useful friend on the road but it is limited in what it can do for globetrotters.
p
You are sure to be the target of envious looks if you pull an iPad out of your bag at the airport and while you kill time by watching a movie or reading an online newspaper. Your neighbor with a smart phone can do the same but it is not quite as good as on an iPad.
p
The best thing about the iPad is its large screen, says Michael Jarugski from Giata, a content provider for the tourist industry. The screen has a resolution of 1024x768 pixels which means it provides a great way to display information compared to smaller smart phones. Looking at the screen is quite like reading a book.
p
A few publishers are providing iPad versions of their newspapers and magazines. Project Gutenberg has thousands of copyright-free books to download and Apple's iBook store has all of the latest publications. According to Apple spokesman Georg Albrecht, there are over 15,000 books in the store right now.
p
Joerg Wirtgen has learned to appreciate the iPad as a useful companion on the road. Wirtgen is a journalist at the German computer magazine c't and lists the iPad's plus sides as its light weight, its compact size and its low noise level. The iPad also does not heat up like a laptop and its battery can store a charge big enough to get you to your destination on an intercontinental flight. It also fits nicely onto the small seat tray on a plane.
p
It's a very good gadget...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
Rackspace, NASA Launch Open-Source Cloud Platform
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74383
Hosting provider Rackspace announced Monday that it's opening the software code for its cloud infrastructure. "Cloud technology will never look back," the company proclaimed on its web site, adding that the OpenStack open-source cloud platform will create new technology standards and cloud interoperability. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will add its Nebula cloud technology to the initiative.
The key goal of OpenStack, according to its organizational web site, is "to allow any organization to create and offer cloud-computing capabilities using open-source software running on standard hardware."
NASA's Nebula is an open-source cloud-computing project that provides an alternative to data centers for NASA scientists and engineers. Nebula was first developed in 2008 at the NASA Ames Research Center, and it will become the cornerstone for the OpenStack initiative.
Two initial projects are OpenStack Compute, for automatically creating and managing large groups of virtual private servers, and OpenStack Storage, for creating "redundant, scalable object storage using clusters of commodity servers to store terabytes or even petabytes of data." Storage is expected to be released in mid-September, and Compute is targeted for mid-October.
The code is freely available under an Apache 2.0 license, which allows anyone to run it, build on it, or submit changes back to the project. The Storage project is based on code from Rackspace's Cloud Files, which provides unlimited online storage and serving of files and media. Compute, based on Rackspace's Cloud Servers software and on NASA's Nebula technologies, provisions servers for staging and production.
NASA's Chief Technology Officer for IT Chris Kemp said NASA and Rackspace "are uniquely positioned to drive this initiative based on our experience in building large-scale cloud platforms and our desire to embrace open source." Both organizations said they are currently using OpenStack technologies to manage "tens of thousands"...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
Google To Sell Last Shipment of Nexus Ones In U.S.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74382
Want a collector's item? Consider a Nexus One smartphone, while supplies last. Once the search giant sells out its most recent shipment of the critically praised but sales-challenged handset, it will become a rare find for American consumers.
"This week we received our last shipment of Nexus One phones," Google announced on its official blog Friday. "Once we sell these devices, the Nexus One will no longer be available online from Google. Customer support will still be available for current Nexus One customers. And Nexus One will continue to be sold by partners, including Vodafone in Europe, KT in Korea, and possibly others, based on local market conditions."
The announcement comes about two months after Google announced it was giving up its unique approach of trying to market the HTC-manufactured Nexus One only online. Buying the phone unlocked for $529 allowed customers to choose their own carrier, while a subsidized version was available for $179 with a two-year T-Mobile contract. Plans to sell the Nexus One at major retail outlets evidently did not materialize.
Google was long believed to be planning a Verizon Wireless version of the Nexus One, but announced in April that it would not. Instead, it recommended the Droid Incredible, also made by HTC and also based on the Android mobile operating system.
The inability for people to see what they were buying beforehand in a store, rather than rely on reviews, might have killed the Nexus One.
"People want to see and test the phone," said wireless analyst Ken Dulaney of Gartner Research. "Also, [Google] didn't work with the [carriers] on this, and that didn't work out. Apple made the same mistake on their first version [of the iPhone]."
The January launch of the Nexus One came after months of speculation that Google, after designing a winning operating system...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
Nine More Countries Will Be Markets for Apple's iPad
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74381
Apple's iPad is slated to become available in nine more countries around the world later this week. The gadget maker said Monday that buyers in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Singapore will be able to purchase all iPad models through Apple's retail stores and authorized resellers on Friday.
On May 28, the iPad became available in Western Europe's five biggest market -- France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom -- as well as in other countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan and Switzerland.
"I have not seen any public numbers on iPad sales for Europe, but anecdotal evidence showed a strong launch with sales favoring the 3G version over the Wi-Fi-only," said Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi. "Operators have been very keen to introduce iPad tariffs that offer quite a bit of flexibility -- from 250MB to 1GB downloads at prices that go from as little as Ł2 ($3) a day to Ł25 ($38) for 1GB in the U.K.
p
subhead
A 3.2 Million Prediction
/subhead
p
On June 22 Apple said it had sold more than three million iPads during the iconic device's first 80 days of availability. In response to the announcement, analysts at Piper Jaffray said they view the iPad as a long-term investable theme as well as a reason to buy Apple shares. We also believe investors are underappreciating the global opportunity of the iPad as the 'Mac for the masses,' analysts Gene Munster, Michael Olson, and Andrew Murphy wrote in a research note.
p
Piper Jaffray currently forecasts that Apple will report sales of about 3.2 million iPads when the company announces financial results for the June-ended quarter on Tuesday. Given the strong early sales trends announced by Apple, we are raising our calendar year 2010 iPad estimate from 6.2 million to 7.5 million, Munster,...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
Google Buys Metaweb To Better Compete with Bing
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74368
Google continued its acquisition spree Friday, snapping up a company that it hopes will set the stage for continued improvements to its search results by better understanding queries and web pages. Analysts said Metaweb could help Google shore up areas where Bing and Yahoo have gained ground.
p
Metaweb maintains an open database of things in the world called Freebase. It's a collection of collaborative knowledge from many different sources. Freebase set out to create a global resource for people and machines to access common information. Now Google will leverage it for internal use to help searchers answer questions.
p
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
p
subhead
Competing with Bing
/subhead
p
This acquisition is about creating more structure around the way Google presents content on search-results pages, according to Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. All the search engines have their version of one box or smart answers, Sterling noted, and Yahoo and Bing have done more than Google in this area.
p
Metaweb gives Google technology and personnel to pull together disparate content from many sources into a more coherent presentation around a concept, place, personality and so on. It also gives Google Freebase, an open database of content that it can further develop as part of the overall plan to present richer information in search, Sterling said.
p
Google will not be able to retain its dominant position in the market over time if it continues to simply present lists of links, he added. The company's acquisition of Metaweb signals it wants to provide more structure and depth to the information it offers users.
p
subhead
Freebase Plans
/subhead
p
Jack Menzel, director of product management for Google, said with efforts like rich snippets and the search-answers feature, Google is just beginning to apply its understanding of the web to make search better. He pointed to examples such as typing Barack Obama...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
Hey Steve, Rivals Say Their Antennas Are Just Fine
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74367
At Apple's press conference Friday about the iPhone 4's antenna problems, CEO Steve Jobs said devices made by HTC, Research In Motion, Samsung and others also had reception problems. Now those manufacturers are countering that charge.
p
On Monday, HTC issued a statement that its model mentioned by Jobs had 35 times fewer complaints than the iPhone 4. Apple should face its own problems, HTC's Chief Financial Officer Hui-Meng Cheng said.
p
subhead
RIM Doesn't 'Need To Use a Case'
/subhead
p
RIM said Apple's attempt to draw RIM into Apple's self-made debacle is unacceptable, adding that RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4. RIM added that its customers don't need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity.
p
Samsung, whose Omnia II was cited by Jobs as having comparable reception problems when held in certain ways, said its phones employ an antenna-design technology that optimizes reception quality for any type of hand-grip use.
p
Although Motorola wasn't named directly, that company's Co-CEO Sanjay Jha said Friday that it's disingenuous to suggest all phones perform equally. He added that Motorola's tests found its Droid X performs much better than iPhone 4 when held by consumers.
p
On Friday, Jobs appeared at a hastily called press conference at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., to respond to complaints about signal loss on the best-selling iPhone 4 when a user's skin touches the lower left corner, a situation which some in the press are dubbing Antennagate. Jobs said Apple will offer free bumper cases to every iPhone 4 customer, or a refund for any case already purchased. In addition, consumers can get a full refund for the return of undamaged iPhone 4s.
p
Jobs also said antenna complaints have only been received by one-half of one percent of iPhone 4 users, and return rates are less...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
Nokia Siemens Buys Motorola Wireless Towers Business
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74366
Nokia Siemens Networks said Monday it agreed to acquire most of Motorola's network equipment business in a $1.2 billion cash deal. Nokia Siemens is eyeing the assets to expand its opportunities in North America and Asia.
p
In the deal, Nokia Siemens expects to gain relationships with more than 50 operators and strengthen relationships with China Mobile, Clearwire, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and Vodafone. Nokia Siemens also expects the acquisition to enhance its position in key wireless technologies, giving it a large global footprint in CDMA.
p
Rajeev Suri, CEO of Nokia Siemens Networks, said Motorola's customers will still get support for installed bases, as well as a clear path for transitioning to next-generation technologies. Nokia Siemens, he continued, will see the benefits of a deal that is expected to enhance profitability and cash flow and to have significant upside potential.
p
subhead
Motorola's Networked Reach
/subhead
p
That upside is, in part, market share. Nokia Siemens expects the acquisition to thrust it into third position in terms of wireless-infrastructure vendors in the United States, first in Japan, and second globally.
p
Motorola's networks infrastructure business offers products and services for wireless networks, including GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, WiMAX and LTE. It's a market leader in WiMAX, with 41 contracts in 21 countries. Motorola also boasts a strong global footprint in CDMA with 30 active networks in 22 countries, along with a GSM installed base of more than 80 active networks in 66 countries and traction with LTE early adopters.
p
Bosco Novak, head of customer operations at Nokia Siemens, said as customers look to transition from CDMA networks to next-generation technologies, the addition of the Motorola business will position the company to meet those needs. Verizon, for one, is giving the deal a nod.
p
Verizon views today's announcement as good news for the global wireless industry, said Richard Lynch, executive vice president and CTO...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
Web Site Uses Google Earth To Offer 3-D Views of Hawaii
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74362
A new Web site backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar says it will offer potential visitors to Hawaii the ability to view hotels, shops and tourist attractions in three dimensions and from different angles in an interactive virtual tour.
p
Team Vision Virtual launched 3DHawaii.com on Thursday, promoting the Web site as the next generation travel-planning and booking tool.
p
The company has signed up three dozen hotels and stores, which can be viewed on the site along with almost 2,000 beaches, museums and other tourist attractions -- from Kilauea volcano on the Big Island to Saint Damien's grave on Molokai and the Duke Kahanamoku statue in Waikiki.
p
Hawaii is the first of 10 states for which the Honolulu-based company plans to build a similar 3-D portal incorporating Google Earth technology. The popular software program provides access to the world's geographical information through digital maps, satellite imagery and Google's search tools.
p
Bruce Polderman, product manager for Google Earth, said 3DHawaii's use of Google Earth technology is impressive and called the Web site an innovative approach to vacation planning.
p
Viewers can virtually fly around computer-generated images of hotel exteriors, and the free Web site provides access to photos and videos of hotel lobbies, rooms, swimming pools and other features.
p
Craig Carapelho, CEO of Team Vision Virtual, said the idea came when Google released software about two years ago that made its Google Earth program Web-based.
p
We thought, 'Wow, this is our opportunity to create Hawaii in 3-D, where you can click on everything, whether it's a restaurant, an activity, a beach, a park, a hiking trail, he said.
p
The Web site links to the hotels' own booking sites, although 3DHawaii.com will not immediately offer a method of comparing hotel prices.
p
The difference between 3DHawaii.com and established travel Web sites such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz is its breadth of information about Hawaii...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
AMD Beats Expectation, Whittles Second-Quarter Loss
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74361
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shrank its second-quarter loss on reviving sales of computers that use its chips and a wrenching effort to shed costs that's lasted years.
p
The results were better than analysts had expected, and AMD's stock rose 4.7 percent, or 35 cents, to $7.76 in extended trading.
p
AMD would have made money were it not for a loss related to its investment in factories it used to own but were spun off into a separate company a year ago.
p
The numbers come two days after AMD's main rival, Intel Corp., reported the highest revenue and profit margins in the company's 42-year history. AMD's chips are inside 20 percent of the world's personal computers and servers. Intel supplies nearly all the rest.
p
Intel cited bigger corporate spending on PCs and servers that use expensive chips -- an encouraging sign for the semiconductor industry that shows technology budgets are being reinflated. But many analysts are worried that economic turbulence in Europe could upset the computer industry's resurgence over the past year.
p
AMD's CEO, Dirk Meyer, said customers in Europe and China have been reluctant to build their stocks of chips because of fears that demand might wane. But AMD hasn't seen any signs of a slowdown that would cause it to change its financial forecast, Meyer said.
p
AMD's net loss was $43 million, or 6 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 26. Excluding items, AMD would have earned 11 cents per share. On that basis, analysts expected profit of 6 cents per share.
p
Revenue was $1.65 billion, an increase of 40 percent over last year. Analysts expected $1.55 billion.
p
A closely watched measure of profitability, AMD's gross margin, rose to 45 percent of revenue. Last year it was 37 percent.
p
The company expects third-quarter revenue to rise in line with seasonal trends. Analysts expect $1.66 billion.
p
AMD, which...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
NPD Group: Video-Game Sales Decline Again
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74359
Summer doldrums weighed on the video game industry in June, with U.S. retail sales of hardware, software and accessories down 6 percent from a year earlier, to $1.1 billion.
p
Market researcher NPD Group said Thursday that sales of game software tumbled 15 percent to $531.3 million. Analysts were generally expecting a smaller decline.
p
Hardware sales climbed 5 percent to $401.7 million. NPD Analyst Anita Frazier said Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 saw unit sales increase notably from a year earlier. Although Nintendo's handheld DS was the month's best-selling game system, the Xbox 360 surpassed Nintendo's Wii with the number of units sold.
p
June was unusual in that software sales fell while hardware sales increased, said Jesse Divnich, an analyst with Electronic Entertainment Design and Research. Last month's discrepancy, he added, could have resulted from people replacing older consoles with new ones. The Xbox also got a boost from a new model put out by Microsoft last month -- one that's smaller, sleeker and has a bigger hard drive.
p
As in May, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.'s Red Dead Redemption for the Xbox 360 was the month's best-selling title. The game is now the best-selling game of 2010, NPD said. Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii was in second place. And in an unusual showing for a game based on a movie, Toy Story 3 from Disney Interactive Studios, a unit of The Walt Disney Co., also made it in the top 10.
p
There has been a downward trend (both in quality and sales), for movie based games, Divnich said. The presence of 'Toy Story 3' shows that as long as you focus on quality, there is certainly a consumer base for these types of games.
p
Total industry sales for the year through the end of June were down 9 percent to...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
Google Expansion Helps Economy, Hurts Stock Price
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74356
Google Inc. is doing its part to stimulate the economy and hurting its stock in the process.
p
With its payroll swelling at the fastest rate in four years, some of Google's expenses are climbing faster than its revenue.
p
That's creating a drag on its earnings, which is pulling down the Internet search leader's stock price.
p
Consider Google's second-quarter results released late Thursday. Both net income and revenue rose 24 percent from the previous year, but that didn't impress investors because the earnings missed the target set by analysts.
p
Google shares dropped $23.32, or 4.7 percent, in Friday premarket trading. The stock had closed Thursday at $494.02 and declined in extended trading.
p
Here's the main reason for the earnings letdown: Google is spending more to maintain its commanding lead in Internet search while it also tries to diversify by developing products in other promising niches such as online video, mobile devices and computer operating systems. To help achieve its goals, the company added nearly 1,200 employees in the second quarter to end June with more than 21,800 workers.
p
Google, based in Mountain View, has hired nearly 2,000 workers through the first half of the year, putting it on pace to add the most people to its payroll since 2006 when it ushered in 6,100 new employees in 12 months.
p
The European debt crisis also worked against Google in the April-June period.
p
Investors are worried the euro will crumble if governments in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy default on their perilously high debts.
p
Those fears hurt Google because about one-third of the company's revenue comes from Europe, and customer payments made with the euro translated into fewer dollars than a year ago. Even so, the currency squeeze wasn't as severe as some analysts anticipated.
p
The dollar seems more likely to weaken than Google's commitment to bring in more engineers and sales representatives...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
It May Be Time To Check Back Into Tech Stocks
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74351
Back in 1999, money managers trumpeted technology stocks, arguing that soon there would be microchips in everything from credit cards to Toyota accelerators, and they were right. Unfortunately, they were also about 10 years too early. But today, tech companies are booming, despite a lousy economy and falling prices. It's not a bad time to take another look at the tech sector, provided you have an exit plan in place.
p
Technology is a broad sector, and where you decide to invest in tech depends, to some extent, on your outlook for the economy as a whole. If you're an optimist, and you feel that the world economy is going to grow more rapidly than expected, then you should consider investing in companies that make semiconductors -- the brains of modern computers -- or even in semiconductor equipment makers, which make the machines that make computer chips.
p
Semiconductor companies tend to be depressingly cyclical: They soar as the economy picks up, but eventually overproduce, leaving them with a pile of unwanted chips as the economy hits its downturn.
p
So far this year, the cycle has been up: Many semiconductor companies, such as Intel, have seen record earnings as the economy has recovered from the worst of the recession. Driving the semis: Strong demand for consumer electronics, particularly smartphones. A lot of these technology purchases, such as new computers and phones, have become necessities, says Ryan Jacob, manager of the Jacob Internet fund.
p
Businesses, too, have started to replace their aging technologies with new machines. There gets a point where you can only push off the upgrades for so long, Jacob says. They're really necessary purchases at this point.
p
Strong demand, even in a sluggish economy, augurs well for chipmakers. What Jacob finds particularly compelling about semiconductor companies now is that they are getting higher profit margins,...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
How To Boost Productivity -- and Watch More Reality TV
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74350
My life changed the other night.
p
It was 10:00. I was sitting in front of my living room TV watching a baseball game. And, as usual, I was catching up on my company's daily paperwork. My wife came in the room and took the remote from me. She switched the channel to Bravo and together we watched The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
p
My life has never been the same.
p
I was riveted. Who wouldn't be? Ashley, who is Jacqueline's 19-year-old daughter, got into a fight with Danielle and -- can you believe this -- ripped out some of her hair extensions in front of everyone. At a benefit party, no less. Danielle was understandably upset. The police got involved. The husbands got involved. I got involved.
p
This show makes the Sopranos look like English royalty. I must see more episodes, but the only way I'm going to be able to do this is to get more work done during the day. I need to be more efficient if I'm going to make The Real Housewives of New Jersey a major part of my life.
p
How am I going to do this? With good, productive small business technology.
p
subhead
A Social Network of Your Own
/subhead
p
First, I'm going to cut down on the number of service calls my people are answering and try to get my clients to answer their questions faster. The more we work online, the more time I'll have to watch Teresa and Jacqueline complain about Danielle. I'm going to get my webmaster to install a gadget from Chat4Support or Zopim on my Web site so clients can chat with us online rather than wasting valuable TV time yapping on the phone. And instead of running into my high school friends on Facebook, I'm going to create my company's own social network on Ning or...
Tue, 20 Jul 10
Microsoft Cofounder Allen To Donate Most of His Billions
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74348
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen pledged Thursday to donate the majority of his 13.5-billion-dollar fortune to charity.
p
Allen's pledge came just weeks after his former business partner, Bill Gates, and legendary investor Warren Buffet both called on other billionaires to commit to giving away at least half their fortunes.
p
I want to announce that my philanthropic efforts will continue after my lifetime, said Allen, who has already given about 1 billion dollars to charity over the years.
p
I've planned for many years now that the majority of my estate will be left to philanthropy to continue the work of the foundation and fund non-profit scientific research.
p
As our philanthropy continues in the years ahead, we will look for new opportunities to make a difference in the lives of future generations, said Allen, 57, in the statement.
p
Allen is the 37th richest man in the world, with 13.5 billion dollars in assets, according to Forbes magazine. He founded Microsoft together with Gates in 1975 and left the company in 1983.
p
Allen was diagnosed in November with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and began chemotherapy.
p
Paul has finished his treatments and as of now has no current medical issues, said David Postman, a spokesman for Vulcan Inc, Allen's investment group.
Sun, 18 Jul 10
Verizon Says Heavy Demand Caused Droid X Shortages
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74346
The Droid X. It was heralded as Motorola's opportunity to gain market share in an ultra-competitive smartphone market where leading devices are sold out.
The only problem is, it's also sold out -- at least in many parts of the country and online. The shortages break a Verizon promise to have plenty of Droid Xes in stock. Verizon has issued a statement about the shortage, along with an update on when consumers can get their hands on the latest Motorola device:
"This has been a very good day one for Droid X sales. Customers were in line at midnight in some markets, in other places there were lines when the stores opened, and in other stores there has been a steady stream of customers. We have been successful at keeping up with early demand, but at present inventory in some parts of the country is either low or out. (It truly varies around the country.) Since we have weekly shipments planned, customers can still order phones and can expect them to be shipped on or before July 23."
The Droid X sells for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year contract. Some believed the availability could be incentive enough for Android fans to pick up what has been hyped as a best-in-class Android device. And apparently it was, though there are no official reports on how many Droid Xes sold on the first day.
Despite the Droid X shortage, it does appear that Verizon will have the Motorola device in stock before Apple fulfills its iPhone 4 back orders, before Sprint Nextel fills its HTC EVO 4G back orders, and before Verizon gets more HTC Droid Incredibles back on store shelves. The HTC EVO 4G is sold out indefinitely.
Despite Verizon's promises, Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current...
Sat, 17 Jul 10
Jobs Offers Free Cases, Scolds Media for 'Antennagate'
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74364
Apple's last-minute press conference drew scores of journalists Friday to hear the iPhone maker's fix for what could go down in company history as "Antennagate." A rumored recall won't happen, but the always-confident Apple CEO Steve Jobs did offer a solution to the much-hyped antenna issue: Free bumper cases for every iPhone 4 and a refund on cases already purchased. Consumers who purchase the iPhone 4 through Sept. 30 are eligible for the fix.
Apple is also offering to give consumers a full refund for undamaged iPhone 4s returned -- with no restocking fee. Finally, the company issued a software update that fixes the way the signal-meter bars appear and other bugs.
"Apple did what they needed to do. They put one of their best corporate assets on the job -- Steve Jobs. He was on vacation in Hawaii earlier this week and he came back for this," said Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group. "This was a problem that Apple had to deal with way beyond just an open letter from Steve on the web site."
Jobs opened the press conference with a presentation that highlighted similar reception problems with competing smartphones. He denied a Bloomberg report alleging that Apple knew about the antenna issue before rolling out the iPhone 4 to market, calling the article "a crock." Jobs also gave journalists an up-close look at Apple's $100 million test facility complete with 17 anechoic chambers.
According to Apple's data, people are reporting better reception with the iPhone 4 antenna than ever before. Jobs noted that only one-half of one percent of iPhone 4 users have called AppleCare to complain about the antenna or reception. And iPhone 4 return rates are a mere 1.7 percent -- less than a third of iPhone 3GS returns. Finally, the iPhone 4...
Sat, 17 Jul 10
Apple Offers Free Cases To Alleviate iPhone 4 Problems
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74363
Apple Inc. will give free protective cases to buyers of its latest iPhone to alleviate the so-called "death grip" problem in which holding the phone with a bare hand can muffle the wireless signal.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the giveaway Friday during a news conference at the company's headquarters, even as the company denied that the iPhone 4 has an antenna problem that needs fixing. The more than 3 million people who have already bought the iPhone 4 and new buyers through Sept. 30 will all be eligible.
People who already purchased the $29 "Bumper" cases will be refunded.
Jobs began the event by saying, "We're not perfect," but was quick to point out that no cell phone is perfect. He played a video showing competing smart phones, including a BlackBerry from Research in Motion Ltd., losing signal strength when held in certain ways.
Phones usually have an antenna inside the body. In designing the iPhone 4, Apple took a gamble on a new design, using parts of the phone's outer casing as the antenna. That saved space inside the tightly packed body of the phone, but means that covering a spot on the lower left edge of the case blocks wireless signal.
Consumer Reports magazine said covering the spot with a case or even a piece of duct tape alleviates the problem. It refused to give the iPhone 4 its "recommended" stamp of approval for this reason, and it had called on Apple on Monday to compensate buyers.
On Friday, in the company's first remarks following the magazine's report, Jobs said Apple was "stunned and upset and embarrassed."
Jobs said the iPhone 4's antenna issue isn't widespread. He said just over five out of every thousand users have complained to Apple's warranty service, and less than 2 percent have returned the device.
"We're not feeling right...
Sat, 17 Jul 10
Microsoft COO Kicks Windows Vista To Knock iPhone 4
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74347
Remember how Microsoft vigorously defended Windows Vista as a good product despite strong criticism and slow adoption by IT departments? Looks like even Microsoft didn't believe its words, either.
At this week's Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner said Apple's iPhone 4 problems "might be [Apple's] Vista." There seems to be a trend there since Turner is the same guy who said at last year's conference that Windows 7 had real momentum -- unlike Vista.
In his address to the Microsoft faithful, Turner appeared to be stoking the old rivalry between Microsoft and Apple. He promised that users of Windows Phone 7 Series devices won't have to worry about how they hold their phones. Reports have Apple's iPhone 4 suffering signal loss when the innovative antenna comes in contact with human skin.
Noting the market's strong adoption of Windows 7, Turner said, "We're back in the game with Windows Phone 7. Our customers are going to vote by what they buy, but clearly we've done it once, we're going to do it again."
That comment, of course, ignores the fact that Microsoft is behind in a competitive mobile market with Apple and Google's Android operating system moving up fast. A Nielsen study of the first quarter found that Microsoft lost two percent of the mobile market while Apple and Google each gained two percent.
Microsoft has also dropped its ill-fated Kin phones aimed at the youth market and suspended sales of the once-popular Sidekick line it inherited from subsidiary Danger.
In addition, Microsoft is scrambling to get developers interested in creating apps for Windows Phone 7. As we previously reported, Todd Brix, a senior Microsoft director, reportedly said the company is offering financial incentives, including income guarantees, and free tools and test phones to get developers on board.
Microsoft reportedly has just 246...
Sat, 17 Jul 10
iPhone-Like Droid X Sells Out Online and at Verizon Stores
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74345
Motorola's Droid X flew off the shelves at Verizon Wireless stores and online on its launch day Thursday, filling a growing demand for high-speed touchscreen smartphones that has been gold for manufacturers and the nation's top carriers. Despite assurances that the new device would be in ample supply after a predecessor, HTC's Droid Incredible, ran short at launch in April, Verizon's web site told shoppers Friday that July 23 is the earliest their orders will ship. Shortages were also reported at Best Buy stores.
Verizon spokesperson Brenda Rainey told us Friday that the shortage affected only some areas of the country and Verizon has regularly scheduled inventory deliveries to ensure there will be adequate supplies.
Asked if the company underestimated demand, Rainey said "this is a retail business, and like most retail businesses we do our best to predict and estimate demand and order appropriately. But there is always an unknown factor that equates to popularity, and in this case the [Droid X] is extremely popular."
She declined to speculate on whether competitor Apple's highly publicized troubles with its iPhone 4, which has signal problems tied to its unusual antenna design, may have helped the Droid X, whose design and features are similar.
"People make decisions about what phone they want for all kinds of reasons," she said. "When people walk in the door at Verizon, they've chosen a network. I can't comment on how things like that influence their decisions. You have to ask the customers."
The Droid X features one of the largest touchscreens available, 4.3 inches, and, unlike the iPhone, supports Adobe Flash-based graphics. While it doesn't have a slide-out keyboard like the original Droid, it does have more physical buttons than the iPhone. It also has HDMI output and an eight-megapixel camera, compared to iPhone's five.
The Droid X went...
Sat, 17 Jul 10
Russian Man in Spy Probe Was Microsoft Employee
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74337
A 23-year-old Russian man who became the 12th person taken into custody in the recent spy ring investigation made two trips to the United States, both times going to work for Microsoft in low-level jobs.
Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said Wednesday that Alexey Karetnikov interned at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, from June until late August 2008, then returned to Russia.
Gellos said that last year the same group at Microsoft that Karetnikov worked for on his first trip hired him as an entry-level software tester.
According to the Microsoft spokesman, the company has reviewed Karetnikov's activities and is confident that the Russian did not compromise software, the company's internal resources or its customers.
Though he lived for a while little more than a dozen miles (some 20 kilometers) from one of the Russian agent couples who pleaded guilty and were deported, FBI agents never found any connection between Karetnikov and the couple, Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills.
Zottoli and Mills, whose real names are Mikhail Kutsik and Natalia Pereverzeva, moved to Virginia last October, the same month that Karetnikov re-entered the United States to take the full-time Microsoft job.
Federal immigration authorities took Karetnikov into custody in Seattle on June 28, the day after the arrests of Zottoli, Mills and three other Russian agent couples who infiltrated suburban America and who were deported last week in exchange for four people convicted of betraying Moscow to the West.
Karetnikov was deported Tuesday. Federal law enforcement officials said they investigated his activities thoroughly and that had the U.S. government been able to bring a criminal prosecution against him, it would have. The officials say that to date, they have uncovered no evidence that he possessed, retained or passed on sensitive or classified information.
Sat, 17 Jul 10
FCC Seeks More Wireless Spectrum for Mobile Internet
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74336
Federal officials are beginning work on a comprehensive inventory of the nation's radio spectrum in hopes of finding more capacity for wireless high-speed Internet connections.
Federal Communications Commission Julius Genachowski said his agency is working closely with the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration to catalog current spectrum usage.
The FCC oversees spectrum allocated to commercial wireless carriers, as well as state and local spectrum uses. The NTIA manages spectrum use by federal agencies such as the Defense Department.
The FCC and NTIA hope to identify airwaves that could be reallocated for wireless broadband services, including the cutting-edge 4G services now being rolled out by the big mobile carriers. The agencies also hope to promote wireless services that rely on unlicensed spectrum, such as Wi-Fi.
The spectrum inventory marks the first step toward implementing one of the key recommendations in the FCC's national broadband plan: a proposal to free up another 500 megahertz of spectrum over the next 10 years. The wireless industry currently holds roughly 500 megahertz of spectrum.
The FCC says more airwaves are needed to keep up with ever-growing demand for sophisticated mobile applications accessed through laptops and smart phones such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone. The FCC plan also envisions wireless as a way to bring high-speed Internet access to remote corners of the country where phone and cable companies do not offer landline broadband connections.
The FCC's spectrum proposal has the backing of the White House, which has also called for a spectrum inventory. Congress, too, is working on legislation that would mandate a spectrum inventory.
Genachowski outlined the FCC's plans in a letter Wednesday to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
Sat, 17 Jul 10
Tech Spending Fuels Global PC Shipments
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74335
Market research group IDC said Wednesday that worldwide shipments of personal computers climbed 22.4 percent in the second quarter as businesses replaced aging computers and consumers continued to show interest in inexpensive laptops.
The growth was half a percentage point less than IDC predicted because of slightly lower PC shipments in the U.S. and Asia. IDC analyst Loren Loverde said the group will likely reduce estimates for the current quarter and the rest of the year slightly, but he still calls the industry's performance in the quarter "quite good."
Businesses that stopped buying new technology during the worst of the recession have started replacing PCs, IDC says. That contributed to the rise in the quarter.
But Loverde said that doesn't mean the industry should expect to see a dramatic surge in demand for PCs in the coming months. As PC processors become more powerful, it's not as critical for many businesses to furnish employees with the most up-to-date technology. As a result, more companies are hanging on to older computers longer and replacing them on an as-needed basis, the analyst said.
In all, PC makers shipped 81.5 million computers in the quarter. Hewlett-Packard Co. remained the top computer maker in the world, followed by Dell Inc. and Acer Inc. Lenovo Group Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and AsusTek Computer Inc. rounded out IDC's top-six list.
Consumers still sought out low-end laptops and netbooks -- computers that are even less expensive, but also less powerful. However, Loverde said consumer PC buying seems to be slowing in the U.S. as big business spending picks up.
That has helped Dell overtake Acer and reclaim the No. 2 spot. Dell relies on corporations for much of its business, while Acer is more focused on consumers.
In the U.S., PC shipments rose 12.6 percent. HP, Dell and Acer were the top three. No. 4...
Sat, 17 Jul 10
Samsung Commissions Chip Cancer Safety Study
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74333
Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has commissioned an independent health and safety review of its semiconductor factories in South Korea after employee illnesses and deaths raised fears of cancer risks.
The yearlong investigation will be carried out by a team of leading occupational health and safety experts "who will be given complete access to Samsung's semiconductor manufacturing facilities," the company said in a statement.
Suspicion of a possible link between cancer and high-tech manufacturing is not new and concerns are not confined to semiconductors or Samsung. The global technology industry has been beset by lawsuits and investigations over the years.
In one high-profile case, a U.S. jury ruled in 2004 that IBM Corp. was not responsible for cancers that developed in two former employees at a disk drive plant. The suit claimed that harsh factory chemicals caused the illnesses.
Samsung Electronics Co. announced its plans for the health and safety review in April, though did not offer concrete details. It has been attempting to allay public anxieties after a January lawsuit against a workers' compensation agency involving six people who developed leukemia and lymphoma they claim was caused by exposure to radiation and the carcinogen benzene in Samsung's chip factories.
Chip manufacturing requires numerous chemicals. Benzene has been frequently used as a solvent in the industry, though Samsung says it has never employed it.
Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung says that between 1998 and this year 25 chip plant workers were diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma and 10 died, according to spokesman James Chung. The company said in April that there was no risk of contracting cancer at its semiconductor facilities.
Samsung, a major force in the global electronics industry, is the world's largest manufacturer of computer memory chips, flat screen televisions and liquid crystal displays.
"We have assembled a group of well-respected international experts to ensure this is...
Sat, 17 Jul 10
Malware Scams Target Pop-Culture Headlines
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74326
It's an Internet scam that really sucks. At least that's how computer security officials describe a new online threat tied to the latest "Twilight" vampire movie.
It's what's known as "headline malware" -- malicious computer software that pounces on current hot topics circulating on Internet search engines, whether it's World Cup matches, Michael Jackson's death or scandalous celebrity news.
"There's no end to the number of scams," said Stephanie Edwards, of PC Tools, a computer security software company. She called the recent "Twilight" scam "vampire bytes."
"When you go online to search for the latest gossip of your vampire heartthrob, underneath that search is a very nasty fake anti-virus threat that tells you to download a fake fix -- and pay for it, no less," said Edwards.
Headline malware is typically a ruse to infect your computer, steal passwords or dupe you into buying phony anti-virus software. Sometimes it infects Facebook accounts, using malicious software known as "koobface" that sends out phony messages to your Facebook friends.
David Marcus, director of security and research for McAfee, said the massively popular appeal of the "Twilight" movie makes it "a very attractive lure" that attracts cybercriminals.
He advises being cautious of any unsolicited e-mails, such as invitations to download movie clips or vote for your favorite "Twilight" actor.
Make sure your computer's security software is updated and scans daily for viruses, he said.
Sat, 17 Jul 10
No Strong Evidence Points To Cell Phones As Hazard
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74311
Health experts say there's no consistent evidence that cell phone radiation emissions pose a medical risk.
The most significant long-term study to date -- a 13-country analysis initiated in 2000 and published in May by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer -- found that cell phone users overall had no increased risk for glioma or meningioma, two common brain tumors.
The new study found a slight increase in brain tumors in a tiny subset of people who used cell phones six to 12 hours a day. Authors cautioned not to make too much of that finding, because they found it hard to believe that people really spent that much time on the phone, says Peter Inskip an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute.
Analyses based on small subsets like these are notoriously unreliable, says Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.
But he notes that "we've never studied" potential problems that could arise from more than 10 years of cell phone use. And since all previous studies have focused on adults, Brawley says scientists need to study long-term cell phone use by children, whose brains are still developing.
Brawley notes that it's really hard to study long-term effects of technology that's constantly evolving. Today's phones emit much less energy than phones in the late 1980s and early '90s, he says.
A European study, launched in March, will attempt to answer some lingering health questions by following 250,000 people for 20 to 30 years.
Scientists say radiation from cell phones is different than the kind known to cause cancer -- called ionizing radiation -- which is emitted by X-rays, nuclear bombs or even the sun. Mobile phones emit radio-frequency energy, or radio waves, a form of electromagnetic radiation also used by radios and TVs through their antennas, according to the NCI.
Unlike...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
T-Mobile's Version of Samsung's Galaxy S Debuts Early
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74344
One of four new Android-based Samsung super handsets hit the market via T-Mobile stores Thursday, going head-to-head with Motorola's Droid X in what is likely to be a busy few months in the smartphone wars.
The design of the Samsung Vibrant, a variant of the Galaxy S, is drawing comparisons to Apple's iPhone because of its thin shape -- at 9.9mm the Galaxy is the thinnest Android phone -- and rounded corners, but the four-inch touchscreen is actually bigger than the iPhone's 3.5 inches.
"I don't see it as a clone," said analyst Michael Gartenberg of the Altimeter Group. "The Vibrant is one of the variants of the Galaxy S that's hitting all four carriers. Most phones today use some variant of the iPhone layout, as the iPhone was a variant on what came before it. I don't think there's more to it than that."
The Vibrant is available for $199 with a two-year plan and a $50 rebate, or without a plan for $499. A data plan is required for smartphone features. The Vibrant has a five-megapixel camera and a one-gigahertz Hummingbird processor. The first Android phone to feature Bluetooth 3.0, it ships with 16 gigabytes of memory with an expansion slot to add up to 32 more gigabytes.
T Mobile is describing the display as "stunning Super AMOLED," an active matrix organic light-emitting diode, a technology in which South Korea-based Samsung is a leader. To show off its display, the phone ships with the top-grossing, sci-fi film Avatar ready for viewing.
It also has pre-loaded apps for Amazon's Kindle and a game, The Sims 3, a suburban-life simulation game published by Electronic Arts. An app for MobiTV is also included, with the media-streaming service available for $9.99 a month.
The Vibrant is one of four versions of the i9000 Galaxy...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
Old Spice Guy Extends Advertising Beyond Social Media
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74343
Old Spice hasn't issued any press releases lately. It doesn't have to, with the success of the Old Spice Guy. His face is plastered across television, movie theaters (before the film starts), and now YouTube.
Isaiah Mustafa, better known as the Old Spice Guy, is the centerpiece of what some are calling one of the most brilliant ad campaigns ever -- and that was before he became a social-media sensation. Mustafa, who presents himself in commercials as the perfect man, is now responding directly to questions from Twitter and Facebook followers via 30-second videos posted on a YouTube channel.
"The campaign has two magical ingredients. One is a very silly, but charismatic, individual spokesman. The second is the vehicle that allows him to interact with people," said Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Current Analysis. "When I look at this, I see the barriers that exist between corporations and consumers tumbling down. It's as if Mustafa is just some other schmo on the Internet engaging with his fans."
Even social media's mavens are giving Mustafa the nod -- or receiving a nod from him. Twitter cofounder Biz Stone tweeted Tuesday night about how he was cracking up at Mustafa's videos. Mustafa also made a video specifically for Digg cofounder Kevin Rose, who apparently was under the weather. But the bigger hit has been interacting directly with his new fans.
One fan wanted Mustafa to adopt him. In his charismatic flow, Mustafa made a video response in which he explained, "I'm not allowed to adopt fully grown men due to some law about that being weird and entirely creepy and weird. But if you are, by chance, an unborn or baby infant child then yes, I will adopt you unborn and/or baby infant child. Please send along the official paper pieces to my home...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
With iOS 4.1 Out, Apple Hastily Calls Press Conference
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74342
What will Apple say or do? Those questions, frequently asked by technocrats, took on a new urgency Thursday with word that the company has hastily called a Friday press conference about the iPhone 4 at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.
Its newest iPhone is a huge hit, with more than 1.7 million sold in the first three days, but there are continuing complaints about signal loss when the iPhone 4 is held in a certain way. The complaints reached a high point this week when Consumer Reports said the signal-strength problems are real, that it couldn't recommend the device because of that issue, and that it was Apple's obligation to do something about it.
There's a small cottage industry of Apple watchers debating what Apple's next move will be. Some, such as RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky, say there is now a "higher probability" than previously that Apple will announce a recall or a repair. Others have said that a full recall is unlikely, given estimates that a full product recall could cost the company as much as $1.5 billion.
But some observers contend that a recall is what is needed to protect Apple's most important asset -- its brand. Other suggestions include providing a "bumper" phone case for every owner, which Consumer Reports said effectively fixes the problem. Other phone manufacturers, such as Research In Motion and HTC, commonly provide one.
Meanwhile, a new report from Bloomberg News Service indicates that Apple CEO Steve Jobs knew that the iPhone 4's antenna design could lead to dropped calls. Bloomberg said Ruben Caballero, a senior engineer and antenna expert, warned the company's management during the device's early development of possible problems because of the way the antenna was designed. The news service said it received this information from "a person familiar with the matter."...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
Survey Predicts Biggest Jump in Smartphone Sales
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74340
Smartphones are about to undergo their biggest boom yet. According to a new survey released Wednesday from ChangeWave, the next 90 days will see "the most extensive growth in consumer smartphone sales" that the market researcher has ever recorded.
The survey of 4,028 customers found that 16.4 percent are planning on buying a smartphone in the next three months. This compares with 10.8 percent when the survey was last conducted in March. ChangeWave said the big leap forward is being driven by sales of Apple's iPhone and HTC's Android smartphones, to the detriment of Motorola and Research In Motion.
An impressive 52 percent of respondents who will be buying a smartphone in the next 90 days will choose an iPhone. This huge leap since the previous survey in March -- an increase of 21 percent -- is largely driven by the demand for Apple's new iPhone 4, which was released in June.
HTC phones were the other big choice. Seven percent more respondents said they were going to choose a HTC smartphone than in the previous survey, bringing the figure to 19 percent. Motorola declined to 9 percent from 16 percent as the choice of buyers, and RIM plunged to 6 percent from 14 percent. The market researcher described RIM as "the biggest loser."
ChangeWave pointed out that Motorola peaked in the last survey in March at 16 percent, and at 13 percent in the previous survey in December, so the market demand for Android appears to be shifting from Motorola to HTC's Droid Incredible, EVO 4G, and other models. However, Motorola could fight its way back up with the new Droid X, which went on sale Thursday.
Palm, which is now owned by Hewlett-Packard and expected to undergo another metamorphosis, is registering under one percent in the survey of buyers'...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
Droid X Launches on Verizon Amid Smartphone Shortage
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74322
Amid shortages of the summer's most popular smartphones, Motorola launched its Android-powered Droid X on the Verizon Wireless network Thursday. The once-dominant handset maker hopes to gain some traction by offering what HTC and Apple can't: Availability.
The Droid X is available online and in Verizon stores for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year contract. Indeed, availability may be incentive enough for some customers to pick up what has been hyped as a best-in-class Android device.
"One would think that Verizon would use the smartphone shortages as an opportunity to convert some folks waiting for the Droid Incredible over to the Droid X," said Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group. "At the same time, Verizon should try to capitalize on the negative publicity Apple has had lately to try to get folks who have been on the fence about the iPhone to switch to the Droid X."
The Droid X promises ultra-high-speed web browsing with a one-GHz processor. The device is also equipped with 3G Mobile Hotspot capabilities, social-messaging features, and, of course, access to the Android Market. Droid X users can also tap into Verizon applications like NFL Mobile, Skype mobile, V CAST Video, and EA Need for Speed Shift.
With a 4.3-inch high-resolution screen, Droid X users can watch Blockbuster On Demand content via V CAST Video. The Droid X video capabilities include a dual-flash, eight-megapixel camera and HD camcorder, as well as DLNA and HDMI connectivity to download, stream and share HD content.
Despite shortages of the HTC Incredible, the HTC EVO 4G, and the iPhone 4, the Motorola Droid X is not an automatic hit. In fact, Gartenberg made clear that the Droid X is not for everyone. Some customers may not like the large screen. Others may not prefer the Android...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
New Law Spotlights Cell-Phone Radiation
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74313
People already grapple with complicated information when they buy mobile devices. But San Francisco consumers soon will face one more consideration -- cell phone radiation -- as the result of a precedent-setting law that delights public health advocates and enrages the wireless industry.
The city recently passed the nation's first local ordinance that requires retailers to post radiation-emission data.
"There's enough information out there that long-term (cell phone) use may increase the risk of certain kinds of cancer," says Mark Westlund, spokesman for the San Francisco Department of the Environment. "We believe consumers have a right to know" which devices are most and least risky.
Supporters hope San Francisco's initiative will blossom into a national movement. For example, manufacturers may see low radiation as a selling point once consumers find it easy to compare emission levels. Other lawmakers could pass their own versions of the ordinance.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, is preparing a federal bill that would require manufacturers to note on packaging how much radiation models emit. It also would create a national research program to determine what levels should be deemed safe.
"I'm sure the (wireless) industry will be fighting this," says Renee Sharp, director of the California office for the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy group. "But we do think a major conversation has been started."
Chatter about the issue likely will take off in February when retailers in San Francisco will be required to include, in displays near each phone, the maximum amount of radiation that the model emits. That's measured in what's known as the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), which reflects how much energy human tissue absorbs from a device's electromagnetic waves.
Manufacturers already report that information to the Federal Communications Commission, which limits wireless devices to an SAR level of 1.6 watts per kilogram of tissue. But the FCC...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
The Small Business Jobs Bill: What Does It Mean To You?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74312
I don't have much in common with my friend Rob.
Rob (I'm changing his name here so he won't yell at me) owns a 60-employee roofing company near me in Oreland, Pa. I run a 10-person information technology consulting firm. Rob has tattoos snaking up both of his arms. I have a mosquito bite on my left shin. Rob spends his days outside, in all weather, climbing up buildings and trading dirty jokes with his guys. I operate inside a climate-controlled, windowless room, drinking green tea and chatting with tech support in India.
Although we're different in many ways, Rob and I do share something significant: Our small companies are almost completely unaffected by the small business jobs bill pending in Congress. Both of us face politicians and bureaucrats who claim to know what our problems are and then pass weak, election-year legislation to fix them. We appreciate their good intentions. But they're not solving our problems.
The bill, passed by the House in June and being debated by the Senate this week, would lift taxes on capital gains for investors who buy a small company's stock between now and the end of the year. Rob may have a few people lining up to buy that Harley he recently refurbished, but there's no waiting list of investors looking to sink money into his little roofing company.
And the bill would allow businesses to "carry back" tax credits to offset taxes paid on prior years' earnings. Considering the state of the economy, let alone the construction and computer industries over the past few years, Rob and I haven't been seeing a whole lot of earnings either. Sure, we've made profits, but not so much that either of us would really benefit from this. So to us, that's meaningless too.
Rob and I are...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
Hulu Plus Challenges Cable, But Is It Worth the Price?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74310
You can find a lot to like about Internet video services such as Hulu's new Hulu Plus, especially when you compare them with the traditional ways of watching movies or television shows at home.
Instead of being at the mercy of what's on the air at that moment, what you can find at the local video store -- if you still have one -- or what you remembered to record, you can choose from a wide variety of videos and watch them instantly. And instead of paying huge monthly fees for dozens of channels and shows you never watch, you can pay a la carte for your favorite shows on Apple's iTunes and similar services, pay less than $10 a month to watch a large variety of digital videos from Netflix, or watch a large collection of advertising-supported videos from YouTube, Hulu and other sites for free.
In the past, the big problem with Internet video services was that they were difficult to tune in if you weren't sitting in front of your PC. But that has changed.
Last month, Hulu became the latest Internet video service to take a step beyond the PC, announcing the launch of Hulu Plus, a subscription-based service for a variety of mobile and living-room-based devices, including Apple's iPhone and iPad, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, as well as Internet-connected televisions and Blu-ray disc players from Samsung, Sony and Vizio.
The new service, which costs $10 a month, also offers a much greater variety of videos than Hulu offers for free. Hulu's free site typically offers only a season or two of older television shows and just five or so episodes of shows that are currently on the air. Hulu Plus, though, offers the entire runs of shows such as "Arrested Development" and all the episodes aired thus...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
A Swift Transition To Electronic Medical Records
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74308
The Obama administration on Tuesday rolled out an ambitious five-year plan for moving doctors and hospitals to computerized medical records, promising greater safety for patients and lower costs.
Starting next year, doctors' offices and hospitals can get federal money to help defray the costs of the systems, which can run to millions of dollars for hospitals. Providers who don't comply by 2015 will face cuts in Medicare payments.
Federal incentive payments for doctors and hospitals to buy computerized systems could reach $27 billion over 10 years, and that's only a fraction of what technology vendors stand to take in. It's hoped the investment will streamline the delivery of medical care, yielding long-run savings.
Patients get the benefit of systems that can warn doctors before they make a mistake -- prescribing a drug that could cause a severe reaction, for example. And there's also the convenience of being able to access records online.
The move by the Health and Human Services Department came with the release of two regulations hundreds of pages long. The main one described how doctors and hospitals can qualify for federal money by acquiring systems that meet certain "meaningful use" standards. A companion rule outlined how the systems will be certified.
Initial reaction from key interest groups was guarded. As lawyers pored over the text of the regulations, the American Medical Association said it was withholding judgment. The American Hospital Association said it is concerned about several aspects.
Federal officials said they tried to address doctors' complaints that the initial draft of the rule asked them to do too much, too quickly. More than half of family doctors practice in groups of four or fewer. A majority of small and medium offices have opted not to adopt electronic records because of costs and unresolved questions, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
David...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
Tech Recovery Fuels Intel's Best Profit in a Decade
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74304
The last time Intel Corp. pulled in profit this big, dot-com delirium was in full swing and Internet fever fueled spectacular computer sales.
Now, as the technology industry recovers from a slump caused by the financial meltdown, the world's No. 1 semiconductor company has reported its biggest quarterly net income in a decade on signs of vibrancy in the most troubled corner of the computer market.
Intel shares shot up $1.19, or 5.7 percent, to $22.20 in morning trading Wednesday.
Large corporations are now buying more computers that use Intel's most expensive chips, an encouraging sign for the overall economy that emerged from Intel's second-quarter numbers, which were reported Tuesday after the stock market closed. Corporations have been stingy on upgrading their workers' personal computers, a trend Intel is now seeing reverse. Intel gets most of its profit from the sale of chips that go into PCs.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini said companies are starting to replace 4- and 5-year-old PCs now that they have some "breathing room in the economy and their budgets." Intel has unique insight because it owns 80 percent of the worldwide market for microprocessors, the "brains" of PCs and servers.
The numbers offer further evidence that companies are freeing their technology budgets, which should have helped other big technology companies. Intel's main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., reports its quarterly results on Thursday, while IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. issue their numbers next week.
Intel's results topped Wall Street's forecasts, and the company raised its guidance.
Intel's net income was $2.89 billion, or 51 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 26. Analysts expected 43 cents per share. The last time Intel's quarterly net income topped $2.5 billion was in 2000 during the dot-com heyday.
In the year-ago period, Intel lost $398 million, or 7 cents per share, when it paid a...
Fri, 16 Jul 10
Motorola Reportedly in Talks with Nokia Siemens
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74302
Motorola Inc. is in talks with Nokia Siemens Networks to sell off its telecommunication equipment business, according to a report citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
A Motorola spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday morning.
The Wall Street Journal said the companies are discussing terms, and citing an unnamed source, said a deal could be worth between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion.
Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola has been trying to turn its business around by focusing on new smart phones such as the popular Droid. It is working to split its cell phone business from the rest of the company.
The unit that Motorola reportedly is in talks to sell makes equipment for telecommunications networks.
Nokia Siemens is a joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG of Germany. The company also declined to comment on the report.
Shares of Motorola rose 31 cents, or 4 percent, to $7.52 in morning trading.
American Depositary shares of Nokia slid 3 cents to $8.53.
Thu, 15 Jul 10
Microsoft Is Providing Goodies for Phone Developers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74321
As it prepares to launch a new series of smartphones later this year, Microsoft is betting big on new mobile applications to make them more fun and functional. The software giant, itching to gain traction in the phone market after some recent setbacks, says it is wooing developers to increase its inventory of games and other programs for Windows Phone 7 Series devices.
A senior director at Microsoft, Todd Brix, told Bloomberg's Businessweek that the company is offering financial incentives, including income guarantees, and free tools and test phones to get developers on board.
It's not uncommon for software and hardware companies to solicit developers, and most offer development kits, but developers are usually paid from the proceeds of downloaded apps once they are approved for marketplaces such as Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market.
Apple is by far the king of the app market with more than 225,000 apps, while Google's Android offerings recently reached 65,000. Microsoft has a meager 246, Businessweek reported. Both Apple and Google are seeing growth in the smartphone market while Microsoft saw its handsets dip. A Nielsen study of the first quarter found that Microsoft lost two percent while Apple and Google each gained two percent.
After its youth-oriented Kin phones failed and it suspended sales of the once-popular Sidekick line inherited from subsidiary Danger, Microsoft will need to ramp up the user experience in its newcomers.
"They may get some [developers], but the momentum is clearly in Apple's and Android's court, especially in the mobile space," said wireless analyst Kirk Parsons of J.D. Power and Associates.
He noted that the struggle for Microsoft is to show that its smartphone OS is not just a miniaturized version of Windows for PCs. "Until Microsoft has a viable OS platform, it's not going to attract the...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
Consumer Reports Puts iPhone 4 Responsibility on Apple
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74320
Following its widely publicized decision earlier this week to say it could not recommend Apple's iPhone 4 because of signal-strength problems, Consumer Reports is not backing down. On Tuesday, the nonprofit organization again posted that "it's the company's responsibility to provide the fix -- at no extra cost to consumers."
CR added that Apple has an obligation "to offer a product that works consistently and reliably out of the box." Apple has said that users should try to avoid holding their iPhone 4 so that the antenna signal is weakened, or they might buy a $30 case to shield the device.
But the problem isn't going away for Apple. Its stock price dropped about two percent on Tuesday, and a variety of industry observers have raised the possibility of the company issuing a product recall.
One analyst, Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research, speculated that a full product recall could cost Apple as much as $1.5 billion.
In a posting on its Electronics Blog on Monday, Consumer Reports had said it could not recommend the popular device because it has a signal reception problem.
"It's official," the posting by the organization's Mike Gitas said. "Consumer Reports' engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception."
Gitas said when a finger or hand touches a spot on the lower left side of the device, "the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal." Because of this, he wrote, Consumer Reports "can't recommend the iPhone 4."
Consumer Reports noted that a piece of duct tape or "other thick, non-conducive material" over the antenna gap fixes the problem. Gitas noted that the engineers' conclusion was reached after testing three different iPhone 4s, which...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
Observers Question Search Gains by Bing and Yahoo
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74319
Bing and Yahoo gained search-market share in the United States during June, according to the latest figures from comScore. However, some industry observers are questioning the firm's methodology.
Though Google sites led the U.S. search market last month with a 62.6 percent share, searches at Yahoo and Microsoft sites rose 0.6 percentage points to 18.9 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, comScore said. On the other hand, comScore said Yahoo and Microsoft have been experiencing gains in part because of their reliance on contextual approaches that tie content and related search results together.
"By providing search results that are highly relevant to the content being consumed by a user, properties like MSN and Yahoo can provide intuitive and convenient content-discovery experiences," wrote Cameron Meierhoefer in a comScore blog. "Also, by providing search results in context across their network, those sites are able to leverage the size of their audience to expose more users to their search services."
Some industry observers have questioned the wisdom of including contextual searches as part of comScore's monthly totals, since they are offered to search users without being requested specifically. For example, an investment commentary at The Motley Fool called comScore's practice of counting them in its reports "a sham."
The web-metrics firm says it recognizes that context-driven searches are inherently different experiences compared to traditional web search queries and intends to refine its methodology accordingly. "We will aim to implement proposed revisions in the third quarter -- ideally starting with the release of July data in the first half of August," Meierhoefer wrote.
According to Net Applications, which said it doesn't differentiate standard search referrals from context-driven searches, Google racked up a 84.96 percent global market share in June, more than a percentage point lower than in April.
"We do agree that Google's competition is gaining...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
Amazon Web Services Offers Supercomputer Scaling
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74318
Amazon.com, the retailer who wants to offer everything, is now adding supercomputers to its inventory. More precisely, its Web Services LLC announced on Tuesday Cluster Compute Instances for Amazon EC2, specifically designed for on-demand use for high-performance computing.
The company said the pay-as-you-go service is designed for customers who have "complex computation workloads such as tightly coupled parallel processes," or who have applications that are particularly dependent on network performance.
Businesses needing access to this much computing power can do so with the ability to scale on demand, make no upfront investments, and pay only for the service and time used. Amazon said Cluster Compute Instances offers the same kind of functionality as other EC2 services, but substantially more CPU power.
Depending on the use, the service could provide up to 10 times the network throughput of the largest current Amazon EC2 instance types. Cluster Compute Instances can themselves be grouped into clusters, to get low-latency network performance that node-to-node communication might require.
The company said its new service eliminates the cost and complexity of acquiring and operating in-house computer clusters, enables innovation by offering access to such resources within minutes, allows resources to be scaled to the workload, and allows businesses more flexibility in resources.
So that a developer can tune an application by compiling for a specific architecture, Cluster Compute Instances will indicate the processor architecture to be used.
Peter De Santis, Amazon EC2 general manager, told news media that businesses and researchers have used EC2 to run "highly parallel workloads" such as genomics sequence analysis and automotive or financial modeling, but have been telling Amazon that they needed better network performance. That led to the new offering.
He said that, in pre-production tests, an 880-server subcluster achieved 41.82 TFlops on a LINPACK test run....
Thu, 15 Jul 10
$3.8 Billion Suit Charges eBay with Stealing PayPal Idea
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74317
eBay is the target of a $3.8 billion intellectual-property suit. XPRT Ventures filed suit against the online auctioneer in a Delaware U.S. District Court. The suit also names eBay subsidiaries PayPal and Bill Me Later, along with Shopping.com and StubHub.
XPRT claims to hold significant patents covering e-commerce payment systems and methods. The lawsuit alleges trade-secret theft and patent infringement involving six XPRT patents. XPRT asserts eBay stole the idea and method of payment used in PayPal and similar electronic-payment systems.
eBay couldn't be immediately reached for comment, but has said it will defend itself vigorously.
"When you have big numbers like this, typically the plaintiff is looking for a settlement amount that is substantially less. But still, it would undoubtedly be something in the billion-dollar range," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "They are alleging extreme improper behavior, drifting well over into fraud. If this is true, the likelihood that a court would throw the book at eBay is pretty high. Courts have virtually no sense of humor when it comes to fraud. But we haven't heard eBay's side of the story."
The complaint filed by Kelley Drye and Warren, the law firm representing XPRT, alleges that the investors listed on XPRT's patents confidentially shared the patent applications with eBay, along with ideas on how to implement the concepts described in the patents. XPRT alleges that eBay then incorporated those concepts into PayPal, infringing on confidential and proprietary material.
"XPRT claims that eBay's upper management knew, or should have known, that the unauthorized use of inventors' confidential and proprietary material ran the risk of patent infringement if XPRT's patent applications were issued as patents," the law firm said.
According to the complaint, although eBay was aware of the confidential and proprietary nature of the inventors' disclosures, it filed a...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
Sunbelt Software Acquired by GFI
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74301
GFI, maker of software solutions for small and medium-sized businesses including Max Remote Management, has acquired Sunbelt Software, in a deal that will allow GFI to tap into established security software sales and integrate them into its systems email programs.
Sunbelt is best known for its VIPRE antivirus software, which is designed to function well without slowing down your computer, with a focus on screening e-mails. Other products include CounterSpy, Sunbelt Exchange Archiver, CWSandbox, and ThreatTrack.
Details of the deal between Malta-based GFI, whose U.S. operations are based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the Clearwater, Fla.-based Sunbelt, which has about 250 employees were not disclosed. GFI said it is also exploring other strategic partnerships, and will divest itself of a separate Sunbelt division that distributes software, mainly Double-Take high-availability programs.
The companies painted their merged operation as a force to be reckoned with in the fast-growing data security field.
"The technologies developed by both companies are highly complementary and I have a hard time imagining a better combination," said Alex Eckelberry, CEO of Sunbelt Software in a statement. Eckleberry said the two companies are rooted in similar business principles, with similar markets and a commitment to superlative customer service.
GFI's CEO Water Scott said his company had searched extensively for new developers and management teams to expand its product offerings.
"We were impressed by the high quality and innovative technology that underlies Sunbelt's VIPRE line of products and immediately saw strong synergies between the two companies," said Scott. "We have acquired a good, growing and cash-flow positive business that fits well within GFI's strategic vision to consolidate our products and grow our business."
A report in the Tampa Bay Business Journal said Eckelberry and three other top Sunbelt officials, vice president of research and development Mark Patton, chief technology officer Eric Sites and Bill Emerick, senior...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
Microsoft Windows 2000, XP SP2 Reach End of Life
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74300
Microsoft on Tuesday released four security updates to fix flaws in Windows XP, Windows 7, and Microsoft Office. Three of the security bulletins are rated critical and the fourth is rated important.
Of the zero-day vulnerabilities patched Tuesday, Symantec is only seeing one being exploited in the wild. In just the few weeks since the Help and Support Center issue came to light, three public exploits have surfaced -- all using different attack mechanisms, said Joshua Talbot, security intelligence manager for Symantec Security Response. Symantec saw attack activity increasing on June 21, but it has since leveled out.
"Microsoft didn't rate the Outlook SMB attachment vulnerability as critical, but we think it's likely to be exploited," Talbot warned. "It appears fairly simple for an attacker to figure out and create an exploit for, which could cause executable file e-mail attachments, such as malware, to slip past Outlook's list of unsafe file types. A user would still have to double-click on the attachment to open it, but if they do, the file would run without any warning."
Talbot offered a possible scenario that could involve a targeted attack against an organization. In this scenario, he explained, a user could get a socially engineered e-mail with a malicious attachment disguised as something innocuous. Once convinced to click on the attachment, nothing would appear to happen. The user might delete the message and move on, assuming the file to be corrupted. In reality, he said, malware was secretly installed.
As Oliver Lavery, director of security research and development for nCircle, sees it, July's patches are pretty mundane. The most interesting vulnerability for the enterprise is MS10-045, which lets an attacker use a specially crafted UNC path in an Outlook attachment to bypass Outlook's warning about opening potentially malicious attachments.
This is significant, Lavery said,...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
From Texting To Apps, Cell Phones Used for Health
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74291
What if my blood sugar's too high today? Is it time for my blood pressure pill? With nagging text messages or more customized two-way interactions, researchers are trying to harness the power of cell phones to help fight chronic diseases.
"I call it medical minutes," says Dr. Richard Katz of George Washington University Hospital in the nation's capital.
He's testing whether inner-city diabetics, an especially hard-to-treat population, might better control their blood sugar -- and thus save Medicaid dollars -- by tracking their disease using Internet-connected cell phones, provided with reduced monthly rates as long as they regularly comply.
Consider Tyrone Harvey, 43, who learned he had diabetes seven years ago only after getting so sick he was hospitalized for a week, and who has struggled to lower his blood sugar ever since. In May, through a study Katz began with nearby Howard University Hospital's diabetes clinic, Harvey received a Web-based personal health record that he clicks onto using his cell phone, to record his daily blood sugar measurements.
If Harvey enters a reading higher or lower than preset danger thresholds, a text message automatically pings a warning, telling him what to do. And at checkups, doctors will use the personal health record, created by Indiana-based NoMoreClipboard.com, to track all his fluctuations and decide what next steps to advise.
"Hopefully you're paying more attention to your numbers, too," says Howard's Dr. Gail Nunlee-Bland, whose clinic uses an electronic health record -- your official medical history -- that can automatically link to NoMoreClipboard's consumer version and update it with things like medication changes.
The trend is called mobile health or, to use tech-speak, mHealth. If you're a savvy smartphone user, you've probably seen lots of apps that claim to help your health or fitness goals -- using your phone like a pedometer or an alarm clock to...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
China Seeks To Reduce Internet Users' Anonymity
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74289
A leading Chinese Internet regulator has vowed to reduce anonymity in China's portion of cyberspace, calling for new rules to require people to use their real names when buying a mobile phone or going online, according to a human rights group.
In an address to the national legislature in April, Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office, called for perfecting the extensive system of censorship the government uses to manage the fast-evolving Internet, according to a text of the speech obtained by New York-based Human Rights in China.
China's regime has a complicated relationship with the freewheeling Internet, reflected in its recent standoff with Google over censorship of search results. China this week confirmed it had renewed Google's license to operate, after it agreed to stop automatically rerouting users to its Hong Kong site, which is not subject to China's online censorship.
The Internet is China's most open and lively forum for discussion, despite already pervasive censorship, but stricter controls could constrain users. The country's online population has surged past 400 million, making it the world's largest.
Chen's comments were reported only briefly when they were made in April. Human Rights in China said the government quickly removed a full transcript posted on the legislature's Web site. But the group said it found an unexpurgated text and the discrepancies show that Beijing is wary that its push for tighter information control might prove unpopular.
Wang said holes that needed to be plugged included ways people could post comments or access information anonymously, according to the transcript published this week in the group's magazine China Rights Forum.
"We will make the Internet real name system a reality as soon as possible, implement a nationwide cell phone real name system, and gradually apply the real name registration system to online interactive processes," the journal quoted Wang...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
Smartphones Make Mobile Radio Sing
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74285
In an early sign that mobile radio is coming of age, Clear Channel Communications in January sold out its inventory of certain mobile ads. The news came as the nation's largest terrestrial radio broadcaster, with more than 800 stations, was crawling out of one of U.S. radio's deepest-ever advertising slumps.
Traction in mobile ads signals a watershed among radio companies this year: Delivery of content to smartphones is emerging as a major audience-and-revenue driver. Clear Channel's mobile effort is already "meaningfully profitable" less than two years since it launched, says Evan Harrison, president of the digital unit at San Antonio-based Clear Channel. "Mobile is a strategic necessity for us."
By 2015, mobile radio apps that can stream programs onto Apple iPhones, Research In Motion BlackBerrys, and Android devices will generate as much ad revenue for traditional radio companies as will streaming on personal computers, according to consultant SNL Kagan. "Most of the growth in the digital space is going to come from mobile," says SNL analyst Justin Nielson. Terrestrial radio ad sales from streaming to PCs and mobile phones should more than double to $1 billion in 2015, from $480 million last year, according to SNL.
The amount of time consumers spend listening to mobile radio is rising. The average user tuned in to Clear Channel's iheartradio application on an iPhone or BlackBerry for 137 minutes a week in July, up from 120 minutes at the end of 2009, Clear Channel said. Usage has increased as the app improves and content increases, Harrison says. By contrast, the amount of time consumers spend listening to traditional radio has tumbled to four hours a week this year, from 10 hours in 2005, according to consultant Forrester Research.
Advertisers are following the audience. "There's a tremendous amount of interest" in mobile advertising,...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
Travel Sites Take Off With Tools for Deals
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74192
A lot has changed since I reviewed travel Web sites four years ago. Now the best ones reflect the new realities of travel, and offer to include luggage fees in fare calculations. That helps because $15 or $25 applied each way can turn a good deal sour.
My verdict this time: I found TripAdvisor slightly better than Kayak and Bing Travel.
Four years ago, I recommended travel-focused search engines, particularly Kayak, as a one-stop shop for airline deals. These services check multiple sites at once and let you book directly through the airlines. By contrast, online travel agencies such as Orbitz and Expedia did the booking for you -- and tacked on several dollars in service fees.
I'm pleased to say that those fees are largely gone, partly a response to rising competition. Yet after trying all the sites again, I am still sticking with the search engines for their ease of use. Sometimes the search engines still refer me to an online travel agency for the best deal, but at least they've checked around for me.
And I can more easily use the search engines to narrow my choices based on departure times, frequent-flier programs and other criteria.
Before I get into why TripAdvisor was slightly better than Kayak and Bing Travel, I'll note that they all work similarly. Start by typing where you are leaving from and where you are going. Then pick the departure and return dates and hit "search" or "find flights."
You'll get a list of flight options, which you can sort by price and other criteria. If you prefer non-stop flights, you can uncheck boxes for one or more stops. If you need to get there by noon, you can adjust an on-screen slider to eliminate afternoon and evening flights.
Kayak and TripAdvisor let you filter out airlines that aren't part...
Thu, 15 Jul 10
Photo-Archiving Software: Not Just for the Pros
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=73951
Anyone who opts to store their digital pictures on their home computer has two hurdles to jump -- finding a way to store the photos safely while making them easily accessible.
Security dictates that at least one copy of the photos should be stored off the hard drive, either on DVDs or an external hard drive. As for making one's collection accessible, there's always archiving software.
A good archiving program will allow users to store their pictures efficiently and quickly, while making it simple to label them so they can be found easily later, says Nico Barbat of Digitalphoto, a German trade magazine.
It's also important that the program stores the pictures reliably and that it support the RAW file format used by most cameras.
"It's also good if it automatically organizes keywords and metadata, allowing the option to manually set customizations."
iPhoto for the Mac and Picasa are both examples of free archiving programs. Both allow the option to categorize photos as they're stored onto the computer, says Markus Linden of Foto-Magazin, another German trade magazine. For example, a user can create the category "kid's birthday party" before downloading a new batch of pictures, making it easier to find the pictures later.
Like some other programs, iPhoto has a facial recognition function. Linden says it can be a useful feature for hobby photographers, because it's easy to overlook photos, even when they're labeled. "If, for example, the user is searching his collection for a picture of grandma and a grandchild, then this function can be really helpful for finding the right pictures."
For a small investment -- between 50 and 100 euros ($61 and $122) -- there are options like Photoshop Elements and ACDSee Foto Manager, says Linden.
These stand out because of their hierarchical archiving options. Vacation photos can initially be stored in a "Europe" folder,...
Wed, 14 Jul 10
New Yorker Sues Facebook for 84 Percent Ownership
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74296
A New York man has sued Facebook for 84 percent ownership and a court has issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the transfer of the social-networking giant's assets. The suit, filed by Paul D. Ceglia in the Supreme Court of Allegany County in New York at the end of last month, said a contract for web design work with company founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg guaranteed him that share.
Judge Thomas Brown issued the restraining order in early July, and Facebook's lawyers have asked that the suit be transferred to federal court.
Ceglia said the contract with Zuckerberg, dated April 28, 2003, was for Zuckerberg to develop and design a web site. The payment was $1,000, plus 50 percent of the resulting site, and an additional one percent interest in the company for every day after January 1, 2004, that it took for the site to be completed. It's not clear how the 84 percent figure was derived.
The Wall Street Journal said it has seen a copy of the contract, which is for "the purchase and design of a suitable web site for the project seller has already initiated that is designed to offer the students" of Harvard University access to a web site "similar to a live functioning web yearbook with the working title of 'The Face Book.'"
Zuckerberg is identified by the Journal as the seller. The publication also noted that a pre-Facebook site called Facemash was built by Zuckerberg in October and November 2003, and that thefacebook.com domain was registered in January 2004.
Facebook has issued a statement that the suit "is completely frivolous and we will fight it vigorously." The Journal quotes a Columbia University law professor, Victor P. Goldberg, as saying the statute of limitations for contracts in New York is six years.
Wed, 14 Jul 10
Outlook Links To Facebook, Windows Live Messenger
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74295
Microsoft has added Facebook and Windows Live Messenger to the Outlook Social Connector component built into Microsoft Office 2010, giving Outlook users the ability to connect the in-box with the two social networks. Additionally, the software giant unleashed Outlook Social Connector as a downloadable plug-in for the 2003 and 2007 editions of Microsoft Office.
Starting Tuesday, users will be able to stay connected with friends, family and colleagues by viewing their social-network activities within Outlook while perusing e-mail, noted Paco Contreras Herrera, group product manager for Microsoft Office.
"We have partnerships with Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Windows Live Messenger, and we expect that there will be more partnerships with other social providers coming down the pike," Herrera said during an in-house video interview. "Working closely with key partners, including Facebook, our goal is to help you stay in touch with the people you care about and simplify your daily routine," he added in a blog.
LinkedIn and MySpace became available in Outlook Social Connector last winter. The addition of the Facebook and Messenger networks Tuesday reflects Microsoft's commitment to evolve Outlook so it supports the way many people get things done today, Herrera wrote.
"According to the Nielsen ratings, 67 percent of the global online population now goes online to visit social networks and blogs to stay connected, make decisions, and get things done," Herrera wrote. "The Outlook Social Connector doesn't add another social network into the mix; rather, it offers busy people the convenience of accessing them in Outlook."
To get started, Outlook users are invited to go to the Microsoft Download Center to access the available Outlook Social Connector, Facebook and Messenger downloads for the version of Office they currently use. Outlook 2010 users will automatically receive updates to the connector through the Microsoft Update service, Herrera observed.
Outlook Social...
Wed, 14 Jul 10
Azure Appliance Allows Private Clouds for Enterprises
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74293
A new Microsoft Azure platform appliance, unveiled Monday at the company's Worldwide Partner Conference currently taking place in Washington, D.C., allows large service providers and enterprises to manage their own private Azure clouds instead of using Microsoft's servers. The company said this offers "greater physical control, geographic proximity, regulatory compliance, and data sovereignty."
Also announced were strategic partnerships with Dell, eBay, Hewlett-Packard, and Fujitsu to help build and service the private clouds. Microsoft described the appliance as "the first turnkey cloud platform for large service providers and enterprises to deploy their own data centers." The appliance combines Azure and SQL Azure with Microsoft-specified hardware, and is optimized for scale-out applications and data-center efficiency, using as many as tens of thousands of servers.
The Windows Azure platform is a public cloud-computing platform designed to allow businesses to pay only for what is used, scale up when capacity is needed, and let Microsoft handle the maintenance. The platform is designed to be flexible enough to accommodate small companies, independent software vendors, or global enterprises.
Dell said it will use the platform appliance as part of its Dell Services Cloud to create next-generation services for business customers of all sizes. Dell will also develop its own branded version of the appliance for large enterprise, public and hosting customers to utilize in their own data centers.
eBay will use the platform appliance in two of its data centers to better optimize its platform and provide greater agility. Certain applications, such as the site's page for iPad listings, are currently hosted on Azure.
HP said it will work with Microsoft to provide hardware, software, services and sourcing solutions that will help customers move to the Azure platform. HP's customers can manage the appliance on site with HP Converged Infrastructure, or they can choose HP to...
Wed, 14 Jul 10
Popular Smartphones Are in Short Supply This Summer
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74292
CNN has dubbed 2010 the "summer of the smartphone shortage." Indeed, this summer may go down in smartphone history for the record shortages of high-profile mobile devices that consumers are clamoring for.
At the heart of the shortage are three of the summer's most popular devices: The HTC Droid Incredible from Verizon Wireless, the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint Nextel, and, of course, Apple's controversial iPhone 4. There are also iPad shortages.
Would-be iPhone 4 owners are told to wait three weeks for their shiny new device. Verizon is telling customers it will be sometime in August before the Incredible is in stock. The HTC EVO 4G is sold out indefinitely.
Why so many shortages? And does this set the stage for Motorola to steal market share with the Droid X?
According to Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, you have to look at each device individually to determine reasons for the shortfalls. In the case of the iPhone 4, Apple did well out of the gate, fulfilling more than one million units in the first few days, then selling about two million units over the course of the first week. But Apple couldn't keep up with demand.
"In Apple's case, the shortage comes from a combination of incredible demand and possible supply constraints. I don't know how many units Apple could have manufactured in time for launch. But this has by far been the strongest launch for Apple of all time," said Greengart, noting that Apple is facing a similar dilemma with the iPad.
It seems Apple expected strong sales, but not quite so strong, especially for the iPad. With the iPhone 4, the demand was just greater than Apple anticipated.
Then there's the Droid Incredible. HTC is hindered by a constrained supply of screens from its supplier, Samsung....
Wed, 14 Jul 10
Windows Phone 7 Bells and Whistles Lure Developers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74281
Microsoft on Tuesday announced new features and capabilities in Windows Phone 7 Series. The company released a beta version of developer tools for the new mobile operating system Monday.
Windows Phone 7 works to consolidate common tasks and services in shared hubs so consumers don't have to move in and out of their smartphone apps. It's no surprise that Microsoft's search engine Bing is built into the phone.
Every phone that uses the operating system will offer a dedicated hardware button for Bing to give users one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone. And a special implementation of Bing search provides intent-specific results, delivering the most relevant web or local results, depending on the type of query.
"Microsoft is offering a suite of technologies that in many cases developers are using anyway for either web development or Xbox development, and ties to Microsoft services that they've made significant investments in, like mail and Exchange and Bing and even Zune," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. "Microsoft is creating a fairly rich platform. Whether that's enough to entice developers is an open question."
Microsoft has developed what it calls dynamically updated "live tiles" that show real-time content. This flies in the face of traditional static icons that offer stepping-stones to an application. With social networking in mind, the Start screen lets users create a tile of a friend and get a readable, up-to-date view of the friend's latest picture and posts.
Another Windows Phone 7 differentiator is something called hubs. Hubs aim to bring together applications, services and related content from the web into a single view to streamline user tasks. Microsoft has developed six theme-based hubs: People, Pictures, Games, Music and Video, Marketplace and Office. The operating system will come with Zune integration.
As its name...
Wed, 14 Jul 10
iPhone Lawsuit Wins Class-Action Status
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74272
A federal judge says a monopoly abuse lawsuit against Apple Inc. and AT&T Inc.'s mobile phone unit can move forward as a class action.
The lawsuit consolidates several filed by iPhone buyers starting in late 2007, a few months after the first generation of Apple's smart phone went on sale.
An amended complaint filed in June 2008 takes issue with Apple's practice of "locking" iPhones so they can only be used on AT&T's network, and its absolute control over what applications iPhone owners can and cannot install on the gadgets.
The lawsuit also says Apple secretly made AT&T its exclusive iPhone partner in the U.S. for five years. Consumers agreed to two-year contracts with the Dallas-based wireless carrier when they purchased their phones, but were in effect locked into a five-year relationship with AT&T, the lawsuit argued.
The actions hurt competition and drove up prices for consumers, the lawsuit claims.
Apple and AT&T have not commented on the terms of their deal. In its response to the complaint, Cupertino, California-based Apple said it did not hurt competition.
In court documents filed July 8, Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said parts of the lawsuit that deal with violations to antitrust law can continue as a class action. The class includes anyone who bought an iPhone with a two-year AT&T agreement since the device first went on sale in June 2007.
Apple has sold more than 50 million iPhones in the last three years. The company does not specify how many have gone to U.S. customers.
Ware dismissed other claims against Apple, among them allegations that the company broke laws when an update to the iPhone's operating software caused some phones to stop working and deleted programs that users had purchased.
The lawsuit...
Wed, 14 Jul 10
Immigration Can Fuel Innovation and Job Growth
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74271
Arizona may be ground zero for the conflict over U.S. immigration policy, but it takes only a few minutes of watching cable television news and scanning local op-ed pages to see how raw and divisive the matter has become in the nation's political sphere.
Yet with all the heated rhetoric about illegals, border security, amnesty, racial profiling, and other incendiary topics, one aspect of immigration isn't emphasized enough: the job-creating potential of immigrant entrepreneurs. They're the vanguard in America's global competition for entrepreneurial talent and innovative ideas. The nation needs to encourage more entrepreneurs from other nations to call America home. Their energy is the elixir of future economic growth.
Take a recent study by the McKinsey Global Institute on U.S. multinational corporations. In Growth and competitiveness in the United States: The role of its multinational companies, the consulting firm notes that big business comprises less than 1 percent all U.S. companies, yet the 2,270 multinational corporations in its database accounted for 31 percent of the growth in inflation-adjusted gross domestic product from 1990 to 2007. Even more important, U.S. multinational corporations have contributed 41 percent of gains in labor productivity since 1990 -- and 53 percent of the productivity increases during expansions.
The consultants highlight the role immigrants play in bolstering the competitiveness of American multinationals, especially helping the U.S. "lead the world in the number of engineers, scientists, and business professionals who are ready to work in a multinational company."
Specifically, some of the world's brightest brains and cutting-edge innovators come to learn and create in the U.S. -- and they stay. In 2007, for instance, 62 percent of foreign-born nationals who received a science or engineering doctorate remained in the U.S. for at least five years following graduation. That figure is up from 41 percent in 1992. More than 80...
Wed, 14 Jul 10
Choosing the Best Web Designer for Your Small Business
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74270
I'm looking for a Web designer but don't know what criteria I should use to evaluate candidates. Can you offer some advice? -- M.E., Henderson, Nev.
The relatively young marketplace for Web design services can be difficult to navigate, particularly for small business owners who aren't sure exactly what they need in Web site development. "We found that a lot of companies are not very truthful. It's like the Wild West out there. Anyone can work out of their grandparents' house and say they design Web sites," says Gabriel Shaoolian, founder and chief executive of Blue Fountain Media, a Web design and online marketing business based in New York City.
Personal referrals are always a good start for professional services, but once you get a few, do background research on your own. Search on typical keywords and see where -- or whether -- the recommended companies come up: If they can't get their own sites optimized for search engines, they probably won't do a good job on yours, either.
Inquire about designers' credentials and ask whether they belong to a professional association with membership standards. Investigate their Dun & Bradstreet and Better Business Bureau ratings and ask whether they follow W3C international standards for computer coding. If they have done government contracts, those lend additional credibility; public agencies typically vet contractors thoroughly.
You want original, custom content (not templates or cut-and-paste copy) from professionals, so make sure that all staffers on your project have at least five years' experience. Take references with a grain of salt: "What's stopping them from giving you the names of their friends? Better to check out whether they are industry leaders who do speaking and are actively engaged in the community," Shaoolian says.
Once you have some good candidates, ask what specific results they have provided for...
Wed, 14 Jul 10
Summer Gamers Welcome Starcraft II and Aliens
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74269
Computer gamers will be able to dive to the Titanic, go on the offensive in the Caribbean or take a space adventure this summer.
Indeed, the pace of new releases is going to be fast and furious. Starcraft II, coming out in July, is one of the most eagerly anticipated of the pack. After all, fans have had to wait a decade for a sequel.
But there are other options, including Commander: Conquest of the Americas, a trading game; the unusual Titanic: the Diving Simulator; and the off-the-wall Plants vs Zombies.
It's no accident that Starcraft's name is so similar to Warcraft, as both were designed by Blizzard. Both titles have already been global successes.
The first Starcraft game appeared in 1998. It was one of the earliest efforts by Blizzard. The original version of the outer space real-time strategy game shows its age today, especially with its graphics. But the actual gameplay remains a high point of the era.
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is, on first look, a graphically enhanced version of the original. The two-dimensional outer space playing field has become 3D. The point of the game remains to help the various space races -- Protoss, Terrans and Zerg -- achieve victory.
That's accomplished, as in so many games, by building bases and creating battle-ready military units. Blizzard has said most of the action is linked to the Starcraft add-on Brood War, also published in 1998.
Along with single-player mode, there are options for multiple players to compete. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is slated for a July 27 release and should retail for about 50 euros ($63).
Some people might find it strange to manage wars between alien species. For those people, Rondomedia has created Plants vs Zombies, a game that was, until now, only available as a download. Now released as a regular...
Wed, 14 Jul 10
Virtual Personal Networks Allow Secure Internet Passage
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74268
Sometimes it takes a tunnel to provide safe passage from point A to B. The same applies to the Internet.
The solution is a virtual personal network (VPN) for sending secure data packets. The technology is especially popular for people who want to access work computers from home or for university students who need secure access to their academic network.
However, VPN is also gaining popularity among private users. Gamers, in particular, are enjoying the opportunities it creates. Many people also appreciate the privacy it offers against prying eyes.
VPN creates an encrypted connection between a remote computer and an existing network, says Gunnar Troitsch of Chip, a German computer magazine. The VPN essentially integrates the remote computer into the network, letting it operate as if it were on site.
Additionally, data packets sent between the two are safe from snooping, thanks to encryption.
VPN provides significant advantages over unprotected communications via the Internet, says Jens Toelle of the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics (FKIE).
"Users can view the VPN connection as a tunnel leading them through the unsecure space of the Internet."
University students enjoy the technology to access library holdings or more powerful university computers, says Mark Perseke of Netzwelt, an online German magazine. The VPN software installed on the remote computer, also known as the client, provides the user with a new IP address, making the other computer essentially a guest of the university network.
The client must also know the address of the server, which is either publicly accessible or available via a private, individualized key -- the more standard practice.
But Troitsch says private users are starting to embrace VPN, especially because of the way it can be used to link gamers together into one network.
"Gamblers spread across the whole world can come together on one network via VPN to play,...
Wed, 14 Jul 10
Windows XP Service Pack 2 Updates To Cease
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74267
Microsoft this week will stop issuing security fixes for computers running the Windows XP operating system updated with Service Pack 2.
The switch-off will result in hundreds of millions of PCs worldwide, including tens of millions in the U.S., instantly becoming riper targets for hackers.
So-called XP SP2 desktops and laptops are still widely used in corporate networks. A service pack is a collection of feature upgrades and security fixes delivered in a single download.
Microsoft released SP2 in August 2004 mainly to beef up security. Then in April 2008, the company released SP3 with less fanfare, recommending that all XP computers be updated with the latest service pack. Yet more than two years later, thousands of companies worldwide have not done so.
Tech services firm Softchoice recently surveyed 117 financial, health care, manufacturing and educational organizations in the U.S. and Canada. It found eight of 10 organizations continue to use XP SP2 computers widely.
Now security experts worry that companies won't pay much attention to Microsoft dropping all tech support for SP2. "It's a virtual guarantee laggards will miss this deadline," says Dean Williams, services development manager at Softchoice. XP SP2 computers will "become fair game," he says. "There will just simply be more ways to hack in."
Companies can continue to get security updates for XP computers through April 2014 by upgrading to SP3. It's free. Testing and deployment is not trivial but can be automated, noted research firm Gartner. Or they can replace old XP units with new Windows 7 PCs, which Microsoft fully supports.
Microsoft typically issues security fixes, called patches, for freshly discovered flaws on the second Tuesday of the month.
Hackers continually flush out fresh Windows security holes, particularly in the Internet Explorer Web browser. And they are adept at taking control of Windows PCs with unpatched security holes.
Cybercriminals typically activate a...
Tue, 13 Jul 10
Duct Tape Fixes iPhone 4 Woes, Consumer Reports Says
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74277
While tech sites and Apple aficionados are debating the iPhone 4, Consumer Reports magazine has made up its mind. In a posting on its Electronics Blog on Monday, the product-review organization said it cannot recommend the popular device because it has a reception problem.
"It's official," the posting by the organization's Mike Gitas said. "Consumer Reports' engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception."
Gitas added that, when a finger or hand touches a spot on the lower left side of the device, "the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal." Because of this, he wrote, Consumer Reports "can't recommend the iPhone 4."
The good news: The fix is simple, though inelegant. A piece of duct tape or "other thick, nonconductive material" over the antenna gap fixes the problem. At least one class-action suit against Apple over the signal issue has sought free iPhone cases from the Cupertino, Calif.-based company to fix the problem.
Gitas noted that the engineers' conclusion was reached after testing three different iPhone 4s, which were purchased at three separate retailers in the New York area. The tests were conducted in the organization's radio-frequency isolation chamber. A base-station emulator was used to simulate carrier cell towers.
Also tested this way were several other phones carried by AT&T, including the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre. The other phones didn't have the same signal-loss problems. This indicated, CR said, that AT&T's network might not "be the primary suspect in the iPhone 4's much-reported signal woes."
The organization said its findings "call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4's signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software...
Tue, 13 Jul 10
Ballmer Again Promises Windows 7 Tablet Computers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74276
While barely holding its own in the smartphone business after some recent setbacks, Microsoft is embracing the mobile Internet by jumping into the tablet market with both feet, CEO Steve Ballmer declared Monday.
"One of the most important things we'll do in the smart-device category is really push forward with Windows 7-based slates and with Win 7 phones," Ballmer said in his keynote address at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C. "This is a terribly important area for us. It certainly is an area where we feel all the energy, vigor and push to innovate, to drive hard, and compete."
The software giant will provide its Windows 7 operating systems to leading manufacturer partners such as Dell, Samsung, ASUS, Toshiba and Sony, with devices expected by the end of the year.
Those companies may find themselves in a race with manufacturers using Google's popular Android operating system on tablets, such as LG and HTC, according to industry rumors.
In January, Ballmer introduced tablet devices running Windows 7 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that were made by Pegatron, ARCHOS and Hewlett-Packard, none of which have hit the market yet. HP has since dropped its Slate computer concept and has since taken over Palm, which makes it likely the company will market a tablet based on Palm's webOS rather than Windows.
It was Apple's introduction of the iPad in January and its highly successful launch in April that blew open the tablet market, sparking a competitive rush. But devices have yet to emerge that put practicality ahead of fun.
"What happens if the OS companies claim a 'tablet war' and nobody shows up to fight?" asked Jeff Orr, principal analyst of mobile devices for ABI Research. "The media tablet market is not very exciting so far; perhaps an experiment more than...
Tue, 13 Jul 10
BlackBerry Protect Will Back Up, Restore or Wipe Data
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74275
Research In Motion has taken the wraps off a new security app called BlackBerry Protect that will let BlackBerry handset users automatically back up and restore their data. And should a handset ever become misplaced, lost or stolen, BlackBerry Protect provides additional features such as remote device locate, lock and wipe.
Carriers like Verizon Wireless already offer device-management services, and some companies have management software for their corporate-liable smartphones, noted Lisa Pierce, an independent wireless analyst with the Strategic Networks Group. What RIM's announcement does is expand "the market for BlackBerry device management to individuals, small organizations, and even individuals/families who buy phones and services through corporate discounts" but are not protected under corporate-liable plans, Pierce said.
The Blackberry Protect beta slated for release this week will initially be offered by invitation to selected members of RIM's BlackBerry Beta Zone. "If you're a member of Beta Zone and don't receive a download code, you will be able to try it out when it reaches open public beta later this year," said BlackBerry Protect Product Manager Michael Accettura in an interview posted Monday on a company blog.
Beta Zone members who are invited to test BlackBerry Protect will be given the option to back up whatever smartphone data they wish -- from contacts, calendar, memos and tasks to browser bookmarks and text messages.
"You will even be able to choose how often your BlackBerry smartphone is automatically backed up: Daily, weekly and monthly," Accettura explained. "Once the first backup is completed, only incremental data is backed up to reduce data usage."
In the event that a BlackBerry is lost, stolen or damaged, users will be able to wirelessly restore all backed-up data on a replacement device. "So, even though I've lost my BlackBerry smartphone, all of my information can...
Tue, 13 Jul 10
Microsoft's CRM Marketplace Challenges Salesforce.com
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74274
In a move to compete against rival Salesforce.com, Microsoft is making some changes in its customer relationship management (CRM) approach, including a new version of its software and an app store. At the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference on Monday, Microsoft showcased the new bells and whistles in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. The public beta release is scheduled for September, beginning with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.
Microsoft's marketing theme around Dynamics CRM 2011 is "the power of productivity" through familiar, intelligent and connected experiences. Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, boldly declared that the product raises the bar in the CRM market with new levels of productivity for customers and new development opportunities for partners.
One of those opportunities is a store that makes it possible for independent software vendors, global systems integrators, value-added resellers, and other partners to create, package and distribute software extensions and custom solutions in a single environment so enterprises can discover and download them.
Launching in September, the store is called Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace. It's an online catalog of solutions, including industry-specific applications and extensions from both Microsoft and its partners. Microsoft will integrate the marketplace into the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 software for quick access. Salesforce.com already offers a marketplace.
"We are excited to get the new release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The new features will give us even more power and flexibility to create and easily customize CRM solutions to meet the unique business needs of our customers and help them be more productive," said Jason Hunt, Avanade CRM and xRM evangelist. "We are also looking forward to the introduction of Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, as it opens up new opportunities that will enable us to expand our reach and get our CRM solutions out to a broader, global audience."
Rob Enderle,...
Tue, 13 Jul 10
'Panic Button' Added To Facebook in the United Kingdom
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74260
It's not really a "Facebook panic button," but it's being described as such. In the U.K., Facebook is launching easy access to a mini-application for teens who believe they are being subjected to cyber-bullying. The button connects the user to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP), a semi-governmental organization in the U.K.
At CEOP, users can report others who they believe are abusing them online, and there is advice and resources for dealing with threats made through the Internet.
At its site, CEOP provides several questions to guide users trying to decide if they need help, such as "Do you sometimes struggle to find answer to things that worry you online?" and "Had a chat conversation that went sour?" Other questions ask if the user has had "bad wall posts from people you don't know," if the user has "seen something written about you that isn't true, or worse," and if the user's account has ever been hacked.
The ClickCEOP app on Facebook has three parts: a Profile tab that provides steps for the user to protect him or herself, a "Protect your mates" virtual badge that can be sent to friends to let them know about the app, and a bookmark for easy access.
The CEOP addition to the U.K. version of Facebook comes after some resistance by the social-networking giant. The site had said that a single reporting button was not as effective as other measures it was taking, and would lead to overwork for police and other organizations. But a government official urged the adoption, and 44 police chiefs signed a petition following the murder of a 17-year-old, Ashleigh Hall, late last year.
A 32-year-old homeless man, previously identified as a serial rapist, has been charged with kidnapping and murder. According to news accounts, Hall...
Tue, 13 Jul 10
App Inventor Makes Everyone an Android App Developer
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74259
So you want to be an Android app developer -- then you've got something in common with Google. The search giant wants you to develop apps for its mobile operating system -- and it just announced a tool to help you get started.
Dubbed the App Inventor, Google's new do-it-yourself code tool lets you build applications for Android smartphones. In announcing the tool, Google stressed that you don't have to be a developer. In fact, App Inventor doesn't require any programming knowledge at all. Instead of writing code, you visually design the way the app looks and use blocks of code that tell the app how to behave.
Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group, said Google is in many ways democratizing mobile application development by making it easy for people with innovative ideas who lack sophisticated programming skills to build an app.
"What this will actually inspire remains to be seen," Gartenberg said. "Some people have criticized the effort, saying there are going to be too many bad applications built. Others have praised it, saying this is going to open up application creation to a whole new set of users who might have great conceptual ideas but don't have the formal programming skills."
Here's how it works, in Google's words: "The App Inventor offers created blocks for just about everything you can do with an Android phone, as well as blocks for doing 'programming-like' stuff -- blocks to store information, blocks for repeating actions, and blocks to perform actions under certain conditions. There are even blocks to talk to services like Twitter."
Google said games are a popular place to start, and was quick to add that you can build apps that tap into an Android-powered phone's sensors to move a ball through a maze based on tilting the phone. Not...
Tue, 13 Jul 10
Get Out the Decoder Ring, But Don't Get Too Excited
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74250
Is it cool, or is it nerdy? You decide.
The Pentagon's new U.S. Cyber Command has embedded a 32-character string of secret code in its logo, causing a stir among bloggers and curious techies eager to decipher the veiled message.
The new military command was launched in late May to help centralize Defense Department efforts to protect its computer networks, which are under constant threat from attackers. The command was created to frustrate everyone from run-of-the-mill hackers to foreign governments looking to steal sensitive information or crash critical, life-sustaining computer systems.
A Cyber Command spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Steve Curry, said Thursday that including 32 letters and numbers in the organization's official seal was the idea of a female contractor who designed the logo. Otherwise, the command's symbol looks like a lot of other government and military seals, depicting an American eagle, stars and the globe.
Wired.com's Danger Room last week offered a T-shirt or ticket to the International Spy Museum to the first person to crack the code, which is: 9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a.
Curry said the characters, once decoded, represent the command's bureaucratic-sounding mission statement:
"USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries."
Now, go decipher that.
Tue, 13 Jul 10
Google Street View Broke Privacy Law, Australia Says
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74247
Google broke Australia's privacy law when it collected private information from wireless networks, the country's privacy commissioner said Friday, following an investigation into the Internet giant's "Street View" mapping service.
Several other countries are investigating Google over the data collection, and there are growing concerns from regulators and consumer watchdogs worldwide that Google isn't serious enough about people's privacy -- a charge the company denies.
In May, Google acknowledged it had mistakenly collected fragments of data over public Wi-Fi networks in more than 30 countries while it was taking pictures of neighborhoods for the Street View feature. Google said it discovered the problem after German regulators launched an inquiry.
At the time, Australia's Communications Minister Stephen Conroy dubbed it the "single greatest breach in the history of privacy."
On Friday, Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis said her investigation was complete and she had determined Google breached the nation's Privacy Act.
"Collecting personal information in these circumstances is a very serious matter," Curtis said in a statement. "Australians should reasonably expect that private communications remain private."
In almost all cases, the privacy commissioner is barred from imposing punishments, though he or she can occasionally order a party to pay compensation for a violation depending on an investigation's findings. In the Google investigation, Curtis said the privacy act prevented her from imposing any punishment as she had initiated the investigation.
Instead, she said the company has promised to conduct a privacy impact assessment on any new Street View projects involving personal information and regularly consult with her about personal data collection activities in Australia.
Curtis said Google had also agreed to publish an apology to Australians on its official blog -- which it did.
"We want to reiterate to Australians that this was a mistake for which we are sincerely sorry," wrote Alan Eustace, Google's top engineering executive. "Maintaining people's trust is...
Tue, 13 Jul 10
Smartphone Makers Sued Over Patents
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74245
The patent-holding company that won a settlement of more than $600 million from the maker of the BlackBerry said Friday it has sued six other makers of phones and phone software.
Patent company NTP Inc. is suing Apple Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., HTC Corp., Motorola Inc. and LG Electronics Inc., claiming infringement of the same patents that were at issue in its suit against BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.
The suit against RIM ended with a $612.5 million settlement in 2006.
Targets of the new lawsuits did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The lawsuits were filed Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia.
NTP was founded by Thomas Campana, an inventor, and Don Stout, a lawyer. Campana worked on wireless e-mail technology in the early 1990s, but never commercialized the technology. He died in 2004.
In the aftermath of the RIM settlement, NTP's patents have been re-examined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and many of their claims have been thrown out. But three of the 10 claims that RIM were found to have infringed were upheld, said Stout, NTP's president.
"Now we have to move forward," Stout said. "We hope we can resolve these cases without having to go to trial."
In 2006 and 2007, NTP sued the four largest wireless carriers in the U.S. -- AT&T Inc., Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA, Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless -- and phone maker Palm Inc. over the same patents. Those lawsuits have neither been settled nor come to trial.
Tue, 13 Jul 10
Retailers Get Creative To Lure Frugal Shoppers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74241
If necessity is the mother of invention, the shopping experience is about to get a lot more creative.
Uneven sales results at U.S. chain stores in June are bolstering the belief that the frugal consumer is here to stay. And that reality is forcing retailers to find new ways to get shoppers to the cash register.
Retailers that survived the recession spent the past two years cutting overhead costs, closing stores and lowering prices. Merchants have little choice now but to boost sales to keep profits growing.
"Right now it's a market-share game," said Bill Emerson, a Palm Beach, Fla.-based retail strategy adviser. "You've got to get consumers to drive by your competitor's store and get to you."
In the past, fueling growth was as easy as building a big retail box on an empty farm field. For the past three decades, retail space grew roughly five times faster than the population, Emerson said. The financial collapse brought the imbalance into stark relief.
A short-lived uptick in consumer spending this spring, helped in part by government rebate programs for appliances, has done little to mend the situation. Unemployment remains high, new-home sales plunged to a record low in May, and consumer confidence sank more than forecast in June: all factors that dampen America's willingness to shop.
Grabbing shoppers from rivals is no easy task. But merchants are making a stab at innovative ways, beyond price cuts, to lure consumers into their stores.
This fall, Target Corp. will begin offering a 5 percent discount to consumers using Target credit cards. The cheap-chic discount chain expects the program to fuel a 1 to 2 percent increase in sales at stores open at least a year.
Sears Holdings Corp. is starting to sell groceries online in New York and Chicago through its Kmart stores. Walgreen Co. is expanding into beer, wine,...
Tue, 13 Jul 10
The Latest Police Investigation Tool: iWitness?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74229
iPhones store more information than users may realize, and some of it could be used against them if they're ever charged with a crime.
Law enforcement officials have long used phone records and, more recently, e-mails and text messages to help solve crimes. Now a field of forensic study is emerging that deals with iPhones specifically, targeting GPS data, browser history and other potentially incriminating information.
"Very, very few people have any idea how to actually remove data from their phone," says Sam Brothers, a cellphone forensic researcher with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection who teaches investigators how to retrieve iPhone data.
Self-described former hacker Jonathan Zdziarski, who has written a book, iPhone Forensics, has been tapped by agencies nationwide to teach how the information is stored.
Zdziarski says BlackBerry devices are harder to pull data from. He says the Android smartphone system might lend itself to forensics exams.
Apple did not return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment.
Data that Zdziarski says iPhones store:
*Screen shots after mapping applications are closed.
*GeoTags and identifying information with photos posted online.
*The user's browser history.
Zdziarski says he has helped law enforcement agencies gather evidence in criminal cases, at both state and federal levels. Brothers says he has testified in state and federal cases. Neither would discuss specific cases.
Adam Gershowitz, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, says the new technology brings concerns about whether investigators have the right to search someone's iPhone.
So far, the courts have treated mobile phones like a within-reach container that police can search the same way they can check items in a glove box or cigarette pack, Gershowitz says, though the Ohio Supreme Court in 2009 barred warrantless searches of cellphone data. The matter is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, he says.
Sat, 10 Jul 10
Facebook Will Shift Its Online Sales To Third Parties
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74256
Facebook said Thursday it will close its online gift shop, where subscribers could purchase virtual cards and other gifts to send to other Facebook members. Though Facebook will close its operation on Aug. 1, the social-networking site said it will continue offering items for sale to subscribers through third-party providers.
Despite the closing, Facebook's plans to offer credit-based purchasing will become even more formidable. Earlier this week Facebook struck a deal with MOL Global under which the Malaysia-based payment system developer expects to make it easier and more convenient for Asians to purchase virtual goods such as online games and applications on Facebook.
"We view this agreement as a major opportunity to broaden the availability of a simple, unified currency that can be used in games and applications," said Vaughan Smith, director of business and corporate development at Facebook.
The deal suggests Facebook is looking to grow its online sales and credit system faster than it could achieve on its own. Under the new agreement with MOL, Facebook members in Asia will be able to buy credits using MOLPoints on Facebook as well as on MOL's own web site.
MOL is well positioned to make purchasing Facebook credits significantly more convenient in Asia -- a region where consumers rely heavily on offline prepaid cards rather than credit cards to purchase digital goods and services. The Malaysia-based group of companies has more than 500,000 outlets in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, India, Australia and New Zealand.
"Working with MOL means we can offer the benefits of Facebook credits to millions of people in Asia using a payment system that is already widely used and trusted," Smith said.
The recent performance of MOL provides an indication of how fast credit-based sales can grow under the right infrastructure. "Over the past few quarters...
Sat, 10 Jul 10
Surprise! China Renews Google's License To Operate
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74255
In a surprise announcement, Google said Friday that its license to operate in China has been renewed. The search giant, whose license was up for renewal at the end of last month, recently decided to refrain from automatically redirecting Chinese traffic to its Hong Kong site, a move that was seen as a compromise. The Google search engine in China was closed in March to avoid censorship demanded by Chinese authorities.
Google announced the renewal in a brief update on The Official Google Blog. The statement said the company was "very pleased" that the Chinese government had renewed its Internet content provider license "and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China."
David Drummond, Google's senior vice president and chief legal officer, noted in a previous blog entry that it "has not always been an easy balance to strike" between increasing access to information and abiding by Chinese law, especially given the company's announcement in January that it was "no longer willing to censor results on Google.cn." At the time of the January announcement, Google also said it had detected hacking attacks from the Chinese mainland.
Google is not the number-one search engine in China, a position held by the Chinese-based Baidu. But China represents a potentially huge market for Google's growing Android-based mobile devices, as well as other products and services. The search giant opened its China site in 2006.
The redirection of all traffic using Google.cn to Google.com.hk, the company said, provided unfiltered search in simplified Chinese and was "working well." But, Drummond noted, Chinese government officials were not happy with the redirect and threatened not to renew the Internet content provider license, rendering the country Google-dark. A Google spokesperson said the license actually runs through 2012,...
Sat, 10 Jul 10
Patch Tuesday Will Fix Flaws in XP, Windows 7, Servers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74254
Microsoft is preparing for July's Patch Tuesday, which centers on Windows and Office. With only four bulletins -- compared to 10 bulletins with a record-tying 34 vulnerabilities in June -- IT admins can breathe at least a partial sigh of relief.
Still, there's plenty to patch in July, including a vulnerability a Swiss Google engineer made public in June. Google engineer Tavis Ormandy published attack code for a vulnerability in Windows XP's Help and Support Center, which lets users access and download Microsoft help files from the Internet. Support technicians also use the Help and Support Center to launch remote support tools on a PC.
Ormandy has been criticized because he only gave Microsoft five days to fix the problem before going public with details about how hackers could write malicious code to exploit the flaw. Sophos Security Consultant Graham Cluley called it an "irresponsible disclosure." Making matters worse, Microsoft said the flaw also affects Windows Server 2003.
"Keeping IT professionals as busy as the air-conditioning units in New York City this week, Microsoft announced today that next Tuesday they will release four security bulletins to address five separate current vulnerabilities, with three that are rated critical and one of the critically rated bulletins requiring a restart of server-class machines," said Don Leatham, senior director of solutions and strategy at Lumension.
Bulletins 1 and 2 both affect Microsoft Windows -- and they are both rated critical. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution, typically the most-feared exploit.
Leatham said Bulletin 2 will have a huge impact because it affects Windows 7 desktop users and Windows 2008 R2 servers, which are Microsoft's most current and widely deployed desktop and server solutions. IT departments with Windows 7 and/or Windows 2008 R2 should be ready to prioritize this bulletin, he warned.
Bulletin...
Sat, 10 Jul 10
Facebook Buys nextstop Travel Site To Get Engineers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74253
Google and Apple aren't the only high-profile companies gobbling up smaller outfits in the tech space. Facebook is getting in on the acquisition game with the purchase of nextstop.
The startup is a web 2.0 service that lets people create and browse through local guides. Essentially, it's a travel recommendation site -- and one that may not live on.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Apparently, Facebook was more enamored with the nextstop's engineering team than with the travel recommendation notion. Former Google engineers Carl Sjogreen and Adrian Graham founded the company.
Still, analysts aren't ruling out the possibility of Facebook integrating the technology into its social network, especially given Google's recent interest in travel with its ITA acquisition. In fact, some are betting on it. For now, Facebook is shutting down the site.
"Facebook is obviously planning on launching some sort of location platform or product offering. This has all but been formally acknowledged," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.
"The company appeared to buy nextstop to bring the founders and their team in-house to contribute to or lead that development," he added. "There are many things that Facebook can do in local and with location. The nextstop product, though it's being shuttered, may give some directional indication of what Facebook is thinking along those lines."
When nextstop launched just more than two years ago, the founders had a dream to make it easier to discover great things to do anywhere in the world. Company executives feel joining forces with Facebook will forward that goal.
"This creates a number of big changes for the nextstop product and our community, but we believe it's an opportunity for some of the ideas behind nextstop to reach Facebook's audience of more than 400 million users and have a much...
Sat, 10 Jul 10
Android Gaining on Top Mobile Platform BlackBerry
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74252
Research In Motion's BlackBerry retained its lead as the top smartphone platform, while Google's Android has registered a significant gain in market share. Those are some of the conclusions from a new survey released Thursday by market researcher comScore.
The survey compared trends in the U.S. mobile-phone industry during the three-month period ending in May, compared to the previous three-month period ending in February. Leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system platforms were assessed among wireless subscribers aged 13 and older.
The company said 49.1 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during this period, a jump of 8.1 percent over the February period.
RIM's position as the number-one smartphone platform shrank 0.4 percent to 41.7 percent during this period, but it remains way out in front of number-two Apple, whose 24.4 percent represented a one-point drop. However, the May period does not include the June launch of the iPhone 4, which has sold more than 1.7 million units to date. About 11 points down from Apple is Microsoft, at 13.2 percent and the largest drop in this period of any of the top platforms -- 1.9 percent.
Google had the biggest increase -- four percent -- bringing it into fourth place with 13 percent, and Palm's webOS (now owned by Hewlett-Packard) was way down in fifth place at 4.8 percent.
The leading handset manufacturer in the survey was Samsung, with 22.4 percent of mobile subscribers, a one-point increase over the previous three-month period. LG was second with 21.5 percent, with virtually no change, and Motorola was third at 21.2 percent, a drop of 1.1 percent. RIM and Nokia took the bottom places in the top five, with 8.7 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively -- about half a point increase for RIM and slightly more than half a...
Sat, 10 Jul 10
Apple Says iPhone 4 Patch Won't Fix Antenna Problem
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74251
An upcoming firmware patch to address what Apple is calling a miscalculation in the iPhone 4's signal-strength formula won't solve connection problems resulting from its innovative antenna design, the computer giant admits. When problems first surfaced, Apple had said it was shocked by the math error.
"The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product launch in Apple's history," Apple said in an open letter. "It has been judged by reviewers around the world to be the best smartphone ever, and users have told us that they love it. So we were surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and we immediately began investigating them."
While noting that every cellular phone, from previous iPhone models to the Android-powered Droid and Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices, loses signal strength depending on how they are held, Apple conceded that the iPhone 4's signal drops more than the usual amount. It blamed this on an incorrect formula that displayed the signal strength too high.
"Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don't know it because we are erroneously displaying four or five bars," Apple said. "Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place."
Apple said the problem will be resolved with an update using a formula recommended by AT&T, the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone. The update will be available for all versions of the iPhone.
But this week Apple conceded in some e-mails that the problem apparently resulting from skin contact with the stainless-steel antenna that wraps vertically around the iPhone 4 will remain. The company has advised customers to "avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that...
Sat, 10 Jul 10
LaHood Lashes Out Against Driver-Distraction Lobbyists
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74226
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood criticized a fledgling lobbying campaign on Wednesday which he said would undermine his work to limit drivers' use of cell phones and other electronic devices while behind the wheel.
LaHood responded to a document prepared by a Washington lobbying firm last month that sought to redirect a national debate on distracted driving. The document argued that the issue had been "hijacked" by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, leaving the auto and technology industries as "collateral damage" in the discussion.
"I was stunned to read that anybody would organize activities against safe driving," said LaHood, who has aggressively pushed for restrictions on distracted driving, which is blamed for an estimated 6,000 deaths and a half-million injuries a year.
The document was prepared by the Seward Square Group, a Washington lobbying firm, and said a "benign debate about teens and texting has morphed into a full-throttle assault on mobile technology." It proposed the creation of a group called the DRIVE coalition to improve public safety, modernize driver education and promote enforcement of laws and driver education "as the solution to distracted driving."
The document outlined plans to recruit numerous technology, automotive and insurance companies to its coalition, including Motorola, Nokia, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Allstate, Geico, Nationwide and others. LaHood called it an attempt to "rile up the electronics industry and derail our coalition."
Babak Zafarnia, a spokesman for the Seward Square Group, said the proposed coalition was "no longer being pursued" because the group's goal of expanding the debate to include other common forms of driver distraction had been met.
The document said the public face of the group would have been Jim Hall, a former head of the National Transportation Safety Board, who serves as a counsel to the Seward lobbying group.
Hall, at a news conference organized by LaHood, said...
Sat, 10 Jul 10
Cyberattack Deja Vu Does No Damage
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74222
Hundreds of computers that helped cause a wave of outages on U.S. and South Korean government Web sites last July launched new attacks on the same sites, but no major interference was reported, police said Thursday.
The computers were programmed to attack every July 7, according to police, so this year's assault appeared to be a continuation of last year's, which began over the July 4 holiday weekend in the U.S. but reached South Korea on July 7.
More than 460 computers infected with malicious computer codes assaulted 25 Web sites, including those of the White House and South Korea's presidential Blue House, on Wednesday, said Jeong Seok-hwa, a police officer handling investigations of the cyberattacks.
Although last year's attacks were initially blamed on North Korea, experts have more recently said they have no conclusive evidence that it was behind the assaults.
The malicious computer codes, called malware, triggered denial of service attacks, in which large numbers of computers try to connect to a site at the same time in an attempt to overwhelm the server.
"But the attacks were so weak that there were no problems in accessing the sites," Jeong said.
An analysis of an infected computer in Seoul showed that it was programmed to attack every July 7 and the malware used was identical to that used last year, said Hyun Jae-sub, another police official. In other words, the computers apparently attacked again this year because last year's malware hadn't been removed, not because another assault was launched.
Hyun said the attacks were traced to computers that participated in last year's attacks and still were infected. He said about 270,000 infected computers were involved in the original assaults.
AhnLab, a top South Korean cybersecurity company, said it provided free vaccine programs -- which can repair infected computers and prevent denial of service attacks -- to...
Sat, 10 Jul 10
Hotmail Overhaul Adds Spam Fix, New Features
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74216
You wouldn't be the first person to go cold on Hotmail. Lots of folks, me included, stopped using Microsoft's Web-based e-mail service in the last several years because it was a magnet for spam and a laggard when it came to adding new features. And Hotmail wasn't exactly hip.
Guess what? That may be changing. Hotmail merits another look. Microsoft has been overhauling it with both fresh and catch-up features that address spam and clutter and give you tools to better manage your inbox. Some of the stuff is pretty cool. The new Hotmail is conveniently integrated with other Microsoft services, notably Windows Messenger (instant messaging), Bing search, online versions of Office and a Web-based storage repository called SkyDrive. Microsoft generously lets you send sizable photo attachments.
Though Windows Live Hotmail, as it is officially called, is in a public beta or testing phase -- Microsoft is still rolling out the latest features to some users -- the changes are pretty much complete. (Hotmail is one of the free offerings through a suite of online applications and services called Windows Live. Hotmail can be accessed from any computer. Some other Windows Live apps must be downloaded on a PC.) The result is an e-mail service that feels contemporary.
It's not as though Hotmail ever fell completely off the radar. On the contrary, the service is dominant worldwide at least in sheer numbers. Hotmail had about 368 million visitors in May, according to figures from ComScore Media Metrix, the latest available data. That was more than Yahoo Mail (283 million) and Google's Gmail (187 million). But the momentum is shifting. And in the USA, Hotmail is far behind Yahoo and only slightly ahead of Gmail. Microsoft, which has owned Hotmail since 1997, hopes to reverse the tide.
A closer look at major changes:
*Spam and junk....
Fri, 9 Jul 10
Hackers Grab User Info from Popular Pirate Bay Site
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74239
Argentinean hackers have stolen the e-mail addresses, IP addresses, usernames and passwords of more than four million Pirate Bay users. Pirate Bay is the most popular BitTorrent site, a place to download pirated apps.
This time, it was Pirate Bay that was pirated. A trio of hackers in the Latin American country have claimed responsibility for the attack and even produced a video demonstrating their successful hacking tactics.
"The community caused problems to huge companies and corporations which turned into threats between this companies and them," wrote hacker Ch Russo. "What we have done, we did not do it with anger, or for commercial value. As always, we saw the change, the moment and decided to take it. The protocol or procedure done to achieve this wasn't anything out of the ordinary."
Russo is well aware of how valuable that information would be to the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), considering the number of illegal song and movie downloads from Pirate Bay. However, Russo doesn't appear to have any plans to turn over the information to these industry associations.
"Probably these groups would be very interested in this information, but we are not [trying] to sell it. Instead we wanted to tell people that their information may not be so well protected," wrote Russo. Russo does seem to have a money motive, though. He's marketing his security-exploit software program called Impassioned Framework.
Pirate Bay moved quickly to take down the hacker video, which showed how malicious actors discovered and exploited several SQL injection vulnerabilities on the site. Pirate Bay was the victim of a similar attack in 2007, despite efforts to shore up security.
The Pirate Bay temporarily went offline for maintenance, offering the following message: "Upgrading some stuff, database in use for backups, soon back...
Fri, 9 Jul 10
More Americans Are Going Online with Mobile Devices
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74238
Six in 10 Americans are going online wirelessly using a laptop or a cell phone, according to the latest survey from the Pew Research Center. U.S. mobile-device users are also taking advantage of a much wider range of data applications than last year, the new report said.
Nearly half of all U.S. adults surveyed this year during April and May said they were using a laptop equipped with a Wi-Fi radio or mobile broadband card -- up from 39 percent in April 2009. However, 40 percent indicated they were also accessing the Internet, e-mail or instant messaging on mobile phones, noted Aaron Smith, the author of the report.
"The growing functionality of mobile phones makes them ever more powerful devices for on-the-go communications and computing," Smith said. "Cell phones have become for many owners an all-purpose chat-text-gaming-photo-sharing media hub that is an essential utility for work and a really fancy toy for fun."
U.S. adults between 18 and 29 had the highest levels of mobile data application use among all survey age groups, with more than 90 percent of those respondents saying they snap photos as well as send or receive text messages with their phones. What's more, 81 percent said they use their handsets to exchange photos or video clips with others. Additionally, more than 60 percent use their devices to access the Internet, listen to music, or play games.
Cell-phone owners between the ages of 30 and 49 are also significantly more likely to use a range of mobile data applications on a handheld device than older handset users, Smith wrote. For example, 83 percent of the respondents in this demographic group said they now take pictures with their phones -- a 12-point increase from 2009.
Between 35 percent and 39 percent of middle-aged handset users also...
Fri, 9 Jul 10
NSA's 'Perfect Citizen' Will Watch for Cyberattacks
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74236
With cyberattacks on key American institutions and businesses becoming more common, the National Security Agency (NSA) is launching a major program to detect assaults on the nation's infrastructure. The program, called Perfect Citizen, will focus in its first phase on the most obvious, biggest holes in security in legacy systems.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Perfect Citizen, funded by a multibillion-dollar federal effort called the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, will install sensors inside selected computer networks to look for unusual activity. At least initially, Perfect Citizen will focus on key parts of the country's infrastructure, and won't provide a sensing shield for all networks.
NSA, the super-secret U.S. monitoring agency, declined to comment on the report.
The first phase will be conducted by Raytheon, which won a classified contract reportedly worth $100 million. The systems to be monitored include legacy systems that operate in subways, nuclear plants, air traffic control networks, and other complex and critical parts of the infrastructure.
Many of these networks were not originally designed to work with Internet access, which was added later. Some companies may ask for direction on what to do rather than allow NSA to install sensors, as the agency cannot compel businesses to comply.
In recent years, reports of organized cyberattacks on key elements of the U.S. government and business infrastructure have increased. American intelligence officials and others have said that many of the organized attacks appear to be coming from China, Russia and countries that were formerly in the Soviet empire.
Some observers are raising eyebrows over Perfect Citizen, since NSA's ability to monitor domestic telecommunications traffic without warrants could raise a variety of privacy and constitutional issues.
The Journal quoted an internal Raytheon e-mail that noted the government feels the need to ensure "the public sector...
Fri, 9 Jul 10
AT&T Blames Alcatel-Lucent for Network Slowdown
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74235
AT&T Wireless said Wednesday that its network has suffered a slowdown in upload speeds in some U.S. markets because of software provided by one of its suppliers, Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel responded that it's working on a fix.
AT&T's most prominent device, Apple's iPhone, has been the subject of a variety of complaints about network speed and signal strength. Last week, Apple said it will issue a software update to correct the device's signal meter, which falsely presents signal strength as greater than it actually is.
According to news reports, the speed drop has resulted in uploads of well below 100 Kbps, although download speeds appear to be relatively normal. The slowdown was reported by users, starting last weekend.
AT&T has said its network has suffered slowdowns in the New York and San Francisco areas, among others. A spokesperson for Alcatel, Mary Ward, said her company wasn't releasing a timetable for the fix, and did not want to indicate specific geographic areas.
Complaints about slowness in data delivery over AT&T's network have been common since the iPhone was released three years ago, with a focus on the New York and San Francisco metropolitan areas. AT&T recently implemented a two-tiered plan for 3G data, capping it at either 200MB or 2GB per month, replacing a previous unlimited option.
Apple has not commented on the Alcatel software fix.
Michael Gartenberg, a partner and analyst at the Altimeter Group, noted that this is not specifically an iPhone issue -- but the fact that the iPhone is affected means the story is attracting more attention than it might otherwise.
"If the iPhone were not on AT&T" and had not been the subject of complaints about network speed and signal strength, he said, "this wouldn't be a story." But, Gartenberg noted, the attention to the iPhone's...
Fri, 9 Jul 10
YouTube Uses HTML5 on Mobile Site, Offers Leanback
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74234
YouTube is making moves to get online video aficionados to watch more videos -- wherever they are. YouTube has revamped its mobile web site and introduced Leanback viewing on the desktop in a bid to make its site more sticky.
YouTube is pointing to the mobile Internet's rapid growth. According to a recent Morgan Stanley report, more users will connect to the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs within five years. Internal data from Google, YouTube's parent, also reveals people are watching more YouTube videos from mobile devices -- playbacks rose 160 percent in 2009. In total, YouTube Mobile sees more than 100 million video playbacks every day.
The new and improved M.YouTube.com is faster and comes with a user interface that offers larger, more touch-friendly elements. The new mobile YouTube also mirrors features and functions from the .com site, including search query suggestions, playlist creations, and the chance to favorite, like or unlike videos from a smartphone. The new site works with iPhone and Android browsers.
"With the mobile YouTube site, Google is drawing attention to how important and how powerful the HTML5 standard is and what it can do. This plays nicely into the argument Apple has been having with Flash," said Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Current Analysis. "Plus, you have limited access to the videos on YouTube with the native app, and some of those videos are streamed for low bandwidth even if you have high bandwidth, which is ridiculous."
Shimmin notes that Google is and always has been about the browser. The YouTube mobile site gives the search giant an opportunity to show that native applications are not always the best solution. With HTML5, he said, companies have instant portability and IT administrators don't have to worry about how to get users to download and install...
Fri, 9 Jul 10
Global Chip Industry: Room To Improve
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74203
Not many industries are as consistently volatile as semiconductors. Year-in and year-out, working and investing in the chip industry has been akin to regularly climbing aboard a furiously fast roller-coaster ride.
During the past decade, semiconductors have suffered wild ups and downs in supply and demand. In the months leading up to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, chip inventories were overflowing because of widespread anticipation that demand would be strong. After the attacks, many chipmakers dramatically scaled back production. It was a tough time to survive. Predicting demand has been one of the industry's thorniest problems for decades. Chipmakers consistently build too much inventory, or not enough -- often at the worst times.
As in 2001, inventory concerns in 2008 topped the industry's agenda as signs emerged of an impending global recession. This time the industry -- in quite a desperate state -- was so cautious about not getting burned by excess inventory that it cut production quicker and more deeply than usual. Some companies cut output by as much as 50 percent. Overall capacity utilization fell to just 50 percent, well below historic averages of 80 percent. With good reason, companies were cutting back swiftly in anticipation of a recession they suspected could last years. There were signs globally that this would be the case not only in semiconductors but in the overall economy.
Slamming on the brakes turned out to be one of this industry's finest moves ever. Learning from past mistakes, chipmakers were able to reduce production and inventory costs. By slowing manufacturing they not only saved money, but set themselves up for an unexpectedly swift, if unforeseen, market turnaround.
The semiconductor industry's worst nightmare, in which the market crashed and stayed at ocean-floor depths for several years, didn't happen. The market rebounded sooner and more strongly...
Fri, 9 Jul 10
Does Google Demote Rivals' Sites in Search Results?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74199
The European Union's antitrust chief said Wednesday he is looking "very carefully" at allegations that Google Inc. unfairly demotes rivals' sites in search results.
Joaquin Almunia said in a speech that the EU investigation is still at an early stage but that officials were aware of the "importance of search to a competitive online marketplace."
He appeared to accept Google's arguments that it is hard to behave as a monopoly on the web, saying the fluid nature of the Internet may make it more difficult for powerful companies to elbow out other companies in new markets.
British price comparison site Foundem and French legal search engine ejustice.fr complained to the EU that they were ranked low in Google searches, claiming that this may be because they offer rival services to Google.
Google says its search results are entirely controlled by algorithms that demote sites with little useful content for users.
Low rankings matter because a higher ranking in a Google search drives higher volumes of traffic to Web sites.
Fri, 9 Jul 10
Review: Stale Crackdown 2 Crashes To Earth
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74196
The protagonist of "Crackdown 2" (Microsoft, for the Xbox 360, $59.99) is a SWAT cop whose most distinctive skill is a vertical leap that lets him scale the sides of skyscrapers. However, once you're 20 stories high, you'll discover that most of the buildings in Pacific City are topped by roofs that jut out a foot or so -- just enough to prevent our superpowered hero from climbing on top.
It's an all-too-typical flaw in Ruffian Games' urban adventure, which promises sky-high excitement but continually finds ways to crash to Earth. The original "Crackdown" became something of a cult hit despite similar limitations, but fans who expect a sequel to fix such issues will come away disappointed.
In the earlier game, you fought to wrest control of Pacific City from three criminal gangs. Despite your efforts, though, things have gotten worse 10 years later. The remnants of the gangs have coalesced into a terrorist group called The Cell, and a runaway pathogen has turned half the population into vicious Freaks. The once radiant metropolis is crumbling, but your employer, The Agency, has a plan to stop the chaos.
The essence of that plan, called Project Sunburst, is to expose the Freaks to light. First, you have to seize three generators from The Cell; then you have to drop a beacon into one of the Freaks' subterranean strongholds and defend it until it detonates.
Pulling off that mission once is challenging enough. "Crackdown 2" asks you to do it nine times -- and by the fourth or fifth go-round, you'll start to wonder when the story gets interesting.
It doesn't.
You can break the monotony with vehicular side missions, which require you to drive through checkpoints or pull off stunts, but they won't cause the designers of "Need for Speed" to lose any sleep. There are...
Fri, 9 Jul 10
Germany Accuses Facebook of Privacy Violations
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74194
A German data protection official said Wednesday he launched legal proceedings against Facebook, which he accused of illegally accessing and saving personal data of people who don't use the social networking site.
Johannes Caspar said his Hamburg data protection office had initiated legal steps that could result in Facebook being fined tens of thousands of euros for saving private information of individuals who don't use the site and haven't granted it access to their details.
"We consider the saving of data from third parties, in this context, to be against data privacy laws," Caspar said in a statement.
Facebook has until Aug. 11 to respond formally to the legal complaint against it. Its response will determine whether the case goes further.
The company, based in Palo Alto, California, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Germans are protected by some of the world's most strict privacy laws, which lay out in detail how and how much of an individual's private information may be accessed by whom.
Germany also has launched an investigation into Google Inc. over its Street View mapping program.
In April, Facebook changed its privacy settings to allow users to block access to the contacts listed in their e-mail, but Caspar argues that the previously saved contacts have not been erased and are being used for marketing purposes.
"It is a system that is designed around making it possible for Facebook to expand, for its own benefit," Caspar said in a telephone interview.
He said his office had received complaints from "many" people who had been contacted by Facebook after it obtained their names and e-mail addresses through people listing them as a contact.
He could not give a specific number, but said that it indicated third parties' data had been obtained by Facebook had been saved for future use.
"Given that several million people in Germany alone...
Fri, 9 Jul 10
3-D Television: Storytelling in a New Language
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74193
Let's say you've started lusting for a 3-D television.
Never mind that when you get to the store to sample 3-D TV, you discover that World Cup soccer in 3-D may not grab you like a scene from the 3-D animated film "Monsters vs. Aliens." The soccer match seems disappointingly flat in its wide shots. "Monsters vs. Aliens" immerses you in its animated antics.
You've just learned a basic lesson of 3-D: It isn't all the same.
But when it's good, it's very good. It sucks you in. It's in your face, you're in its face. Or so it seems. No wonder you're picturing one of these sleek, wide-screen beauties in your own living room.
That's what visitors to the Sony 3-D Experience at CBS' consumer research center in Las Vegas are saying, according to preliminary polling results. Two-thirds of the visitors to this exhibition at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino say their next TV will be 3-D-capable, reported David Poltrack, president of CBS Vision.
Maybe much of the public is pre-sold by now.
"3-D is a form of content that people not only like, but are willing to pay a significant premium at the box office for," Poltrack said.
"We've very fortunate that 'Avatar' was done so well and was such a big hit," said Dan Schinasi, senior marketing manager for HDTV product planning in Samsung's Visual Display Product Group.
"That 3-D theater experience captivated millions of people and made them realize, 'There's a new dimension that I've been missing,'" Schinasi said. "The result is, they're saying, 'I want to experience that at home.'"
In these early months of 3-D-mania, jolted by the December release of "Avatar," a growing number of manufacturers (including Samsung, Panasonic and Sony) are wooing you with mirror-thin 3-D models whose screens stretch 40 inches and beyond, and whose price tags start at...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
BlackBerry Enterprise Server Splits Work, Personal Data
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74214
Bolstering its lead in the business smartphone space, Research In Motion launched an upgrade for its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) Wednesday that allows more controls for companies whose employees combine work and personal data on their devices. The company said its upgrade offers "enhanced operational efficiency and cost savings."
The 5.0.2 upgrade, presented in an animation with its own fast-paced soundtrack on the company's web site, will allow users to access some personal calendar, e-mail and voice-mail features on phones that are locked for company use via the Individual Liable Devices Policy, but still block social-media access.
It will also allow IT managers to change passwords, lock a device, or surgically remove company data like e-mails and business programs from an employee's (or ex-employee's) phone without erasing personal contacts, all via self-service options.
Users can configure Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions encryption so they are no longer required to turn it on when using the Enterprise Server. Both users and administrators can use a single sign-on to access the BlackBerry Web Desktop Manager and Administration Services.
While the server update is available immediately, some features will not work without the BlackBerry 6 platform to be available later this year,
Canada-based RIM's BlackBerry still dominates the U.S. smartphone market with a 35 percent share, and is particularly popular among business users. Touchscreens are expected on the next generation of devices to stay even more competitive. The 5.0.2 server features, with their focus on security and attention to the increasingly blurred lines between business and personal use, are aimed at helping RIM maintain market share even as Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series, and Apple's iPhones add more business features.
"No doubt RIM offers the best-of-breed security for enterprises," said Michael Gartenberg of the Altimeter Group. "But in a world increasingly driven by end-user...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
Enterprises Are Adopting Apple's iPad for Business Tasks
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74213
The pace at which Apple's products are moving into the enterprise is accelerating, if the iPad is any indication. For instance, while the iPhone took two years of in-house research and testing before it was allowed into the San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Bank, the iPad became part of that corporate family within a couple of weeks of its launch.
According to Bloomberg News, other major businesses such as SAP AG, Tellabs and Mercedes-Benz are similarly utilizing the iPad for a variety of tasks, such as taking orders in a showroom or demonstrating financial products at a conference.
The news service quoted Megan Minich, a Wells Fargo senior vice president, as saying that the company has already placed its second order for iPads, following an initial shipment of 15.
The steady adoption of the popular tablet device is both surprising and not. It's surprising since the iPad has been sold largely as a media-consumption device optimized for video, audio, e-books and the web. Not surprising because a device that can be carried and used one-handedly, in all kinds of office settings, would seem to offer the portability and versatility that modern businesses need.
Since its launch in April, the iPad has sold more than three million units, and the expectation is that it will sell about two million more every month. AT&T estimates that 40 percent of iPhones are used for business. If applied to iPads, that percentage would mean about 1.2 million are in business use now.
In addition, while it's unlikely that an employee might have two smartphones, it's entirely likely that he or she could have a desktop or laptop computer as well as an iPad -- so the actual percentage of iPads being used inside of businesses or for business purposes is possibly even higher than for the iPhone.
Thu, 8 Jul 10
Twitter Will Grab Revenue with @earlybird Deal Alerts
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74212
Twitter isn't quite taking on Amazon.com head-to-head, but the micro-blogging service is venturing into e-commerce in its own unique way. Twitter is launching a new service to point customers to some of the best deals on the web. The service will compete with a growing number of deal sites like Groupon, Livingsocial and Tippr.
Dubbed @earlybird, Twitter's latest venture will tweet exclusive offers from major brands. Twitter described the offers as "special time-bound deals, sneak peeks, and events." The program seems to play off of, or at least complement, Twitter's recently launched Promoted Tweets service. If successful, it could offer Twitter a much-needed revenue stream.
Here's how it works: Twitter partners with select advertisers and re-tweets offers those advertisers craft specifically for the Twitter community. Advertisers frame the terms of the offer, including availability, amount and price. Currently, there are no offers, so the first tweet says, "I get the worm, now you can too," then points users to information about the program.
Why is Twitter doing this? The social-media phenom sees @earlybird as a way to bring added value to its members. Plenty of companies are already using Twitter to offer special promotions.
One of the best examples is Dell, which has seen millions of dollars in revenue from sending special deals to its Twitter followers. The new service consolidates the offers from across Twitter into one account for deal-hunting members. Twitter warned that the offers are time-sensitive and sometimes supply sensitive and may run out quickly.
"This is very interesting and consistent with the larger 'daily deals' or social-commerce segment of which Groupon is an example," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. "In addition, many companies have been doing promotions through their Twitter accounts or selling merchandise for quite a long time. Dell is one...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
New Borders Store Aims for 17 Percent of E-Book Market
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74211
Borders is joining Amazon.com, Apple and Barnes & Noble in the race for e-books. On Wednesday, the bookstore chain announced the launch of a Borders-branded e-book store, with the stated goal of obtaining a 17 percent share of the e-book market by July 2011. Industry observers estimate Borders currently has about 10 percent of the retail book market in the U.S.
The e-store is powered by Kobo, a Canada-based e-book seller in which Borders has invested. It offers more than 1.5 million titles, including thousands of free e-books, available in EPUB, PDF and other formats. The company also announced a free e-book reader application for BlackBerrys and Android-based devices.
These announcements follow the introduction of a free Borders e-reader application for Apple's iPhone and iPad, and the availability of the Kobo and Aluratek Libre e-readers on the company's web site.
In addition, the Borders Rewards loyalty program will be extended to include exclusive offers on popular e-books, double Borders Bucks incentives accompanying the purchase of e-readers, and other new benefits. The company said its rewards program has signed up more than 38 million members since its 2006 launch.
CEO Mike Edwards said his company has been "carefully crafting a digital strategy" with an emphasis on a "device-neutral philosophy." He added that the "race to emerge as a retail leader within the digital category is just starting."
Like Barnes & Noble, Borders is playing to the key strength that differentiates it from Amazon and Apple -- its brick-and-mortar stores. The e-book store will be promoted in the physical stores in upcoming "Area-e" sections, which will be rolled out by September. Salespeople will staff those areas, and will be available to demonstrate products and answer questions.
The company indicated that its strategy is based on research about what this emerging market wants. It said...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
Mozilla Releases First of Firefox 4 Betas for Testing
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74210
Mozilla has launched an early beta of the Firefox 4 browser and plans to release further betas for testing every two to three weeks. The goal, Mozilla said, is to improve the development process by receiving feedback from developers quickly and getting fixes and changes tested earlier than in previous Firefox development cycles.
"Firefox 4 beta 1 includes dozens of major features and improvements," wrote Firefox Director Mike Beltzner in a blog. "By testing them early, we'll be able to respond to your feedback for future versions."
The most noticeable improvement to Firefox 4 has to do with the look of the browser. "We moved the tabs to the top to make it easier to focus on the web content and easier to control the tools in your web browser," Beltzner wrote. "Also, if you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista, the Menu bar was replaced with a single Firefox button so you can get to the most-used options with just one click."
The other big visual change is the addition of support for the new HTML5-based WebM video format being championed by Google. "If you're part of the YouTube HTML5 beta, WebM videos should play pretty well," Mozilla blogger Christopher Blizzard wrote.
What's more, Mozilla's initial Firefox 4 beta integrates strong support for hardware-based video acceleration. "If you're using HTML5 video and you go full screen, we'll use OpenGL on Macs or Linux and DirectX 9 on Windows to accelerate video rendering," Blizzard wrote. "If you're on Windows 7 or an updated Windows Vista, we also have full support for D2D-enabled rendering."
These changes are welcome improvements and part of the heated-up browser war, noted Al Hilwa, program director of applications development software at IDC.
"While browsers themselves are free to consumers, they have become money-making gateways to...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
EMC Will Acquire Greenplum for Data Storage in the Cloud
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74209
EMC on Tuesday announced an agreement to acquire privately held data-warehousing technology provider Greenplum. The acquisition will give EMC the resources it needs to enable big data clouds and self-service analytics.
When the acquisition is complete later this year, Greenplum will form the foundation of a new data-computing product division within EMC's Information Infrastructure Products business. Terms of the all-cash deal were not disclosed.
EMC was motivated by the realization that massive amounts of data are emerging from a number of sources, including the web. IDC estimates the amount of digital data created annually will grow 44-fold over the next 10 years. EMC's Greenplum acquisition sets the stage for the company to be part of the big data-cloud solution.
Pat Gelsinger, president and COO of EMC's information division, boldly declared that "the data-warehousing world is about to change." The industry is shifting toward big data analytics, he said, and Greenplum technology fits into EMC's virtualized Private Cloud infrastructure to meet enterprise needs.
Greenplum uses a "shared-nothing" massive parallel processing architecture designed for analytical processing using a virtualized x86 infrastructure. The company's customers include NASDAQ OMX, NYSE Euronext, Skype, Equifax, T-Mobile and Fox Interactive Media.
"EMC's strength in the enterprise and Greenplum's push to fully transform data warehousing and business analytics makes for a perfect fit," said Scott McNealy, executive adviser to Greenplum. "Together they are brilliantly bringing together the power of cloud computing, virtualization and social collaboration to help customers as they venture into the next phase of computing and business analytics."
The Greenplum acquisition fits into EMC's strategy well on more than one level, according to Dana Gardner, principal analyst at Interarbor Solutions. Gardner noted Greenplum's history of creating appliances that combine the best of hardware and software integration to handle massive data and allow key metrics to be drawn...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
Spammers Stay Current: Vuvuzela Meets Viagra
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74178
"FIFA World Cup Scandal News." Headlines like that are red meat for rabid soccer fans. But click on the e-mail message it heralds and you might land on a "Canadian Pharmacy" web page, not the scintillating dispatch from South Africa you were expecting.
Add the World Cup to that familiar list of topics -- penis enlargement, get-rich-quick schemes, discounted Canadian drugs -- used as click bait by some online marketers. A report released on June 22 by Symantec Hosted Services, a unit of security-software maker Symantec, found that as much as one-fourth of all global spam sent since March has been related to the world soccer tournament. In scooping up spam messages, the company found such World Cup-related words as football and soccer.
No wonder: Hundreds of millions of fans around the world are glued to TVs, watching World Cup matches. The Federation Internationale de Football Assn. FIFA estimates that 715 million watched the finals of the last tournament in 2006. With an estimated 120 billion spam messages blasting out over the Internet every day, the trick for marketers has always been to latch onto must-read topics. Spammers scrape news sites for global events they can weave into subject lines. Antispam professionals say that any popular topic is likely to cause a spike -- the TARP bank bailout, home foreclosures, the BP oil spill. "Any big calendar event or milestone, they'll use," said Paul Wood, a senior analyst who worked on the Symantec report.
Spam generators use hot subjects to entice Web users to click on links that try to sell merchandise, gather personal information on them, or collect IP addresses spammers can use to send out more spam.
Out of all global e-mail, almost 90 percent is spam, according to the Symantec report. Spammers' operating costs are so low that...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
Location-Based Services Lure Users, Money
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74176
If there were any lingering doubts about one of the hottest new technologies, a big investment and burgeoning membership numbers are proving that location-based services are about to go mainstream.
Last week, Foursquare raked in $20 million in venture funding. The ultrapopular Foursquare, which offers a free application that lets people flag where they are, whizzed past the 1 million-member mark in April and just passed 1.8 million.
Services including Gowalla, Loopt and Where are being embraced by mobile-device owners to shop, communicate, socialize and play games. Their total number of members runs in the millions.
Meantime, Google has aggressively pushed its mobile social network, Latitude, and Facebook is expected to unveil location features this year.
"None of us have 30 million users, but we're just at the beginning of breaking into the mainstream," says Sam Altman, CEO of Loopt, which has 3 million users.
Foursquare is the face of the fledgling industry. Earlier this year, it was rumored to be in serious acquisition talks with Facebook and Yahoo. But Foursquare officials decided it was too soon to sell.
Such services are part of a rising wave in mobile advertising, which is expected to soar in the U.S. to $3.1 billion in 2013 from $320 million in 2009, according to market researcher BIA/Kelsey.
Driving the growth are smartphone sales, which are expected to account for a majority of phones in the U.S. by the end of 2011, market researcher Nielsen says. About 5 percent of the more than 225,000 iPhone apps have location services.
Analysts say the appeal of location-based services goes far beyond game-playing and seeing where your friends are. "Location is such an important tool for local merchants and marketers to more deeply connect with customers," says Michael Boland, an analyst at BIA/Kelsey.
Since it began last year, Foursquare has established partnerships with more than 15,000 businesses,...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
Justin Bieber the Latest Target of Internet Pranks
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74174
Internet pranksters apparently are heavily in favor of sending Canadian singer Justin Bieber on tour to North Korea, his Twitter tour page indicates.
The BBC reported Monday nearly a half million votes were logged in favor of seeing the teen sensation singing in the communist nation, even though Internet access is highly restricted there. The fast-growing tally apparently got a viral worldwide push from Web site 4Chan.
Bieber's My World Tour page asked people to weigh in on which country he should visit next. There were no restrictions on what countries could be nominated, the British network said.
North Korea churned into first place, several thousand votes ahead of Israel.
The contest ends at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
The BBC reported that a spokesman for the North Korean Embassy in London said any visa application for Bieber would be handled by its diplomatic corps at the United Nations with officials in Pyongyang kept apprised.
It's not the first time Bieber has been the subject of Internet jokesters. This past weekend, hackers attached messages saying Bieber had died to videos on YouTube. Hackers also installed pop-ups redirecting users to porn sites.
Last month, 4Chan urged voters to search for the term "Justin Bieber Syphilis" and it hit No. 1 on Google Trend's Hot Searches list.
Other past false rumors were that he had joined a cult, and that his mother was offered $50,000 to pose topless in Playboy magazine.
Thu, 8 Jul 10
Handy Windows Utilities That Stand Out
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74173
These days, the best Windows utilities tend to be those that perform a single function and perform it well. The trouble is, you might download, install, and try out hundreds of tools before finding a handful that fulfill their promise and earn a permanent place on your hard drive. Take a shortcut to utility nirvana by trying the tools mentioned here first. All of these apps are among the best in their categories -- and some are free.
With external hard drives, flash drives, CDs, and DVDs, you probably have multiple copies of important files scattered across your storage media. That's a good thing. What's not so good is that all of those files are likely out of sync, which is where a file synchronization tool comes in.
Microsoft has taken multiple stabs at the file synchronization problem, from the now outdated Briefcase model in Windows XP to SyncToy (http://bit.ly/17AYut), which is still available, to Live Sync (https://sync.live.com), which utilizes online file storage as an intermediate repository.
None of these solutions, though, has offered either the power or simplicity of third-party applications. Super Flexible File Synchronizer (http://www.superflexible.com) stands out as one of the best. Available in a 30-day trial version, this tool packs synchronization options in a wizard-based package that's easy enough for novices but full-featured enough for experts. What's more, it can be installed as a Windows service, which means that you can "set and forget" file synchronization jobs that will run automatically at pre-defined times.
With each new version of Windows, Microsoft changes the look and feel of the Windows Explorer file manager, but it hasn't done much to improve Windows' often frustrating file copying behavior. The free TeraCopy (http://bit.ly/dTLC) does.
TeraCopy claims to speed up copy and move operations in Windows, and subjectively, it seems to. However, the greater benefit...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
Preventing Mobile Mishaps for Pedestrians
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74168
Todd Atwood says he doesn't worry too much about accidents when walking down the street using his iPhone to make calls, send text messages or check his e-mail.
But he's seen the consequences of paying more attention to the gadget than what's ahead.
"I saw someone walk right into a sign," recalled the 32-year-old Silicon Valley resident. "She didn't hurt herself but she was startled. She dropped her phone, then her friends starting laughing at her. It was funny but I guess it could've been more serious."
While using a cell phone while driving has triggered the most alarm bells and prompted laws in several states, experts say, pedestrians are also suffering the consequences of mobile distraction -- tripping on curbs, walking into traffic, even stepping into manholes as they chat or type while walking.
To help these sidewalk stumblers step out more safely, technology companies are now stepping in, creating applications that do everything from make a smartphone screen transparent to transform speech into text.
Whether the technologies will prevent injuries and embarrassment remains to be seen, they are being welcomed as a move in the right direction.
"I don't think we're going to eliminate people from walking into things outright and of course we want people to be responsible, but what we're trying to do is eliminate the friction point ... and give the user back a little mental bandwidth," said Travis Bogard, the executive director for product management and strategy at San Francisco-based Aliph, which makes bluetooth earpieces.
Aliph's Jawbone earpiece incorporates voice-to-text technology which eliminates the need to glance down at the keypad to send an e-mail or text message. It also has caller ID that speaks to the wearer so he or she doesn't have to pick up the phone to see who is calling and a function that allows wearers to...
Thu, 8 Jul 10
Do Tech Mergers Hurt Customer Service?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74166
The world's largest technology companies have been on a buying spree, spending billions to snap up smaller companies. And often the buyers say they're doing it for their customers -- businesses, hospitals, schools and government agencies.
As tech companies get bigger and bigger, they say they can offer a broader variety of products and make it easier for their customers to do one-stop shopping.
Yet if you ask the customers, you hear a different story. Often they get new headaches with multibillion-dollar deals by the likes of Oracle, IBM, SAP, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. When you add the challenges that come with any corporate acquisition, it's not hard to envision a reverse trend eventually building: a drive to split up tech companies that have grown too large.
In other words, the tech consolidation of the past few years could turn out to have wasted shareholders' money.
"The demand is not coming from the customers," says Gopal Khanna, who oversees a $600 million technology budget as chief information officer for the state of Minnesota. "On the contrary, I'm best served when there's a phenomenal amount of innovation happening. ... Sometimes creating behemoths slows down that innovation engine."
Technology companies have spent more than $350 billion buying other companies worldwide over the past 3 1/2 years, according to Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.
Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's biggest information-technology company by revenue, has been one of the most active, in a hunt for more profit in markets other than printer ink. So has Oracle Corp., which wants to sell more types of business software and now makes computer servers after its $7 billion pickup of Sun Microsystems Inc. IBM Corp. plans to drop $20 billion over the next five years on acquisitions to strengthen its services and software divisions.
The companies making these deals say they want...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Federal Agencies Offer Apps for Mobile Devices
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74185
If your cell phone ever gets recalled, you could get the news from the federal government -- on your cell phone. Yes, there's an app for that.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is one of the agencies now offering downloads of applications for Android or Mobile Web devices from the official government site, USA.gov. When you're done perusing dangerous products, you can browse dangerous people on your smartphone via the FBI's America's Most Wanted app, or learn about the Postal Service or the Federal Emergency Management Agency through their apps.
There's also a body-mass index calculator, which reflects First Lady Michelle Obama's emphasis on fighting obesity, particularly in children, and apps for calculating calories and browsing health information.
The downloads are part of a refurbishment of the site that was launched Sept. 22, 2000, under President Bill Clinton to make it more user-friendly and contemporary. The improvements, which include search results provided by Microsoft's Bing search engine, went online just before the Independence Day weekend.
All the 20 applications currently featured appear to be free -- but the site, evidently in anticipation of future third-party offerings, warns visitors to check for any prices.
Planned offerings, contained on an appended spreadsheet, include Found In Haiti, an iPhone app that includes information on locating victims of the deadly January earthquake on that Caribbean island; Are You Safe, which helps people determine the safety of the neighborhood they are in (ostensibly based on crime statistics); a National Gravesite Locater; and the official iPhone app for the U.S. Army.
"The apps invention has made it much easier for folks to use meaningful services while mobile," said Kirk Parsons, a wireless industry analyst for J.D. Power and Associates. "The next phase will be to manage all the apps that are offered into usable folders where one can easily...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Apple Removes Hacked Apps, Warns Users of Breach
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74184
On Monday, Apple pulled applications in its App Store created by a Vietnam-based developer who may have manipulated ratings and hacked user accounts. The company also issued a warning to users to change their passwords.
The developer, Thuat Nguyen, allegedly entered iTunes accounts and manipulated the ratings for his book apps. On Sunday, several technology-enthusiast sites were reporting that the developer's applications had claimed 42 of the top 50 books in terms of revenue. At the same time, some users also reported unexplained iTunes charges on their accounts, reflecting hundreds of dollars for purchases of Nguyen's books.
On Tuesday, Apple said Nguyen and his apps "were removed from the App Store for violating the developer program license agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns." The titles in question, which have been removed from the App Store, were largely Japanese manga titles.
Apple noted that "developers do not receive any iTunes confidential customer data when an app is downloaded," but it also recommended that all users change their iTunes account password "immediately." The company also suggested that, if a credit-card or iTunes password was stolen and used, the credit-card company should be contacted right away.
The story has brought to the fore various reports of widespread hacking of iTunes accounts, many of which appear to be organized out of China. According to these reports, iTunes accounts are compromised for 24 hours or less, during which time hundreds of dollars of fraudulent charges are posted.
Some regular iTunes developers, such as Alex Brie, had noted suspicious activity in recent days and sent the information to Apple. Brie wrote on his blog that the App Store team started an investigation not long after he noted that his applications were mysteriously losing position to the low-quality manga titles.
A fellow developer, Patrick Thompson, also noticed...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Social Benefits Top Internet Drawbacks, Survey Finds
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74183
The positive social benefits of Internet use far outweigh any negative effects, according to a new survey of 900 technologists. According to researchers from Elon University and the Pew Research Center, 85 percent of the survey's respondents also said the Internet has improved their social relations and they expect this to continue through 2020.
Many respondents observed that the Internet allows people to create, cultivate and continue bigger social networks than they could maintain in pre-Internet days, noted researchers Janna Quitney Anderson and Lee Rainie.
"They say this is because e-mail, social networks, and other online tools offer 'low friction' opportunities to create, enhance and rediscover social ties that make a difference in people's lives," Anderson and Rainie said. "The Internet lowers traditional communication constraints of cost, geography and time, and it supports the type of open information sharing that brings people together."
Because of the Internet, geography is no longer a formidable social-networking obstacle, many respondents noted. "The use of the Internet has done a lot to shrink the actual distance between family and friends and allows an expansion to new cultural experiences," said Mindarrays Consulting CEO Tery Spataro. "The way we interact is always evolving and has impact on the drive for knowledge, understanding and communication."
Moreover, the Internet modifies traditional space so that existing places are extended in ways that allow us to "stay aware, share and intersect" with people not in the same traditional space, noted Zeynep Tufekci, an assistant professor at University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
"The Internet opens a door from the house into a potentially shared place," Tufekci said. "That does not mean that physical presence is not important in relationships," but a "lack of physical presence is not the fault of the Internet."
Never before has a person had more opportunity for...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Android Powers HTC's Sales To Record Q2 Profit
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74182
HTC released its preliminary second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. The Taiwanese handset maker posted $268 million in profits, a 33 percent increase over the year-ago period. That's the largest quarterly profit ever for the high-growth device manufacturer.
HTC is the largest purveyor of Windows mobile phones, as well as the leader in the Android segment. And it was Android that pushed HTC's sales through the roof in the second quarter with nearly 60 percent year-over-year revenue growth.
HTC sold 4.5 million devices in April. Analysts expect the company to sell about 20 million units this year. HTC sold 12 million units in 2009.
What sets HTC apart from other handset vendors that rely on Google's Android operating system to power their devices? Several characteristics, according to Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group.
"HTC got on board early. They've had more than a decade of experience in the smartphone category. They built some of the first Windows smartphones; the first smartphones that were out on the market," Gartenberg said.
"HTC also quickly understood what some of the Android limitations were and built HTC Sense to overcome some of those limitations from a user-interface perspective. Learning the lessons that come from making smartphones for so long has certainly helped HTC."
HTC has several Android hits on its hands, including the Droid Incredible on the Verizon Wireless network, the EVO 4G on the Sprint Nextel network, the Aria on AT&T, and, to a lesser extent, the Google Nexus One on T-Mobile.
Should other handset makers that have embraced Android expect similar profit increases for the second quarter? Probably not on the back of Android. HTC has had some of the hottest Android devices on the market, as well as Android diversity.
"HTC has sold Android devices in the U.S. and Europe. They've sold...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Data-Center Floor Fix: 400+ Racks Vertically Relocated
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74181
On a chilly spring afternoon, IBM's western regional manager invited us to bid on a most challenging project: "Due to new earthquake guidelines we need to upgrade our most critical data center floor, panels and struts... a shutdown will cost millions."
I was nonplussed, figuring that a dozen or so racks was no real challenge. We have often engineered complex logistical solutions, with secure mirrors and rapid deployments. But, when Scott told me that the center was comprised of over 400 fully stocked IBM, EMC, Dell, and HP enclosures he had my full attention.
He explained that these enclosures managed both the active electrical grid and customer service for a few million customers in multiple western states. A failure would most likely result in rolling blackouts, lawsuits, and very angry customers.
He was putting the project out for bid, and he had come to us on the recommendation of a large ISP whose operations we had relocated a few months ago. We won the bid after some major internecine battles, which culminated with a 76 person conference call between 75 sharp stakeholders and yours truly.
We considered many options. Traditional relocation and virtual accommodation methods were impractical due to both the politics and key operational concerns. Jointly we decided on an innovative vertical solution.
Vertical methods, wherein the equipment would be lifted off the raised floor panels by a minimum of 2 feet, and held for 2 hours, was needless to say controversial. However, we quickly discovered that the lifting of the equipment was only a small portion of our challenge.
I recalled the sage advice that "all tasks are fundamentally simple... it's the quality of solutions to the inevitable sharp problems that occur, that is...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Study Finds E-Book Reading Is Slower and Less Relaxing
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74180
Fans of old-fashioned books, take heart! A study indicates that reading an e-book takes longer than reading the same book on paper.
The study, by usability expert Dr. Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group, a product-development consultancy, compared reading times on Amazon's Kindle 2, Apple's iPad using an iBooks application, a computer monitor, and a real book. The study found that the reading times of two dozen users was as much as 10.7 percent slower with the electronic versions.
In a survey, a test group of two dozen would be extremely small, but, in usability studies, many researchers think two dozen -- or fewer -- can reveal the majority of issues.
All the selected users liked reading, and frequently read books. For the study, each read different short stories by Ernest Hemingway, and measurements were made on speed and comprehension. Comprehension was about equal on the four different platforms, but the stories on the iPad were read an average of 6.2 percent slower than on paper, and on the Kindle 2 about 10.7 percent slower. Reading speeds on the computer monitor were not provided.
The iPad, Kindle 2, and book were rated about equal for how well they were liked by users, although a printed book was judged more relaxing. All users liked reading off a monitor least of all, comparing it to being at work.
Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester, said a study conducted in May by her firm found that people who like reading e-books still expect they will be reading regular books in the future.
The Forrester survey of 4,200 consumers focused on users who read e-books on any available devices, including smartphones and laptops. The users were asked to imagine how they would be reading in a year. With e-book readers...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Netflix Challenges Pay-TV Model with Relativity Deal
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74179
In a move to better position itself against cable television, Netflix on Tuesday announced a long-term agreement with Relativity Media that lets subscribers stream newly released DVDs during the pay-TV window. Until now, these new movies were only available to Relativity's partners for broadcast on premium TV channels.
The deal marks the beginning of a shift in the distribution paradigm for major motion pictures as Netflix subscribers will get access to blockbuster movies months, instead of years, after their DVD release. Put another way, this is the first time theatrical feature films will be available for streaming via Netflix instead of through traditional cable-TV providers.
"Our continued goal is to expand the breadth and timeliness of films and TV shows available to stream on Netflix," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "Historically, the rights to distribute these films are pre-sold to pay TV for as long as nine years after their theatrical release. Through our partnership with Relativity, these films will start to become available to our members just months after their DVD release."
Relativity has financed, cofinanced or produced more than 200 feature films generating more than $13 billion in worldwide box-office revenue. Fifty Relativity films have become Top 10 box-office releases during the past two years. Current Relativity releases include Robin Hood, Get Him to the Greek, and Grown Ups.
Two of the first films Netflix subscribers will see through the Relativity deal are The Fighter and Skyline. Both are scheduled for theatrical release later this year and will stream to Netflix subscribers in early 2011. Also on tap for Netflix are Rogue Pictures' Nicolas Cage action/thriller Season of the Witch and Movie 43. Both films will also hit theaters this year.
"We have always been about finding new ways to grow and monetize our business," said Ryan...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Online Piracy Fight Arrives at College Campuses
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74148
Starting this month, colleges and universities that don't do enough to combat the illegal swapping of "Avatar" or Lady Gaga over their computer networks put themselves at risk of losing federal funding.
A provision of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 is making schools a reluctant ally in the entertainment industry's campaign to stamp out unauthorized distribution of copyrighted music, movies and TV shows.
Colleges and universities must put in place plans "to effectively combat the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material by users of the institution's network" without hampering legitimate educational and research use, according to regulations that went into effect Thursday.
That means goodbye to peer-to-peer file-sharing on a few campuses -- with exceptions for gamers or open-source software junkies -- gentle warnings on others and extensive education programs everywhere else.
Despite initial angst about invading students' privacy and doing the entertainment industry's dirty work, college and university officials are largely satisfied with regulations that call for steps many of them put in place years ago.
But whether the investment of time and money will make a dent in digital piracy is uncertain.
"If the university is going to prohibit underage drinking, I think it ought to prohibit anything on the Internet that's illegal, too," said Alicia Richardson, an Illinois State University junior who applauds her school's restrictive policies on file-sharing. "I'm not going to mess with it. I know the consequences."
Among other things, schools must educate their campus communities on the issue and offer legal alternatives to downloading "to the extent practicable."
Colleges and universities that don't comply risk losing their eligibility for federal student aid.
Many colleges worried they would be asked to monitor or block content. But the provision says schools can get a great deal of flexibility, as long as they use at least one "technology-based deterrent."
Their options include taking steps to...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
How To Whip Your Audio Files Into Shape
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74123
These days, it's easy to accumulate digital audio files. It's not so easy, though, to feel like you're in control of what you have. You might find FLAC or APE files mixed up in your MP3 collection, for example, and folders full of audio files that are disorganized and badly in need of sorting. How can you gain control over this digital mess? Read on for some answers.
Q: I downloaded some files in the FLAC and APE formats, and Windows Media Player won't play them. Any suggestions?
A: FLAC and APE are both lossless audio encoding formats, meaning that, unlike MP3, FLAC and APE files should retain the full tonal spectrum of the original audio source. The FLAC format has been around for some time now, as has APE but because FLAC and APE files are very large compared to the compressed MP3 format, they haven't been as popular. However, with hard drive storage now relatively inexpensive and hard drive sizes having grown exponentially over the past couple of years, the popularity of FLAC has increased.
Unfortunately, as you've discovered, Windows Media doesn't support FLAC or APE natively. Nor do many other media players.
You have a couple of options, though. First, you could visit the FLAC site (http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html) and download the "FLAC for Windows with installer" or Monkey Audio (http://www.monkeysaudio.com/download.html), which is behind APE, to install their downloads.
The FLAC download will install a converter, not a player. You can use that to "decode" the FLAC files, which essentially means turning them into WAV files. Windows Media Player can handle those. WAV files are also lossless, so you won't lose any quality. You'll also be able to burn WAV files to a CD, if you wish to do that, since most CD burning software can deal with that format. The APE page leads...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Make Search Engines Do Your Bidding
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74088
The Internet is the most important communications advance since television, putting much of the world's knowledge at your fingertips.
There's just one problem: finding just the needle of information you want in the haystack of all that data!
What you're looking for online is usually found through a service called a search engine. Chances are, you already use one regularly. The top three are Google, Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo. If you use Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari as your browser, you know that each has a field at the top right of the browser for doing searches. In Google's Chrome browser, the same field at the top that shows the current Web address is also used as the search field.
Of course, you can also go to a search engine's main page -- google.com, bing.com or yahoo.com -- and work from there.
The key to finding what you want online is to phrase your search terms well. There are times when being very specific works best; other times, you'll want to be deliberately vague. What's important is to use the wording that's most apt to find the page you're looking for.
Suppose you want to find information about the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Typing in Jefferson Memorial will obviously get you the best results. But suppose you didn't know the name of that particular monument. Searching on Jefferson statue will return a lot of hits from different places. Adding Washington, D.C., will focus those results.
It also helps to know that search engines generally ignore common words such as and, a, in, the and so on. You can usually phrase your search without them.
If you're looking for something very specific -- say, a phrase or a headline -- then put it inside quote marks when you search. When you don't use quotes, Google...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Second Life: Reality Intrudes on Virtual Reality
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74070
While you were worrying about keeping your home, you may have missed the popping of the virtual-reality real estate bubble. In Second Life -- Linden Lab's immersive, 3D game that allows players to trade real dollars for virtual dollars -- a nice stretch of mainland coastal property that would have fetched around $65 in 2007 today goes for $16.
That's partly because the financial crisis crimped spending for the 1.38 million users, known as residents, who have logged into Second Life in the past 60 days. "The real real estate crisis had a direct effect on the real estate" in virtual worlds, says Guntram Graef, a business partner at Anshe Chung Studios, which sells "land" in Second Life. It's also because the pell-mell growth of Second Life has slowed dramatically since four years ago, when BusinessWeek put Anshe Chung -- the avatar for Ailin Graef, Guntram's wife -- on its cover.
The article suggested that Second Life and other virtual worlds might be "more intuitive portals into the vast resources of the entire Internet than today's World Wide Web." Companies from IBM to Wal-Mart to Wells Fargo experimented with virtual worlds for employee training, customer service, and marketing. Pierre Omidyar, eBay's founder and chairman, was a Linden Lab backer via his investing group, Omidyar Network. He was quoted as saying: "This generation that grew up on video games is blurring the lines between games and real life."
As it turned out, that generation would soon be spending far more time updating Facebook pages than outfitting avatars. Growth has slowed at Second Life. More than 10,000 IBM employees still attend meetings in Second Life, but some companies have dropped out or given up on wooing consumers through virtual worlds. On June 24, Linden Lab Chief Executive Officer Mark Kingdon stepped down and was replaced...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Study: Sustainability Is a Top Priority for CEOs
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74069
This week, the UN Global Compact and Accenture Sustainability Services are releasing the largest-ever chief executive study on corporate sustainability. Through an online survey and in-depth one-to-one interviews, nearly 1,000 CEOs, senior business executives, and civil society leaders have contributed to this landmark study on the state and future of responsible business in the 21st century.
It may come as a surprise to some, but perhaps the most significant finding of our study is that, despite the economic downturn and a flurry of global challenges, corporate commitment to environmental, social, and governance issues remains strong: 93 percent of CEOs see sustainability as critical to their company's success. This signals a fundamental shift in mind sets since this survey was last conducted in 2007. Then, sustainability was starting to reshape the rules of global business. Now, it has become a strategic priority for CEOs around the world.
CEOs also told us that their approaches to sustainability are changing:
-- CEOs identified the consumer as being as important a stakeholder as their business and government customers on this issue, driving companies to take action in response to new attitudes and needs.
-- Ninety-one percent of CEOs report that they will use new technologies to address sustainability over the next five years. Social media in particular were highlighted as both an opportunity for increased consumer engagement but also a challenge in terms of greater transparency.
-- CEOs identified partnerships and collaboration [e.g. with NGOs) as an increasingly important element in furthering goals of social development.
-- Furthermore, post-financial crisis, CEOs around the globe recognize a critical role for sustainability in rebuilding trust with stakeholders. Seventy-two percent of CEOs highlighted "brand, trust, and reputation" as key motivations for taking action on sustainability.
CEOs believe they are still facing many challenges, despite significant recent progress. Externally, much uncertainty still surrounds...
Wed, 7 Jul 10
Innovation's Dirty Little Secret: The Imperative for Change
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=73968
Recently I spoke with a group of executives from a $3 billion division of a large industrial company. They were faced with a mandate from the chief executive to expand the firm's service revenue from 20 percent to 33 percent. That's almost $400 million in new revenue, yet when I asked how many people were on the team, the leader replied meekly: "Two."
This isn't good enough -- and yet it's a systemic problem for those looking to implement innovation initiatives, particularly within large organizations. The fact is, the days when innovation was focused primarily on technological breakthroughs and new product development are gone. Fast-paced environmental shifts require constant change in systems, people, and processes. Organizational flexibility and agility are now critical capabilities for any corporation trying to lead. So any executive looking to innovate needs to invest significantly in a way to support the change needed to make that revenue become a reality.
Here are a couple of examples of different ways companies have done just that.
Heather Wilson, vice-president for innovation and information strategy at Kaiser Permanente, conceived and implemented a unique new stage for service innovation at the company's Garfield Innovation Center in San Leandro, Calif. Recently, she explained to me that when a promising innovation project is about 50 percent complete, she brings together representatives from information technology, patient services, and facilities management to assess how to scale it across the company's vast system.
By evaluating the "O-Gap" -- that is, the space between pilot and operations -- this group takes into consideration everything from process realignment to environmental modifications, as well as the training requirements needed to foster wide adoption of the change. "We introduced the O-Gap concept in 2009," she told me. "Now everyone knows what this stage entails, and it is a permanent part of our...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
Dell Says Supplier Provided Faulty OptiPlex Components
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74155
Newly released court documents have alleged that Dell knew about and covered up problems with millions of computers in 2003 and 2004. On Thursday, Dell responded on its company blog that the problems were related to faulty capacitors provided by its supplier, adding that it "did not knowingly ship faulty motherboards." The problematic products are the subject of a three-year-old civil lawsuit against the computer maker.
Dell spokesperson Lionel Menchaca wrote on the company blog that the quality of the capacitors was "not a Dell-specific issue, but an industry-wide problem" from supplier Nichicon. According to documents recently unsealed in the lawsuit by Advanced Internet Technologies (A.I.T.), Dell sold at least 11.8 million computers that could have failed or did fail because of the capacitors.
Hewlett-Packard and Apple also used components and had problems with some of their products, but, if the lawsuit's figures are accurate, the magnitude of the problem was much greater at Dell.
The company noted that it had extended the warranty up to five years for customers with faulty machines, and that no safety issues were involved. However, industry experts contend that problematic capacitors could have led to fires.
A.I.T., an Internet services company, said it lost millions of dollars in business because of 2,000 faulty computers it bought from Dell. According to documents in the lawsuit, Dell examined the bad computers and said A.I.T. had essentially caused many of the problems by using them too heavily in a space with a high room temperature.
The lawsuit contends that Dell knew about the problems, but tried to cover them up. An e-mail among customer-support staff, recently released in the lawsuit, stated that employees "need to avoid all language indicating the boards were bad or had 'issues.'" Other e-mails directed employees to "emphasize uncertainty," and to avoid bringing motherboard...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
T-Mobile Stops Sales of Microsoft's Sidekick Phone
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74154
As Microsoft shifts resources to bolster its wobbly stake in the smartphone market, T-Mobile announced on Friday that it's taking a break from the youth-oriented Sidekick phones. The Sidekick, with its groundbreaking slide-out keyboard for texting, became a Microsoft stepchild in 2008 when the software giant bought Danger, which makes the phones with Sharp.
The carrier announced in an online forum for the eight-year-old Sidekick that the LX and 2008 models will no longer be available through its channels. But support will still be available, and the name Sidekick won't fade away.
"While we work on the next chapter of our storied Sidekick franchise, T-Mobile will continue to provide our loyal Sidekick customers with product service and support," the announcement said. "Stay tuned for exciting updates in the months ahead, which we expect will provide customers with a new and fresh experience."
The announcement came two days after Microsoft announced that the Kin phones it debuted in April through Verizon Wireless would be discontinued after just seven weeks on the market. The Kin phones, with their social media and simple media-sharing features, were largely patterned after the Sidekicks, which suffered some bad publicity last fall when a server crash caused many users to lose data.
Microsoft said it is focusing its efforts on the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series, a brand-new operating system unveiled by CEO Steve Ballmer at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona in February.
The Kins and Sidekicks are "victims of a crowded marketplace," said analyst Gerry Purdy of MobilTrax. "I think it was just a matter of looking at internal resources and mobility and seeing the best chance to succeed is the Windows Phone 7 Series. It has more development, a wider audience, more partners signed into it. They made a judgment there were not enough sales to keep...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
IBM Will Buy BigFix To Keep Desktops Compliant
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74153
IBM on Thursday agreed to acquire BigFix. The acquisition sets the stage for products that help Big Blue's customers keep desktop computers more secure and compliant via automation and management tools. Financial details were not disclosed.
As IBM sees it, enterprises are challenged with making sure thousands of computers are available, secure and configured according to policies and requirements. The cost is rising to accomplish this task as security threats become greater. And companies can't afford to risk a breach.
BigFix software works to identify which devices are not in compliance with corporate IT policies and recommends security fixes and software updates to as many as 500,000 machines in a matter of minutes.
"BigFix automates some of the most time-intensive IT tasks across the most complex global networks, helping save organizations significant amounts of time, labor and expense," said Al Zollar, general manager of IBM Tivoli software. "BigFix's real-time visibility and control for globally distributed computing devices will complement IBM's existing smarter data-center offerings and strengthen our ability to build security into the fabric of the enterprise."
BigFix brings IBM more than 700 customers in industries ranging from federal, retail, entertainment, health care, education and financial services. SunTrust Bank installed BigFix software on more than 50,000 PCs, servers and mobile computers to gain visibility into its IT infrastructure across nearly 1,800 branch banks. The software helped SunTrust reduce patch cycle times from three weeks to three days and achieve a 98.5 percent compliance rate.
In its conference call announcing the deal, Big Blue said it plans to deploy BigFix internally across its more than 500,000 endpoints. BigFix software can also serve as the foundation for a data-center management service that could be lucrative for IBM, according to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.
"IBM has its own business productivity software in Lotus that these...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
Google Will Buy Maker of Flight-Information Software
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74141
Google on Thursday announced a definitive agreement to acquire a software company whose platform organizes flight information for the online travel industry. The search giant will pick up ITA Software for $700 million in an all-cash deal.
ITA was founded in 1996 by a team of MIT computer scientists. The company has developed algorithms that underpin a customizable flight-data organization tool that airlines and online travel agencies, including American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Hotwire and Orbitz, use to power their reservations.
Google smells revenue. The online travel industry generated $124.4 billion in 2009, according to eMarketer, and that figure is set to grow even after doubling in the last four years.
"ITA's very talented team has created an impressive product to organize flight information," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said. "Their technology opens exciting possibilities for us to create new ways for users to more easily find flight information online, and we're looking forward to welcoming them to Google."
Google's research shows that nearly half of all airline tickets are sold online today. But Google's research also found that many people are frustrated trying to find the best deal on flights because pricing and availability constantly change. Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google, thinks there is room for more competition and greater innovation in the online travel sector.
"Google has already come up with new ways to organize hard-to-find information like images, newspaper archives, scholarly papers, books and geographic data," Mayer said. "Once we've completed our acquisition of ITA, we'll work on creating new flight search tools that will make it easier for you to search for flights, compare flight options and prices, and get you quickly to a site where you can buy your ticket."
Google said the ITA acquisition will benefit passengers, airlines and online...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
A Big Error: Apple Says iPhone Meter Needs Update
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74140
Having continually denied that its iPhone 4 has any reception problems, Apple announced Friday that it was "stunned" to find out that its formula for calculating signal strength is "totally wrong." A free software update will be issued within a few weeks.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said its current formula "mistakenly displays two more bars than it should for a given signal strength" so that, for instance, four bars of signal might show when only two should.
The company said this could be contributing to the reported signal drop of as many as four or five bars, described by a number of users as occurring when the iPhone 4 is held in such a way that the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band is covered. Apple noted that this is a "far bigger drop than normal," and pointed out that gripping virtually any mobile phone -- including the Android-powered Droid, Nokia devices, and RIM BlackBerrys -- can reduce reception by a bar or more.
Because of the faulty metering, the company said, users who hold the phone in a certain way may be misled into thinking the signal drop is larger than it is. "Their big drop in bars," Apple added, "is because their high bars were never real in the first place."
AT&T's "recently recommended formula" for calculating bars will be used in the software update. In addition, the update will make the first three bars taller so they're easier to see, and will be available for the iPhone 3GS and 3G as well, which use the same erroneous formula.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said his personal experience with the iPhone 4 is that "the signal drops when I touch the area of the external antenna."
He...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
With Palm Deal Complete, HP Moves To Expand webOS
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74139
Hewlett-Packard said Thursday it has completed its $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm, which is now a global business unit of HP. According to company executives, HP expects to extend the reach of Palm's webOS and app store beyond the smartphone market through the launch of other types of mobile devices such as web-connected printers and tablets.
"With webOS, HP will be able to give its customers a unique and compelling experience across smartphones and other mobility products," noted HP Executive Vice President Todd Bradley. "This allows us the opportunity to fully engage in growing our smartphone family offering and the footprint of webOS."
Palm's own webOS effort floundered in part because of the company's inability to quickly gain a substantial following in the developer community, noted Lisa Pierce, an independent analyst with the Strategic Networks Group. "Design, connectivity and applications are three necessary ingredients to mobile device (or OS) success -- two out of three doesn't make the grade," Pierce said.
However, HP expects this to change now that Palm has become one of its business units. "With the webOS we will be able to aggressively deploy an integrated platform that will allow HP to own the entire customer experience, to effectively nurture and grow the developer community, and to provide a rich, valued experience for our customers," Bradley told analysts when the deal was disclosed at the end of April.
Though Palm was able to make terrific contributions to the mobile industry, it was unable to capitalize on its multifunctional webOS as an independent company, noted IDC Research Manager Francisco Jeronimo.
"Money makes all the difference at the point of sale," Jeronimo said. "Palm didn't have the money to compete with Apple and RIM in the U.S. market and to make the brand known outside its home market."
Moving forward,...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
Review: Droid X Smartphone Focuses on Screen Time
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74132
As smart phones get bigger and brighter touch screens, the line between handsets and tablet computers has gotten blurry.
The Droid X ($200 with a Verizon Wireless contract and rebate), the latest addition to Motorola Inc.'s popular Droid smart phone line, purports to be on the handset side. In reality, the phone walks a tightrope between the two categories by packing a 4.3-inch touch screen, speedy processor and an 8-megapixel camera in a matte black package that runs Google's Android operating system.
All this screen real estate is great for multimedia fans, as videos, Web sites and photos look fantastic on the Droid X. And the phone has oodles of good features, too. Still, it is a phone, and chances are you'll want to make a call at some point -- something I found rather awkward due to its shape and size.
Let's start with the screen. At 4.3 inches diagonally, it may not sound huge, but for a cell phone this is fairly enormous. For comparison, the iPhone 4's generously sized screen is 3.5 inches and the original Droid phone, which Motorola released late last year, is 3.7.
The Droid X's screen isn't just large; it's also brilliant and crisp. It's really fun to watch videos on it, read Facebook status updates from little on-screen "widgets," check e-mails and poke around online. Colors look bright, and text is easy to read.
The handset, which comes out July 15, excels at video playback in particular. I tested this by trying a "beta" version of a new application from Blockbuster Inc. that lets you rent or buy movies right on the phone. Verizon is including this on the Droid X. Although the application had a slim selection of movies during my test and downloads them only over Wi-Fi, it was pretty easy to sign up for...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
Facebook Unveils Permissions for Apps, Web Sites
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74131
Facebook is rolling out a new feature that requires outside applications and Web sites to tell users exactly what parts of their profiles have to be shared for the apps to work.
Applications already had to ask users for permission to access anything in their profiles that wasn't public. But these services didn't have to specify what information they were using. Such information can include your photos, your friends' birthdays or your e-mail address.
Under the new policy, the services will say which aspects of a profile they will mine, but the user still won't be able to pick out which pieces they want to grant access to. They have to either grant permission or disallow the app from working at all.
The world's largest online social network announced the change in April. It's part of Facebook's cooperation with Canada' privacy commissioner, who has been among the sharpest critics of the company's privacy policies.
Facebook has come under fire for the way it treats the information its nearly 500 million users post on the site. Most recently, privacy advocates and lawmakers have complained about Facebook's "instant personalization" feature, which draws information from users' profiles to customize a handful of other sites, including review site Yelp and the music service Pandora.
Partly because of criticism and partly because of the site's growth from a small network for college students, Facebook's privacy settings became complicated and often confusing over the years.
In response, Facebook simplified its privacy settings in changes unveiled last month -- though some critics still say these changes don't go far enough.
Sat, 3 Jul 10
Movie-Piracy Web Sites Disabled by Feds
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74128
U.S. officials on Wednesday announced a major crackdown on movie piracy that involved disabling nine Web sites they accuse of offering pirated movies, in some cases hours after they appeared in theaters.
Officials also seized assets from 15 bank, investment and advertising accounts, and executed residential search warrants in North Carolina, New Jersey, New York and Washington.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials worked with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and other government agencies. The investigation involved about 100 agents in 11 U.S. states and the Netherlands.
Officials wouldn't say how many people were suspected of intellectual property theft, but said the penalties could include prison time.
The raids were the first actions in a new "Operation In Our Sites" initiative to combat Internet counterfeiting and piracy.
The government only seized domain names for the sites in question, however, meaning the computers that run the sites could still be used under a different name.
Acknowledging the slippery nature of online piracy, John Morton, the assistant secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said government agents would have to be persistent in chasing site operators.
"If a site reappears, so will we. If the criminals move overseas, we will follow," he said at a press conference on the studio lot of The Walt Disney Co. "Take it from me, I don't think that we've stopped Internet piracy in a day, but this is going to be a sustained effort."
The domain names seized were: TVShack.net, PlanetMoviez.com, ThePirateCity.org, Movies-Links.TV, FilesPump.com, Now-Movies.com, ZML.com, NinjaVideo.net and NinjaThis.net. All the sites' domain names were registered in the U.S., although one was physically based in the Netherlands.
The sites had about 6.7 million visitors combined every month, and at least one had about a 10-fold increase in traffic from a year ago. Authorities say they made money from advertising or donations.
Officials said...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
Google Suggest Feature Blocked in China
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74126
A Google search feature was blocked in China on Thursday, the company said as it awaited Beijing's decision on whether to renew its operating license amid tensions over censorship.
Mainland users were unable to use the search giant's "suggest" feature, which offers possible results as they start to type a query, the company said.
"It appears that search queries produced by Google Suggest are being blocked for mainland users in China," said Google spokeswoman Jessica Powell in an e-mail. "Normal searches that do not use query suggestions are unaffected."
Google's relations with Beijing have been tense since the U.S.-based search giant said in January it no longer wanted to cooperate with Chinese Web filtering following hacking attacks traced to China.
Google Inc. closed its China-based search engine March 22 and began routing users to its unfiltered Hong Kong site. But the company said this week it would stop automatic switching because Beijing objected and threatened to revoke its license.
The application deadline was Wednesday, and Powell said Google has received no word from regulators. She said the license runs through 2012 but must be renewed annually and declined to say what Google's status is while it awaits an answer.
The official Xinhua News Agency said "there will be a result soon" and Google was "very late" in submitting the application. Phone calls to the regulator, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, were not answered.
A foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, did not answer directly when asked whether Google would be allowed to operate in China.
"Internet operating companies, while doing business in China, should abide by Chinese laws and regulations," Qin said. "We hope all foreign companies, including Internet companies, should comply with Chinese laws and regulations."
The China site, Google.cn, was operating Thursday with a tab that said "we have moved to google.com.hk." Clicking on that took...
Sat, 3 Jul 10
mSpot Lets You Stream Your Music Over the Web
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74097
A music service launched Monday lets you listen to your collection of tunes from any computer or Android phone over the Internet.
MSpot's service stores your music on its computers and lets users access it remotely through a Web browser. It makes use of a concept known as "cloud computing," following music subscription services such as Rhapsody and Thumbplay. But unlike those, which offer access to huge collections of songs for a monthly fee, mSpot users play music they already own.
MSpot, which until Monday was available to a closed group of "beta" testers, is free for 2 gigabytes of music, or about 1,600 songs. It charges between $3 and $14 per month for up to 100 gigabytes of extra storage.
To use mSpot, you first install an application for your computer (PC or Mac), which then lets you pick what songs you want to upload to the company's servers. This can be music you bought on iTunes, songs you've downloaded elsewhere, or your CD collection if you've ripped it and loaded it on your computer.
Once your music is in the mSpot "cloud," you can log in to your account through a Web browser to listen at work or on your mobile phone while out and about.
The service detects cellular networks, which the company says helps make sure that your tunes don't get interrupted by spotty coverage. An "airplane mode" allows you to play songs you've preselected when you don't have Internet access.
For now, mSpot works on smart phones only if they run Google's Android software. The company says it plans to launch soon on other phones, including the iPhone.
Music streaming services like mSpot have the potential to run afoul of the licenses that recording companies enable for downloads because the services could technically open a new way for people to share their...
Fri, 2 Jul 10
Amazon Unveils Refreshed Kindle DX with Lower Price
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74137
Amazon.com introduced a refreshed Kindle DX and reduced the price from $489 to $379 Thursday. Despite the price cut, Amazon said it is maintaining a free 3G e-book delivery system for the Kindle DX, which can download a book wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.
The refreshed Kindle DX, which is slated to begin shipping on July 7, sports a new graphite enclosure and an improved high-contrast electronic ink display, noted Amazon Kindle Senior Vice President Steve Kessel. "With 50 percent better contrast and darker fonts, you'll find it easier than ever to read wherever you happen to be -- whether it's outside in bright sunlight or under the low light of your living room," Kessel said.
Amazon also recently reduced the price of the standard Amazon Kindle from $259 to $189 to keep pace with the $149 nook now offered by rival Barnes & Noble. Even with the latest price drops, however, dedicated devices featuring E Ink screens may still be too expensive to attract the interest of the majority of U.S. consumers.
Based on the results of an online survey last year, Forrester Research found that most consumers based in the United States valued dedicated e-reading devices at "shockingly low" price points ranging between $50 and $99, though 14 percent said they would consider buying such a device if it was priced at $199 or even higher.
Still, Forrester currently forecasts that U.S. consumers will buy 6.6 million dedicated e-readers this year. "By 2015, 29 million U.S. consumers will own an e-reader, but consumers will also read e-books on other devices like laptops, mobile phones, and tablet PCs," Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said.
What's driving the current round of price cuts is the fact that e-book sales are now profitable. "So Amazon and Barnes &...
Fri, 2 Jul 10
Verizon Takes a Potshot at iPhone It Hopes To Offer
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74136
Hold our latest smartphone any way you like, says Verizon Wireless in a new ad campaign, and you won't lose your call. The shot is intended to exploit a public-relations setback for Apple and AT&T: Problems with the iPhone 4's innovative antenna system.
The fast-selling iPhone's latest design puts the antenna in a metal band in the center of the device's glass panels in an apparent attempt to make it slimmer. But widespread complaints about reception have led to class-action lawsuits alleging Apple knowingly sold a flawed phone. Apple has suggested that customers avoid touching the antenna while making calls or put the iPhone in a protective case.
An evidently flippant reaction by Apple CEO Steve Jobs that "it's just a phone" in what one irate customer said was an exchange of e-mails may make the situation worse as sales enter a second week.
Apple and AT&T, its exclusive U.S. carrier, say they sold close to two million handsets in the first three days.
"I don't think the antenna issue will slow down sales much," said Gerry Purdy of MobilTrax. He said Apple might authorize store personnel to give out free carrying cases to address the problem.
Verizon's response to the controversy came in an ad for its latest Android-based smartphone, the Droid X, which launches July 15. In the small print of a full-page ad in The New York Times that describes the Droid X's features, Verizon notes that "most importantly, it comes with a double-antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like and use it just about anywhere to make crystal-clear calls. You have a voice and you deserve to be heard."
The controversy comes as Verizon is widely believed to be the next carrier to sell the iPhone. That might explain...
Fri, 2 Jul 10
Irreverent Woot Retail Site Becomes Part of Amazon
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74135
Amazon.com, which sells practically everything, has agreed to buy Woot, an online discount retailer that offers only one product at a time. "Today," Woot CEO Matt Rutledge wrote in an open letter, "is a big day in Woot history" because "I woke up to find Jeff Bezos the Mighty had seized our magic sword." The terms of the agreement were not announced.
The company, which Rutledge said earns "a living on snarky commentary and junk," started in July 2004 as an employee store and marketing test site for an electronics distributor. Based in Carrolton, Texas, Woot also owns several specialty sites, including wine.woot.com and shirt.woot.com. The site, which defines itself as "an online store and community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap," has about 2.75 million registered users.
Rutledge said the company plans to "continue to run Woot the way we have always run Woot -- with a wall of ideas and a dartboard." He added that, organizationally, it will be as if one person is added to the organizational hierarchy, "except that one will just happen to be a billion-dollar company that could buy and sell each and every one of you like you were office furniture."
The main Woot site specializes in electronics products, a single one of which is offered until the supply is exhausted, or until midnight central time, at which point it's replaced. If an item sells out before midnight, no new item appears until midnight.
Woot is also a wholesaler to Amazon and others, which gives it access to exclusive arrangements. Rutledge has told news media that, without exclusive deals, "the whole construct of this business model is rather stupid."
In July last year, Amazon bought online shoe and apparel retailer Zappos.com for $847 million, and in January 2008 it purchased audio-book retailer Audible...
Fri, 2 Jul 10
Pre-Alpha MeeGo Ready To Take on Apple and Android
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74134
Nokia is betting heavily on the MeeGo operating system, which was developed for use in smartphones, tablet devices, and other touch-enabled environments. Intel and Nokia have made the pre-alpha code available for developers to begin building on.
The successor to Symbian hopes to attract platform developers, handset vendors, and operators to contribute to MeeGo 1.1, which is expected to roll out later this year.
But can the Linux-based operating system complete in an iPhone-Android world? Nokia is bold enough to think so.
"We believe the trajectory for innovation can be higher for MeeGo than for Android," Tom Miller, head of MeeGo ecosystem development at Nokia, told listeners at a presentation during Qualcomm's Uplinq conference in San Diego Wednesday. "Watch this space."
In an IT marketplace obsessed with consumer gizmos, serious developer news tends to disappear beneath continuing waves of product launches and promotions, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. Yet without developers working and sweating behind the scenes, he added, techno-gimcracks have the inherent value of badly designed doorstops.
"Bottom line: Without the involvement of interested and enthusiastic developers, innovation is DOA," King said. "So it behooves vendors to make it as easy as possible for developers to be creative, which is where MeeGo comes in."
The MeeGo concept was birthed about a year ago when Intel and Nokia decided to work together on mobile-computing initiatives. Essentially, MeeGo merges Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo operating environments for use in both Intel Atom and ARM processor-based devices.
King said the effort wasn't simply a matter of two large vendors paling around -- both Intel and Nokia are looking to better position themselves to address burgeoning demand for mobile devices ranging from increasingly powerful smartphones to rapidly evolving tablets.
Nokia has to make a move. Although it's still officially the world's...
Fri, 2 Jul 10
Lawsuits Cite Antenna Problems with Apple's iPhone 4
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74122
Complaints about reception problems with Apple's new iPhone 4 have entered the courtroom. At least three lawsuits have been filed, accusing the device maker and AT&T Wireless of negligence in marketing, unfair business practices, and false and misleading advertising.
Separate complaints from a customer in New Jersey and another in Massachusetts were filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, and another lawsuit was filed Thursday in Maryland.
One lawsuit, from Christopher Dydyk of Cambridge, Mass., said "Apple's sale of the iPhone with this unannounced defect, assuming Apple's prior knowledge of the defect, constitutes misrepresentation and fraud." The complaint added that "in omitting to disclose the defect in the iPhone 4, Apple perpetrated a massive fraud upon hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting customers."
Dydyk asks that Apple provide a free "bumper," or rubber case, for every pre-ordered iPhone, or that it be ordered to pay for customers' bumpers.
Maryland residents Kevin McCaffrey and Linda Wrinn said Apple and AT&T "actively suppressed and concealed the fact that the iPhone 4 could not be held in a manner consistent with the normal usage of wireless communication devices," and they are looking for unspecified damages.
Apple hasn't commented, but has consistently said there is no antenna issue.
On Wednesday, there were indications that Apple was indirectly confirming the existence of antenna problems because of a new job posting for an "Antenna Engineer-iPhone," and a reportedly leaked memo.
The memo, allegedly an internal Apple customer-care document, surfaced earlier this week on industry web sites. It advised AppleCare employees about how to deal with complaints relating to reception, noting that "gripping almost any mobile phone in certain places will reduce its reception."
It advised employees to suggest that customers who are experiencing this on the iPhone 3GS "avoid covering the bottom-right side with your hand," and, if it's happening with the...
Fri, 2 Jul 10
Microsoft Will Move Kin Technology Into Windows Phone 7
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74121
On Wednesday, Microsoft put the kibosh on its Kin phone. The software giant said it would turn its attention to Windows Phone 7, the company's smartphone operating system planned for release later this year.
Microsoft's touchscreen phone offered a compact form factor with software that aimed to help users discover, share and interact with friends and family online. It targeted younger demographics with capabilities such as allowing users to organize and view their social-media feeds, video, messages and other content.
With the Kin, Microsoft pushed a multimedia experience, including a built-in Zune player. What was missing from the Kin that's available on the iPhone and Android-powered devices is the ability to run third-party apps. In the age of app mania, analysts said that missing feature could have contributed to lower sales. The phone sold through Verizon Wireless in the U.S. -- albeit only for 48 days.
"We are integrating our Kin team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from Kin into future Windows Phone releases," the company said. Microsoft will continue working with Verizon Wireless to sell out the stock of Kins.
Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group, said we may never hear the whole story about why Microsoft killed Kin. As he sees it, the product was conceptually sound for its target demographic. The timing, execution and the service price point, however, made it difficult for the Kin to compete in what is becoming an overcrowded smartphone market.
"Tagging Kin with a full smartphone service price point for a product aimed at a youth market is ultimately what did it in," Gartenberg said. "The Kin needed to have feature-phone pricing to be effectively competitive in that space. The fact that Microsoft and Verizon couldn't get to that price point made it a...
Fri, 2 Jul 10
High-Speed Broadband Network Helps Researchers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74114
Supporters of a high-speed broadband network that connects researchers in a dozen northern states say the system is in good shape despite university budget cutbacks, thanks in part to a new federal initiative.
The Northern Tier Network was established in 2003 to help improve Internet capability in states that lagged behind the rest of the country. It includes universities from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington and Alaska.
Bonnie Neas, North Dakota State University's vice president for information technology and the state representative to the network, told North Dakota lawmakers Tuesday that research dollars created through the system have boosted many universities that are hurting for money.
"It's really pushing the science, math and technology agenda for the country," Neas said.
The system also stands to benefit from a possible $97 million federal grant to two nonprofit Internet networks looking to link regional systems. The proposal by Internet2 and National LambdaRail would give Northern Tier 10 times its current Internet capability and reduce costs by 50 percent, Neas said.
North Dakota will spend $735,000 operating the system this year.
The network was created after officials in several northern states realized they could only afford high-speed service if they banded together. North Dakota has received about $3.25 million in federal funds and $2.73 million in state money for the network, which is used at NDSU, the University of North Dakota and the state's Information Technology Department.
"I can remember going to a carrier in about 1997 and asking for broadband access between UND and NDSU," Neas said in an interview. "We were told we couldn't make a business case to do that."
Researchers aren't the only people using the network. A demonstration Tuesday showed lawmakers how high school students can view specimens under a $300,000 electron microscope in real time.
"It used to...
Fri, 2 Jul 10
Google To Push Android Deeper into Asia
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74107
Google plans to push its Android mobile software in India and China, and is exploring ways for developers to make more money from applications, stepping up competition with Apple and Nokia.
To attract programmers to its Android operating system, Google may offer tools that help them sell subscriptions, virtual goods, and other items from within applications on mobile phones, Andy Rubin, vice-president of engineering at Google, says in an interview.
The company also aims to put its Android operating system on lower-priced phones made by Huawei Technologies and LG Electronics in parts of Asia and Europe, where it's taking on Nokia, the mobile market leader. "The down-market opportunity is about to happen," Rubin says. "It's actually quite a revolution."
Android is part of Google's strategy to get more of its software on mobile devices, creating new avenues to sell advertising -- its main source of revenue. The total mobile-ad market will grow to $13.5 billion in 2013 from less than $1 billion last year, according to research firm Gartner in Stamford, Conn.
Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., lags behind Apple in mobile apps, which are a growing platform for ads and help attract consumers to devices. Android users have about 65,000 apps available, less than a third of the more than 200,000 Apple programs.
Google is taking steps to accelerate Android's growth. Expanding in new markets such as Korea helped drive up the number of users who activated Android devices to 160,000 a day in June, from 100,000 in May, the company said. Sixty-nine percent of Android-based phones sold in the first quarter were in the U.S. "We are definitely in the hockey stick," said Rubin, referring to Android's growth pattern. Gartner predicts that Android will leapfrog Apple's operating system, iOS, by 2012 to become the world's second-most-popular mobile operating system behind Nokia-supported...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
Apple Seeks Antenna Engineer Amid iPhone 4 Complaints
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74120
Apple may be indirectly confirming, through a job posting and a reportedly leaked memo, that the iPhone 4 has reception problems that depend on how users hold the phone. On Tuesday, the company posted a job notice for an "Antenna Engineer-iPhone," indicating the need for some additional expertise in that area.
The listing doesn't explicitly say "needs to be able to fix iPhone 4's reception problems," of course, but it does seek an engineer who can "define and implement antenna system architecture to optimize the radiation performance for wireless portable devices." It could be coincidental that the posting comes just as the reception issue gains prominence, although one would expect Apple already has a crew of antenna engineers.
Also on Tuesday, a memo purporting to be a leaked internal Apple customer-care document surfaced on industry web sites. The memo, advising AppleCare employees on how to deal with complaints relating to reception, emphasizes that "the iPhone 4's wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped."
But it also notes that "gripping almost any mobile phone in certain places will reduce its reception," calling it "a fact of life in the wireless world." It advised employees to suggest that customers who are experiencing this on the iPhone 3GS "avoid covering the bottom-right side with your hand," and, if it's happening with the iPhone 4, "avoid covering the black strip in the lower-left corner of the metal band."
The memo also notes that "the use of a case or bumper that is made out of rubber or plastic may improve wireless performance" by keeping a hand from directly covering those areas.
Apple has been insisting there is no antenna issue with the iPhone 4, which has sold more than 1.7 million units since its debut on June 24....
Thu, 1 Jul 10
YouTube Says Flash -- Not HTML5 -- Is Best for Videos
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74119
YouTube weighed in Wednesday on the question of whether HTML5 is ready to replace Flash Player as the preferred video-distribution vehicle for the web -- an idea first proposed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in April. According to a new YouTube blog post, Adobe Flash currently provides the best platform for meeting the video-distribution requirements of the online service.
Though the video support built into HTML5 enables YouTube to deliver most of the service's content and features to computers and other devices that don't support Flash Player, YouTube software engineer John Harding observed that HTML5 has substantial shortcomings.
"We've been excited about the HTML5 effort and video tag for quite a while now, and most YouTube videos can now be played via our HTML5 player," Harding wrote in a blog. "This work has shown us that, while the video tag is a big step forward for open standards, the Adobe Flash platform will continue to play a critical role in video distribution."
According to Harding, one of the drawbacks of HTML5 is that the next major revision of the HTML standard currently under development does not address video-streaming protocols. By contrast, Flash Player provides fine control over buffering as well as dynamic quality control, Harding wrote.
"Flash Player addresses these needs by letting applications manage the downloading and playback of video via ActionScript in conjunction with either HTTP or the RTMP video-streaming protocol," Harding wrote.
Furthermore, Harding observed that Flash Player's ability to combine application code and resources into a secure, efficient package has been instrumental in enabling YouTube videos to be embedded in other web sites. "While HTML5 adds sandboxing and message-passing functionality, Flash is the only mechanism most web sites allow for embedded content from other sites," he wrote.
Other Flash Player advantages over HTML5 include the ability to enable...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
Sony Offers Update -- Not Recall -- To Cool Hot VAIOs
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74118
Sony Electronics' computers division is warning owners of some VAIO notebooks that the devices may overheat and pose a burn risk. But despite what the government is calling a voluntary recall, the company insists a firmware update, available on the Sony web site, to the basic input/output system will solve the problem without customers turning in their computers.
The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission reported on its web site Wednesday that it and Sony had launched the recall after Sony received "30 reports of units overheating, resulting in deformed keyboards and casings. No injuries have been reported."
The affected units are in the F11 and CW2 series notebooks launched in January. The Wall Street Journal, citing figures from Sony, said that of those series, 259,000 were sold in the U.S., 103,000 in Europe, 120,000 in Asia, and 52,000 in Japan.
In a letter posted on a support page on Sony's web site, Mike Lucas, senior vice president of the VAIO product line, blamed the problem on "a potential malfunction of the internal temperature-management system, resulting in deformation of the product's keyboard or external casing, and a potential burn hazard to consumers."
In the frequently asked questions section, Sony listed the model numbers potentially affected and cautioned those users to "install the firmware update as soon as possible to prevent the small possibility of overheating."
While Lucas offered a toll-free number for technical support (866) 496-7669, the notice urges customers to fix the problem themselves. "Customers should download the firmware update available" is the answer to the FAQ "Can consumers return affected models to the stores where they purchased them?"
The CPSC on its web site also recommends the update as a remedy without suggesting returning the computers. A Sony spokesperson in Europe told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the company's action...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
Google Social Search Changes Fuel Google Me Rumors
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74116
A Google Social Search announcement is giving more credibility to a rumor about the search giant's supposed Facebook killer. Although most analysts aren't ready to fully acknowledge the rumors behind Google Me, others believe Google is moving toward a new social-networking platform.
Google launched Google Social Search in January to help searchers find relevant web content published by friends and contacts. Google has been making improvements since then, such as using public URLs. Now Google is expanding social search by using additional links that appear in the Buzz tab of a searcher's Google profile.
"If you're signed in, Google makes a best guess about whose public content you may want to see in your search results -- the content you see comes from your 'social circle'," explained Google Software Engineer Mike Lopyrev. "Your social circle includes a variety of private and public connections, such as the ones surfaced through links that appear on your Google profile."
In a move to improve social search, Lopyrev said Google has started following a more comprehensive set of the public links from a user's Google profile to populate the user's "social circle" and find social content.
Here's how it works: If you use Buzz, you have the option to add "Connected Sites" and post content from these sites publicly on your Google profile. For example, Lopyrev noted, you can choose to connect your Twitter account and set your tweets to appear in your Buzz stream and the Buzz tab of your profile.
In practice, this means if there is a link to your Twitter account in your public Buzz stream, Google will follow that link and add the people you follow on Twitter to your social circle. If you don't use Buzz, Lopyrev explained, you can still add links to YouTube, Picasa and other sites to your...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
Hulu Offers $9.99 Subscription Service for TV Shows
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74105
Hulu on Tuesday unveiled a subscription service that offers viewers access to full seasons of TV shows on a slew of devices. Dubbed Hulu Plus, consumers can tap into the service for $9.99 a month to watch shows whenever and wherever they want.
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said Hulu Plus is the company's answer to the question of "What if your favorite TV shows loved you back?" He was careful to explain that Hulu Plus is not a Hulu.com replacement, but an ad-supported subscription product meant to compliment the existing Hulu service.
"For almost all of the current broadcast shows on our service, Hulu Plus offers the full season. Every single episode of the current season will be available, not just a handful of trailing episodes," Kilar said, noting the availability of shows like Family Guy, Glee, The Office, 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and more.
Hulu Plus subscribers also get access to back seasons or full runs of some modern TV classics, including all nine seasons of The X-Files, all three seasons of Arrested Development, 10 seasons of Law and Order: SVU, and all five seasons of Ally McBeal. Kilar called it a "treasure chest in the cloud for TV lovers."
With Hulu Plus, subscribers can also go beyond the browser on a Mac or PC. Hulu Plus opens the door to watching programs on a television set -- if viewers have a Samsung Internet-connected TV or a Blu-ray player. Viewers can download a Hulu Plus application from the Samsung app store and stream Hulu Plus directly to the TV. Hulu Plus is also accessible on Wi-Fi and 3G devices like Apple's iPad, iPhone 3GS, or third-generation iPod touch.
"You can start watching a show on your HDTV one night, pick up where you left off on your laptop...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
Another Report Sees iPhone on Verizon in January
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74104
A new report contends that Verizon Wireless will get Apple's iPhone in January. The report, by Bloomberg News Service and based on information from "two people familiar with the plans," is the latest in a series of rumors that have projected a similar outlook.
Some analysts estimate that Verizon could sell as many as three million iPhones per quarter. Both Verizon and Apple have declined to comment on the latest report.
The iPhone has been handled exclusively in the U.S. by AT&T since its launch in June 2007. The device has sold more than 50 million worldwide so far, and the most recent version, the iPhone 4, sold more than 1.7 million in its first three days. AT&T currently has about 12 million iPhone customers.
Although the rumor mill has been actively trying to figure out the duration of AT&T's exclusivity, the details of the contract have not been made public. Some reports indicate it's a five-year deal, although Apple's options for bringing in other carriers are not evident.
The upside for Apple is that Verizon could expand its total market reach, with a majority of Verizon customers indicating they would be interested in buying the device. The downside is that Apple would need to create a CDMA iPhone to work with Verizon's current 3G network.
But some observers are contending that an iPhone for Verizon would be designed to work on its new 4G LTE network, which is expected to be launched in as many as 25 markets by mid-November.
The device could possibly be dual band, for both LTE and EVDO CDMA. This could have a major effect on AT&T's iPhone customers if the LTE coverage is reliable, because of 4G's faster speeds. AT&T is also moving to a 4G network, but is said to be as much as a year...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
New MapQuest Has a Cleaner, Simpler Look
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74094
MapQuest was long the leader among Web sites giving people online directions, but Google Maps surpassed it in 2008.
MapQuest wants those eyeballs back.
Starting Tuesday, the Denver-based mapping unit of AOL Inc. is testing a fresh look with features that some might say make it look a whole lot more like -- Google Maps.
The beta version scraps MapQuest's squiggly red logo in "cheap hotel" font for a simple non-serif font in shades of green and blue. Instead of scrolling down to see a map, visitors see a map right away on the right side of the screen, just like at Google Maps. There's also a single box for typing in searches instead of several.
The beta version makes it easier to ask for directions not just from point A to B, but also points C and D. Users can reorder their directional points by clicking and dragging on icons to get directions from point A to B to C, or from A to C to B.
Once a route is mapped out, a toolbar at the top of the map allows you to search for shops, parks, gas stations or other spots along the way.
"It's allowing it to be a place of discovery, rather than just a calculator," said MapQuest's general manager Christian Dwyer, who likened the new version to a "digital concierge." It's meant to be a simpler, more elegant, faster, more intuitive version that offers more information to plan a trip, Dwyer said.
If all goes well, the beta could be the default look of MapQuest in August, though users can still opt to use the older version.
True to parent company AOL's mission to provide original content to attract traffic, MapQuest's beta version links search results for particular hotel and restaurant addresses, for example, to Web sites or content about those addresses.
Boosting...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
MOG and Rdio Jump Into Streaming Music Market
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74093
Two more companies are jumping into the mobile streaming music field with applications that work on iPhones, giving consumers new ways to listen to millions of tracks on the go for about $10 a month.
Music blog site MOG and a startup called Rdio, backed by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, are both entering a market already served by Rhapsody International Inc. and Thumbplay Inc.
These so-called "cloud music" services do away with the need to download songs because the mobile devices tap into songs stored on distant computers through the cellphone network. In that way, they are the latest to challenge Apple Inc.'s grip on selling music as downloads through its iTunes store.
On Monday, a different startup called mSpot also launched to the public as a "beta" test, giving users a way to store music they already have and stream it to themselves on mobile devices. It's free for 2 gigabytes of music, or about 1,600 songs; monthly fees are charged beyond that.
Along with access to 7.5 million tracks, MOG touts a slider control that gradually changes how many randomly selected tracks come from a single artist or many similar ones.
MOG's iPhone app was approved last week, and MOG plans to launch in July on iPhones and on mobile devices that use Google Inc.'s Android operating system.
Also this summer, MOG is launching an application on the Roku set-top box, which was made popular for its integration with movie service Netflix. That application will allow subscribers to listen to songs through their TV and computer for about $5 per month. (The $10-a-month plan for phones includes Roku and computer access.)
"It's part of our vision and our strategy to integrate MOG in all these experiences," said Drew Denbo, MOG's senior vice president of business development.
Rdio, with 5 million songs, is focused...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
U.S. Firm Files Antitrust Complaint Against Germany's SAP
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74092
A U.S. software company asked European Union regulators Tuesday to stop Germany's SAP from tactics that it says illegally exclude it from a lucrative market for programs that help companies price their products.
Austin, Texas-based Versata claims that SAP deliberately refused to share information on its widely-used business planning software, cloned its own version of Versata's pricing program and gave it away for free with SAP's planning platform.
SAP spokesman Guenter Gaugler said the company could not comment because it has not seen the complaint.
Versata's lawyer Thomas Vinje says the case filed Tuesday is very similar to complaints he led against Microsoft by software developers who accused it of refusing to supply key information to make compatible products.
Price configuration software can cost a large business some $5 million and is valuable because it helps companies allocate prices to different versions of their products or services.
Versata sold its pricing programs to companies that use SAP's enterprise resource planning software -- three-quarters of the world's largest firms -- but says it was slowly squeezed out of the market at the end of the 1990s.
It says documents it obtained from SAP during a Texas patent trial showed that SAP targeted the company because its software was "raking in the cash among the SAP customers," according to an SAP executive quoted in the papers.
Vinje said SAP created problems for Versata by refusing to give it information that would let it develop compatible programs, told SAP customers that Versata software wouldn't work with the enterprise software and then developed a similar pricing product.
Versata claims it could still be a market player if the European Commission were to act on its complaint and order SAP to provide interoperability information and detach its pricing software from its main program.
It is also calling for "appropriate fine" on SAP. EU...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
Security Glitch Exposes WellPoint Customer Data
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74089
Health insurer WellPoint has notified 470,000 individual insurance customers about a security breach that may have exposed medical records, credit card numbers and other sensitive information.
The Indianapolis insurer said the problem stemmed from an online program customers can use to track the progress of their application. It was fixed in March.
WellPoint is the largest commercial health insurer based on membership, with nearly 34 million members. It runs Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states and Unicare plans in several others.
Spokeswoman Cynthia Sanders said the insurer notified customers in most of its states. That includes about 230,000 customers of its Anthem Blue Cross subsidiary in California.
The possible breach affected only individual insurance customers and not group coverage or people who buy Medicare Advantage insurance.
Sanders said an outside vendor had upgraded the insurer's application tracker last October and said all security measures were back in place after the work was finished. But a California customer found she could call up confidential information of other customers by manipulating Web addresses used in the program. Customers use a Web site and password to track their applications.
WellPoint learned about the problem when the customer filed a lawsuit about it against the company in March.
"Within 12 hours of knowing the problem existed, we fixed it," said Sanders, who declined to identify the outside vendor.
Sanders said the company believes a "vast majority" of the unauthorized access of customer information came from the plaintiff and her attorneys.
The insurer notified all individual insurance customers who had information in its application tracking program from October through March. It will provide a year of free credit monitoring.
WellPoint shares fell 78 cents to $50.01 in Tuesday afternoon trading, while broader trading indexes slid more than 2 percent.
Thu, 1 Jul 10
'Trust' Companies Can Win Over Wary Customers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74068
Many consumers have become all too familiar with the $38 caffe latte -- $3 for the coffee plus the $35 overdraft charge on their bank debit cards. Such transaction charges, especially when they are a surprise, have seriously eroded the trust that consumers place in their primary banks. Just 10 years ago, these fee strategies were being hailed by industry analysts as great new means for generating revenue. But now the evidence suggests that the erosion of trust that these practices produce is simply not worth it.
For the past three years, our firm, Mercatus -- a financial services strategy consulting firm -- has conducted a semiannual "Franchise Health Study" designed to gauge consumer perceptions of financial soundness and the levels of trust they place in their banks. While perceptions of soundness have improved as the industry has stabilized following the recession, levels of trust have remained flat, largely as a result of the lack of transparency in fees and pricing and the resulting uncertainty and skepticism such an approach engenders. In the rush to maximize revenue, some institutions lost sight of customers, who, buffeted by the recession, now scrutinize their financial service providers far more closely.
Importantly, the erosion in consumer trust has also eroded business performance. In just 18 months, from the middle of 2008 to the end of 2009, which our latest study encompasses, the average "share-of-wallet" -- the percentage of business a financial service company captures from each customer -- dropped from 44 percent to 36 percent as consumers allocated less business to their primary banks, with the greatest drop suffered by large banks and investment firms. In the same period, large banks' ability to acquire new customers fell by almost half, while their rate of attrition with existing customers almost doubled.
Banks aren't alone. Nuisance...
Thu, 1 Jul 10
Aircell Simplifies In-Flight Internet Access
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74065
Tapping into the Internet on a flight is becoming a little cheaper -- if you don't mind being a subscriber.
Aircell, a provider of "Gogo" wireless Internet access on domestic flights, is pursuing a broader base of customers with more pricing and payment options, including a subscription model that it recently introduced.
The subscription plan, which costs $34.95 a month, provides all-you-can-use access on any of the eight airlines it now serves, including American, Delta, United and US Airways. Customers will pay $19.95 for the first month in a promotion but will see the full price billed automatically on their credit card each month until they cancel.
Aircell's goals are to overcome passenger complaints that daily prices for logging on are too high, to overcome the impression that airlines are nickel-and-diming customers and to let fliers pay without having to be in the air to do it.
The new plan tweaks a $39.95 monthly plan introduced in April to reduce prices. Service under that $39.95 plan expired after 30 days and customers had to sign in and pay again once they were on board their flight.
"They want to buy before they fly," Aircell CEO Michael Small says. "Many don't want to go through the payment process" while on the plane.
Aircell, whose service is available on nearly 10,000 domestic aircraft, has faced complaints that its daily plans are more expensive than Wi-Fi access in other places, such as cafés, industry consultant Michael Planey says.
p
Aircell charges $12.95 for 24 hours; $9.95 for 90 minutes to three hours of use; and $4.95 for up to 90 minutes of access.
p
I've always been an advocate of the longer-term subscription model, Planey says, adding that customers already feel nickel-and-dimed by airlines. You don't want them to think about how much it's costing them.
p
Employers are also more likely to reimburse business...