Gregarius &#187; BetaNews.Com &#187; juillet 2010

At the National Press Club in Washington, DC Thursday, the X PRIZE Foundation launched its $1.4 million oil spill clean-up competition called the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge. The Foundation, which currently also has a $10 million challenge to develop a 100 mile per gallon car, first announced this competition at an independently organized TED event in June dedicated to the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

But it was not announced at that time who the benefactor of the prize would be. Today, it was announced that the funds for the challenge have been put up by none other than Wendy Schmidt, wife of Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and president of the Schmidt Family Foundation.

The challenge will reward three grants totaling $1.4 million to entrepreneurs, engineers, or scientists who can develop and deploy an efficient way to capture crude oil from the surface of the ocean.

Schmidt describes the reason for the contribution in very familiar terms, "When I think about it, I realize we are looking at an old operating system: last century's energy infrastructure coupled with an inadequate and out-of-date understanding of the human relationship with natural resources. We need Version 2.0. The sooner the better."

The first phase of the challenge will take place between August 2010 and April 2011, where teams from around the world can submit their proposals to a panel of judges who will determine each submission's technical and commercial viability, its impact on the environment, its scalability and cost, and the degree to which it improves current technologies.

The judges will choose 10 submissions, and the teams who developed them will have to demonstrate their proofs of concept in a head to head competition at the National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility (OHSMETT) in New Jersey.

Currently, there are three prizes. A $1 million Grand Purse, $300,000 second place, and $100,000 third place. The X PRIZE Foundation is hoping to attract more philanthropists and venture capitalists to contribute and improve the prize. On the group's Oil Cleanup Challenge site it is also accepting donations from anyone with an interest in advancing the cleanup innovation.

"This taps into the grassroots, entrepreneurial spirit that made this country so great," said Philippe Cousteau, CEO of EarthEcho International and grandson of legendary oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. "I think we owe a healthy, robust environment not only to ourselves, but especially to future generations."

New Jersey - Google - Philippe Cousteau - X Prize Foundation - Eric Schmidt

Personal data of 170 million Facebook users exposed, collected, and shared without any hacking

Publié: juillet 29, 2010, 11:40pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Using publicly available information on Facebook, a researcher has been able to gather personal details of nearly 170 million users of the service, or about a third of all users. The data includes names, addresses, e-mails, phone numbers, and birthdays: essentially anything that was not marked as private is now part of this file.

The file has now ended up on The Pirate Bay, and so far has seen over 10,000 downloads. This could mean hackers would have an easy way to obtain personal information necessary for identity theft and other malicious uses.

Skull Security researcher Ron Bowes was the man behind the work. He did not hack into the service at all but rather scraped the data from Facebook's open directory. While it's a violation of the social networking site's terms of service, nothing is stopping anyone from doing it.

Bowes has decided to make the file a torrent, even though he acknowledged that the more info an attacker had on a person, the higher likelihood of a security breach. His move is somewhat curious considering he arguably could be held liable for attacks as a result of his actions.

Even so, the incident could prove to be a wake up call for those sharing data on Facebook. "I am of the belief that, if I can do something then there are about 1,000 bad guys that can do it too," he told the BBC News Thursday.

"For that reason, I believe in open disclosure of issues like this, especially when there's minimal potential for anybody to get hurt. Since this is already public information, I see very little harm in disclosing it," he argued.

Facebook Spokesperson Andrew Noyes told several media outlets that this was public information and no private information had been disclosed as a result of Bowes' work. The quick downplay of the data leak is probably due to the drubbing the social networking site has taken when it comes to privacy as of late.

To ensure that your own data is not at risk, users of Facebook should take the following steps. Click on "Privacy Settings" under the Account menu option. Ensure that information is not set for "Everyone" to view. Alternatively, the user can also uncheck "Enable Public Search" which would take the account out of the directory Bowes used to do the data mining.

The Skull Security website was inaccessible as of Thursday afternoon.

Facebook - Pirate Bay - Privacy - Security - Ron Bowes

Researchers find 80 different Android wallpaper apps skimming sensitive data

Publié: juillet 29, 2010, 10:41pm CEST par Tim Conneally

While the superstar of the Black Hat USA 2010 security conference in Las Vegas this week was Barnaby Jack from IOActive showing off techniques for "Jackpotting" Windows CE-based ATMs, research from security company Lookout has had a much broader impact on consumers, especially those using Android smartphones.

Lookout's "App Genome Project" is an ongoing study of the millions of mobile applications available, the user data that they collect, and threats they present. During their research for the project, the team found a series of simple Wallpaper apps in the Android Market which were suspiciously collecting more data than they needed to.

"The wallpaper applications that we analyzed transmitted several pieces of sensitive data to a server over an unencrypted network connection. The data included the device's phone number, subscriber identifier (e.g. IMSI), and the currently entered voicemail number on the phone," Lookout CTO Kevin Mahaffey said today. "While this sort of data collection from a wallpaper application is certainly suspicious, there's no evidence of malicious behavior. There have been cases in the past on other mobile platforms where well-intentioned developers are simply over-zealous in their data gathering, without having malicious intent."

The group found more than 80 wallpaper apps that did this, and they all traced back to two developers "Jackeey" and "wallpaper," both of whom have since changed their names. The various apps are estimated to have been downloaded between one and four million times.

There's a good chance you have downloaded one if you're an Android user.

"While the data this app is accessing is certainly suspicious coming from a wallpaper app, we want to be clear that there is no evidence of malicious behavior," Mahaffey said today. He also said that Google is aware of the situation and is currently investigating the suspicious apps.

Google - BlackHat - Genome project - Smartphone - Las Vegas Nevada

Microsoft wants to park a cloud container in your driveway

Publié: juillet 29, 2010, 8:21pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Cloud computing dominated the morning's Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting 2010 presentations. COO Kevin Turner and Chief Research Strategy Officer Craig Mundie spent more time talking cloud computing than any other topic. For Mundie, it was a bold departure from previous years, where he spoke broadly and almost exclusively about forthcoming technologies -- typically years from release, if ever. Last year, he asserted that the successor to the PC would be "a room."

Some reasons for Microsoft's cloud focus should be obvious:

1. Azure is available, as of six months ago.

2. Cloud computing is all the rage right now.

3. Microsoft recently released new hosted applications.

4. Competitors are rallying behind the cloud to runaround the Office-Windows-Windows Server applications stack.

5. Hosted apps let businesses offer employees anytime, anywhere, on-anything data access, while better protecting corporate information.

But there is another reason that might be less obvious: New sales. For core products Office and Windows, and increasingly SharePoint and Windows Server, Microsoft is reselling to the same customers. With these established products, the company doesn't have anything really new to offer. C`mon what's all that different between Office 2007 and 2010? Windows 7 is an easier upgrade because most businesses run 9-year-old Windows XP. But Microsoft is still selling to the same customers.

Azure and hosted Microsoft applications are new, fresh products with that familiar look and feel of the old stuff. Microsoft also can solve real-world problems: Helping businesses to meet mobile demands with lower privacy and security risks. It only takes one stolen or lost laptop containing millions of customer records to spoil a corporation's year. Cloud computing provides a means of giving employees greater mobility while holding data behind the firewall.

Mundei FAM 2010 slide

Mundie used "data authority" to describe Microsoft's approach. "The other thing that we look to the cloud for increasingly is to be the data authority," he told financial analysts. "And I think that will be true whether as a person or an institution you want to have one place where you believe you can put an authoritative copy of information or have it propagate around to all the appropriate applications or devices in your life or work environment."

From the "something new to sell" perspective, Mundie and Turner did more than tell financial analysts about emerging opportunities around the cloud. The executives made sales pitches to potential customers. After all, many of the financial companies represented in the FAM audience should be looking at adopting the kind of cloud services Microsoft offers -- sooner, rather than later. Surely Microsoft would also benefit from financial analysts satisfied with its cloud services. Wall Street's elite make more than recommendations about stock investments. They are IT influencers, even subtly. Satisfied customers are good evangelists.

Mundie FAM 2010 slide

Successful marketing is also about controlling the vernacular, something Microsoft attempted to do with "software plus services." Today Mundie put firmer spin on "client plus cloud as a computing platform"; the term "client plus cloud" isn't new for Microsoft, but both executives gave it a firm kick. Mundie explained:

Let me talk about role we think the cloud plays. Many people talked about it runs your applications or it's a piece of your infrastructure. But we think of it more broadly...The cloud is a place where we get to do the orchestration across all these myriad devices in your life, across a whole array of applications. The world that many of us have grown...as the mobile environment or personal computing or laptop computing environment were emerging were that each of them was a bit too much of an island. It was a very manual process to maintain the relationship and data and communication that you would ideally want among these devices. And as the number and type of devices grows essentially without bound, it would be a nightmare if this was left as an exercise to the user. So the cloud becomes a place where we can orchestrate the operation of these collection of devices and that will be a very, very important part of what makes this useful and interesting.

But "client plus cloud" isn't descriptive enough. Unless I misunderstood the executives, Microsoft is going into the big-iron hardware business. So "client plus cloud" has broader meaning. Mundie told FAM attendees they can explore a "prototype of a container" with 600 servers "sitting in the parking lot right outside." He explained what such a porta-server farm could do for them: "It's completely self-contained. You don't need chilled water. In fact, you just hook it up to your garden hose. You put in electricity and your fiber optic connection and you can be online...You'll be able to buy these things and just have them delivered in your parking lot and put it anywhere you want. This is the ability to combine the super scale capabilities that [Turner] alluded to and the knowledge and understanding that comes from that with the ability to do creative engineering."

Now that's a sales pitch.

Microsoft - Business - Cloud computing - Windows XP - Microsoft SharePoint

Motorola beats the street, but smartphone sales haven't rebounded yet

Publié: juillet 29, 2010, 8:18pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Shaumberg, Illinois electronics company Motorola Inc. on Thursday posted its earnings for the second quarter of 2010. The company's total revenue was $5.41 billion, which beat Wall Street's estimates of $5.19 billion, but was still down against last year's $5.49 billion. The company reported a strong flow of cash for the quarter, with overall earnings of $162 million, up sharply from last year's $26 million. Total sales, however, were down some $83 million against the same quarter last year.

Of Motorola's four divisions: Mobile Devices, Home, Enterprise Mobility Solutions, and Networks, the latter two divisions were the main drivers of profit for the company.

During the quarter, Motorola's Enterprise Mobility solutions scored several noteworthy government contracts, including one to build the first 700MHz LTE public safety network for the San Francisco Bay area, and several Project 25 contracts (interoperable digital two-way radio for first responders) in Georgia, Maryland, New York and Washington. The group also announced the ES400, a dual-mode GSM/CDMA Enterprise Digital Assistant touted as the smallest in its class.

Sales for the quarter amounted to $1.8 billion, a $165 million increase over the same quarter last year.

Though sales were down in the Networks division, the group was sold earlier in July to Nokia Siemens for $1.2 billion. Motorola will retain rights to its iDEN business as well as the majority of its network-related intellectual property. This is viewed as an overall win for the company.

By the first quarter of 2011, Motorola is expected to split into just two divisions, which will amount to a consumer-facing side (made up of the current Home and Mobility groups) led by Co-CEO Sanjay Jha, and an enterprise side (Enterprise mobility solutions) led by Co-CEO Greg Brown.

The mobile device group is still facing declining numbers. Last year, the group shipped 14.8 million units during the second quarter, and this year it shipped 8.3 million, 2.7 million of which were smartphones. Total mobile sales were also down against last year, going from $1.82 billion to $1.72 billion.

All of Motorola's Android devices, Q2 2010

The company, however, continues to release compelling smartphones powered by Google Android, and Jha says he expects the group to post its first uptick in sales since 2006 in the third quarter, and a return to profitability in the fourth. This will be due, in part, to the top-of-the-line Droid X on Verizon Wireless which has been in short supply since launching on July 15.

Disclosure: Tim Conneally is a Motorola shareholder.

Motorola - Greg Brown - Verizon Wireless - Business - Wall Street

70% of Microsoft cloud 'wins' are new customers

Publié: juillet 29, 2010, 6:57pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Microsoft COO Kevin Turner made the bold statement this morning during the company's annual FInancial Analyst Meeting. "One of the most exciting things about our cloud strategy is that 70 percent of the wins in the cloud that we had in Q4, ladies and gentlemen, were new Microsoft customers," Tuner told financial analysts. "Yeah, new Microsoft customers. They were IBM Lotus Notes customers, Novell e-mail customers. They were all this other stuff, in addition to the Microsoft customers, that we're actually able to grow our portion of the pie this next year in a very dramatic way, because we can explode worker productivity."

"New" and "customers" are two words not often conjoined at Microsoft. The company's enterprise products are so well established, new sales are usually to existing customers. That Microsoft is adding any new customers from its cloud services is significant. The number Turner stated is staggering, assuming his definition of "new" means a customer who isn't using Microsoft products somewhere else, which is a tough claim for this reporter to believe.

Turner identified cloud computing as one of several "big focus" areas for enterprises. "The first one is around rebooting, retransitioning, replatforming ourselves, if you will, around leading with a cloud with our customers," he said. If you want to go to the cloud, we'll help you do that. We've changed that. I don't believe that was a good move strategically, and it's one I'm personally course correcting on as a direction."

The statement is surprising. In January, I raised concerns that Microsoft's Azure cloud strategy had changed shape -- that the deliverable looks more like a cross between Amazon cloud services and hosted Microsoft applications than the operating system in the sky vision previously outlined by Ray Ozzie, chief software architect. That Turner, who represents the Office and Windows hawks, is presenting the cloud strategy is troubling. What about Ozzie? The cloud had been his baby and the way for Microsoft's reinvention.

Turner FAM 2010 slide

Still there's some sense to Microsoft's approach. Turner used "Access Anywhere" to describe what I've long called "anytime, anywhere, on-anything" computing. Turner's term is more concise but similar concept. Businesses can take control of their information by providing access through hosted services. Employees can benefit from mobile computing without taking precious data outside the firewall on laptops, smartphones and other mobile devices.

"We now have over 10,000 paying customers on our cloud infrastructure platform and that number is continuing to grow every day," Turner said. (By the way, I could not get Microsoft's video plug-in to work in any non-Internet Explorer 8 browser; I've pulled the quotes from the live transcript, which uses a Java plug-in.)

Turner FAM 2010 slide

"Our second big focus for businesses clearly is around the Windows 7 and Office 2010 refresh," Turner told FAM attendees. Microsoft sells nearly 8 copies of Windows 7 a second. "For the first time in a long time, we grew share versus Apple in the United States in laptops per IVC this past year. Thanks to Windows 7. In fact, we were up 2.7 points against Apple in the United States in laptops." That Turner must even mention Apple says something about how he views the Mac maker competitively. Apple's market capitalization exceeds Microsoft and only a few hundred million in revenue separated the companies during second calendar quarter.

Turner identified several competitors that Microsoft is targeting: Google, IBM, Oracle and VMware. He ended his presentation by returning to the cloud. "Our client software that connects to the cloud and the better our cloud software is the more value that will drive to our on premises client software, and we're going to continue to push on that in a very profound way," he said.

Turner FAM 2010 slide

What that really means: For enterprises, Microsoft is attempting to extend its Office, Windows, Windows Server application stack to cloud services. If businesses buy into Microsoft's cloud, they get the integrated benefits. It's not an open stack.

Turner talked about the future, which is exactly the right approach. As I asserted yesterday, today is about tomorrow -- Microsoft conveying what it will accomplish in the near future rather than what financially happened in the past.

Microsoft - Apple - Google - Windows 7 - Cloud computing

Amazon debuts 3rd generation Kindle e-reader: smaller, lighter, cheaper, better

Publié: juillet 29, 2010, 4:37pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Amazon, online retailer and e-book pioneer announced Thursday the latest generation of its popular 6" Kindle e-book reader.

The Kindle received an overhaul similar to the one its big brother Kindle DX got on the first of July, with a new graphite chassis, improved screen resolution, and lower price.

Today's upgrade, however, goes a little further to improve the Kindle product line.

Third Generation Amazon Kindle

In addition to the 20% smaller, 15% lighter enclosure and 50% higher-contrast E ink screen, the third generation Kindle has double the storage of its predecessor, built-in Wi-Fi in addition to its free international 3G wireless, and 20% faster page turns at a price of only $189.

When the Kindle 2 launched last year, it was sold for $259. Due in part to serious competition from Borders and Barnes and Noble in the e-reader market, Amazon slashed the price of the Kindle in June.

With the new Wi-Fi capability, Amazon has introduced another version of the Kindle to the product line, one without a 3G radio. This version will sell for only $139 and have all the rest of the features of the $189 model.

On the software side, Amazon says it has improved the PDF reader, sped up the experimental Webkit browser, and added text to speech capability in the menu system to improve accesibility for the visually impaired.

Though the Kindle already offered Text-to-Speech on all of its Kindle books, the Author's Guild made a move last year to let the publishers decide on a book-by-book basis whether that feature could be turned on. However, with the recent amendment to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the publisher-placed text-to-speech lock could be broken if no versions of a particular e-book have the accessibility feature turned on.

The Kindle's most popular accessory, the leather case, has also been upgraded to match the new Kindle. The case now features an LED lamp that is powered by the Kindle's own battery. The innovative new case utilizes gold-plated conductive hinges to pull electricity from the Kindle Battery.

Amazon Kindle's self-lighting case

The new Kindles will begin shipping on August 27 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon today.

Amazon Kindle - Amazon - Wi-Fi - Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Speech synthesis

'Facebook Questions' launches, lets you poll Facebook's 500 million users

Publié: juillet 29, 2010, 12:16am CEST par Tim Conneally

Facebook today officially introduced a new feature called Facebook Questions, the social network's take on crowdsourced question and answer sites like Yahoo Answers, Quora, and Hunch.

Facebook Questions screenshot

The new feature, still classified as a beta, lets users ask questions of the vast Facebook community of more than 500 million simply by typing them into a new field labeled "What do you want to know?"

While it has not yet been rolled out to all users, the new Facebook Questions feature will appear as a button labeled "Ask Question" across a users' homepage.

Along with asking simple text questions, users can also include photographs, links, or polls. The topic of the question can then be tagged, and users who have that same topic listed in their interests will see the question. For example, if you have a question about the TV show "24," users who have the show listed on their profile under "Likes and Interests" will be more likely to see your question than someone who does not.

"Keep in mind that all questions and answers posted using the Questions application are public and visible to everyone on the Internet," Facebook Product Director Blake Ross reminded users today.

Like Yahoo Answers, there is no limit to what topics a user can provide answers to. They can simply browse through questions and provide their answers as they like.

Facebook - Yahoo Answers - Facebook Questions - Social network - Quora

Steve Ballmer has one more chance to save his job

Publié: juillet 28, 2010, 9:20pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

July 29, 2010 may be remembered as the most important day in Steve Ballmer's career at Microsoft. Tomorrow, the company hosts its annual Financial Analyst Meeting, or FAM. How much Ballmer and his core leadership team spend concretely talking about the future, rather than the past, will foreshadow how long the chief executive can remain the big boss. Nearly as important: Which executives will make presentations.

Microsoft closed fiscal 2010 on June 30 and last week announced record fourth quarter and yearly results. (I skipped covering Microsoft earnings for the first time in nearly a decade, to attend San Diego Comic-Con. I will likely post a belated "by the numbers" analysis after FAM.) Microsoft uses the event to offer financial analysts a long look back at the old fiscal year and to give a sneak peak at the FY ahead.

Much is different this FAM. There has been increasing public outcry for Microsoft to replace Ballmer. In June, I sadly wrote "I have lost confidence in Steve Ballmer's leadership," about six months after asserting "Microsoft don't give up on Steve Ballmer just yet." More than any other FAM, Ballmer must convey confidence -- that he can steer the good ship Microsoft through the stormy seas ahead.

The CEO must command the FAM stage like never before. He must present tangible, practical vision about what Microsoft will accomplish in three months, six months and by June 30, 2011. The task is so mountainous that reaching the summit would be reason enough to give Ballmer another 12 months as CEO. But the climb will be arduous because of obstacles corporate cultural and logistical.

Historically Microsoft takes the long view to product development -- often planning five years out. This long view worldview is a core strength and one of the fundamental reasons for Microsoft's business success. But with the computing winds shifting in favor of cloud-connected mobile platforms, Microsoft's long view has become near-sightedness. Related: Microsoft's corporate structure, size and money-minting monopolies result in slow-moving directional changes. Ballmer won't easily present achievable short-term goals to financial analysts.

Still, Ballmer has some short-term deliverables to present, such as Windows Live Wave 4, Windows Phone, Xbox Kinect and Yahoo search. To reiterate: FAM attendees need to hear concretely about what Microsoft will deliver within three months and by end of calendar 2010. Everyone knows that Office, Windows and Windows Server are doing well as the economy makes modest recovery, particularly in many strategic international markets. It's what financial analysts don't know -- or only can surmise -- about the future that is the more important information.

Signs of Microsoft Weakness Going into FAM

1. Apple and Google are wooing customers and developers to their mobile platforms. The wait list for new iPhone 4s is two to four weeks, and more than 160,000 Android phones are activated every day.

2. Windows Mobile has fallen to fifth place in smartphone OS market share, according to Gartner.

3. Windows Phone 7 is still months from shipping and its future remains hugely uncertain given its oh-so 2007 feature set and late-to-market release.

4. While improved, valuable volume-licensing renewals aren't reaching pre-recession levels, mainly because of smaller corporate customer workforces.

5. Early Office 2010 retail sales are disappointing, according to NPD, which foreshadows slower consumer demand. Among consumers, the productivity suite category has peaked in appeal.

6. For full fiscal 2010, Microsoft Business Division revenue fell by 1 percent, while income increased by 1 percent -- against favorable year-over-year comparisons. "Operating income increased due mainly to decreased operating expenses, offset in part by decreased revenue," according to Microsoft.

7. Microsoft's Online Services Division continues to lose money, with Yahoo reimbursement offsetting fiscal fourth quarter's 19-percent year-over-year advertising sales gains.

8. Apple sold 3.2 million iPads during the launch quarter, succeeding in a category Microsoft promised to jumpstart a decade ago.

9. HP, Microsoft's most important Windows tablet partner, abandoned ship by buying Palm and announcing products running WebOS.

10. Since the September 2009 financial collapse, Microsoft has refused to give Wall Street forward guidance. The tactic conveys weakness -- that Microsoft is so uncertain of sales it dares not estimate revenue or earnings per share for coming quarters.

Potential Microsoft Strengths for Fiscal 2011

1. Windows 7 is a huge success -- however, Microsoft benefits from strong PC sales. For fiscal fourth quarter, Windows & Windows Live revenue rose by 44 percent and income increased by 59 percent year over year. Microsoft has sold 175 million Windows 7 licenses.

2. SharePoint is the new Office. The product continues to make sales gains even as Office 2010 sells modestly well.

3. Businesses are buying technology again, and version 7 upgrades are a given, since so much of the Windows install base runs XP.

4. International markets, particularly many emerging ones, are recovering faster. These are the markets with greatest growth potential for Microsoft. Related: Economic recovery means more businesses are likely to buy than pirate.

5. Microsoft marketing campaigns for Bing, Internet Explorer 8 and Windows 7 are winners. Microsoft has rediscovered the value of good marketing and is building and rebuilding brands, particularly by aggressive television advertising.

6. Windows Phone 7 will release during first half of fiscal 2011, finally giving Microsoft something to sell against Apple, BlackBerry and Google smartphone operating systems.

7. Bing continues to gain search share (unfortunately more from partner Yahoo than competitor Google). Branding and marketing are as much reasons for gains as technology. Cobranding with "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest tips off where Bing marketing can yet go.

8. Microsoft has started delivering search results for Yahoo, which also means that the worst of the distracting integration is over. Now Microsoft can present something better to advertisers and partners.

9. The long-awaited, but pricey, Xbox Kinect will release for the holidays. Microsoft may have found a way to reinvigorate Xbox sales without releasing a new console.

10. Microsoft is in process of launching Windows Live Wave 4, and some of the integration with Windows and across social networks looks promising. The latest Windows Live Essentials is the best version yet, nearly closing the gap on Apple's iLife suite.

What Ballmer Must Convey During FAM 2010

Microsoft's CEO has much to lose, starting with his job, should he and his core leadership team fail to deliver a clear and immediate vision of Microsoft's near future. The two lists of 10 things above offer a framework for what and what not to emphasize. If Ballmer apologizes for mobile mistakes and makes promises about next-version done right, Microsoft's board of directors should fire him on the spot. There's no time for apologies or far-off promises. Microsoft's future is now. Because Wall Street analysts and Microsoft watchers see that:

Google has led in search since early 2003, despite Microsoft's best efforts to catch up
Microsoft has fallen behind in mobile, after being a leader in smartphone operating systems
Apple snatched away the tablet category that Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates trumpeted for years
Microsoft's cloud strategy has drifted from the original vision; its future direction or success is cloudy
Apple's brand towers over Microsoft among consumers, particularly the next-generation of buyers -- the Millennials

Ballmer must show that he is in charge and has a vision for Microsoft in 6 months and 6 years. The story he tells will mean everything. Ballmer must convince financial analysts that he and only he can forge from Microsoft's past successes a bold future.

I'm most bothered by tomorrow's speakers' lineup, which is tough to read for its meaning. Typically, Microsoft's divisional presidents make presentations during FAM. But, as of this afternoon, none are on the agenda. Only core leaders are scheduled to present, including Ballmer, COO Kevin Turner, Chief Research Strategy Officer Craig Mundie, CFO Peter Klein and Bill Koefoed, general manager of investor relations. Mundie is a perennial presenter and the man who usually talks about far-future products. Visibly missing: Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, which is commentary enough on the real state of Microsoft's cloud computing strategy.

If the FAM lineup reflects a focus on financials past, Ballmer has already failed. However, if Ballmer seeks to put himself forth as the hands-on visionary leader in charge, accompanied by his core financial and tactical leadership team, hope remains. Tomorrow's FAM will tell the story.

Microsoft - Steve Ballmer - Apple - Google - Bing

Apple patches Safari AutoFill security flaw, adds extension support

Publié: juillet 28, 2010, 9:08pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Delivering on a promise the company made back in June, Apple on Wednesday released an update to Safari 5 which turns on extensions support akin to what browsers such as Firefox and Internet Explorer have been offering for years.

In addition to the debut of these plugins, Apple also plugged several security issues, including a widely publicized flaw in the AutoFill feature that could open up users to information disclosure.

To centralize the process, Apple has created the Safari Extensions Gallery, which currently includes about 100 extensions. Web sites and services such as Twitter, Bing, MLB, and eBay are some of the companies initially participating.

"We're thrilled to see so many leading developers creating great extensions and think our users are going to love being able to customize Safari," OS X marketing chief Brian Croll said in a statement.

Apple said these extensions are built using HTML5, CSS3, or JavaScript. In addition to downloading them from Apple, the company said developers would also be able to allow users to give the option to install the extension from their own sites.

Updates would occur in the background. This would be a different experience from Mozilla's Firefox, which requires the user to restart the browser in order for the changes to take effect. In addition, they run separately from the browser -- called "sandboxing" -- preventing malicious attacks on a user's computer.

Like its App Store, it appears that the extension must carry some type of digital signature provided by Apple in order to install. It was not specified though whether this meant that an extension would need to be "approved" in order to be installable in Safari.

Apple - Safari - Firefox - Safari 5 - App Store

Japanese Fair Trade Commission sees Yahoo-Google deal as acceptable...for now

Publié: juillet 28, 2010, 9:01pm CEST par Tim Conneally

This week, Yahoo Japan announced it reached a deal with competitor Google to utilize its search engine technology and advertising and distribution platform while retaining its current appearance. Despite protests from Microsoft, Japanese fair trade organizations today said the deal does not appear to create monopolistic conditions.

Historically, Yahoo and Google have dominated the Japanese search market, and Tuesday, Microsoft Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner said the deal would create a search monopoly for Google.

"Today Google accounts for about 51% of paid search advertising in Japan. Yahoo Japan accounts for 47%. Their combined share of natural search results is almost as high," Heiner said. "If Google is permitted to proceed with its plan, it would gain nearly complete control over search and search advertising in Japan through contract, not organic growth. Google alone would decide what consumers in Japan will find, or not find, on the Web. And Google will obtain massive amounts of data regarding the search history and Web sites visited by every consumer, business and government agency that conducts Web searches."

Wednesday, Secretary General of the Japanese Fair Trade Commission Takahide Matsuyama said Yahoo had consulted the Commission before making the announcement, and the deal "would not immediately cause any problems related to antitrust regulations," because the two businesses would remain separate.

However, Matsuyama continued, "Changing market conditions and the changing competitive atmosphere could, of course, change the decision."

Google - Microsoft - Japan - Yahoo - Web search engine

Panasonic completes '3D trifecta,' launches consumer camcorder with 3D lens attachment

Publié: juillet 28, 2010, 8:00pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Today, Panasonic announced its first consumer camcorder capable of capturing both 2D HD and 3D video, the $1,399 SDT750. Panasonic 3D camcorder

Panasonic was one of the most vocal early supporters of 1080p 3D. The Japanese consumer electronics company threw its weight behind James Cameron's Avatar, and commenced work on its 3D Blu-ray authoring center at Panasonic Hollywood Labs in 2008.

This year, Panasonic has completed the veritable trifecta of 3D content. It officially opened that 3D authoring center in February, launched its first Viera 3D home theater solutions in March, and released a tool that lets consumers create 3D videos in July. Amateurs and professionals alike now have a method of delivering their content, and consumers have the means to enjoy it.

The brilliant part about the SDT750 is that it doesn't have to be 3D if the user doesn't want it to be. It can act as a 1080p AVCHD camera on its own, utilizing the "3MOS" sensor system (Panasonic's method of using one CMOS sensor for each color of light in the RGB pallete) for image capture. It includes a 46mm Leica Dicomar lens and a 12x optical zoom function. It can handle the weighty 3D processing, but the bulk of what is the "3D camera" is simply an external lens.

With the included 3D lens attachment, dual 960 x 1080 images are captured side-by-side by the Crystal Engine PRO image processing unit. This content can be saved on SD cards as MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, but the camera also comes with HD Writer AE 2.6T PC editing software, so users can edit their 3D videos and burn onto Blu-ray/DVD.

When the 3D lens is not attached, the SDT750 includes "Panasonic Intelligent Auto" (iA) mode, which automatically selects ideal shooting settings based on the environment. While shooting HD video, iA offers Face Recognition, "Hybrid O.I.S.", AF/AE Tracking, Intelligent Scene Selector, Face Detection and Intelligent Contrast Control.

Hybrid O.I.S. (optical image stabilization) is a new image stabilization feature Panasonic is introducing with this camera. It uses four-axis blur detection to reduce handheld shaking while tracking and zooming.

Panasonic 3D camcorder

The Panasonic SDT750 will be available in October 2010, and a full list of specs can be found here.

Camcorder - AVCHD - 1080p - Panasonic Corporation - Panasonic SDT750

Amazon, Facebook partner to make recommendations social

Publié: juillet 28, 2010, 7:03pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Online retail giant Amazon on Tuesday launched a beta of new functionality intended to use data from Facebook to make recommendations. Once connected, the retailer would comb through the data in both your own profile and that of your friends.

Amazon said it would share no personal data with Facebook. The social networking site would be sending data over to Amazon, however: this would include the user's likes and favorites on Facebook as well as his or her friends, and their birthdays. In addition, Amazon would make it easier for a user to find a friend's wish list once the services are connected, but this would be a guess based on given information.

The attempt here is to make the online shopping experience more social. Given that we often ask our friends and relatives for suggestions on purchases, or find ourselves guessing what somebody else likes, such a partnership seems to make sense.

While the site was at the forefront of offering recommendations based on past purchases and aggregate sales data, Tuesday's integration with Facebook takes that a step further, and hopefully more personal.

Once connected, the user's recommendation page would include a list of upcoming Facebook friend birthdays. A full page can be accessed which further lists recommendations based on what's popular among your friends, and possible music and movie matches based on your own "likes" on the social networking service.

Notably missing here is Facebook's "Like" button, which would have allowed users to like a particular product, which then would have appeared on that user's wall. It was not immediately clear why Amazon chose to not integrate this service.

The new partnership is the second social move by Amazon in as many months. The company acquired Woot in late June for an estimated $110 million.

Facebook - Amazon - Amazon Kindle - Online shopping - Social network

Wacom's Bamboo Touch offers its own brand of trackpad magic

Publié: juillet 28, 2010, 5:20pm CEST par Tim Conneally

On Tuesday, Apple launched its second multi-touch peripheral, the Magic Trackpad, which elicited an immediate reaction from tech spectators. TechCrunch's MG Siegler declared it to be the harbinger of the end of the mouse era, and 90% of the more than 700 readers who answered Macworld's informal poll "would you buy this input device?" said they would.

A spark in multi-touch trackpad interest could prove to be a great boon for Wacom, the company synonymous with pen and touch tablet interfaces. For nearly a year, Wacom has had its own multi-touch trackpad called Bamboo Touch on the market, which is $20 cheaper than Apple's Magic Trackpad, offers similar functionality, and does not require two AA batteries (because it runs on a powered USB connection instead.)

Wacom Bamboo trackpad

Ease of use

While the device is immediately recognized by machines running either Windows or Mac OS, it lacks all of the gesture-based functions without the associated Bamboo driver. Once the drivers are installed, however, the user can orient the Bamboo Touch as either a right-handed, or left-handed peripheral, and begin using two-finger up and down page scrolling, pinch to zoom, two-finger rotate, and left and right page flipping. These gestures work well and should already be familiar to users of touch interfaces.

Wacom Bamboo Trackpad in profile

Unlike Apple's Magic Trackpad, which can be pressed down and clicked, the Bamboo Touch has four dedicated "ExpressKeys" which can be assigned different functions or shortcuts when they are clicked. Each button can act as one of five clicks; user-defined keyboard shortcuts; modifier keys like shift, alt, or control; forward or back; show desktop; switch application; open/run application; Ink toggle, and touch toggle. In this respect, the Bamboo Touch is actually more versatile than the Magic Trackpad because it can actually replace some degree of keyboard functionality.

Wacom Bamboo trackpad in use

Support

Wacom Bamboo Touch works on Windows 7, Vista, XP (SP2), and Mac OS 10.4.8 or higher. Apple's Magic Trackpad right now only has full support on Mac OS 10.6.4 with the software update issued on Tuesday. The device can be used in Windows running in Boot Camp, but lacks the trademark pinch to zoom and rotate gestures, as well as three and four-finger inputs.

Wacom Bamboo trackpad light

Usability

On the negative side, the Bamboo Touch connects via USB, and the cable is quite intrusive. When using the device with a notebook, there ends up being a considerable amount of slacked-out cord sitting around, and when using it with a desktop computer, there is not much in the way of freedom of movement. Since it only weighs 7 ounces, flimsiness also becomes a bit of an issue.

In terms of a complete experience, the Bamboo Touch is very different from Wacom's graphics and productivity-focused Intuos product line. However, this is not to say it is an unfavorable one. Simply put, it feels like a trackpad and not like a tablet, so it is more a competitor with the Magic Trackpad than a substitute for another Wacom product.

Bamboo size comparison to Wacom Intuos 3

Apple Magic Trackpad	Wacom Bamboo Touch
$69	$49
5.2" x 4.3" touch area	4.9" x 3.4" touch area
Bluetooth	USB
No buttons, "full body" click	Four ExpressKeys
2 AA Batteries	Power via USB
Supports up to four fingers	Two fingers
Mac OS X 10.6.4, limited support in Windows 7, Vista, XP	Windows 7, Vista, XP with Service Pack 2, Mac OS X (10.4.8 or higher)

Apple - Windows 7 - Magic Trackpad - Mac OS X - Boot Camp

Ask.com returns to its roots with beta of new search technology

Publié: juillet 28, 2010, 12:02am CEST par Ed Oswald

Most Internet veterans would associate the Ask brand with the familiar face of Jeeves, who you could ask a question and usually get the answer that you'd be looking for. However, as the Internet became more sophisticated, that method of search became dated.

The change in our search habits forced Jeeves into retirement in February 2006, and the company moved to a standard based-query system. But it now appears as if question-based queries -- maybe not Jeeves himself though -- may be about to make a comeback.

Ask.com said Monday that it was launching a public beta of its new search technology, which would bring back the question-based system to the forefront. It said that its standard search would now be combined with human answers which would draw on Ask's nearly 87 million monthly unique visitors.

Developers have been working on the new site and technology for close to a year, and the company says the new search platform is only the "tip of the iceberg" for more social integration across the Ask.com platform.

"The capability to pose questions to real people is now possible for those complex, subjective and/or time-sensitive queries that, no matter how advanced, computers simply can't address," the company said in a blog post.

Focusing anew on the Q&A aspect may be a smart move: social search is becoming ever more popular, and the popularity of already established answer sites like Yahoo Answers and Answerbag shows that there is a market. Adding this to Ask seems to make sense considering that is what the company has built its brand upon.

Regardless of what Ask.com does however, it still must look at the reality of its market. With market share of 3.6 percent according to comScore in June, it was a quarter of the size of its next closest rival Microsoft, and more than 60 percent behind market leading Google.

Google - Ask.com - Microsoft - Yahoo - Yahoo Answers

Epic 1.0 beta, new browser for Windows gives feel of browser-based OS

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 10:45pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Download Epic 1.0 Beta for Windows from Fileforum now!

Bangalore, India-based software startup Hidden Reflex has launched the beta of a new Web browser for Windows called Epic. The new browser is heavily focused on three areas: In-browser user multitasking, customization through plug-ins, and mashing up mobile Web content with full Web content.

Epic has a relatively predictable design across the top, with tabbed browsing, a standard address bar and neighboring search bar; but the real difference with Epic is the long list of standard tools shown as icons in a sidebar on the left hand side of the browser window. Here, some truly unique features have been incorporated as gadgets that give the distinct feeling of a browser-based OS.

Epic Browser for Windows

For example, just beneath the gadgets for browser skins, and indic language conversion, there is a built-in antivirus and antispyware engine powered by ESET. Users can perform a system scan or folder scan in the sidebar without leaving the browser. After that, there is a gadget called "write" which opens a word processor as a browser tab. There is also a button for "My Computer" which, as one would expect, lets a user browse his computer filesystem from within a browser window.

One of the neat features of Epic is its integration with Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Google Maps, Yahoo and Orkut. Clicking on one of these gadgets will open the service's respective mobile site in a side window located next to the main browser window. This novel approach lets you have a sort of "picture in picture" browsing experience.

The same experience can be had with Web videos in Epic as well. If you want to watch YouTube videos while doing something else (i.e. working,) you can drag the video over to the sidebar and watch it there alongside the main window. Videos here can also be downloaded or used in playlists.

Epic Browser for Windows with YouTube sidebar

Epic also includes a to-do list with alerts, a timer and stopwatch feature, a "snippets" tool for saving text, images or full websites, as well as an Indic language phonetic transcription tool, and Indocentric news feeds. Hidden Reflex says it has over a thousand plug-ins for Epic that are available right now.

Facebook - Yahoo - Google - Web browser - Google Maps

Qualcomm remains committed to FLO TV and MediaFLO in light of possible sale

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 8:47pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Last Week, the future of Qualcomm's FLO TV mobile TV business came into question after CEO Paul Jacobs said the chipmaker was "engaged in discussions with a number of partners," about what to do with the asset-rich service. The company recently gave Betanews some further information on what to expect from MediaFLO and FLO TV moving forward.

In talking with GigaOM, Jacobs said "We want to see FLO continue so it's not like we'd want to sell the spectrum, but there are certainly people who would buy it for the spectrum. The spectrum is extremely valuable. So what that means is there's a high bar. The business that's generated through that spectrum, by the broadcast system needs to be valuable too…whether it's an operator, a content player, a web company -there's a wide range of companies that could make use of [MediaFLO] and deal with the business model where they are trying to get a lot of content down to a lot of people and they can't really afford to do it on the cellular network."

During Qualcomm's earnings call last week, Jacobs said there were no deals in place just yet, and that there wasn't a firm timeline for a sale of the service. However, said he believed one could be completed in as little as one year's time.

FLO TV launched as a standalone brand in late 2009 after existing for several years as Verizon V Cast Mobile TV and AT&T Mobile TV. It broadcast linear TV content 24 hours a day on more than 15 channels with content from CBS, CNN, Fox, and Viacom properties.

Less than a year after launching, many consider FLO TV to be quite a flop, despite its immense value.

Unfortunately, because these statements about the future of FLO TV are somewhat vague, consumers actually have less incentive to become subscribers. So Betanews asked the FLO TV group at Qualcomm what consumers should take away from Jacobs' statements, and if there is a reason to be apprehensive about checking out the service.

FLO TV Personal Television

"As Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs mentioned on the earnings call...the FLO TV service is not where we expect it to be at this point. However,we continue to work with content and business partners to deliver an engaging mobile multimedia experience. While we cannot comment on our discussions with potential partners, we can say those discussions are yielding exciting new possibilities," the statement from Qualcomm said.

"As we have those discussions, we continue to see positive consumer response. Our recent FIFA World Cup programming on ESPN Mobile set new viewership records. Our service is now available on more than 15 handheld devices...and FLO TV is now available in more than 7,000 locations nationwide, establishing a large retail footprint in less than a year. In the coming months, we are looking to enhance our current offering with relevant, on-demand content and interactive features."

Furthermore, FLO TV is Qualcomm's domestic business, and MediaFLO Technologies is the international platform on which other companies can deliver mobile TV. Japanese network operator KDDI, for example, recently applied for a license to use MediaFLO in a nationwide multimedia broadcast service. A decision on that license is expected to happen later this summer.

"Qualcomm is committed to driving FLO TV technology in the States and MediaFLO technologies around the world," the company said. "Paul's comments are simply a reiteration of the company's long-standing position that it does not, over time, intend to be in the operator business."

Qualcomm - Television - Business - MediaFLO - FIFA World Cup

Mobile app CardStar smartly ties in with location-based services

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 7:01pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Brick and Mortar retailers haven't quite figured out the perfect way to utilize location-based "check in" services like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Latitude, but mobile rewards app CardStar today presented a new option for retailers.

Retailers like Starbucks, Domino's Pizza, Chili's, Ann Taylor, and Sephora have all tried promotions where the people who check in most at their stores (the "mayors") get special coupons or prizes.

But so far, retailers have taken a rather erratic approach to utilizing location-based promotions, leaving it a market with still a lot of potential, but not a lot to show yet.

Forrester Research published a study this week which concluded that "most marketers should wait until they can get a bigger bang for their buck, when adoption rates increase and established players emerge from the fray."

Today, cross-platform mobile loyalty card app CardStar announced it has integrated Foursquare into the newest version of its iOS 4 app, combining rewards cards and location check-ins into a single app. The result could be something that helps big retailers emerge from this Location-based "fray."

CardStar iOS4

The premise of CardStar is simple. Rather than carry around all the loyalty cards that retailers give out, you either enter their numbers into CardStar or scan them with the phone's barcode scanner. The barcodes are then saved either in the user's phone, or in the cloud-based CardStar Connect account, and they can be called up when checking out at a store and scanned directly off of the phone's screen.

CardStar With the new Foursquare integration, users can also check into the store where they're shopping as they call up their rewards card. The first time a user does this, he doesn't really experience any significant reward to checking in. However, if it is a place he frequently visits, like his neighborhood grocery store, for example, the app can remember the area as a "favorite place," and automatically call up the appropriate rewards card whenever he's in that location.

For retailers, this app offers a lot of benefits. Not only are users advertising to their peers where they're shopping, but they're also giving the retailers another way to communicate with them. The latter is a mutually beneficial situation, because users who check into FourSquare at a particular location could, for example, have exclusive promotions sent directly to the CardStar app that other shoppers do not receive.

CardStar iOS 4

CardStar is available on iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, but the iOS version, released today in Apple's App Store, is currently the only one supporting Foursquare's open API. The other versions will be updated in the coming months.

App Store - Foursquare - CardStar - Apple - Gowalla

Apple debuts multi-touch Magic Trackpad, battery charger

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 6:59pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Aiming to bring its multi-touch technology to its desktop systems, Apple on Tuesday introduced the "Magic Trackpad," a navigation device that looks much like the trackpads on its current MacBook Pro line of laptops.

The device, which retails for $69, would allow the user to employ the same gestures available to those using its laptops. The device would run on two AA batteries and connect wirelessly to the computer via Bluetooth.

Some of the gestures available include pinch and spread to adjust size, rotating, and swiping -- all of which are natively supported in the most current versions of Mac OS X. They are also quite similar to the gestures used on Apple's popular iPhone devices, so those familiar with the popular device would already understand the Magic Trackpad's concept.

Like the MacBook Pro trackpad, the entire surface is clickable. However, the size of the device comes in about 80 percent larger, meaning there would be more space for the user to maneuver and manipulate objects on the screen. This is done to make the device the same size as its most current iteration of the wireless keyboard, Apple said.

Magic Trackpad

Apple's Magic Trackpad looks exactly like pictures of a navigation device that surfaced on sites like Engadget earlier this summer. Many sites reported about a week ago that the device had received FCC approval.

It isn't Apple's first foray into gesture equipped peripherals, though -- that belongs to the Magic Mouse, which it introduced last year and supported some rudimentary gestures. iMac and Mac Pro desktops ship with that mouse.

In related news, Apple also announced a $29 battery charger that includes six NiMH AA batteries. The company claims that these batteries have about a ten year service life, and the charger itself has the lowest standby power usage value.

Both devices are currently available from the Apple Store.

Apple - Magic Mouse - iPhone - magictrackpad - IMac

Apple refreshes iMac, Mac Pro lines, introduces new Cinema Display

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 4:45pm CEST par Tim Conneally

After Apple temporarily closed down its Web-based store on Tuesday, the company announced its annual desktop product line refresh, which included new Mac Pro, iMac, and Cinema Display products.

2010 iMac family

Apple's new iMacs are equipped with Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 processors offering speeds between 2.93 GHz and 3.6 GHz, have up to 16GB of faster 1333 MHz memory, discrete ATI Radeon HD craphics cards, (including the HD 5750 with 1GB GDDR5 on the top end,) and configure-to-order storage solutions with up to 2TB hard drives or 256GB solid state drives.

Apple announced four pre-configured options in 21.5" and 27" sizes today:

21.5" 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac ($1,199) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, and a 500GB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive.

21.5" 3.20 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac ($1,499) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5670 with 512MB GDDR3, and a 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive.

27" 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac ($1,699) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5670 with 512MB GDDR3, and a 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive.

27" 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 ($1,999) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5750 with 1GB GDDR5, and a 1TB 7200 SATA hard drive.

All of these iMacs include an 8x slot-load SuperDrive, Mini DisplayPort outputs, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, iSight video Camera, Gigabit ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports, Firewire 800, and SD card slot supporting SDXC.

Mac Pro 2010

Apple's new Mac Pro line now supports up to 12 processor cores, with quad- and six-core Intel Xeon processors running at speeds up to 3.33 GHz, comes with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics processor with 1GB of memory, or can be configured with the faster ATI Radeon HD 5870, and support for up to four 512GB SSDs or four 2TB SATA HDDs and up to 32GB of RAM.

Apple listed two pre-configured models today in its announcement:

Quad-Core Mac Pro ($2,499) -- One 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3530 processor with 8MB of fully-shared L3 cache, 3GB DDR3 ECC SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, 1TB SATA (3Gb/s) 7200 rpm hard drive.

8-Core Mac Pro ($3,499) -- Dual 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5620 processors with 12MB of fully-shared L3 cache per processor; 6GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, 1TB SATA (3Gb/s) 7200 rpm hard drive.

These models come with three video outs (two Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI,) 18x SuperDrive optical drive, four PCI Express 2.0 slots, five USB 2.0 ports, four FireWire 800 ports, 802.11n, and Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR.

The new Mac Pros will be available both online and in retail stores in August.

LCD 27" Apple Cinema Display

The new LED Cinema Display is 27" edge to edge with a 2560 x 1440 resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. It comes with a built-in iSight video camera and microphone, inegrated MagSafe charger for Mac notebooks, stereo speakers, Mini DisplayPort input, and a powered three-port USB 2.0 hub. It will be available in both Apple's retail stores and online in September for $999.

MacPro - iMac - Apple - Mini DisplayPort - Intel Core

5 things I learned during San Diego Comic-Con

Publié: juillet 26, 2010, 11:39pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Supergirl

I spent Thursday through Sunday (July 22-25) covering one of the best geek events anywhere -- best because the appeal is so broad. At Comic-Con, everyone is a geek, or someone else if they cosplay (costume play). The event has changed as big Hollywood media exercises greater influence. Comic-Con is no longer just about comics, anime or manga. Last year, for example, director James Cameron debuted a long segment from the then upcoming movie "Avatar."

Like previous years, I focused my reporting not on the star-studded panels but the attendees and exhibitors. From my viewpoint, the real stars aren't the Hollywood actors, directors or producers but the artists and attendees, many of whom dress up as someone else. For one day, or as many as four, they assume other personas or revel in the roles their favorite heroes play.

The on-the-ground perspective is startlingly different from some of what people see on television. On Saturday night, while editing photos, I put on G4 TV's Comic-Con coverage. I was aghast trying to figure out what convention G4 attended, because the coverage was so far removed from the event I experienced. G4 spent too much time on Hollywood and other well-known personalities.

Unlike previous years, I spent more time documenting the convention with photos than video. The pics here are from my San Diego Comic-Con 2010 Flickr set. I mostly used the Leica X1, but captured some closeups with iPhone 4. The X1 is my main digicam, offering dSLR-size sensor in a compact body with excellent lens. Low-light performance is so good that I didn't need a flash. The combination of sensor, prime lens and low-light performance -- in a light camera body -- made for some great photo-ops. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 gave the pics that extra punch, particularly the remarkably good noise-reduction feature. The X1 shoots in Adobe's DNG format, which surely is a benefit. For editing, I much prefer LR3 to Apple Aperture 3, although A3 has superior workflow features.

Comic-Con attendees take the Rock Band 3 stage

With that long introduction, I present five things I learned from San Diego Comic-Con 2010, in no order of importance:

1. iPad will be a dominant publishing platform. Apple's tablet was seemingly everywhere at Comic-Con. Many publishers used iPad to show off their comics and graphic novels, and many of them are either now available for iPad or soon will be."Kill Shakespeare" artist Andy Belanger told me that comics look better on iPad than in print. I must agree.

Many comics publishers favor iPad App Store over iBookstore. For example, IDW, which publishes "Kill Shakespeare," has a separate application that acts like a store within a store. IDW controls the purchasing experience through its application rather than solely relying on the broader App Store.

If publishers believe in a format/platform and commit to it, fans will follow. That said, publisher commitment is no assurance a format/platform will succeed (look what happened to Hollywood studios supporting HD-DVD). But no format/platform can succeed without content. Based on my conversations with publishers, I expect iPad to have huge presence during Comic-Con 2011.

Cosplayer

2. Apple's iOS and Google's Android are the future of mobile. Comic-Con can be divided into the first three days -- the geek and media event -- and Day 4, when families fill the San Diego Convention Center. During the first three days I saw a surprising number of Androids and iPhone 4s. Most Android phones were HTC-made -- and there were many models -- although I saw more Verizon phones than any other but not in overwhelming numbers.

I expected to see lots of iPhones -- and their numbers were greater than observed Droids -- but I was surprised by how many people had iPhone 4s. Apple can't ship enough iPhone 4s to meet demand, so I expected to see fewer of them. Perhaps the Apple handset sightings reflect something about the Comic-Con attendee and exhibitor demographic, which I believe foreshadows future mass-market adoption trends.

Commerce is nearly always a good indicator about a newer platform's future success. I observed Nemu-Nemu and Rising Sun Creations using iPhone 4s to process credit-card transactions. Nemu-Nemu relied on a card reader attached to the smartphone's headphone jack to process credit-card purchases. Rising Sun Creations, a San Diego-based anime-manga shop, manually entered credit-card information onto the touchscreen.

iPad Comics Many comics or graphic novels are coming to iPad

By the way, Comic-Con has an iPhone app.

As for Day 4, family day, I observed more varieties of smartphones. However, I saw seemingly endless numbers of BlackBerries, mostly among teens.

3. Storytelling still matters. While Hollywood, and its seeming obsession with CGI and 3D, has slowly taken over Comic-Con, it's not what the people attending and participating in the event mainly want. The stories and characters -- the personas -- matter more. Even among the star-studded panels, the stories and their characters dominated the on-stage discussions or audience questions. Many how-to sessions focused on techniques for telling better stories.

Comic book, graphic novel and game publishers clearly understand the importance of good storytelling -- that's a major reason why Comic-Con is still their show. I'll ask a question: Does 3D make the story better? I'd answer "No." What about you?

Actor Garrett Wang Garrett Wang, who played Harry Kim on "Star Trek: Voyager"

4. The Canon-Nikon dSLR wars are over. Canon wins, if Comic-Con 2010 is any indication. I observed significantly more attendees, exhibitors and journalists using Canon dSLRs than Nikons. Significantly means 20 or 30 to 1. I pay close attention to tech gear during tradeshows, and without preconception. Granted, my observation is no scientific study, but the number of Canon dSLRs was simply stunning. Among compact and semi-compact cameras, there was more diversity among manufacturers, with Canon, Nikon and Olympus standing out.

5. Microsoft needs to Kinect more with gamers. In four days of walking the Comic-Con exhibit hall, I struggled to find the Xbox booth. Yes, Microsoft had a booth and employees were present at some panels, but there wasn't lots of buzz at the show about Kinect -- and there should have been. Granted, Comic-Con isn't E3, but the San Diego convention will be one of the biggest North American entertainment tradeshows before Kinect launches for the holidays.

Nintendo Game Play Comic-Con 2010 Gameplay at the Nintendo booth. Where's Xbox?

I expected much more from Microsoft given the venue and timing. Sure, the company announced a new Halo Xbox bundle but c`mon, it's Kinect that's going to connect with gamers. Microsoft should take every opportunity, regardless of expense, to put its new game controller in front of consumers. Word of mouth is priceless marketing, especially during these social media crazed days.

[All photos by Joe Wilcox]

San Diego Comic-Con International - Google - App Store - San Diego - San Diego Comic-Con

Citibank discloses security flaw in iPhone banking application

Publié: juillet 26, 2010, 11:32pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Citigroup customers using its iPhone app for mobile banking are being urged to apply an update after the company found a security flaw. The program was storing personal data in a file that could have potentially opened the user up to identity theft.

The issue was discovered during a routine security check of the company's products. Citi Mobile was released in March and was updated on July 19 to fix the issue. Customers were notified by mail beginning the following day. The update will erase this file from the phone as well as the computer when applied and synced with iTunes.

The company said there was no evidence that the data had been used in a malicious manner.

Approximately 118,000 customers were using Citi Mobile for iPhone and all had been contacted as of Monday. It was not clear how many of those had downloaded the update. A BlackBerry version of the application was not affected, and other applications do not have the same problem, the company assured.

Information stored included sensitive data such as account numbers and security access codes. The file itself was hidden, however it was synced to the users home computer when connected with iTunes.

Citi also said that it was conducting an internal investigation as to why the issue was not found when its in-house security term combed the app for possible vulnerabilities.

John Hering, founder of mobile phone security company Lookout, told the New York Times' Bits blog Monday that Citi's issue underscores the increasing vulnerability of smartphones when it comes to sensitive data.

"Mobile apps are often exposing more information than people realize," he argued. "I think this is going [to] be the beginning of more and more applications that have this kind of problem."

Citi did not say how long it took Apple to release the update once the flaw was discovered, or when it had first sent the update to Apple for it to be approved.

Apple - Smartphone - Citigroup - IPhone - iTunes

Google announces Apps for Government in light of LA rollout delays

Publié: juillet 26, 2010, 11:13pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Following news over the weekend that it had missed the deadline to provide the city government of Los Angeles with its own email and collaboration infrastructure, Google today announced "Google Apps for Government".

Google Apps for Government provides more secure versions of the popular consumer-facing Web services that Google offers, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Sites, and even YouTube. All of the apps are compliant with the 2002 Federeal Information Security Management Act (FIMSA, PDF here,) and operate at the "moderate" level. FIMSA was laid down by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to ensure federal agencies and their contractors were using secure and reliable software and systems.

"Google Apps for Government will continue to evolve to meet unique government requirements," Kripa Krishnan, Technical Program Manager, Google Apps for Government said in the official Google Blog today. "Google Apps for Government stores Gmail and Calendar data in a segregated system located in the continental United States, exclusively for our government customers. Other applications will follow in the near future. The suite is a "community cloud" as defined by the National Institute for Science and Technology to support the needs of our government customers. Google Apps for Government is available now to any federal, state or local government in the United States."

The news hanging over Google during the weekend was that the deadline to have the L.A. city government fully migrated over to Google Apps was June 30, and the city on Wednesday demanded reimbursement. In October 2009, the Los Angeles City Council approved a five-year agreement with Google to use the company's cloud offerings for its staff of more than 30,000 employees.

"Delaying the implementation of the Google system...will result in additional costs associated with maintaining the City's current e-mail system for 20,000 City e-mail accounts for the entire year from $135,000 to $414,450 in 2010-11. The costs depend on the length of the delay. No funds are budgeted for this purpose," a report from the City's Information Technology and Government Affairs Committee, and Communication from Budget and Finance Committee said on Wednesday (PDF here.)

Los Angeles is one of the largest city governments migrating to Google's cloud apps thus far. In 2009, Orlando Florida signed up to migrate 3,000 employees from Lotus Notes/Domino to Google Apps; and Canton, Georgia moved its modest staff of 165 employees to Google's services. The move to Google Apps is expected to cost Los Angeles $7.25 million, but will save $5 million in hard costs and some $20 million in improved productivity.

Google - United States - Google Apps - Google Calendar - Los Angeles

Mixed reactions on whether Wikileaks went too far with Afghan docs

Publié: juillet 26, 2010, 9:33pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Internet leak clearinghouse Wikileaks made the news over the weekend, being the source of the release of 92,000 secret government documents detailing US activity in Afghanistan from January 2004 to December 2009. The full suite of documents was provided to three news organizations about two weeks ago.

The New York Times, Britain's The Guardian, and Germany's Der Spiegel were given access provided they didn't report on the contents until Sunday. Indeed, it paints a not-too-forgiving picture of a US armed force that was fighting an increasingly organized Taliban on strained resources.

Release of the documentation has strained the company's servers, with the site tweeting Monday morning that it was "tremendously overloaded."

Of course, the documents have created yet another public relations issue for the Obama Administration, even though a majority of the documents come from the previous Administration. That said, government officials came down hard on the site, calling its activities "irresponsible."

"Wikileaks made no effort to contact us about these documents -- the United States government learned from news organizations that these documents would be posted," National Security Advisor General James Jones said in a statement posted to the White House website.

"These irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan; to defeat our common enemies; and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and Pakistani people."

Indeed, the federal government has come down hard on Wikileaks before: in February 2008, a San Francisco federal court issued an injunction that disabled the site's primary domain. That only lasted about two weeks however, as the judge in the case cited First Amendment concerns and reversed his own decision.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange defended his sites judgement, saying that the site took great care not to put any armed forces in danger, according to the Guardian. He did say that the documents may be of "investigative consequence," saying evidence of war crimes on the United States' part exists.

Reaction to the release from media critics and experts has been notably mixed. Writing for the Guardian, journalism professor Roy Greenslade hailed the release as a win for "data journalism."

"We journalists should be delighted because our central task has always been one of disclosure, of revealing public interest material that others believe wish to be kept secret," he argued.

"The emerging form of disclosure through the internet, pioneered so successfully in the past couple of years by Wikileaks, deserves our praise and needs to be defended against the reactionary forces that seek to avoid exposure."

It should be noted that the "secret" clearance needed for people to view these documents is a low-level one and fairly commonplace. Most sensitive documents require higher clearance levels, meaning its release probably would not put US servicemen in danger.

Others were not as positive, and echoed the White House's concerns. "Somebody ought to be wearing an orange jumpsuit," Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) said, who is the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

United States - Wikileaks - New York Times - Der Spiegel - Pakistan

DMCA revised: unlocking, jailbreaking phones, e-book text-to-speech, potentially fair use

Publié: juillet 26, 2010, 7:40pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Methods for bypassing DVD encryption, unlocking mobile phone carrier locks, and other content protection could be argued as fair use under a revision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced today.

Every three years, the Library of Congress must determine if there are any types of works that can be exempt from Section 1201 of copyright law, also known as "Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems."

When this provision was enacted, the House Commerce Committee felt that "it could be appropriate to modify the flat prohibition against the circumvention of effective technological measures that control access to copyrighted materials, in order to ensure that access for lawful purposes is not unjustifiably diminished." (PDF here) So a "fail-safe" mechanism was written into the law, where the Register of Copyrights and Librarian of Congress determine whether there are times where circumventing copy protection is acceptable.

Today, in his fourth time revising the act, Billington announced six cases where copy protection circumvention is not copyright infringement:

When short clips are taken from DVDs encrypted with Content Scrambling System (CSS) for use in Education, Documentary filmmaking, and noncommercial videos.
When "jailbreaking" software is used to install third-party applications on mobile phones "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."
When firmware or software is used to unlock phones from a particular wireless carrier.
When copy protection must be broken in video games to test for, investigate and correct security flaws.
When a software's security dongle is malfunctioning or obsolete.
When all e-books are blocked from screen readers or e-reader read aloud functions, and no digital edition is available with such accessibility features.

"This is not a broad evaluation of the successes or failures of the DMCA," Billington noted today. "The purpose of the proceeding is to determine whether current technologies that control access to copyrighted works are diminishing the ability of individuals to use works in lawful, noninfringing ways. The DMCA does not forbid the act of circumventing copy controls, and therefore this rulemaking proceeding is not about technologies that control copying. Nor is this rulemaking about the ability to make or distribute products or services used for purposes of circumventing access controls."

Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Copyright - Library of Congress - Mobile phone - DVD

AT&T announces Wi-Fi "Hotzones" in Charlotte, Chicago, to help data congestion

Publié: juillet 26, 2010, 6:24pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Last May, AT&T launched a project called "Hotzones" in New York City's Times Square aimed at fixing traffic problems by blanketing the area in Wi-Fi signals. Today, the carrier announced the project is coming to more cities, including Charlotte, North Carolina today and Chicago, Illinois in the coming weeks.

Over the last three years, AT&T says its mobile data traffic has grown by more than 5,000 percent, and in the most densely populated areas of the U.S., connectivity is often an issue. New York and San Francisco proved to be especially troublesome for the company's data network, and in 2009, AT&T Mobility's CEO Ralph de la Vega said they were "performing at levels below our standards," but that they were going to be fixed.

"Our first AT&T Wi-Fi hotzone in New York City has received praise from our customers, and we're excited to introduce this Wi-Fi solution in Charlotte," said Angie Wiskocil, senior vice president of AT&T Wi-Fi Services today. Last year, AT&T handled 15 million Wi-Fi connections to its network; in just the second quarter of 2010, that number was up to 68.1 million, the company said today.

The outdoor Wi-Fi hotzone in Charlotte provides coverage along South Brevard Street from the area around the NASCAR Hall of Fame Plaza to East Trade Street, and on the Lynx light rail, said AT&T. No details were provided about the scope of the Chicago Hotzone, but the company said it will launch in the approaching weeks.

New York City - Times Square - San Francisco - AT&T Mobility - United States

Android grew 350% in UK last quarter, says research

Publié: juillet 26, 2010, 5:53pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Android's share of the UK mobile market grew by more than 10 percent in a single quarter, International market research firm GfK's Retail and Technology division announced today. The mobile operating system appears to be experiencing the same explosive growth the U.S. showed earlier this month.

According to GfK's research, smartphones reached nearly 67% penetration in the contract mobile device market in the second quarter, and by June had already grown to 73.5%. While the sale of new mobile contracts didn't even grow by a single percentage point, smartphone adoption is skyrocketing.

Research firm Strategy Analytics recently released data that agreed with this, tracking a smartphone shipment growth of 43% between 2009 and 2010.

This huge jump in UK smartphone adoption despite the comparatively small growth in new subscribers is thanks in large part to the incredible adoption of Google's Android operating system, GfK's numbers show.

Subscribers, in short, are replacing their old phones with Android devices.

Android device sales grew by an astonishing 350% during the second quarter, GfK estimated, a figure which is equal to the platform's growth for the entire year of 2009 according to mobile entertainment company Myxer last January.

GfK said Android now holds 13.2% of the UK contract market, compared to the 3% it had just one quarter ago.

"The figures suggest an increasing number of consumers are now asking for Android handsets by name," GfK analyst Megan Baldock said in a statement today. "Operating Systems are no longer simply a by-product but a key selling point in their own right."

Earlier in July, opinion polling group YouGov indicated a steep decline in UK consumer interest for Nokia devices. Though Nokia remains the mobile phone market leader in both the UK and worldwide by a huge margin, the company's challenge is in creating desirable next generation smartphones for consumers looking to upgrade their devices.

Nokia - Android - Google - GfK - Smartphone

India's $35 tablet takes on OLPC with Android?

Publié: juillet 23, 2010, 7:18pm CEST par Tim Conneally

In the quest to deliver a high-tech learning device that anyone can afford, India's Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal unveiled a prototype for a $35 tablet computer Thursday. Sibal said it is an answer to the "hundred dollar laptop" from MIT, which later launched as the One Laptop Per Child project.

In 2006, India's Education Secretary Sudeep Banerjee reportedly criticized the $100 laptop project as an underdeveloped idea that was "pedagogically suspect," and research began within India to create a local version of the device.

Thursday's prototype is the result of work from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc,) and four campuses of the Indian Institutes of Technology: Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, and Bombay, and the cost reportedly includes the touchscreen, 2GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, and USB ports.

"The chips, processor, and connectivity cost $35," Sibal said in Thursday's press conference, then followed by saying that it's "...including display, memory, everything."

While it has been described only as running an "open source" operating system, video footage from the conference clearly shows the telltale Android notification bar across the top of the device's screen.

India's $35 tablet looks to be running Android

Meanwhile, the OLPC India Foundation, established in 2008, has ten testbeds for the OLPC XO-1 in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bangalore, Tamil Nadu, Nashik, Dugawar, Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Goa.

One Laptop Per Child - Indian Institute of Technology - India - Kapil Sibal - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Apple launches iPhone 4 case program, but delays white model again

Publié: juillet 23, 2010, 5:58pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Making good on a promise delivered in last week's press conference, Apple on Friday rolled out its free case program for iPhone 4 customers. A web page detailing the program has been set up, and a special app has been created and is now available from the App Store.

Those who ordered the iPhone 4 before July 23 would need to apply for their case by August 22, while any other customer would have 30 days from the date of purchase. The entire program is set to expire on September 30 as expected.

Once the app is downloaded, the user needs to launch it and enter their Apple ID to start the process. The user would be presented with the ability to purchase either Apple's own bumpers or a select list of third-party cases.

Apple says cases would arrive within three to five weeks after order. In addition to the announcement of the case program, the company also detailed its refund process for those who had already purchased a bumper.

For those purchasing directly from Apple with a credit card, refunds had already begun to be issued. Those who purchased with a gift card would be sent a new one; while those who purchased with any other payment method must bring a receipt to an Apple store by September 30 to claim their refund.

Customers who bought the bumper in AT&T stores would be eligible for a refund through a rebate program, the company said.

Black and White iPhone 4

While the company has certainly gotten a black eye from the negative publicity surrounding "Antennagate," crisis management analysts have generally applauded the way Apple has responded. Demand also appears to be relatively unaffected according to anecdotal information.

In related iPhone 4 news, Apple also said Friday that the white version of the iPhone would be further delayed due to manufacturing issues. Availability of the black model would be unaffected.

"White models of Apple's new iPhone 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year," the company said in a statement.

Apple - iPhone - App Store - iPhone 4 - AT&T

Microsoft refreshes deal with ARM for Windows Phone, Embedded

Publié: juillet 23, 2010, 4:48pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Microsoft has signed a new licensing agreement for the ARM architecture, extending the two companies' relationship that has already spanned 13 years. ARM's major intellectual property is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture that is commonly used in embedded and mobile processors.

ARM-based processors were most common in low power computing environments, and more powerful consumer computers used the x86 architecture. But as smartphones have become more powerful, and larger devices based on mobile operating systems are becoming more common, ARM is moving out of the low power sector and into the mass market.

In January, ABI Research senior analyst Jeff Orr predicted that ARM-based processors would begin to overtake x86 in the netbook, ultraportable, tablet, and convertible PC market this year. In 2009, nearly 90% of devices in this category had processors using the x86 architecture.

Certainly, the "pad craze" has a lot to do with this shift. The Apple iPad's A4 processor is indeed ARM-based, and current speculation is that HP's acquisition of Palm may yield an enterprise-facing WebOS tablet in Fall 2010.

Microsoft's principal offerings that utilize the ARM architecture are Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile/Phone, and it hasn't made any major moves extending these into the netbook and tablet space.

"Microsoft is an important member of the ARM ecosystem, and has been for many years," Mike Muller, CTO of ARM said in a prepared statement. "With this architecture license, Microsoft will be at the forefront of applying and working with ARM technology in concert with a broad range of businesses addressing multiple application areas."

The details of the agreement were not disclosed today.

Microsoft - ARM - Apple - Operating system - ARM architecture

Next year, GM cars will be controllable by mobile phone

Publié: juillet 23, 2010, 1:07am CEST par Tim Conneally

OnStar mobile app Today, OnStar and General Motors announced a plan to bring mobile phone-based controls to 2011 Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC automobiles.

The service will be included in OnStar's subscription package at no extra charge, and users will be able to download an OnStar app onto their mobile device that grants remote access to their vehicle.

With this app, users will be able to remotely start their vehicle, lock and unlock doors, activate lights and horn and access important vehicle data like fuel and oil level, tire pressure, odometer, VIN number, and average miles per gallon.

The OnStar mobile app services will be available on "the vast majority" of 2011 GM vehicles including the Chevrolet Cruze and Cadillac CTS Coupe. The company says it has working apps on both Android and iOS platforms, and in the coming months, versions designed specifically for each of General Motors' participating brands will be rolled out.

var so = new FlashObject ("http://gm.pb.feedroom.com/gm/gm/embedoneclip/player.swf", "Player", "280", "235", "8", "#FFFFFF"); so.addVariable ("Environment", ""); so.addVariable ("SkinName", "embedoneclip"); so.addVariable ("SiteID", "gm"); so.addVariable ("SiteName", "General Motors"); so.addVariable ("ChannelID", ""); so.addVariable ("StoryID", "0090b438bec07b5a3071dd709feae8b1d2b62b93"); so.addVariable ("Volume", ".5"); so.addVariable ("HostURL", document.location.href); so.addVariable ("tilenumber", ""); so.addVariable ("tilemargin", ""); so.addVariable ("videoratio", ""); so.addVariable ("detailsheight", ""); so.addVariable ("VideoPlayer.videoPlayer1.MaximumNumberOfStories", ""); so.addVariable ("AutoPlay", "false"); so.addParam ("quality", "high"); so.addParam ("allowFullScreen", "true"); so.addParam ("allowScriptAccess", "always"); so.addParam ("menu", "false"); so.write ("flashcontent");

GeneralMotors - OnStar - Automobile - Remote access - Cadillac CTS

Microsoft reports record quarterly earnings, remains ahead of Apple

Publié: juillet 22, 2010, 11:31pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Microsoft published its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2010, and the software company reported revenue of $16.04 billion, a 22% increase over the same period last year, and $340 million ahead of Apple which also had a record-setting quarter.

Apple exceeded Wall Street's estimates and primed suspicion that the company may finally overtake Microsoft in revenue, but Microsoft also beat Wall Street expectations this quarter, so Microsoft remains the leader.

Wall Street estimated that the software giant would record $15.3 billion in revenues, but enterprise uptake of Windows 7 and Office 2010 and strong performance of Windows Server, Xbox 360 and Bing all contributed to the quarterly improvement. "This quarter's record revenue reflects the breadth of our offerings and our continued product momentum," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer. "The revenue growth, combined with our ongoing cost discipline, helped us achieve another quarter of margin expansion."

Microsoft set records for the full year as well. Revenue was a record high of $62.48 billion, 7% higher than last year, and operating income, net income and earnings per share were up 18%, 29%, and 30% respectively, to $24.10 billion, $18.76 billion and $2.10.

Microsoft is holding its quarterly earnings call in the next few minutes, and we'll update with statements from the company.

Microsoft - Apple - Wall Street - Bing - Xbox

Safari AutoFill flaw opens up Mac OS X address book to hackers

Publié: juillet 22, 2010, 10:39pm CEST par Ed Oswald

WhiteHat Security said Wednesday that it had found an issue in how Safari's AutoFill feature handles personal information, which could open up the personal information of a web surfer simply by visiting a malicious website.

Using a few lines of code, the hacker would be able to obtain the information without the user even knowing it occurred. The "Using info from my Address Book card" option would need to be checked in AutoFill preferences in order for the hack to work.

There is one positive: AutoFill does not work with fields starting with numbers, meaning street addresses and phone numbers would not be able to be accessed using publicly available code.

It is believed that the flaw resides within the WebKit engine that powers Safari. Grossman tried the exploit code on Google's Chrome browser which also uses the WebKit engine, but was unable to replicate the issue.

WhiteHat founder and CTO Jeremiah Grossman said in a blog post that he had attempted to contact Apple prior to disclosure of the vulnerability twice, but had received no response.

"I have no idea when or if Apple plans to fix the issue, or even if they are aware, but thankfully Safari users only need to disable AutoFill web forms to protect themselves," he mused.

While the flaw is not serious since it only seems to be able to steal a user's name, city, state, country, and e-mail, it still could open up the user to spam. Hackers could use additional techniques to phish further information on the victim if they so desired.

Safari - Apple - Google Chrome - Jeremiah Grossman - Autofill

Fail Whale Endangered? Twitter adding new dedicated data center this year

Publié: juillet 22, 2010, 8:15pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Twitter on Wednesday announced that it is relocating its technical operations infrastructure to a custom-built data center in the vicinity of Salt Lake City, Utah later this year. The move is expected to help the site's reliability and availability.

Popular microblogging site Twitter is estimated to have over 75 million users, and to be growing at a rate of about 6.2 million new accounts per month.

When the site was at its growth peak one year ago, it became a newsworthy event every time the site went unavailable for more than a matter of minutes. After countless instances of the site going unavailable, Twitter's unreliability has become par for the course. Even after Twitter had its worst month for stability and service outages in nearly a year, due in no small part to The 2010 World Cup, it is still attracting some 300,000 new users a day.

At the heart of it, Twitter needs to accommodate the steadily increasing user base. With dedicated data centers, it should be able to support the high level of activity on the site, and give Twitter more room for infrastructure development.

"Twitter will have full control over network and systems configuration, with a much larger footprint in a building designed specifically around our unique power and cooling needs," Twitter Engineer Jean-Paul Cozzatti said yesterday. "Twitter will be able to define and manage to a finer grained SLA on the service as we are managing and monitoring at all layers. The data center will house a mixed-vendor environment for servers running open source OS and applications."

Twitter - Jean-Paul Cozzatti - Salt Lake City - Data center - social networks

Internet has less than a year's worth of IP addresses left, say experts

Publié: juillet 22, 2010, 6:42pm CEST par Ed Oswald

The Internet is about to face one of its most serious issues in its history: experts have warned that the Internet is running out of addresses, and may run out by 2011. At issue is slow adoption of a new system intended to vastly increase the available pool, further complicating matters.

Currently, the web uses IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4). 32-bit numbers are used, meaning about 4 billion addresses are available. About 94 percent of them have already been allocated. There is a new system, however, called IPv6. That uses 128-bit numbers, and the number of available addresses skyrocket.

Use of these addresses have increased dramatically over the past several years, thanks to the explosion of an array of Internet connected items. It is becoming even more imperative that IPv6 be adopted as fast as possible, but adoption has been slow.

What could happen as a result is a "black market" for IPs as these addresses dwindle, Google Internet evangelist Vint Cerf warned in June. This would drive up the cost of building out networks and establishing an Internet presence, and give power to those who hold open IP addresses, taking away from the decentralized nature of the Internet.

"Without IPv6, the Internet's expansion and innovation could be limited," American Registry for Internet Numbers president and CEO John Curran has said. "Delaying IPv6 deployment may strain the work of Internet operators, application developers, and end users everywhere."

Google and Facebook are two notable companies that have taken great strides to begin to deploy IPv6. Google already puts most of its services on the protocol, and has hosted conferences to help others in the migration.

Facebook was one of those companies to attend Google's event, and announced there that it had deployed IPv6. ISPs like Verizon and Comcast have said they are currently testing the protocol, but have not officially deployed it.

Governments are even getting into the act of mandating the switch to IPv6. India's Economic Times reported Wednesday that India's Department of Telecommunications has mandated that all telecommunications and ISPs must be IPv6 ready by the end of next year.

It may just be that fears could be unwarranted, similar to Y2K. Networking experts do note that there would be ways around the lack of IPs, such as having devices share a single IP. But that would just be a temporary solution and IPv6 still seems to be the future.

IPv6 - Google - Internet Protocol - Facebook - IP address

Samsung Galaxy S' not-so-secret weapon: TouchWiz 3.0

Publié: juillet 22, 2010, 6:12pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Samsung's custom Android user interface is the first thing we see on Galaxy S family of phones, but seems to be the last thing anyone is talking about.

Walt Mossberg from The Wall Street Journal recently reviewed the two available Galaxy S devices and seemed hung up on comparing them to the Apple iPhone 4, going so far as to call them "an appealing alternative to the iPhone," as if the iPhone is the standard first choice when it comes to buying new phones.

But Android phones are selling in greater numbers than iPhones, and Samsung is the second highest selling handset manufacturer in the world behind Nokia, with its position rising, according to Gartner's most recent mobile market share breakdown.

So we must look at Samsung's Galaxy S series in terms of what it does for Android, not how it compares to iPhone.

In the realm of Android, branded user interfaces have become a major differentiator, and the most prolific Android phonemakers each have their own: HTC has Sense, Motorola has MotoBLUR, Sony Ericsson has the UX Platform, and Samsung has TouchWiz 3.0. These unique versions of Android can have a serious impact on the public's perception of a phone's quality, and indeed the capabilities of Android as a whole.

With that said, TouchWiz 3.0 puts a clean, fast, and versatile face on Android with plenty of exclusive features.

Lock Screen

Samsung TouchWIZ 3.0 for Galaxy S devices (Lock Screen)

The simple, visually appealing lock screen is both aesthetically and functionally different from Android's standard version. The standard version presents two small drawbars (one for unlock and one for volume toggle) which you pull horizontally across the screen. TouchWiz 3.0's lock screen can be dragged in any direction to unlock the phone.

Home Screen

Samsung TouchWIZ 3.0 for Galaxy S devices

Google's stock version of Android has three open homescreens, a "drawer" where the apps are stored and a "shade" for running processes and notifications. TouchWiz 3.0 improves on all of these aspects by expanding the homescreen space, and consolidating common functions. For example, the "shade" pulldown menu includes buttons to toggle wi-fi, bluetooth, gps, and ringer. This handy feature eliminates the need for the "power control" widget standard with Android.

Users can add up to seven homescreens for apps or widgets, and there is a dock across the bottom with icons for the dialer, contacts, messaging, and applications. With this dock, icons for those common functions needn't be added to the homescreen space, which again gives the user more freedom.

The applications button is the equivalent of Android's "drawer," and when pressed, instead of a vertically scrolling list of apps, the user drops into a screen absolutely identical to the Apple iPhone: a horizontally scrolling, 4 x 4 grid of app icons on a black background.

Samsung TouchWIZ 3.0 for Galaxy S devices (drawer)

Widgets

Since Android's visual layout doesn't require all of the user's installed apps to be shown at all times, it has become a haven for always-on widgets. Users can peek at their homescreen and see the time, date, weather, news, and their various social and RSS feeds without opening a single application.

Google's stock version of Android comes with a different number of widgets depending upon the version (typically between six and ten) and Samsung adds eight more exclusive widgets into the mix.

Samsung TouchWIZ 3.0 for Galaxy S devices (Samsung Exclusive Widgets)

While four of these are different types of clocks (accuweather clock, calendar clock, yahoo finance clock, dual time zone clock,) Samsung has added four very strong exclusive widgets into the mix: buddies now, daily briefing, days widget, and feeds and updates.

Buddies Now lets the user organize his contacts into quick "call/message" thumbnails which expand into a close-up of his correspondence with this contact, broken down into "info," "history," "updates," and "media."

Daily Briefing combines weather updates, stock updates, Associated Press news, and schedule reminders into a single full-screen widget. When clicked, it launches the daily briefing app which is a four-panel expansion of the same information. Samsung TouchWIZ 3.0 for Galaxy S devices (Daily Briefing)

"Days" is an interesting widget and app combination that gives the user the ability to add notes and pictures to Google Calendar entries and then export them as a diary on Facebook or MySpace or be sent directly to another user via MMS. Samsung TouchWIZ 3.0 for Galaxy S devices (Days Widget)

Feeds and Updates is similar to HTC's Friend Stream widget; it takes the user's Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter feeds and displays them in a single unified stream which can be set to refresh every 30 minutes, hour, 4, 8, or 24 hours. Samsung TouchWIZ 3.0 for Galaxy S devices (Feeds and Updates)

Overall

TouchWiz 3.0 is not a simple reskinning of Android and actually goes quite a long way in improving the use of the homescreen space. It takes the commonly-used icons and widgets and stitches them into handy positions, freeing up space for user customization. Samsung's own apps are quite useful and carry over well as exclusive widgets.

One disappointing aspect of the UI was that Samsung did not integrate its DLNA-compatible AllShare app into it. This app is designed to make Galaxy S phones into a conduit for sharing files between NAS, DLNA devices, and the phone itself in home wi-fi networks. Though it is one of the first major steps toward integrating Android devices into home networks right out of the box, it is still a temperamental solution at best, and hasn't yet been included in the forefront of the UI.

Hopefully this is something we can expect in later versions.

Google - Android - IPhone - Facebook - Motorola

Flipboard launches 'social magazine' for iPad, struggles with demand

Publié: juillet 21, 2010, 11:58pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Palo Alto, Calif. based Flipboard launched what it called the "first social magazine" for the iPad Wednesday, however it quickly found out that a much-hyped launch can lead to trouble in keeping the service online for its users.

Tech luminary Robert Scoble twittered incessantly in the hours leading up to the launch, giving few details on the product other than calling it the "killer app" for the iPad and "revolutionary."

Perhaps Scoble was right -- the application appears to take the concept of the RSS reader and combine it with the power of social media in a way that has yet to be done.

Content from the user's social networks such as Twitter and Facebook are combined with Flipboard's preset content sections, and are displayed in a format akin to a magazine. The application also works like the traditional news reader: the user would be able to add their own feeds into the application to further personalize the content.

In addition to personalization, users would also be able to interact with content posted by friends and displayed in Flipboard without leaving the application, making the experience more interactive.

"We believe the timeless principles of print can make social media less noisy, more visually compelling and ultimately more mainstream," CEO Mike McCue said.

Flipboard has also announced the acquisition of Ellerdale, a Menlo Park, Calif. company which uses semantic analysis to cull through data and extract relevant information. This technology will be used to make it easier for Flipboard to create a relevant experience for its users, and be able to introduce them to trending topics on social networks.

While Ellerdale's technology did not make it into the first version of Flipboard, the company said the next version will include the technology. Right now the service is free, and the company says it plans to monetize the service by offering interactive magazine-like ads interspersed among the content, GigaOm reported.

There is the possibility that subscription models could be introduced in the future, as well as revenue-sharing for those content providers whose content is featured through Flipboard's preset channels.

So far, it appears that the application is pretty much an instant hit. It is already the #1 free app in the App Store, and the company has had to throttle new user registrations by switching to an invitation system where it can control the flow.

"We want to ensure people who have Flipboard have a great experience, and also give new users more immediate access. Thanks for your patience," the company said in a tweet sent Wednesday afternoon.

Twitter - Facebook - Social network - Mike McCue - IPad

A frank conversation about the futures of Apple and Microsoft

Publié: juillet 21, 2010, 10:35pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

The day following blow-out Apple earnings, my attention turns to Microsoft, which announces fiscal 2010 fourth quarter and year results tomorrow. I'm not the only person thinking about Apple, Microsoft, other tech companies and the future direction of computing.

Overnight, I got an email from Mark Reschke, who clearly is a Mac fan. Reschke is excited about Apple's fiscal 2010 third quarter results, where iPad and iPhone combined accounted for nearly half of revenues. In this post I share Reschke's e-mail and my e-mail response to him.

Often, my Betanews analyses don't reflect my own opinions about the topics, or only some of my real feelings. In my writing, I like to provocatively circle topics from different viewpoints, in hopes of generating discussion and even rethinking established perspectives. My e-mail to Reschke is measured in juxtaposition to his enthusiasm, which Apple has earned. The response also more closely reflects how I see Microsoft.

As a reporter, I've covered Microsoft for more than 14 years. It's simply shocking to see the dramatic change in fortunes. When I started reporting about Microsoft, Apple was nearly bankrupt. In the Noughties, Apple reinvented itself by opening new -- and successful -- lines of business, like iPod, iPhone and iTunes. Microsoft chose to extend Office and Windows, while successfully launching but one truly new line of business -- Xbox.

Macintosh no longer defines Apple, but Office and Windows define -- rather, confine -- Microsoft. Through retail stores and other marketing efforts, Apple built up huge brand equity, even while Microsoft's diminished. I'm saddened to see such a great company stumble; Microsoft executives wander about like teenagers lost in the woods. "We should go this way!" "No, we should go that way!" Each change of direction leads nowhere but the same place: Dependence on Office and Windows -- teenagers trapped in the woods with plenty of food and water but no way out.

With that introduction, I present Reschke's e-mail and my response.

Reschke:

Hello, Joe,
I recall this article you wrote in May: http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/The-Windows-era-is-over/127489929. I think it's dead on. After seeing Apple blow away any idea that there is some worldwide recession going on (never mind that there is, it's just when people are buying on tech, they are gathering their pop cans, checking under the seat cushions and pulling together cash to buy into Apple's OS X and iOS ecosystem). In a nutshell, it's amazing -- and people seem very satisfied with the experience.
Apple's 33 percent Mac sales year-over-year growth is almost crazy, and growing like a weed in Asia and various parts of Europe no less. Spain up 59 percent?!
But outside of the Mac continuing to take little nibbles of the PC/Windows world, the iPad is on course to go for 6 million plus per quarter once Apple can fully ramp to meet demand. This is taking away netbook, perhaps even some PC laptop sales, while it does not appear to be denting Mac sales. If Mac sales are a small nibble, iPads may be a bigger bite yet.
Again, it's making Apple brass look pretty stinking smart (if planned!). I think we may need to start looking at iOS products, not as a cannibalization mechanism of Apple's OS X products, but another group of halo effect products only further catapulting Apple way beyond it's competition. It's the way [Apple COO] Tim Cook said they look at it, and judging by the numbers I can't argue with that viewpoint.
Is there an office pool on how much time Ballmer has left? There should be.
Regards,
Mark

Wilcox:

Hi, Mark,
There may not be time for that office pool should Microsoft revenue fall short of Apple tomorrow. Apple can't compete on profits, because Microsoft software is pure margin.
Apple's guidance is $18 billion revenue for third calendar quarter, which is about $2.3 billion above analyst consensus for Microsoft. But no one should forget that some of that boost comes from accounting changes that lets Apple realize subscription revenue rather than deferring it. Microsoft collects subscription revenue, too, that would boost overall revenues if recognized rather than be deferred. Fiscal 2011 first quarter would be reasonable time for Microsoft to change accounting.
How many years did it take for SharePoint to become a billion-dollar business? iPad is $2 billion in its launch quarter.
I got hugely criticized in comments for that "The WIndows era is over" post, with accusers calling it flamebait. But it was a sincere analysis, like the one months earlier about Microsoft Office. Perhaps it's the Microsoft era that is over, eh?
The early Windows Phone 7 reviews are promising, which in a way isn't good. The team appears to have taken a radically different approach -- strayed away from the Microsoft mainstream. That's quite good; it's hugely commendable. But Windows Phone 7 is two years too late. When the product fails to deliver fast enough, the Office and Windows hawks will swoop in and kill it--like they did with KIN.
The most striking comments from yesterday's Apple conference came from Tim Cook about cannibalization, which he says company execs view as good. The outside-the-company perspective: Cannibalization is bad. But Apple's perspective makes sense and shows how Apple thinks differently than many other tech companies. Cannibalization is more likely to be among existing customers. Should Apple want them to buy another iPod touch or spend more on iPad and in doing so experience something new, exciting and endearing?
International sales are simply shocking, and that's where Apple will simply kill Microsoft. International sales now account for more than half of Apple sales -- and yesterday's country-specific numbers were shocking. Microsoft's biggest competitor is piracy in all markets, but particularly many international ones. Apple sells physical products and doesn't have this piracy problem.
Microsoft is by no means down and out. The Office and Windows monopolies mint money. But without dramatic realignment, Microsoft's future is legacy, like IBM before it. IBM lost its way during the mainframe-to-PC transition, even while the monopoly continued to generate mountains of cash. Microsoft's position is so eerily similar, as the PC era gives way to the cloud-connected mobile device. IBM had to bring in outsider Lou Gerstner as chief executive to aright the listing company. Microsoft may have to do something similar -- bring in an outsider with radically fresh perspective.
Best,
Joe

In closing, I ask Betanews readers to suggest three-to-five things they'd like to see from Microsoft during fiscal 2011, which started July 1st. Please respond in comments or send e-mail to joewilcox at gmail dot com.

Microsoft Office - Apple - iPhone - Tim Cook - Apple COO

'Facebook Stories' launches to prove site is not just for stalking, advertising, and Farmville

Publié: juillet 21, 2010, 7:28pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Today, to celebrate the 500 million user milestone, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Facebook Stories, a new application dedicated to all the stories of people using Facebook in unique and inspirational ways.

These stories are arranged either by geographic location (as shown on a Bing Map) or by theme. The themes include: Crime Fighting, Movements, Causes, Grief, Rescues, Small Business, Support Groups, and many more.

"Our mission at Facebook is to help make the world more open and connected. Stories like these are examples of that mission and are both humbling and inspiring. I could have never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started 6 years ago," Zuckerberg said today.

There is really no criteria for submissions, and for Facebook users to submit a story, there's a simple blank field on the new site marked "Your Facebook Story" with a dropdown menu for themes.

There are a significant number of outwardly serious stories on the site already, but naturally, the lax nature of story submission has already been exploited by users for comedic purposes.

One user submitted: "I'm from West Philadelphia, where things are somewhat rough. One day, after school, I was just hanging out with some friends and playing some basketball on the playground. But then, on this particular day, some guys decided to cause some trouble in the neighborhood. We had a skirmish, and it frightened my mother. She informed me that I was moving in with my aunt and uncle in Bel Air, California."

Facebook - Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook Stories - Social network - West Philadelphia

Most Android devices are running Eclair, but FroYo is approaching fast

Publié: juillet 21, 2010, 6:51pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Android The fact that there are two main Android development tracks often gets lost in the shuffle.

Google's retirement of the Nexus One reminded consumers that, hey, that's the only Android phone out there right now running FroYo (Android 2.2,) and cutting its availability is stifling the bleeding edge of Android technology, isn't it?

Not really.

Most manufacturers build their own versions of Android from the open source code, which Google releases after it is done with its development. Android with MotoBLUR, Sense, TouchWIZ, or any other user interface enhancements are built from the open source code. So when you get an Android device that does not have the standard "with Google" interface, your over-the-air update comes at the discretion of both the OEM and the network operator.

FroYo was completed in May, released as an OTA update to the Nexus One in early June, and open sourced a little over a week later. In the UK, the Nexus One's 2.2 update reportedly only began arriving today.

Current reports are saying that Motorola's "Droid 2" will be the first new device to ship with Android 2.2, but these reports amount to little more than rumor, and neither Verizon nor Motorola have commented on the images purported to be taken from a Verizon Wireless stock database.

Motorola's flagship Android device, the Droid X, launched in the U.S. just six days ago with a version of MotoBLUR built on Android 2.1.

According to Google's latest statistics, 55% of all Android devices accessing the Android Market are running 2.1, and only 3.3% are running 2.2.

But after the newest version of Android gets open sourced, and different OEMs release their own versions, the numbers get a bit more diluted. We saw this happen in the months between December 2009 and May 2010, when the distribution went from being totally dominated by Android 1.6, to an even three-way split between versions 1.5, 1.6, and 2.1.

We are certain to see this trend repeat when manufacturers release their 2.2 updates throughout the Summer.

Google - Nexus One - Android - Motorola - Verizon Wireless

Google updates image search to eliminate clutter, improve results

Publié: juillet 20, 2010, 11:34pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Google's new Image Search Google's image search service will be getting a revamp this week, aimed at making the search function easier to use, and to provide more relevant results. The redesign is essentially the service's first major makeover since Google Images went live in 2001.

At that time, only 250 million images had been catalogued by the Mountain View, Calif. search company. Now over 10 billion images are indexed. With such an increase in volume, obviously the search functionality will need to improve, as does the way the site displays ever larger results.

"We hope [the changes] not only make it easier to search for images, but also contribute to a better aesthetic experience," product manager Nate Smith said. "We see images as a major source of inspiration, a way of connecting the world--and their growth is showing no signs of slowing down."

Such is the focus of the changes. The image page will take on a decidedly Bing-like look, where text in the results are eliminated, and image results are spaced more tightly together. Also "infinite scroll" has been introduced: more results would load as the user scrolls down, up to 1,000 images per page.

Interactivity is also increased. Hovering over an image will give the user a larger preview, along with information on that specific image and possible similar ones. Clicking on it takes the user to a preview of the image overlaid on a cached version of the page that it came from.

At an event at Google's Mountain View campus Tuesday, officials said other features will be on their way, such as timeline-based searching of images. It also said that only 10 percent of users would be able to see the changes starting today: it expects a full launch by the end of the week.

With the new Google Images comes a new advertising format, which for the time being would appear exclusively on the Images section. The new option would allow advertisers to place a thumbnail image beside their ad text.

It is not clear whether the search giant has plans to expand this format elsewhere.

Google Image - Google - Thumbnail - Bing - Search

ISP Launches in Sweden, aims to create safe haven for pirates

Publié: juillet 20, 2010, 11:27pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Sweden's copyright and telecommunications reform party, officially known as the Pirate Party, has been involved with a lot of drama in the last year, mostly surrounding its involvement with The Pirate Bay torrent tracking site and its related legal fallout.

Now, the Pirate Party is getting behind a startup ISP called, appropriately, PirateISP, which provides broadband Internet connections that are regulated according to the party's politics: private, secure connections where no logs are retained, and no user data is available to the Swedish Government.

The ISP's first beta tests reportedly began yesterday in 100 rental properties owned by development group LKF in the city of Lund. The ISP offers 10 Megabit, 100 Megabit or 1 Gigabit duplexed connections for prices between 243.75 SEK and 525 SEK per month (approximately $33-$70.)

The group is also looking to start delivering Internet service in Helsingborg as a part of the Open City Network there. PirateISP is accepting submissions to beta test their network as it grows, users can sign up here. Or if you feel like sticking to Pirate Party philosophy, you can send them a PGP encrypted email at beta@pirateisp.net with their public PGP key, found here.

Pirates - Pirate Bay - Internet service provider - Sweden - Lund

Apple Q3 2010 by the numbers: Record quarterly revenue tops $15.7 billion

Publié: juillet 20, 2010, 10:45pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Today, Apple set the stage for a historical competitive upset: Exceeding Microsoft revenue during the same quarter. Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple's quarterly earnings again blew past Wall Street consensus, which already were $1.55 billion to $1.75 billion higher than company guidance. Apple also exceed quarterly revenue consensus estimates for Microsoft, which announces fiscal 2010 results on Thursday. I first posted about Apple revenue exceeding Microsoft revenue in April and again in June, not once but twice.

After the bell, Apple reported $15.7 billion revenue and net profits of $3.25 billion, or $3.51 a share. A year earlier, Apple reported revenue of $9.73 billion and $1.83 billion net quarterly profit, or $2.01 per share. Revenue rose 61 percent year over year and earnings by 78 percent. Fiscal 2010 third quarter ended June 26, 2010. By the way, analyst revenue consensus for Microsoft is $15.27 billion.

Three months ago, Apple forecast revenue between $13 billion and $13.4 billion, with earnings per share ranging between $2.28 and $2.39. Analyst average estimates were much higher than Apple guidance: $14.75 billion revenue and $3.11 earnings per share. Apple blew past the Street. Again.

Apple exceeding Microsoft, should it happen this quarter, would be more symbolic victory -- representing the shift from the PC era to the cloud-connected mobile device era. The reasons why are more substantive: iPad and iPhone. During fiscal third quarter, Apple opened up a completely new line of business that generated $2.17 billion in new revenue. Additionally, despite all the fuss over so-called "Death Grip," Apple sold 3 million iPhone 4s during the quarter. Combined, iPad and iPhone accounted for nearly 48 percent of fiscal third quarter revenue.

For fiscal 2010 forth quarter, Apple forecasts $18 billion in revenue and $3.44 earnings per share. Apple's guidance beats current analyst consensus for Microsoft revenue by more than $2 billion during the same quarter, which would be Microsoft's fiscal 2011 first. Apple plans to defer about $175 million during the current quarter until fiscal 2011 Q1-- related to free cases the company will offer to iPhone 4 owners.

In a statement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said: "It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple's history with iPhone 4. 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."

Q3 2010 Revenue by Product

Desktops: $1.3 billion, up 15 percent from $1.13 billion a year earlier.
Portables: $3.1 billion, up 40 percent from $2.2 billion a year earlier.
iPod: $1.55 billion, up 4 percent from $1.5 billion a year earlier.
Music: $1.2 billion, up 27 percent from $958 million a year earlier.
iPhone: $5.33 billion, up 74 percent from $3.06 billion a year earlier.
iPad: $2.17 billion; no comparable -- new product.
Peripherals: $396 million, up 16 percent from $340 million a year earlier.
Software & Services: $646 million, up 22 percent from $530 million a year earlier.

Apple's gross margin was 39.5 percent, with the margin decline significantly less than guidance given 3 months ago. Apple ended the quarter with $45.8 billion in cash, up from $41.7 billion a quarter earlier.

Apple ended fiscal Q3 with normal inventory levels for Macs and iPod. However, iPad and iPhone supplies are seriously constrained, with Apple ending the quarter with a big backlog. "In the scheme of things, it's a good problem to have," Apple COO Tim Cook said during a conference call with financial analysts late this afternoon. "We're selling everything we can make currently," he later emphasized. "My phone is ringing off the hook for people that want more supply."

iPhone. Apple shipped -- what company executives really mean by sold -- 8.4 million iPhones worldwide during fiscal third quarter. If not for inventory adjustments between new iPhone models, shipments would have been about 225,000 higher. That number does not include lost sales to the backlog.

A year earlier, Apple shipped 5.21 million iPhones. Apple shipments into the channel are usually several million units higher than numbers released by Gartner, which measures actual sales. However, the backlog means that shipments more closely equal sales. During the quarter, iPhone was available from 154 carriers in 88 countries. The average selling price for iPhone was about $595.

Wall Street analyst average estimate was 8.5 million units, with some analysts lowering estimates following Apple's July 16 announcement of 3 million iPhone 4s sold. The smartphone is backordered between two to four weeks. Revenue rose 74 percent year over year, giving the biggest boost to Apple's quarter. The smartphone and supporting services accounted for about 33 percent of total Apple revenue, down from 41 percent the previous quarter.

Q3 2010 Unit Shipments by Product

Desktops: 1 million units, up 18 percent from 849,000 units a year earlier.
Portables: 2.5 million units, up 41 percent from 1.75 million units a year earlier.
iPod: 9.4 million units, down 8 percent from 10.2 million units a year earlier.
iPhone: 8.4 million units, up 61 percent from 5.21 million units a year earlier.
iPad: 3.27 million units; no comparable -- new product.

Computers. Apple shipped 3.47 million Macs during the quarter, up from 2.6 million units a year earlier. Wall Street consensus ranged from about 2.7 million to 3.5 million units worldwide, with consensus around 3.2 million.

Last week, Gartner and IDC released preliminary second calendar quarter PC shipment data. In the United States, Apple shipped 1.75 million computers, for 24.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to Gartner. However, IDC put Apple shipments lower, at 1.62 million, with growth a much lower 15.4 percent.

Q3 2010 Revenue by Geography

Americas: $6.3 billion, up 39 percent from $4.47 billion a year earlier.
Europe: $4.16 billion, up 66 percent from $2.5 billion a year earlier.
Japan: $910 million, up 63 percent from $560 million a year earlier.
Asia Pacific: $1.83 billion, up 160 percent from $703 million a year earlier.
Retail: $2.6 billion, up 73 percent from $1.5 billion a year earlier.

Apple ranked fourth in the United States, moving back up one place, with 9.8 percent market share, up from 9.1 percent a year earlier, according to Gartner. But IDC put Apple's market share lower -- 8.8 percent, up from 8.6 percent year over year. Just two years ago, Apple had risen to third place in US PC shipments. Gartner and IDC won't tabulate Apple's worldwide ranking until the final figures are released, and generally the information is not publicly available.

iPod. Apple shipped 9.4 million iPods during fiscal third quarter, down from 10.2 million a year earlier. Analyst consensus for Q3 was around 9.4 million units. While units declined, revenue rose 4 percent from a year earlier. ASPs declined about $7, in part because of a back-to-school promotion giving away iPod touch with new Macs.

Q3 2010 Unit Shipments by Geography

Americas: 1.36 million units, up 18 percent from 1.15 million units a year earlier.
Europe: 914,000 units, up 46 percent from 626,000 units a year earlier.
Japan: 129,000 units, up 19 percent from 108,000 units a year earlier.
Asia Pacific: 394,000 units, up 71 percent from 230,000 units a year earlier.
Retail: 677,000 units, up 38 percent from 492,000 units a year earlier.

iPad. Apple shipped about 3.27 million iPads during the launch quarter. Analyst consensus was about 3 million units. The tablet was available in 10 countries, and the ASP was $640. About half of Fortune 100 companies are testing or deploying iPad, the company revealed during today's conference call. The product added $2.17 billion new revenue.

Retail. Revenue rose 73 percent year over year, with Apple retail stores selling 677,000 units, compared to 492,000 a year earlier. Apple opened seven new stores in the quarter, for a total of 293 retail outlets worldwide. There was an average 288 stores open in the quarter, with average revenue of $9 million. Apple retail stores had 60.5 million visitors during the quarter up 27 percent year over year. Apple plans to open 24 new stores during fiscal Q4.

[Editor's Note: This was a live document posted at 4:45 p.m. EDT and completed at 6:15 p.m. -- following Apple's quarterly earnings call.]

Apple - IPhone - Steve Jobs - Wall Street - Microsoft

Microsoft's Kinect gets pricing, holiday season release date

Publié: juillet 20, 2010, 7:47pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Kinect Microsoft announced pricing and availability on Tuesday for its Kinect motion sensing controller for the Xbox 360, saying the device would be available November 4 at a price of $149.99. The release of the Kinect means that Microsoft would square off this holiday season against Sony, who also plans to release its own system.

Microsoft would bundle the Kinect controller and an Xbox 360 console with 4GB of internal memory for $299.99. The console itself would begin selling on its own for $199.99 on August 3, however.

"Kinect truly is a revolutionary product," Xbox marketing head Josh Hutto said. "With one purchase, families get Kinect and the most complete and affordable way to have fun."

Kinect would come bundled with the game Kinect Adventures, in which players are put through challenges based in exotic locations such as whitewater rafting and obstacle courses. Microsoft would also release Kinectimals, Kinect Sports, Kinect Joy Ride and Dance Central, all of which would retail for $49.99.

Sony plans its own motion-sensing system -- dubbed Move -- which will debut on September 19 for $99.99. A controller, a video camera, and the game Sports Champions would be included in the package. However, analysts point out the overall cost of a full Move system is $180.

The difference between Kinect and Move is that Sony will require individual controllers akin to how the Wii detects motion, whereas Microsoft's entrant senses the body movements of the player without one through the Kinect controller.

Both companies appear to be following in the footsteps of Nintendo. By bundling a game with the controller itself, they realize that in order to get people excited about the new gameplay options, they must be able to play it out of box. Both will include a sports-related game, much like the Wii came bundled with Wii Sports.

Whether consumers respond to the product remains to be seen. Analysts seem to agree that Kinect's $150 price point may be a little high to trigger widespread adoption, but widely expect Microsoft to lower the price point below $100 by the holiday season in order to increase sales.

Microsoft - Nintendo - Xbox 360 - Sony - Wii Sports

Microsoft releases beta of latest free anti-malware service Security Essentials

Publié: juillet 20, 2010, 7:00pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Today, Microsoft has released the next version of Microsoft Security Essentials in beta. The free anti-malware service was first debuted in 2009 after Microsoft discontinued Windows Live OneCare.

Microsoft Security Essentials

The beta, available on Microsoft Connect today, includes a number of new features: a new protection engine and network inspection system, integration with Windows Firewall, and integration with Internet Explorer for web-based malware protection.

This is a limited beta, available in English in the US and Israel, and is available to genuine Windows users on a first-come first-serve basis until it reaches the maximum number of participants. To download the beta, visit Microsoft Connect, and fill out the beta registration info.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft - Windows Live OneCare - Malware - Internet Explorer

The entertainment Industry debuts yet another DRM scheme: Ultraviolet

Publié: juillet 20, 2010, 6:39pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Today, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) announced a new consumer-facing brand for the DRM system it has been working on for more than two years: UltraViolet.

DECE has more than 60 members, and includes most of the biggest names in content distribution and consumer electronics: Best Buy, Fox, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Sony, Warner Brothers, Panasonic, Paramount Pictures, Dolby Labs, and Comcast, to name just a few.

The group has been attempting to devise a system for video encryption that would let users share their content between devices without sacrificing the DRM. The solution the group came up with involved a cloud-based "Digital Rights Locker" that authenticates a user's privileges to watch a certain video. This would mean that various file formats and devices would be compatible with the DRM, since the system's functionality isn't contingent upon protecting the files themselves.

"The introduction of the UltraViolet brand is another important step towards the consumer launch of UltraViolet products and services," Mitch Singer, DECE president and CTO of Sony Pictures Entertainment said in a prepared remark today. "Our goal is to firmly 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."

Users will have to create UltraViolet accounts, where they access and manage all of their content. Licensing deals have not yet been announced, since the UltraViolet tech specs have not yet been released. They are expected this year, DECE said.

Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem - Sony Pictures Entertainment - Ultraviolet - Comcast - Warner Bros

Huge: Hybrid satellite-LTE network launches under the name LightSquared

Publié: juillet 20, 2010, 4:33pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Following yesterday's announcement that Nokia-Siemens would be acquiring Motorola's wireless infrastructure business for $1.2 billion, Nokia Siemens turns around and announces a $7 billion agreement to deploy, install, operate and maintain the U.S.' first wholesale LTE network from the newly formed company LightSquared.

LightSquared is the name of the multi-billion dollar network Harbinger Capital partners has been planning to build as an alternative for network operators who cannot afford to build an LTE network of their own, like T-Mobile USA. The company will build the network, and then lease it to operators. It will not directly offer services to consumers.

Harbinger recently got clearance from the FCC to use its Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) wireless spectrum as a part of the company's terrestrial mobile broadband network. Most of these licenses came from the group's acquisition of SkyTerra Communications, a satellite communications service.

Because of this licensing structure, Lightsquared will be able to integrate satellite coverage into the terrestrial network, and will let resellers offer terrestrial-only, satellite-only, or integrated satellite-terrestrial services to their customers.

"I was pleased to learn of the formation of LightSquared today," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said this morning. "This new nationwide 4G wireless broadband network represents more than $7 billion of new investment, with the potential to create more than 100,000 new private-sector jobs within five years. Today's announcement shows that FCC policies are helping grow the U.S. economy by catalyzing investment and job creation." Building the LightSquared network is going to be a colossal task. Nokia Siemens Networks CEO Rajeev Suri today said it will be the largest outsourced deployment of a wireless network in U.S. history, and it will consist of approximately 40,000 base stations and cover 92 percent of the U.S. population by 2015.

"LightSquared will be a disruptive force in the U.S. wireless landscape by democratizing wireless broadband services," said Sanjiv Ahuja, LightSquared's recently-named CEO. "We're not only delivering exciting opportunities for manufacturers and retailers, but also real change for consumers, dealers, and service providers. We're providing everyone, including underserved communities, with a fast, reliable experience regardless of where they are located in the United States. This network will return our country to its rightful position as a leader in wireless broadband technology and solidify its reputation as the center of global innovation."

What is LightSquared from LightSquared on Vimeo.

United States - Sanjiv Ahuja - Nokia Siemens Networks - Harbinger Capital - Lightsquared

Marvell simplifies Plug Computing for developers with new installation tool

Publié: juillet 20, 2010, 3:14am CEST par Tim Conneally

As powerful chips are being made physically smaller, cheaper, and significantly less energy consumptive than previous generations, they can be used in places where computers hadn't gone before. More tasks can be automated and measured, more systems can be networked together, and machines can generally get a lot "smarter."

This is perhaps the main idea behind Marvell's plug computing initiative, where an entire system as powerful as a netbook can be built into a housing only marginally larger than a "wall wart" style power adaptor.

Today, the company announced the availability of the open source Easy Plug Computer Installer (EPI), which Marvell says will simplify plug computing software deployment. EPI is the first ever wizard-based installation tool for Marvell's Plug Computer, and it is available for download here.

EPI is compatible with Fedora 11 (32/64bit), Ubuntu 9.04 (32bit), Windows XP SP2/3, and OSX (Leopard), and lets the developer install Linux distributions, file systems, root filesystem images, or even single applications onto a plug computer.

Though Marvell says there are more than 20,000 Plug Computer developers out there, the platform is still looking for the next great mind to think of a new way to use it.

"Marvell wants to encourage more developers to explore Plug Computing and the high performance, eco-friendly open source computing platform," said Viren Shah, Marvell's Senior Director of Marketing for Embedded SoCs. "There's a broad array of Plug Computing application ideas waiting to be discovered. EPI further enables the software and hardware community to easily integrate their solutions and reap the always-on benefits of the Plug Computer."

opensource - Linux - Operating system - Marvell Plug Computers - Linux distribution

Amid e-book price war, Kindle books skyrocket, outsell hardcover

Publié: juillet 20, 2010, 12:01am CEST par Tim Conneally

In the midst of a Summertime e-reader price war, initiated by Borders, matched by Barnes and Noble, and escalated by Amazon, e-books are flying off of their virtual shelves.

Today, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced second quarter Kindle sales are fully accelerated, with each month outselling the last. But since cutting the price in June, sales have massively spiked.

"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 Bezos. "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."

Amazon has sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books it has sold. This is not quite a two-to-one ratio, but it's very close, amounting to roughly 1.7 : 1. This includes versions of books where there isn't even a Kindle version, and excludes free Kindle titles. If Amazon stacked the numbers differently, the ratio could be even greater.

So what are people reading on their Kindles? Amazon today said Charlaine Harris, Stieg Larsson, Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, and Nora Roberts have each sold more than 500,000 Kindle books, and James Patterson is leading the pack with 867,881.

Amazon.com - E-book - Stephenie Meyer - Stieg Larsson - James Patterson

Foursquare talking to search engines over sharing data

Publié: juillet 19, 2010, 9:59pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Social networking company Foursquare is in talks with Microsoft, Google and Yahoo over using its data to help enrich search results, UK paper The Telegraph reported on Monday. According to co-founder Dennis Crowley, the data would be anonymized and then shared.

Foursquare is one of the most rapidly growing social networking services on the Internet. Last week, it signed up its two millionth user, just three months after signing up one million. Word of mouth seems to be driving a lot of the growth, as friends sign up to follow one another.

By the nature of the service, search engines could be able to spot trends in what people are doing by check-in data. In turn, they could use this to better results on location-based searches.

None of the companies would confirm the talks were happening, and Crowley did not specify a time frame when the deals could be signed. In any case, Foursquare would be following a similar path as Twitter did: the company's first content deals were also with search engines.

One advantage for Foursquare is Crowley's past. He also founded Dodgeball, which was sold to Google in 2005. Like Foursquare, Dodgeball was also location-driven, although was done via text message. While Google ended the service in 2009, Crowley has maintained a close relationship with many at the search giant.

Some are not as impressed with the possibility of a tie in with search. Writing for Business Insider, Nick Saint seemed non-plussed by the news.

"It's an attractive idea in theory, though it's difficult to see this data being widely useful just yet," he argued. "Foursquare's two million users are impressive, but not enough to shed much light on what places people in general are going to."

Google - Dennis Crowley - Yahoo - Microsoft - Foursquare

Microsoft ships Windows Phone 7 devices to developers

Publié: juillet 19, 2010, 8:02pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Microsoft has finished the Technical Preview of Windows Phone 7, the absolute earliest build of the new mobile operating system that is ready for field testing, and is shipping it out on prototype devices from Asus, LG, and Samsung, the company reported today.

As Microsoft noted last week when it released the updated Windows Phone Developer Toolkit, devices with a pseudo-beta version of Windows Phone 7 have begun shipping to developers, carriers, and partners. The new mobile operating system is still quite a few months away from being ready for release, and there isn't yet a version for consumers to check out, but this marks the "home stretch" for platform development. The company expects the first Windows Phone 7 devices to be released in time for the holiday shopping season this year.

Microsoft has effectively abandoned the legacy Windows Mobile interface in favor of one styled after the Zune, and the first user reviews of this early build have been remarkably favorable.

But the true focus of today's announcement is, again, the development community, whose support is integral to the success of Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone Engineering Corporate Vice President Terry Myerson said yesterday that more than 1,000 Microsoft employees have been using WP7 as their primary phone for several months, and tests have been run on more than 10,000 different devices in Microsoft's labs, but it will take a lot of feedback from developers and users in the real world to get Windows Phone 7 running for real.

Microsoft - Operating system - Windows Phone 7 - Zune - LG Group

To improve foothold in U.S. and Japan, Nokia Siemens buys Motorola's wireless business

Publié: juillet 19, 2010, 4:30pm CEST par Tim Conneally

European telecommunications giant Nokia-Siemens announced today that it will acquire the majority of Motorola Inc's wireless network infrastructure business for $1.2 billion.

Nokia Siemens announced this morning that it will acquire Motorola's GSM and CDMA infrastructure business, while Motorola will keep its iDEN business, potentially all of its intellectual property related to the wireless network infrastructure business, and "other selected assets."

Motorola's wireless infrastructure products include Base Stations for CDMA 1X and EV-DO Rev A, a significant portfolio of GSM equipment, such as Transciever Stations, Base Station Controllers, and radio access network Controllers; UMTS HSPA radio network controllers and "Node B" solutions (similar to base transciever stations.)

One of the most promising aspects of Motorola's infrastructure business, however, is in 4G networking. Not only was Motorola a major supplier in U.S. WiMAX network, but it has 41 contracts in 21 other countries as well. In addition, Motorola has also been the largest contributer to the development of LTE's radio network standards.

Nokia Siemens Networks expects to gain new relationships with more than 50 worldwide network operators as a result of this acquisition and says it will strengthen its position with China Mobile, Clearwire, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone.

Motorola began discussing a spin-off of its consumer handset business in 2008, but the company has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity due to its total support for Google's Android mobile operating system, and the planned spinoff was pushed back until after 2011. The $1.2 billion Motorola expects from the deal could be split between Motorola's two businesses: solutions and mobility, but Motorola will not specify exactly where the capital will go until the end of the year.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

Motorola - Nokia Siemens Network - GSM - Integrated Digital Enhanced Network - WiMAX

Google's retirement of Nexus One marks adulthood of the 'Superphone' generation

Publié: juillet 17, 2010, 5:39am CEST par Tim Conneally

Today, Google sealed the fate of its former flagship Android device, the HTC Nexus One, by announcing that the smartphone will no longer be available online from the search company's own site.

This announcement finalizes Google's plan to shut down its Web-based smartphone store after it failed to live up to expectations. Customer support will still be available in the U.S., and the device will continue to be available to Android developers. Additionally, the Nexus One will be sold through carrier partners in Europe, Asia, "and possibly others based on local market conditions."

Though this formally ends Google's attempt at directly selling Android smartphones to consumers; it also marks the device's sixth month for sale, and a pivotal point in the Android timeline.

Innovations in mobile phones have been happening so rapidly, that a new smartphone remains on the cutting edge for about one year before it is replaced by something newer and better. In the case of Android devices, it sometimes happens in even less time.

The Nexus One was technically the first Android "Superphone," since Google introduced the term when it launched the device in January.

But it proved to be more than just catchphrase marketing. Since that time, Superphone has become a genuine category in mobile devices as more phones with features similar to the Nexus One have entered the market.

Superphones have 1GHz or faster processors, multitouch-capable touchscreens 3.5" and up, and high megapixel cameras. It's a form factor that evolved alongside the Android operating system.

Most of the first generation Android devices (running versions 1.0-1.6) had 528MHz processors, smaller, single-touch screens, and cameras supporting around 3-5 Megapixels.

With the Nexus One, Google introduced Android 2.1, and the next class of Android devices. It was something akin to the Super Nintendo to the original Nintendo Entertainment System. There was a clear difference between the two.

Now that superphones have been on the market for six months, and Android has reached release 2.2, the major Android players --HTC, Motorola, and Samsung-- have each contributed at least one superphone to the market, and are already looking forward to the next generation.

Google - Nexus One - Nintendo Entertainment System - Motorola - Technical support

Google buys Metaweb to improve results for complex search queries

Publié: juillet 17, 2010, 12:07am CEST par Ed Oswald

Google moved to better its search results by acquiring Metaweb, a San Francisco based company that maintains an open database of "things," and their relationships to one another. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Metaweb's database currently includes some 12 million items, including places, notable people, companies, and movies. Queries to the Google search algorithm would return more relevant results as a result of the company's technology, the company claims.

"What about 'colleges on the west coast with tuition under $30,000' or 'actors over 40 who have won at least one Oscar?' These are hard questions, and we've acquired Metaweb because we believe working together we'll be able to provide better answers," Google product management chief Jack Menzel said in a blog post.

At first glance it appears that the technology would enable Google to handle more explicit queries accurately, akin to what Ask.com has attempted to do with its plain language support. Google can already handle some basic queries to a specific answer the searcher may look for -- for example the capital of a country -- but cannot go much further than that.

It would also improve searches where the intention of the searcher may be difficult to ascertain from the query itself. For example, some search terms may have more than one possible result: Metaweb's technologies would help the search engine return possibly more relevant results.

The openness of Metaweb's database, dubbed Freebase, means that for the first time Google would begin to rely on data that wasn't compiled or managed in-house. The search company said the two companies would keep Freebase open.

"We plan to contribute to and further develop Freebase and would be delighted if other web companies use and contribute to the data," Menzel added.

Google has already stepped into the open knowledge database field with its Knol product, however that product is separate from its search functions.

More on Metaweb's technology can be found in this YouTube video.

Google - freebase - San Francisco - Metaweb Technologies - Metaweb

Steve Jobs shows little remorse about iPhone 4 Death Grip -- should he?

Publié: juillet 16, 2010, 9:00pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Yesterday, I recommended five things Apple should do during today's press conference about iPhone 4. Within hours of the post, Apple already had done two -- release a software update and informally deny that there would be an iPhone 4 recall.

During today's media event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs fully did two others: Offer free iPhone 4 cases and reveal number of iPhone 4 returns. For the other -- bringing out engineers -- Jobs instead personally discussed the engineering problems and showed that other phones display similar behavior, where human contact with certain areas of the phone can cause the signal bars to decline.

As I explained yesterday, today's media event wasn't about preserving iPhone 4 sales but managing perceptions, particularly for investors and the news media. The latter group now has substantive Apple response rather than speculation to write about. This will dramatically change the tone of Death Grip stories through the weekend, which is exactly what Apple needs to cool things down ahead of its fiscal third quarter earnings announcement on July 20.

Jobs didn't give his best performance today. He was harried and hurried and didn't play the "We're sorry" role very well. There was no real apology, but plenty of justification. "We're not perfect," Jobs said. "Phones aren't perfect." He then went on to assert that the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Droid Eris demonstrate similar behavior to iPhone 4 when held in the Death Grip. Such comparisons are unusual for Apple, which strives for excellence not excuses for why its products are the same as competitors. I found Jobs' excuse for why people are seeing Death Grip the lamest of all -- the relatively small number of cases available at launch. The reasoning: If there had been more cases, fewer people would be holding the phone directly.

I suspect that when reviewing the video, assuming Apple posts one, many people will see what I saw watching him speak on CNBC's feed: How little Jobs wanted to give away free cases. His mouth said Apple wanted to do the right thing for customers. His facial expression and mannerisms suggested something different.

Watching Jobs, I thought about lessons Fox TV show "Lie to Me" teaches about lying -- how a person's expression can reveal what he or she really means. The TV show's main character, Cal Lightman, is loosely based on Paul Ekman, who is a pioneer reading human facial expressions. Ekman's work is quite remarkable. In the 1970s, the University California professor identified six basic emotions -- anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise -- that the face can reveal. There's a universality about the emotions and their facial manifestations that transcends environmental influences. The expressions are human, regardless of country or culture.

Jobs' expression told me that he didn't want to give away free iPhone 4 cases. But perhaps a question during the Q&A reveals why. In response to renown Machead John Gruber, Jobs said that he doesn't use a case -- that he holds the phone in the Death Grip but doesn't see any problems. Lucky, Jobs. He must live in a good AT&T reception area.

Apples Five Responses

I want to put Apple's responses in context of the 5 things I said the company should do to kill Death Grip. I could easily have scripted Apple's media playbook, Jobs' five responses so mirrored my recommendations. They are:

1. Software update

I recommended that Apple release iOS 4.1 or whatever update is necessary to properly align the signal indicator and quash and other radio-related bugs (Bluetooth would be good starter). If Apple is smart, the update with pack goodies, like FaceTime over 3G capabilities, that will excite the masses and shift focus away from Death Grip.

Apple released iOS 4.01 within hours of that recommendation. During today's media event, Jobs said that another update, fixing problems with the proximity sensor, is coming. However, during the event Q&A, Scott Forstall called a New York Times report about an antenna software problem as being "false."

2. Engineering problem

I recommended that Apple bring out certified antenna engineers -- one to three of them -- to discuss how the iPhone 4 radios work and to do comparisons with other smartphones. Apple should assert that iPhone 4's weak signal performance isn't unique but that because of the phone's popularity, bloggers, Consumer Reports and journalists have amplified a small and common problem with antenna placement and reception. The engineers should also show how the antenna design boosts telephony performance more often than hinders it.

Steve Jobs directly addressed the engineering issues, making Death Grip comparisons to other smartphones, discussing signal strength and comparing iPhone 4 performance to the older 3GS (he admitted there are slightly more dropped calls on the new model).

3. Free cases

I recommended that Apple offer iPhone 4 owners freebees, Bumpers, $30 credit for case (or other accessories) or some other incentive, like free MobileMe for one year. Apple should not give away cases, because of the potential negative effects on iPhone partners. The freebees would be simply goodwill, available to those customers requesting them, with Apple admitting no fault.

Apple will offer free cases for phones sold through September 30th. Apple will replace Bumpers with cases. The end date strongly suggests Apple will have a final resolution in place by the end of September.

4. Number of returns

I recommended that Apple reveal the number of iPhone 4 returns. Apple could assert that even with all the bad Death Grip publicity people love their iPhone 4s.

Jobs not only revealed the number of returns, but he put them in context. He also revealed the number of complaints. AT&T return rates for iPhone 4 are one-third of the 3GS. Early return rate for iPhone 3GS was 6 percent compared to 1.7 percent for iPhone 4. Additionally 0.55 percent of iPhone 4 owners have contacted AppleCare about reception problems.

5. No recall

I recommended that Apple emphatically state that there will be no iPhone 4 recall. As long as Apple lets the topic be, someone will write about the possibility of a recall. Apple should squash all speculation on the subject. The announcement would be right time to reveal availability of white iPhone 4s, increases in production capacity and availability in more countries. Rather than recall, Apple is expanding sales.

Yesterday someone leaked there would be no recall, which the company all but affirmed today. Jobs also announced that Apple had sold 3 million iPhone 4s, that the white model would be available by the end of the month and that the smartphone would be available in 17 more countries, starting July 30th.

In closing, one more thing: In the headline, referring to Jobs showing no real remorse, I asked: "Should he?" That's the question I pose for you to answer in comments.

iPhone - Steve Jobs - Apple - iPhone 4 - BlackBerry Bold

Xbox 360, PS3 sales improve among wider video game downturn

Publié: juillet 16, 2010, 8:29pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Data released by NPD Group Thursday indicates that among a wider slump in the video game industry in June, Microsoft was able to move back into the top spot in console sales for the first time in months. Overall revenues were down six percent year-over-year to $1.1 billion.

Software itself saw a much wider drop, as sales were off some 15 percent to $531 million. It is not exactly clear why sales of video games themselves were much lower, although it could be a lack of blockbuster titles able to buoy the sector as a whole.

Hardware sales were up however by five percent to $401.7 million, with the Nintendo DS the most sold. In desktop consoles, the Xbox 360 edged out the Wii for the first time in months, and both consoles continued to sell considerably more than Sony's PlayStation 3.

It should be added that the DS did see the biggest drop in sales year-over-year, falling a third. Even so, the console still sold over a half-million units in June alone. The Xbox 360 sold 452,000, up 88 percent; the Wii 423,000, up 17 percent; and the PlayStation 3 305,000, up 85 percent.

NPD said it believed that the debut of the Xbox 360 Slim and its strong sales during the month had a lot to do with Microsoft's success in June. The PlayStation 3 also saw higher sales during the month as opposed to last year.

All is not lost, however. With both Sony and Microsoft working on motion sensing controllers for their respective consoles, there is a chance that the sector could make up lost ground in the second half of 2010.

Data showed that overall sales were down nine percent to $6.66 billion. With the new hardware as well as new blockbuster titles expected for the holiday season, the industry overall could still have a $20 billion year.

Take-Two's "Red Dead Redemption" remained the top selling game for the second month running, and now is the top selling title of the year, NPD said.

PlayStation 3 - Microsoft - Video game - NPD Group - Nintendo DS

Apple admits iPhone 4 drops more calls than predecessors, gives out free 'bumpers'

Publié: juillet 16, 2010, 8:27pm CEST par Tim Conneally

In a short-notice press conference today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs addressed the iPhone 4 reception issues that have been at the top of tech news for several weeks.

In short, users complained of a significant drop in wireless signal when they touched a certain area of the iPhone 4 chassis with as little as the tip of the finger. Videos were posted, opinions were aired, and in short, the typical furor around Apple products was whipped up in practically no time at all. But this time it was very negative.

The commotion reached its peak earlier this week when Consumer Reports gave the device a glowing review, but said it could not recommend it to buyers because of this antenna issue.

In his presentation about the antenna problems today, Jobs said it is an issue that all mobile devices experience, and showed a video of signal droppage on a Samsung Omnia II, an HTC Droid Eris, and a BlackBerry Bold 9700.

"This is life in the smartphone world. Phones aren't perfect. It's a challenge for the whole industry, Every phone has weak spots," Jobs said.

However, he followed by saying the iPhone 4 actually does drop more calls than the previous generation iPhone 3GS, which amount to somewhere in the neighborhood of less than one call per hundred.

Even though Jobs repeatedly said the issue has been "so blown out of proportion," and that he doesn't feel the need to apologize to investors over it, Jobs said Apple will begin giving out free "bumpers" to all iPhone 4 owners who purchased the device between its launch and September 30, and customers who already have one will get a refund on it. The bumper is believed to fix the signal strength issues because the material does not attenuate the wireless signal when touched.

Jobs admitted the company was aware that signal loss happened when the phone was held a certain way, but vehemently denied claims that it knowingly shipped a product with a flawed design, a conclusion that many drew because the prototype iPhone 4 that was revealed on Gizmodo was in the same bumper-style case.

"I'm not saying we didn't make a mistake," Jobs said in the Q&A following the presentation. "We didn't know that it would have these issues, we didn't know we were putting a 'bull's eye' on the phone... but this has been so overblown."

IPhone - Apple - Steve Jobs - iPhone 4 - BlackBerry Bold

Dell submits $100 million settlement proposal to SEC on fraud charges

Publié: juillet 16, 2010, 6:45pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Computer company Dell today issued a statement announcing that it has proposed settlements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission "on terms consistent with the settlement framework described in the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for its fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2010." The company has been under investigation by the SEC for nearly five years for suspicion of negligence, fraud, and misconduct in the company's deals with Intel Corporation.

Dell's 10-Q document (.pdf here) was filed in late June. It says:

"This settlement would involve a civil injunctive action against the company for alleged violations of certain federal securities laws, including the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, relating to certain accounting and financial reporting matters. The settlement would also include non-scienter (negligence) based fraud charges, as well as other non-fraud based charges, relating to the company's disclosures and alleged omissions prior to fiscal 2008 regarding certain aspects of its commercial relationship with Intel Corp. Dell has recorded a liability as of April 30, 2010 for a potential settlement of $100 million covering these matters...With respect to Mr. Dell, the remedies under such a settlement would include injunctive and monetary relief, but would not include any bar against his service as an officer and director of a public company."

Dell did not say when the settlement might happen, and could not commit to any financial terms and conditions of the settlement. These issues must first be approved by the SEC and then a U.S. District Court.

The SEC probe forced Dell to fix its books, and in 2007 the company admitted its accounting practices back to 2003 were incorrect. Two months after the admission, Dell announced that it had found it was worth some $92 million dollars less than it had originally reported.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Intel Corporation - Dell - Business - Fiscal year

New beta file sharing client Gygan looks to take on RapidShare by allowing unlimited upload size

Publié: juillet 16, 2010, 12:47am CEST par Tim Conneally

There is no shortage of file sharing services out there, and most offer a free tier that lets users upload and download very limited quantities of data, followed by a couple of subscription tiers for users interested in sharing more data. Typically, the first level of these subscription services runs $10 per month and charges work their way up from there.

Gygan, a new file sharing service recently launched in public beta, is challenging services like RapidShare, Megaupload, Dropbox, and YouSendIt by offering fewer limitations on sharing and hosting, and a cheaper point of entry to their subscription tiers.

Gygan desktop client uploading

Users download the Gygan desktop client, set up an account, and can begin uploading the content they wish to share. Through a very simple interface, users drag the content they want to share to their Gygan account, and when the files have finished uploading, they can then share the content as a URL.

All file types and sizes are supported, uploading is free, transfer speeds are unlimited (unlike services such as rapidshare or megaupload) your storage per account is unlimited.

If, for example, you're a film student, and you have to share a massive video project file with people you collaborate with, you can just email your partners a link to your Gygan account. Any files you upload can be made publicly searchable or private.

Search through publicly listed files on Gygan

"A lot of file sharing services on the market have peak times and incent their users to upload and download during the off-times," Vitaly Petritchkovitch, CEO of Gygan said in a statement today. "That's the simplistic beauty of Gygan -- you don't have to wait for peak times to be over. Tens of thousands of users can all access the network simultaneously, at any time, with no slow-downs."

The service is really monetized by downloading. With any account you can upload as much as you want with files of any size, but if you have a free trial account, you are limited to 4GB of downloading per month. 15GB worth of downloads costs $4.95 per month, 40GB of downloads costs $9.95 per month, and 200GB of downloads costs $24.95 per month.

Gygan desktop client downloading

Other services limit usage quite differently. Megaupload, for example has a free tier with 500MB max upload size per file, and a 45 second wait per download, rife with advertisements. The "members" tier bumps up to a 2GB max upload size, with a 25 second wait, and a bit less advertisement. "Premium" is $9.99 per month for "unlimited storage, speed, bandwidth."

Rapidshare's free accounts have a 200MB per file upload cap, and users can have a maximum of 10,000 files. YouSendIt limits their free users to 100MB files, and their $9.99 per month tier can support files up to 2GB in size. Dropbox limits free accounts to 2GB of space in total, 50GB of space for the $9.99 monthly subscription, and 100GB for $19.99 per month subscription.

The Gygan desktop filesharing client can be downloaded here.

Dropbox - Filesharing - Uploading and downloading - RapidShare - Betanews

Discovery sues Amazon again for patent infringement over Kindle

Publié: juillet 15, 2010, 10:14pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Discovery Communications intellectual property subsidiary Discovery Patent Holdings filed suit against Amazon Wednesday, claiming Amazon's line of Kindle e-book readers infringe on two patents held by the company. The suit is the second between the two companies over such technologies.

Amazon was originally sued by Discovery Communications in March of last year, accusing the company of violation of a comprehensive patent on e-book readers titled "Electronic Book Security and Copyright Protection System" (#7,298,851). This covered the Kindle and Kindle 2 models.

This newest suit names Discovery Patent Holdings as the plaintiff and adds the DX model as well as a new patent which was titled "Electronic Book Selection and Delivery System" (#5,986,690).

Discovery holds the rights to a third e-book related patent (#7,716,349) titled "Electronic book library/bookstore system," however that one -- applied for in 2000 and not issued until 2010 -- is not part of the suit.

The '690 patent was issued to Discovery Communications in 1999, while the '851 patent was awarded in 2007. According to court documents, the patents were transferred to Discovery Patent Holdings on Monday of this week. It appears as if Discovery Patent was spun off to hold its parent company's intellectual property, and thus the suit was refiled.

It looks like Discovery is not asking for an injunction, however it did demand royalty payments begin as well as unspecified damages. The company is also asking the court for a jury trial.

A glance through the patents does seem to give some credibility to Discovery's claims last year that it had thought of the concept of e-book readers in the method in which Kindle operates. At the same time, it also seems as if other Internet connected readers, such as the Nook, would also violate these patents.

Requests for comment had been sent to Amazon.com, who had not responded as of press time.

UPDATE A representative from Discovery contacted us this afternoon saying, "Discovery Communications, Inc. previously filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Amazon.com, Inc. on March 17, 2009. I wanted to clarify that the paperwork filed July 14, 2010 is not a new lawsuit, rather a procedural issue assigning the patents and thus naming the plantiff in the lawsuit, as Discovery Patent Holdings, LLC...There are no changes to the lawsuit - same terms, patents named, etc. "

Intellectual property - Discovery Communications - Amazon.com - Patent infringement - Lawsuit

New software beta lets Windows PCs use iPad as wireless monitor

Publié: juillet 15, 2010, 8:13pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Download MaxiVista iPad for Windows from Fileforum now!

MaxiVista turns the iPad into a wireless Windows PC screen extender Windows users can now use the Apple iPad as a wireless display extension with a software package released in beta today called MaxiVista from German software company Bartels Media.

MaxiVista's multi-monitor software lets users extend their desktop across other PCs and Notebooks, and utilizes a special data compression so the CPU and network load stay low. While the frame rate isn't exactly good enough to handle video playback or gaming, it is useful for non-graphically intensive applications, and it doesn't require any unique hardware.

"The new graphic card standard, WDDM, that was introduced with Windows Vista prohibited the use of multiple graphic cards from different manufacturers on one computer. MaxiVista is the first application of its kind to overcome these limitations and functions with Windows XP as well as with Windows Vista and Windows 7," General Manager Gunnar Bartels told us this morning.

For MaxiVista to function, users must download a $9.99 iPad application. The Windows part of the software is free, and video drivers are compatible with both 32 and 64 Bit operating systems. Interestingly, there is not a version yet compatible with OS X, but it is reportedly on the way.

Presented By: Deliver It to Google Buzz

		We are pleased to announce dlvr.it now supports Google Buzz! You can now easily distribute your content to Google Buzz, and track your Buzz followers and stats with dlvr.it. To start posting to Google Buzz with dlvr.it: 1. Sign…
dlvr.it >> Read more

Windows Vista - Windows XP - Window 7 - Operating system - Microsoft Windows

5 things Apple should do to kill iPhone 4 Death Grip

Publié: juillet 15, 2010, 7:43pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

On July 16, Apple is holding an unspecified media event about iPhone. The presumption is that the company will finally address the so-called Death Grip, where bodily contact with the lower left-hand side of iPhone 4 causes the signal indicator to decline. I'm assuming that's the purpose of the event and here offer up five things Apple should do there to handle the public relations problem.

First, I'll offer some brief analysis. Apple should never have let Death Grip get so out of hand. Apple marketing is as good as -- often better than -- its products. The company masterfully generates good perceptions. But Death Grip seems to have squeezed the life out of Apple's PR and marketing staff and CEO Steve Jobs. Apple's lack of assertive action shows that there is some validation to blogger, Consumer Reports, customer and journalist reactions to reported antenna problems. Something is wrong. But is it really all that bad?

I have no problem creating the Death Grip, by simply holding iPhone 4 in my left hand with palm pressed against the lower left-hand side of the device. But I haven't had any more calling problems with iPhone 4 than its predecessors -- and that's living in an area where AT&T reps admit reception is notoriously bad. Elsewhere, I find signal strength improved and that Death Grip is not easily reproduced in areas with strong signals.

Based on my own experience, which includes using smartphones for more than five years, and reading reports from or talking to other iPhone 4 owners, I believe that Apple's problem is more perception than reality. Yes, signal drops when iPhone is held in the Death Grip where carrier signal is weak but overall performance is on par with or better than other smartphones.

Apple's choice of a Friday media event is unusual and probably quite deliberate. Fridays are typically slow news days, which means Apple's iPhone 4 response will lead the news pretty much everywhere tomorrow and throughout the weekend. If the response is good enough, the buzz should help Apple reset perceptions about iPhone 4 -- or at least change the tone of blog posts or news articles. That Apple still can't meet iPhone 4 demand is evidence enough that lots of people still want the handset, regardless of the negative reports about antenna performance.

Apple's objective isn't protecting sales but resetting perceptions, by:

Assuring shareholders that iPhone 4 is not a fundamentally, flawed device, and that it will continue to sell well -- better than its predecessors.
Taking the edge off the negative news reports, which can't be much positive without a more official response from Apple.

With that introduction, here's what I would do tomorrow if working for Apple. In order of importance:

1. Release iOS 4.1, or whatever update is necessary to properly align the signal indicator and quash any other radio-related bugs (Bluetooth would be a good start). If Apple is smart, the update will pack goodies, like FaceTime over 3G capabilities, that will excite the masses and shift focus away from Death Grip.

2. Bring out certified antenna engineers -- one to three of them -- to discuss how the iPhone 4 radios work and to do comparisons with other smartphones. Apple should assert that iPhone 4's weak signal performance isn't unique but that because of the phone's popularity, bloggers, Consumer Reports and journalists have amplified a small and common problem with antenna placement and reception. The engineers should also show how the antenna design boosts telephony performance more often than hinders it.

3. Offer iPhone 4 owners freebees -- Bumpers, $30 credit for case (or other accessories) or some other incentive, like free MobileMe for one year. Apple should not give away cases, because of the potential negative effects on iPhone partners. The freebees would be simply goodwill, available to those customers requesting them, with Apple admitting no fault.

4. Reveal the number of iPhone 4 returns. I haven't seen long return lines at my two local Apple Stores or heard about many iPhone 4 owners -- even those complaining about Death Grip -- seeking refunds. Apple can say that in unprecedented disclosure, the kind no public company would risk doing, here are the number of iPhone 4 returns. If the number is small, as I expect, Apple could assert that even with all the bad Death Grip publicity people love their iPhone 4s.

5. Emphatically state that there will be no iPhone 4 recall. As long as Apple lets the topic be, someone will write about the possibility of a recall. Apple should squash all speculation on the subject. The announcement would be the right time to reveal availability of white iPhone 4s, increases in production capacity and smartphone availability in more countries. Rather than recall, Apple is expanding sales -- sure sign of its confidence in iPhone 4.

Presented By: PuSH It Real Good: Deliver Content in Real-Time

		As we discussed in an earlier post, everything is instantaneous these days. That’s why we’re excited to announce that dlvr.it is now fully PuSH (pubsubhubbub) enabled. You publish and we deliver…now! If your feed is PuSH enabled, dlvr.it will…
dlvr.it >> Read more

IPhone - Apple - Steve Jobs - iPhone 4 - Consumer Reports

Ford Sync voice recognition explodes to more than 10,000 commands

Publié: juillet 15, 2010, 7:40pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Today, Ford announced that its Sync in-car command, navigation, and entertainment system has improved its voice recognition interface by increasing the vocabulary by more than 100x, allowing system commands to be much simpler and more direct.

The Sync system was developed through Ford's partnership with Microsoft, and launched in 2007 on twelve 2008 Ford vehicles. At first, the system was very limited in what it could do, and included the ability to operate USB media players hands-free, connect to mobile phones via bluetooth, and export diagnostic data. The voice interface launched with around 100 commands, which reflected more or less the menu structure of the system.

With the new voice command system available in the next generation of Sync called MyFord Touch, users will be able to speak commands in various ways and not have to simply navigate menus by voice.

For example, users would have to first say what device they were going to access before they could perform an action. If they wanted to call someone, they first had to say "Phone," or if they wanted to switch the song that was playing on their iPod or Zune, they'd have to first say "USB." With the new system, users can just say "Call (name)," for example, and the connected phone will start the calling process.

"As we've gained processing power and learned more about how drivers use the system, we've been able to refine the interface. Customers can do more and say more from the top-level menu, helping them accomplish their tasks more quickly and efficiently," said Brigitte Richardson, Ford global voice control technology and speech systems lead engineer.

The speech recognition engine, designed by Nuance Communications, can recognize different voices and create user profiles for them within three commands. This means multiple users can easily use the hands-free system without having to "train" it, as other systems currently require.

The new voice recognition system, and MyFord Touch, is launching this year on the 2011 Ford Edge.

Presented By: Measure Your Social Media ROI: dlvr.it Integrates Google Analytics and Omniture

		Social Media. You know you need to be there. But how do you measure social media ROI? How do you know if it is working? dlvr.it now makes it easy to integrate Google Analytics and Omniture tracking into your…
dlvr.it >> Read more

Ford Sync - Speech recognition - Microsoft - Nuance Communications - Speech Technology

HP's Android tablet delayed, WebOS now takes center stage

Publié: juillet 15, 2010, 6:39pm CEST par Ed Oswald

One of the few official photos of HP's 'Slate' PC, as yet unnamed. [Courtesy HP] In a sign that Hewlett Packard is becoming much more serious about WebOS following its acquisition of Palm in April, the company has apparently "tabled" its plans for an Android-powered tablet. The device was originally intended to come to market later this year.

Sources told All Things Digital Thursday that HP has no new timetable for the release of the device. Following a similar fate for the Windows-powered Slate, it certainly seems as if WebOS is the future at the company. It is not known whether the Android project may be restarted.

HP has said that it will invest heavily on WebOS and take it beyond the smartphone. Apple has found out that its iOS has ported nicely to tablet form, so HP may be taking a cue from an already established player in the market.

Development costs could be another consideration. When HP first announced its tablet plans, it was developing for three different operating systems. This would have meant three different slates, and licensing costs for at least two of them. Using their own in-house OS means the company would be able to save a good deal of money, and increase profit margins.

Finally, it could just be a matter of how the operating systems are built. Windows 7 was not intended for the touch-interface that tablets require, and though Android has been used in tablet interfaces, the OS has not yet proven to be a strong competitor in the market.

One thing that may concern industry watchers is webOS' application problem. Developers pretty much passed over the OS while it was a part of Palm, leaving its smartphone users out to dry with not much in the way of third-party development like Android and iOS enjoy.

Presented By: Timing is Everything! Schedule Your Content Delivery

		dlvr.it is excited to announce content delivery schedules! Now, you can schedule the days and times dlvr.it checks your feed for updates and posts to your social networks. You now have more control than ever over your content distribution to…
dlvr.it >> Read more

Apple - Betanews - Hewlett Packard - Android - Smartphone

Verizon and Motorola's most powerful Android device, Droid X, goes on sale

Publié: juillet 15, 2010, 6:04pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Droid X by Motorola Today, Motorola's latest Android superphone, the Droid X, is available for purchase through Verizon Wireless for $199 after the $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year service contract.

Billed as the sequel to Motorola's breakthrough Droid smartphone, the Droid X has a much larger 4.3" screen, a 1GHz TI OMAP 3640 processor, 512MB of DRAM, and 8GB of onboard memory with support for microSDHC up to 32 GB.

As an adjunct, SanDisk has joined in on the launch to promote the 32GB microSD cards it announced last March by selling them for only $99 when the customer purchases a new Droid X. This is a full 50% lower than the memory company's original suggested retail price. When the cards are purchased on their own at a Verizon store, they cost $149.99, still lower than the MSRP.

The Droid X is part of the latest crop of convergence-class superphones which are characterized by touchscreens near the 5" mark, 1GHz processors, and the absolute latest versions of the popular smartphone operating systems. Unlike its competitors, the HTC EVO 4G on Sprint, and the iPhone 4 on AT&T, the Droid X lacks a front-facing camera for video calling. This is not exactly a standard feature on the current generation of superphones, but it is increasingly becoming a hallmark of high performance devices.

For now at least, the Droid X is the most powerful phone both Verizon Wireless and Motorola have to offer, and though there hasn't been a great media frenzy over consumer demand for the device, there were reports last night of lines of more than 100 people waiting to purchase the Droid X as soon as it became available this morning.

Presented By: Find and Replace: Adjust Your Feed Item Text Before Posting

		Looking for an easy way to tweak your item text prior to posting to Twitter or Facebook? Now you can modify your feed item text right from dlvr.it — using simple find and replace rules. dlvr.it will scan each new…
dlvr.it >> Read more

Smartphone - Droid - Android - Motorola - Verizon

Hulu Plus preview launches on PlayStation 3, service to be exclusive until 2011

Publié: juillet 15, 2010, 6:39am CEST par Tim Conneally

Today, a select group of PlayStation Plus subscribers got access to the first preview version of Hulu Plus on the PlayStation 3.

Hulu Plus

Hulu Plus is the new subscription tier for the popular streaming TV website which lets U.S. subscribers watch their favorite programs on connected TVs, Set-top boxes, mobile devices, and now video game consoles for $9.99 per month.

"We are delighted to offer the Hulu Plus preview starting today on PlayStation 3 and that PlayStation 3 will be the only console to offer Hulu Plus in 2010," Jack Tretton, President and chief executive officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America said today.

Hulu Plus on PS3 preview menu

For PlayStation 3 owners to gain access to Hulu Plus, they must also subscribe to the new PlayStation Plus service, which costs $50 per year.

Sony today said general availability of Hulu Plus will happen in the coming months on the PS3 and connected Bravia TVs and Blu-ray players, but did not specify if there will be a premium charge similar to the PlayStation Plus subscription for its other platforms.

Presented By: Twitter Upgrade Attempt Causes Temporary Missing/Duplicate Posts

		Last night around 8pm PT, Twitter attempted to upgrade their system with an enhancement of a new approach to timeline caching. This unfortunately caused tweets to not be displayed and/or showed duplicate tweets. More info from Twitter can be found…
dlvr.it >> Read more

PlayStation 3 - PlaystationPlus - HuluPlus - Jack Tretton - Video game

Report: Apple has acquired mapping company Poly9

Publié: juillet 14, 2010, 10:18pm CEST par Ed Oswald

French canadian online news site Cyberpresse said Wednesday that Apple had purchased 3D map making company Poly9, possibly indicating the company has plans to enter the competitive online mapping sector with an entry of its own.

The acquisition is the second mapping-related acquisition. A year ago, Apple silently acquired Placebase, a mapping software company. Together, the technology would enable the Cupertino company to produce a product that could be akin to Google Earth.

Apple nor Poly9 have responded to requests to confirm the acquisition, however evidence is mounting that the company is out of business. Its website has been taken offline, and its Twitter account has seen no activity since March.

Cyberpresse also reported that Poly9's offices are dark, and at least two employees have been moved to the Silicon Valley area.

Poly9's signature technology is a web-based 3D globe built on Javascript. One of its advantages is that it is an extremely small download -- about 303kb -- which allows it to load quickly.

One thing Poly9 is missing is mapping technology -- the globe links into the APIs of others to provide that. Thus, one could see why the Placebase and Poly9 acquisitions could add up to an Apple-branded mapping service.

Its clients still appear to be using its technology, suggesting the company is not completely defunct. Apple was a client, as was Microsoft, Yahoo, MSNBC, and even NORAD -- who used Poly9's globe to do its popular Santa Tracker service.

Apple - Placebase - Microsoft - Yahoo - Google

Office 2010 belly flops in early retail sales dive

Publié: juillet 14, 2010, 10:07pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

US consumers and small businesses aren't rushing out to buy Office 2010, which doesn't surprise me. "Units and dollars are down from Office 2007's initial two weeks of sales but are in line, and in fact slightly ahead of, sales trends of Office 2007 so far this year," Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, blogged yesterday. "Even so, sales of Office 2010 in general have to be characterized as a bit disappointing during the first two weeks."

The sales sentiment contrasts starkly with the Office 2007 retail launch, when during the first week "sales jumped 108.6 percent in terms of units and 106.3 percent measured in revenue compared to Office 2003." NPD data reflects US online and brick-and-mortar retail sales.

The difference between launches is chilling and reveals trends Microsoft shouldn't ignore. Baker has one view of the "Why," and I have another. Together they provide a fairly clear picture of what Microsoft can expect from retail Office 2010 sales. Briefly stated: Office 2010 isn't wooing US consumers to upgrade and many consumers simply don't need a productivity suite.

Saturation and Sales Tell a Sobering Story

"Lifetime sales for Office 2007 at retail exceeded $1.5 billion for the 3.5 years it was on the shelf," Baker informs. "A sales level that equated to approximately 10 million new copies of Office into the market in addition to the sales of PCs with Office pre-installed and the existing versions."

By my interpretation, those numbers simply aren't good. They work out to about $150 per retail unit, which, not coincidentally, is the price of consumer edition Office Home and Student. As I previously reported, Home and Student, like predecessor Student and Teacher Edition, accounts for about 85 percent of US Office retail sales. For that 150 bucks, consumers get three licenses, not the one that comes with more expensive Office business editions. So what then is the value of Office to most consumers or small businesses -- as much as $50 per copy.

Baker rightly identifies a problem Microsoft won't easily escape:

With the release of 2010 Microsoft has to confront the success of its retail strategy head-on. Selling such a heavily used product into a base that has already been upgrading at a very high rate is an enormous challenge. While Office 2010 has many compelling new features, it is always an uphill battle to sell a high installed base product based on new features alone.

I agree, and I warned about this problem in January 2008 blog post "Office 2007: One Hit Wonder?" I acknowledged that Office 2007 was unquestionably a sales hit, but warned:

With software, like movies or music, a big hit can be really tough to follow. Office 2007 raises the bar high indeed for Microsoft's productivity suite. There is a long history of technology products reaching sales growth plateaus...Office 2007's new user interface pushes past the good enough barrier, in part because of the new user interface. Office 2007 looks different from its predecessors, and -- in my testing, anyway -- there are some real productivity usage gains over Office 2003 or XP. But I really wonder: Is Office 2007 so good that good enough may be too good? Yes, would be my answer.

That's partly the scenario playing out now, as Baker astutely identifies.

Many Consumers Don't Need a Productivity Suite

However, there are other good reasons for why consumers aren't rushing out to buy Office 2010. In January, I posted the controversial "Microsoft Office is obsolete, or soon will be." The analysis mostly focused on retail sales to consumer and small businesses, for which -- six months later -- slow retail Office 2010 sales are a proof point. I identified several trends indicating that Office was losing its appeal to consumers and small businesses. Among them:

Commoditization of productivity suite features among other commonly used applications or services.
Sales saturation, where Microsoft increasingly faced the tough prospect of competing with its own products.
Microsoft has carefully and methodically lowered the cost to buy Office, either actually or by adding more licenses inside the box.

Baker already explained sales saturation. I'll first tackle commoditization, starting with word processing, which reached commodity status years ago, as most commonly used applications or services incorporated the basic formatting features most people use more than 90 percent of the time. No external wordprocessing program is required to blog, e-mail, instant message, tweet or post to social networks like Facebook. Related: consumers increasingly have less or little need to use a productivity suite for the kinds of content they more commonly create, like the aforementioned status messages, tweets or Wall posts and photos or videos. For many consumers, the days of documents are largely over.

"Office Home and Student is indicative of a longstanding downward pricing trend," I wrote in January. Microsoft extended discounts to other versions, as I explained:

Under the new pricing scheme, PC buyers will have the option of purchasing a license key for the pre-installed Office trial version. Office Home and Student 2010 will cost $119, instead of the $149 box retail price. Office Home and Business: $199, instead of $279. Office Professional: $349, instead of $499. PC buyers electronically purchase Office, which is unlocked using a code key. Significant pricing change: Retail copies of Office 2010 Home and Business, Professional and Professional Academic will now come with two licenses, which is a huge discount over the current one-license approach. However, digital activations for pre-installed Office will come with one license. Either way, whether digital or retail pricing, Microsoft is considerably discounting Office.

From that perspective, Microsoft artificially -- and obviously quite successfully -- boosted lagging consumer sales by the then new and different Office 2007 user interface. But Office 2010 doesn't look that much different from its predecessor. As suggested a few paragraphs back, the one-hit wonder is good enough, or perceived to be good enough, for many retail buyers. Microsoft is trying to compensate by lowering costs to buyers.

Office Trial Conversions are Explanation, Too

All this said, there is a corroborating influence for which I don't have data and Baker doesn't address in his blog post: Office 2010 also brings to market better digital purchasing options -- from preinstalled copies of the productivity suite and downloadable trials. That could impact early retail sales in three meaningful ways:

Consumers downloading the Office 2010 Trial version and directly digitally purchasing a license
Consumers buying new PCs with the trial version installed and directly digitally purchasing a license
In both cases, people running Office 2010 Trial and not yet making a purchase because the trial period hasn't expired

The latter scenario could convert to retail sales after the 60-day trial period ends. Something else: The majority of Office Trial users would have been within the 60 days during NPD's measurement of early sales. So there wouldn't yet be pressure to make a decision to buy or not.

I fully expect this early retail sales trend to persist until Microsoft and its partners offer back-to-school discounts for Office 2010 Home and Student -- and then drop back down and stay in the sales doldrums without any additional discounts. US consumers won't rush out to buy Office 2010 without discounts, I predict. They either don't need the productivity suite, think they don't need it, are satisfied with the Office version they already own or will choose to digitally purchase Office 2010 rather than go to stores.

Microsoft Office - Office 2007 - Office 2010 - Microsoft - Office 2003

RIAA's return on $58 million in lawyer fees? Two Percent

Publié: juillet 14, 2010, 8:59pm CEST par Tim Conneally

According to tax documents submitted for the years 2006 through 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has recovered only a tiny fraction of its total legal expenses through "Anti-Piracy Restitution."

The documents, hosted here, here and here by p2pnet and highlighted by New York attorney Ray Beckerman, show the RIAA's top five most highly compensated independent contractors for these three years. This included the law firms Holme, Roberts, and Owen, LLP, Jenner & Block, and Cravath, Swaine and Moore, who received a total of $17,614,901 in 2008 alone.

These firms are often at the helm of the RIAA's piracy cases. The RIAA's counsel in Capitol Records et al v. Jammie Thomas, for example, included attorneys from Holme, Roberts and Owen; and Jenner & Block famously helped the organization win the case to get P2P service Grokster shut down in 2005.

While the documents do not provide any information about non-monetary legal victories such as injunctions, site closures, and licensing agreements that this $17 million could have earned, in terms of strict dollar-for-dollar recovery, the organization claims to have earned only $391,000 in so-called anti-piracy restitution.

The 2007 document shows that $21,223,792 was spent on legal fees (nearly twice as much as it spent on the salaries and wages of its own employees,) and $515,929 was recovered. In 2006, it was the same story; $19,419,701 in legal fees, which translated to $455,643 in anti-piracy retribution.

Ultimately, the legal fees for these three years totaled $58,258,394 and the recoveries totaled $1,362,572.

In other words, for the millions the RIAA spent on litigation ostensibly related to piracy, it has only recovered 2.3% of it.

Recording Industry Association of America - Law - Ray Beckerman - Jenner & Block - Lawyer

eBay facing largest patent infringement suit ever: $3.8 billion

Publié: juillet 14, 2010, 7:40pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Connecticut-based XPRT Ventures said Wednesday that it had sued eBay and its subsidiaries for infringing on six patents related to e-commerce. The company said it shared the technologies "in confidence" with the auction site, but eBay apparently used those technologies for financial gain.

Specifically, the suit alleges Paypal's Pay Later, Buyer Credit, Balance Manager, and the checkout system infringe upon XPRT's technologies. The company is asking for $3.8 billion in damages, and was filed in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del.

According to the lawsuit, XPRT first contacted eBay in 2001 and advised them that purchasing PayPal would streamline their business, and that the auction site could use XPRT's patented methods to put PayPal to use. The company says it contacted the auction site to gauge its interest on using the technology.

eBay apparently never responded, and XPRT attempted to contact the auction site again to no avail. The acquisition of PayPal was allegedly announced shortly after this second contact.

"EBay ... should have known that such modification and combination would violate Inventors' patent application claims should they issue as patents," the lawsuit reads in part.

Other charges leveled against eBay include the company attempting to patent XPRT's technology on its own, which the US Patent Office apparently rejected four times. What's curious is that these patents were applied for in 2003, some two years after the company had apparently been alerted to XPRT's already issued patents in the space.

The auction site says that the suit is without merit, and intends to fight it vigorously in court. On its part, XPRT said it does not plan to seek an injunction immediately, but does expect compensation for its work.

If allowed to stand by the courts, XPRT's damages would amount to the largest patent settlement in history, far outpacing the current largest award -- $1.725 billion to Johnson & Johnson by Boston Scientific for coronary stent patents. That case was settled in February of this year.

eBay - Paypal - Patent - Patent application - Lawsuit

Bing enjoys largest growth of search services, research says

Publié: juillet 14, 2010, 6:41pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Market research firm comScore released its U.S. search rankings for June 2010, and though the search business is still soundly dominated by Google, both Microsoft and Yahoo increased their market share where Google actually lost some ground.

According to comScore, Google's market share for June was 62.6 percent, down from May's 63.7 percent. Microsoft and Yahoo each increased their search shares from 12.1 to 12.7 percent and 18.3 to 18.9 percent.

The number of searches conducted across all search engines was up 3 percent from May, the data said. Google experienced a 1 percent increase in volume while Yahoo increased by 7 percent and Microsoft increased 8 percent, the largest traffic growth of any of the search services measured by comScore.

Exactly one year ago, comScore's numbers suggested that Microsoft had not experienced a significant benefit from rebranding its search as Bing after being known as Windows Live for more than three years.

However, Microsoft has strongly pushed its "decision engine" since its launch last year and has seen repeated periods of growth. Six months after launching Bing, Microsoft began to advance the search service on mobile platforms as well with the launch of its fully-featured iPhone app. A similar app is expected to launch on Samsung's line of Galaxy S Android phones in the coming weeks, and Microsoft will then have a spot in front of the fastest growing mobile audience on devices from the most prolific smartphone maker.

In 2008, Steve Ballmer said turning around Microsoft's search business was "a five-year task," and that there could be a 5 to 10 percent loss in total operating income as a result.

Even with a strong focus on brand recognition, mobile presence, and quality search results, Microsoft is not likely to upset market leader Google. But comScore shows progress is absolutely being made.

Google - Microsoft - Bing - Yahoo - Web search engine

Maybe software can make American kids less fat, USDA opens voting on candidates

Publié: juillet 14, 2010, 5:41pm CEST par Tim Conneally

In March, First Lady Michelle Obama's "Lets Move" initiative for childhood health and fitness launched a contest called "Apps for Healthy Kids," offering $60,000 in prizes for software that encourages children to choose healthier foods and more active lifestyles. Today, the US Department of Agriculture has announced 95 finalists in the contest, which the public can test, and then vote on.

The applications are not limited to any single platform, and range from standalone Windows applications, to iPhone apps, to games within Linden Labs' Second Life. The styles, likewise, differ greatly from app to app. There are tools to aid in meal planning, games to teach about the food pyramid or caloric intake, and applications for building exercise routines.

Public voting opens today and continues until August 14, and the top picks will be reviewed by a panel of judges which includes U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, President and CEO of the ESA, Mike Gallagher, and Co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak. The grand prize winners in two categories --tools and games-- will each win $10,000. The most popular runners up will be awarded a $4,500 prize at the White House in September.

iPhone - Apple - Steve Wozniak - Betanews - United States

Intel declares 'best quarter ever,' after 34% annual jump in revenue

Publié: juillet 13, 2010, 10:39pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Chipmaker Intel Corp. has posted its earnings for the second quarter of 2010, and with revenue of $10.8 billion and a net income of $2.9 billion, declared it to have been the company's best quarter ever.

Strong demand from corporate customers for our most advanced microprocessors helped Intel achieve the best quarter in the company's 42-year history," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "Our process technology lead plus compelling architectural designs increasingly differentiate Intel-based products in the marketplace. The PC and server segments are healthy and the demand for leading-edge technology will continue to increase for the foreseeable future."

Intel's Atom line of low-profile, low power chipsets was up 16% over last quarter, reaching revenue of $413 million, and with a slightly higher average selling price for processors, the company had record high revenues in both its mobile processor and server microprocessor categories.

Paul Otellini - Intel Corporation - Net income - Corporation - Personal computer

Apple should NOT recall iPhone 4

Publié: juillet 13, 2010, 9:56pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Today's Business Insider headline "Suddenly, Everyone Is Talking About An iPhone 4 Recall!" is tabloid journalism gone too far. Dan Frommer aggregates quotes from blogs or news sites demanding an iPhone 4 recall. There's no counterpoint. I'll give one: I'm not asking for a recall, so it certainly isn't everyone. What about you? Do you demand an iPhone 4 recall? (Uh-oh, my colleague Ed Oswald posted about a recall being inevitable, too. For shame!)

In late June, I posted: "12 people share their iPhone 4 Death Grip stories." These dozen iPhone 4 owners told antenna/reception stories ranging from serious problems to none. As I expressed then: "The reception problems aren't as widespread as blogs and news stories suggest" and "Most people reporting 'Death Grip' are only seeing problems in weak signal areas." The point: Not everyone is dissatisfied with iPhone 4.

I'm not bothered by the so-called "Death Grip," and I live in a lousy AT&T reception area. In my first 10 days using iPhone 4, I had all kinds of calling problems, which I later determined were caused by some strange incompatibility between iPhone 4 and my Nokia BH-804 Bluetooth earpiece. Switching to the Jawbone Icon fixed consistent problems of garbled calls. But Death Grip isn't much affecting my calling. Sure, the number of bars reduce when holding the phone flush to my left palm, but nothing more. Instead, I generally find the signal stronger and more available in more places than with iPhone 3G or 3GS.

I'm so satisfied that I'll be recommending iPhone 4 in my upcoming review. This is the first time I've ever endorsed iPhone. I panned iPhone 3G twice -- in September and December 2008 reviews. I didn't bother writing a formal review of iPhone 3GS, which I tried three different times; in my most recent test (April-May 2010), I chose the Google Nexus One over the iPhone 3GS.

Unquestionably, Apple has bungled the PR messaging. The company's July 2nd statement isn't really believable:

We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising. Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.

Then there are reports that Apple is allegedly killing forum posts linking to blog post "Why Consumer Reports can't recommend the iPhone 4." Apple is taking the ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand approach to Death Grip: Denial. "There is no problem." Well, hello, earth to Apple: There most certainly is a PR problem, and it's getting worse by the hour. Apple's shares range from $261.21 yesterday to $246.89 earlier today. It's a helluva up-and-down chart, with declines following Consumer Reports' blog post, which seemingly contradicts the broader Consumer Reports review that puts iPhone 4 ahead of other smartphones.

Apple Shares

Perhaps Dan Frommer felt something about his earlier post, because about 45 minutes later he blogged another: "Sorry, But This Whole iPhone 4 Antenna Thing Is A Non-Issue And Will Blow Over." I totally agree. Frommer writes:

The bigger and more successful Apple gets, the easier it becomes to poke holes in the company. And the more fun people have beating up on Apple, and the more notoriety they get, etc. Seriously, when's the last time you thought of Consumer Reports before this week? But like every other tech PR calamity -- Facebook redesigns, Google privacy, etc. -- this will be news for a few more days and then life will go on.

To answer his question: Almost never. Consumer what? Frommer emphasizes: "There's no reason for a huge recall. This isn't a faulty car that might kill you. It's a phone, and it's a phone that works."

He is exactly right. Calls for an iPhone 4 recall are simply ridiculous. Apple has created an exceptionally good smartphone. Death Grip won't kill you. But the negative hype might kill Apple's share price for a few days -- at least until the fiscal Q3 earnings announcement on July 20.

[Update:: As several commenters have pointed out, people can return phones within 30 days. Apple might consider extending the return period to 45 days, in sign of goodwill.]

Apple - IPhone - Consumer Reports - Betanews - Smartphone

Comcast/NBC Universal merger talks extended another 4.5 months

Publié: juillet 13, 2010, 8:00pm CEST par Tim Conneally

The move to form a joint venture between cable company Comcast and content network NBC Universal has been extended by 135 days.

Today, William T. Lake, of the FCC Media Bureau announced that the application process, which was originally slated to take no more than 180 days, has been restarted at Day 45 after Comcast and NBCU submitted renewed responses. This means the bureau's review period will last nearly four and a half months before the merger can progress.

Late in 2009, cable company Comcast made the move to merge with NBC Universal with the intention of eventually forming a joint content company (to be called simply NBC Universal) that would run alongside Comcast's Xfinity pipeline company. The joint venture would be 51% owned by Comcast, 49% owned by General Electric, and managed by Comcast.

The company would combine NBCU's two broadcast television networks (NBC and Telemundo), its 26 local broadcast television stations, several national cable programming networks, a motion picture studio, international theme park businesses and online content businesses with Comcast's regional sports networks, other programming networks, and certain online businesses.

Of course, the merger raised concerns among both legislators and the entertainment industry. For many, it was the unsettling combination of a for-pay TV provider taking control of a company that produces content for free, over-the-air broadcasting.

"Clearly the concern here is that when a company that has the wire going into the home merges with a company that has all of NBC Universal's content, there could be a temptation to discriminate against others," said Representative Ed Markey (D -Mass.) in February.

For companies such as Netflix, the concern was similar, except for online services like Comcast's TV Everywhere. With that, Comcast would deliver streaming on-demand content anywhere, but only to Comcast subscribers, tying cable subscriptions with online content delivery.

"By bundling the traditional cable TV offering with Internet delivery of content, vertically integrated MVPDs and network operators are potentially extending and expanding their dominant market position at the expense of competitive online offerings," Netflix wrote in comments to the FCC.

For seven months, the deal has been going through the process of getting regulatory approval, and in May, Comcast, GE, and NBC Universal filed applications to assign and transfer control of broadcast, satellite earth station, wireless and other licenses to the NBC Universal joint venture.

NBC Universal - Comcast - Cable television - NBC - Television

Apple's iPhone 4 woes deepen as some see recall 'inevitable'

Publié: juillet 13, 2010, 7:01pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Apple continued to be on the losing end of a public relations battle Tuesday over a "Not Recommended" rating from Consumer Reports for its iPhone 4. Some industry watchers have gone as far as to suggest a recall is something the company may need to consider.

The latest round of bad news was courtesy of Wayne State University Professor Matthew Seeger, who told Cult of Mac that the brand image of Apple could be at risk and said the company will be forced to issue a recall.

Others told the Apple enthusiast site that the company needs to act with more urgency, calling Apple's response so far lackluster and even irresponsible. While there seems to be general agreement that Apple has responded poorly, some see a recall as too harsh a step.

Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner said in a note to clients that he saw the risk of recall as low, saying the antenna issue was not serious enough to warrant such an action. He argued that Apple should be giving out free "bumpers" to those with problems, and wouldn't affect overall profit margins more than 1 or 2 percentage points.

Apple charges $30 for these bumpers, which cover up the metal stripe. This keeps users from touching the lower-left hand corner with their hand, which seems to set off the reception problems.

The company is also attempting to control the debate: Apple blog TUAW noted that it had found evidence the company was deleting threads in its support forum that referenced the Consumer Reports ratings at least a half dozen times.

"It's hard to imagine what Apple hopes to gain by doing this," TJ Luoma wrote.

Either way, Consumer Reports' words are having a chilling effect on Apple's stock. In intraday trading Tuesday, the stock had fallen as much as 4 percent over the recall worries. Apple's typical silence on issues like this is probably not making the situation any better.

Apple - IPhone - Consumer Report - Wayne State University - iPhone 4

China moves to end Internet anonymity by requiring real names

Publié: juillet 13, 2010, 6:29pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Text of a speech made by a government official in China back in April indicates the country plans to require Internet surfers in the country to use their real names. The transcript of the comments by the State Council Information Office's Wang Chen had been removed from the legislature website by Chinese officials.

It is not known why the government moved to scrub Wang's words, although it can be speculated it had to do with the likely unpopularity of such a move. The text was recovered by New York interest group Human Rights in China, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Comments posted anonymously or even just the concept of surfing the web should be tacked to a real name, Wang told legislators. This would make it easier than ever for the government to monitor and suppress what it considers subversive speech, allowing it to clamp dow even harder on those who dare defy it.

Google attempted to defy the country by stating it would no longer censor in China, and redirecting users in the country to the Hong Kong version of its search engine. That nearly cost the site its license to operate, and last week it relented, agreeing to terms from the Chinese government in return for its license renewal.

China has also blocked western websites from time to time for various reasons, including sites such as YouTube. Typically the sites return within a matter of days, and the blocks have something to do with some type of content the Chinese government finds objectionable.

The concept of the real name system is not necessarily new. As early as last year, the Chinese have been pushing such a system, and even earlier than that. However, the country has seemed to pull back after heavy public criticism of its plans.

China has the largest number of citizens online, numbering about 400 million. It is also widely considered one of the heaviest censors of the Internet to its own citizens.

China - Google - Hong Kong - State Council Information Office - Human rights in the People's Republic of China

Microsoft announces Windows Phone Live, integration with Zune

Publié: juillet 13, 2010, 5:05pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Windows Phone 7 There is more Windows Phone news coming from Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference today, and this time, instead of focusing on developers, it is focused on the consumer experience. Microsoft's Senior Vice President of Mobile Communications Andy Lees introduced a couple of major consumer-facing enhancements to Windows Phone today that extend functionality off of the phone's various "hubs" and into other connected services.

First, there will be a new addition to the Windows Live suite of Web services dedicated strictly to Windows Phone, appropriately named Windows Live Phone. Integration with Windows Live services has always been a strong aspect of Microsoft's mobile strategy, and was executed well even with the much derided Windows Mobile 6.5.

With Windows Phone 7, the cloud-based Windows Live Phone becomes an extension of both the "People and Pictures" hub, and the "Office" hub. It is a central location for photos, calendars and contacts, and OneNote file swapping, and will include the Find My Phone service and 25GB of SkyDrive storage all for free.

Secondly, devices running Windows Phone 7 will be able to access and manage content shared in the user's home network through the Zune PC software. Music, Video, and photos will all be available through the "Music + Videos" hub on the mobile device. Similarly, the "Games" hub features Xbox Live and gamer content, letting users invite their friends to Xbox Live games directly through their phone.

Microsoft is counting down to holiday availability of Windows Phone 7, and the initial launch will likely take place in the 17 countries where Microsoft has already established the Windows Phone Marketplace: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UK and United States.

Microsoft - Windows Live Phone - Windows Phone 7 - United States - Windows Phone

Blackberry Tablet confirmed, will support Flash

Publié: juillet 13, 2010, 1:05am CEST par Tim Conneally

Rumors of a BlackBerry tablet have been circulating for months, and statements from Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar on Friday have rekindled the discussion with a little bit more accuracy.

A source close to RIM confirmed to Betanews that Kumar's statements were accurate, including the screen size, and the dual camera setup. But they gave us a bit of additional information that the rumors haven't covered yet: Flash support.

In May, when Boy Genius Report wrote about it, it was estimated to be 8.9" in size, and equipped only with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, making it a companion device to the owner's BlackBerry, sort of like what Palm attempted with the Foleo.

In June, the Wall Street Journal followed up, saying that the device will have a slide-out keyboard, and will run on "a new version of the BlackBerry operating system...[with] a universal search bar."

Some of what the Wall Street Journal report discussed can be seen in the BlackBerry 6 video that was released today.

In his note on Friday morning, Kumar said the BlackBerry tablet will actually be a 7" device with a 1GHz Marvell Processor that has two cameras for video conferencing.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said Flash 10.1 would be coming to BlackBerry in the second half of 2010, and in June, the company released Flash Player 10.1 to its mobile platform partners; which included support for Android, webOS, Windows Phone, LiMo, MeeGo, Symbian, and, as expected, BlackBerry.

Our source said that the BlackBerry tablet will indeed include Flash, and will have a hardware-based Flash accelerator.

Even though the iPhone is a huge success in the United States, it is still far behind BlackBerry in market share. The shoe is on the other foot in the tablet market, though, where Apple has gotten a strong head start with the iPad, even though the company has outspokenly denied support for Adobe Flash.

While the effect a Flash-supportive BlackBerry tablet will have on the consumer market is unclear, it may prove to be a very desirable companion device for mobile enterprise users.

Unfortunately, our source did not confirm earlier reports about the tablet's December launch date. However, the holiday season is a beneficial time to launch new hardware, and seasonal buying has done wonders for devices like the Motorola Droid which launched during last year's holiday season and went on to become the best-selling Android phone to date.

Apple - iPhone - Android - Research In Motion - Motorola

New Apple FaceTime TV ads give me the creeps

Publié: juillet 12, 2010, 11:35pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Seriously, all four new FaceTime ads creep me out. I know they're meant to be sentimental, but they're simply too real. I feel like a voyeur eavesdropping on very personal interactions. It's a place I don't belong. It's not my moment to share. Apple posted the commercials to YouTube on July 9th. I only discovered them today.

There's a veiled, backhanded compliment to my creepy feelings. As an exercise in creating intimacy between two people and showing the endearing qualities a video call has over voice, the TV commercials are enormously effective. But to my watching, there's realism, and there's realism.

So I want to congratulate Apple's ad agency for a job too well done. A woman telling her spouse (or partner) she's pregnant is an intimate moment that only they should share (There's admission to the moment's privacy when the wife asks: "Are you alone?"). I would say the same about a sheepish daughter showing braces to her father for the first time; or a grandfather seeing his first grandchild. "How does it feel being a grandfather?" asks the son. "How does it feel being a father?" asks the dad.

Yes, there is power in the marketing message and foreshadowing of a future foretold in 60-to-70 year-old scifi dramas: Video calling. Do the commercials also foreshadow a time when the most intimate interactions take place by FaceTime rather than face to face? Like social media, which promises more personal interaction but delivers it in the most impersonal ways? What? You think Facebook Wall postings, comments or private messages are personal?

I wonder how will video calling change our mores and attitudes about privacy. It's not like the intimate moments portrayed in the Apple commercials take place in public places. Perhaps I would feel less the voyeur if the scene settings weren't so artificially private and the tone of callers' voices so hesitant and emotional. But in the real world, how many people would video call where others could closely listen to and watch family matters? Perhaps I'm naive; look at about how some family members roughly treat one another in public places like fast-food restaurants or shopping malls. They act like there is no one else around them.

Video should be the future of phone calling, and Apple has magnificently -- and in some ways frighteningly -- portrayed the potential. The commercials are so real, they make me feel guilty to watch them. How do you feel about them?

YouTube - Television - Betanews - Web Design and Development - Hosting

Microsoft's Windows Phone Developer Tools get a major update ahead of dev phone launch

Publié: juillet 12, 2010, 9:56pm CEST par Tim Conneally

At MIcrosoft's Worldwide Partner conference today, Andy Lees, Senior Vice President of Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft announced the beta of Windows Phone Developer tools has begun. Windows Phone 7

Back in March, the suite of Windows Phone development tools was launched as a Community Technology Preview (CTP) which included Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone 7 Series Add-in for Visual Studio, a Windows Phone 7 Series emulator, XNA Game Studio 4.0, and a CTP release of Expression Blend 4. The CTP received an update in April, shortly after it was launched.

An important part of this beta release is the completed Application Certification Requirements list (.pdf here) which means that applications built in this beta will be mostly ready to submit to the Windows Marketplace. New tools for unlocking Windows Phones and deploying applications to unlocked devices have also been included in this beta.

"The tools will RTM later this summer, at which time final touches could be added with components announced previously such as Maps, Pivot or Panorama control," Paul Bryan wrote in the Windows Team Blog this morning.

Microsoft's mobile overhaul is finally beginning to take shape off of the Redmond campus. Over the weekend, preview Windows Phone 7 devices were given to two Las Vegas high school students, making them the very first people outside of Microsoft to have total access to Windows Phone 7.

On July 19th, these developer devices will begin shipping out.

MIcrosoft - Windows Phone 7 Series - Windows Phone - Microsoft Visual Studio - Windows Phone 7

Fring calls Skype 'cowards,' Skype says Fring is damaging brand and reputation

Publié: juillet 12, 2010, 9:17pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Popular Social/Messaging/VoIP application Fring made serious waves last week when it launched a new version that supported two-way video calling over 3G for the iPhone 4. Apple's FaceTime iPhone 4 video chat, by comparison, only works while the device is connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Very shortly after launching, however, support for the face-2-face video chat was halted. Fring said the feature's unavailability was the result of a blockage by Skype.

"Now that Fring expanded capacity to support the huge demand for video calling for all users, Skype has blocked us from doing so," the service's blog said this morning. "They are afraid of open mobile communication. Cowards."

To this, Skype's Robert Miller responded, "This is untrue. Fring was using Skype software in a way it wasn't designed to be used -- and in a way which is in breach of Skype's API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement. We've been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably. However, over time, Fring's misuse of our software was increasingly damaging our brand and reputation with our customers. On Friday, for example, Fring withdrew support for video calls over Skype on iOS 4 without warning, again damaging our brand and disappointing our customers, who have high expectations of the Skype experience."

There is no official Skype video client for any mobile platform except Maemo, but the company reportedly has plans to branch out onto other platforms. Earlier this year, Skype's public relations team made a statement that there will be "a direct to consumer app to the Android marketplace later this year. This application will be available for all consumers globally to download regardless of carriers."

IPhone - Apple - Skype - fring - Skype's API Terms of Use

Microsoft opens up Intune beta to 10,000 more testers

Publié: juillet 12, 2010, 8:38pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Reacting to the success of its launch in April, Microsoft on Monday said it would allow 10,000 more testers into its Intune computer management service. The offering gives small and midsize companies without a vast IT department the capability to manage their computers via a web-based connection.

When the Intune beta was first made available in April, the initial 1,500 beta slots were filled within 30 hours. The company decided to hold off until this weeks Worldwide Partner Conference to open up the beta again due to the gathering's planned focus on cloud computing.

Intune fits perfectly into this strategy. Microsoft would host the administration console on its servers. From here, the IT administrator would log in and be able to patch, monitor, and troubleshoot a networked PC without needing to physically be at that location.

The initial beta was only available in the US: this second beta will expand that list of countries to Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, and the UK. Testers would be limited to controlling between 5 and 25 seats in the beta.

A final version of the software is expected in the early part of next year, and would cost $11 per seat. For an additional dollar, Microsoft would allow additional functions to assist in troubleshooting and group policy management.

Microsoft has been fairly busy when it comes to betas as of late. The company released another cloud service -- code-named "Aurora" -- into beta at WPC, and a beta of the first service pack for Windows Server 2008 R2 is live. Consumers aren't left out either: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 was also released.

Microsoft - Puerto Rico - Canada - Personal computer - Spain

Ballmer: Microsoft will push forward with new tablets, phones

Publié: juillet 12, 2010, 7:59pm CEST par Ed Oswald

All but admitting his company has fallen behind competitors, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told attendees of its Worldwide Partner Conference Monday that it plans to work hard to bring new tablets and smartphones to the market.

Ballmer's first task in his keynote address was to soften the concerns of partners, who have become more skeptical of MIcrosoft's ability to stay relevant. He said the company is still on track with Windows Phone 7, and that tablet computers from several partners are due within months.

"Over the course of the next several months, you will see a range of Windows 7-based slates that I think you'll find quite impressive," he said. He added that form factors and pricing would vary from model to model -- obviously different from Apple's one-size-fits-all iPad strategy.

Dell, Samsung, and Toshiba were mentioned directly by Ballmer. Curiously missing was HP, whose Slate was initially believed to be Microsoft's answer to the iPad. That project has reportedly been scrapped after HP decided not to use Windows 7 on the device. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer with HP's as-yet-unreleased 'Slate' PC

Microsoft apparently sees tablet computing as a "terribly important" area for the company to get a foothold in. With Apple selling on average a million iPads a month, the longer Microsoft waits could push it further behind. It seems somewhat odd for a company which technically began pushing tablet-like notebooks almost eight years ago.

Besides tablets, smartphone was another focus. Ballmer conceded that Microsoft had "missed a generation" with Windows Mobile. He did express confidence that Windows Phone 7 would change that, saying so far the response to the company's work has been positive.

The latest version of Microsoft's mobile operating system is nearly a complete rework: instead of a menu-based system, Windows Phone 7 relies on "hubs" that group similar content together.

MIcrosoft - Steve Ballmer - Apple - Dell - Toshiba

Google provides a look at Android's highly customized future with App Inventor

Publié: juillet 12, 2010, 6:04pm CEST par Tim Conneally

For anyone with an Android phone and a great idea for an app but no experience with writing code, Google has announced the ultimate solution.

Android App Inventor

Today, Google began the beta phase of App Inventor, a graphical tool in Google Labs for designing custom Android applications. Users of the tool do not need to know anything about programming to be able to create an app, package it, and upload it to their USB-connected Android phone.

Like the webOS graphical development tool Ares which launched last April, Google's App Inventor lets users drag and drop graphics, sound, and actions into a virtual smartphone, compile and then export the finished product to their mobile device. Because it is intended for educational and personal use, no developer programs, SDKs or NDKs are necessary.

The part of App Inventor where the app is designed is based on the Open Blocks Java Library developed by Eric Klopfer and Daniel Wendel of the Scheller Program at MIT three years ago (their method borrowed heavily from the StarLogo TNG block programming system.)

App Inventor's compiler uses the Kawa Language Framework, itself an implementation of Scheme, which is in the Lisp family of programming languages. But because the tool works on such a simple level, users will not even need to know any of this information.

Once released, this tool will open up a level of customizability heretofore unseen in Android. With no special skills required, users can already alter the look of their Android device, install custom ROMs, and pick and choose which apps they have.

But they have never been able to simply make an application to suit a specific need like an Android developer can. With this tool, the openness of Android will be much more tangible to the average user.

Google Labs - Google - AppInventor - Mac OS - Computer programming

Android growth may give Apple, RIM some pause

Publié: juillet 10, 2010, 12:20am CEST par Ed Oswald

In the three month period ending in May, Google's Android was the only platform to measure market share growth according to data from research firm comScore. While Research in Motion and Apple still lead the way, both lost share during the period.

RIM had 41.7 percent of the platform market, down about a half a point from February. Apple's iOS came in second with 24.4 percent, down a full percentage point. Third was Microsoft's Windows Mobile, who fell nearly two percent to 13.2 percent for the period.

Some of Apple's loss in share could be explained away by the fact that consumers may have held off phone purchases ahead of the highly anticipated iPhone 4. At the same time however, this was the second survey to show either flat or declining growth.

Android had its strongest showing yet, up four percentage points to 13.0 percent. This wasn't as good as the December to February period, when it gained an impressive 5.2 percent -- but shows the rapid growth Google's mobile operating system is enjoying.

What is behind such massive growth in such a short time? Simply put, its partners are consistently putting out phones that have been able to do well in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

HTC's Droid Incredible is a recent example, which Verizon has had a tough time keeping in stock. Previous to that, the Motorola Droid spurred Android growth, and differentiated itself from Apple's iPhone by reminding consumers what it could do that Cupertino's iconic phone could not.

It could also be argued that phones like Sprint's EVO 4G -- which began selling last month (apparently very well from reports) and would not be included in these numbers -- may signal even more rapid growth for Android.

While Apple may seem to be Google and Android's primary target, there still is a behemoth in RIM standing in both of their way. Despite its stagnation in market share, the company still holds a sizable chunk of the market and may be extremely difficult to dethrone.

The reason here is how entrenched RIM has become in the enterprise sector. The company's position could be arguably similar to that of Nextel: who, while essentially a non-player in the consumer market still is able to carve a sizable chunk due to its entrenchment in government, specialized trades, and some portions of the enterprise sector.

Will Android -- or iOS -- be able to take out the 800 pound gorilla in the room? It's hard to say, but it surely is not going to be easy, especially with BlackBerry 6 rapidly approaching, and continued rumors of a forthcoming BlackBerry tablet.

Google - iPhone - Microsoft - Apple - Android

After five years, 64-bit editions of Windows make up nearly half of install base

Publié: juillet 9, 2010, 9:17pm CEST par Tim Conneally

64-bit editions of Windows have been available to OEMs and consumers for five years, and they have finally begun to exhibit command over the PC market, Microsoft reported today.

64-bit Windows install base June 2010

By June 2010, 46% of all PCs running Windows 7 were running the 64-bit edition. Three and a half years after Windows Vista launched, only 11% of users have installed the 64-bit version, considerably fewer than Microsoft claimed in 2008 when product manager Chris Flores told us "20% of new Windows Vista PCs in the U.S. connecting to the Windows Update were 64-bit..."

Irrespective of Vista's performance, Microsoft evangelist Chris LeBlanc says there are certain factors contributing to the growth of 64-bit editions right now.

First, the cost of memory has dropped significantly in the last five years, a majority of processors are 64-bit enabled, and more compatible hardware and software is available today. Secondly, companies such as Intel are upgrading their internal systems to the 64-bit architecture.

Gartner predicted last year that as much as 75% of all enterprise PCs will be running 64-bit editions of Windows by 2014.

"On the surface, it would appear that the most obvious time to perform a move from 32-bit to 64-bit would be during an operating system migration (such as from Windows XP to Windows 7). Many companies feel that, if they don't make the move now, they may have to wait until Windows 8 or potentially Windows 9 before another opportunity arises," Gartner's research said.

Windows Vista - Microsoft - Operating system - Microsoft Windows - Windows XP

Ericsson: 70% of the entire world subscribes to a mobile service

Publié: juillet 9, 2010, 7:09pm CEST par Tim Conneally

new Ericsson wireless module Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson is responsible for all kinds of wireless equipment, from cell site infrastructure to consumer premises equipment to mobile broadband chips. So when they talk about the industry, it would behoove you to pay attention.

Today, Ericsson announced its estimate that the global mobile market contains over five billion subscribers, growing at a rate of 2 million per day.

This is an extremely significant estimation, because according to estimates by the United Nations and the U.S. census bureau, the entire human population of the earth is only about 6.8 billion.

If the market grew by 2 million additions per day and the population remained static, the entire world would become mobile subscribers in just 2 and a half years. Ten years ago, the company says there were only 720 million subscribers.

Today's estimate comprises all wireless subscribers, and Ericsson says that more than 500 million of these are 3G subscriptions. The company says mobile broadband is growing at a similar pace to wireless as a whole, and that it expects to reach 3.4 billion by 2015.

Of course, individual subscribers are only part of the picture. Ericsson says a key component to the future growth of the mobile industry is in machine-to-machine communications in such areas as smart metering, transportation tracking, digital signage, and connected appliances and mobile broadband cameras.

Telecommunication - Ericsson - Betanews - United Nations - Mobile phone

Google is staying in China with 'unfiltered' services

Publié: juillet 9, 2010, 5:17pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Google's license to offer search services in China has been renewed after months of restructuring and negotiations with the Chinese government.

In 2005, Google first won a license to operate within China, but to remain available, it had to adhere to strict government oversight and censor search results. Queries related to human rights topics, or to Tibet and the Dalai Lama, for example, would redirect searchers to Government-run sites.

After initially justifying its decision to filter searches according to the government's demands, Google's services were repeatedly subjected to heavy censorship.

In March 2008, YouTube and Google News were blocked for carrying reports of protests in Tibet, and running up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, the government made well-publicized moves to crack down on "cyber dissidence."

By 2010, Google could no longer justify censorship as it had four years prior. Representatives from the search company told us "We will no longer self-censor in China," and searches from mainland China began to be redirected to Google Hong Kong, which was uncensored.

"The Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced," Google's Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said in March.

Google today issued a brief statement in its blog confirming its return to mainland China: "We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China."

According to the search company, Chinese users will receive unfiltered results, but services will be limited.

"Users can conduct web search or continue to use Google.cn services like music and text translate, which we can provide locally without filtering. This approach ensures we stay true to our commitment not to censor our results on Google.cn and gives users access to all of our services from one page," Google said.

Google - China - Google.com - hongkong - Google China

Patent-holding company NTP sues smartphone makers

Publié: juillet 9, 2010, 4:55pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Six companies were sued by patent holding company NTP on Friday, claiming infringement on the same patents that successfully earned the company a $612.5 million settlement from BlackBerry maker RIM in 2006. The lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va. Thursday afternoon.

NTP said it filed the suit against Apple, Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft, and Motorola to force the companies to pay licensing fees for their technology. The patents include methods to deliver e-mail over wireless connections.

Requests for damages were not specified. A request for comment from all defendants named in the suit had not been returned as of press time.

"Use of NTP's intellectual property without a license is just plain unfair to NTP and its licensees," co-founder Donald Stoudt said in a statement. "We took the necessary action to protect our intellectual property."

Stoudt, a lawyer, founded NTP along with Thomas Campana, the inventor of the technologies the company holds patents for. Campana never moved to commercialize his efforts, and died in 2004.

His company originally moved to sue RIM in 2001, and nearly had an agreement to settle in 2005 which fell apart. Following the settlement of the suit, the US Patent Office examined NTP's patents and found that only three of the original ten claims against RIM were valid.

Most of the patent holding company's portfolio remained intact, however, and the company has filed with an appeals court to have those patent claims thrown out by the USPTO restored.

"No patents in U.S. history have received as much scrutiny as NTP's patents," Stoudt argued. He added that he hoped any claims could be settled without the case having to go to trial.

Microsoft - Apple - NTP - Research In Motion - Lawsuit

Class action suit in Canada only the latest of Facebook's woes

Publié: juillet 8, 2010, 10:40pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Facebook's privacy issues have come to a head as it has been sued over its handling of users' private information. The class action suit was filed on July 2 in the Queen's Bench Court in Winnepeg, Manitoba. Merchant Law Group LLP filed the action on behalf of Donald Woligroski, a Winnepeg Facebook user.

The suit accuses the social networking site of misappropriating Woligroski and others' personal information and intentionally using it for commercial purposes. It also says Facebook was careless and dishonest in alerting users to how the information would be used.

"Facebook misrepresented to its profit, its privacy policies and how Facebook would share, use and disseminate the personal information of the plaintiff and class action members," the lawsuit reads in part.

The social networking site says the suit is without merit and intends to fight it when the case goes to trial. It was not immediately clear when that would occur, although class action lawsuits are typically drawn out affairs that can take years to settle.

A lawsuit isn't the only thing Facebook has to worry about. German authorities are looking into its business practices, investigating why it saves information of people who do not use the site. It surrounds Facebook's user invite process, which gathers e-mail addresses of those it can not match to its database and sends them invites.

Canadian authorities had also looked into this process last year, and its privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart had expressed concern about Facebook's actions without those non-users' consent. "Facebook should provide non-users with an efficient way of finding their personal information and removing it from the site," she said at the time.

Evidence that Internet users may be tiring of Facebook's privacy problems may be found in its usage data. According to Inside Facebook, the site only added about 320,800 users in June. While this may seem like a lot, compare it to the 7.8 million the site had added the previous month.

Some age groups actually saw fewer users join month-to-month, especially within the 26-34 age group. "The age groups that logged a loss in June is also the one most likely to have paid attention to the privacy debates," researcher Chris Morrison wrote.

Facebook - Privacy - Jennifer Stoddart - Canada - Social network service

Android gaming to get big boost from popular OpenFeint social platform

Publié: juillet 8, 2010, 8:43pm CEST par Tim Conneally

OpenFeint Android's unabated growth has been a hot topic recently, and comScore's smartphone market share breakdown released today shows that from February to May 2010, it was actually the ONLY major mobile platform to experience positive growth.

Among this growth, a complaint about the Android platform has persisted: it has no good games. While this may be a bit of an overstatement, users frequently compare the Android platform with Apple's iOS in terms of functionality, features, and apps; and iOS simply has more high quality games.

However, Android's popularity despite its comparative lack of games has attracted a major player in iOS gaming: OpenFeint.

Today, OpenFeint announced "it's time to give Android some love," and the platform that lets developers add social networking features to their games will be coming soon to Google's mobile OS.

OpenFeint launched on iOS in early 2009 and reportedly attracted more than a million users in less than a month. Now, it has been integrated into over 1,800 different iPhone applications and has 28.1 million active players. Users can connect, chat, or play head to head with their friends, compete with other players on global leaderboards or track their achievements, and discover games that are popular among users.

Aurora Feint, OpenFeint's parent company has described the service as "Xbox Live meets Facebook for iPhone."

The company is working with game publishers and studios such as Hudson, Digital Chocolate, Glu, Pik Pok, DistinctDev, Rocketcat Games, Tastyplay.com, ustwo, and Astraware for a release later this summer.

iPhone - Google - OpenFeint - AuroraFeint - IPhone OS

Increased mobile Web demands at the heart of new mobile YouTube

Publié: juillet 8, 2010, 6:41pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Mobile Web consumption is growing at an explosive rate according to reports from both the PEW Internet and American Life Project and Morgan Stanley, and in as few as five years, our mobile devices could be our primary connection to the Web.

To address this explosion in mobile Web consumption, YouTube last night unveiled a new mobile site with all the features of the traditional YouTube.

YouTube yesterday said that traffic to m.youtube.com has grown 160% over the last year to more than 100 million video playbacks a day, so it has vastly improved its mobile site's speed, made its interface larger and more finger-friendly, and incorporated all of the features of the desktop browser version such as suggestions, favorites, and playlists.

Some reports have already claimed that this new mobile site is better than the YouTube mobile apps for Android and iOS, and YouTube said yesterday that updates will also come to the mobile site much sooner than they will to the mobile apps.

Point your mobile browser to m.youtube.com, to check it out. We've played with it extensively on both the Android and iOS platforms, but we're interested to hear your experiences on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, and BREW-based platforms. Let us know!

YouTube - Android - Windows Mobile - Betanews - Mobile Web

Feds look to detect cyberattacks through new early warning system

Publié: juillet 8, 2010, 6:32pm CEST par Ed Oswald

The National Security Agency is launching a new effort to detect cyberattacks on infrastructure and private companies, sources told the Wall Street Journal Thursday. Raytheon has been awarded the contract for the first phase valued at some $100 million.

"Perfect Citizen" is an application that would be installed on a computer network and look for suspicious activity, although it apparently would not monitor the network continuously. When it detects a possible cyberattack, it would alert the proper authorities.

Cyberspying by countries such as China and Russia is on the increase and has some worried. While the government knows it is happening from publicized incidents where foreign hackers have been caught snooping around, it is not known how widespread the problem may be.

Perfect Citizen is meant to protect those systems whose initial use may have not been intended to be connected to the Internet, but now are -- power grids and air traffic control systems are two examples. These could be more prone to attack as safety measures to prevent intrusions are added as an afterthought.

Adding this layer of security on top of these systems will ensure that if and when something does occur, officials are more prepared to deal with it. The information gathered could also help with investigations and more easily prosecute those involved.

The classified program remains in its early stages, and the NSA and Administration officials have refused to comment or confirm its existence. However some talking to the WSJ had their concerns.

Privacy may be one of the biggest issues with Private Citizen, some say. It is not known what data the effort will gather, and how it will do so. Will it be personally identifiable, or is it general traffic data? How is the NSA deciding what to scan? Those questions could be enough to unsettle privacy advocates.

Others see it as an intrusion by government into the private sector, and those with infrastructure may feel compelled to participate. That said, officials told the WSJ that the government could not force anybody to install Private Citizen, but may offer incentives to do so.

No time frame for the completion and deployment of the project was given.

National Security Agency - Wall Street Journal - Air traffic control - Privacy - Computer network

Did Microsoft hand you a pink slip this week?

Publié: juillet 8, 2010, 6:09pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

If the answer is "Yes," you were laid off, I'd like to tell your story. Please e-mail joewilcox at gmail dot com. I must confirm your identity, but your story will be anonymous to protect your severance package. I must reemphasize: All current or former employees' identities will be kept anonymous. Journalists protect their sources; I am especially protective of mine. You can speak freely, as did the former employees who shared their stories for my February five-part series.

I'm also looking for contractors who Microsoft recently sent packing. I've been hearing some strange things about Microsoft's use of contractors, such as the surprising number, the even more surprising number recently let go and that numerous employees sacked during the last round of layoffs returned as contractors in similar roles. I'd like to tell your story, too.

Since I'm asking for stories, I'll make a tougher request: Insiders with guts enough to share their stories about KIN's killing. If you worked on the project or have an opinion about it, I'd like to tell your story, too. Once again, anonymity is assured; I will protect your job.

I'm troubled by the layoffs' timing -- days after Microsoft closed fiscal 2010. If Microsoft is bloodletting to soothe shareholders, why not purge during the previous fiscal year and carry the costs there? Many other reports suggest that the layoffs are normal, in that their timing is consistent with end-of-year evaluations. I don't believe that, given how the layoffs are coming well after the typical evaluation period and carrying into fiscal 2011.

To reiterate: Please e-mail your story to joewilcox at gmail dot com. In most instances, I will follow-up with additional questions. I will not accept comments to this post as stories. You must e-mail me for your story to be told. I have no intention of letting anonymous commenters who might not work for Microsoft vent against the company. The stories will publish over the next couple days into next week, depending on how many are received.

Microsoft - Betanews - Layoff - Fiscal year - Monopolies and Oligopolies

The Mobile Web is NOW (tough luck PCs)

Publié: juillet 7, 2010, 10:24pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

The mobile Web isn't a future event. It's here today, at least in the United States, according to a 25-page report PEW Internet released this week. The study's findings are hugely significant to companies like Microsoft, which is largely invested in the PC, and Apple or Google, which embrace mobile devices and cloud services.

"Fifty-nine percent of American adults now go online wirelessly using either a laptop or cell phone, an increase over the 51 percent of Americans who did so at a similar point in 2009," according to the key findings. Some of the numbers will seem low, such as 38 percent accessing the Internet from their cell phones. Just the opposite: PEW looked more broadly at cell phones -- not just smartphones, which in other studies ranked higher for Internet and applications use. PEW captures demographic data that is startlingly revealing, though unsurprising. For example, 65 percent of 18-29 year olds access the Internet from their cell phones.

Mobile Youth Lead the Way

Young adults clearly are leading the way to the mobile Web, and they're a group no company offering mobile hardware, software or services should ignore. Twenty-nine year olds are at the cusp of where Generation X meets Gen Y (also called Echo Boomers or Millennials), which population is a little larger than Baby Boomers. The trailing end Gen Y's would be about 9 years old. PEW's study doesn't include teens, which connected, mobile habits are likely more pronounced than their older Millennials peers.

"Nine in ten 18-29 year olds own a cell phone, and these young cell owners are significantly more likely than those in other age groups to engage in all of the mobile data applications we asked about in our survey," according to the PEW report. "Other age groups" refers to older Americans, not teenagers or younger.

Some provocative usage highlights among 18-29 year olds:

93 percent take photos on their phones
81 percent transmit photos or videos from their phones
60 percent play games or record videos on their phones
52 percent use their phones to read or send e-mail
48 percent access social networking services on their phones
40 percent watch videos on their phones
20 percent make purchases using their phones
17 percent make charitable donations by text messages

Mobiles

In context of this data, Microsoft's killing off KIN is all the more tragic. Microsoft had the right concepts down for KIN, which features hugely resonate what Gen Ys do with their mobiles.

According to PEW: "19 percent of 18-29 year olds are cell-only wireless users, compared with 13 percent of 30-49 year olds, 9 percent of 50-64 year olds and 5 percent of those ages 65 and older." That means nearly one in five young American adults accesses the Internet only through cell phone -- not personal computer, too.

Young adults

No wonder AT&T capped data usage, while T-Mobile switched, in October, to unlimited data plans. T-Mobile's plan change make loads of sense in context of this data point and another: "17 percent of those earning less than $30,000 per year are cell-only wireless users." Based on T-Mobile public information and other analyst data, the carrier hugely appeals to younger and lower-income Americans. In that context, the unlimited data plans cater to the right customers.

They Find Time to Go Online

Overall, Americans are surprisingly likely to go online from their cell phones. Among those going online, more than 50 percent do so at least once a day. Some of the demographic breakdowns, according to PEW:

Among those who go online using a handheld device 55 percent of English-speaking Hispanics, 52 percernt of college graduates and 56 percent of those with a household income of $75,000 or more per year use their cell phone to go online several times a day. Young adults are also intense mobile internet users -- 52 percent of those ages 18-29 who go online using a cell phone do so several times a day, and an additional 17 percent do so about once a day -- although 43 percent of mobile web users ages 30-49 go online multiple times a day.

Mobile access

Another finding differentiates the US's two main minority groups in terms of their wireless Internet usage:

Nearly two-thirds of African-Americans (64 percent) and Latinos (63 percent) are wireless internet users, and minority Americans are significantly more likely to own a cell phone than their white counterparts (87 percent of blacks and Hispanics own a cell phone, compared with 80 percent of whites). Additionally, black and Latino cell phone owners take advantage of a much wider array of their phones' data functions compared to white cell phone owners.

It's not a white world of connected, mobile users. Mobile hardware, software and services providers should closely look at these demographic differences, particularly as they seek to broaden the appeal of smartphones and mobile applications and services.

Minorities

The report is more broad than this quick synopsis. It's a great read and excellent companion to February PEW report "Millennials: A Portrait of Generation Next." More significantly, the report is further conformation that mobile devices, particularly cell phones, are rapidly replacing PCs as primary connected, computing devices. "The Windows era is Over."

Microsoft - United States - Mobile phone - Text messaging - African American

RIM rolls out BES 5 Service Pack 2, preps admins for new BlackBerry 6 features

Publié: juillet 7, 2010, 9:41pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Today, Research in Motion's middleware for managing BlackBerry devices in enterprise networks, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), was upgraded to service pack 2. The upgrade directly addresses the problem presented to IT when an increasing number of users are using their personal BlackBerries for corporate communications.

"People are buying smartphones for that rich personal experience, but then looking to bring that smartphone into the office to take their work with them as well," Santiago Carbonell, Handheld Software Product Manager at RIM said two weeks ago. "What we're working on is building a platform of coexistence between these two lives on one device...However, this means that in the interests of corporate security, some BlackBerry smartphone users can't add their personal email accounts, access Facebook or download third party applications."

With the upcoming BlackBerry 6 platform and BES 5.0.2, BlackBerry admins will be able to handle only the corporate information without fear of accidentally wiping personal contacts, calendar data, communications or applications from employee-owned BlackBerries.

Today's upgrade adds a handful of other noteworthy features, including Single Sign-on (SSO), an identity authentication system that keeps users on enterprise intranets from having to keep signing in when they want to access corporate files or systems. Users can also be given the ability to admin their own devices, which includes the ability to reset passwords or even remotely wipe all data if their phone is lost. Previously, this could only be done by IT admins, but now it is an option afforded to anyone in the system.

Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Hyper-V 2008 are all now BES-certified platforms as well, though SQL Server isn't expected to be fully supported for another 30 days.

BES v5.0 Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino are both available for download from RIM.

BlackBerry - BlackBerry Enterprise Server - Microsoft SQL Server - Research In Motion - IBM Lotus Domino

Alcatel-Lucent admits software glitch is slowing 3G speeds on AT&T

Publié: juillet 7, 2010, 9:05pm CEST par Ed Oswald

An issue with how the software on wireless equipment provided by Alcatel-Lucent handles advanced 3G data connections is responsible for slower upload speeds on AT&T's network, the two companies admitted on Wednesday.

Speed issues have been reported in several cities including Philadelphia, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C. It's not everywhere though: earlier this week, BetaNews' Joe Wilcox reported he was unaffected in the area surrounding his residence in southern California.

HSUPA -- short for High Speed Uplink Packet Access, is the most current version of the 3G GSM wireless standard in use by AT&T. In real-life situations, it is said to bump uplink speeds to 500kbps to 1.2Mbps from the 384kbps that is the maximum with HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), the precursor to HSUPA.

The issues are not limited to the iPhone 4, either. Any HSUPA-compatible device will also experience slowness issues under certain conditions. The reason why some areas were unaffected is due to Alcatel-Lucent equipment only being used in certain areas.

AT&T estimates that about two percent -- roughly 1.9 million customers -- would be affected by this problem. By default, the devices are reverting back to lower 3G upload speeds and would continue to do so until the problem is fixed.

No estimated time of completion for a fix has been given, although AT&T said in a statement that the two companies were already working on a fix. Until then, users in affected areas may have to deal with upload speeds of 100kbps according to reports.

Wednesday's admission is only the latest in a string of issues for the carrier over the past few months, most of which have involved Apple's iPhone 4. The launch of the device was an embarrassment for the company, riddled with glitches.

Another issue exposed the contact information of some 114,000 iPad owners, something AT&T has promised to investigate and prosecute the guilty party.

IPhone - AT&T - High Speed Uplink Packet Access - Apple - Alcatel-Lucent

Developers get a crack at first complete Symbian^3 Product Development Kit

Publié: juillet 7, 2010, 6:06pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Today, just shy of a month after the first functionally complete version of Symbian^3 was released, the first complete Symbian^3 Product Development Kit (PDK 3.0.0) is available for download, including the full build of the platform and complete source code under the Eclipse Public License.

PDK 3.0.0 contains all of the APIs of Symbian^3, and is the first release to support a full UI ROM execution on ARMv5 platforms.

Symbian^3 "Fresh" UI

"S^3 represents a major step forward in the Symbian platform, providing a greatly improved user experience, multiple personalised homescreens, an exciting and advanced multimedia experience including HDMI support, the introduction of Next Generation Graphics, better data networking and much, much more! Symbian also commissioned a great new theme for the S^3 platform called 'Fresh' which is included for the first time in this PDK," Mark Skrebels, Release Council Chair and Senior Release Manager at Symbian said in the Symbian Blog today.

To obtain PDK 3.0.0, you must first register in the Symbian developer community here.

Symbian platform - Eclipse Public License - Betanews - Programming - Multimedia

Borders launches e-book store, expects 17 percent share by 2011

Publié: juillet 7, 2010, 5:03pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Borders said Wednesday that it had launched its own branded e-book store, offering about 1.5 million titles in a variety of formats. The move follows the successful launch of the Kobo and Aluratek e-readers, which have surpassed sales expectations.

The e-book store will be powered by Kobo, which also has created Border's iPhone and iPad apps. Versions for the BlackBerry and Android platforms were also made available Wednesday. All three platforms are free downloads from their respective application stores.

Borders is projecting a lot of confidence in its digital strategy. CEO Mike Edwards said the company is confident that it could grab about a 17 percent market share by 2011. "During the past several months, we've been carefully crafting a digital strategy," Edwards said. "We believe we are very well positioned to come out strong."

If successful, Borders' e-book store could actually have a bigger market share than its brick-and-mortar division (about 10 percent). This would also likely provide a crucial boost to a struggling company, who saw sales at its established stores and online fall some 11.4 percent in the first quarter of the year.

A vast marketing effort will accompany Borders' launch of the e-book store. Its loyalty card members would receive extra points for purchasing e-readers as well as exclusive offers on digital content. The readers themselves also are receiving prominent placement in stores, much like competitor Barnes & Noble has done with the Nook.

The store section -- being dubbed "Area-e" -- should be in a majority of the Borders' stores by September, the company said.

Borders is the third major retailer to enter the e-book business. Amazon was first, launching its store and Kindle reader in late 2007. This was followed by Barnes & Noble, who launched their Nook reader last October.

Kobo launched in June. The project had received an investment from Borders, and at the time the company had said Kobo would eventually help it step into the e-book market.

Barnes & Noble - Kobo - iPhone - BlackBerry - Nook

Motorola announces Charm, the first BlackBerry-like Android device

Publié: juillet 7, 2010, 4:58pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Motorola Charm

Google's Android mobile operating system has been released on many different types of devices, but since it is a touch-based OS, pretty much every device has been a so-called "touchphone," a device built around its screen.

But Motorola has been thinking outside of the box with Android, and has released several models that break out of the traditional touchphone form factor. Today, it has ventured even further outside of the touchphone realm and announced a new device that looks very little like any other Android device, the Charm.

Also unlike many of the recent Android announcements, Charm is not outfitted with the biggest and most powerful equipment. The touchscreen is 2.8", the camera is 3 Megapixels, and the Android operating system is version 2.1 with MotoBLUR. Like the Backflip, however, Charm is equipped with Motorola's "backtrack" navigation system, a trackpad mounted on the back of the device, which lets the user navigate Android and MotoBLUR without actually touching the screen directly.

Motorola Charm will be launched this summer exclusively in the U.S. on T-Mobile. An exact date and price have not yet been announced.

Android - Motorola - T-Mobile - BlackBerry - Motorola Charm

CounterPath significantly updates Bria softphone for Windows, Mac

Publié: juillet 7, 2010, 4:31pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Vancouver-based telecommunications software company CounterPath today announced the availability of Bria 3.1 for both Windows and Mac OS, the latest edition of the company's desktop softphone capable of voice calling, high-definition (1280x720p) video calling, and instant- or SMS-based messaging.

Today's update improves Bria's usability in enterprise settings in a number of ways. Firstly, by including support for a much broader range of infrastructure equipment from major vendors like Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, and NEC. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, support for multiple accounts has been added, and users can now select on the fly which account to use for voice, IM and HD video calling.

CounterPath Bria 3

"With Bria 3.1, we have enhanced the user experience and broadened the applicability of our flagship softphone," said Todd Carothers, vice president of product management, CounterPath. "Bria 3.1 proves that small and medium businesses, large enterprises, government agencies and other users don't have to compromise on call quality, video quality or usability when choosing to take advantage of all of the bottom-line benefits that multimedia softphones provide."

In June, CounterPath released a Bria iPhone application that can be integrated with the company's other desktop and convergence SIP solutions, and the company said it will be developing a white-label version of the software for carriers, OEMs and enterprise customers and hinted at versions of the software client for other mobile platforms.

Users who already have Bria 3.0 installed will be automatically updated when the new version of the software becomes available. It is expected to hit retail in mid-July and will be available at counterpath.com for $49.95 per license with volume pricing options.

Mac OS - IPhone - CounterPath - Betanews - Original equipment manufacturer

Mozilla releases Beta 1 of new, visually overhauled Firefox 4 browser

Publié: juillet 7, 2010, 1:07am CEST par Tim Conneally

Download Firefox 4 Beta 1 for Windows from Fileforum now.

Mozilla's popular Firefox web browser has just been released in Beta 1, which introduces a new graphical design for Windows users, support for the HD HTML5 video tag using the WebM format, a new Add-ons manager for all of your Add-ons, Plug-ins, and Themes, improved crash protection and security fixes, and an overall performance upgrade.

Firefox 4 Beta 1 is available on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, but only the Windows version has undergone a graphical change, where the tabs are placed along the top.

So performance, security and stability upgrades are all self-explanatory, but why the design change?

"Recently modern browsers have been transitioning to placing tabs on top, and that decision isn't arbitrary, it isn't about fashion. The change to placing tabs on top isn't about one browser versus another browser, it's about the evolution of the Web as a platform," Mozilla User Experience designer Alex Faaborg recently said.

Linux - Firefox - Mozilla Firefox - Web browser - Microsoft Windows

Google's Chrome OS getting orientation-aware capabilities

Publié: juillet 7, 2010, 12:30am CEST par Ed Oswald

As Google moves toward a release of its web-based Chrome OS later this year, developers are building applications with the ability to detect which way their host device is orientated.

The functionality mimics the screen-swapping action that is becoming a regular feature in today's mobile devices; where motion sensors provide added levels of interactivity. The potential uses are many: such as the obvious switching the interface from portrait to landscape mode, or in gaming where on-screen actions are controlled by the device's position.

Browsers currently do not have this capability, and given that Google's Chrome browser is the basis of the forthcoming OS, adding it to Chrome is necessary. Since it is part of WebKit, it is not out of the question that orientation awareness may end up in Apple's Safari browser as well. Mozilla has also been working on adding similar code to Firefox, and it made it into the most recent version of the browser that was released in late January of this year.

News of the new functionality should please Chrome developers, which have already been releasing applications ahead of the operating system's release. Since games appear to already be a popular submission into Google's version of the App Store (called the Chrome Web Store), this new code should provide a whole new set of possibilities.

What remains to be seen is if the web-based nature of Chrome OS could render the most intensive uses of features like orientation awareness less functional than traditional operating systems. Obviously web-based applications require a steady and fast network connection.

Since features like this would be data intensive and would require a lot of data being sent back and forth through the cloud, the potential for error is much greater. Google's biggest challenge in adding features like this very well could come down to bandwidth.

That's not to say advances in broadband will not render this point moot, nor that the industry is not heading towards a web-based future. There are quite a few analysts predicting just that.

"By 2014, mobile cloud computing will become the leading mobile application development and deployment strategy, displacing today's native and downloadable mobile applications," ABI Research senior analyst Mark Beccue said.

Google Chrome - Google - Safari - Apple - App Store

Microsoft launches beta of free website development tool WebMatrix

Publié: juillet 6, 2010, 11:47pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Click here to download Microsoft WebMatrix beta now!

Today, Microsoft has begun beta testing a free and lightweight development tool for the ASP.NET web application framework called WebMatrix.

Microsoft WebMatrix

WebMatrix includes all of the essential tools for building, installing, and running a website in Windows for free and in a package less than 50MB in size. These tools include IIS Developer Express for building and testing ASP.NET sites and applications, SQL Server Compact Edition 4 database engine (which works with .NET-based data APIs and ASP.NET Web apps,) and the ASP.NET programming framework.

Sites can then be built from existing open-source applications such as WordPress and Drupal or Joomla, from a site template, or purely from scratch. WebMatrix then installs everything you need on your machine, lets you tweak your code, and then deploy the site to your host.

Microsoft WebMatrix

While there is a learning curve to the software, it is intended to be used by developers of any skill level, and can serve as a stepladder up to the fully featured Visual Studio.

Microsoft - ASP.NET - .NET Framework - Programming - Microsoft Visual Studio

AT&T isn't capping 3G data uploads in my neighborhood

Publié: juillet 6, 2010, 9:23pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

AT&T Speed Test

There was a whole lot of buzz over the last couple days about AT&T capping uploads over its 3G network. I decided not to post on the topic, because I had a pretty good idea why AT&T subscribers were seeing slower data uploads: The Fourth of July.

Let's use Occam's Razor for just a moment here. Is it more likely that data slowed down because of some grand AT&T conspiracy or that a larger number of people accessed the network over a long holiday weekend? Network congestion is more likely reason than evil, bastard AT&T executives conspiring to throttle down everyone's upload speeds. C`mon get a life, and a little common sense.

The screenshot above speaks for itself. I downloaded the SpeedTest app to iPhone 4 and ran it -- about 30 minutes ago Pacific Time (Story timestamp is Eastern Time). I live in a neighborhood where AT&T admits service sucks. Calls drop all the fraking time, and only one room brings up any bars and the 3G icon. Still, with crappy service, I can push up data at 1.1mbits. That's a consistent rate seen in subsequent tests, and nothing like the 100kbps caps widely reported over the holiday weekend.

MacRumors has a story about the reported upload slowdown, as it should. One of its forums hummed with posts about reported 100kbps upload limits over the weekend.

I'll say it again, short of an official AT&T response: Occam's Razor, baby. Use Occam's Razor to cut through the rumor and conspiracy suppositions.

[Update: For fun and comparison, I ran the SpeedTest app on Nexus One running Android 2.2 over T-Mobile's network. Download: 3219kbps. Upload: 1094kbps.]

AT&T - IPhone - MacRumor - 3G - Joe Wilcox

Sorry, Steve Jobs, search is happening on smartphones

Publié: juillet 6, 2010, 8:20pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Today, Compete put to shame Apple CEO Steve Jobs's ridiculous April assertion that "search is not happening on phones." According to the analyst firm, search is indeed happening on mobile phones, and, as I'll explain, it's one major reason why Android has a strategic competitive advantage over iPhone.

Compete announced release of its "Smartphone Intelligence" report, which I have requested copy (After I posted, a Compete spokesperson e-mailed that "we cannot send you the report." But Compete provided additional data that I later incorporated below). Compete asserts that during first quarter, Android and iPhone users discovered two or more new local businesses via search. The keyword is local.

"With the increasing popularity of local search, retailers should ensure their sites are optimized for mobile browsers," Danielle Nohe, Compete's director of technology and entertainment, said in a statement. "Making it easy for consumers to discover businesses via their devices opens local companies up to a whole new customer demographic, and savvy businesses should make sure they're maximizing this opportunity."

It's marketing gobbledygook -- the kind of canned comment I shirk from -- but it makes the point about local search's importance on mobile devices, and search in general. Since I don't have the report, I looked elsewhere for data. According to ComScore, in the United States, 10.3 million mobile phone users searched from their devices in April -- that's a 90 percent year-over-year increase. ComScore's data includes teenagers; anyone 13 years or older.

After I posted, Compete provided some more data insight: 55 percent of smartphone owners have searched locally from their handsets; on average, 15 percent locally search at least once a week. Top local searches:

Find local addresses (44 percent)
Find local phone numbers (35 percent)
Get information on local businesses (30 percent)

The news that search is happening on phones is good for Google, which has continually updated mobile search features, particularly in 2010, with Android getting a little extra juice over iOS (at least with what rolls out to which mobile operating system first). Then there is all the "stuff" Google wraps around mobile search, particularly the local variety, such as keyword advertising. "Near me now" is a brilliant feature for improving local search. The Google search function uses GPS to offer up things close to you, such as the nearest Starbucks.

Awareness swings to Google, which is no surprise. According to Compete, Smartphone awareness is highest for Google Mobile (66 percent), then Citysearch (30 percent), Mobile Yellow Pages (29 percent), and Yelp (17 percent). There's no Apple search, so there's no Apple search awareness.

iOS Apps and Games Du Jour

But that's not to say there aren't other trends favoring iPhone. Fifty-one percent of iPhone owners have five or more games running on their devices, according to compete. By comparison, 46 percent of BlackBerry owners have no games at all (should anyone be surprised about that?). Nohe's advice to developers: "It's evident that iPhone owners have embraced mobile gaming. Developers should turn their attention to targeting other smartphone users in an effort to even out the discrepancies in mobile gaming adoption."

Mobile Apps Say, what? No. No. Developers should target a few platforms from which they can make the most money. Perhaps Nohe's advice would be good if it were a "write once, run everywhere" world. For application development, the US government sets a good example for commercial developers to follow. Among its 18 apps, two platforms are primary: Mobile Web (about a dozen apps) and iPhone (little more than a half-dozen apps). Two of the apps will run on Android and another BlackBerry but not exclusively to either. There are apps exclusive to iPhone or the Mobile Web but not to either Android or BlackBerry.

More regarding applications: Compete found that 27 percent of all smartphone owners had downloaded no apps. By comparison, 97 percent of iPhone owners have downloaded applications. ComScore found applications -- where by the numbers Apple leads -- are hot on mobile phones. In April, about 70 million US mobile phone users accessed at least one application on their device. Eighty percent of smartphone owners accessed mobile applications. However, more people accessed a browser than used applications. As I explained in April, Apple and Google are taking largely opposing approaches to the mobile Web -- applications vs the browser, and the latter favors Google.

Smartphone Social

Compete and ComScore identified the same largest trend on mobile phones, and it's an area where neither Apple nor Google has significant presence: Social networking. Compete claims that an equal number -- 33 percent -- of smartphone owners prefer to send or read tweets on their devices. Trends for smartphone owners accessing Facebook:

66 percent read news feeds
60 percent post status updates
59 percent read or reply to private messages
44 percent post photos

Nohe expressed, in a statement:

Given the increasing popularity of Facebook, Twitter and other social sites, it follows that users are eager to access these outlets on their phones. Based on our findings, I recommend marketers start thinking about new ways to maximize consumers' use of smartphones on social sites, as mobile adoption will likely only increase with time.

Mobile social networking grew by 90 percent year over year to 30 million phone users, according to ComScore. "Social networking is by far the fastest-growing mobile activity right now," said Mark Donovan, ComScore's senior vice president of mobile, in a statement. "With 20 percent of mobile users now accessing social networking sites via their phone, we expect to see both application and browser usage continuing to drive future consumption of social media."

What social networking service does Apple or Google offer? Think about it. Think longer. Well, Google has (choke, choke, gasp, gasp) Buzz. And Apple?

I can't wait to read some future Steve Jobs statement about how social networking is not happening on phones.

iPhone - Apple - BlackBerry - Steve Jobs - Google

Netflix and Relativity Media deal will bring new movies to Instant streaming faster

Publié: juillet 6, 2010, 6:35pm CEST par Tim Conneally

LG's Netflix Blu-ray player

This morning, Netflix announced that it has signed an agreement with Relativity Media that will bring new releases to Netflix Instant streaming at the same time as they are released to pay TV services like HBO, Showtime, and Starz.

The first new releases that will be covered in the deal between Relativity and Netflix will be Paramount Pictures' "The Fighter," and Universal Studios' "Skyline," Rogue Pictures' "Season of the Witch" and "Movie 43."

Relativity Media distributes titles from studios such as Universal and Sony, and controls the rights to 14 new movies scheduled for release this year. Currently, the company has distribution rights for 118 movies.

Through the deal between Netflix and Starz, a number of Relativity's pictures are already available for streaming, like Columbia Pictures' "Zombieland," which just arrived on both services last week.

"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 Media - Netflix - Ted Sarandos - HBO - Pay television

US Government gets into the mobile application business

Publié: juillet 6, 2010, 6:17pm CEST par Ed Oswald

In an effort to appease the changing information consumption habits of its citizens, the Obama Administration this past holiday weekend launched an "app store" of its own, featuring 16 apps on a variety of subjects. While some are mobile websites available for any mobile phone, others are actual apps intended for a specific platform such as BlackBerry, Android, or iPhone.

It should be noted that many of these applications are not new: most have been available on an agency or department's website for some time now. The Administration decided that building a centralized location for them would increase visibility.

Most of the apps are extensions of a particular branch or agency of the US government, such as Veteran's Affairs or NASA. However a few seem aimed at a particular initiative, such as the Body Mass Index calculator or an alternative fuel locator.

While the currently listed apps as of Tuesday were all free, the site said a small fee could be charged. The move signals an acknowledgement on the government's part that consumers are increasingly looking for information while mobile.

Eventually over 100 apps could become available. A spreadsheet on USA.gov listed 109, however some appeared to not be intended for public use and likely never would be listed. More could be added if the Administration decides to promote third-party developers using open government data in their own applications.

The "app store" was part of a bigger redesign of USA.gov that occurred just before the holiday weekend. The site, which acts as a clearinghouse for online government information, had not seen a redesign in nearly a decade.

The redesign is aimed at making information accessible. "[The previous design] was essentially just a collection of links with a bunch of pictures thrown up there," Federal CIO Vivek Kundra said. "It has been engineered, unfortunately, for the bureaucracy rather than the American people."

The new site will also make use of Microsoft's Bing search technology, somewhat unusual considering governments typically try to stay agnostic when it comes to supporting one company over another in the public's eye.

iPhone - Microsoft - BlackBerry - Android - Body Mass Index

Bluetooth 4.0 core specification released

Publié: juillet 6, 2010, 4:18pm CEST par Tim Conneally

The earliest Bluetooth 3.0-capable devices may have only begun appearing this year, but the Bluetooth Special Interest Group is already advancing the short-range wireless standard by rolling out the core specification of version 4.0 today.

Bluetooth 3.0 introduced an Enhanced Data Rate mode which allowed higher throughput for faster file transfers between devices. Using a technique called AMP, compatible Bluetooth 3.0 radios could establish device-to-device 802.11 Wi-Fi connections for transfer speeds up to 24 Mbps. The basic rate for Bluetooth file transfers is only 721.2 Kbps.

Bluetooth 4.0 adds another layer to Bluetooth functionality and introduces low energy (LE) mode, which consumes only a fraction of the power that classic Bluetooth does, enabling a lifespan for devices comparable to active RFID. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group says devices powered by single button-cell batteries can operate for more than a year without recharging.

Low energy Bluetooth operates in the 2.4GHz ISM band, and uses a frequency-hopping transciever to avoid interference and signal degradation. It is made up of 40 physical channels, spaced 2 MHz apart. Low energy networks are formed by three different types of Bluetooth devices, ones that broadcast packets one way, ones that listen for these packets, and ones that can engage in a two-way conversation.

"The finalization of Bluetooth low energy wireless technology within the Core Specification is a monumental achievement," said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director, Bluetooth SIG in a statement today. "Bluetooth wireless technology can now, with the hard work of our members and our world-class qualification program, really do it all." Interoperability testing for Bluetooth 4.0 implementations will take place at UnPlugFest 37 in Barcelona, Spain on October 4th-8th.

Bluetooth - Bluetooth Special Interest Group - Michael W. Foley - Wireless - Data Communications

LG finally begins stronger Android push, promises at least 4 more phones, tablet in 2010

Publié: juillet 6, 2010, 12:34am CEST par Tim Conneally

According to first quarter 2010 statistics from research firm Gartner, LG remains the third highest selling mobile handset brand with an 8.6% market share. But to remain competitive, the company is taking some bigger actions in the Android space.

As the second largest mobile phone maker in the Open Handset Alliance, LG has remarkably few Android-powered handsets. Six months after pledging to make Windows Mobile its primary smartphone OS, LG debuted its first Android handset, the GW620. Since then, it has only launched two other Android devices.

Samsung, which has a much greater 20.6% market share, has already released 15 Android devices, and recently unveiled a Gigaherz-class Galaxy S Android phone for each of the "big four" United States wireless carriers. Despite the company's attempts to forge its own open mobile OS with Bada, it is greatly advancing Android.

Samsung's four Galaxy S smartphones

Android's share of the Smartphone OS market has risen a staggering 8% in one year; the fastest of any of the mobile phone operating systems, according to Gartner's numbers. At the same time, Windows Mobile's share fell 3.4%.

LG's market share, coincidentally, had fallen 1.3% year over year while Samsung's rose by 1.5%.

LG promises "at least four" new Android devices in 2010

So the company issued a press release today which announced "at least four" new Android devices will be coming to the market this year, including models based on the TI OMAP 3630 chip, and an Android tablet with top-of-the-line specs by the fourth quarter.

Android - Smartphone - Open Handset Alliance - United States - LG Group

Apple still silent as more scams are found on App Store

Publié: juillet 5, 2010, 10:53pm CEST par Ed Oswald

The App Store may have an increasing scam problem thanks to shady developers, but so far Apple has yet to provide any official response on the issue. First reported on by The Next Web Sunday, several developers appear to be using methods to hack into user accounts and make more purchases of a particular developer's apps.

Developer Thuat Nguyen appears to be one of the first widespread examples of this. His apps in the books category at one point made up 40 of the top 50 applications, and users have reported in his comments that purchases of as much as $600 were made on their iTunes accounts without authorization, typically to his other apps.

Attempting to find any information on the developer is fruitless: his home page is nothing but a parked domain, and web searches on his name provide little if any further information. Apple has quickly moved to remove Mr. Nguyen's apps and they were unavailable for download when checked by Betanews on Monday.

Apple enthusiast sites have quickly jumped on the reporting by The Next Web and others, attempting to play down the situation. MacRumors called the issue "greatly exaggerated," pointing out at most that only hundreds of accounts were hacked out of over 100 million.

While that assessment of the situation may be indeed accurate, what is more troubling is that Nguyen's apps are not the only ones who may have found ways to scam unsuspecting iTunes users.

At least two other possible scam developers may be using similar practices. Charismaist has three apps available for download. One, an apparent sonic mosquito repellent has apparently scammed users out of as much as $100, even though it is marked as free.

Storm 8 is another example. A purveyor of games, the issue here is apparently the in-game point purchases. They can cost as much as $150, and one user reported up to $1,400 in charges alone due to one of their games. In this developer's defense, it doesn't appear at this time that the purchases are made without user consent, however.

Further investigation into the seedier developers on the App Store is ongoing by The Next Web and several other publications, so further issues are sure to appear. In any case, the first example of Mr. Nguyen's apps still appear to be the most troubling, since it does seem that purchases are happening without consent.

In all likelihood, this would indicate a possible flaw in Apple's App Store and/or in-app purchasing system, allowing for this activity to occur. That seems to be more likely then the accounts being hacked themselves, which would require the app to phish the iTunes password.

Apple - AppStore - Nextweb - Betanews - iTunes

5 things Microsoft should do to save Windows Phone

Publié: juillet 5, 2010, 10:11pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Friday's apocalyptic post "Windows Phone 7 is doomed" generated among comments assertions that I'm an idiot and demands that I be fired (Sorry, I'm a lowly freelancer). Nevertheless, I do read comments and seriously regard the ones written to extend the discussion (rather than just belittle the author or other commenters). Commenter rwalrond asked: "How about you write an article about how Microsoft can leverage its existing platforms to make WM7 a contender." Actually, Microsoft's trying to leverage its enterprise apps is part of the problem -- the Office and Windows hawks driving off the consumer and cloud service doves. But the spirit of rwalrond's comment is offering solutions, and that I will do here in response.

I don't want to open up a religious debate here, but the Biblical accounts of Nineveh and Sodom and Gomorrah are good metaphors for my "doom" proclamation and Microsoft's mobile future. In that context, I'll call my "Windows Phone 7 is doomed" assertion a prophecy. If Microsoft repents of its wicked ways, the company could end up like the Biblical account of Nineveh, which was spared destruction even after its doom was prophesied. The citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah didn't repent and, according to the Biblical account, they were burned with fire and brimstone. To reiterate: I don't want to open up a debate about God, the authenticity of the Bible or people's lifestyles (why these cities were targeted for destruction). I'm trying to say that Windows Phone 7 doesn't have to be doomed, if Microsoft is willing to radically change its behavior. I don't see much hope in that, particularly given how fast the mobile market is changing and how quickly upstarts Apple and Google are gaining market share and consumer and developer mindshare. So I'm sticking with "doomed," but hoping to be proved wrong.

With that introduction, there are several ways -- and I'll give five of them -- that Microsoft should apply some outside-the-Office-and-Windows-box thinking concurrent with the launch of Windows Phone 7 devices. But these things require dramatically different thinking -- well, dramatic for today's Microsoft but not as much for the scrappy dog that conquered the PC market in the 1980s and 1990s. None of these things has anything to do with phone features or developer tools. It's too late for them to matter enough, given the tilted competitive landscape.

So, here are five things Microsoft should do to save its mobile strategy, presented in order of importance:

1. Immediately launch a global mobile money/payment system. Money/payments will be the killer application for mobile devices, and that's something already being seen in emerging markets. According to analyst data and that from World Bank, about three-quarters of the planet's 4.6 billion mobile subscribers live in developing countries. Mobile money/payments is one of the hottest and most life-impacting trends underway in many emerging markets. Citing World Bank, Economist reported in September 2009: "An extra ten phones per 100 people in a typical developing country boosts GDP growth by 0.8 percentage points."

However, the greatest impact comes when people can make purchases using cell phones and even more when they can receive money on them. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's "Information Economy Report 2009" highlights just one of the regional trends:

African countries are pioneering mobile banking and electronic transaction services. In Kenya, Safari- com's M-Pesa service allows previously 'unbanked' microenterprises to transfer money (and make pay- ments) via SMS through their mobile phones. As of May 2009, M-Pesa had 6.5 million subscribers and handled around $10 million in daily transactions.

According to the same Economist article: "The incomes of Kenyan households using M-PESA have increased by 5-30 percent since they started mobile banking, according to a recent study."

Microsoft already has some of the infrastructure necessary for mobile money/payments around Windows Live IDs. Global handset leader Nokia already is there, and Apple and Google are just steps behind with iTunes and Checkout, respectively.

I combine mobile money and mobile payments, although they are more typically separated by banking institutions, government agencies and NGOs (non-government agencies). Mobile money typically refers to banking, such as the cell phone acting as a personal ATM. Mobile payments are more transactional -- buying stuff. But other than local regulations, there is no reason why the two must be separate. What's so different about an iTunes or Xbox Live account with a gift certificate credit balance from future versions where money is deposited? The same account should logistically be capable of receiving money and making payments.

Microsoft's money/payment system should be widely available for any handsets but offer specific advantages for Windows Phone users, such as integration with hosted Office applications or access to additional services offered by local Microsoft partners in each of the countries. Microsoft would make a long-term, strategic commitment to mobile money/payments but one that looks beyond mobile applications, where Apple's lead is simply enormous. Rather than win by playing by rules established by others, Microsoft should reinvent the game to its strengths. One strength: Existing emerging market programs. Another is Orlando Ayala, chairman of Microsoft Emerging Markets and one of the company's most successful, tactical executives.

2. Subsidize the cost of the first 5 million Windows Phone 7 handsets. Microsoft needs to build momentum -- and that means sales and mindshare -- as quickly as possible. As such, the company should make regaining market share the priority over profits. Microsoft can start by paying the subsidies on the first x million handsets-- I arbitrarily chose five. The approach gives manufacturers more reason to commit to Windows Phone 7, because they'll be paid by Microsoft whether or not carriers sell the devices. Microsoft should then use larger subsidies to reduce some handset's prices, even to zero dollars. The Microsoft subsidies could be branded as a launch promotion, with understanding that carriers would resume paying subsidies to manufacturers after receiving their first Windows Phone 7 handset shipments. The subsidies would also encourage more manufacturers and carriers to have Windows Phone 7 handsets for launch day.

Granted, Microsoft will take some snipes from bloggers, journalists and pundits about having to pay people for Windows Phone 7. Big fraking deal. Yesterday's news is easily forgotten. Windows Phone 7 buyers are committed for years, and the sales can drive up market share and mindshare -- and Microsoft desperately needs both.

3. Release a branded Microsoft Windows Phone 7 handset. Google had the right idea with Nexus One. Six months ago, it galled me to read all the wrong punditry about Google adopting a new way to sell cell phones -- direct, going around carriers. Nokia has done this for years, by offering its handsets direct and unlocked; Google wasn't reinventing anything. As I explained in January: "By selling a handset direct, Google takes control of Android updates for a flagship phone that also acts like a baseline design model for handset manufacturers licensing the mobile operating system." The HTC-created Nexus One is Google's reference design. Microsoft needs one too.

From that perspective, Nexus One is a huge marketing success. Critics harp on low sales numbers, failing to recognize it's not how many sold but who is buying (or getting N1 for free). The Google-branded smartphone:

Successfully established a reference design that Android manufacturers either tried to meet or exceed; handsets that came after Nexus One (and admittedly Droid) are much improved.
Helped Google reduce Android fragmentation by establishing one device with the newest OS version. Now more than half Android handsets run v2.1 or v2.2.
Became the reference design handset that Google freely gave to developers. They had the platform in hand around which to build their mobile applications.
Wooed mobile enthusiasts, who not coincidentally hugely influence other potential buyers. Many enthusiasts choose Nexus One because it's updated fastest.

Microsoft should learn from Google's success and imitate it. There is precedent. In November, Microsoft gave thousands of free Acer laptops to developers; the 11-inch portable is a reference design for developing Windows 7 applications. Microsoft should do something similar with Windows Phone 7, even selling the branded device direct.

4. Subsidize the data costs for the first million Windows Phone 7 subscribers. If you're going to give away something for free, make it meaningful. Smartphones are about data, but for many people the cost is prohibitive or the plans too limited. Microsoft should work with carriers to offer a promotional, unlimited data plan either for x number of days or handsets. In the United States, AT&T recently capped data plans. How much more appealing would a Windows Phone 7 handset be, compared to Android smartphone, BlackBerry or iPhone, with unlimited data for the same price -- or less -- than the 2GB plan?

5. Rebrand consumer Microsoft phones. Microsoft spent millions launching KIN, much of that in marketing. Last week's KIN killing shouldn't mean the end of the brand. If anything, given the amount written about KIN during the last few days, Microsoft should strongly consider reviving the brand. Normally, I would recommend against rebranding, particularly with Windows Phone 7 launching within months and the astoundingly stupid way Microsoft bungled the KIN killing announcement. But, given that Microsoft needs to take desperate measures, I must recommend keeping KIN as the brand for Windows Phone 7 consumer handsets. Microsoft should relaunch the brand now. Begin the marketing as soon as humanly possible. Build buzz and counter iPhone 4 marketing by advertising something else -- even if it's not yet ready. As a brand, KIN works. The marketing concepts are sensible, so don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, as the over-used saying expresses.

Microsoft - Windows Phone 7 - Apple - Windows Phone - Nokia

Petitioners want Skype-like Google Voice desktop client

Publié: juillet 5, 2010, 6:12pm CEST par Tim Conneally

In November 2009, Google acquired IP telephony software company Gizmo5 and all of its engineers and products. The company's robust desktop Voice over IP client for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux seemed like an excellent extension of the Google Voice platform, which at the time was a Web application and related mobile app for BlackBerry and Android.

Since that time, Google Voice has had its official U.S. launch and it is still a mobile app and Web-based management system. There is no standalone desktop application to accompany it.

Well, not one that the public has access to, anyway. Last week, TechCrunch got its hands on the unlaunched Google Voice desktop client, still branded "Gizmo5 by Google," but more or less integrated into the Google Voice account system.

Unfortunately, the future of this application is uncertain because, aside from a few shining examples (Google Earth Desktop, and Chrome) Google tends to favor Web apps and applications for mobile platforms. The desktop Google Voice client could potentially go unreleased.

Consumers excited for the Google Voice desktop software have started a petition begging Google to release it.

"Google Voice has been a landmark service that has brought a high-level of convenience to millions," the petition says. "We have asked, begged, and pleaded for a desktop VoIP application. We have heard news of said application and then sadly heard news of this application possibly being dropped for your "to-do list". This petition is brought forth to show you the overwhelming demand for such an application for OS/X, Windows, and Linux PCs."

In the three days it has been up, the petition has gotten more than 1,200 signatures with a goal of 500,000. The low initial number is likely due to the Independence Day holiday weekend over which the petition was launched. To sign the petition, go to giveusgvdesktop.com and link your Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace profile with the Petitionspot application, or simply enter your name, zipcode and email address.

Google - googlevoice - Skype - Gizmo5 - Voice over Internet Protocol

E-books take longer to read than print, study says

Publié: juillet 5, 2010, 6:01pm CEST par Ed Oswald

While e-book reader manufacturers have done everything they can to mimic the experience of paper and ink, a study says it will take the reader longer to finish an e-book than its print counterpart.

Jacob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group tested three different e-book methods -- the PC, the Kindle 2, and the iPad -- and then compared them to reading a regular book. A short story by Ernest Hemigway was read by 24 different test subjects.

Nielsen found that those reading the e-book version were as much as ten percent slower than those who read the printed version. Those who read the story on the PC took even more time, and universally rated by participants as the worst way to read.

There was some difference between the iPad and the Kindle: for unknown reasons, the iPad was faster at 6.2 percent slower versus 10.7 for the Kindle. However, Nielsen dismissed the difference as "statistically insignificant" due to high variability in the data.

An average of 17 minutes and 20 seconds was spent reading Hemingway's missive. "Asking users to read 17 minutes or more is enough to get them immersed in the story," Nielsen said.

On top of reading, users were asked to rate their experience on a scale of 1 to 7. Both the iPad and Kindle were liked about the same with ratings of 5.8 and 5.7 respectively. However, the PC lagged far behind, receiving a 3.6. Some said reading on a PC felt like being at work.

While the study may seem to suggest that e-books are not up to par with print just yet, there may be some problems with the study that could be exaggerating the read times. First off, the study is very small which may not account for all the different types of readers.

Second, it is unknown how these participants were selected, and if it was done using accepted practices to ensure studies are representative of the public at large. Finally, we do not see how age affects reading speed. It may not be too out of the question to expect youth to be able to read faster since they are much more acclimated to reading off computer screens than their older counterparts.

Regardless, it speaks well for the future of e-books despite the slower reading times. User satisfaction with reading on e-book devices -- with the exception of the PC -- was higher than printed books, Nielsen said.

E-book - Nielsen Norman Group - IPad - Amazon Kindle - Reading

Testing YouTube's automated closed captioning beta

Publié: juillet 3, 2010, 7:11am CEST par Tim Conneally

Back in March, YouTube gave users the ability to run an automated closed captioning feature which uses speech-to-text technology to convert a video's audio track into live subtitles. This feature was in development for more than two years, and was in private beta testing since November 2009.

The Auto-captioning feature combines some of the speech-to-text algorithms found in Google's Voice Search, and automatically generate video captions when requested by a viewer. The video owner can also download the auto-generated captions, correct the mistakes, and then upload the corrected version. Viewers can even choose an option to translate those captions into any one of 50 different languages.

It is an amazing step in the right direction for accessibility, but in terms of execution, the beta has a long way to go before it's useful and accurate.

When the video owner hasn't taken the time to correct the automated subtitles, the feature is more or less useless due to its highly inaccurate translations.

In my time playing with the feature, I noticed that proper nouns present some of the biggest problems to the algorithm. So tonight, just on a whim, I thought I'd test the feature's accuracy for proper nouns. Since I work at a technology-focused publication, I find that the majority of the words that I use in articles are the names of companies and products, so recognition of these is integral.

I rifled off 41 random names, and only 14 were transcribed correctly, while 27 were transcribed incorrectly. Have a look:

It can do a lot of good for hearing impaired YouTube users, but only right now if video owners make a concerted effort to proofread and update their subtitles. If you're a frequent uploader of content, this feature will prove very useful with conscientious tweaking.

YouTube - Closed Captions - Google - Video - Betanews

Now live on DirecTV: TV's first set of 3D-only HDTV channels

Publié: juillet 2, 2010, 9:13pm CEST par Jacqueline Emigh

By Jacqueline Emigh, Betanews

With hordes of folks flocking to movie theaters for Toy Story 3 and other 3D films, DirecTV and its content partner Panasonic have decided that the time is right to bring the TV industry's first suite of dedicated 3D TV channels into living rooms, for home viewing on 3D-enabled HDTVs from all manufacturers.

At a press event in New York City on Thursday, the two companies threw open the switch on a trio of new DirecTV channels, which offer movies, documentaries, sports and other 3D content around the clock, unspoiled by conventional 2D TV fare. DirecTV had already launched ESPN on channel 106 of its satellite-based TV service on June 11.

Beyond the success of 3D movies in theaters, penetration rates of 3D HDTVs into US homes also suggest that the TV market is ready for 3D-only TV channels, said Eisuke Tsuyusaki, chief technology officer at Panasonic, in an interview at the event.

Analyst estimates of the numbers of 3D HDTVs in the US by the end of this year range from one to four million, but DirectTV and Panasonic are predicting total indusry penetration of about two million.

In addition to making it easier for 3D customers to find 3D content, he suggested, the new channels carry the less obvious advantage of preventing confusion among owners of 2D HDTVs, who'll see blurred rather than 3D images if they try to view 3D.

Starting this week on DirecTV, Channel 103 is running pre-existing 3D programs such as Encounter in the Third Dimension and Wild Safari: A South African Adventure, along with new and exclusive original 3D content co-developed by DirecTV and Panasonic, said Steven Roberts, DirecTV's senior VP of new media and development, during another interview.

With additional original DirecTV content now on the way, the opening slate includes Guitar Center Sessions with Peter Gabriel and Jane's Addiction. Also on 103, a channel now known as "n3D powered by Panasonic," DirecTV will offer special events like this weekend's running of the NASCAR Coke Zero 400 road race plus an exclusive nationwide broadcast of Fox Sports' 2010 MLB All-Star Game on July 13.

On Channel 104, DirecTV is now running iMax movies such as Deep Sea 3D on a pre-scheduled, video-on-demand (VoD) basis. Channel 105, on the other hand, is offering downloadable content such as ESPN's coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer matches. (Just in case you don't have a 3D HDTV in your living room yet, Cinedigm separately announced plans this week to broadcast the main World Cup matches in 30 movie theaters across the US and Canada.)

For the foreseeable future, though, DirecTV has no plans to try to convert 2D content for use on its 3D channels, Roberts said, explaining that the conversion process can be very time consuming, with results that can be inconsistent in terms of quality.

Why did Panasonic pitch in on the rollout of DirecTV's 3D channels? In addition to helping DirecTV develop the original 3D content, Panasonic makes 3D TV production equipment, Tsuyuzaki acknowledged. "We also want to help educate consumers about what's needed -- and what's not -- for viewing 3D content," he added.

Specifically, DirecTV's 3D fare is viewable on any 3D HDTV that uses stereoscopic glasses, the same type of glasses needed for watching 3D content in theaters, Tsuyuzaki said. "3D TVs that don't require stereoscopic glasses still exist only really in laboratory settings right now," he contended.

You can view the 3D content regardless of whether your 3D TV uses LCD, OLED or plasma technology, or whether the set is from Panasonic or some other manufacturer.

The software upgrade needed for viewing the 3D channels has already been distributed to DirecTV set top boxes in consumers' homes, meaning that you won't need to get a new set top box if you're already a DirecTV subscriber.

DirecTV's new 3DTV channels are available at no extra charge to any DirecTV subscriber who also pays for DirecTV's HD package, said DirecTV's Roberts. However, DirecTV plans to charge about one dollar more for 3D on demand offerings than for 2D VoD content. Consumers also look likely to be charged additional premiums for some special events, although that pricing wasn't initially announced.

DirecTV - Television - ESPN - New York City - 2010 FIFA World Cup

Windows Phone 7 is doomed

Publié: juillet 2, 2010, 8:13pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

In February, I asserted that Windows Phone 7 "is a lost cause." Matters are worse following this week's KIN killing and late May's Entertainment and Devices division reorganization. Microsoft mobile development has run aground, and at the wrong time. The company is poised to miss two crucial platform transitions that will doom its mobile strategy and assure that the Office-Windows-Windows Server applications stack will join the mainframe in gradual obsolescence.

There's irony here: Microsoft succeeded during the 1990s by driving platform changes that doomed competitors. Companies like Lotus and WordPerfect had market-leading products that fell away after they missed operating system changes that Microsoft lept on (and through its market dominating position helped push forward). Now it is Microsoft that will miss crucial platform changes: Smartphones replacing dumb phones and the mobile Web (including services and resident applications) diminishing the PC's computing and informational relevance.

Microsoft's problem is time. Short of bribing developers and customers to use Windows Phone 7, Microsoft cannot correct its mobile platform mistakes fast enough. Apple and Google will lock in customers the way Microsoft and its partners did with DOS/Windows PCs during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.

The Ghost of Windows Vista

All signs point to fundamental leadership problems within Microsoft, which culture seems incapable of separating from legacy platforms Office and Windows. Late on June 30, one of my journalist buddies IMed and asked: "Joe, what the heck is MSFT thinking? With this KIN thing?" I responded: "The enterprise hawks have killed the consumer and cloud service doves. It's all about keeping Office and Windows revenue streams and extending them. These guys -- and the analysts consulting them -- are lost."

Yesterday morning, I read a previous-day post at Engadget that confirmed my suspicions. In post "What killed the Kin?" Joshua Topolsky writes:

According to our source, the birth of these devices began with a decision at Microsoft to create a platform agnostic, cloud-centric featurephone. A featurephone that could be had at a relatively low cost, and sold to a burgeoning market of teens and young adults who had little need for a BlackBerry-level device (or pricing)...It seems that after doing some initial work on these phones based around Danger's proprietary Sidekick OS, Andy Lees -- the SVP of Microsoft's mobile division -- instructed everyone to go back to the drawing board and rebuild the OS based on Windows CE. It appears the company didn't want a project that wasn't directly connected to its Windows kernel. This move allegedly set the release of the devices back 18 months, during which time Redmond's carrier partner became increasingly frustrated with the delays.

The scenario is eerily similar to Windows Vista's first reboot, in early 2004, about six months after Microsoft touted glorious new features for the operating system then codename Windows Longhorn. Microsoft later dumped most of Longhorn's best and most highly touted features, as product managers struggled to aright badly listing software development. Other reboots followed, leading up to Microsoft's horrific Spring 2006 announcement: The operating system would not be ready to ship on holiday PCs. How the hell do you miss Christmas!

The events leading up to KIN's killing are like those plaguing Windows Vista's development, and they raise serious -- I do mean serious -- concerns that Microsoft has produced in Windows Phone 7 another lame-duck operating system. Shall we call it Windows Vista 2? I'm not too enthralled by what little chatter I've heard from developers about Windows Phone 7, and it feels like Vista talk. By measures of mismanagement -- Windows Mobile falling from a leading smartphone OS position five years ago to No. 5 in Q1 2010, according to Gartner -- Windows Phone 7 is Vista redux.

Microsoft can't move Fast Enough

What Microsoft doesn't have is time to fix the problems. Under Windows & Windows Live president Steven Sinfosky's direct and Ballmer's indirect leadership, Microsoft turned around flailing Windows development. Windows 7 is everything Vista should have been and wasn't. But Microsoft could take three years because of monopoly. The company had locked in customers, the majority of them businesses, years ago. They would go nowhere (which the majority did) before moving to something else (incurring hefty switching costs along the way). There is no Microsoft monopoly in mobile. Microsoft doesn't have three years to realign management, refocus software development and produce the necessary single OS for all devices -- PCs, PDAs, smartphones and tablets.

CEO Steve Ballmer should have taken my advice and bought Palm. Instead, in another indication Microsoft bungled mobile, HP acquired Palm; now a major OS partner is a competitor in mobile. Microsoft could have sold Palm devices while getting its Windows Phone together or simply gone WebOS (a tough sell, I know, given the corporate culture).

DaveN wrote in comments to last night's post "What does it mean that KIN, Sidekick and Symbian-Guru went R.I.P. within about 24 hours?":

One thing about the phone market is that because people replace phones so often, it's always possible for a new player to enter the market, or an existing but poorly performing one to come back to life. No matter how far a company like Microsoft or Nokia gets beaten into the earth, if their next product is great, it will succeed.

I responded:

Once people invest in accessories or buy lots of mobile apps, switching will be more difficult, like during the early DOS/Windows PC and Macintosh wars. People may switch handsets often but the time is coming when they won't so easily swap mobile operating systems. Microsoft will miss the crucial lock-in period for smartphones, as they rapidly replace so-called dumb phones.

In a follow-up comment, DaveN agreed. Once people lock into a platform, they don't easily switch. The greater their financial commitment, the less likely they are to switch. Windows is classic example. Even for products where something as good or better comes along, switching is slow. Internet Explorer is good example. Even after losing about one-third of it usage share since 2005, IE still is the market leader by huge margins.

Smartphone adoption is accelerating, and the leaders are pulling fast ahead of Microsoft. Earlier this week, Apple announced that it had sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s during the launch weekend. In May, Google revealed 100,000 Android activations a day. This week, the company upped the number to 160,000. Activations equate to actual sales, not the unit shipments Apple calls sales. That puts Android sales at 4.8 million units a month, or 14.4 million a quarter, up from a 9-million sales rate based on the earlier activations figure. Android sales rate per quarter is just a few hundred thousand units less than Windows Mobile license shipments for all 2009; Android would be greater per quarter against Windows Mobile's year when measuring sales against sales.

Mobile Applications are Enough

Microsoft's big problem is what Apple and Google have got plenty of: Mobile applications. Apple's application store exceeds 225,000, and the company has paid developers more than $1 billion. The Android Marketplace is now adding an average 10,000 new applications a month (Caveat: Google recently purged presumed malicious apps, which reduced the total from more than 50,000 applications).

Last week Altimeter partner Michael Gartenberg posted "App Stores are not enough." He writes:

There's a battle going on for mobile platform supremacy, and right now there are simply too many platforms to succeed long term. And the old rules simply don't apply any more, as the criteria for mobile platform success in mobile reaches beyond simply having a well-stocked app store. It will take much more than an app store to drive success -- the key factor between success and irrelevance will increasingly be the cohesive application story each platform provider can tell. Look for the platforms with the out of-the-box and core experiences that also allow developers to best leverage and monetize their apps to make the cut long term. The wise vendors will figure this out sooner, while the others will begin a long slide into irrelevance

I disagree with his first assertions about there being "too many platforms to succeed long term." It's absolutely clear from the last 12 months of handset sales that the mobile market is consolidating around three mobile platforms: Android, BlackBerry OS and iOS. Nokia may be the global handset leader, but it's poised to get caught in the same smartphone transition that will pummel Windows Phone 7. Nokia's smartphones aren't good enough, and future models will move from Symbian to Meego. Timing is terrible.

The math for mobile platform success isn't that much different than PCs:

The products must deliver satisfying consumer (or business) user experiences
There must be plenty of applications for consumers (or businesses) to choose
Developers of these applications and other partners must make lots of money

There are a few fundamental differences that matter:

Connected consumer electronics will drive the next wave of computing
Smartphones and fuller-featured dumb phones are more personal than PCs
Buyers care more about benefits than any platform provider's "cohesive application story"

Applications hugely matter for smartphones -- much, much more than PCs -- because the devices are so much more personal and socially used (after all, phones are about communications). It's clear that Apple and Google are rapidly approaching the tipping point where buyers will make handset buying decisions based on the applications as much as hardware features or design, just like the PC era.

That's the transition Microsoft will miss, again, short of paying customers or developers to adopt Windows Phone. Once customers lock into two or possibly three dominant mobile platforms, Microsoft will be locked out. Then the good old boys of Redmond can sit back in the porch swing, sip their wine coolers and dream of the days when Office and Windows ruled the world.

Microsoft - Google - Windows Phone 7 - Nokia - Steve Ballmer

New Internet Sales Tax bill (The Main Street Fairness Act) faces opposition

Publié: juillet 2, 2010, 7:52pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Yesterday, Representative William Delahunt (D-MA) introduced the "Main Street Fairness Act" in Congress that would allow states to collect sales tax for online purchases. The bill, H.R 5660 is described as an attempt to "promote simplification and fairness in the administration and collection of sales and use taxes, and for other purposes."

The bill was praised by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) yesterday as an equalizer that creates a level playing field for all sellers, regardless of their status as a brick-and-mortar retailer or as a purely online seller.

"Congressman Delahunt's willingness to work with everyone involved in the sales tax simplification effort is to be commended," said Iowa Representative Christopher Rants, co-chair of the NCSL Task Force on State & Local Taxation of Communications and Electronic Commerce. "With the adoption of the Delahunt legislation, at a time when states are facing historic budget gaps, Congress can provide fiscal relief, $23 billion, for the states without a single penny of cost to the federal government."

Online retailer eBay today, however, aired its opposition to the legislation.

"Year after year supporters of increased Internet sales taxes recommend legislation that would impose significant new costs on hundreds of thousands of online small businesses and ecommerce entrepreneurs, which is sure to harm the economy and kill small business jobs," a statement from the online auction company said today. "At a time when unemployment rates are high and small businesses across the country are closing shop, we are confident that Congress will protect small internet retailers and the consumers they serve from another Internet tax scheme."

To date, 24 states have enacted similar legislation that requires collection of sales tax records from all remote sellers not qualifying for the small business exception. Some of these are being challenged on the state level as well.

This week, for example, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) filed a federal lawsuit (.PDF here) against the state of Colorado for its Internet Sales Tax law (HB 1193), because it requires out of state retailers to turn over the purchasing history of Colorado customers to the state's Department of Revenue.

"The new law and the regulations implementing it are an unconstitutional and blatant violation of Colorado consumers' privacy," Jerry Cerasale, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the DMA said this week. "The law may have been passed in the hope of balancing the state budget through increased use tax reporting by Colorado residents, but it has serious adverse consequences for consumers and businesses."

Direct Marketing Association - Online shopping - Sales tax - Electronic commerce - National Conference of State Legislatures

Dell: We did not knowingly ship faulty motherboards

Publié: juillet 2, 2010, 5:57pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Dell on Thursday attempted to minimize the damage done by the release of documents related to a 2007 court case involving faulty PCs, saying it did not knowingly ship faulty motherboards to its customers.

The continuing fallout may be enough to force CEO Michael Dell to go public in defense of his company. The statement, published to the Direct2Dell blog by chief blogger Lionel Menchaca, seems to contradict what appears to be in internal Dell documents unsealed by the court. They included internal e-mails, studies done by the company themselves, and even instructions from superiors to play dumb when customers called.

Most shocking is the expected failure rate of the OptiPlex desktops that are at the heart of this dispute: 97 percent within three years.

Several Betanews readers themselves reported in our initial coverage that they had personally experienced problems with the OptiPlex line.

"This is an issue we addressed some time ago," Menchaca wrote, adding that no current line is affected by the issues. "This was an industry wide problem ... this is not a safety issue."

Menchaca said the company used the faulty capacitors from Nichicon from 2003 to 2005, but suspended use following the discovery that they were causing motherboards to fail. He said Dell worked with concerned customers on a case-by-case basis.

Furthermore, AIT was using the OptiPlex systems as servers, a use they were not designed for, Menchaca argued. He added that the company itself admitted that Dell had provided them with warranty work up until the point AIT refused to continue paying for the faulty systems.

Commenters on the post seemed nonplussed by Menchaca's response. Some pointed out that the most troubling parts of the documents released were based on the company's own data.

"You need to assure your customers that they can trust the company they are doing business with," one wrote.

A request for comment from AIT was outstanding as of press time.

Dell - Business - Dell OptiPlex - OptiPlex - Personal computer

Facebook begins pushing updates to photos application, tagging first

Publié: juillet 2, 2010, 5:32pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Facebook realizes that its photo application is sometimes cumbersome to use, and promised late Thursday that it is working to make things better.

The impetus behind making one of the most commonly-used features of Facebook better seems to be Facebook's acquisition of photo sharing site Divvyshot in April. In fact, the social networking site turned to Divvyshot co-founder Sam Odio -- now a product manager at Facebook -- to introduce the first enhancement: facial recognition.

"Within the photos product most people spend their time uploading, browsing and tagging photos," Odio said in a post on Facebook's official blog. "For tagging, we began testing [Thursday] a faster and easier way for you to tag your own photos."

Some users now have the option to have faces within their pictures automatically detected after upload, meaning the user will only need to enter the name of the tagged face to complete the process.

Technology like this has already been in use in cameras for years, aiding in focusing and ensuring better pictures. Apple uses something like this in the latest versions of iPhoto, automatically detecting people's faces in photos for easy organization. It certainly seems though that this would be a first for use on a social networking site, however.

It looks like Facebook is moving to the point where not only the face would be automatically detected, but the identity as well much like iPhoto -- making the process of tagging friends in photographs completely automated. Of course this could be problematic, as some may not wish to have certain photos of them tagged for whatever reason -- be it work or personal.

Either way, Odio promises more enhancements are coming in the areas of uploading, browsing and tagging, all of which are intended to make the photo application more friendly. "We know Facebook Photos can improve. You've told us so, and we hear you," he wrote.

Facebook - Divvyshot - Facebook Photos - Sam Odio - Photo sharing

Apple: iPhones all the way back to the 3G have been incorrectly displaying signal strength

Publié: juillet 2, 2010, 5:13pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Apple has been in the habit of issuing very short press releases that simply and clearly address concerns of the public without much in the way of formalities. Today, in an unusually long and formal message, Apple says it has found the cause of the iPhone 4's poor reception when it is held in a "death grip."

According to the company, it's not a reception issue at all, but a problem with the way iPhones all the way back to the iPhone 3G have calculated signal strength.

In short, they've been exaggerating how many bars you have.

"We were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong," a note from the company said today. "Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. 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 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place."

"To fix this, we are adopting AT&T's recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone's bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see," Apple said.

So in the next few weeks, the updated formula will be rolled out in a software update to the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4.

iPhone - Apple - AT&T - Signal strength - Smartphone

What does it mean that KIN, Sidekick and Symbian-Guru went R.I.P. within about 24 hours?

Publié: juillet 2, 2010, 5:23am CEST par Joe Wilcox

The last 24 hours has brought remarkable upset to the mobile marketplace, just one week after Apple and its partners started selling iPhone 4. Will this tsunami never end?

Late yesterday, the blogosphere, twittersphere and news media cosmos burst with reports that Microsoft had killed KIN just six weeks after the consumer smartphone went on sale. Today, T-Mobile revealed that Sidekick sales stop tomorrow, which isn't exactly shocking considering KIN's demise. In early 2008, Microsoft bought Danger, which makes the software used by Sidekick.

Something else happened today, and it's much more foreshadowing than the other two events. Ricky Cadden posted: "Symbian-Guru.com is Over." One of Nokia's most vocal enthusiasts is switching to Android. He expects to receive a Nexus One tomorrow. Companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Nokia live and die by their enthusiasts, who are the best evangelists. Enthusiast blogs can do even more, and nobody -- absolutely nobody shuts down a successful blog with audience and advertising.

Cadden's decision is simply stunning, which can be said of his timing. Nokia will soon launch its hottest flagship smartphone to date -- the N8. But previous bad experiences give Cadden reason not to wait. He writes:

If you recall, when the Nokia N97 was announced, we all drooled over it endlessly. We marveled at its features, its monstrous internal storage, sliding hinge assembly, 1500mAh battery, and more. We waited a disturbing 6 months for it to actually be available -- only to actually get it. The launch firmware on the Nokia N97 was so bad, I sincerely hope that whoever gave it the A-OK to be released has been fired from Nokia. It took them another 6 months just to release a firmware that wasn't rubbish, and now, the 'flagship' languishes behind other devices, frustrating owners like myself more and more each day...After this experience with the Nokia N97, there's simply no way I trust them to not screw up with the N8 -- not enough for me to fork over $500 of my own money, at least. Sure, the N8 looks good on paper and in the first reviews -- but then again, so did the N97, as I recall.

I feel his pain. I looked eagerly for the Nokia N97, too, and bought one in summer 2009. The camera took great photos, and the N97 delivered some other stellar digital media experiences, but the UI lumbered along, hampered in part by the resistive touchscreen. I sold mine within months.

An Enthusiast No More

Cadden launched Symbian Guru in 2006, and he has used Nokia handsets for more than a decade. No more. "I can't continue to support a manufacturer who puts out such craptastic 'flagships' as the N97, and who expects me to use services that even most of Nokia's own employees don't use," he writes.

Like Cadden, I have long been a Nokia fan, too. But I also recently gave up on the manufacturer's phones. The future is either Android or iOS devices -- or both. I have an iPhone 4 and Nexus One. I'll choose one of the two as my everyday smartphone sometime during the next couple weeks. I'm leaning strongly towards the iPhone 4 because it offers what so long appealed to me about Nokia handsets: Photo and video capabilities. Apple offers just about the right combination I need as a journalist.

Cadden also strongly criticizes Symbian -- a scary prospect given the blog's name. "Developers of popular online services are completely ignoring Symbian, putting it further and further behind the other platforms," he writes. "To date, there is still not an official client for Dropbox, Pandora, Last.FM (don't get me wrong, Mobbler is one of the reasons I've stuck with Symbian, but it's still not official), Foursquare, Twitter, and a host of others." I relate. I gave up the Nokia N900 because of missing apps. No Shazam, No N900. He continues:

To be truthful, I'm also exhausted with trying to be a Nokia/Symbian fan in the U.S. There is absolutely zero marketing effort from either company in this market, and it's not for lack of opportunities...While European carriers stumble over themselves to carry the latest Nokia devices, American carriers tend to pick up the lame-duck and low-end versions of Nokia's phones...Most of my friends and family now carry Android-powered devices. My dad traded in his Nokia 6126 for a Motorola Backflip, and my mom, who previously used my N95-3 and 5800 XpressMusic, did as well. My little brother just picked up an HTC Hero, and my wife, who has carried the N81 8GB, N96, and E71, is now eyeing the HTC EVO 4G.

So Cadden really is the last holdout, or nearly so, of a family wooed away to Android. But he is not alone. Dotsisx is going with him. I've been reading her mobile reviews for years. Dotsisx (Rita El Khoury) has been quite the Nokia/Symbian enthusiast. She writes:

I have been a fan and a power user from the moment I bought my Nokia 3250 XpressMusic 4 years ago. Since then, I've owned and trialed more Symbian/Nokia devices than I care to remember, but for posterity's sake here's the list: C5, E52, E55, E61i, E66, E71, E72, E75, E90, N81 8GB, N82, N85, N86 8MP, N93i, N95, N95 8GB, N96, N97, N97 Mini, X6, 5530 XM, 5730 XM, 5800 XM, 6210 Navigator, 6700 Slide, 6710 Navigator, 6720 Classic, and Sony Ericsson Satio. Woosh!

I've evangelized Symbian and smartphones when people didn't know what those weird words meant, I've shown friends around me how to use every single feature in their phone and I've convinced many colleagues in the Pharmacy and Medical field that they don't need a PDA or a Windows Mobile to access relevant medical information, they can do it right from their Nokia with several applications especially MobiReader and its collection of medical eBooks.

Dotsisx recalls "when the iPhone and Android were first launched, I remember how they were a joke for many Symbian users. But look at them now!" She adds: "I'll always be passionate about mobile and tech. It's not as much as I'm quitting Symbian, it's more like I'm quitting being a Symbian advocate, and exclusively a Symbian fan."

Nokia claims that 1 billion people use its handsets. But for how long when enthusiast evangelists abandon its phones? It's not coincidental that KIN, Sidekick and Symbian-Guru all did the big R.I.P. within about 24 hours and a week after iPhone 4 launched or within days of Google revealing daily Android activations of 160,000. I didn't even consider keepers of the old vanguard -- BlackBerry, Nokia N Series or Windows Mobile -- for my next smartphone. What about you?

Nokia N97 - Apple - iPhone - Google - Symbian-Guru

No 3D TV? Watch the final World Cup matches in 3D movie theaters

Publié: juillet 2, 2010, 4:12am CEST par Tim Conneally

Though Hollywood studios and consumer electronics manufacturers are pushing 3D home entertainment as the next big thing, opportunities to catch live events on 3D TVs are still very rare for people who haven't already taken the plunge and bought a new 3D-capable TV.

And even for those people, it requires a DirecTV, Comcast Xfinity, or AT&T U-Verse subscription with supportive 3D programming, and there have still only been a handful of events broadcast in 3D.

But the World Cup is a serious affair for many, and it presents an opportunity to open eyes to the possibilities of live TV in three dimensions. So in 30 locations across the U.S. and Canada, soccer fans eager to catch the main World Cup matches in 3D will be able to see them in movie theaters on 50-foot high screens.

In 15 U.S. cities on July 6th, 7th, 10th, and 11th, FIFA and NCM Fathom events will be telecasting the final four World Cup 2010 games. These events are slightly stacked in favor of the West coast, but participating cities are spread across the country. They will take place in the following locations:

Regal - Long Beach 26 with IMAX - Long Beach, CA Cinemark - Bel Mar 16 - Lakewood, CO Cinemark - Cinemark Paradise 24 - Fort Lauderdale, FL AMC - Sunset Place 24 with IMAX - Miami, FL AMC - River East 21 - Chicago, IL Cinemark - Century 16 Deer Park - Deer Park, IL Regal - Lincolnshire 20 plus IMAX - Lincolnshire, IL AMC - Olathe Studio 30 with IMAX - Olathe, KS AMC - Garden State 16 with IMAX - Paramus, NJ Cinemark - Cinemark 24 (The Legacy) - Plano, TX AMC - Huebner Oaks 24 - San Antonio, TX Cinemark - Cinemark 18 Webster - Webster, TX Cinemark - Century Theatres Federal Way 16 - Federal Way, WA AMC - Southcenter 16 with IMAX - Seattle, WA Regal - Thornton Place with IMAX - Seattle, WA

Additionally, 15 Cinedigm certified digital theaters will be showing the final championship world cup match in different regions of the U.S. and Canada, fleshing out the map of available outlets a little more.

The participating theaters in Cinedigm's 3D World Cup program are:

Surprise Pointe 14- Surprise, AZ Rave Los Angeles 18- Los Angeles, CA Chula Vista 10- Chula Vista, CA Village Walk 15- Pico Rivera, CA Galaxy 10-Tulare- Tulare, CA Royal Palm 20- Bradenton, FL Orchard Cinema 10- Toms River, NJ Telshor 12-Las Cruces, NM Town Square 18- Las Vegas, NV Pavilion Digital Showcase Theatre-Brooklyn, NY Chelsea- New York, NY Empress Walk 10 Cinemas- North York, ON Highland 10- Austin, TX Carmike 20- Edinburg, TX Carmike 14- Tyler, TX Fairfax Corner 14- Fairfax, VA

The final match takes place on July 11th at 2:30pm EDT, and ticket availability for these events varies by location.

Canada - Los Angeles - United States - World Cup - Movie theater

Simple tutorial creation app iorad opens in beta, automatically turns walkthroughs into annotated slides

Publié: juillet 2, 2010, 12:24am CEST par Tim Conneally

When a new piece of software is released, companies frequently include a video of someone walking through the features of the software, explaining how it works. Unfortunately, videos like this lack the basic interaction of a step-by-step tutorial.

Iorad tutorial creation app

Now, a Web app called iorad has opened in beta, which lets developers create interactive instructions for their software completely within the browser.

When you navigate to www.iorad.com, a Java applet will open in the browser. From there, you can do a step by step walkthrough of your application, and Iorad captures a series of slides of all your actions within your application's window. Your mouse path is then automatically drawn on each slide, and each of your clicks is automatically highlighted. You can then annotate the slideshow with captions, images, or interactive buttons, rollovers or clickboxes.

The finished tutorial can then be published to the Web, or exported as a Word, Powerpoint, or PDF file.

This is still a very early beta product right now, so there are still tons of kinks to be worked out and lots of feedback that could be submitted. For example, I tried hooking up to the Web app in Chrome, Safari, and IE8, and it starts up well and all the tools are available except the all-important "capture" feature, which is arguably the most compelling aspect of the app. UPDATE After a few tests, this functionality was opened, and as I expected, it is absolutely the selling point of the whole app. I opened Songbird and clicked through some songs and then installed a new plugin, and iorad snapped a screenshot every time I clicked on an item, and saved it as a slide with the action highlighted and explained. A five minute session with the app yielded a dozen complete slides.

The iorad beta is open to anyone, and signups only require a valid email address; become a tester at www.iorad.com.

Safari - Google Chrome - Microsoft PowerPoint - Video - Clients

Microsoft debuts bipolar battery technology, Duracell endorses

Publié: juillet 1, 2010, 10:05pm CEST par Ed Oswald

The age old problem of putting batteries into electronics the wrong way is about to end if Microsoft has its way. The Redmond company on Thursday introduced InstaLoad, a technology aimed at making electronics work whichever way the battery is inserted.

Battery-maker Duracell has already endorsed the system, although the technology would not affect the way a battery is made -- more how the electronics are manufactured. It would work with CR123, AA, AAA, C, and D batteries, the company says.

While the technology may sound at first like something not too useful, the benefits are in less-than-ideal situations where battery changes aren't easy -- say in dark or inclement conditions, or where speed is necessary. One could say Microsoft's latest invention is one out of convenience more than anything.

"Battery installation is typically not a high driver of product tech support calls by itself, but it can be a factor for a bad customer experience and unspoken frustration with a product - leading to reduced customer loyalty," the company argues in promotional documents for the technology.

Microsoft will make InstaLoad available for licensing immediately, which would be royalty-free when used in accessibility devices such as those used for persons with disabilities. It says the technology is aimed at those devices which may require frequent battery changes.

As part of the licensing agreement, Microsoft is asking manufacturers to place the InstaLoad logo on devices which are compatible. It would also make available demonstration kits at no charge to developers interested in developing devices with the technology built-in.

InstaLoad's technologies would become part of Redmond's intellectual property licensing program, an offering it set up in 2005 to allow easier access to its vast patent portfolio for inventors and entrepreneurs.

Microsoft - Technology - Battery - Duracell - List of battery sizes

Disney acquires popular iOS game maker Tapulous

Publié: juillet 1, 2010, 10:01pm CEST par Tim Conneally

TechCrunch is reporting this afternoon that iPhone OS game developer Tapulous has been acquired by Disney, and the team of developers and executives at the startup will join the staff at Disney Interactive Studios.

Tapulous has released a slew of rhythm games in the vein of Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, which began in 2008 with "Tap Tap Revenge." That title went on to be the most downloaded game in the app store that year, and was later ranked "game of the year" for the iPhone/iPod platform. Since that time, the company has released some 14 different versions of the game for iOS ranging in price from $0-$3.99.

Disney Interactive's offerings in the iTunes app store are mostly limited to those focused on Disney's trademarked characters, such as Phineas and Ferb, Mickey Mouse, and The Muppets. However, there are a few noteworthy titles from the company that have been released this year that have nothing to do with Disney movie licenses, such as puzzle game Breakspin, and racing game Split/Second (which is based on the Xbox 360/PS3 title from Disney Interactive.)

Since the Tap Tap Revenge games are based on playing along to music, Disney could use the series as an outlet for Disney Music Group artists such as the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, High School Musical, and many more.

Tap Revenge - Disney Interactive Studios - Tapulous - Mickey Mouse - App Store

Yahoo drops new Android apps for Mail and Messenger

Publié: juillet 1, 2010, 9:20am CEST par Tim Conneally

Hooking up Android's email client to a Yahoo! account was not typically a simple affair. With Gmail and Windows Live Hotmail, you could just type in your email address and password, and the Android client would set it up for you. Yahoo mailboxes could be hooked up, but only through manual setup, and casual users unfamiliar with incoming and outgoing server settings often hit a brick wall.

As the resident "Android guy" of my peers, I've had to set up at least half a dozen different devices to connect to Yahoo mailboxes.

Today, Yahoo has made it a whole lot easier to check Yahoo user email with the release of a standalone app for Android. Yahoo Mail for Android

With the app, users can receive push notification of new emails; send emails to Yahoo contacts or in-phone address book contacts; use rich text formatting in messages; search messages by sender, recipient, subject or keyword; view and download attachments; and upload photos as attachments directly from the device's camera or from the photo gallery;

Yahoo Mail for Android command menu

Additionally, Yahoo has released a new Yahoo Messenger app which can be launched directly from the Mail app. Once inside it, users can message friends, check friends' status updates and availability or update their own; Send instant messages via SMS text message; receive push notifications of messages; and send photos directly from the camera or gallery.

Yahoo for Android command menu

The new Yahoo apps for Android, and the Yahoo search widget can all be downloaded in the Android Market immediately.

Yahoo Messenger - Android - Windows Live Hotmail - Android Market - Mail

Amazon unveils higher contrast, lower cost Kindle DX

Publié: juillet 1, 2010, 8:37am CEST par Tim Conneally

New improved Kindle DX Keeping the Kindle momentum high, Amazon has announced the next generation of Kindle DX is available for pre-order today, and will be shipping on July 7th.

The new Kindle DX has the same 9.7" screen size, and the same free 3G wireless, but features a new graphite chassis and a higher contrast e-ink screen with a purported 50% improvement in contrast. Furthermore, all of this is available at a price about 25% less than the first generation DX. The new Kindle DX costs $379, while the prior model cost $489.

In the last five days, Amazon has made four significant Kindle-related announcements. Yesterday, it was the new double royalty option for publishers using the Kindle Digital Text Platform; before that it was the launch of Kindle for Android, and just before that it was the inclusion of embedded video and audio in Kindle for iOS. The online retailer is indeed keeping the e-book platform exciting.

The new, higher contrast Kindle DX can be Pre-ordered on Amazon's homepage.

E Ink Corporation, developer and marketer of the E-paper imaging technology used in the Kindle will make this new higher contrast display, called "Pearl," available in the second quarter of 2010.

"As the electronic reading market continues to expand, there are more opportunities for expansion not only in the eBook space, but also for eNewspapers, eMagazines and eTextbooks," Felix Ho, Chairman of E Ink said in a statement this morning.

Amazon Kindle - E-book - Amazon - Kindle DX - Android

Mozilla submits Firefox iPhone app, but it's not exactly a browser

Publié: juillet 1, 2010, 7:13am CEST par Ed Oswald

Firefox may be coming to your iPhone soon, however not in the form you might expect. Mozilla on Wednesday said that it submitted an app called "Firefox Home" to Apple for iTunes App Store approval, an application which would sync browser activity between the user's iPhone and desktop.

It is not a separate browser, as Mozilla knows that Apple would likely reject it if it was. Instead, Firefox uses the WebKit API provided by Apple and intended for use in web browsing applications.

Mozilla made it clear that Firefox is not coming anytime soon. "We do not have plans to ship the Firefox browser for the iPhone," it says in its FAQ. "Due to constraints with the OS environment and distribution, we cannot provide users Firefox for the iPhone."

That said, where Firefox Home differentiates itself from other web browsing applications is the interactivity between the desktop browser and the iPhone.

Users will be able to access their browser history, bookmarks, and even open tabs. The information is sent into the cloud, and the iPhone application pulls the data it needs from there. Data can be either viewed within the application, or using Safari Mobile.

Mozilla says that Firefox Sync is required to use Firefox Home when it becomes available. That free add-on for the browser is available from Mozilla's website.

The company had originally released that application as a method to allow the user to sync data between two desktop installations of Firefox. Like the iPhone application, that information is synced to the cloud as well.

What is not immediately clear is whether or not Apple will approve Mozilla's effort. The Cupertino company's track record when it comes to applications that may pose a competitive threat is somewhat inconsistent.

For example, Opera's port of its mobile Mini browser all but sailed through the approval process this April. However, last year it refused to approve Google Voice for iPhone, stating it competed with features already available on the iPhone.

What may be the real rejection on a competitive basis is whether or not an approval would upset its partners, or would pose a real threat to Apple's dominance. It could be argued Opera's somewhat quirky browser did not, while Google did, and Mozilla very well could.

IPhone - Opera - Apple - Firefox Home - App Store

Somebody notify the next of kin, Microsoft KIN is dead

Publié: juillet 1, 2010, 1:00am CEST par Joe Wilcox

Perhaps those rumors about iPhone going to Verizon are true. Microsoft is killing off KIN, just six weeks after putting the smartphone on sale. Microsoft launched the KIN -- its youth-oriented, consumer social networking smartphone -- in early April. Today, the company answered the question I asked on May 5: "Is Microsoft KIN stud or dud?" Somebody up the corporate decision tree decided the latter -- or perhaps that KIN isn't stud enough to share Verizon with iPhone. Concurrent with KIN's sudden death -- oh, baby, we hardly knew you -- Microsoft is shifting resources and personnel to Windows Phone 7.

Earlier today I asserted that iPhone 4's "Death Grip" launch "may rank among the top marketing fiascos of the 2010s." Microsoft already has one-upped Apple. KIN is a disaster of magnanimous proportions. In February 2008, Microsoft announced acquisition of Danger, which technology and resources were dedicated in part to KIN. Thereafter, Microsoft spent millions of dollars developing KIN, in two models, and bringing it to market. As recently as the weekend, I saw KIN commercials during prime-time programming; Microsoft invested in a massive marketing campaign, too.

Companies simply don't pull major new products so suddenly after launching them. The situation is giving me the Windows Vista willies. It's Déjà vu time, feeling like early 2006 when Microsoft announced that Windows Vista wouldn't ship for the holidays. The executive team mismanaged the operating system's development, and it would take until Windows 7's autumn 2009 launch for Microsoft to fix the problems. KIN's death comes amidst other Microsoft mismanagement. In late May, a Microsoft Entertainment & Devices division reorganization sent president Robbie Bach and wonderboy J Allard packing, in a clear vote of no-confidence. That day, I described the reorg as "doomed."

Microsoft's mobile problems go back years. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer should have dealt with them sooner than May 2010. In October 2008 I declared: "Windows Mobile is an also-ran." KIN's launch changed nothing, and, sadly, other than wounded Microsoft egos and shivering shareholders, the smartphone's demise changes even less. KIN will come to symbolize Microsoft's mobile mismanagement the way Windows Vista personified poor operating system leadership. If I were Microsoft PR, I'd milk the bad news as way of shifting negative attention away from Windows Phone 7. Put all the garbage in one bucket and let it stink so much that people don't notice the other festering waste.

The important question: Did someone make a remarkably good management decision by chopping off a gangrenous limb? Or is the KIN whacking more mismanagement? Sadly, I see both good and bad decision-making -- more the worse. Microsoft never gave KIN a chance to succeed, or even fail. On May 29, I asserted that "Steve Ballmer IS the right man to turn around Microsoft mobile." Two weeks after Ballmer admitted Microsoft's mobile failures, I was the one admitting being wrong -- about the chief executive being the best choice to lead the mobile efforts or even Microsoft. KIN's killing makes me even less confident about his leadership leading to a rapid turnaround. Again, this all stinks of 2006 and Windows Vista's disastrous release. I don't hold out much hope for Windows Phone 7.

That's troubling, because Microsoft doesn't have the time necessary to fix the problem. Windows is a monopoly Microsoft controls. Mobile is not. Microsoft could take three years to put together a reasonably good Windows release. If Windows Phone 7 isn't it -- meaning the product is more like Vista -- there won't be time to get version 8 to market. Smartphones will have stormed the handset market, with Apple and Google leading the charge as Nokia and Research in Motion struggle to keep up or stay ahead.

In June 2008, I first asserted that Microsoft should launch a "mobile Manhattan Project" to turn around things. Apple had yet to release the second iPhone, the 3G, and the first Android smartphone was months from its debut on T-Mobile. Microsoft still had plenty of room for maneuvering past upstarts. Instead, Microsoft responded to the iPhone 3G launch by touting the number of Windows Mobile licenses that would ship in 2008 and number of phones running the software. The memo was credited to Andy Lees, the same Microsoft executive who is leading Windows Phone 7's way and inheriting personnel from the KIN killing. There is no mobile Manhattan Project, but leadership living in denial about the future and the kind of resources necessary just to stay in the game. Winning is no longer an option -- not at the current level of commitment.

KIN is a symbol of everything wrong with Microsoft's mobile leadership. What I won't yet answer: Is KIN a symbol of past or current mismanagement? I refrain, holding out for the slimmest chance that somebody might have been smart enough to cut off an infected limb to save the body. The other choice is simply unthinkable: Cutting off a healthy limb.

Apple - Microsoft - iPhone - Google - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

Deal of the Day: Amazon scoops up Woot for $110 million

Publié: juillet 1, 2010, 12:40am CEST par Ed Oswald

Woot said Wednesday that it had been acquired by Amazon, although it provided few details on what exactly will become of the online deal site other than it would become an independent subsidiary much like the online retailer's other acquisitions, Zappos and Audible.

Sources told technology blog TechCrunch that the sale price was in the neighborhood of $110 million in cash. In an e-mail to his employees, CEO Matt Rutledge seemed to suggest that not much would change as a result of the new owners.

"Amazon is interested in us because they recognize the value of our people, our brand ... they don't want to start changing things now," he wrote. "They're not looking to have their folks come in and run Woot unless we ask them to."

Online deal seekers have been flocking to Woot's front page since 2004. The concept is simple: a single product is featured on the front page for purchase beginning at midnight central time at a discounted price, and stays there until it is sold out. Each day, the product refreshes.

For example, today's deal is a brand new current generation 8GB iPod nano. While at an Apple store these would cost $149, Woot is selling them for $99. Similar savings can be found on other items found on Woot, but the key is to act fast before they're gone.

The concept is called social shopping, which allows users to not only purchase the item, but talk about it in the company's forums afterwards. Rutledge was clear to stress that facet of Woot's offering would not change.

In fact, Amazon customers may not even notice that the company has bought Woot: a spokesperson for the retailer seemed to suggest Amazon would not add Woot's daily deal to its own pages.

Terms of the acquisition were also not disclosed.

Woot - Amazon.com - Zappos - Amazon - Audible

BP executive to appear live on YouTube to answer oil spill questions tomorrow

Publié: juillet 1, 2010, 12:37am CEST par Tim Conneally