Gregarius &#187; BetaNews.Com &#187; janvier 2011

The Web of Trust (WOT) plug-in, which delivers security and privacy ratings on websites and search engine results worldwide, has extended its support to the Opera web browser now that version 11 supports the use of third-party extensions.

WOT 0.9 works in the same way as it does on other supported browsers -- namely Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox -- to provide a traffic-light icon in the browser toolbar and next to search engine results to provide at-a-glance safety and privacy ratings for the websites in question. If a site is rated red, Web of Trust throws up a warning message making it clear it doesn't recommend the user visit the site -- this can be overruled by the user, but is not recommended.

Web of Trust ratings are determined by millions of WOT users worldwide. This community approach to security and privacy has received some criticisms for over-zealous and inaccurate ratings, but it does provide a welcome extra layer of security protecting people from visiting less desirable areas of the web.

WOT requires Opera 11 or later to be installed, and is also available through the Opera extensions gallery.

Three important takeaways from Microsoft's $19.95B record quarter

Publié: janvier 28, 2011, 8:51pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Microsoft announced fiscal 2011 second fiscal quarter results after the stock market closed yesterday. The company reported $19.95 billion in revenue and $6.64 billion net income. Business and Entertainment & Devices divisions reported enormous revenue gains, while Windows & Windows Live can only be described as abysmal. Overnight, I took another look at the numbers, from which I want to highlight three takeaways.

Wall Street didn't respond favorably to Microsoft's quarterly report, but that's typical. It doesn't seem to matter how good are the results, Wall Street won't give Microsoft a break. As I post, Microsoft shares are down 4 percent in late-day trading.

I present the takeaways -- heck, there are only three, for expediency -- in no order of importance.

The big Windows 7 sales surge is over. There are reasons why Microsoft touted two statics against one it couldn't: 300 million Windows 7 licenses sold to date and 20 percent of Internet-connected PCs running the operating system. Those numbers contrast against difficult quarterly results for the Windows & Windows Live division. Revenue fell by more than 30 percent year over year. Even when removing a one-time $1.7 billion deferral that artificially boosted fiscal 2010 Q2 revenue and created a tough year-over-year comparison, the division's revenue fell by more than $400 million.

OEM revenue grew by 2 percent, year over year (when removing the deferral), but OEM licenses declined by 5 percent. In a financial statement, Microsoft attributed its OEM license problems to a "decrease in inventory in our distribution channels and lower Windows attach rates in China." Both measures are foreboding, particularly in context of Microsoft's boasting about the number of Windows 7 license sales. Lower-inventory levels reflect slower sales, and manufacturers and retailers responding by cutting back stock. PC shipments grew at a paltry 2 percent to 4 percent during fiscal Q2, by Microsoft estimates. Growth fell short of Gartner and IDC projections. Whatever PC sales pull Windows 7 had, it's over.

Related to slowing PC sales is the question of Windows 7 saturation, at least among businesses and consumers most likely to upgrade immediately. Looking at Microsoft's 300 million and 20 percent figures differently, that 300 million licenses represents close to one-third the Windows PC install base (which is estimated to be near 1 billion). By that measure, the number of PCs running Windows 7 is anywhere from 10 percent to 15 percent less than the number of licenses sold. This backlog is another factor that will likely slow demand for new licenses at least through the remainder of Microsoft's fiscal year (ending on June 30)

China is another matter. It is the big growth market, but sales are weak. Has piracy crept back its vicious head in China? Perhaps there is simply less PC demand as mobile carriers build out cellular data networks that make cell phones more attractive alternatives to PCs. It's a well-documented phenomenon that in many emerging markets, the cell phone and not the PC is the first Internet-connected device that a family or small business owns. As mobile applications get better, cell phones can stand in for PCs costing much more.

Entertainment & Devices margins are awful. The division's revenue rose by 56 percent year over year to $3.698 billion, generating a paltry $679 million in income. Is it even necessary for me to calculate how low are the margins? The division's revenue growth added $1.3 billion to overall Microsoft revenues but little to income. From a brand image perspective, Kinect is a great product for Microsoft, and from that perspective it's a huge success. But its contribution to the quarter, which includes a spike in Xbox 360 consoles, raised margins by only a couple percent. Perhaps it's time for Microsoft to spin-off the division.

IT organizations are spending on knowledge workers again. Year over year, Microsoft Business division revenue rose a whopping 24 percent during fiscal Q2. Revenue exceeded the Windows & Windows Live division by almost $1 billion and income by more than $700 million. Typically, Windows generates more revenue and income. Office 2010 license sales are 50 percent ahead of where Office 2007 was during comparable time in the sales cycle.

Earlier this month, Gartner projected that global IT spending would be greater in 2011 than previously forecast -- $3.6 trillion, up 5.1 percent year over year rather than 3.5 percent. More than $250 million is expected to be spent on enterprise software.

Spending may be up, after being sapped by the 2007-09 recession and stock market collapse of late 2008, but Microsoft's earnings report reveals important changes. Microsoft has typically benefitted from a large number (as high as 40 percent) of businesses adopting annuity license contracts. IT organizations pay for the software plus 29 percent extra annually for two or three years. This extra, or "Software Assurance," provides access to upgrades. However, because of layoffs many businesses already had been renewing for fewer seats.

Something else new is emerging. During fiscal Q2, business non-annuity revenue grew by 40 percent compared to just 9 percent growth for annuity contracts. Consumers account for some of the transactional licenses. Businesses purchasing this way are least likely to upgrade to the next Office version or even the one after. The break-even point between a one-off sale and annuity license is 3.5 years. Presumably then, many IT organizations aren't planning on upgrading from Office 2010 any sooner than 3.5 years, and more likely longer.

FBI issues warrants in expanding Wikileaks attack investigation

Publié: janvier 28, 2011, 7:12pm CET par Ed Oswald

The FBI said Thursday that it had executed more than 40 search warrants across the US, part of an expanding global probe into the attacks by hacktivist group Anonymous on several companies. The move followed another by British authorities also on Thursday that resulted in the arrests of five suspected participants.

Law enforcement agencies in at least five countries are now conducting their own investigations. The arrests in the UK are the only ones to occur as part of the investigation, although the FBI's move may signal arrests here in the US may not be too far behind.

US law states that participants on denial-of-service attacks can face monetary liabilities and up to ten years in prison.

PayPal -- one of the victims of the attacks -- contacted the FBI in December, and gave the agency information on the IP addresses of the attackers, two of which investigators were able to source to a physical location. That data led to the seizure of a server in Texas.

In an open letter to the UK government, Anonymous called its move to arrest those responsible a mistake. "Not only does it reveal the fact that you do not seem to understand the present-day political and technological reality, we also take this as a serious declaration of war from yourself, the UK government, to us, Anonymous, the people," the group said in a statement.

Officials in the UK are already bracing themselves for attacks on their servers as a result of the arrests. GovCertUK, the government's computer emergency response team, has warned government agencies be vigilant for DDoS attacks, and to report any suspicious activity.

CrossOver Impersonator: Run Windows on Mac OS and Linux

Publié: janvier 28, 2011, 7:05pm CET

CodeWeavers has released a major new version of its Wine-based CrossOver tool, which is designed to make it possible to run Windows applications and games on both Macintosh and Linux platforms. CrossOver Impersonator Edition boasts a brand new CrossTie feature, which enables users to install hundreds of Windows applications with a single click. It also incorporates over 4,500 patches that went into the latest release of Wine (1.3.9), and replaces all previous versions.

CrossOver is based on the open-source Wine software, which CodeWeavers contributes a massive amount of code to. Wine works by isolating programs in "bottles," each complete with its own C drive (including all sub-directories), Windows Registry, Wine settings and, of course, all the application files. Separate bottles can be created to isolate programs from each other or for setting up different versions of Windows for compatibility purposes. CrossOver Impersonator provides a more user-friendly front end and support, albeit in return for a commercial fee.

Previous versions of CrossOver -- as well as Wine itself -- require the user to manually configure a bottle and then install the software within that; CrossTie technology now makes it an easy process: after first launching the program will connect to the CrossWeavers application compatibility database and provide a list of supported software. All you need to do is provide the setup file, then the software will do the rest -- it'll automatically detect set-up discs and then it's a case of following the exact same setup wizard as you'd get if installing the program in Windows. There are over 450 applications and games currently supported in the database, including various older versions of major applications like Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office.

There are three editions of CrossOver Impersonator for both Mac and Linux Platforms: CrossOver Mac/Linux Impersonator Standard and CrossOver Games Impersonator cost $39.95 each, and come with six months' free updates and support. The third option, CrossOver Mac/Linux Impersonator Professional, costs $69.95, comes with 12 months updates and higher priority support, and includes a CrossOver Games licence. Professional users can also renew for an additional 12 months for a discounted cost ($35) up to 30 days after their licence expires.

CrossOver Impersonator requires a Mac with an Intel processor running Mac OS X 10.5 or later, while it will also work on most major Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, Redhat, Fedora and openSUSE.

Samsung and ZTE shift the spotlight from Apple in Q4 mobile phone shipments

Publié: janvier 28, 2011, 6:17pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Samsung and ZTE were big winners selling mobile phones in 2010, based on new data released by IDC. Apple fell from fourth to fifth place. Smartphone shipments drove year-over-year growth to a new quarterly high -- 17.9 percent -- in fourth quarter. Unit shipments rose from 340.5 million units to 401.4 million. IDC measures shipments into the channel, which means unsold handsets are counted. Gartner should soon release actual sales data, for which the numbers will be lower.

For the year, manufacturers shipped 1.39 billion cell phones, up 18.5 percent from 1.17 billion units a year earlier. The United Nations estimates there are 5 billion cellular subscribers worldwide. IDC predicts that smartphones will be the major sales growth driver through 2014. This year, smartphone shipments are projected to rise by nearly 44 percent year over year.

"The mobile phone market has the wind behind its sails," Kevin Restivo, IDC senior research analyst, said in a statement. "Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles."

IDC spotlighted an ongoing trend that American bloggers and journalists obsessed with iPhone have ignored: Handsets coming out of China. ZTE moved up into fourth place in market share, largely from shipping lower-cost handsets into emerging markets. Meanwhile, grey market smartphones -- many of them running Android -- are gaining sales momentum in Asia. These grey market devices often imitate better-selling handsets like iPhone while offering new features or capabilities, such as dual-SIM slots.

By the way, ZTE pushed Apple into fifth place, and the maker of iPhone risks dropping out of the Top 5 altogether. "Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year," added Ramon Llamas, IDC senior research analyst, said in a statement. "Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list."

The data also reveals that contrary to a string of Nokia epitaphs from analysts, bloggers and journalists, the Finnish phone maker isn't dead yet. While Nokia handset shipments declined by 2.4 percent year over year during fourth quarter, to 123.7 million units, smartphone shipments rose by 38 percent. However, for the year, Nokia market share dropped to 32.6 percent from 36.9 percent year over year. Still, Nokia shipped, 453 million handsets, or more than the next three vendors combined among the Top 5.

Samsung topped 80 million quarterly shipments for the first time, buoyed in part by its hugely successful Galaxy S line. Samsung is having success in emerging markets as well as mature ones. By comparison, iPhone sold particularly well in mature markets, such as Europe and North America.

IDC phones 2010

Regionally, South Korea emerged as the big market for Asia-Pacific, accounting for about two-thirds of Q4 phone shipments. In Western Europe, smartphones pushed down feature phones, which declined at their briskest pace ever. Among smartphones, Apple iPhone 4, HTC Desire, Nokia N8, Research in Motion Blackberry 852S and Samsung Galaxy S were the big sellers (presented alphabetically by carrier not by shipments).

In Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, quarterly shipments topped 70 million units -- a new high -- led by the aforementioned Chinese branded and unbranded handsets. In North America and Latin America, smartphones continued to drive shipment volumes. ZTE pushed hard into the latter region.

IDC phones 2010

Again, I'd like to point out the American ethnocentric -- and quite honestly Apple-biased -- tendencies of bloggers and journalists here. The IDC numbers aren't being reported as widely today as previous quarterly shipments. Perhaps because the numbers aren't exceptional for Apple. The few reports I've seen focus more on Apple falling to fifth place than anything else, missing the broader and more important global trends.

MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe sounds sweet

Publié: janvier 28, 2011, 4:32pm CET

MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 deluxe

Sound quality really matters. The tiniest of audio glitches can often be enough to ruin a home movie or audio file, yet most applications offer little to address this. Video editors may offer hundreds of ways to tweak your picture, for instance, but when it comes to audio processing, if you get as much as a wave editor and a "clean" button then you're generally doing very well. If your software simply isn't delivering the audio quality you need, then, it may be time to get some help from a specialist tool -- and MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe has plenty to offer.

The program can import audio from audio files, videos, or even record it directly from any external audio source that you can plug in to your soundcard (microphone, record player, cassette player and so on), useful if you're looking to digitize your old vinyl record collection. A stack of cleanup tools can then automatically remove clicks, crackles, humming, hiss and more.

Additionally, a suite of mastering options are able to improve your audio in many different ways, expanding its stereo effect, increasing volume, enhancing dynamics, even refreshing lost high frequency information in some recordings. It seems like there's a solution here for just about every audio problem, then. But how would MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe behave in practice? We decided to put it to the test.

Getting started

Launch MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe and you're presented with a friendly-looking startup dialog, new to this version. Choose whatever it is you'd like to do ("restore vinyl sound," "clean tape sound," "optimize voice and audio book recordings," "edit digital file") and the program will set its audio presents accordingly, to deliver the best results.

The main work area then displays four buttons: "Import," "Cleaning," "Mastering" and "Export." Click one and you'll see further large icons or controls, and selecting any of these displays is a useful description of the feature.

There's more here than basic tooltips, too. If you're not an audio expert, for instance, then talk of altering audio "dynamics" or maximising the "compressor" won't necessarily mean very much. Fortunately every effect description here also includes two examples: clicking "Before" plays an audio file with the problem, clicking "After" plays a file showing how Audio Cleaning Lab 17 can fix it - very helpful.

It doesn't take long to figure out how to begin, then. Just choose the "Import" button and you're able to import audio files (MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, AIF), video soundtracks (though only AVI and MPG formats) or CDs. Or a click on the "Record" button launches a tool that can record from whatever sound source that you can connect to your PC. Useful features here include the ability to separate records or CDs into individual tracks. And when it's done these may be saved as WAV, FLAC, MP3 or OGG files, ready for further processing.

Cleaning

While Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe contains many advanced features, you don't have to be an expert to take advantage of them. Launch the extremely simple Audio Cleaning Assistant, for instance, and it will examine your audio, look for issues like crackles, clicks or noise, and apply the appropriate fixes entirely automatically. This didn't catch every problem in our tests, but it fixed a great deal and is genuinely useful.

The program also provides audio presets that may help in some situations. If you've recorded an old vinyl record with poor results, say, then you might try the "Restore vinyl record in very bad condition" preset, which automatically applies the DeCrackler and DeClicker filters at full strength.

You can also use a Step By Step wizard to take more control over the cleanup process. This can be complex, though, asking for example whether you should eliminate a "Stray pick-up 50Hz bright,"or "Stray pick-up 60Hz deep" (we're not sure, either).

Still, after choosing a cleanup option you can listen to the original audio, then the clean version, so you don't have to understand all the jargon: simply choose an option, preview the results and see if it's helped. Many of the cleanup tools offer further manual tweaks that allow you to customie how they work. If the DeClicker has left a few clicks behind, say, just dragging a slider to increase its strength and running it again could make all the difference.

Spectral Cleaner

Our favourite tool here is the Spectral Cleaner, which allows you to remove short but clear background noises, like a cough, without losing anything else. To make this happen you must locate the noise on a spectrogram, and highlight it with the mouse. Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe then replaces that part of the frequency spectrum with information from either side of the noise. And as a result, the audio interruption entirely disappears, but there's also no drop-out, no change in volume: background sounds appear more or less as they always did.

MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 deluxe

This technology has its limits, of course. If a noise is lengthy, or occupies the same frequency as the signal you'd like to keep, then removing it seamlessly becomes very difficult. When spectral cleaning works, though (which it normally does), it's like magic, stripping out that poorly timed sneeze so that you'd never know it was there. It's a very useful addition to anyone's cleanup toolkit.

Mastering

As well as the cleanup tools, MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe also provides a host of more general audio processing options that will enhance your sound quality in a variety of ways. In a click or two you can enhance the stereo effect on a track, for instance, or increase its actual or perceived volume (like the "Loudness" setting on a stereo).

The Brilliance Enhancer tries to restore high frequency sounds that are often lost in MP3 files or old vinyl recordings, by adding overtones based on the material that remains. Sometimes this works just great, sometimes the results are dreadful, but it's still worth having around. The Sound Cloner uses a 1,204-band equalizer to change the characteristic of a track, so it sounds brighter, louder, like it was sung in a concert hall, or your bathroom.

All these options include multiple presets for easy use. So you don't just click "Loudness," say -- the same tool also offers settings like "Max Bass," "Emphasise Voice," "Emphasise Female Voice,""Boost Bass," 17 options in total, so you just click something that looks appealing and preview the results. And if that's not enough, there's also support for adding VST and DirectX plug-ins, so you can extend the program with additional effects whenever you like.

Export

When you've finally finished working on your audio file, you'll want to save it, and MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe has several options available. You can of course export your project as an audio file (WAV, FLAC, OGG, AIF, MP3 or WMA). The program can burn it directly to an audio CD or DVD (there's even a built-in designer to help you produce a cover).

If you've grabbed the soundtrack from a video, then you can replace this with the edited version in a click or two. As long as it's an AVI file, anyway -- there's no support for other formats. MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe has one or two restrictions, then, and the interface is overly complex in some places.

The tools are so powerful and effective, though, that even mastering just one or two of them, like the Spectral Cleaner, could be enough to justify the program's cost. So if you're tired of the feeble sound cleanup tools provided by most applications, then give Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe a try -- you'll be surprised how much difference it can make.

Verdict: While it can be complicated, and takes some time to master, MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 17 Deluxe provides an excellent suite of cleanup tools that can greatly enhance most audio files.

We Like: Lots of cleanup and audio-enhancing tools, Spectral Cleaner seamlessly removes many audio glitches, some simple wizards, effects are generally very configurable, can import and replace soundtracks from AVI videos, VST and DirectX plug-in support.

We Don't Like: Overly complex interface, brief help file, limited video format support.

Manufacturer: MAGIX
MSRP: $49.99
Platforms: Windows XP SP3 (32/64-bit), Windows Vista SP2 (32/64-bit), Windows 7 (32/64-bit)
Requirements: 4GB free hard drive space for temporary work files

The Document Foundation releases LibreOffice Portable

Publié: janvier 28, 2011, 3:14pm CET

Hot on the heels of its first stable release, The Document Foundation has announced the immediate availability of LibreOffice Portable. As the name suggests, it's a repackaged version of The Document Foundation's free open-source application that is designed to run directly from USB -- or even cloud -- drives, allowing the end user to run the program on any Windows-compatible computer, including Macs and Linux running WINE.

LibreOffice is an offshoot of the OpenOffice project, brought into being by The Document Foundation because of concerns of the project's future as an open-source program having come under the ownership of Oracle following its purchase of Sun Microsystems. It contains a free word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentations tool and drawing application.

LibreOffice Portable is based on the brand new 3.3 stable release, which means it contains all the feature improvements and bug fixes found in that version. It's been developed in conjunction with Portableapps.com, and is distributed in the .paf format, which means it can be set up and installed without administrator rights.

LibreOffice Portable requires Windows XP, Vista or 7, or the Wine emulator on Macs, Linux and Unix. It also requires 428MB free drive space on the target drive, plus certain elements -- including the document creation wizards and Base database application -- require the jPortable Java run-time environment.

[UPDATE] Netflix ranks Charter as best, Clearwire worst for data throughput

Publié: janvier 28, 2011, 1:37am CET par Tim Conneally

Netflix ranks network operators (.jpg)

In the company blog Thursday, Netflix Director of Content Delivery Ken Florence presented a ranking of the best and worst network operators for Netflix streaming, a ranking that the company plans to maintain and publish as a monthly report.

Florence says the top HD streams from Netflix are about 4,800 Kbps, and because the service adapts to the available bandwidth a provider may have, no one carrier would hit that maximum and maintain it. However, it serves as a good reference point for the average overall throughput a network can provide. Charter, the leading US network in overall throughput, averaged 2,667 Kbps between October 1, 2010 and January 15, 2011.

Beneath Charter are three relatively distinct performance tiers. Following not too far behind Charter was a cluster of six carriers: Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Cablevision, Suddenlink, and Cable One.

Then, there is a rather large drop in performance into a middle tier where Verizon, AT&T, Bellsouth, Windstream, Embarq, and Qwest are rather evenly spaced in descending order. These range between approximately 2,300 Kbps and 1,700 Kbps.

Finally, there is the bottom tier with the slowest performers, which includes CenturyTel, Frontier, and Clearwire. These carriers performed in the range of 1,650 Kbps to about 1,400 Kbps.

Naturally, network technology, content delivery partners, and geographic region all have a lot to do with an operator's overall performance in these rankings, but as Florence says, "it's a great high-level view of Netflix performance across a large number of streaming sessions."

Still, Clearwire representatives reached out to us today, looking to defend their mobile broadband network against Netflix's castigation.

"It doesn't come as a surprise to anyone in tech that a wireless network ranks behind wired DSL, cable and fiber optic networks in terms of speed," a Clearwire representative said. "Wired networks are capable of achieving faster speeds than wireless networks. That's the nature of the technologies. But speed isn't the whole story."

Indeed, Clearwire does have its own benefits that can balance out the lower average speed; principal among them is the fact that when a user is connected to a Clearwire WiMAX signal, he can take his Netflix stream along with him, instead of having to leave it at home.

"As mobile video consumption increases, this key advantage will only become more of a differentiator for services like ours," Clearwire told us.

Most interestingly, though, was the fact that Canada had an average much closer to the maximum than the U.S. Rogers, Canada's largest ISP, trumps all of the United States' carriers with a 3,020 Kbps average throughput. When Netflix launched its streaming service in Canada just over six months ago, Rogers shrunk the download cap for its Lite pricing tier from 25GB per month to 15. Users began complaining that these data limits could be met and exceeded in under a week of use. Maybe the heightened stream speed and quality have something to do with it.

Microsoft Q2 2011 by the numbers: Record $19.95B revenue, 77 cents EPS

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 10:20pm CET par Joe Wilcox

[Editor's Note: This was a live document from 4:20 p.m. EDT until 5:40 p.m.]

Microsoft weathered the brunt of slower-than-forecast PC sales to beat Wall Street consensus for fiscal 2011 second quarter. The software giant announced earnings after the bell, for the three-month period ended Dec. 31, 2010.

Microsoft revenue rose 5 percent to $19.95 billion, year over year. Operating income: $8.17 billion, down 4 percent. Net income: $6.64 billion, or 77 cents a share. Earnings per share rose by 4 percent year over year. However, Microsoft stated growth rates when counting a $1.7 billion deferral related to Windows 7's launch in the year-ago quarter. Without the deferral, revenue grew by 15 percent, operating income by 20 percent and earnings per share by 28 percent.

Two years ago this month, Microsoft stopped providing Wall Street analysts with quarterly and yearly guidance, in a move that is highly unusual for so large and so successful a public company. I've long argued that Microsoft's refusal to give guidance creates unnecessary negative perceptions about its performance. As such, Wall Street analysts had to rely solely on their wits to call the quarter. Average consensus was $19.14 billion revenue and 68 cents earnings per share. Revenue estimates ranged from $18.52 billion to $19.73 billion. So Microsoft topped the Street.

PC shipments hung like a shadow over Microsoft results. Fifteen days ago, Gartner and IDC reported weaker-than-expected demand during fourth calendar quarter, which coincides with Microsoft's second fiscal quarter. PC manufacturers shipped 93.5 million PCs globally, up 3.1 percent year over year, according to Gartner. The analyst firm had forecast 4.8 percent growth. IDC put the number at a lower 92.1 million and growth 2.7 percent. US PC sales declined 6.6 percent to 19.1 million, according to Gartner, which previously forecast 10 percent year-over-year growth. IDC put shipments at a higher 19.9 percent and the decline a lower 4.8 percent. Both firm's numbers are preliminary.

Both firms said that slow consumer demand, even with the holidays, contributed to actual shipments. But iPad had more tremendous impact. Yesterday, Canalys broke rank with other analyst firms by counting iPad as a PC. By that reckoning, Apple dramatically jumps to third spot in global PC market share, ahead of Dell and behind HP and Acer.

Q2 2011 Revenue by Division

Windows & Windows Live: $5.056 billion, down from $7.193 billion a year earlier.
Server & Tools: $4.39 billion, up 10 percent from $3.978 billion a year earlier.
Business: $6.032 billion, up 24 percent from $4.864 billion a year earlier.
Online Services Business: $691 million, up 19 percent from $579 million a year earlier.
Entertainment & Devices: $3.698 billion, up 56 percent from $2.381 billion a year earlier.

The quarter represents the first for sales of Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Kinect. The company said that there were 2 million Windows Phone handsets sold in 2010, which really means shipped. Microsoft shipped more than 8 million Kinect game console controllers.

Microsoft's most immediate challenge remains mobile, where upstarts like Apple and Google body slammed Microsoft during 2009-10. But there is new competition from iPad, too. Apple shipped 7.331 million tablets during fourth calendar quarter for a total of 14.789 million in just nine months. Apple's tablet generated nearly $10 billion in new revenue during the first nine months of availability. Adding in iPhone and iPod touch, iOS devices accounted for about two-thirds of the quarter's revenue. Apple had sold 160 million cumulative iOS devices. The point: Apple is no longer dependent on Macs, which compete with overwhelming marketing-leading Windows PCs.

By most every estimate, mobiles are the future of computing, something iPad's negative impact on PC sales shows. Mobile applications are set to generate enormous revenues that may soon begin to cannibalize PC applications. Gartner predicts $15 billion revenue generated by mobile apps this year, up nearly three times from 2010.

Q2 2011 Income by Division

Windows & Windows Live: $3.251 billion, down from $5.417 billion a year earlier (20 percent growth when adding deferral).
Server & Tools: $1.776 billion, from $1.464 billion a year earlier.
Business: $3.965 billion, up from $2.947 billion a year earlier.
Online Services Business: Loss of $543 million, up from $463 million loss a year earlier.
Entertainment & Devices: $679 million, up $365 million a year earlier.

Microsoft said that it has now sold over 300 million Windows 7 licenses (which doesn't mean all, or even most, have been deployed). Twenty percent of Internet-connected PCs now run the operating system, according to the company.

Microsoft reports revenue and earnings results for five divisons: Windows & Windows Live, Server & Tools, Business, Online Services and Entertainment & Devices.

Windows & Windows Live. Microsoft's flagship division received a double-whammy during fiscal Q2, the effects of a $1.7 billion deferral in the year-ago quarter and macro-effects in the PC market. "OEM revenue decreased $1.8 billion or 32 percent," according to Microsoft financial filings. "This decrease was driven by the prior year launch of Windows 7, reflecting a decrease in inventory in our distribution channels, and lower Windows attach rates in China, partially offset by PC market growth." As such, OEM revenue grew by 2 percent, year over year. OEM licenses declined by 5 percent. Microsoft projected PC shipment growth was between 2 percent to 4 percent.

Server & Tools. The division is most insulated against economic maladies, because about 50 percent of revenues come from contractual volume-licensing agreements; annuity revenue grew by 11 percent year over year. Additionally, enterprise services revenue grew by 9 percent, or $69 million. More broadly, revenue rose 10 percent year over year.

Business. The division was the quarter's big performer, with revenue up 24 percent year over year. Business non-annuity revenue grew by 40 percent, which isn't ideal. Microsoft benefits more when businesses buy annuity contracts, which revenue grew by just 9 percent. "Office 2010 consumer license sales more than 50 percent ahead of Office 2007 over same period following launch," according to Microsoft financial filings. "Business revenue increased $697 million or 18 percent, primarily reflecting licensing of the 2010 Microsoft Office system to transactional business customers, growth in multi-year volume licensing revenue, and a 7 percent increase in Microsoft Dynamics revenue. Consumer revenue increased $471 million or 49 percent due to sales of the 2010 Microsoft Office system."

Online Services Business. Search drove up online advertising revenue by 23 percent, that's $117 million to $632 million. Despite revenue gains, the division's loss increased from fiscal Q2 2010.

Entertainment & Devices. The division's revenue increased a whopping 56 percent year over year, or $1.3 billion. Microsoft shipped 8 million Kinects during first 60 days, which helped drive up Xbox 360 unit sales by 21 percent year over year -- 6.3 million units shipped in the quarter. Related: Xbox Live memberships increased 30 percent.

Windows Phone 7 is available in 30 countries from 60 carriers. Two million units have shipped.

[Editor's Note: Percentages corrected in "Revenue by Division"]

Facebook: Reports of branded phone 'overblown'

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 8:37pm CET par Ed Oswald

Facebook has denied reports that it had partnered with Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC to release its own phones, calling the reports "overblown" in comments to Reuters. Reports of a possible partnership first surfaced in London-based business website City A.M. on Wednesday. The site claimed that the phones would be launched at an event at the Mobile World Congress, to be held February 14-17 in Barcelona.

While not saying that HTC was not developing some type of Facebook-enhanced phone, it would not be branded as such, the site's business development chief Dan Rose said. "This is really just another example of a manufacturer who has taken our public APIs and integrated them into their device in an interesting way," he said. Regardless, mobile is an ever bigger portion of the social networking site's business, a quarter-billion users visit its mobile site every month.

Google begins censoring torrent queries in searches

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 7:57pm CET par Ed Oswald

Google took steps Thursday to honor a previous commitment to root out piracy in its searches, beginning to censor torrent searches from its Autocomplete and Instant functionality. The Mountain View, Calif. company's efforts don't seem perfect: several torrent searches still seemed to be available.

Among the terms apparently filtered out include popular clients BitTorrent and Rapidshare according to reports. On some built-in search functions in browsers such as Internet Explorer and Safari, the terms appear to have disappeared. Betanews was still able to search for specific torrents such as "windows xp torrent," however, and Google was still returning torrent links through Instant at least for our testers.

Standard searching appears not to be affected, thus these changes could be quite superficial without any real change to Google's search algorithms itself.

Regardless, the move will prove to be controversial. A BitTorrent spokesperson told TorrentFreak that its company name was unique, and "we're pretty confident that anyone typing the first six or seven letters deserves the same easy access to results as with any other company search," it said.

The company added that torrent search results do return "a variety" of legitimate results, and that it believes Google does not realize that our technology is used for many purposes that provide significant value to the technology industry, companies, artists and consumers at large."

UK police arrest five in connection with WikiLeaks attacks

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 7:15pm CET par Ed Oswald

London police have detained five individuals ages 15 to 26 in connection with an investigation into Anoymous, a "hacktivist" group responsible for attacks on companies that suspended accounts associated with leak site WikiLeaks. The investigation is a global effort, and includes law enforcement agencies in both the US and Europe.

The Metropolitan Police Service did not indentify the accused, nor did they directly link them to the group. In the US, efforts have been stepped up to identify anyone who may have been involved in the efforts here, although so far no arrests have been made. The UK five are charged with offenses under the Computer Misuse Act, passed by Parliament in 1990.

That act made it illegal to use a computer to access or modify unauthorized content, or access such content for the purpose of committing a criminal act. UK citizens convicted under that code could face jail terms of six months to five years depending on the crime, and fines of up to 5,000 British pounds ($7,900 USD).

Anonymous lacks any true hierarchical structure, and has called its organization a "leaderless movement." Thus, it may be difficult for law enforcement to ever fully investigate the scope of these attacks.

"All five have been taken to local police stations where they remain in custody," the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. Representatives for PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard -- all victims of Anonymous' attacks -- either declined or were unavailable to comment.

Tip: Watch internet TV through Windows Media Center

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 7:04pm CET

Let's be honest: watching TV on your computer can be a painful experience. If you have a TV tuner you still need access to an aerial point, and if you opt to watch over the Internet you can find yourself having to move between multiple websites when looking for something to watch.

The solution is obvious: watch internet television through Windows Media Center -- after all, it's perfect for live TV, so why not catch-up TV too? Some services -- like Sky Player in the UK -- are even available through WMC, but what if yours isn't covered?

Fret not: instead, take a look at TunerFree MCE. This free add-on allows you to access, catch up and stream content through the more friendly Windows Media Center interface -- perfect if you've hooked up your computer to your TV for the evening and don't want to be faffing about with web browsers and the like.

TunerFree MCE is British in origin, which means UK users get to choose between the four main providers (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five) from one easy to access interface. US users get to browse hulu.com for their content, while Australian, Irish and New Zealand residents can also get in on the act by installing the relevant plugin to add support for ABC, RTE and TVNZ, respectively.

It's all so simple to use, but there is one downside: you have to be resident in the TV channel's country in order to gain access to the content. You could try hiding your true origins using a VPN -- the TunerFree MCE site has a guide -- but many broadcasters are wising up to this, so don't expect success even if you're able to fake your actual location.

The latest version (4.4.1) works with touchscreens for even faster navigation. It also allows you -- assuming you're connected to your aerial -- to set series record, so you don't find yourself relying on series catchup to stay up to date with your favourite programmes going forward. You can now also install plug-ins through TunerFree MCE itself: just Preferences > Plug-ins, tick the plug-ins you want, and click Save followed by Update Now -- job done.

The only downside is that it's no longer compatible with Windows Vista, but don't fret: the older, and still perfectly functional, version 3.8.2 is still available for download, ensuring Vista users aren't shut out in the cold.

Skype 5.0 for Mac released with UI tweaks

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 6:49pm CET

Skype has announced a final release for version 5 of its Mac client, bringing it in line with Windows. Skype for Mac 5.0 was originally released as a public beta last November, and immediately brought an outcry from enraged Mac users unhappy with the redesigned interface, which had been tweaked to bring it into line with the Windows version.

As a result, Skype has made a number of tweaks to this final version that aim to address the criticisms. It also brought back full-screen video chat and made it easier to view and hide the chat options when in a conversation. However, the final release also means that group video chat -- which was previously free in the beta version -- is now a premium feature, with a day pass costing $4.99, and a monthly subscription costing $8.99. A 7-day trial is included within the latest release.

Most of the criticisms leveled at Skype for Mac 5 have been over its user interface, which many felt was too large and intrusive for a chat application. Consequently, Skype for Mac's window has been trimmed so that it can be shrunk much smaller, making it possible to keep it to one side of the desktop in a manner similar to the previous version. The contact list has also been compacted to allow 30 percent more contacts to be seen at once, while the contacts monitor has now been made more accessible through the window menu.

The application's user interface has been trimmed elsewhere, too, to make it look and feel less intrusive, with white space cut from the sidebar and instant messages.

Skype for Mac 5 is available now, and requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard) or later. Skype is also available for Windows and Linux.

Confessions of a former Nokia enthusiast

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 6:02pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Snail taken with Nokia N97

I love Nokia. It's a global brand with huge, but rapidly declining, global presence. Nokia brought advanced capabilities, like quality photography, video recording and video calling, to its handsets long before competitors. For years, Nokia defined mobile innovation at both ends of the market -- providing quality, affordable handsets to the masses and cutting-edge feature phones to enthusiasts. That was then. I love Nokia, but Nokia doesn't love me.

Nokia is rapidly bleeding market share, and its once hallowed brand is being hollowed by Apple and competitors like HTC and Samsung that ship Android smartphones. By Nokia's own estimates, its share of the global smartphone market fell to 31 percent during fourth quarter 2010. Nokia's decline is much less about Androids and iPhone and more about the Finnish handset maker falling behind in software and services, and in process losing developer and even customer confidence.

I've used a variety of Nokia phones over the years and delighted in them all, including the E71, N95 (two different versions), N96, N97 and N900. The phones were rugged, call quality was outstanding and hardware was exceptional -- like the use of Carl Zeiss lenses for the cameras. Older Nokia handsets, like the N95, still have pretty good resale value today just for the parts.

Services, Software and Sync

I'd use Nokia's flagship N8 smartphone if Symbian OS and supporting Ovi services were good enough. They aren't, particularly when compared to Apple's iOS or Android. For example, Nokia let Symbian OS badly fragment, which makes application development more difficult. Meanwhile, Nokia sends mixed messages about what mobile operating system is the future. Is it Symbian or MeeGo? What developer wants to invest resources in an operating system that might disappear? Earlier today, Nokia announced fourth-quarterly results, with CEO Stephen Elop hinting there might be a dual-OS strategy. But could that be triple, if rumors about Nokia offering Windows Phone 7 prove true? Elop recently left Microsoft for Nokia.

Synchronization is one of the most important areas of Nokia bungling. I first started writing about the importance of sync nine years ago, while working for CNET News.com. In March 2008, while editor of Microsoft Watch, I described sync as the killer application for the connected age. Apple gets sync mostly right (not completely because a computer is still required for some capabilities), and Google does better on Android.

Synchronization is more than just about contacts, calendars, e-mail or to-do lists. There is application sync/updating, which Google does exceptionally well with Android Marketplace. Ovi Store is disappointing by almost every measure. Given Nokia's global presence and longstanding and successful relationship with developers, Ovi Store should be chock full of interesting applications that are easily downloaded and updated. But fragmented Nokia operating systems limit what apps are available for what device, and the number of interesting apps isn't growing.

By volume, Symbian should appeal more to developers than iPhone. During Q4 2010, Nokia shipped 28.3 million smartphones, or about 8 million more than Apple. Shipments rose 36 percent year over year and 7 percent sequentially. More broadly, Nokia shipped 123.7 million mobile devices, down 3 percent year over year and up 12 percent sequentially. Looked at another way, in one quarter Nokia shipped about 10 percent of the year's projected 1.3 billion units for all manufacturers globally.

Market share vs Mind Share

But the rumors and excitement once given to the next "N-Series" Nokia phone now goes to Androids and iPhone. On much smaller install base and quarterly shipments, Apple has had far bigger success with its applications store, racking up the 10 billionth download over the weekend. Long-time enthusiasts like me have abandoned a beloved brand. Then there are the Nokia has-been blogs and news stories, which numbers will be higher today based on the company's quarterly numbers and board of directors reshuffling. It doesn't help that Nokia has almost no visibility in the United States, and that some new phones planned for the market recently were delayed if not dropped altogether.

Nokia is still huge. Its install base dwarfs Androids and iPhone. Its market share is enormous -- 70 percent or more in some markets -- and its manufacturing and distribution operations are massive (sorry, Apple). Not that most people in North America would know. Nokia's failure to have even meaningful presence here borders on corporate misconduct. How the hell can the world's largest handset manufacturer be nearly invisible in the world's largest economy -- the United States -- and not much more visible in neighboring Canada?

I took the photo above using the Nokia N97. That's right, it's not from a camera but from a smartphone. The image is symbolic. Nokia is moving at a snail's pace, while competitors Apple and Google run like rabbits. Nokia announced the N8 more than six months before its release, with massive marketing along the way. By the time the phone released, Apple had already leapt ahead (in most respects) with iPhone 4 and Nokia had exhausted interest in the N8 for overhyping something not available to buy. The announcement should have come sooner to launch and most of the marketing support after.

Today, many bloggers and journalists will fulfill their quarterly ritual of writing Nokia's epitaph. They'll get another chance when IDC and Gartner announce their handset numbers. I haven't given up on Nokia as a company, but, for now, I've given up using its handsets. Nokia has a huge perception problem right now that makes its situation appear direr than it really is. But Nokia's biggest problem is losing enthusiasts like me. I love you, Nokia. This post is my giving you a little tough love.

Opera releases 11.01 final version

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 5:54pm CET par Tim Conneally

Download Opera 11.01 for Windows in FileForum now!

After pushing out two release candidates in as many days, Opera Software on Thursday released the final version (build 1190) of its Opera 11.01 Web browser.

This latest version adds some tweaks to mouse gestures, and some stability improvements. The only real new feature of this particular version is the inclusion of the DOM object window.DOMStringList, but it is still an extremely important download for security purposes.

Late last week, French security company VUPEN issued a critical vulnerability alert for Opera 11 and 10.63 in Windows 7 and Windows XP SP3.

VUPEN said the issue was "caused by an integer truncation error within the Opera Internet Browser module 'opera.dll' when handling a HTML 'select' element containing an overly large number of children, which could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by convincing a user to visit a specially crafted webpage."

This update fixes that security issue and five others related to clickjacking, data retention, and remote code injection. Opera Software advises users to update ASAP to remedy these issues.

Sony announces PlayStation gaming suite for Android

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 7:57am CET par Tim Conneally

At a press conference in Japan on Thursday, Sony Computer Entertainment announced it will be launching PlayStation Suite, which will make PlayStation content available on Android handsets and tablets.

"The world of portable [gaming] has undergone a huge change since the release of the PSP," said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment. "When we released PSP, cell phone providers were unable to deliver PlayStation-quality content. After six years, these multi-function handheld devices are ready for the PlayStation-like experience."

According to Sony, the PlayStation Suite is "hardware neutral" and will work across many Android devices.

Sony showed off some of the titles that will be available "within the next calendar year," including Syphon Filter, Cool Boarders 2, MediEvil, Rally Cars, and Wild Arms. But it is not simply a PSX emulator, Sony said it is a new development framework that allows for the development of all new content.

Along with the suite, Sony is preparing to launch its own PlayStation Store for Android devices similar to the ones available on the PS3 and PSP, where games, videos, and interactive content are available for download.

This announcement finally gives the Android platform exclusive gaming support that neither iOS nor Windows Phone 7 can offer. Though gaming on Android has improved considerably since the operating system launched in 2008, the platform has had to fend off a reputation for not being a quality outlet for games.

Did you miss out on the Chrome OS notebook? Psst, you can still get one

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 3:40am CET par Joe Wilcox

2. "A week with Google's Chrome OS laptop, Day 1: Getting acquainted"

A fair number of Betanews readers have asked how they could get Google's unbranded Cr-48 notebook running Chrome OS. On Dec. 7, 2010, the information giant announced a pilot distributing 60,000 notebooks -- a grand test for those folks ambitious enough to live on the web for as long as six months. I assumed that Google had given out all the laptops. Either it didn't or there's a new batch to be had.

In a blog posted late this afternoon Eastern Time, Heaven Kim, Google product marketing manager, writes: "If you already live on the web and are itching to get your hands on a Chrome notebook, we've teamed up with a few Web Store apps for a chance to test-pilot the Cr-48. Check out blog posts from MOG, Box, LucidChart, and Zoho for more details. Then go ahead and rock out with 10 million songs, manage your files in the cloud, perfect your diagram drawing skills or move your office onto the web. While you're at it, you might also discover a new favorite app among the more than 2,000 apps in the Chrome Web Store."

Google is promoting Web Store partners through a simple but compelling offer: Try the service, then sign up to get a Cr-48 notebook. Do you want one? Are you bummed for missing out in December? Google is giving you a second chance.

By the way, there's other Google OS news shakin' up the InterWebs today. Google has released a preview of Honeycomb (aka Android 3.0). I'll be royally ticked if my Nexus S with single-core processor can't satisfactorily run Honeycomb. Google, you've been warned.

I've written extensively about the Cr-48. Among them, an overview and seven-day segment living in the cloud:

1. "Who really needs a Chrome OS laptop?"

3. "A week with Google's Chrome OS laptop, Day 2: Becoming a cloud citizen"

4. "A week with Google's Chrome OS laptop, Day 3: Living with Flash"

5. "A week with Google's Chrome OS laptop, Day 4: Who is the cloud for?"

6. "A week with Google's Chrome OS laptop, Day 5: My life in the cloud"

7. "A week with Google's Chrome OS laptop, Day 6: Adopting a new lifestyle"

8. "A week with Google's Chrome OS laptop, Day 7: Settling in for the long haul"

LogMeIn Ignition: Control your PC from iPhone or iPad

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 1:19am CET

By Mark Wilson

LogMeIn Ignition

The value of a remote access tool is difficult to appreciate until you try one for the first time. Using the right software, it is possible to sit at home and work with your computer in the office as if you sat in front of it. This can be achieved with desktop software such as LogMeIn, but there is also a version available for iOS in the form of LogMeIn Ignition. It may sound adventurous to consider accessing your desktop PC or Mac from your iPhone or iPad, but that is precisely what the app enables you to do.

All you need to do to get started is to install the desktop software on your computer and the app on your iOS device. You can then create a LogMeIn account which you can then use to control which computers are able to gain remote access. For the purposes of security, no computer will be granted access without the correct password, and IP address filtering can be used to increase protection further. An on-screen message is displayed on your Mac or PC whenever a remote session is started so you can terminate any unauthorised sessions that may be started.

To help speed up the display of your desktop on your mobile device, desktop wallpaper is automatically disabled during a remote session and it is possible to configure the level of compression that is used, and you can also specify the speed of your network to not only determine image quality but also minimise the impact remote sessions may have on other network traffic.

The controls for LogMeIn Ignition can take a little time getting used to, but there are two different modes to choose from. When using your iPhone or iPad to remotely connect to your computer, you obviously do not have a mouse to work with and this presents something of a problem. The app provides two different ways to overcome the problem. The first is to keep the mouse cursor as a fixed point at the centre of the screen of your iOS device -- you can drag your way around the screen so that buttons and menus you need to click on are positioned beneath the cursor. While this may sound a little awkward, it is actually surprisingly effective.

The second option works in a slightly similar fashion until the mouse cursor reaches the extremities of the screen. At this point, it is possible to move the cursor as you would if you were controlling it with a mouse. Both methods of interacting with the mouse work well, even on the iPhone's relatively small screen. A simple button tap at the bottom of the screen enables you to switch between using the left and right mouse button.

When it comes to typing, a keyboard can be summoned up from the bottom of the screen, and the typing experience is the same as in any other iOS app. In addition to the standard set of keys, extra buttons are available to gain access to special features such as the Windows key and function keys. Special keys are also available to quickly perform common keyboard shortcuts such as Alt and Tab. Familiar gestures are used to interact with your desktop in other ways -- pinching can be used to zoom in and out of your desktop for instance, while two fingers can be used to mimic scrolling with a scroll wheel.

The app can even be used in conjunction with multi-monitor setups and to avoid the need to leave your computer switched on around the clock to allow for remote sessions, Wake On LAN can be used to power up a computer from sleep mode.

LogMeIn Ignition

LogMeIn Ignition is a superbly executed remote access app. While using your iOS device to control and use your desktop computer is never going to be the same as actually sitting at your desk, this is about as close as you can get using a small touch screen and no keyboard or mouse. The fact that the app can be used with the free version of the desktop software is a major advantage.

Verdict: A great solution for iPhone and iPad owners who need to be able to access their Mac or PC on the move.

We Like: Great control system, fast performance, range of security options, easy to set up.

We Don't Like: Price is a little high for an iOS app.

Google releases Honeycomb platform preview: Android's biggest redesign yet

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 12:51am CET par Tim Conneally

Android 3.0 Honeycomb Tablet UI

Today, Google rolled out the first platform preview of the Android 3.0 software development kit, giving the public its first look at Android for tablets and its "holographic" user interface.

This is easily the most dramatic design shift Android has yet experienced, but all of the operating system's key features have been retained.

For example, there are still five homescreens for the user to put widgets and application shortcuts upon, and there is still the launcher "drawer" of applications, but the "system bar" found across the top of the screen in previous versions of Android has moved to the bottom.

By doing this, Google was able to replace the physical navigation buttons required in Android (back, menu, home) with soft keys in the system bar. Notifications, which play an increased role in Android 3.0, have been moved down here as well. The SDK gives app developers the ability to include large and small icons, a title, and a priority flag in addition to the already available notification properties.

Whenever an application is running, it has its own "Action Bar" across the top, which mimics Windows' traditional "File, Edit..." menu layout. This is completely new to Android. The system's soft keyboard and clipboard copy/paste functionality have both been redesigned for larger screens as well.

Android 3.0 Honeycomb Tablet UI

The system's core applications have been redesigned too, and the browser has taken on much more of a "Chromey" feel with tabs instead of windows, Chrome's incognito browsing mode, and the ability to sync bookmarks with Chrome. The camera, gallery, contacts, and email applications, likewise, have all been redesigned to take better advantage of a tablet's increased screen real estate.

Android 3.0 Honeycomb new Browser

In terms of hardware support, Honeycomb can run on either multi-core and single core processors. And hardware acceleration for Canvas, Paint, Xfermode, ColorFilter, Shader, and Camera are supported. Android 3.0 includes a built-in Media/Photo Transfer Protocol that lets users sync media files with a USB-connected camera or desktop computer without needing to mount a USB mass-storage device, and support for full QWERTY keyboards over either USB or Bluetooth has been added.

This platform preview includes a Honeycomb system image for emulators, and the Android 3.0 library with preliminary APIs. The final version of the Android 3.0 SDK with all the finalized APIs is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

OpenOffice.org 3.3 is ready -- download it now

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 12:37am CET

It's taken quite some time, and no less than 10 Release Candidate builds, but all the preparations are about to pay off -- the final release of OpenOffice.org 3.3 officially released today, and it's packed with handy new features that, taken together, make the suite significantly more comfortable to use.

All the major apps now come with a new Find toolbar, for example, allowing you to quickly search a document's text. Charts may be enhanced with drawing objects. In a click or two you can insert anything from lines, rectangles or text for simple captions, say, up to cubes, symbols, blocks, even flowcharts. The Calc spreadsheet now supports 1,048,576 rows, up from 65,536.

Adding new Impress slides of the layout you require becomes much easier in 3.3: a new toolbar option allows you to choose the layout you need, or duplicate the existing slide, in a couple of clicks.

Document-level additions include the option to define any number of custom document properties as name, value pairs. While you can now have two levels of password-protection; one that prevents unauthorised users from viewing the file, another that will stop them from making changes. And the revamped Print interface now includes an integrated preview of your document, and allows you to make all the changes you need from this one dialog.

OpenOffice.org 3.3 is a worthwhile upgrade, then, with useful incremental improvements across the suite. You can read more about the new additions on the official site, and the program is available for download now.

Network Edition brings CCleaner capabilities to IT organizations

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 12:27am CET

Piriform Software has released a brand new version of its popular cleaning tool for Windows. CCleaner Network Edition is aimed at corporations wishing to use CCleaner's capabilities across an entire network. It's designed to be managed from a single central location, allowing IT managers to set up one cleaning profile that's implemented consistently across all workstations running CCleaner. Prices start from $250 for 10 computers, although Piriform is currently offering a 20 percent discount during the program's launch period.

Hot on the heels of the Network Edition's release, Piriform has also updated the standalone edition of CCleaner, which is free for personal and non-commercial use. CCleaner 3.03 adds support for three minor browsers -- including Chrome Plus -- alongside its existing support for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera.

CCleaner 3.03 also adds support for cleaning out saved browser passwords, as well as capabilities for cleaning multiple profiles in Chrome and the Recent Search History in Safari. It also improves support for cleaning saved forms in Chromium-based browsers and the AutoComplete Form history in IE9. Cached cleaning in Firefox and Opera has also been improved.

The program also adds support to a number of programs, including Adobe Reader 9 and X, and a bug whereby autocorrect settings were removed when cleaning Office XP and 2003 has also been fixed. There are more rules for cleaning out the Windows Most Recently Used (MRU) files list, along with a number of minor UI improvements and fixes.

CCleaner 3.03 and CCleaner Network Edition require Windows 2000 or later; the Network Edition also supports Windows Server 2003 and 2008.

Tip: How to change your Mac start-up screen

Publié: janvier 27, 2011, 12:21am CET

Apple is as much about its looks as its substance, which begs the question: why that drab, grey start-up screen with the darker grey Apple logo superimposed over it? Hardly inspiring stuff when you boot your Mac first thing in the morning.

Thankfully, there's a free tool out there that can help you transform this dull and uninspiring backdrop into something more colorful and personal. BootXChanger runs on Intel Macs sporting Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or later, and is simplicity itself to use.

Once downloaded, double-click the disk image file to open it, drag the BootXChanger folder into Applications and launch the program. You'll notice the disk image also contains a folder full of sample images, so open this and drag one of the icons onto the BootXChanger window -- you'll see it replaces the current icon, and immediately looks a little brighter. Click "Apply," enter your password and then reboot to see the new effect.

That's all well and good, but why not go a little further? You can drag just about any image on to the window, so if you'd prefer a family snap or a more colourful backdrop, try that instead. The only possible problem will occur if you choose an image that's larger than the desktop -- it'll either be resized or ignored, so save yourself time and manually shrink it in your image editor to fit the screen.

Also beware using images containing transparency, as the transparent pixels will be automatically replaced with the current background color. This will affect the image itself, so work on a copy. And what of that drab background color? No problem -- just click the appropriate button to jolly it up, or choose a shade more in keeping with your chosen image.

BootXChanger is a fabulous little hassle-free tool for those wanting to inject a little bit of colour into their start-up sequence -- go on, give it a go (you can always restore the default, drab logo with a single click if it doesn't meet your needs).

FCC clears LightSquared for LTE wholesaling

Publié: janvier 26, 2011, 10:28pm CET par Tim Conneally

LightSquared, the company building the first hybrid LTE/Mobile Satellite network in the U.S. announced Wednesday that it can now vend its services as either dual-mode satellite/cellular or just as cellular, according to the demands of its wholesale partners.

This announcement is significant because LightSquared is building a wholesale network that will end up being sold to consumers under more familiar networks' brand names.

At this point, no partnerships have been announced, and networks on every tier could benefit from the expanded coverage they could buy from LightSquared.

T-Mobile USA would be the obvious first choice, since it doesn't have its own LTE network planned. But it could just as easily benefit Cellular South, which is building a 700MHz LTE network, but refuses to share coverage with much larger Verizon Wireless. Even Verizon Wireless and AT&T could use LightSquared to flesh out LTE coverage for their much larger subscriber bases.

With the FCC's clearance, any of these networks can partner with LightSquared exclusively for its terrestrial LTE infrastructure, and they won't have to also sign on to sell its MSS Satellite network services.

"LightSquared's network will provide a robust, open-access network that will permit reliable and affordable service to customers across the country in every market segment," a statement from the company said on Wednesday. "The FCC's grant of this application is an essential building block for our network as we build out to meet the rigorous construction timetable that the Commission has made a condition of our authorization and reaffirmed in today's grant of our request."

LightSquared expects to deploy 40,000 LTE base stations across the United States by 2015, which Nokia-Siemens Networks said will be the largest outsourced deployment of a wireless network in U.S. history.

Facebook statuses may become ads without any opt-out

Publié: janvier 26, 2011, 9:47pm CET par Ed Oswald

Facebook has unveiled a new advertising option for its partners that would allow companies to pull user's statuses and use them in ads on the service. Called Sponsored Stories, stauses of a user mentioning a company would be able to be used by a company in ads to that user's friends.

Users would not be able to opt-out of being used in these ads. Facebook said that check-ins to business and places are lost in our ever-moving news feeds, and companies have no way of taking advantage of the marketing potential these statuses could have. Thus, Sponsored Stories would essentially turn any status mentioning a brand into a potential ad.

In a video promoting the new offering, Facebook product manager Kent Schoen says our friends influence our purchases. "All of us aren't out there trying to market ourselves or trying to influence people to go somewhere or do something," Schoen says. "But the reality is when we make a decision, we're looking for information, and we want that information to come from people we trust."

Advertising is becoming a crucial part of Facebook's overall business: in 2010 the company took in about $1.8 billion in revenues, according to research firm eMarketer. This is expected to rise to over $4 billion this year.

The move seems somewhat surprising considering Facebook has taken great care to appear that it is respecting the privacy of its users in recent months. The company has gotten a good deal of criticism over its data retention and usage methods. Sponsored Stories also seems a lot like Facebook Beacon, another advertising platform that the company took a lot of heat for.

In that case, activity from websites outside of Facebook were culled and then posted to the user's news feed. Several privacy groups including liberal activist organization MoveOn.org heavily criticized the company's efforts, and the fallout resulted in several lawsuits against the company and its participants.

As a result of the class action suit, Beacon was shut down in 2009.

Is iPad a PC? Canalys says yes, and that makes Apple No. 3 in global market share

Publié: janvier 26, 2011, 9:15pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Canalys PCs

In August and, again, in October, I asked if Apple would be the US PC market share leader if iPad counted in the numbers. It's a compelling question because of iPad's sudden sales success and analyst firms' strange classifications. For example, IDC counts iPad as a media tablet but slates running Windows as PCs. Today, Canalys released numbers counting iPad as a PC, which propels Apple to the No. 3 spot globally. Canalys' data is for fourth calendar quarter 2010.

My question for you: Should iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab really count as PCs? Canalys counts both and other tablets. Please answer in comments.

"Any argument that a pad is not a PC is simply out of sync," Daryl Chiam, Canalys senior analyst, said in a statement. "With screen sizes of seven inches or above, ample processing power, and a growing number of applications, pads offer a computing experience comparable to netbooks. They compete for the same customers and will happily coexist. As with smartphones, some users will require a physical keyboard, while others will do without."

Chiam emphasized: "Pads gave the market momentum in 2010, just as netbooks did the year before. We are encouraging vendors to plan for the future and not to remain stuck in the past." He added: "Each new product category typically causes a significant shift in market shares. Apple is benefiting from pads, just as Acer, Samsung and Asus previously did with netbooks. The PC industry has always evolved this way, starting when Toshiba and Compaq rode high on the original notebook wave."

Based on the tabulation change, Apple shipped 11.5 million PCs, putting it just ahead of Dell. Apple's official count is 14.65 million iPads and Macs. Without iPad, Apple shipped less than half as many PCs as fifth-ranked Lenovo, so the difference is dramatic. Apple shipped 7.331 million iPads during calendar Q4, according to SEC filings.

Canalys pads

Canalys' position on iPad butts against most other major analyst firms, not just IDC, and exposes one potential area of conflict of interest. Analyst firms like Gartner and IDC get paid to count things. By classifying iPad as a media tablet, the firms can sell data around a new category. There's less sales benefit when incorporating tablets into PC shipments.

Again, that assumes a tablet should be a PC. Again, I ask you: Is iPad a PC? Please answer in comments.

Amazon rolls out the first 'Kindle Singles,' short form e-books

Publié: janvier 26, 2011, 9:12pm CET par Tim Conneally

Wednesday, Web retailer Amazon launched its Kindle Singles line of literature designed specifically for consumption on e-readers. The works, priced between $1.00 and $3.00, include original works of prose, essays and theses, and the the first TEDBooks.

Last October, Amazon introduced Kindle Singles as a format ideally suited for the reading habits of e-reader users. They are longer than a magazine article and shorter than a novel (around 20,000 words or 60 pages,) and specifically tailored to deliver well-developed content in a very direct manner, sort of like Reader's Digest condensed literature.

"Just as iTunes allowed people to build new listening habits around individual music tracks, instead of albums, so the new reading technologies allow instant distribution of books of any length --facilitating new, more focused reading habits," said TED today in an announcement.

"The response to our announcement of Singles has been great," said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content.

Still, Amazon says the "call remains open" for writers, thinkers, scientists, business leaders, historians, politicians and publishers looking to take advantage of the new format and ultimately bring Kindle as much unique content as possible.

Yet again, comScore says Yahoo's sites had more unique views than Google's

Publié: janvier 25, 2011, 4:59am CET par Tim Conneally

Web metrics company comScore on Monday announced its Media Metrix Top 50 U.S. Web properties for the month of December, an important time to watch web traffic due to the holiday-related shopping that takes place. Once again, comScore ranked Yahoo and its related sites as the top Web property with 182 million unique viewers, beating out Google's 179.3 million and Microsoft's 177 million.

Amazon saw a spike in traffic in December that drove it up to the #7 position, and weather-related sites The Weather Channel and WeatherBug both enjoyed big spikes in unique visits due to holiday-related travel planning.

Of course, it is Yahoo's position at the top of the rankings that is worthy of thinking about for a moment. I contacted comScore to find some insight into what helped put Yahoo at the top of its ranks --whether it was Yahoo's merchant solutions or shopping comparison sites-- but the company's representatives didn't provide any further information into which Yahoo sites drew the traffic.

The reason I asked comScore about this was because in July it admitted that it had been vastly underrepresenting Yahoo in its Web traffic tallies. The error amounted to a discrepancy of more than one billion pageviews in the month of June 2010, which ended up placing Yahoo's sites behind Facebook in popularity.

But then in August, Yahoo was ranked as the number one most visited Web property in comScore's top 50. Every month prior to this in 2010, and indeed nearly every month between 2008 and 2010 in comScore's ranks, Yahoo was in the #2 position between Google's and Microsoft's sites.

Suddenly, after comScore came forward that it had mis-counted Yahoo's traffic, Yahoo's numbers were higher, and much more competitive with Google than they had been for a long time.

Nitro PDF Reader 1.4 adds intelligent hyperlink recognition

Publié: janvier 25, 2011, 2:31am CET

Nitro PDF Software has released version 1.4 of their PDF Reader, a small but worthwhile update that contains a number of useful time-saving features. Top of the list is the new intelligent hyperlink recognition, a simple but welcome addition that should help you to bypass a common PDF annoyance.

You've seen it many times: your PDF document includes a URL, but it's in plain text, and therefore clicking it has precisely no effect at all, which is irritating. Nitro PDF Reader actually scans the document ahead of time and converts plain text web addresses into active links, though, so there's no need to manually open a browser window and paste the address -- you can simply click the URL to open a site, as the author intended.

If you ever have to close a PDF file before you've finished reading it, then there's more good news: Nitro PDF Reader 1.4 should remember and restore your last page, along with the page view and zoom settings, when you next reopen the file. Or, at least, that's the theory. In practice we found this didn't work when the program was installed, as the feature was turned off by default. Fortunately it can easily be enabled from PDF Reader's settings (File > Preferences > Interface, check "Restore last view settings when reopening documents").

Elsewhere there are a range of tweaks to existing features, which generally makes the program more intuitive and easier to use. So, for instance, the Ctrl+A keypress now selects the entire document, which we'd expect, rather than just the current page (which we really wouldn't). You can now toggle full screen view by pressing F11, just as in Firefox and Internet Explorer. And the Output Pane is hidden unless it has something to display, helping to deliver a cleaner, simpler interface.

These are only small incremental changes, then, but in combination they all help make Nitro PDF Reader 1.4 an even more usable alternative to Adobe Reader. The program remains free of charge, and it's available now.

Gartner: Most CIOs have their heads in the clouds

Publié: janvier 25, 2011, 1:19am CET par Joe Wilcox

What do CIOs care most about? Cloud computing, says Gartner. They see the cloud as opportunity to freeing up resources that will be reinvested in future growth. Gartner released the findings of its 2011 CIO Agenda survey on Friday.

According to Gartner, the typical IT organization invests two-thirds of its budget to daily operations. Moving to the cloud will fee up between 35 percent to a whopping 50 percent of operational and infrastructure resources for reallocation elsewhere.

"Over the next five years, CIOs expect dramatic changes in IT as they adopt new technologies and raise their contribution to competitive advantage," Mark McDonald, a Gartner research vice president said in a statement. "Leaders will implement new infrastructure technologies to achieve increased efficiency and to redirect IT resources to create greater business impact." Resulting changes will range from "re-imaging IT's role in their organization to the creative destruction necessary to break old practices and redeploy resources to new initiatives."

More than 2,000 CIOs -- from 50 countries and 38 industries, responded to Gartner's survey. Three percent said that the majority of their IT infrastructure ran in the cloud or software-as-a-service (SaaS) technologies. While a seemingly small number, Gartner called cloud adoption as progressing faster than expected. Based on CIO responses, Gartner expects the number to rise to 43 percent within four years.

Cloud computing offers several important advantages to IT organizations:

1. Provide employees access to their files and data anytime, anywhere and on anything. This is true whether the organization self hosts or outsources cloud services to Microsoft, Saleforce.com or another vendor.

2. Better secure data from loss or theft. Too much valuable data leaves organizations via laptops and smartphones, creating security and privacy risks. A properly-run cloud service can keep more files and data behind the firewall, rather than roaming the planet on employees' corporate-issued--or even personal--equipment.

3. Diminish maintenance hassles and overhead. If Microsoft releases a new version of CRM or Exchange, the average IT organization might take years rolling it out to employees. Hosted SaaS makes the newest version immediately available to everyone, without requiring time-consuming and costly testing, certification and deployment.

4. Reduce hardware upgrade costs. Many organizations can use existing client hardware longer and dramatically reduce server infrastructure when adopting cloud services, particularly those that are outsourced.

5. Reduce software upgrades and maintenance costs. For example, Microsoft's "Software Assurance" program requires subscription-like fees for the promise but not guarantee of future software versions. IT organizations can pay for exactly the number of hosted seats they need on real subscription basis and with assured upgrade benefits.

The aforementioned cost benefits are one of the key factors driving more IT organizations to the cloud. According to Gartner's CIO survey, most IT organizations will spend about the same in 2011 as the previous year, but well below pre-recession levels. Gartner doesn't expect IT budgets to return to 2008 levels for at least another three years.

"CIOs and IT have been boxed in between modest budget growth and growing legacy requirements," McDonald, said in the statement. Cloud computing, including SaaS and social networks enables "the CIO to redefine IT, giving it a greater focus on growth and strategic impact. These are two things that are missing from many organizations." Besides cloud computing, CIOs ranked virtualization as a priority, citing similar cost-savings and infrastructure-changing benefits. The two technologies are "well-suited for this budget reality, as they offer similar service levels at lower budget costs," McDonald said.

The entire list of priorities in order of importance: cloud computing; virtualization; mobile technologies; IT management; business intelligence; networking, voice and data communications; enterprise applications; collaboration technologies; infrastructure; and Web 2.0.

What are your IT organization's top-2011 priorities? Please answer in comments.

VLC Media Player 1.1.6 update released

Publié: janvier 24, 2011, 11:28pm CET

VideoLan.org has released a minor update to its video playback tool,VLC Media Player. VLC 1.1.6 is a minor release that contains a few minor new features, plus consists mainly of bug fixes and security improvements.

VLC Media Player is both cross-platform and open-source, and is capable of playing a wide variety of video and audio formats without the need for additional codecs or downloads. It can also be used for playing back DVD movies -- a capability that first made it popular with Windows XP users (XP has no built-in capabilities for playing DVDs). Version 1.1.6 comes two months after version 1.1.5 was released last year -- over 58 million downloads of the last version have been recorded by VideoLan.org.

VLC 1.1.6 contains a number of codec and demuxer updates, which include security patches. Support has been introduced for MIDI on the Mac OS platform, and MPC SV7/SV8 format on both Mac and Windows platforms. There's also support for RTP/PCM 24-bit audio, projectM visualisations in Windows, plus improvements have been made to KDE and PulseAudio integration, subtitles, visualisations and interfaces. There's also a performance update in that Webm/VP8 decoding is now quicker than in previous versions. These tweaks are all in addition to other unspecified "miscellaneous" fixes.

VLC Media Player 1.1.6 is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux platforms, along with a separate iOS build for iPad and iPhone 3GS/4 users.

Grappler grabs online video for Macs

Publié: janvier 24, 2011, 10:59pm CET

The web is chock-a-block with video: YouTube, streaming video, downloadable movies -- the list is endless. Unfortunately, most of it is tied to the Internet: you have to be online to access it and watch it through your web browser, which isn't always the most convenient way of doing things.

Grappler promises to change all that for Mac users. This shareware tool is unbelievably simple to use: once installed, you have two choices: if you know the URL, enter it to visit the web site directly, then click on the video -- Grappler will detect it and start downloading. If you don't have a web site in mind, enter your search terms to reveal a list of possible matches, then scroll through the results that Grappler finds on the web. You can view a video direct from within Grappler, visit the parent website it's taken from and -- most importantly -- download it to your Mac for viewing offline.

Videos selected for download appear in the clip tray at the bottom of the main Grappler window: once downloaded, they're automatically converted and added to your iTunes library, which has the added benefit of allowing you to port them across to your portable device for viewing away from your Mac.

Found a video but only want the audio track? No problem: flick the switch above the clip tray and Grappler will download the audio stream on its own and send that to your iTunes library instead. It's all unbelievably simple to use, and anyone with a penchant for downloading web-hosted video to their computer will find it irresistible.

The downside is that it's not yet capable of working with all Internet-hosted video, but it works with YouTube, Vimeo and many other popular sites, and we trust the developers will widen compatibility as the app develops further.

Grappler is shareware, which means it'll download up to 10 videos before requiring you register for the full program. The asking price, $19.95, isn't prohibitive, and Grappler will run on Mac OS X. It's not made clear which flavours of Mac OS X it'll work with, but we tested it with OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) with no problems.

How to wirelessly print photos from Android with new Gmail Cloud Print

Publié: janvier 24, 2011, 9:46pm CET par Tim Conneally

Google Gmail Cloud Print

Monday, Google announced it will be rolling out its "Cloud Print" mobile Gmail feature over the next few days to U.S. users. Cloud Print lets users pair their Google ID with various printers, and then send print jobs from anywhere the user has a connection.

In mobile Gmail's options menu, there is now a button simply marked "print" which lets the user send a print job to his Cloud Print tray from his Android or iOS mobile device. From here, the user can select the destination printer and begin printing the contents of selected emails, and .pdf or .doc attachments. This is an incredibly useful feature, as it eliminates the need for printer drivers for mobile devices.

For Apple's iPad, wireless printing required third party applications to print from devices not supported by Apple's AirPrint. With this, users can copy content to their Gmail account and print it from there.

The feature is not currently enabled in the standalone Gmail application for Android, and we have not had a chance to test it yet in iOS. In Android, however, the feature worked on the first try and various text-only attachments successfully printed with no problems.

This functionality also opens a door to let Android users print their photographs wirelessly and more or less instantly from their mobile devices.

In Google's version of Android, the camera application has a button labeled "share," where your photos can be sent to various applications and websites. One of the choices is Gmail, and you can attach a photo to a Gmail message. These can be sent to yourself or saved as drafts. When the message is received in Gmail, the attachment should now have a "print" button next to the preview window.

Firefox, Chrome to gain 'do not track' functionality

Publié: janvier 24, 2011, 9:21pm CET par Ed Oswald

Browser manufacturers are heeding the Federal Trade Commission's proposal in December of last year to create a 'do not track' system, with both Google and Mozilla saying they plan to add the functionality in coming versions of their respective browsers.

Microsoft was actually first to officially announce support for the feature last month. The Redmond company said at the time it would appear in Internet Explorer 9, and allow users to opt out of sharing information with sites they do not trust. Users would be able to create whitelists and blacklists for sharing browser data.

The system in Firefox would apparently be slightly different, and require the data trackers themselves to honor the wishes of those users who select not to be tracked. The instructions to not track the user are sent with the HTTP header, but this would require the website itself to be configured to read such instructions.

No companies have so far agreed to participate, nor is it clear if the feature would be ready in time for the next release of Mozilla's browser, slated to occur within months.

Google also announced anti-tracking functionality for Chrome, available through an add-in. Again it relies on the industry's participation in order for it to work; meaning that it would be useless if the site is not participating in efforts such as the Network Advertising Initiative, a group that aims to promote and educate on the industry's data collection and management processes.

The disparate methods in which the three major browser makers are employing in dealing with browser data sharing shows what little agreement there is on handling the issue. Mozilla's might be the easiest to implement since the information on whether tracking is permitted or not would be sent every time the browser user surfs to a website.

Regardless, in the end it's up to the advertisers themselves to agree to participate. In the past, that hasn't happened: do not track was originally slated to appear in Microsoft's IE8 browser, but was pulled after advertisers claimed the technology would hurt their business. Will the industry use the same excuse again? Only time will tell.

Flash is no longer default option for YouTube embeds

Publié: janvier 24, 2011, 6:10pm CET par Joe Wilcox

I don't know how I missed this one: Google has taken iframe embedding out of beta and quietly made it the default choice. I noticed yesterday, when looking to embed a video here at Betanews. The default had been Adobe Flash with iframe embedding optional and labeled beta; where iframe was placed in the embed options there now is "use old embed code," meaning Flash. I've been embedding with the iframe code for months so Betanews readers using iPads or smartphones could watch embedded YouTube videos. Based on forum chatter, Google made the change as recently as four days ago.

Technically, the player isn't Flash-free. It's more like Flash is no longer required. Videos can stream in Flash or HTML5 video depending on the player detected. For reasons that don't make much sense from a consumer experience perspective, YouTube videos using the new embed code won't play on Safari without Flash installed (presumably other browsers, but I haven't yet tested). YouTube detects the browser and presents notice that Flash is necessary to play the video. It's not. YouTube is blocking HTML5 streamed content. Changing the browser's identification to "Mobile Safari -- iPad" solves the problem. But why is that necessary?

There has been some chatter about the embed code change over at Google's YouTube API forum. I've collected a small sampling of questions (which I've condensed) and responses from Jeff Posnick, who is part of Google's YouTube API Team.

1. Will the old embed code go away?

"We are in no way dropping support for the older embed codes. The only change that was made is in what type of embed code is generated by default."

2. Is there JavaScript support?

"There's no JavaScript API support right now, but it is something that the engineering team plans on adding in the future. We can't commit to anything right now, but I believe the general idea is to expose an API that is very similar if not identical to the existing interfaces and methods."

2. My blogging system strips out the iframe code. Why is that?

"It is definitely true that some blogging platforms or social networks might take steps to automatically strip out iframe tags or otherwise prevent the iframe embed code from working in posts. We first announced the new iframe embeds 6 months ago...and since then have worked with a number of the major content platforms to ensure that they support the new-style embed codes. There obviously is still not 100 percent support, and with the recent change to make the iframe embed code the default, we're obviously hearing more about the platforms that don't handle iframe embeds properly."

I'll add this: I've had WordPress strip out the code when using the WYSIWYG editor, but it's OK when working with the HTML editor. Typically, iframe is referenced surrounded by brackets , but using them causes the Betanews blogging system to try and read the bracketed iframe as a tag. So I've removed the brackets throughout this post, including the Google forum responses presented.

Compatibility appears to be developers' major concern right now, based on forum chatter. For example, one developer writes: "I manage the website for a hospital system that uses the Stellant content management system. The new embed code that uses iframe does not work at all." Posnick's response isn't exactly encouraging: "If you haven't yet done so, you could try reaching out to Stellant and asking them to support the iframe embed codes as well. We at YouTube obviously have no control over whether their software recognizes the new embeds or not."

Google gave developers about six months to prepare for the new embed code. Was that long enough? Did Google provide enough notice of the change? Please respond in comments or email joewilcox at gmail dot com.

Huawei accuses Motorola of trying to sell its secrets to Nokia-Siemens

Publié: janvier 24, 2011, 5:57pm CET par Tim Conneally

Chinese telecommunications company Huawei filed a lawsuit against Motorola on Monday alleging misappropriation of trade secrets, copyright infringement, and breach of contract related to Motorola's $1.2 billion wireless infrastructure deal with Nokia Siemens Networks.

In July, Motorola agreed to sell its GSM and CDMA wireless infrastructure business to Nokia Siemens for $1.2 billion, a deal which promised to vastly improve Motorola's cash situation as it moved toward the completion of its split into two companies.

According to Huawei, Motorola has purchased the Chinese company's UMTS and GSM products and sold them under its own brand since July 16, 2000. Together, the two companies had a Cooperative Development and Licensing Agreement, under which Huawei was required to provide certain confidential information to Motorola under strict protections against disclosure to third parties. Huawei's complaint says these confidentiality obligations were built to survive the termination of the development and licensing agreement.

"While Huawei has focused on innovation, research and development, Motorola has focused on sales and professional services in these technical areas," the company's complaint, filed in the Northeastern District Court of Illinois, said. "Motorola is obligated to maintain the secrecy of the confidential information that Huawei provided to it under…agreement. Now, however, Motorola intends to transfer its wireless infrastructure business, including its UMTS and GSM business, to [Nokia-Siemens], which competes directly with Huawei. Such a transfer, if consummated in its originally contemplated form, will result in the massive disclosure of Huawei's confidential information to NSN, with irreparable harm to Huawei."

Huawei worries that a large number of Motorola employees with extensive knowledge of its confidential information will become employees of Nokia-Siemens, and its lawsuit today asks for the deal between Motorola and NSN to be halted, so that arbitration can take place. The company wants a tribunal to isolate the parts of Motorola's wireless business related to Huawei's GSM and UMTS trade secrets.

Refurbished PCs: When used is better than new

Publié: janvier 24, 2011, 1:08am CET par Joe Wilcox

Whenever possible, I buy refurbished PCs rather than new ones-- and it's what I recommend to all my friends. Unfortunately, the word "refurbished" is loaded with bad connotations -- used, damaged, unreliable -- that can make items so labeled unattractive to many buyers. But it's my experience that at least with personal computers, refurbished often means better than new, because retailers or manufacturers are selling something at a loss they never want to see again. Returned once is one time too many. Twice or thrice is simply unacceptable.

I got my first tip off about the benefits of refurbished in the late 1990s when visiting a Sony repair store then located in Beltsville, Md. I observed a number of PCs and asked about them. One of the clerks explained that the shop was one of just a couple clearinghouses refurbishing Sony PCs. I expressed my disbelief in refurbished as being any good. But he explained that Sony didn't want to ever see the PCs again. His job was to make sure the refurbished PCs left in perfect working order.

The reasoning made sense. The refurbished PC has passed the burn through period. Whatever went wrong has gone wrong and been fixed. There is even less risk of problems with a rightly refurbished PC than a new one. It made enough sense to me that I bought my first refurb -- a dual-processor Dell workstation -- in 1998, saving about 40 percent off the cost of a new model. In February 1999, I bought a refurbished PowerBook G3 from PC Connection. The retailer made a mistake, that, thankfully, it didn't want to fix. I purchased a 233MHz model but received instead the 266MHz PowerBook. In 2001, I sold both computers, which ran flawlessly until retirement (PowerBook) and theft (Dell workstation). Since, I've mostly purchased refurbished PCs.

I first wrote about buying refurbished in November 2000 for CNET News.com. But some reasons for choosing refurbished have changed in a decade. Windows PC prices have fallen such that the biggest benefit -- good performance for lowest cost -- doesn't matter as much. That 20-30 percent savings off a $400 PC doesn't have the oomph as a $1,500 computer back when averaging selling prices were so much higher. There is benefit, just elsewhere -- allowing the user to get more of something else -- such as faster processor, higher-resolution display or perhaps a thinner, lighter laptop for same price (or less) as a heavier model. Still, as my Dell example will show, even for cheaper Windows PCs savings can be meaningful.

However, refurbished offers potentially more benefits for Macs because they cost so much more than do PCs. The cheapest Mac you can buy costs $999 -- that's the entry price to join the elite club. Refurbished can shave 10 percent to 30 percent off the price.

What Kinds of Deals are There?

Buying refurbished means understanding important nuances that generally only Dell makes clear. First: there is refurbished by the store and refurbished by the manufacturer. I generally recommend against store-refurbished models. I have little confidence in the quality control of back-room store technicians, which sentiment retailers justify by practice: most in-store refurbs come with limited warranty, typically from 30 days to 90 days. If retailers don't have enough confidence to back the refurbished PC with a real warranty -- without trying to get you to pay more for extended coverage -- you shouldn't believe in them either. By the way, PCs sold at retailers like Fry's Electronics in boxes stamped "refurbished" typically come from the manufacturer, but you should still check the warranty.

Manufacturer-refurbished PCs are more likely to come with the same warranty as new. Apple and Dell are good examples. The OEM wouldn't do this without having some confidence the refurb is at least as good as new, if not better. Whenever possible, I buy refurbs from the manufacturer. However, I have no problem purchasing from retailers that sell "factory refreshed" computers.

Dell Outlet cart

Contrary to popular convention, not all refurbs are returns and many were in fine working condition when sent back to the retailer or manufacturer (often not for problems but simply for buyer's remorse). Some PCs sold as refurbs never left the factory, which is often the case with configure-to-order models. Someone cancels the order, and the manufacturer is stuck selling the new PC as refurbished. By the way, these models aren't necessarily better than new. They are new, with hefty discounts.

Most manufacturers offering direct refurbs do so through an online outlet store. Dell offers the best classification, labeling outlet PCs "refurbished," "previously ordered new" or "scratch and dent." One refurbished Inspiron 14R -- 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 3MB cache; 14-inch WLED display; 4GB DDR3 memory; Intel integrated graphics; 500GB hard drive; and Windows 7 Professional -- sells for $599. Dell's main website offers the same model for $699.99 after an instant discount from $883.99. However, Dell's outlet store is currently running a 20 percent discount via coupon code. Entering the code during checkout reduces the refurbished 14R price to $479.20 with free shipping. That's more than 30 percent savings.

Dell's outlet store is by far the best organized among major manufacturers. But deals can be found elsewhere for people willing to dig. Most other OEM outlet stores also carry overstocks, which are new and not usually discounted as heavily as refurbs. Sony deals tend to be on older models, which often vary just slightly from newer ones. For example, one VAIO A390 CTO laptop -- 2.4GHz Intel Core i3 processor; 14-inch display with 1366 x 768 resolution; 4GB DDR3 memory; 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics; 500GB hard drive; Blu-ray player; and Windows 7 Professional -- sells for $869.95. A new A490 model, identically configured but with 2.53GHz processor, costs $969.99. This kind of discount is typical. While there are occasional "steals" from Sony, generally savings are not as good as many other manufacturers' outlet deals.

So what about Apple? The Mac maker labels its deals as either "refurbished" or "clearance." Assessing deals can be tricky because of subtle changes occurring from model to model. One 13-inch MacBook Pro -- 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 1066MHz frontside bus; 13.3-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution; 4GB DDR memory; 256MB nVidia GeForce 320M graphics; 250GB hard drive; and Mac OS X 10.6 -- for $999, or $200 off a new model. Savings on the 2.53GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro is 15 percent -- $1699 refurbished versus $1999 new.

I discovered all these deals on the afternoon of Jan. 23, 2011.

Refurbished Buying Dos and Don'ts

Some PC manufacturers' outlet stores you might want to visit:

There are also retailers that sell or specialize in refurbished PCs, such as Acer Outlet out of United Kingdom. I'm not familiar enough with the store to vouch for it.

Buying from outlet stores can be painless if done right, or disappointing when shoppers are carless. Here are some pointers to help make your shopping experience a good one:

1. "Open Box" is not the same as "refurbished." I never buy open box items and discourage everyone else from doing so. Open box is a total "buyer beware" situation. You don't know with whom that PC slept, so to speak, and probably don't want to know. Warranties are typically negligible, from none to as much as three months. Open box items often are missing something, and I've seen few deals that warrant the risk.

2. Check to see if the product was refurbished or is new (e.g., cancelled order or overstock). You should know exactly what you're buying and from that assess how good are the savings. Generally speaking, refurbs should cost less than overstocks or cancelled orders. But don't complain if a manufacturer offers a deeper discount on a new system.

3. When buying from a store, find out where that refurb came from. Was it returned to the store and refreshed, or did it come refurbished from the manufacturer? Again, I recommend sticking with manufacturer refurbs.

4. Warranty should be the same for refurbished models as new ones. If not, particularly if 30-90 days compared to 12 months, buy from somebody else. If the manufacturer won't back the PC like it's new, the refurb isn't as good as new.

5. There should be comparable return policy. Any refurb sold "as is" with no returns isn't worth your money. Make sure the store's return policy for refurbs is same as new. While I contend that refurbs are as good as, or even better than, new, some PCs were bad from the start and aren't getting better. The manufacturer doesn't really want to sell a lemon, and you most certainly shouldn't buy it.

Is 7-inches the better size for a media tablet?

Publié: janvier 23, 2011, 5:26pm CET par Joe Wilcox

It's the question I've been asking since selling my iPad the week before Christmas. I simply found the tablet to be too large to regularly carry about. I wasn't using it. I ask you to answer the question in comments or by email -- to joewilcox at gmail dot com. I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who have used, say, iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Late Friday, Kevin Tofel turned up the volume on the topic with GigaOM/jkOntheRun post "Why I Dumped the iPad (Hint: Size Matters)." While praising iPad's many benefits, Tofel reached the same place as I did. "The problem is that I simply don't use it any more," he writes. "Actually, let me rephrase that: I stopped using the iPad about a month ago, after I bought a 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab running Google Android."

Nine months earlier, Tofel replaced a Kindle, which "would go everywhere" with him, with iPad. He observes that Galaxy Tab and Kindle are about the same physical size. "If you look at the Tab and compare the screen size to the iPad, it's easy to think there's little difference between the two: one has a 7-inch display and one has a 9.7-inch display," Tofel writes. But when flipped on its side "the Galaxy Tab is half the size of an iPad...making it far easier to tote around and use while standing or walking." The Samsung Galaxy Tab commercial (above) aptly captures this user benefit.

Tofel gives many examples, in his post and in response to commenters. I've also considered Galaxy Tab for the size but held back wondering: Is there really all that much difference between a 4-inch smartphone and 7-inch tablet?

Apple executives don't think so. While the InterWebs are rife with rumors Apple will release a 7-inch model when iPad 2 launches, COO Tim Cook seemed to dismiss the screen size's merits during last week's Apple fiscal 2011 first quarter earnings conference call. He responded to a question about iPad competition, which he put into two categories: Bulky devices with shorter battery life running Windows and smaller Android tablets. Cook largely dismissed Android competition in part by claiming the operating system wasn't designed for the form factor.

But it was how he expressed the sentiment that reveals something important about Apple's -- or at least his -- perspective on 7-inch tablets. "You wind up having a size of a tablet that is less than what we believe is reasonable or even one that would provide what we feel is a real tablet experience," Cook said. "Basically, you wind up with kind of a scaled-up smartphone, which is a bizarre product in our view."

This "bizarre product" suits Tofel quite well, and I should point out that GigaOM is a fairly influential and well-read blog. GigaOM/jkOntheRun commenter rightly expressed the usage scenario that perhaps warrants an "inbetweener" sized-device: "Folks are missing the point here, Kevin's use case (and my own) is for a preference for the largest pocketable slate possible." To which Tofel responds: "Bingo! You hit the jackpot in the first sentence IMO."

When I worked as an analyst surveying consumers about portable device benefits that mattered most to them, smaller size and longer battery life consistently ranked near or at the top. Apple's tablet is smaller and lighter to carry than most computers, which suits the size-priority profile. But the device is still much larger than a smartphone. Is there room between smartphones with 4, 4.3 or 4.5 inch displays and Apple's 9.7-inch iPad? Portability is a huge user benefit. I will say this: Amazon finally got Kindle's size (and price) just right.

I've played with Galaxy Tab at my local T-Mobile store and must acknowledge being hugely tempted to buy one. But something holds me back, and it's not size: It's carrier commitment. I want the option of buying without having a two-year data contract. But this seems to be the model by which wireless carriers/tablet manufacturers are taking to market -- other than Apple, which is right to make 3G data plan optional rather than mandatory.

Is a 7-inch tablet an overly large smartphone or the largest pocketable slate you can easily carry? Should Apple release a 7-inch iPad? Please offer your answers in comments or by emailing joewilcox at gmail dot com.

LastPass extends support to Opera and Windows 7 phones

Publié: janvier 22, 2011, 12:53am CET

LastPass 1.72 now supports the Opera web browser in addition to Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Premium account holders can also now download LastPass to their Windows 7 phone in addition to other mobile platforms. Other premium-only new features include support for fingerprint and smart card authentication devices.

LastPass 1.72 has also been tweaked in other areas, most notably in terms of improving both its stability and performance in Internet Explorer 9. It also handles multiple Google logins where just a password is required better, and can also save usernames by default on banking websites where passwords are split over multiple pages.

LastPass 1.72 also extends support to the Galician language, and there's also improved support for form filling in Russian, Chinese, Polish, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Korean languages too. The update is automatically applied to existing LastPass users, who will be notified of the update through their browser when it's complete.

LastPass can be installed as a separate browser extension (visit your browser's extensions marketplace) or is available as a standalone Windows application in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions that includes IE, Firefox and Chrome extensions.

Duke Nukem Forever, the most delayed video game ever, launches May 3

Publié: janvier 21, 2011, 9:51pm CET par Tim Conneally

Last September, 2K Games and Gearbox Software announced they would finally be releasing Duke Nukem Forever on Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 after a delay of more than a decade. On Friday, the companies published the title's final release dates: May 3 in North America, and May 6 worldwide.

Duke Nukem Forever finally gets released, PC DVD box

Even after 2K and Gearbox demonstrated the game's release at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, there was a considerable amount of doubt and speculation from the public about the game's release. After all, it unofficially holds the title of "most delayed game of all time," with nearly thirteen years between the title's first announcement and its eventual release. Naturally, the sudden news that it would be released should be met with a large amount of skepticism.

Image from Duke Nukem Forever

But today, the game is officially available for pre-order through Amazon and GameStop for $59.99 for console versions and $49.99 for the PC version, and its release looks to be set in stone.

The biggest challenge for the game will be to rise above the story of its creation and stand on its own merits as a high quality shooter.

But, as famous game designer Shigeru Miyamoto once said, "A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever."

Twitter hit with Goo.gl faked antivirus worm

Publié: janvier 21, 2011, 9:37pm CET par Ed Oswald

A new virus is spreading around Twitter using the Google 'goo.gl' URL shortening service, posing as anti-virus software. Affected users may see tweets with links in their timelines ending with "m28sx.html," says Graham Cruley of security firm Sophos.

Clicking on the link will take the user a page that claims the computer is infected, and attempts to trick him or her into installing the malware-infected software as well as to pay for disinfection. Once downloaded, the virus then posts a tweet under the users account with the link in an attempt to infect his or her followers.

It is not immediately clear how the malware is gaining access to Twitter's API to make these posts. Typically a user must authorize any external applications to gain access to post tweets. Cruley said he isn't sure either.

"The natural suspicion would be that their usernames and passwords have been stolen," he wrote in a blog post. "It certainly would be a sensible precaution for users who have found their Twitter accounts unexpectedly posting goo.gl links to change their passwords immediately."

Twitter has acknowledged the issue. "We're working to remove the malware links and reset passwords on compromised accounts," Twitter's security chief Del Harvey said in a tweet on Thursday night.

Sophos is calling the virus 'Troj/FakeAV-CMG.' The company's software has been protecting its customers since January 12, Cruley said. Kaspersky is also offering protection in its own software as well.

This isn't the first time Google's URL shortener Goo.gl was the source of malicious activity. Last month, a worm made its way across Twitter posting links to a fake French furniture site. Clicking on the link would take the user to a site that would then execute code and help to propagate the worm.

Is FULL-DISKfighter 1.1 full-featured enough for you?

Publié: janvier 21, 2011, 8:35pm CET

FULL-DISKfighter 1.1

It's one of the most annoying Windows maintenance problems. The more you use your PC, the more your hard drive will become cluttered with all kinds of junk: leftover "temporary" files, various application caches, remnants of supposedly uninstalled programs and a whole lot more.

Of course if you've got hundreds of gigabytes of free space remaining then this may not seem to matter very much. But it will still have an effect. Excessive hard drive clutter can slow down file searches, antivirus scans, defrags, maybe even browsing in Explorer -- so cleaning up your system occasionally is a very good idea.

And that's where FULL-DISKfighter, the latest tool from the people behind the popular SPAMfighter junk mail filter, comes in, with its promise to free up hard drive space and optimize your PC's performance.

While this sounds great, the idea of paying for a disk cleaning tool probably doesn't appeal to you very much, especially as there are hundreds of fast, stable, reliable and free alternatives available. And we were skeptical, too. The authors are well aware of this problem, though, and they've attempted to address this problem by cramming FULL-DISKfighter with more hard drive maintenance features than any of the free competition (and many of the commercial programs, too). So we decided to give the program a chance, and took it for a spin on a cluttered test PC.

Find Junk Files

The most important function of any disk cleaner is its ability to find files that are safe to delete, and FULL-DISKfighter has a great deal to offer here. The program doesn't simply check your Windows temporary files, browser cache and the other soft targets, then. It also looks for Windows leftovers, including your update cache and service pack backups. It knows about the history and caches for a host of third-party applications. There's support for cleaning up several email clients (Thunderbird, Eudora, IncrediMail and more, though notably not recent versions of Outlook, Outlook Express or Windows Mail).

And, usefully, FULL-DISKfighter can even search for redundant files by extension (*.old, *.tmp, *.err and so on). Deleting these can be risky -- there's no guarantee that all *.syd files are useless, say -- but it can reveal a lot of junk that you might otherwise miss.

If there's a problem with all this power it's that FULL-DISKfighter has some overly aggressive default settings: if you don't check these then it will delete your Thunderbird Sent Mail, for instance, as well as the contents of your Windows Downloads folder, and any MSI installation files. But if you're cautious, and pay attention to what it's doing, then it's a powerful package.

FULL-DISKfighter 1.1

When we ran CCleaner on our test PC, for instance, with its default settings, the program took 253 seconds to uncover 3.99 GB of recoverable drive space. FULL-DISKfighter, by comparison, took 649 seconds to run, as the search for files by extension took a heavy performance toll (turn this off, or run a Quick Scan, and it's much faster). It did locate 5.2 GB of general redundant files (not including our Windows Downloads folder), and gave us the opportunity to free up a further 11.0 GB by wiping our restore points, too.

The program could benefit from further customization options, then, like the ability to delete the folders or file types that you specify. But even without this, its extensive support for deleting the leftovers of a wide range of applications could make FULL-DISKfighter a useful addition to your maintenance toolkit.

Duplicate and large files

FULL-DISKfighter's "Find Junk Files" module is effective, then, but that's just the start. The program offers two further modules than can also help to free up additional hard drive space.

The "Find Duplicate Files" option will scan the drives you specify to look for duplicate files, for instance. This can be a lengthy process as the program must compare files byte by byte, to ensure they really are identical. You're able to tell the program to look only for files of a certain type and size, though (MP3s greater than 1MB, maybe), which makes a real difference to performance.

It could be worth waiting for a full scan, though: this uncovered 503 duplicate files on our test PC, consuming a total of 27.6 GB of hard drive space. Many of these may be necessary, so it's important to analyze the report properly, a task made more difficult by user interface issues (the report window is small and not resizeable, so often you can't see the path of a particular file). But with a little effort we managed to free up a further 9GB of drive space.

If you're not so lucky, though, you can always turn to the "Find Large Files" folder, which works exactly as advertised: scanning for files greater than a particular size (50MB by default, though you can set this to whatever you like). The idea here is simply to highlight videos, archives, ISO files or anything else you might have forgotten: if you spot something you no longer need, select it, click "Clean Now," and you'll free up still more valuable hard drive real estate.

Defragmentation

Removing all this hard drive clutter is useful, but to get the real performance benefit you'll want to defragment your hard drive afterwards. And so it's good to see that FULL-DISKfighter includes its own built-in defrag tool. At least, in theory.

In practice, though, this isn't quite as useful as it could be, as the program ignores regular defrag standards to go its own way. Analyze your drive, say, and it won't give you the percentage of fragmented files on your drive, or their number, or which files they are: instead you'll just read that you have x GB of "unorganized space on your PC." What does that mean? We're not sure. There's no local Help file to tell you, and the online documentation is limited at best.

FULL-DISKfighter 1.1

And if you decide to give the program a chance anyway, then there are no options to configure how the program works. You can click "Organize," or "Quick Organizer," to defragment only the most commonly used files, but that's about it: you have no control over the defrag strategy, and from what we can see, FULL-DISKfighter doesn't carry out any particularly smart optimization of your file layout, beyond the defrag itself.

The Hard Disk Organizer remains a useful addition to the package, then, and using it will enhance your system's performance. But we suspect that most people will be better off using a specialist defrag tool, instead.

Observations

FULL-DISKfighter does have its share of frustrations and omissions. You need to be able to resize its windows, for instance, especially when they're displaying detailed reports. It should be more configurable, so you can have the program delete all the *.JUNK files on your PC, say, if that works for you. And even though it's very easy to use, there really ought to be a Help file to answer whatever questions you might have.

Elsewhere, though, there's no doubt that the program excels where it matters, with wide support for cleaning up all kinds of hard drive junk. This also increases the chance of deleting something important, but as long as you monitor FULL-DISKfighter carefully then you should be able to safely free up a great deal of hard drive space. And so if that matters to you then it's definitely worth taking FULL-DISKfighter for a trial run, just to see how it fares on your system.

Manufacturer: SPAMfighter
MSRP: $29.95
Platforms: Windows 2000, XP, Vista or 7 (both 32 and 64-bit versions)

Live from CES 2011: Nokia QML Rapid Development

Publié: janvier 21, 2011, 7:26pm CET

By Sean Clark

Sean Clark from mp3Car speaks with Justin from ICS, who has made a demo piece of software to highlight how easy it can be to develop QT apps. These apps are built using QML, which is specifically designed for creating user interfaces.

Some of the really attractive features of this new QML is that it has great animated transitions and state changes built into the language. It can even give you that "flick to scroll -- bounce at the end" feeling.

Now, photoshop can be utilized to design these interfaces. This creates a method for rapid development where the designer creates the interface in photoshop and the programmer can then work with each photoshop object as a QML item.

Check out http://qt.nokia.com and [ics.com] for more details.

Google going after Groupon, LivingSocial with Google Offers

Publié: janvier 21, 2011, 7:09pm CET par Ed Oswald

After being turned away last month in its $6 billion attempted buyout of Groupon, Google is now busy developing an online coupon site of its own, reports indicate. According to Mashable, like competitors Groupon and LivingSocial, users receive e-mail notifications of local deals and have a set time to act.

Activity in the online deals sector has been heating up, with Amazon investing some $175 million into LivingSocial in early December. The fruits of that partnership came to a head this week, when the site offered $20 gift cards at $10. Reports indicate that as many as $1 million in cards were sold in a 24-hour period.

Google has all but confirmed the initiative's existence. "Google is communicating with small businesses to enlist their support and participation in a test of a pre-paid offers/vouchers program," a spokesperson told Mashable. "This initiative is part of an ongoing effort at Google to make new products, such as the recent Offer Ads beta, that connect businesses with customers in new ways."

Social networking capabilities would allow participants to share deals through Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and Google Buzz, and the payment side looks to be controlled by Google Checkout, the Mountain View, Calif. company's own payment service.

It is believed that those who run deals on the new service would receive 80 percent of their sales within three days, with the remaining 20 percent held in escrow for up to 60 days in order to cover any possible refunds.

This would be slightly different than LivingSocial, which makes payments within a month of the deal's run; and Groupon, which pays its participants on a bi-weekly basis.

More information on Google Offers can be found on this fact sheet obtained by Mashable.

Amazon renames its DIY Kindle publishing platform to attract more content

Publié: janvier 21, 2011, 6:27pm CET par Tim Conneally

Amazon on Friday announced that its Kindle Digital Text Platform, or DTP, will be renamed Kindle Direct Publishing. All other aspects of the self-publishing platform appear to remain unchanged.

One year ago, Amazon launched Kindle DTP in more than one hundred countries worldwide, pushing Amazon's proprietary Kindle e-book format into the hands of independent publishers and content creators who might otherwise have considered publishing their materials on a more open format, like ePub, which Barnes & Noble's Pubit! self publishing platform uses for creating Nook-compatible e-books.

Since launching its self publishing platform, Amazon has set the precedent for royalties for self-published books and periodicals on e-readers, and has redefined what counts as literature when it's destined for consumption only on digital screens and not in print.

So with a new, somewhat more concise name, Kindle Direct Publishing will continue its attempts to get independent and self-publishers to consider the Kindle as a primary outlet for releasing their e-books.

What remains to be seen, however, is which platform independent publishers have been choosing to release their e-books upon first, and how their choice affects the accessability of their materials, especially to public libraries.

An insightful blog post from librarian and author Meredith Farkas this week said, "There's no doubt at this point: e-books do have a real place in the future of reading. Unfortunately, the way most people are using eBooks at this point completely bypasses the library, and this is what publishers and ebook manufacturers seem to want. Why wouldn't they?"

What do Apple and Google CEO changes reveal about their corporate cultures?

Publié: janvier 21, 2011, 6:21pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Apple-Google

This week Apple and Google disclosed holiday quarter earnings and made unexpected management changes. The executive shuffles and how they were announced is opportunity to compare and contrast the management styles and corporate cultures of these two hugely successful technology companies.

The basic similarities are interesting: Both companies announced better-than-expected fourth calendar quarter earnings. Both companies made CEO announcements affecting who runs day-to-day operations. Both companies assumed some risk that Wall Street would negatively respond to management changes. But they chose different approaches to announcing these changes.

On Monday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs took indefinite medical leave, technically remaining chief executive but turning over day-to-day operations to COO Tim Cook. In an official statement, Jobs assured that he would still "be involved in major strategic decisions for the company." Yesterday, Google announced that in April, Eric Schmidt will turn over the chief executive's chair to cofounder Larry Page. Schmidt will continue in a more customer facing, public role but as executive chairman, while Page will take over day-to-day operations.

Both companies had good news in their earnings, by beating Wall Street consensus. Apple separated the Jobs' medical leave announcement by making it a day earlier, during a US holiday when stock markets were closed. Google announced management changes concurrent with earnings. The question: Why didn't Apple make both announcements around the same time? Concurrent announcement worked for Google, or at least didn't hurt. Shares opened at $639.62 today, up from yesterday's $626.77 close.

Contrasting Management Styles

Differences in corporate culture is an answer -- and by no means the only one -- that I'll highlight. Google's corporate culture is more open, while Apple's is more secret, controlling. I'm not the first person to make such observation. But this week's events reveal just how extreme are the differences between the two companies' cultures. To be clear: I don't intend to make a value judgement about which is better. Both companies are hugely successful doing business in their different ways.

Apple's penchant for secrecy is legendary -- at least among the community of people closely observing the company. Apple tightly controls product design, manufacturing and distribution (granted, the latter two are outsourced) and information about them. The company protects against any mention of new products until they're ready to be announced, usually by Jobs. Meanwhile Apple maximizes the marketing benefits of rumors about future products, through occasional leaks but more from event invitations that generate a frenzy of blog posts and news stories with rumors and speculation about what to expect. Secrecy and control are among the defining corporate cultural attributes.

Google by comparison quickly discloses information about products, even before they're ready for release. Google betas are legendary for their length of time before products ever reach v1 status. Google licenses its major operating system, Android, which also was released to the open-source community. Google leads Android development, but doesn't completely control it. Google operates by so-called "Open" principles, which the company explained in December 2009 post "The meaning of open." Google also advocates the use of open standards as opposed to proprietary ones. For example, Google plans to drop H.264 video support in Chrome for open-source WebM.

With respect to technology there is no absolute regarding Apple and Google's approaches. Google doesn't disclose the secret sauce behind its search algorithm. Apple's open-source WebKit has been adopted my most major browser developers other than Microsoft. Google is among them. Apple advocates use of open technologies, too. I use open technologies more as example of corporate cultural attitudes -- about being open and public rather than secretive and controlling.

Public Google, Private Apple

The differences in how Apple and Google share information is striking. Steve Jobs doesn't blog or Tweet. Apple employees don't actively blog about their products or anything else related to the company. Apple's YouTube account prohibits comments. By comparison, Schmidt has a Twitter account, and he blogs. Google disseminates most of its announcements and other information via blog posts. Nine Google blog posts ranked in Techmeme's Top-50 tech news stories of 2010 -- four in the top 10!

Schmidt blogged and Tweeted -- "Day-to-day adult supervision no longer needed!" -- about Google executive changes, and he welcomed Wall Street analysts to ask about them (by joining the earnings conference call). Jobs did neither. Granted, he is sick, which is reason enough, but the approach also reflects the corporate culture he has fostered since returning as chief executive in 1997 (with "interim" title during the early days). During Apple's earnings conference call on Tuesday, not one analyst asked about Jobs, which is surprising given the medical leave was sudden and open-ended and that Apple has offered no plan for succession should Jobs not return. By separating the Jobs' medical leave announcement from earnings and the CEO's written request to respect his privacy, Apple communicated to Wall Street analysts that they shouldn't ask. Don't ask, don't tell.

By comparison, top Googlers preempted their own earnings conference call to accomodate questions about other news of the day. Schmidt and Page briefly joined at the call's beginning, before any numbers discussion, to let people ask questions about the executive management changes. Google has a plan for succession, which is underway leading up to the April 4th change that brings Page back as CEO -- a position he gave up to Schmidt 10 years ago.

Apple and Google are both hugely successful companies, and their different corporate cultures and policies work well for them. Is one approach better than the other? You tell me, please, in comments.

I feel compelled to close with a preemptive response to commenters here or blogging elsewhere. Some Mac fans will flame and accuse me of not understanding Apple or showing disrespect to cancer survivor and liver transplant recipient Steve Jobs, who may now be fighting for his life. They'll assert his illness is the only reason why Apple chose to separate the medical leave and earnings announcements, or that they never belonged together. However, as Andy Zacky pointed out, Apple typically announces earnings at the end of the month but uncustomarily moved the date up by about two weeks. "Apple chose to release its earnings right after a 3-day weekend in order to give investors time to soak in the news of Jobs' indefinite departure," he writes, also noting plans were in place as early as mid December. How respectful to Jobs and his illness is that?

Earth Alerts disaster tracker for Windows gets 2011 update

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 11:54pm CET par Tim Conneally

Download Earth Alerts 2011.1.0 in FileForum now!

South Wind Technologies on Thursday released version 2011.1.0 of Earth Alerts, a free windows-based application for tracking the world's natural disasters.

Earth Alerts

The program can be set up to look for disruptive nature patterns in the areas the user has chosen, these could be earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, tropical cyclones, wildfires, landslides, severe weather, or simply local weather.

Once started, the application keeps a real-time feed of activity in the areas the user has chosen, and the user can be notified of changes in conditions with either visual or audio notifications, email alerts or SMS/MMS alerts.

South Wind, which is actually just a single developer who has built these apps on donations since 2005, also released Earth Alerts as a Google Maps plugin which can be viewed here. Google Maps integration provides visualizations of recent earthquake events, volcanoes, tropical cyclones, wildland fires and severe weather warnings, but does not provide the alerting that the desktop application does.

Verizon sues FCC over proposed net neutrality regulations

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 11:38pm CET par Ed Oswald

Verizon said Thursday that it had filed suit in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in an effort to challenge the FCC's authority over net neutrality. The FCC voted on December 21 to prohibit ISPs from selectively throttling web traffic on a 3-2 vote.

The court is the same one that struck down an earlier attempt by the communications agency to stop Comcast from throttling BitTorrent traffic. At the time, the three-judge panel said that Congress has never given the FCC the power to regulate an ISP's network management policies.

The company said in a statement that it believes the authority given by the order exceeds any given by Congress, and "creates uncertainty for the communications industry, innovators, investors and consumers." Verizon has long been a vocal critic of the FCC's moves to impose net neutrality regulations on the industry, including going as far as to attempt to strike its own neutrality deal with Google in August of last year.

Supporters of net neutrality took issue with Verizon's move, and asked the FCC to act only days after the deal became public. They claimed the industry was attempting to write its own rules, and pointed out the company had conveniently left out regulation of wireless traffic.

"Verizon has long been committed to preserving an open internet and meeting the needs of our customers," Verizon deputy counsel Michael Glover said in a statement. "Today's filing is the result of a careful review of the FCC's order."

Google CEO Schmidt casually steps down, shocks tech world

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 11:01pm CET par Tim Conneally

Google CEO Eric Schmidt Google's Chief Executive officer Eric Schmidt will be stepping down from his position on April 4 of this year, and the site's co-founder Larry Page will once again assume the role of CEO.

Thursday afternoon, Schmidt announced that he will be moving to the role of Executive Chairman of Google's board of directors, where he will focus on "wherever [he] can add the greatest value." This might mean making deals, forging partnerships, broadening business relationships, or performing government outreach. Schmidt also says he will act as an advisor to Page and co-founder Sergey Brin.

"As Google has grown, managing the business has become more complicated," Schmidt said on Thursday. "So Larry, Sergey and I have been talking for a long time about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making--and over the holidays we decided now was the right moment to make some changes to the way we are structured."

No longer will the company be run by the "triumvirate" of Schmidt as leader with Page and Brin as presidents. Schmidt said Page, who was the company's founding CEO, is now ready to take the reins again.

"Day to day adult supervision [is] no longer needed!" joked the erstwhile CEO on Twitter Thursday afternoon.

O&O launches free version of its award-winning defrag tool

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 10:55pm CET

Berlin-based O&O Software GmbH has released a free defragmentation tool based on its award-winning O&O Defrag Professional software. O&O Defrag Free Edition, which is free for personal use, takes advantage of the same advanced defragmentation technologies found in the latest version (14.1.425) of its commercial sibling to promise improved drive performance for home and non-commercial users.

O&O Defrag Free Edition offers a set-it-and-forget-it solution to the problem of keeping your hard drive defragged: when first installed it gives you the option of scheduling automatic defragmentation either when the computer is idle or on a specified schedule (weekly to monthly). It also allows you to optimize your hard drive immediately by either performing a standard defragmentation or by also consolidating free space.

The program is a cut-down version of the full O&O Defrag Professional, which means several advanced features are missing (they're greyed out with a prompt to upgrade if selected). For example, only two of the eight defragmentation methods available in the Pro version are accessible here, while the Free Edition is also incapable of performing a boot-time defragmentation, excluding specific files from the defragmentation process or of defragging multiple drives simultaneously. These features are present in other free defrag tools, including Puran Defrag Free.

O&O Defrag Free Edition does support the use of physical "zones" on your hard drive for placing files based on how frequently they're accessed. However, unlike the Pro Edition, there is no scope for customising these zones. Finally, there's no support for Solid State Drives and the O&O Activity Monitor, which provides management capabilities of system resources.

Despite these limitations, O&O Defrag Free Edition is still a capable tool for most Windows users, particularly those looking for a more effective alternative to the Defrag tool built into Windows itself. O&O Defrag Free Edition is available now in separate builds for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows. It requires Windows XP or later.

Google sets its top 2011 priorities right -- on mobile

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 9:12pm CET par Joe Wilcox

In a short piece, posted in Harvard Business Review, Google CEO Eric Schmidt lays out three priorities for 2011. I'm not exactly sure when this thing was posted. I saw reference to it today on ReadWriteWeb. Google's three priorities are all about mobile, as they should be.

"First, we must focus on developing the underlying fast networks (generally called LTE)," Schmidt writes. "Second, we must attend to the development of mobile money," he continues. "Third, we want to increase the availability of inexpensive smartphones in the poorest parts of the world."

I will focus on priorities two and three, in part because they're more in Google's control. I'll start with mobile money, which I've written about numerous times. In a September 2010 post I reaffirmed a statement made earlier last year -- that the killer application for mobile will be mobile banking/money. It's not the 300,000 applications available through Apple's App Store. Mobile money is the killer application that will define which mobile platforms will eventually emerge most dominant.

In an early August US State Department presentation, Tech@State: Mobile Money and Financial Inclusion," Maria Otero, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, observed that about 5 billion of the planet's 7 billion people have cell phones. However, 1.7 billion cell phone users with low incomes do not have bank accounts. Mobile money could change all that.

Mobile money lets cell phone owners store/send/receive money in accounts associated with their handsets, providing banking and payment capabilities. In emerging markets where many people don't otherwise bank, the mobile phone becomes a personal ATM for accessing funds and paying for items. One possible future payment option: Scanning barcodes with the phone's camera. Near Field Communications (NFC) is another.

Mobile banking/money is a truly empowering application, but it's one with great limitations. For now. Mobile banking/money services are fragmented, mainly for reasons related to availability, competition, infrastructure and local financial regulations. Additionally, no major mobile OS developer has incorporated banking/money services into its platform.

Google's commitment to mobile money could be transformative for expanding Android's adoption. Developers and handset manufacturers should take notice -- there's a reason why the Nexus S smartphone has NFC capability. Remember, first the Nexus One and now its S successor is reference design for Google developers and OEMs.

"Phones, as we know, are used as banks in many poorer parts of the world -- and modern technology means that their use as financial tools can go much further than that," Schmidt writes.

Google's third priority relates to the second, by way of empowerment. Already, some handset manufacturers are putting Android on feature phones, not just costlier smartphones. Meanwhile, declining market leader Nokia has rightly focused on making available cheaper smartphones in many emerging markets while bulking up feature phones with more smartphone-like capabilities, like fully-functional Web browsers.

Schmidt's goal is ambitious. "We envision literally a billion people getting inexpensive, browser-based touchscreen phones over the next few years," he writes. "Can you imagine how this will change their awareness of local and global information and their notion of education?"

There are reasons why last week Canalys predicted that Android handset shipments would grow twice as fast as its competitors in 2011, or why Gartner predicts that Android will catch Symbian OS market share within three years. IDC puts Android second, but still two places ahead of Apple's iOS; both firms see Apple bleeding smartphone market share through 2014 (25.8 percent decline through 2014, according to IDC).

Will businesses and consumers bank on Android? Certainly not until there are practical payment systems in place. It's way too early to say. But Google's priorities are sound and remind of Microsoft at the dawn of the PC era, when cofounder Bill Gates sought to put a computer on every desktop.

By the way, if you haven't read my analysis "2011: The Year of Google," please do so. It should be a valuable lens for evaluating Google's holiday 2011 earnings report, which is due after the market closes today.

T-Mobile announces Galaxy S 4G, first device capable of fully utilizing 4G

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 8:17pm CET par Tim Conneally

T-Mobile currently only has two phones capable of taking advantage of its HSPA+ "4G" network, the myTouch 4G and the G2, but on Thursday the carrier announced the first phone to be able to support the network's theoretical maximum speeds.

Today, as part of the carrier's 4G expansion that is expected to include 25 new consumer devices this year, T-Mobile and Samsung announced Galaxy S 4G, which could be the next 4G smartphone T-Mobile will offer.

Greater details about the device were not provided today.

The interesting part of the Galaxy S 4G announcement Thursday was that T-Mobile revealed that the Galaxy S 4G will actually be the first smartphone it offers capable of the network's theoretical 21 Mbps peak downlink speed. T-Mobile has rolled out its 4G network capable of these speeds in approximately 100 major metropolitan areas, and completed its overall network upgrade at the end of 2010.

At CES 2011, however, T-Mobile USA CEO and President Phillipp Humm announced the company's plans to double the speed of its HSPA+ network to a theoretical maximum of 42 Mbps.

This upgrade will only be available in 25 major metropolitan areas by mid-2011, and the company doesn't expect to have any devices that can utilize the upgrade until the second half of the year.

But T-Mobile today did not announce pricing or availability for the Galaxy S 4G. so as the company stands at this very moment, it has promised its users future speeds up to 42Mbps, but it has yet to deliver anything even approaching 21Mbps.

OpenERP launches latest version of its open enterprise resource planning suite

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 7:44pm CET par Tim Conneally

Belgium-based commercial open source software vendor OpenERP today announced the availability of OpenERP v6, the latest version of the company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite. OpenERP v6 includes updates to almost all of the components in the suite, including its CRM, Purchase Management, Manufacturing, Warehouse Management, Project Management, Accounting, Marketing, Human Resources, and Point of Sale modules.

OpenERP Web Interface

OpenERP says this version has more than a hundred new features in total, which are the result of thousands of customer and community suggestions and more than a year's worth of development from its community of 800 individual developers.

For those who have never experienced OpenERP, the company has set up a demo server where you can play around with examples of the different software modules. The idea is that customers can build a comprehensive ERP system one module at a time, eventually growing it into an end to end solution, contained within a single piece of software.

OpenERP v6 costs $39 per user per month and comes with a 1GB per user data limitation. Like previous versions, it can be deployed on site, and this version brings with it an SaaS on-demand version.

"We believe that SaaS and Open Source are an interesting combination. The customers always have an option if for any reason the SaaS platform no longer meets their needs. It is their insurance policy, and it is in line with our no lock-in policy," Mark Laporte, OpenERP's Chief Operations Officer said in a statement today. "Our competitors will never offer such flexibility".

Deutsche Telekom weighs options for future of T-Mobile USA

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 7:34pm CET par Ed Oswald

Faced with an increasingly tough go with its US arm, Deustche Telekom met with investors on Thursday to reaffirm its commitment to the division. According to executives, the German telecommunications giant is considering a sale of some of its non-core assets in order to raise cash.

Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Olbermann and T-Mobile USA Philipp Humm both were in attendance, reportedly aimed at soothing the concerns surrounding the future of the unit. While an outright sale of the division appears very unlikely, the company appears ready to do what is needed to turn things around.

One option is to sell some of its towers to a third party -- it noted that out of all US carriers it owns the most towers. The company could then lease the equipment back, thus reducing costs associated with maintenance and the like.

Customer growth has slowed dramatically to about 10 percent per year, as opposed to a 40 percent annual growth from 2002 through 2008. In addition, churn has become an issue, and the iPhone apparently accounted for as much as 10 percent of defecting customers, the company said.

"It's time to rethink the way we do business," Humm said candidly.

T-Mobile would first focus on churn this year, aiming to push it below 2 percent this year and down to 1.8 percent by 2012. Part of the strategy includes "going big" with Android to compete with the iPhone -- although nothing was said that would give any reason to think Deutsche Telekom was not trying to bring the device to its US arm.

LTE is on T-Mobile's radar, but the carrier appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach. Its launch strategy would be dependent on readily available and reliable LTE devices, although it likely would not be for several years. Until then, it plans to lean heavily on its HSPA+ network, which it already has dubbed "4G."

Humm said that its network has the capability to rival currently available LTE speeds, reaching speeds of 42 megabits per second by the end of the year. That said, T-Mobile USA would continue to pursue partnerships with other companies to acquire the necessary spectrum for future upgrades.

T-Mobile declined to name any potential partners, although in the past WiMAX provider Clearwire has been rumored to be in discussions with the carrier. Any LTE network build-out would cost the company between $1 and 2 billion USD, capital the division right now does not have.

Former HP CEO Hurd faces renewed investigation from angry shareholders

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 5:40pm CET par Tim Conneally

Responding to a shareholder lawsuit, Hewlett-Packard will begin an investigation into the departure of former Chairman, President, and CEO Mark Hurd. Hurd resigned from his positions in the company last August amid sexual harassment claims brought against him by a former HP contractor Jodie Fisher.

it is believed that Hurd's departure was the result of a failure to cooperate with HP's executive board as it investigated the incidents, and that Hurd offered Fisher a settlement before a full investigation could be conducted.

Shareholders filed two separate lawsuits against the company in November, claiming that HP had adequate cause to fire Hurd and deny him the significant severance package he received as a result of his resignation. Hurd received $12.2 million in cash and an estimated $30 million in stock options in the severance deal.

According to a January 14 court filing from HP, the probe will investigate the "circumstances surrounding the departure of Mark Hurd and the board's decision to approve the separation agreement between HP and Mr. Hurd."

Use hidden Windows tweaks to speed up your Internet and network connections

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 5:33pm CET

Windows Vista and 7 include valuable features carefully designed to optimize your Internet and network speeds. Do these work for you, though? It's hard to say, because they're so deeply buried that there's no obvious way to see how they're set, or turn them on or off -- and so many people don't realize the options even exist.

If you're looking at optimizing your network performance, then, you should probably start by seeing which of these technologies is enabled on your PC -- and this applies even if you think you know already, as there's no telling when a Windows tweaking tool or other package might have decided to "optimize" your connection without telling you exactly what it's doing.

Click "Start," type CMD, right-click the cmd.exe link and select "Run as administrator" to launch an elevated command prompt, then type:

netsh int tcp show global

-- and press "Enter" to view your system's current settings.

Then print this out, take a screen grab, or otherwise note the settings -- you're probably going to change them, and it'll be useful to have a record of the original values just in case you want to undo your tweaks later.

Chimney Offload State

One of the first options listed here is "Chimney Offload State." It sounds a little cryptic, but the idea is a straightforward one: to transfer various network connection processing tasks from your PC's CPU to the network adapter, thus freeing up valuable processor time for other things.

This is generally a very good thing, then, and in theory at least Windows should turn this feature on whenever it detects that your hardware can handle it. So if the NETSH report says Chimney Offload State is "enabled" (or "automatic") on your PC then everything is working as it should, and you can move on to the next setting.

You can't rely on Windows activating this setting, though, so if Chimney Offload State is marked as "disabled" then you might want to try turning it on manually. Just type:

netsh int tcp set global chimney=enabled

-- and press "Enter," then reboot to try the new setting. If it's better, great; if you have problems, open another elevated command prompt and enter:

netsh int tcp set global chimney=disabled

-- to turn the technology off again.

Direct Cache Access

Windows 7 included a new technology called Direct Cache Access (DCA), which reduces system overheads by allowing a network controller to transfer data directly into your CPU's cache. That sounds good, but again there are compatibility issues: your controller, chipset and processor must all support DCA for it to work, which is probably why it's turned off by default. If NETSH reports that Direct Cache Access is disabled on your PC, though, you can try turning it on yourself. Enter:

netsh int tcp set global dca=enabled

-- and reboot to turn the feature on. Re-enter the command, replacing "=enabled" with "=disabled" if there are problems and you need to turn it off.

NetDMA State

Windows 7 also supports NetDMA, a technology that allows network adapters to transfer data directly to your application, again without needing your CPU to assist. This should be turned on, but if it's marked as "disabled" on your PC then a quick NETSH command will fix this. Enter:

netsh int tcp set global netdma=enabled

-- and reboot to turn the technology on. Use the same command, replacing "=enabled" with "=disabled" if you have any issues with NetDMA and want to turn it off again.

Receive Window Auto-Tuning Level

Network tuning used to mean manually configuring settings like your TCP Receive Window (RWIN), which defines the amount of data your PC can receive without sending an acknowledgement. And this was tricky, as no one setting would cover all situations. Fortunately, Windows Vista and 7 both support auto-tuning, where the system automatically changes RWIN to suit the current network conditions, and this can significantly improve performance.

Others have reported that auto-tuning can actually reduce network speeds in some situations, though, so you may want to try all its possible settings. If NETSH reports "Autotuninglevel" as anything other than "Normal", then, and you haven't changed the setting yourself, enter the command:

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=enabled

-- and reboot to restore its default value.

If you find this setting slows you down or causes other issues, then many guides simply recommend that you turn auto-tuning off entirely, but there are other options that may deliver better results. Entering:

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=restricted

-- will still allow some variation in your receive window, while reducing the chance of problems. And the command:

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=highlyrestricted

-- will vary the receive window even more conservatively, though still enough to perhaps improve overall network performance.

Still no good? Then entering:

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

-- will finally turn the technology off entirely.

Add-On Congestion Control Provider

A regular network connection will send data in small blocks initially, increasing these only gradually to help avoid network congestion. Compound TCP takes a different approach, ramping up your TCP window size much more aggressively, and so enabling this may improve performance.

If NETSH currently reports that your "Add-On Congestion Control Provider" is "none," then, try entering the command:

netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=ctcp

-- and rebooting to enable Compound TCP.

If performance is worse (or you're currently using CTCP, and want to see how your system runs without it), enter:

netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=none

-- to turn it off entirely.

ECN Capability

Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) provides a way for routers to signal network congestion without dropping packets. Whether it will improve performance or not depends on many different factors, including whether your router supports it. You're not sure? Microsoft's Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool will tell you more (and although it claims to support only Windows XP or Vista, we found it also delivered useful results on a Windows 7 system).

If NETSH reports your ECN Capability as "disabled" or "default" then enter:

netsh int tcp set global ecncapability=enabled

-- and reboot to turn it on.

If your router doesn't support ECN, though, or your connection has no significant packet loss, then you probably need to leave ECN turned off. So if it's currently on, and you're not sure why, enter:

netsh int tcp set global ecncapability=disabled

-- and reboot to disable ECN, and see how that affects your performance.

Test carefully

There are plenty of options to explore here, then, but be careful. Make a note of your original settings before you change anything, for instance, in case you need to restore them later.

Only change one setting at a time.

And try to find some objective benchmarks, like an online internet speed test, or the time it takes to transfer a set of files across your network, to measure the success (or otherwise) of any tweak. These should represent your typical internet or network use, as much as possible (so don't measure FTP download performance if you never grab files this way in real life). Repeat these tests a few times, note the average and the range, and you'll be in a good position to figure out which Windows network settings deliver the best results.

Gartner: 10 OEMs generated $104.3B semiconductor revenue in 2010

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 3:57pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Ten companies accounted for a third of semiconductor demand in 2010, according to data released today by Gartner. HP, Samsung and Apple topped the list. Gartner measures semiconductors on what it calls a design total available market, or TAM, basis. The leaders accounted for $104.3 billion revenue, which rose 33.7 percent year or year, or $26.3 billion.

"Semiconductor device vendors should closely monitor the changing competition structure of the target market," Masatsune Yamaji, Gartner senior research analyst, said in a statement "Do not just listen to the requirements of the current market leaders. Have a dedicated sales team, with business development sales metrics, looking for new market entrants who will be the next-generation market leaders."

Gartner singled out Apple as leading "the new competitive landscape of the IT and electronics industry," by providing vertically integrated software, hardware and supporting services and outsourcing production to electronics manufacturing service providers, typically in Asia. Additionally, its products cover the range of leading design TAM successes, such as smartphones, media players and media tablets; Gartner described the latter category as the "new killer application."

Samsung benefitted from strong demand for smartphones and flat-panel LCD TVs. Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba also benefitted from the latter category. Gartner predicted that the TV service platform market would be a "key growth segment" during the decade 2010 and noted that Apple and Google have made strategic investments in settop boxes.

"Judging from purchasing TAM, Asia/Pacific, and especially China, offers the greatest opportunities in most of the device and application market segments," Yamaji said in the statement. "It will be difficult for most of the semiconductor device vendors, especially replaceable general-purpose device vendors, to achieve the full design-win benefit without establishing a strong distribution network in Asia/Pacific."

Gartner TAM 2010

A look at Web app alternatives to the most popular software

Publié: janvier 20, 2011, 1:16am CET par Tim Conneally

Until Google's Chrome OS is released, the extremely easy-to-find Web apps that duplicate the functionality of software packed into operating systems (clock, calculator, notepad, etc.) really don't have much to offer users. Right now, Web apps that can at least approximate the functionality of some of the most-purchased software are what give users the most to look forward to.

Here, we take a look at the Web's best alternatives to the most popular boxed software (according to Amazon.)

TurboTax (various types)

It's officially "Tax Season," so the most popular pieces of software on Amazon right now, by a huge margin, are financial ones. The various versions of Intuit's TurboTax themselves make up six of the top ten.

Conveniently, there are also a ton of Tax-related Web apps that are good for individuals looking for an easy way to e-file.

TurboTax Online Federal Free Edition lets users freely prepare, print, and e-file their 2010 taxes, and all the common forms are supported, including 1040 and 1040A for individuals, Schedule B, 1040EZ for Single and Joint Filers With No Dependents, and Schedule EIC (Earned Income Credit,) and many more.

TurboTax Online supports Firefox 3.x, Chrome 4.x, Safari 4.x, and Internet Explorer 8.x, but no beta versions of any sort are supported. Because that's kind of against the whole Betanews ethos, we're just going to concentrate more on H&R Block at Home Free Edition, part of the software formerly known as TaxCut.

H&R Block at Home Free Web App

Naturally, H&R Block frequently prompts its Free Edition users to upgrade at least to "Basic" (costs $19.95) along the many preliminary steps of filling out one's tax return. Once you start using the app, though, these upsell alerts become less frequent.

Because it's a free app, you have to manually input all information yourself, including any taxable income forms such as W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, as well as all adjustments and deductions. Essentially, it's the same as if you were to fill out the forms by hand. Like many other free tax products, this is really best suited for individuals with relatively simple filing demands, and not a lot of assets and investments. Completed forms can be e-filed for free, or printed for traditional filing by mail, but downloading is not available, and State taxes incur a charge.

Photoshop Elements

While most of Amazon's most popular pieces of software fall into three categories: financial, operating system, and security, the retailer's most-gifted piece of software of the 2010 Holiday season fell under the less popular graphics software category.

Photoshop Express editor

I'm talking about Photoshop Elements, and its Web app counterpart is an easy parallel to draw: Photoshop.com, Adobe's three-year old browser-based photo editing tool. It lets users edit, share, and print photos they've uploaded to the Photoshop.com server or to sites such as Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, or Photobucket. There are plenty of image editing tools on Photoshop.com, but this Web application relies on Adobe Flash to work, and if you're avoiding that particular technology, this just won't fly.

Aviary HTML5 photo editor

Speaking of flying, Aviary, which has a highly impressive array of free Flash-based image creation and manipulation tools of its own, has a rudimentary photo editor codenamed "Feather" which runs in HTML5. Launched just two months ago, the little editor is still very limited in what it can do. However, Aviary plans to completely open source the editor in the near future, which will let anyone host, develop, and extend the functionality of "Feather" on their own.

Instant Immersion Spanish (Topics Entertainment)

While there are only a handful of linguistics applications of any sort on Amazon's software bestseller list, Instant Immersion Spanish is the only foreign language learning one on the list at all. This could be because the Internet is such a robust language learning tool, and a great deal of useful content can be found with relative ease.

Que Onda Spanish Web App

Que Onda Spanish is just one of the 14 different language lesson Web apps offered by Online Language Help LLC, an Argentinian "social language learning" company founded in 2006.

Lessons are presented similarly to certain Rosetta Stone lessons, where a word or phrase is displayed and spoken at the same time, and the user must translate. Then they are sometimes just spoken and the user must spell and translate.

There are 25 free lessons for beginners, which include greetings, social etiquette, meeting people, and the basic building blocks of grammar and syntax. The further you get into the site, and the more advanced your training becomes, the more content is behind a paywall.

Fitango beta

Fitango, a multi-purpose goal-tracking site now testing in Beta has partnered with Berlitz for a year-long language learning pilot program that will launch in the first quarter of this year. Fitango will take the books 5-Minute French and Berlitz Spanish in 30 Days and convert them into roughly 20 new "Actionplans," which are Fitango's chief commodity.

These Actionplans are essentially interactive schedules, where your daily objective is knitted directly into the calendar. Imagine if you were to set up a Google calendar alert for every time you wanted to study Spanish, and the alert itself contained the lesson you wanted to study. This is a little bit like what Fitango does, and not all Actionplans are free. The site's Berlitz Actionplans are expected to go live soon.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home

Nuance Communications is a dominant player in speech-to-text transcription software, and there are really very few options when it comes to consumer transcription solutions. However, with a little bit of ingenuity, you can have a very basic speech-to-text using only Web Apps.

With a Google Voice Account, you have the ability to call your own phone number and leave yourself a 60-second voicemail message, which gets transcribed and sent back to you as a text message and saved as a message in your Google Voice inbox. Unfortunately, even if you call and speak in a slow, deliberate cadence, you will be lucky to get a transcription that is 70% accurate. So this is an extremely erratic and failure-prone solution, but a solution nonetheless...and a free one, at that.

Google Voice Transcription message

Career Factor: Microsoft's online reality show where IT meets the social web

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 11:16pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Microsoft is using social media as foundation for a web-based reality show following the career quests of nine participants. You can follow their exploits online (e.g., at work when the boss isn't looking), no television required. The Career Factor website went live last week, but the nine participants only started updating their quests yesterday.

The website describes itself as an "online reality show based on the experiences of nine IT personalities. Each of our candidates have set a professional goal for themselves, and have invited you to follow their every step along the way." Each participant has a personal page where "you can explore their backgrounds, learn from their experiences and share your findings. You'll find videos, links to learning resources, tips and updates via their blog and various social media outlets."

It's rare enough to see someone talking about or using social media to advance IT anything -- let alone careers or learning -- so I was interested to see what Microsoft hoped to accomplish and what benefits there would be to participants and those people following their quests.

"In early November Microsoft Learning issued a casting call for the nine different story arcs, where candidates sent in an application accompanied by a video introduction of why they think they would be good for the show," a spokesman for Microsoft explained. "The participants were selected in mid-December and started prepping for the launch."

People can follow each participant on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and the icons are quite prominently placed. Each participant's page offers tabs to view "status," "video," "blog" and "bio." Videos are posted to YouTube, and there are additional social sharing options on participants' blogs.

Who are these people:

Steve is an unemployed job seeker from Brisbane, Australia. His career goal: "Update skills and certifications to find a new job."

Tim is a senior IT architect from New York City. His career goal: "Transition skills to Exchange and Active Directory."

Kevin is a student from Dallas, Texas. His career goal: "Find a job after graduating from college."

Bojan is an "aspiring Microsoft Certified Master" from London. His career goal: "Complete the MCM: Exchange Server 2010 course."

Eddie is a barista from San Diego. His career goal: "Transition back into the IT industry and obtain TS and PRO level certifications."

Rabeb is a student from Tunis, Tunisia. Her career goal: "To develop and release a Windows Phone 7 app to the Marketplace."

Neil is a "senior software development engineer" from Dublin, Ireland (he is moving to Terrace, Canada). His career goal: "To learn how to develop an application on Windows and SQL Azure."

Simon is a principal software engineer from Chester, UK. His career goal: "Get team certified to meet Microsoft Partner competency requirements."

Caroline is a student from Calgary, Canada. Her career goal: "Train to compete and succeed at the 2011 Certiport Worldwide Competition on Office."

Not all the participants have posted content. As I write, there were none for Neil, Simon and Caroline. Considering this is only officially Day 2, they can be excused. :)

Microsoft couldn't have foreseen the political upheaval in Tunisia, which piqued my interest in following Rabeb. In a blog post dated today she writes about the important responsibility she feels participating in Career Factor and her family's pride in her. "Moreover, it's the perfect opportunity to show the world that Tunisia is a small country that holds a great nation," she writes. "My country is going through big changes these days. So, my duty is to help build it and show the world that we have innovative people, great minds and brilliant ideas."

Career Factor is an intriguing concept because it's not some amorphous learning or certification site but real people looking to IT learning/training to improve their lives. Microsoft's challenge will be garnering interest in the participants -- or, better, that the self-described reality show goes viral among IT professionals.

This is just the beginning, but where does it all end? "Career Factor will continue through TechEd North America between May 16-19, where the participants will meet each other in person for a reunion video (or it should be a union video I guess, since they have never met in person)," the spokesman for Microsoft said.

Starbucks expands mobile payment service to all US stores

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 8:34pm CET par Ed Oswald

Starbucks expanded its mobile payments program to more than 7,500 of its US stores on Wednesday, following a successful pilot program in 1,000 company-owed stores plus all of its Target in-store locations. The offering allows customers to use their smart phones to show a barcode that is linked to their Starbucks Card accounts without carrying the actual card.

The coffee retailer initially began offering the app last year as a method to check card balances, reload the card, and check previous transactions. A pilot program for the mobile payments system was later launched in all Target stores as well as select locations in New York, Seattle, and across northern California.

Starbucks' app would also allow for reloading of the card and viewing past purchase history. Once the card is used, the balance is automatically updated on the card's home screen. Company-owned stories will be the first to support the mobile app, which is currently only available for iOS and Blackberry. Blackberry 8800 series, Bold, Curve, Storm, Storm2, and Tour devices are supported.

An Android version of the app is still in development, the company said. The functionality should be available immediately to customers.

"Today, one in five Starbucks transactions is made using a Starbucks Card and mobile payment will extend the way our customers experience and use their Starbucks Card," Starbucks Card and brand loyalty chief Brady Brewer said in a statement.

Users can download the app for free from either the App Store or Starbuck's website. While a card can not be purchased through it directly, customers can pick up a physical card from any of Starbucks' locations.

How many LivingSocial users can Amazon buy for $10?

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 7:16pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Deal site LivingSocial has got a helluva bargain today: A $20 Amazon gift card for 10 bucks. Who could resist that? I could. Should you?

LivingSocial specializes in half-price deals, typically specific to larger cities -- assuming you live there. I went to the site for the first time early this afternoon. By Internet magic, most likely IP address, LivingSocial correctly detected my city as San Diego. I clicked through to see the big deal, the aforementioned half-price Amazon gift card.

So what's the catch? There's always a catch. LivingSocial gets your email address -- and also credit card number to purchase (What? There's no PayPal)? It's a "let's get 1 million email addresses in a day" deal. There aren't many marketing promotions better than this. People actually pay you to take their email address. "We email our deals daily. We keep your email safe with us," LivingSocial qualifies. I don't doubt the sincerity of the privacy policy, but it's still selling my email address for 10 bucks.

The site qualifies that "Amazon.com is not a sponsor of this promotion," which technically is true. So why does this post's title say "can Amazon buy?" In December, Amazon invested a cool $175 million in the Washington, DC-based startup, which began as a "Pick Five" app on Facebook. Besides, the Amazon gift cards are doing the buying.

So, will you give up your email address for $10. I'll keep mine, thank you.

Kno invites college kids to become 'Digital Textbook' pioneers

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 7:10pm CET par Tim Conneally

Kno dual-screen tablet

Silicon Valley startup Kno Inc. on Wednesday began accepting submissions to a new pilot program for its education-focused, dual touchscreen 14.1" tablet, also called the Kno. The program is open to qualified undergrad and graduate school students who have submitted a resumé and their list of required reading to Kno.

When accepted into the program, students don't get anything for free. But, they get a 50% discount on either a single-screen or dual-screen Kno tablet. And since these devices carry an MSRP of $600 and $900 respectively, a decent amount of money is saved.

Of course, becoming an "Ambassador" for Kno means having to participate in weekly online marketing meetings, having to conduct demos and surveys, and having weekly "missions" assigned to the student. This constitutes the latter stages of development for the device, which Kno created in conjunction with panels of both students and educators.

"College students are the future leaders of America and we want to help them gain real-life experience that they can use after college to help them have a successful career," David Straus, Vice President of Product at Kno, Inc. said in a statement on Wednesday.

Five lessons you should learn from Apple's $26.7B record quarter

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 6:19pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Apple's record fiscal 2011 first quarter will be the Starbuck's coffee talk of Wall Street today. Apple beat analysts' revenue consensus by about $2.3 billion. Behind the numbers there are lessons to learn about the company and economic opportunities that competitors, non-competitors and partners should be aware.

I've chosen five things, which are presented in no order of importance. As usual, I expect to get whacked aside the head by Apple worshippers who balk at the slightest criticism. For some people, there's only one side to every argument.

1. Apple selectively timed CEO Steve Jobs' medical leave announcement to protect the stock. On Monday, with markets closed, Jobs revealed that he was taking indefinite medical leave. Investors couldn't react until yesterday. Apple shares closed at $340.65 yesterday, off the previous close -- a then 52-week high -- of $348.48.

Andy Zaky, who has one of the best track records predicting Apple quarterly results (typically better than Wall Street analysts), puts some sense to the timing. Yesterday, he observed that "since 2007, Apple has always chosen to report earnings during the last week of the month...If you go back at least 14-16 quarters, Apple has reported during the last week of the month in every one of those reporting periods."

I wondered about the timing last month, when Apple set the date about two weeks earlier than usual. "Now that we have the Steve Jobs news, the reporting date makes a whole lot of sense. Moreover, the fact that Apple chose to release its earnings right after a 3-day weekend in order to give investors time to soak in the news of Jobs' indefinite departure lends support to the idea that Steve Jobs has been planing to take a leave for a very long time."

I've long accused Apple of timing product announcements or leaking information to influence the share price -- that is keep it gong up, up, up. The same could be said about Jobs' last medical leave, which started simply with an announcement he wouldn't keynote Macworld 2009 and ended with the official news about a month later. It's all about managing perceptions. From one perspective, the approach is sensible because every public company's first obligation should be to the real owners -- the shareholders. Apple top executives knew they had bang-up quarterly results to announce. They strategically chose timing the medical leave to minimize share losses before delivering the good news that could boost the stock.

"Apple manipulates even when Steve's health hangs in the balance," rrode74 writes in Betanews comments.

2. China hugely matters to Apple. During last night's earnings conference call, Apple executives couldn't talk enough about China generating $2.6 billion during fiscal first quarter, which compares to $3 billion for all fiscal 2010. The number was repeated several times. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer also explained that the company's four retail stores in China generated more foot traffic and sales than any others. So nearly 10 percent of the quarter's revenue came from the one market. By comparison, the Americas and Europe generated so much more: $9.22 billion and $7.26 billion, respectively. That said, in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes China, revenue grew 175 percent year over year and unit shipments by 65 percent, more than any other region.

International markets accounted for 62 percent of Apple revenue during fiscal Q1, up from 57 percent three months earlier. The numbers strongly suggest China is one major factor driving up international sales. Two years ago, Apple didn't even break out Asia-Pacific as a demographic region. Now Asia-Pacific is growing fast, with China accounting for more than half the revenue generated in the region.

"Several years ago, we identified China as our top priority, and we put enormous energy into China," COO Tim Cook told financial analysts yesterday. The results of that have been absolutely staggering." That's an understatement.

3. Contrary to persistent rumors, maybe Apple isn't working on a 7-inch tablet. Cook responded to a question about iPad competition, which he put into two categories: Bulky devices with shorter battery life running Windows and smaller Android tablets. He largely dismissed Android competition in part because the operating system wasn't designed for the form factor. But it was how he expressed the sentiment that reveals something important about Apple's -- or at least his -- perspective on 7-inch tablets.

"You wind up having a size of a tablet that is less than what we believe is reasonable or even one that would provide what we feel is a real tablet experience," Cook said. "Basically, you wind up with kind of a scaled-up smartphone, which is a bizarre product in our view." Same could be said of a 7-inch iPad, should Apple choose to release one.

4. Wall Street analysts cow before Apple, or they did yesterday. Surely investors want to know: How long does Jobs plan to be on medical leave? Will he realistically return? Is there a succession plan? If I were an Apple investor and one of these analysts represented me and was on that conference call, I'd want some answers. But no one asked. Perhaps analysts were just too awe-struck by the quarter's results.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster came closest to asking the right question: "In terms of the long-term business planning, there have been a lot of questions how far out you actually plan?" He continued: "Is it a one-year plan, a five-year plan? Any sort of insight would be helpful." Jobs is seen as Apple's visionary. Munster knows that products like iPad don't just come to market overnight. What he really asked, ever so subtly, is how long before Jobs' absence would affect the product pipeline.

"That's part of the magic of Apple," Cook replied, indicating the magic is a trade secret. "In my view, Apple is doing its best work ever...The team here has an unparalleled breadth and depth of talent and culture of innovation that Steve has driven within the company -- and excellence has become a habit. We feel very confident about the future of the company." Maybe, but Cook didn't answer the question.

5. The cloud is Apple's Achilles Heal. By far, Apple's greatest strategic vulnerability remains the cloud, and nothing during yesterday's conference call -- including the questions (or lack of them) -- changed the perspective. Apple still depends on Google for maps and search on its iOS devices. Sync is convoluted, being anchored to the desktop but partially available from the cloud. Using Cook's words about Android tablets, Apple sync is a "bizarre product." There's no over-the-air-updating of iOS devices, unlike Android. I could go on and on with examples.

Nintendo's new 3D handheld launches worldwide March 27

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 4:07pm CET par Tim Conneally

Nintendo 3DS, which proved to be a real scene-stealer at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2010, will be launching in North America, Europe, and Australia on March 27, and will cost $249 at retail. It hits the market approximately one month after the device launches in Japan.

At a press event held by Nintendo on Wednesday, the company showed off a few more titles expected to be available when the console launches, including Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Kid Icarus Uprising, Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs & Cats, Steel Diver, Dead or Alive Dimensions, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, Super Street Fighter IV: 3D edition, Starfox64, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, Resident Evil: Mercenaries, Asphalt 3D, Combat of Giants: Dinsaurs 3D, Ridge Racer 3D, Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and a new Madden football title.

In total, Nintendo says more than 30 games will come to retail between the March launch date and E3 2011 on June 7.

The system's integrated software will include: Mii Maker (turns photographs into avatars), Web browser, 3D video player and media player, pedometer, and an augmented reality gaming engine.

AMD unveils Fusion G-Series, Geode's de facto successor

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 6:01am CET par Tim Conneally

AMD's "Bobcat" processor

AMD Wednesday unveiled the newest member of its Fusion APU family called the G-Series, designed for use in embedded environments, and primed to be the eventual replacement to the long-running Geode line of embedded processors.

Like the Fusion APUs for consumer PCs that AMD unveiled just prior to CES 2011, the G-Series incorporates an x86 CPU with a DirectX 11 capable GPU and an integrated DDR3 memory controller all on the same die.

These, however, are based upon the "Bobcat" low-power CPU, which can be configured with single or dual cores with either a 9 Watt or an 18 Watt TDP and speeds up to 1.6 GHz with 1MB L2 cache. The GPU core can be configured in one of two performance settings, and includes a dedicated graphics memory controller, 2D and 3D acceleration, OpenCL 1.1 support, OpenGL 3.2 and 2.1 support, dedicated hardware for H.263 and MPEG2 decode.

AMD has about ten different markets it serves with its embedded processors: thin clients, POS and kiosk systems, digital signage, game machines, medical imaging, single board computing, industrial controls, SMB-to-enterprise grade storage, ruggedized/military systems, and telecommunications/networking. Those markets used to be served by AMD's Geode line, but AMD ceased development on Geode back in 2006 and plans to sunset the chips by 2015. But as Geode fades away, AMD expects the G-Series to witness a 350% growth in 64-bit embedded computing in the next five years.

AMD may anticipate such dramatic growth because it is launching the G-Series APU with more partners than its embedded platforms have ever launched with before: Advansus, Compulab, Congatec, Fujitsu, Haier, iEi, Kontron, Mitec, Quixant, Sintrones, Starnet, WebDT, Wyse and others are expected to launch their G-series solutions in the next few weeks. Their products will include casino games, digital signs, and PC-compatible connected set top boxes, to name just a few.

Adobe to beef up Web analytics offerings with newly acquired Demdex

Publié: janvier 19, 2011, 12:51am CET par Tim Conneally

Adobe on Tuesday announced that it had acquired audience and data management company Demdex, growing Adobe's Web marketing platform further as the online advertising business continues its evolution.

Just over a year ago, Adobe acquired Omniture, a leader in web analytics and audience management that formerly acted as a partner for Adobe. Since the acqusition, the software formerly known as Omniture Online Marketing Suite has become Adobe Online Marketing Suite powered by Omniture.

DemDex's new behavioral data tracking and ranking technology will be integrated into Adobe and Omniture's solutions and optimized for Media companies, advertisers, and e-commerce outlets.

"With the addition of Demdex, the Adobe Online Marketing Suite will enable advertisers to be smarter with their advertising spend and publishers to leverage their audience data to generate more revenue," said Brad Rencher, vice president and general manager, Omniture Business Unit, Adobe. "With audience optimization, Adobe is literally changing how online ads are bought and sold."

Apple Q1 2011 by the numbers: $26.7B revenue, $6.43 EPS, $2.3B above Street consensus

Publié: janvier 18, 2011, 10:45pm CET par Joe Wilcox

[Editor's Note: This was a live document from 4:45 p.m. EDT through 6:35 p.m., following Apple's earnings call.]

This afternoon, Apple delivered record holiday sales results, reporting fiscal 2011 first quarter earnings after US stock markets closed. Investor anticipation about the quarter seemed to hold back a major stock sell off. Yesterday, when US markets were closed, Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed that he would be taking another medical leave -- for indeterminate amount of time. The sudden and open-ended medical leave raises concerns that Jobs might not return. What then for Apple?

While some folks may quibble about the future, the present looks mighty fine. Once again, iOS devices delivered handsomely for Apple, particularly iPad and iPhone. Apple shipped 7.33 million iPads and 16.24 million iPhones during fiscal Q1. During today's earnings conference call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said that Apple had sold 160 million cumulative iOS devices. In total, iOS devices accounted for about 69 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Apple reported $26.7 billion revenue and net profits of $6 billion, or $6.43 a share. A year earlier, Apple reported revenue of $15.68 billion and $3.38 billion net quarterly profit, or $3.67 per share. Revenue rose by 71 percent.

Three months ago, Apple forecasted $23 billion in revenue with earnings per share of $4.80. Projected gross margins: 36 percent. Analyst average estimates were higher than Apple guidance: $24.38 billion revenue and $5.38 earnings per share. This is now an ongoing trend of the Street expecting more than guidance and Apple still beating consensus.

Gross margins fell from 40.9 percent in fiscal Q1 2010 to 38.5 percent in the current quarter. Sales in international markets accounted for 62 percent of revenue.

Looking ahead, Apple forecasts $22 billion in revenue for fiscal 2011 second quarter, with earnings per share of $4.90. Projected gross margins: 4.90 percent.

"We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales," Jobs said in statement from his medical leave "We are firing on all cylinders and we've got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can't wait to get their hands on."

During today's earnings conference call, analysts largely shied away from asking directly about Jobs' medical leave. However, one analyst probed by asking about future product planning. Apple COO Tim Cook discussed the corporate culture Jobs created. "Excellence has become a habit," he said.

Q1 2011 Revenue by Product

Desktops: $1.73 billion, up 2 percent from $1.69 billion a year earlier.
Portables: $3.7 billion, up 34 percent from $2.76 billion a year earlier.
iPod: $3.43 billion, up 1 percent from $3.39 billion a year earlier.
Music: $1.43 billion, up 23 percent from $1.16 billion a year earlier.
iPhone: $10.47 billion, up 88 percent from $5.58 billion a year earlier.
iPad: $4.6 billion; no comparable -- new product.
Peripherals: $593 million, up 26 percent from $469 million a year earlier.
Software & Services: $786 million, up 25 percent from $631 million a year earlier.

iPhone. Apple shipped 16.235 million iPhones worldwide during fiscal first quarter. A year earlier, Apple shipped 10.468 million iPhones. Apple counts shipments into the channel, typically making them several million units higher than numbers released by Gartner, which measures actual sales. Wall Street analyst average estimate was about 15.6 million units. I typically calculate the analyst estimates, but Philip Elmer-DeWitt has done such a remarkably good job, I want to draw attention to his compilation of analyst estimates. The aforementioned analyst estimate and those for products that follow come from his compilation.

Year over year, iPhone shipments rose 86 percent. The smartphone was available in 90 countries with an average selling price of $626.

Q1 2011 Unit Shipments by Product

Desktops: 1.227 million units, down 1 percent from 1.234 million units a year earlier.
Portables: 2.9 million units, up 37 percent from 2.13 million units a year earlier.
iPod: 9.5 million units, down 7 percent from 20.98 million units a year earlier.
iPhone: 16.24 million units, up 86 percent from 8.74 million units a year earlier.
iPad: 7.33 million units; no comparable -- new product.

iPad. The tablet's impact on Apple simply cannot be understated. The company shipped 7.331 million tablets during the quarter for a total of14.789 million in just nine months. Apple's tablet generated nearly $10 billion in new revenue during the first nine months of availability. Analysts estimated 6.15 million iPads for the quarter. Apple's tablet was available in 46 countries, with average selling price of $600. Apple ended the quarter with expected 4-6 weeks inventory.

Earlier today, IDC initiated coverage of the so-called media tablet market. The analyst firm put Apple's tablet market share at 87.4 percent. IDC predicts that media tablet shipments ended the year with 17 million units. For 2011, IDC forecasts 44.6 million media tablets shipped, and 70.8 million units in 2011. But Apple likely will lose share. "Growth in 2011 and beyond will be driven by device vendors introducing media tablets based on Android and other operating systems, as well as price and feature competition and strong demand in both the consumer and commercial segments," according to IDC.

Q1 2011 Revenue by Geography

Americas: $9.22 billion, up 51 percent from $6.1 billion a year earlier.
Europe: $7.26 billion, up 44 percent from $5 billion a year earlier.
Japan: $1.4 billion, up 83 percent from $783 million a year earlier.
Asia Pacific: $4.99 billion, up 175 percent from $1.8 million a year earlier.
Retail: $3.85 billion, up 95 percent from $1.97 billion a year earlier.

Computers. Mac shipments soared during the holiday quarter. Apple sold -- what company executives really mean by shipped -- 4.134 million Macs during the quarter, up from 3.362 million units a year earlier; growth was 23 percent year over year. Wall Street consensus was just over 4 million units worldwide. Oppenheimer cited strong MacBook Air as factor driving record Mac sales. Apple shipped 2.907 million portables compared to 1.227 million desktops. Apple's Mac business had "19 quarters straight of growing faster than the PC market,"Oppenheimer said. Apple ended the quarter with expected 3-4 weeks of channel inventory.

Last week, Gartner and IDC released preliminary fourth calendar quarter PC shipment data. In the United States, Apple shipped 1.734 million computers, for 15.2 percent year-over-year growth, according to IDC. However, Gartner put Apple shipments higher, at 1.86 million, with growth a much higher 23.7 percent. Both Gartner and IDC put Apple in fifth place -- down one spot and two, respectively. That's right, IDC had Apple as No. 3 in US PC shipments during Q3 2010 and now No. 5.

The market share drops also reveal something else not apparent from the year-over-year growth numbers. IDC put Apple US shipments as less than the previous quarter -- down from 1.999 million. Typically fourth quarter should be more. For example, HP's US PC shipments rose from 4.591 million in third quarter to 5.724 million in Q4, according to IDC. Dell and Toshiba shipments grew quarter over quarter, too. A Betanews analysis of the data reveals that iPad likely cannibalized Mac sales during the holiday quarter.

Apple's numbers suggest this, too. Mac shipments rose 6 percent sequentially, which is surprisingly low going into the holiday quarter. Mac sales in Apple retail stores fell 3 percent from the previous quarter. Geographic data suggests that iPad cannibalization is likely largely contained to the Americas. One analyst asked the cannibalization question during today's conference call. Cook cautiously answered by using a common media deflection tactic. He started by going on for some time cataloging the regions where Mac shipments outgrew the greater personal computer market. Finally he answered: "Yes, I think there is some cannibalization, But I also think there is some halo effect," referring to iPads leading to other Apple product sales. Cook rightly pointed out that in the broader sense, Apple's low PC share is an advantage. "The other guys lose a lot more," because of cannibalization.

Q1 2011 Unit Shipments by Geography

Americas: 1.36 million units, up 15 percent from 1.19 million units a year earlier.
Europe: 1.25 million units, up 17 percent from 1.1 million units a year earlier.
Japan: 162,000 units, up 54 percent from 105,000 units a year earlier.
Asia Pacific: 516,000 units, up 65 percent from 313,000 units a year earlier.
Retail: 851,000 units, up 24 percent from 689,000 units a year earlier.

iPod. Apple shipped 19.446 million iPods during fiscal third quarter, down from 20.97 million a year earlier. Analyst consensus for fiscal Q1 was 17.75 million. Shipments of iPod touch grew 27 percent year over year and accounted for more than 50 percent of iPod sales. Apple ended the quarter with anticipated 4-6 weeks of inventory. Revenue for iTunes Store reached $1.1 billion.

Retail. Revenue rose 95 percent year over year, with Apple retail stores selling 851,000 Macs, compared to 689,000 a year earlier, up 24 percent. However units declined by 23,000 sequentially, which is highly unusual going into the holiday quarter. As aforementioned, I see that as signs of iPad cannibalizing Mac sales.

Apple opened 6 new stores in the quarter, for a total of 323 retail outlets worldwide -- 87 outside the United States. There was an average 321 stores open in the quarter, with average revenue of $12 million up from $7.1 million a year earlier. Apple retail stores had 75.7 million visitors during the quarter. Apple's highest trafficked and performing stores were the four in China.

This is a good place to briefly discuss geographic performance. Revenue rose 175 percent in Asia-Pacific year over year and 83 percent in Japan. Oppenheimer said that China generated $2.6 billion revenue during fiscal first quarter.

Condition-heavy approval given to Comcast-NBCU merger by FCC and DOJ

Publié: janvier 18, 2011, 9:33pm CET par Tim Conneally

Today, the Federal Communications Commission conditionally approved the license transfers to create the Comcast-NBCU joint venture that contains the media content from Comcast and NBCU's properties. The FCC voted 4-1 in favor of the transaction with Commissioner Michael Copps casting the only dissenting vote. Simultaneously, the Department of Justice has approved the FCC's proposed content licensing conditions, but the Antitrust division has not yet given clearance to the merger.

"This is the most intense review the FCC has ever run for a single transaction," FCC officials said today.

The commission's main concerns with the transaction revolved around ensuring reasonable program access by competitors and consumers, encouragement of local programming, and equal accessibility to local and multi-lingual content. The commission imposed restrictions to allow rival Multichannel Video Programming Distributors to get access to the content owned by the joint venture ("offline") and restrictions to give OVDs ("Online Video Distributors") equal access to content.

"It is with far more comfortable optimism than fearful skepticism that I vote to affirm the joint venture between Comcast and NBC Universal. My staff and I collectively spent hundreds of hours dissecting the order and debating new language, envisioning how the potential harms could quickly become sad realities, and ways in which we could safely prevent them," Commissioner Clyburn said in the FCC's hearing Tuesday. "At all times, at the front of my mind, was whether or not this transaction is in the best interest of the public, and if it would end up doing more damage than good. I stressed over the thought of looking back at this, many years from now, and wishing that I could rescind my vote due to all of the negative effects that resulted from the merger of these two companies. But after all of my hesitation, soul-searching, and long hours of review, I am confident that, if the parties live up to the terms of the voluntary commitments from the applicants and the conditions that we have imposed on them, this transaction will result in more benefits to consumers than harms."

Of course, Hulu has been one of the biggest concerns in the merger proceedings. The FCC today said no divestiture from Hulu has been demanded of Comcast, but the operator is supposed to relinquish managerial control in the online video distribution site.

"Without such a remedy, Comcast could, through its seats on Hulu's board of directors interfere with the management of Hulu, and, in particular, the development of products that compete with Comcast's video service," a statement from the FCC said.

The other half of the joint venture's approval came today from the U.S. Department of Justice, which announced that it approved the licensing structure for Comcast and NBC Universal that the FCC laid out.

"The proposed settlement will preserve new content distribution models that offer more products and greater innovation, and the potential to provide consumers access to their favorite programming on a variety of devices in a wide selection of packages," the Department of Justice said today.

However, the Antitrust division, along with five state attorneys general (CA, FL, MO, TX, WA) have filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the District Court of Washington DC, which alleges that the transaction could let Comcast limit competition from its cable, satellite, telephone, and online competitors. The lawsuits include settlement proposals from the five states.

"The Antitrust Division worked in close cooperation and unprecedented coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reach a result that fully protects competition, allowing businesses to bring new and innovative products to the marketplace, providing consumers with more programming choices," said Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. "The conditions imposed will maintain an open and fair marketplace while at the same time allow the innovative aspects of the transaction to go forward."

Calif. town considers shaming DUI offenders on Facebook

Publié: janvier 18, 2011, 9:30pm CET par Ed Oswald

Huntington Beach city council members are considering a unique way to fight back against drunk driving: posting the photos of repeat offenders to the police department's Facebook page. The idea is actually a scaled-back version of one proposed in November by Councilman Devin Dwyer, who originally wanted the photos of every DUI offender posted.

The problem of drunk driving is a serious one for this resort city a hour south of Los Angeles: according to the Associated Press, some 1,700 DUI arrests were made in 2009, and 195 were either killed or injured as a result of drunk driving. Huntington Beach ranks first among cities of its size for alcohol-related causalities.

No doubt, the idea is sure to rankle some. The police department is leery of backing the proposal as it may breed distrust and resentment among residents. A spokeperson for the deparment said the idea has "no value," arguing "law enforcement is not about public shaming."

Privacy advocates also criticize the move for obvious reasons. In the end, it appears to be a question of whether Dwyer's proposal would serve the greater good.

"My suggestion was motivated by the fact that many residents contacted me after a local newspaper stopped publishing [DUI arrests]," Dwyer said in a memo sent to city officials. "In my view, posting this information is a reasonable step to take to enhance the safety of Huntington Beach residents and visitors."

Police in the city debuted its official Facebook page late last year, but have since then used it for only promotional purposes. Using it for actual police actions would be something completely new.

Other police departments have similarly used Facebook and other social networking outlets to disseminate information on drunk drivers, however in most cases the efforts have not lasted long. At issue is the presumption of innocence, as well as whether it is legally okay for the police to release such information.

Almost nobody uses Microsoft Office OneNote, Let's see how the iPhone changes that.

Publié: janvier 18, 2011, 7:51pm CET par Tim Conneally

Microsoft Office OneNote on iPhone

Microsoft on Tuesday announced that the iOS version of OneNote is available for free download in the iTunes app store, the new note-taking app integrates with Windows Live services such as SkyDrive and Office Web Apps as well as the standalone Office OneNote 2010.

OneNote is entering its ninth year of availability in the Microsoft Office suite of products, and it has struggled to get Office users to jump in and just try it.

"We consider it the best application that no one is using," Jevon Fark, Office Marketing Manager told Betanews at CES this year. "It's very clear that the people who know it and use it love it...but at the same time, we demonstrate OneNote on the Phone, OneNote on the PC and on the Web App, and people are always like 'Why didn't I know about this!?'"

So The Office team's mission this year seems clear, to make the public aware that OneNote exists, and to convince those 78 million U.S. Office users that it's okay to just jump in and start using OneNote.

"68% of students our Office Marketing teams surveyed said their number one need is a notetaking application, but the majority of those people are using Word, and largely because they don't know or understand that OneNote exists," Fark told us.

The problem is largely that OneNote can do most everything that the individual Office applications can do on their own, but in a more open-ended fashion. Users are almost presented with too many options with how to use it and no clear definition saying "this is a task best handled by OneNote."

So iOS gives OneNote more clearly-defined usage parameters and a simple, welcoming interface. It should prove to be a good gateway for new users.

IDC: Apple leads tablet market, Amazon e-readers

Publié: janvier 18, 2011, 7:26pm CET par Joe Wilcox

IDC ereaders Q310

Today, IDC initiated coverage of the media tablet and e-reader markets, ranking Apple and Amazon leaders in their categories, respectively. Reporting on two separate product markets in one release is unusual for IDC. But it makes sense. So-called media tablets and e-readers will likely become one category in the not-so-distant future.

What's more interesting is IDC's tablet definition. In October, I observed that if iPad counted as a personal computer, Apple would likely meet or beat top-ranked HP in Q3 US PC market share. IDC has decided iPad isn't a PC, but Tablet PC would be one.

"Media tablets are tablet form factor devices with color displays larger than 5 inches and smaller than 14 inches running lightweight operating systems (such as Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS) and can be based on either x86 or ARM processors," according to IC. "By contrast, tablet PCs run full PC operating systems and are based on x86 processors." Oh yeah? So what happens when Windows 7's successor supports ARM processors, or did IDC analysts somehow miss Microsoft's big announcement during the Consumer Electronics Show two weeks ago?

By IDC's media tablet definition, iPad had 87.4 percent global market share during third quarter 2010, based on 4.2 million units shipped. IDC predicts that media tablet shipments ended the year with 17 million units shipped. Market-leader Apple will shed some perspective on the final number when announcing holiday quarter earnings later today.

For 2011, IDC forecasts 44.6 million media tablets shipped, with the US accounting for about 40 percent of them, and 70.8 million units in 2011. "Growth in 2011 and beyond will be driven by device vendors introducing media tablets based on Android and other operating systems, as well as price and feature competition and strong demand in both the consumer and commercial segments," according to IDC. Oh? So what about the iPad dominance I keep reading about. Gasp, could Apple-hooting bloggers, journalists and Wall Street analysts be wrong?

Amazon dominated the e-reader market with 41.5 percent market share, based on 1.1 million shipments during Q3 2010. Pandigital beat out Barnes and Noble -- 16.1 percent to 15.4 percent, respectively. IDC predicts 10.8 million e-readers shipped for all 2010, with the United States accounting for 72.4 percent of the total. The analyst firm expects 14.7 million e-readers shipped this year and 16.6 million in 2012.

There remains the question of definition. I understand that analyst firms like IDC get paid for counting things and doing analysis around the numbers. The more things IDC counts, the more it can charge clients. But are all these categories really necessary when there is so much overlapping functionality, particularly among e-readers, smartphones and tablets? That's a question I pose to you. Please answer in comments.

Sprint to charge smartphone users a $10 premium for data

Publié: janvier 18, 2011, 6:36pm CET par Ed Oswald

Expanding a fee already charged to those on 4G data plans, starting Jan 30 all new smartphone customers would be charged an extra $10 per month. The company says the decision reflects increased costs to provide these more bandwidth-hungry devices with data service.

The change would not affect current customers, who would be grandfathered in under their preexisting plan. In any case, Sprint's decision may also be a side effect of its push for "unlimited" plans last year.

Sprint says that on average, the smartphone customer uses ten times the amount of data as those on standard phones. However even with the charge, Sprint maintains that it is still the best value in wireless overall.

That statement would essentially be true: with the new charge, its unlimited everything plan would now cost $79.99 per month. Similar plans on T-Mobile cost $99.99 monthly, and on Verizon $119.99.

"Sprint wants its customers to experience the range of entertainment and productivity possibilities available with today's wireless technology," consumer business president Bob Johnson said in a statement. "This is responsible, sustainable and reflects our commitment to simplicity and value."

Overall among financial analysts, Sprint's price hike was well received. "Sprint has been the price leader in the market," Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche told BusinessWeek. "Sprint may be more confident in the pricing power it has with customers."

Another possible reason for the surcharge could be a desire by Sprint to prevent having to put bandwidth caps on its plans, and keep them truly unlimited. Verizon is currently investigating its options, while AT&T has tiered plans. T-Mobile does not currently have any caps, but has said it will throttle those who consume a large amount of bandwidth.

Microsoft's pitch for HTML5 logo has familiar ring

Publié: janvier 18, 2011, 6:20pm CET par Joe Wilcox

I'm not doing cartwheels over the new HTML5 logo, which reminds me of a superhero badge. It's bold, masculine and sort of orange, which will appeal how to the majority of web users? But the logo is a great idea, and it's big splash promotion -- some of that from Microsoft -- is exactly what the standard-in-progress needs right now.

Today in a blog post, Jean Paoli, Microsoft's general manager of interoperability, writes: "The logo links back to W3C, the place for authoritative information on HTML5, including specs and test cases. It's time to tell the world that HTML5 is ready to be adopted."

There's a strange appropriateness to Microsoft promoting the logo's use. It's what the company did in the late 1990s to promote Internet Explorer. During the so-called browser wars between Microsoft and Netscape, each side adopted proprietary tags not necessarily supported in the other's browser. Microsoft encouraged websites supporting Internet Explorer to put up an IE logo/badge -- to be proud, to proclaim their support. As a marketing mechanism, the logo branding was brilliant and quite uncommon.

I remember interviewing Sun cofounder and then chief executive Scott McNealy in his office about Java; some time in 1997. McNealy, an avid amateur hockey player, limped from an injury on the ice from the night before. I scolded McNealy, calling him a boy who cried wolf, for making promise after promise after promise about Java -- like powering light switches -- that never came to be. He didn't get upset at that but my accusations about Java branding. I observed that Internet Explorer logos were on tens of thousands of websites, while Java was seemingly nowhere. If developers are using Java, why are they keeping a secret, I accused. McNealy responded by pointing across the room at his Java terminal and the tiny logo on the side. He blamed his marketers for not listening.

Someone listened, or observed -- that is Microsoft's browser, and the logo program was one reason. The US Justice Department painted a black-and-white case about Microsoft triumphing over Netscape during the browser wars. Simply stated: Microsoft abused its monopoly position in desktop operating systems to gain dominance in the adjacent browser market. I don't agree with that simplistic portrayal. Microsoft's success was about more than integrating the browser into the operating system. Microsoft also made huge investments in developer programs and branding and marketing efforts. The logo program was among them.

I'm not asserting that developers and downloaders adopted IE over Netscape simply because of a logo program. That said, no one should misunderstand the influence a well-placed logo can have. Take for example TV networks, which not long after the browser wars, started putting their logos in the lower right-hand side of the screen. It's about brand recognition and in some ways territory marking -- the network asserting: "This is my content."

On the web, the logo means something more. If the popular sites support Internet Explorer there must be a reason for that. People take social cues from one another all the time, about the clothes other people where, the cars they drive, the jewelry they wear and in the 2010s which smartphones they carry (and what apps are on them). In the late 1990s, pervasive IE logos indicated that Internet Explorer was the happening browser -- to developers and web surfers.

The HTML5 logo is even more significant, and its usage communicates that the standard is ready enough to adopt. More web developers will support HTML5 as they see others doing so. Microsoft's support communicates something, too. Right now, IE has a reputation for being a non-standards browser, mainly because of persistent IE6 usage and the still-supported ActiveX plug-in architecture. Large businesses are among the biggest consumers of ActiveX, which holds back the browser's future development (backwards compatibility is a Microsoft customer priority). Microsoft's loud support for HTML5 and now its logo communicates to legacy customers and developers that the future is something else. It's one thing for Google to call for HTML5 support, and something all together different for Microsoft -- the company with the perpetual Internet Explorer standards non-compliance black eye -- to do so.

The logo is important, as is Microsoft's promoting it. Paoli and I agree. He writes: "As developer and site owners see this logo across the web, we hope it will signal that while there is still a lot of work to do until all the HTML5 technologies are ready, real sites are starting to take advantage of them today."

There remains one question. What's your reaction to the HTML5 logo? OK another: Will you mark you territory with the HTML5 logo? Please answer in comments.

Apple's future without Steve Jobs won't be as bright

Publié: janvier 18, 2011, 8:00am CET par Joe Wilcox

Today is an important, perhaps defining, day for Apple. As US stock markets open, investors will give their vote of confidence about the company's future. Yesterday, in a stunning and unexpected announcement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs took another medical leave, but this time with no set time period like the last one. "When, or perhaps that should be if ever, will Jobs return and what does it mean for Apple?" is question of the day. Later, after the stock market closes, Apple plans to announce holiday quarter earnings results.

"Strange they left it until a day that the stock markets are closed," observed Betanews reader Brian Butterworth. Commenter rrode74 made similar observation: I have zero doubt Apple announced this [yesterday] when US markets are closed. Apple manipulates even when Steve's health hangs in the balance. With the stock having climbed so high so fast, even with Steve it will hit a peak and come down. This could bring it down much faster." Apple opened at $327.05, or about 5 percent off the previous close.

Fast-flying Apple

How has the stock "climbed so high so fast?" Jobs took his last medical leave two years ago this month. Apple shares traded for $82.33 on Jan. 16, 2009 and closed on Jan. 14, 2011 at a 52-week high of $348.48. While markets were closed yesterday in the United States for the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday holiday, they were open in Europe. Apple shares fell nearly 10 percent on the Frankfurt exchange before closing down by more than 6 percent. Will US investors similarly respond, or will a day to think things over and the promise of strong holiday quarterly sales mollify their worries?

To gage the mood in one part of techdom, yesterday I asked Betanews readers: "What future does Apple have without Steve Jobs?" "I am under the impression that Jobs proverbially rubs every new device with a diaper before it goes out the shop doors," Daniel Fletcher expressed by e-mail. "If this is true, what will happen to new Apple products -- or at least how much will his absence affect peoples' psychological perception of each Apple product having personally received 'the Master's touch?'"

"No one person comes up with all the great ideas at Apple, but someone has to decide which ones to green light," Lee Meade wrote in comments. "And that's what Jobs has done at Apple on a level unparalleled anywhere. Can't see Apple continuing this amazing run of product successes without Jobs around to make those final calls."

Betanews reader Kevin Baron sees a powerful team capable of going on without the cofounder and iconic visionary: "Jobs if anything has whipped into shape a very amazing creative team, which he should be given credit for. There is a lot of great talent at Apple that understands Apple and knows how to make great products. Apple will go on just fine without Jobs. And that's a credit to Steve Jobs leadership for many years. Having said that I wish him luck and good health."

Matt Shulman agreed. "Steve Jobs turned Apple around and was a huge part in where it is today. At this point though, is he the sole person behind all their new ideas? I tend to think he's not and that with the success they've had, it shouldn't be too hard for them to keep going without him when needed. Even with Steve Jobs at the helm, I think they are going to be facing far more competition than they have in the next couple of years."

Steve Jobs' Return from Exile

How big was the turnaround? In 1996, Apple was near financial collapse. The company's failure to timely release a new operating system and Microsoft's huge Windows 1995 success exacerbated existing structural problems. Then, right near year's end, Apple unexpectedly bought Jobs' NeXT Computer company, bringing back a cofounder ousted during a 1985 boardroom coup. By summer 1997, Jobs had assumed interim CEO status (he also was Pixar's chief executive), obtained a $150-million Microsoft investment as part of an intellectual property settlement and secured a five-year Macintosh Office development commitment. The following year, Apple released the trendy translucent iMac and showed a promising rebound until summer 2000, when the recession smacked most tech companies. Apple shares collapsed.

Meanwhile, Apple pushed ahead with investments, with four in 2001 that would be foundational for major products available today. They were, in order of 2001 launch: iTunes, Mac OS X, Apple retail stores and iPod. Still, eight years ago, Apple shares traded in the doldrums. On Jan. 7, 2003, when Merrill Lynch recommend "sell" on Apple, shares traded for $14.85. Today, Apple's market capitalization is second only to Exxon and the company has more than $50 billion in the bank. If Jobs doesn't return, he will leave behind a company on solid footing by most every measure but one: Perception. Fickle investors could look at current solid financials and product pipeline and not worry, or they could run from the stock for fear of the future. As I've stated so many times, in business perception is everything.

"It's debatable whether or not Steve Jobs is personally involved in so many minute details of Apple product design and strategy," writes Betanews reader Greg Glockner. "However, it's widely believed that he does, and Apple has done little to dispel this theory."

There it is, the perception problem -- that Apple and Jobs are one. Rene Gutierrez observes that Jobs' last medial leave was but six months and the product pipeline by no means dried up: "The crucial question here is not whether Apple can survive a six-month sabbatical, but whether they can survive without him at the helm, period."

Readers Express Their Fears

For Gutierrez it is the distant and not the recent past that is foreboding: "Remember what happened to Apple when he left for good back in the 80s? While he may not be involved in every detail of his company, he is still the person who oversees the most important projects, rallies the troops, creates the 'whiz bang' aura with consumers and serves as the visionary for the company. That is something you can't substitute just with anyone. Just ask Microsoft what life has been like without Bill [Gates]."

"The departure announcement 'I'm going but I'm still going to be involved' suggests that Apple knows a lot of the share price is the Jobs-distortion-field, or perhaps sadly that Jobs in reality has entered a terminal disease phase," Butterworth commented. "If Jobs really just wanted to have some time off, Apple would have announced this on a 'normal day'; this way looks very suspect. A company the size and value of Apple should have more than one star. The impression is always that the company is the star, and if the star fades, so does shareholder value."

Brian Kramer also is concerned and wonders what investors will do: "I think the market's reaction to a leave of absence, and leaving the company are going to be two very different things. Steve leaving the company could have not only a devastating effect on the stock price, but also product development past the 1-2 years already laid out."

Douglas Utley shared a sentiment similar to what I read several places yesterday: "This just goes to show no matter how much money Steve has or how much better he thinks he is than everyone else, in the end some of the poorest of the poor have something much more valuable than Steve Jobs will ever be able to obtain again: Health."

Whatever happens today or the months ahead, I want to close by wishing my best to Steve Jobs and his family. Anyone want to sign a giant get well card?

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À la carte cable programming comes to Roku for the first time

Publié: janvier 18, 2011, 2:14am CET par Tim Conneally

Roku XDS

Roku's streaming set-top box has been an unequivocal success for the "over the top" content industry, bringing streaming video on demand to millions of homes. Today, Roku announced it has gotten its first "port" of a cable channel in its channel store: WealthTV.

When I say "port," I mean users who tune into the WealthTV channel on their Roku set top box will see the same thing that WealthTV is broadcasting to its cable partners.

Now, irrespective of their Internet provider, users will be able to add WealthTV for $2.99 per month.

"Fans that can't get our network from their local video provider can now enjoy our…programming lineup via Roku," said Robert Herring, Sr., founder and CEO of WealthTV. "We've received a large volume of consumer requests to expand our distribution to connected devices, and this deployment will let us gauge the acceptability and viability of alternative distribution methods for our traditional cable feed."

Whether or not you are interested in the content, it is a true example of a la carte linear programming, something that has thus far been frowned upon by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, and one of the great possibilities offered by over-the-top content distribution.

Microsoft announces update to Dynamics CRM Online, cloud-based rival to Salesforce, Oracle

Publié: janvier 17, 2011, 9:04pm CET par Tim Conneally

Microsoft announced the worldwide availability of its Dynamics CRM Online on Monday. The software is the cloud-based version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, and will be released globally both in on-premises and partner-hosted versions on February 28.

Dynamics CRM Online first launched in 2008 (after shedding its original "Live" moniker) to compete in the burgeoning business of cloud-based Customer Relationship Management software where Salesforce and Oracle also sought to establish dominance.

And it's a fiercely competitive business indeed. Last May, Microsoft filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Salesforce, which could have been a defensive maneuver after Salesforce acquired Jigsaw, a company whose technology both Microsoft and Oracle could have licensed for their cloud-based CRM offerings. Salesforce subsequently fired back at Microsoft with a countersuit, but ultimately settled amicably without disclosing each other's terms.

Exactly one month later, Microsoft launched the beta of Dynamics CRM 2011. Microsoft is angling Dynamics CRM Online as a product that is both affordable and easy-to-use.

"What we hear from customers is that they are looking for increased user productivity, better integration with existing tools and technologies, and more flexibility and affordability when it comes to their CRM systems," said Michael Park, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Business Solutions. "They are struck by the overwhelming amount of information and hype in the market, which is leading to confusion and frustration when trying to determine which CRM solution is the best fit for their businesses."

Microsoft says both Dynamics CRM 2011 and CRM Online offer familiar and connected experiences, through the use of the Ribbon interface, a native Outlook client, interoperability with Windows Azure, integration with Microsoft Office Communicatior and Windows Live Messenger, contextual SharePoint capabilities, and a new Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace for finding and deploying extensions and applications.

In terms of affordability, Microsoft is licensing Dynamics CRM Online for $34 per user per month. In the company's "Cloud CRM for Less" initiative, Microsoft says this is as much as 72% cheaper than its competitors.

What future does Apple have without Steve Jobs?

Publié: janvier 17, 2011, 7:01pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Apple CEO Steve Jobs

That's the question Mac commentators and fans will be asking today, with the announcement that Apple's CEO will take yet another medical leave. I want to ask the question of you. What future does Apple have without Steve Jobs? Please answer in comments or send e-mail to joewilcox at gmail dot com.

Jobs took his last medical leave two years ago this month. But there was a difference. Jobs planned for a six-month hiatus and returned during that time period, even after undergoing a liver transplant in April 2009. But today's announcement gives no time period at all, raising more seriously a question asked many times two years ago: Will Jobs return? It's one thing for Wall Street to see a finite medical leave, but something else when there is no end date in sight. Earlier fears ebbed as Jobs' return date approached. This time there is no end date.

Jobs' sudden departure is in body but not mind (he is still CEO and will "be involved in major strategic decisions for the company," according to an e-mail sent to Apple employees and publicly posted on the company's Website). But timing is foreboding and puts perspective around some recent events. For example, it was COO Tim Cook who participated in last week's Verizon iPhone announcement. News Corp. reportedly delayed launch of its iPad-only newspaper. Rumors had CEO Rupert Murdoch making the delayed launch with Jobs. That's unlikely now and reason again not to believe all the crazy rumors about Apple. That said, repeated rumors have Apple soon announcing iPad 2, something Jobs would normally be expected to lead.

"Last time he took leave, we didn't know how serious it was," Betanews reader rwalrond writes in comment. "Now we know. Steve isn't going to be CEO forever; if he's too ill to introduce a new iPad or iPhone can anyone else at Apple command the kind of attention Steve gets? This has got to be serious for Steve to leave now."

Commenter rwalrond effectively answers the question I'm asking of you: "Apple as a company will continue to be successful with or without Steve, we really need to turn our prayers to Steve in hopes that his health will allow him to leave a long happy life."

Apple chose to reveal Jobs' open-ended medical leave on a day when US stock markets are closed, which suggests someone there is concerned about how investors will respond. Markets are open in Europe, where Apple shares fell nearly 10 percent following the announcement.

Apple didn't just survive during Jobs' last medical leave, it excelled, particularly the stock, which rose from $82.33 on Jan. 16, 2009 to $163.39 on July 31, 2009. Shares reached a new 52-week high of $348.88 on Friday. But, again, Apple watchers and investors watched Cook's tactful running of the company with expectation the visionary leader would return. It's more uncertain this time.

Jobs' iconic status is indisputable, and he most certainly will have a place in the history books. But his future place at Apple is more uncertain than ever. It's time the company put in place a public succession plan, starting by getting Cook more visibility. In today's e-mail, Jobs expresses what anyone would want: "My family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy." His privacy is one thing, Apple's responsibility to shareholders -- the company's real owners -- is another. Surely Apple can reassure investors about the future without jeopardizing Jobs' privacy.

So much about Apple is perception, because the company is so adept at marketing and managing perceptions. I'm asking you about Apple's future in part to measure Betanews readers' perceptions about the post-Jobs era possibly coming sooner than many people expected. But the responsibility for managing perceptions falls upon Apple's board of directors. To reiterate: They can always plan for Jobs' return while reassuring investors there is a succession plan.

So, again, I ask you: What future does Apple have without Steve Jobs? Please answer in comments or e-mail joewilcox at gmail dot com.

Canalys: Verizon iPhone won't slow Android growth even the slightest

Publié: janvier 14, 2011, 4:56am CET par Joe Wilcox

Today analyst firm Canalys asserted that Android handsets would grow at twice the rate of its major competitors during 2011. Canalys only named one, iPhone. The prediction comes two days after Verizon announced that it would carry iPhone 4 starting in early February. Since, and even before, numerous commentaries and punditries claimed victory for iPhone against Android. Absolutely not, says Canalys.

The research firm also said that fragmentation, while greater on Android than iOS, wouldn't stop the Google-created operating system's phenomenal growth. During third quarter 2010, 20 million Android handsets shipped, for 25 percent share of the global smartphone market, according to Canalys. During the first three quarters of 2010, Android shipments grew 1,000-percent year over year.

"The growth of Android has been phenomenal, but so too has the number of related devices launched with different hardware and software specifications," Chris Jones, Canalys principal analyst, said in a statement. "This has led to the market perception of it as a fragmented platform." Jones emphasized: "Fragmentation affects all OS platforms, though it is particularly visible with Android due to the fast pace of upgrades that has characterized its growth,"

However, he rightly observed that fragmentation is "less pronounced" on iOS. "We believe that growth will continue as the pace of Android OS upgrades slows," Jones expressed, referring to fragmentation's minimal long-term impact.

Canalys was clear in its contention that Verizon wouldn't slow down Android, contradicting several days' commentaries and punditries. For example, this morning I spotted Dan Frommer post "Only Now Are We About To See The Real Battle Between iPhone And Android" at Business Insider. He makes a good case for competition between Android handsets and iPhone in the United States. Then he stretches the implications a bit too far. Android's success is global and gaining. Here in the United States, 40.8 percent of US new cellphone purchasers chose an Android handset in November, up from 27.5 percent in June, according to Nielsen. Last week, ComScore asserted that between August and November, Android pushed ahead of iPhone -- smartphone platform share among US mobile subscribers. Yesterday, ComScore revealed that Android is the fastest-growing smartphone platform in Germany.

"With Android's momentum expected to stay strong, the installed base of Android-based smartphones and pads will rapidly increase -- good news for developers," Daryl Chiam, Canalys senior analyst, said in a statement. He cautioned developers to adapt their applications to capabilities of the various Android smartphones and tablets -- something, I should add, isn't as necessary on iOS.

"To support developers, Google must also make substantial enhancements to the Android Market, including the ability to detect device platforms, highlighting the applications suitable for each, which would improve the user experience and increase the number of downloads," Chiam added.

I have to ask: If developers and Google have to make all these adaptions to different Android versions and handsets, why isn't fragmentation a problem? One answer is increasingly lower Android phone prices, which is one factor driving the platform's rapid growth, according to Canlays.

Sometimes commenters need to be put in their place

Publié: janvier 14, 2011, 3:38am CET par Joe Wilcox

Early this afternoon, I was surprised to see that Machead John Gruber had posted "Clam Chowder: Joe Wilcox on Verizon and Apple." He referred to my Jan. 8, 2011 post: "Why Verizon won't let Apple announce iPhone." The headline played off the title to a TechCrunch post I rebutted: "Why Apple Will Let Verizon Announce An iPhone." I disagreed with reasons that put Apple solely in control of the Verizon iPhone announcement, which was then just rumored.

I normally wouldn't bother responding to Gruber's typical slash-and-attack pulpit (Hey, it's free speech and his right). But Gruber quoted a comment posted here at Betanews, and that warrants response because it misquotes or takes out of context my January 8th post. In fact, I wrote a response in comments, but before posting I realized just how long it was and decided to do a separate, full-post response instead. Hence, what follows is my response to commenter iphonedroidberry, whose identity I don't know. But the commenter's first Betanews login was two days ago. You can read iphonedroidberry's full comment following my response. I will address additional issues after the quoted comment.

My Response to iphonedroidberry

iphonedroidberry wrote: "Verizon has no control over software/firmware or updates, or scheduling of update release dates...VZW also got NO exclusivity on a CDMA version of iPhone in the US that means Sprint and other smaller carriers may get their CDMA version of iPhone later this year or next year."

I reread my own story wondering where I said that Verizon would have its brand on the phone and would load it up with crapware. I asserted no such thing. My point was lost on you, I guess: Verizon and not Apple controls its network. I stand by that assertion.

I never asserted or even expected that Verizon would get an exclusive deal for CDMA. Apple is no longer in the habit of making exclusive deals now that iPhone has momentum. Apple wants distribution, and, as the exclusive AT&T iPhone deal shows, exclusive agreements hurt distribution.

I've stated in several other posts going back more than two years that Apple controls software updates and the company changed the paradigm by doing so first with AT&T. Apple's control over software updates is essential to keeping the iOS platform fairly uniform for the customer experience and also for application development.

I was most intrigued by how you used snippet quotes to emphasize your point. Verizon "takes no crap from suppliers" is fine. I wrote that. It's true, and I stand by that assertion. But you took liberties with "Verzon 'is in the driver's seat'"; that's very naughty. I wrote that: "No one should expect Verizon to take a backseat to Apple," which is much different. The full quote in context: "No one should expect Verizon to take a backseat to Apple, the way AT&T has. Verizon will be ruthless promoting the benefits of its network over AT&T's for iPhone. But Verizon also sells many other smartphones, Androids among them, and announced many new handsets during this week's Consumer Electronics Show. Verizon won't depend on iPhone the way AT&T has."

I also never wrote that "Verizon 'won't cow before Jobs.'" I wrote that Verizon's CEO "isn't the type to cow before Jobs, no matter how revered." The full quote in context: "Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg is a formidable figure in American business. His cunning acquisitions brought together Bell Atlantic, GTE and (and earlier NYNEX) to form Verizon in 2000. He didn't need an iPhone to relaunch or rebrand. Seidenberg isn't the type to cow before [Apple CEO Steve] Jobs, no matter how revered." I should point out that Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead and Apple COO Tim Cook led the iPhone announcement. Not Seidenberg or Jobs. You should really ask yourself why. The answer will shed some insight into the meanings behind what I wrote on January 8th.

I was aghast by misquote "Verizon 'set the terms of the deal.'" I wrote, in full context: "At the least Verizon is on fairly equal footing negotiating terms and selecting launch venue. Dalrymple's mistake is the same as many other people watching Apple -- assuming the company will set the terms of the deal and lead the launch. No way, Jose." I never ever said that Verizon would set the terms of the deal. I asserted my friend Jim Dalrymple and other Macheads wrongly assumed that Apple would set the terms of the deal. That's a nasty misquote.

My January 8th post had three clear points:

That Macheads (I assume you are one, iphonedroidberry) arrogantly assumed that Apple and only Apple was driving the announcement.
That it was wrong to assume Apple didn't send out the event invitation so as to avoid rumors about iPad 2 and other products.
That Verizon was a partner with Apple (at least on equal footing), which the New York launch venue indicated, among other things.

That addresses most of the points, but two remain from your list. You mocked that there was "no V-CAST software" and "no Verizon selling of games, music or apps." Verizon hasn't yet released iPhone 4, so you don't know what apps the carrier may offer. In Apple's App Store, AT&T offers its own applications for iPhone, such as the one letting U-verse customers schedule and stream programs. Verizon already offers two iPhone apps for its FiOS service. I would be surprised if Verizon doesn't eventually offer in the App Store a V-CAST app and others. While there is no Verizon branding on iPhone, I expect to see Verizon branded iPhone 4 cases.

iphonedroidberry's Full Comment Posted January 11th

Another couple of items that point out how Verizon cowed to Apple: Verizon has no control over software/firmware or updates, or scheduling of update release dates. On every Android phone they do have this type of control. VZW also got NO exclusivity on a CDMA version of iPhone in the U.S. that means Sprint and other smaller carriers may get their CDMA version of iPhone later this year or next year.
So, to recap, here is how Verizon "takes no crap from suppliers", and how Verzon "is in the driver's seat", and how Verizon "won't cow before Jobs" and how Verizon "set the terms of the deal":
a) no V-cast software
b) no Verizon software/bloatware/crapware (of their own or of their partners)
c) no verizon selling of games music or apps
d) no verizon branding on the hardware
e) no verizon control of software/firmware or updates
f) no verizon control of scheduling of release dates for software updates
g) NO exclusivity deal for a USA CDMA version of iPhone
Beyond those tiny little things, if you overlook items a thru g, yes, Verizon is definitely wearing the pants in the Apple/Verizon relationship.
I can't believe Wilcox actually published this piece of crap fantasy story masquerading as an article and actually got paid to do so.

Couple More Things

I won't speak to iphonedroidberry's motivation or zealousness, but will make an observation. Little more than three hours before this comment was posted, I quoted iphonedroidberry in post "Would you buy Verizon iPhone?"

Something else: Nearly all the other criticism of the January 8th post is directed at one sentence, which I assert has been interpreted out of context: "Verizon controls everything on its network and is quick to customize handsets with its software and services." That has been used to assert my claiming Verizon would offer its own software bundle on iPhone. I said nothing like that. In context:

Verizon isn't AT&T. The United States' largest cellular carrier isn't accustomed to taking crap from handset manufacturers. Verizon controls everything on its network and is quick to customize handsets with its software and services. AT&T is different, or was when Apple launched the original iPhone in June 2007. AT&T made lots of concessions to get iPhone, such as granting Apple control over the software and updates. The company then known as Cingular was relaunching as AT&T; iPhone would anchor the brand change. But Apple made concessions, too, as a handset manufacturing newcomer, granting AT&T exclusive US iPhone distribution rights for what was then reported to be five years.

I was making an attitudinal point about the difference between AT&T and Verizon and also how different are the circumstances for 2007 versus 2011 iPhone distribution deals. It's ridiculous that Apple would cede the huge platform advantages of distributing software to Verizon. More importantly, such action would open demands from other carriers; there's no reason for Apple to do that. Anyone who has read what I've consistently written about Apple and the advantages of controlling software load and updates shouldn't need this explanation.

Following that one paragraph, I went on to present subscriber data for AT&T and Verizon and compared Android and iPhone sales (meaty stuff ignored by my Machead critics). All to make a point: Apple and Verizon need each other, rather than Verizon begging for iPhone and Apple controlling everything as numerous commentaries and punditries had asserted.

Bottom line: I stand by my January 8th post in the context it was written. I take a lot of crap from obnoxious commenters who flame me with nothing more than ridicule. Every once and awhile I need to push back. I chose this instance because of how grossly what I wrote had been misquoted and twisted out of context.

2011 will be the year these consumer technologies finally unite

Publié: janvier 14, 2011, 12:29am CET par Tim Conneally

Based upon some of the trends we saw at the 2011 consumer electronics show, here are three technology "marriages" that look to be coming into consumer tech in a big way.

Tablets with E-books with College Students

Touchscreen slates and tablets must be stacking up like firewood in the world's electronics manufacturing facilities, because at CES this year, there were no fewer than 50 new devices of that nature unveiled. Fortunately, not all of these devices are trying to be the next iPad, and many keep the handwriting recognition aspect alive and well.

The Kno, for example, is a single- or dual-screen tablet that seeks to replace stacks of textbooks with a single device acting as an e-reader, notebook, and research portal.

Because Kno utilizes .PDF as its main document format, a device like the iON Book Saver would actually make a handy partner, letting students quickly convert entire textbooks that may not be available as downloads into on-the-spot PDFs.

Thirdly, the Microsoft Office team was really pushing OneNote at CES this year, putting a great deal of emphasis on its organizational capabilities for college students who get slide decks, emails, digital handouts, and e-books for all of their classes. In their demonstrations, they used a Lenovo thinkpad tablet to show off all the things that students can already do with Office and OneNote. So far, OneNote is very much a niche product --something on the order of 8% of Office users are OneNote users-- but college students look to be a big part of that niche market.

Smartphones with NAS in the "connected home" iphone appletv controller

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is the prominent international standard for in-home networking that lets devices simply connect and communicate with one another. The DLNA spec includes a device profile called Digital Media Controller, and any device or software certified as such can access media content on one networked device and play it on another. Airplay, Apple's new method of wirelessly sharing music and video within the home network does essentially the very same thing. Both of these technologies place the smartphone, and not the television or the PC at the center of the connected home. You can use the phone to browse the content of your network, and then choose where you want it played.

PacketVideo's Twonky, currently available for Android (soon on iOS,) for example, can connect to your network PC and make it pipe high definition video to your television, and then pick what music you want your NAS to pipe to your networked speakers in the kitchen.

"We're extremely excited about mobile phones coming into the home network. We're seeing media servers almost becoming ubiquitous. They're in your phones, they're in your routers, they're in your set-top box and your NAS," Rick Schwartz, Senior Product Manager for PacketVideo told Betanews. "We're on the verge of going mainstream now. Roku [UpNp] sold a million boxes, Apple TV [AirPlay] sold a million boxes. I'd be surprised if Western Digital doesn't announce they've sold a million of their WDTV [DLNA] units. And just one year ago, selling a million digital media adaptors was unheard of! They were only in the tens of thousands."

iPad, iPhone with old-school MIDI instruments

iconnect MIDI for iOS devices

In 2009, I wrote a column about the way the iPhone has changed the music business in all aspects from performing, to recording, to touring and promotion. Though it has had an effect on all those ends of the business, it hasn't yet managed to integrate with the existing pedal boards and effects racks on the performing stage. That looks to be gradually changing as well.

A couple of musical accessory companies (such as the aforementioned iON audio) showed off MIDI keyboard docks for the iPad at CES 2011, but there was one definite scene stealer: a nondescript box called iConnect MIDI.

iConnect MIDI is the first device compatible with Apple's iOS coreMIDI spec, and lets users connect their iPhone or iPad with USB MIDI or traditional DIN MIDI devices. For the first time ever, a classic synth like the Yamaha DX7 can control an iPhone, and the iPhone can now control traditional MIDI devices by touch. In the demonstrations iConnectivity CEO Michael Loh gave at CES 2011, he highlighted the extremely low latency between the MIDI controllers and iOS, and the velocity sensitivity, a function that is absent in all music apps directly on iOS devices.

MySpace CEO says that News Corp may be looking to sell

Publié: janvier 13, 2011, 8:58pm CET par Ed Oswald

Just a day after former social networking behemoth MySpace announced massive cuts to its workforce, parent company News Corp has now confirmed that it is investigating its options to divest itself of the now struggling service.

The comments came as part of a wider company-wide meeting Thursday held by CEO Mike Jones, and were confirmed by a company spokesperson in an interview with Bloomberg. Among the options being considered is a merger, spin-off, or outright sale of the unit.

"The process has just started," spokesperson Rosabel Tao said. MySpace may have begun to drag on News Corp's financials overall: it is believed that the unit may have lost as much as $100 million last year alone, and executives have called losses at MySpace neither "acceptable nor sustainable."

These losses likely have a lot to do with why the social networking service let go of 47 percent of its workforce on Wednesday.

News Corp purchased MySpace in a blockbuster $500 million transaction in late 2005. At the time, it was considered to be a solid move for the news and entertainment conglomerate, and may have added as much as $12 billion to News Corp's valuation.

Such success was short lived, however. Over the next several years Facebook took off, and consumers increasingly turned to the MySpace competitor for their social networking needs.

This move led MySpace to attempt to reinvent itself by focusing on its strengths in entertainment in its redesign that launched in November, but it may be too early to judge whether the move is successful. In any case, News Corp says it has seen some uptick in users since the relaunch.

According to Bloomberg sources within the meeting, if the site is spun off, News Corp would help fund the company and its employees would be eligible for shares in the company. News Corp has also decided to appoint digital media group operations chief Jack Kennedy to handle any potential buyout offers.

Nvidia begins to settle claims of faulty laptop GPUs

Publié: janvier 13, 2011, 7:22pm CET par Ed Oswald

Select Apple, HP and Dell laptop or tablet owners who purchased their computers between November 2005 and February 2010 were alerted Thursday that they may begin to file claims to replace faulty graphics processing units produced by chipmaker Nvidia. Final approval of the settlement was reached on December 20, court documents show.

The faulty chips caused video issues with these computers, manifesting themselves in blank screen or scrambled displays. Nvidia was sued, and the suit successfully was granted class action status. As is customary with such settlements, Nvidia is not admitting wrongdoing by agreeing to its terms.

Apple Macbook Pro laptops manufactured between May 2007 and September 2008 are affected, as well as select Dell Inspiron, XPS, Vostro, Precision, and Latitude models produced between November 2005 and February 2010. HP models affected are Pavillion laptops produced between March 2006 and April 2009, as well as Compaq Presarios manufactured between March 2006 and October 2009.

A $2 million fund had been established to cover the cost of repairs and replacements, the company said.

Nvidia has a full listing of affected models available from its website. Class action members would have until March 14 to submit their claims, the website states.

For those that may have had to pay for repairs to their laptops, Nvidia will reimburse them for those costs as well as repairs necessary. In the case of HP systems, the company may provide completely new laptops altogether, as the company said replacement parts for these computers were no longer available.

HP tablets would be replaced by an Asus EEE T101MT-EU17-BK notebook computer, and all other models by a Compaq Presario CQ50 notebook.

Bieber.ly will maime your shortened URL with teen's image

Publié: janvier 13, 2011, 7:06pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Bieber.ly

Surely today marks the end of Western civilization. The YouTube generation that spawned the Justin Bieber sensation has another place for the much-loathed (by adults - come on, you know you do) teen singer. Bieber now has a URL shortener, which does more than just shorten the URL. Bieber.ly also plasters a photo of the teen on whatever website it takes you to -- and every page you navigate to.

Normally I wouldn't post something like this, but surely somebody would want to comment about this marvel of brand marketing and ickiness. So I'm eager for some reader reaction to this one. Fire up your comments, folks.

And if you love Justin Bieber, feel free to slap me around in comments for slapping him around.

I spotted this at Mashable. Hey, credit goes to where it's due.

IBM & Samsung announce R&D for sub-20nm mobile semiconductors

Publié: janvier 13, 2011, 6:42pm CET par Tim Conneally

Today, semiconductor manufacturers IBM and Samsung announced they will begin research and development on a new process technology that will be utilized in "a broad range of applications," in the general area of mobile telecommunications.

IBM, Samsung, and Global Foundries are partnered in what is known as the Common Platform technology alliance, where each company provides resources and expertise for the development of new bulk CMOS process technologies. IBM and Samsung have already established a joint development agreement to nodes starting at 20nm and beyond.

"We are pleased to have our top-level scientists involved with the cutting-edge research that's taking place at the Albany Nanotech Center," said ES Jung, senior vice president of technology development, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. "This should further enhance our joint efforts to continue technology leadership well into the future."

Next Tuesday, January 18, the Common Platform alliance will host the "Virtual Common Platform Technology Forum," where IBM, Samsung, and Global Foundries will reveal the technical details about their 28nm HKMG design for low-power applications, and discuss the roadmap to 20nm technology.

Microsoft releases WebMatrix, new Web development freeware

Publié: janvier 13, 2011, 5:51pm CET par Tim Conneally

Thursday, Microsoft released its new free Web development software WebMatrix, a tool that lets users create, build and deploy websites based upon the web technologies and content management systems of their choosing. The goal of the software is to be an extremely simple, lightweight development environment that eliminates the need for switching back and forth between other applications while developing websites.

Sites can be built from templates or from scratch, and more than 40 open source web applications are supported, like the popular Wordpress, Joomla, DotNetNuke, and more, and files can then be edited in HTML, CSS, ASP.NET or PHP. Naturally, Microsoft put some special shine on ASP.NET in WebMatrix and included support for the "Razor" view engine and special single-line-of-code helper functions to integrate with external social and commercial services.

Microsoft WebMatrix

The software was first launched in beta about six months ago, and refreshed beta 2 release just about three months ago. Today's unveiling of the new freeware took place at CodeMash in Sandusky Ohio.

"Our Web platform offers a complete ecosystem of products, partners and technologies all aimed at helping developers succeed on the Web," said Soma Somasegar, senior vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. "Every day, more people are looking to build, publish and manage a website, and now, with WebMatrix, we provide developers of all skill levels with a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use solution to get their sites online."

Steve Ballmer finally shows who's in charge of Microsoft

Publié: janvier 13, 2011, 5:36pm CET par Joe Wilcox

In his 11th year as chief executive and third outside the shadow of Chairman Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer is asserting surprising control over Microsoft. There were signs in 2010, but events over just the last week, particularly the public execution of Bob Muglia, show a different side of Microsoft's CEO. Competitors, you've been warned.

Over the last week, Ballmer did two things that spotlight this change in his leadership style, something already seen in other executive ousters (including Robbie Bach and Ray Ozzie in 2010). The first: Ballmer rightly resisted making tablets a major part of his Consumer Electronics Show keynote last week. The second: Muglia's demotion, and in real substance firing, as Server and Tools Business president.

Tablet To-Do

Gates' debuted Microsoft's Tablet PC concept in November 2000, during Comdex, and announced the first devices two years later with 20 partners. But not until last year's Apple iPad debut did the category get moving. Now, anyone and everyone is blabbering non-stop about tablets' future and iPad's overwhelming dominance (ignoring, by the way, that it's still a nascent market compared to PCs or cell phones).

Rumors going into CES had Ballmer pegged to make a major tablet OS announcement during his CES keynote and to show off a rack of supporting devices in response to iPad. Instead, in an event held hours earlier, Microsoft announced the next Windows version would support ARM processors and System-on-a-Chip technology.

Ballmer was right not to make any major tablet announcement, showing off something that wasn't ready. Any zealous tablet push would have led to bloggers, journalists and Wall Street analysts making iPad comparisons. By staying away from Apple and iPad, Ballmer kept the message pure, which is good marketing. Ballmer set the keynote agenda on his terms rather than taking the position of following a competitor. Surely there was temptation, and pressure, to directly respond to iPad. Ballmer showed leadership by waiting.

Mugging Muglia

Muglia's ouster is Ballmer extraordinaire, and I say that with a big lump in my throat. Muglia is a big huggy bear executive; it's hard not to like his unpretentious manner. But Muglia also is a sacrifice to Microsoft's future, and one Ballmer rightly made. Ballmer's e-mail about Muglia's departure, which was posted on Microsoft's PressPass website, is remarkable for what it states:

Bob Muglia and I have been talking about the overall business and what is needed to accelerate our growth. In this context, I have decided that now is the time to put new leadership in place for STB...In conjunction with this leadership change, Bob has decided to leave Microsoft this summer. He will continue to actively run STB as I conduct an internal and external search for the new leader. Bob will onboard the new leader and will also complete additional projects for me.

Ballmer essentially humiliates Muglia, by asserting the executive who helped build up the very successful Server and Tools business and who now runs it isn't qualified enough to lead future advances. It's an unusually public admonishment of a loyal, long-time Microsoft employee (since 1988). I've read lots of speculation among pundits that Muglia and Ballmer had some personal falling out. I won't speculate but instead focus on what the public ouster communicates: Don't frak with Steve Ballmer.

Captain, My Captain

Ballmer has something to communicate here to other Microsoft executives, employees, partners, Wall Street analysts and investors: He's in charge and will do whatever is necessary to make Microsoft more competitive in the decade 2010. No Microsoft leader is sacred enough; anyone can and will be sacked if they put personal agenda or perceived Microsoft agenda ahead of the company. Nearly all the major executives exiting Microsoft over the last year -- J Allard, Bach, Muglia and Ozzie, among others -- share something in common: They had a following within the company; purposely or not, they had established mini-fiefdoms.

The public nature of Muglia's departure also communicates to Wall Street just how serious Ballmer is about the cloud and transforming the server business to embrace it -- the same way Allard's and Bach's departures showed renewed commitment to transform the mobile business. Nothing is sacred now, not even loyal, long-time executives who succeeded in the past -- there Bach shares something with Muglia. Microsoft will even search outside the company to find the right leader for the responsibility.

Whether or not Wall Street analysts and investors can believe in Ballmer, that he is the right man to continue running Microsoft, is another matter. But there's no question about who is in charge. Many commentaries and punditries treat recent executive departures negatively -- rats fleeing the sinking ship. Just the opposite is true. The captain is taking the helm of the ship and throwing overboard suspect or disloyal officers ("You're walking the plank there, matee!"). There's only one captain on the good ship Microsoft.

Ballmer may have been chief executive since early 2000, but not until Gates' summer 2008 semi-retirement did the CEO escape the Chairman's shadow. The company made plenty of mistakes during the transition years, particularly falling behind in mobile and the horribly botched Windows Vista release.

But there is something different now in Ballmer's leadership style, which started soon after the September 2008 stock market collapse and became more apparent in actions taken in 2010. No one should underestimate Microsoft in 2011. Whether the good ship Microsoft breaks up on a reef or outmaneuvers competitors during the next two years, Ballmer will be at the helm. Accountability starts and ends with him now, like never before in his 11-year tenure. He's communicated that he is absolutely in charge. It's now deliver or die.

Steve Ballmer became Microsoft CEO 11 years ago today.

It's official, iPad sapped Windows PC shipments during Q4 2010, but Macs more

Publié: janvier 13, 2011, 3:02am CET par Joe Wilcox

Gartner and IDC both released fourth-quarter PC shipments this afternoon (PC here refers to Windows computers and Macs). While they didn't agree on the actual numbers or year-over-year growth, both analyst firms cited iPad and other media tablets (What? There are others?) as displacing PC sales. Well, hell, no wonder every Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane with a manufacturing plant, or the funds to outsource one, showed off a tablet during last week's Consumer Electronics Show.

A Betanews analysis finds that not only did iPad cannibalize computers sales but with greater impact on Apple than major Windows PC vendors.

"Media tablets, such as the iPad, as well as other consumer electronic (CE) devices, such as game consoles, all competed against PCs," Mikako Kitagawa, Gartner principal analyst, said in a statement. "Overall, holiday PC sales were weak in many key regions due to the intensifying competition in consumer spending." IDC also described consumer PC spending as soft, warning it's likely a trend: The "situation is likely to persist in 2011, if not get worse as a wave of media tablets could put a dent on the traditional PC market," IDC research diector David Daoud said in a statement. Kitagawa concurred: "The PC market will face challenges going forward with more intensified competition among consumer spending."

The analysts may have singled out media tablets, but smartphones are another category consumers are hugely interested in. They're personal, pocketable computers that are connected to the network and primary means of connecting to other people.

Shouldn't Tablets Count as PCs?

Neither analyst firm counts media tablets as PCs, a categorization choice I find hard to reconcile with how they're used. In October, I observed that had iPad counted as a personal computer, Apple likely would have tied or beat HP for No. 1 spot in US PC shipments during Q3 2010.

"Media tablets undoubtedly intensified the competition in the consumer market," Kitagawa reiterated. "These devices do not replace primary PCs, but they are viewed as good enough devices for these who want to have a second and third connected device for content consumption usage." That's not my experience. I know plenty of consumers -- mainly those who don't need a computer for work or school -- who have replaced their PC with iPad. They're only tied to the PC because that's how iPad syncs and receives software updates.

Sometimes I am appalled by the rationale of both analyst firms, which locks into a kind of enterprise status quo mentality. It's not rocket science. If people are buying tablets instead of PCs, there must be some kind of replacement behavior, too. The new crop of dual-core tablets, particularly those sold through wireless carriers with data plans, won't be PC dependent and will be more capable of replacing personal computers.

The netbook is dead, or soon will be -- the most severe casualty of iPad's success. "Mini-notebook shipments were hit the most by the success of media tablets," Kitagawa expressed.

Gartner PC Q4 10

While consumers shied away, businesses did not. "The bright side of the PC market during the fourth quarter of 2010 was a steady growth in the professional market driven by replacement purchases," Kitagawa explained. Earlier today, I posted Gartner's forecast that IT spending would rise 5.1 percent this year. Office 2010 and Windows 7 are driving enterprise PC sales -- that and onset of an upgrade cycle delayed by the recession.

Sizing up the Numbers

PC manufacturers shipped 93.5 million PCs globally in Q4 2010, up 3.1 percent year over year, according to Gartner. The analyst firm had forecast 4.8 percent growth. IDC put the number at a lower 92.1 million and growth 2.7 percent. US PC sales declined 6.6 percent to 19.1 million, according to Gartner, which previously forecast 10 percent year-over-year growth. IDC put shipments at a higher 19.9 percent and the decline a lower 4.8 percent. Both firm's numbers are preliminary.

Both analyst firms ranked HP No.1 globally and in the United States. But Apple stands out in the United States, for what it lost. As Apple earnings approach, there is no loss of prognosticators predicting a big quarter of Mac sales. Maybe, but both Gartner and IDC put Apple in fifth place -- that's down one spot and two, respectively. That's right, IDC had Apple as No. 3 in US PC shipments during Q3 2010 and now No. 5. For fourth quarter -- typically the biggest sales period of the year -- IDC put Apple US shipments as less than the previous quarter -- 1.734 million to 1.999 million, respectively. Typically fourth quarter should be more. For example, HP's US PC shipments rose from 4.591 million in third quarter to 5.724 million in Q4, according to IDC. Dell and Toshiba shipments grew quarter over quarter, too. However, Acer, which suffered somewhat from slowing netbook sales to iPad, declined quarter on quarter.

Gartner PC Q4 10

By comparison, Gartner put Apple ever so slightly ahead, with fourth-quarter shipments of 1.86 million compared to 1.849 million a quarter earlier; that's not exactly steller for the holiday quarter. While Apple's market share rose quarter on quarter, it declined sequentially -- 10.6 percent to 9.7 percent, according to Gartner and 10.4 percent to 8.7 percent, according to IDC. The question everyone should be asking: Is iPad cannibalizing more Mac sales than PC sales? It's certainly a most reasonable interpretation of the data. I first asked the question -- "Will iPad cannibalize Mac sales? -- in April 2010 and again in August. Most Wall Street analysts dismissed the cannibalism theory.

The data stacks up like this: Tablets (really iPad) cannibalized some PC sales among consumers. Apple primarily sells to consumers. Apple sells Macs and iPads in the same stores, where any choice between the PC devices is more visceral. Apple PC shipments declined or are flat quarter on quarter, during a time when holiday sales should boost shipments and did for three of the other top PC vendors. Acer shipments also declined because of iPad's impact on netbooks.

The real measure will be comparing Mac shipments in markets where Apple offers iPads to those markets where it doesn't and putting the comparison in context of the entire year's sales. I expect that in the final analysis, iPad will be shown to have helped the Windows PC market while hurting Macintosh shipments during fourth quarter. Netbooks are a curse to the Windows PC market, pulling down the margins of both Microsoft and its OEM partners. A Windows PC market without netbooks could recover lost margins and improve customer satisfaction; iPad cannibalization there is a benefit. For Apple the hurt is a matter of perspective. Mac cannibalization is a negative in context of the larger PC market, but a positive seeing as iPad is still a sale to Apple and facilitates the expansion of its iOS platform.

Grey Areas: Accessing Hulu for free in the age of Hulu Plus

Publié: janvier 13, 2011, 1:28am CET par Tim Conneally

Hulu Plus Samsung TV

Just two months ago, Hulu launched its premium subscription service Hulu Plus which brings streaming TV content from its popular website to mobile devices and connected TVs and set-top boxes.

Now that a special for-pay version of Hulu exists for all these devices, the services that brought Hulu's free Web content to these same devices could be squeezed out of the "placeshifting" margin where they existed before.

Media management software Boxee, for example, used to pull Hulu's free content from the Web, but then it was blocked in early 2009, reportedly based upon the demands of their content partners. Boxee, now more popular than it's ever been only has access to Hulu through Hulu Plus, which forces Boxee users to pay for the content they used to get for free.

Washington DC lobbyists Public Knowledge have tried to make federal legislators aware of the situation, so they can make effective decisions about the proposed joint venture between NBC Universal (Hulu's co-parent company) and cable company Comcast, who is itself a distributor and content partner for Hulu.

At the end of December, the Federal Communications Commission determined the partnership to be mostly acceptable, but said that developments in streaming online video have had a major impact on the proceedings. For the joint venture to begin, approval from the Department of Justice needs to be earned too.

PlayOn, the "placeshifting" software that lets users watch Web video from a number of sites --including Hulu-- on their video game consoles and mobile devices, witnesses the powerful influence of Hulu's parent companies on an almost daily basis, and recently appeared before lawmakers in Washington.

"Hulu has taken to coercing device manufacturers to not work with us," PlayOn CEO Jeff Lawrence told Betanews recently. "Whether it's a company that's already worked with us who they've convinced to terminate contract, or a company they've heard we're about to work with that they convince to not …We've seen it across the board. Fortunately, policymakers are now pretty aware of it."

PlayOn has engaged with Washington about the health of its business, and to inform legislators about how existent policies are protecting it from the potentially crushing influence of companies like NBC Universal, Fox, and ABC.

"They don't want to see traditional companies --whether it's traditional technology companies or traditional media companies-- stifle smaller companies that are innovating just because it might be disruptive to their traditional business," Lawrence said.

PlayOn's main menu on the Wii

The goal of Washington's intervention wasn't to make PlayOn's business better, but rather to help create an environment where competition is fair and innovation is encouraged.

There's a catch though. The fair use of placeshifting has still never been proven in a court of law, and all of the competitors in the now-mature placeshifting business, SlingBox, Orb, MythTV, and Monsoon Multimedia, utilize different, and sometimes ever-changing methods of access and control to keep from running into copyright infringement issues.

"We always end up going back to the Betamax case (Universal City Studios Inc et al v. Sony Corporation of America Inc. et al,)" Lawrence said. "The Movie industry was dead set against VCRs, took it all the way to the Supreme Court, and ultimately the court said it's fair use. Timeshifting was unambiguously declared as a very legal thing, placeshifting is popularly believed to be the exact same thing, it's another fair use case, whether you're shifting the time, or shifting the place, it doesn't change the answer."

So far, PlayOn has managed to stay out of court and stay in business. He says PlayOn is essentially the same as running a long VGA cable from your home's computer into your living room, so there's no reason for the company to be viewed as anything but legal.

What remains to be seen is whether the government's involvement in the placeshifting space is going to keep Hulu from muscling out the companies that shift its free Web content to different devices.

"Things like the [Federal Trade Commission], and the [antitrust division] in the Department of Justice; we really do need them on our side," Lawrence said. "Because creative, intelligent people who have financial interests can absolutely use the system in a destructive way that destroys value for consumers, that destroys value for small businesses, but maintains the status quo. So making sure the system isn't abused is of the utmost importance."

Sony sues Hotz, hacking group over PS3 hacks

Publié: janvier 12, 2011, 11:00pm CET par Ed Oswald

Sony has filed suit against George Hotz -- more commonly known for his work in jailbreaking iPhones -- and a hacker group called "failoverfl0w," accusing both of copyright infringement and other related charges over their work to circumvent Sony's PlayStation 3 copyright protection.

The Japanese game maker is partially at fault here, having failed to use properly secure cryptography in order to ensure that pirated software can not run on the console. Hackers discovered the private key, and now can allow copied versions of games to run on the console without any issues.

Hotz and the others are being charged with breach of contract, several copyright infringement charges, as well as violations of copyright law in the state of California. Sony seeks both injunctive relief and punitive damages.

"Hackers will succeed in their attempts to ensure that pirated software can be run on the PS3 system, resulting in the destruction of SCEA's business" unless the court takes actions, Sony argues in the suit.

While failoverfl0w only published a video showing proof that the crack was possible, Hotz himself actually released a modified version of the PS3 hardware allowing for the running of non-signed software. It should be noted that originally hackers were looking to run Linux on the console, but it could just as easily be used for less than legal purposes as well.

Hotz seems not to be concerned about the legal action against him. "I would expect a company that prides itself on intellectual property to be well versed in the provisions of the law, so I am disappointed in Sony's current action," he told the BBC. "I have spoken with legal counsel and I feel comfortable that Sony's action against me doesn't have any basis."

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of Northern California.

Global IT spending will reach $3.6 trillion in 2011

Publié: janvier 12, 2011, 9:02pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Worldwide IT spending will rise by 5.1 percent this year to $3.6 tillion, according to Gartner. The new forecast increases year-over-year growth from 3.5 percent. The analyst firm released the data last week; some news is better kept on hold until supernovas like the Consumer Electronics Show or the Verizon iPhone pass by.

Richard Gordon, a Gartner research vice president, expressed cautious optimism. The forecast "is far from certain, given continued macroeconomic uncertainty," he said in a statement. "Favorable US dollar exchange rates" is one factor precipitating IT spending.

"While the global economic situation is improving, the recovery is slow and hampered by a sluggish growth outlook in the important mature economies of the US and Western Europe," Gordon warned. "There are also growing concerns about the ability of key emerging economies to sustain relatively high growth rates. Nevertheless, as well as a fundamental enabler of cost reduction and cost optimization, investment in IT is seen increasingly as an important element in business growth strategies. As the global economy repairs itself in coming years, we are optimistic about continued healthy spending on IT."

Gartner publicly disclosed information on five sectors: computing hardware, enterprise software, IT services, telecom equipment and telecom services. Telecom equipment had the strongest spending growth in 2010 (14 percent) and is expected to top the other categories in 2011 (9.1 percent). That's spending of $426.6 billion and $465.4 billion, respectively. While Gartner didn't say in its publicly disclosed information, the global cell phone market is one major factor driving telecom equipment spending. According to the United Nations, there are 5 billion cell phone subscribers worldwide, the majority in emerging markets such as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China). Telecom providers are still building out networks in many emerging markets, particularly for providing data services.

Spending growth on computer equipment was 8.9 percent in 2010 but projected to be only 7.5 percent this year. That's $391.3 billion versus $364.1 billion, respectively. Gartner warned at least during the first half of the year continued global economic problems would affect PC growth. But the problems are much broader. The release of Windows 7 in October 2009 and Office 2010 in May 2010 precipitated an enterprise PC refresh cycle, particularly with as much as 85 percent of the install base running Windows XP. Many of those older PCs need upgrades or replacement to run Windows 7. While PC spending will ride the software's coattails this year, the bigger bump came in 2010.

Gartner IT spending 2011

Related: Enterprise software spending is on the rise, with Gartner forecasting 7.5 percent year-over-year growth in 2011, up from 6.1 percent in 2010. That's spending of $253.7 billion versus $235.9 billion respectively. IT services, which get a boost from new hardware and software upgrades, will see year-over-year growth rise 2.5 percent in 2010 to 4.6 percent this year. That's spending of $782 billion versus $817.9 billion, respectively.

By far, the sector with highest spending but lowest growth will be telecom services. Spending is predicted to reach $1.647 trillion this year.

Who's switching from AT&T to Verizon iPhone? It's probably not you

Publié: janvier 12, 2011, 4:41pm CET par Joe Wilcox

The rabble worshipping Apple's so-called Jesus phone are in for a surprise. The expected mass-exodus from AT&T to Verizon may be more myth than reality. Yesterday I asked Betanews readers "Would you buy Verizon iPhone?" and embedded a poll in that story and two others. At least among the tech-savvy people who read Betanews, the informal survey suggests that most will not switch from iPhone 4 on AT&T to iPhone 4 on Verizon. Nor are they likely to abandon Android phones. Prominent blogger or journalist posts, particularly the prognosticators of Android's doom, give a different impression. It's reality check time, baby.

Betanews readers give many reasons for sticking with what they've got, and for many it's not iPhone. Reasons range from satisfaction with their existing (usually Android) handset to concerns iPhone 4 is already outdated to there being no LTE support.

Nicholas Gerstenberger expresses a common concern about Verizon, which, I concede, probably won't matter to the mass of users (but would to me and many of you): "My one gripe with Verizon's CDMA network is that there is no simultaneous use of voice & data; besides the slightly higher costs."

Matthew Hochman would switch. "I would absolutely jump ship from AT&T," he writes. "I love my iPhone, and until last year AT&T was the best provider where I am (an island off the coast of Maine) but last summer AT&T had a total failure almost all summer-- slow service, dropped calls, then one weekend all AT&T service just stopped, when we called to find out what was up, AT&T refused to admit there was a problem." Hochman was by far in the minority of Betanews readers answering in comments.

Yesterday's poll offered six answers. I took the unusual approach of offering yes and no options to the same question, which is somewhat redundant but useful in capturing emotional context and also getting a different perspective on respondents' intentions. The approach is useful for an informal survey where the respondents aren't qualified -- meaning I don't know who they are. In my experience there is different emotional context behind yes and no responses. Poll takers could only answer once. The question: "Verizon's iPhone will be available Feb. 10, 2011. Will you buy it?" The answers readers could give:

Yes, I'm an existing Verizon customer switching from another handset.
Yes, I'm switching from another carrier and non-iPhone device to get Verizon's iPhone.
Yes, I'm an AT&T subscriber and iPhone owner switching to Verizon.
No, I'm an existing Verizon customer either not interested in or eligible for Verizon iPhone.
No, I'm sticking with my existing carrier and non-iPhone handset.
No, I'm an AT&T subscriber and iPhone owner either not interested in Verizon iPhone or locked into contract.

I closed the poll at 10:20 am ET this morning, with 484 responses. Only 10.3 percent of respondents with an iPhone on AT&T say they will switch to one on Verizon. Another 3.1 percent would switch from another carrier with non-iPhone device. So little more than 13 percent of respondents say they would switch from another carrier and handset to Verizon iPhone. Still, 10 percent shouldn't be understated. During the first three quarters of 2010, AT&T added 5.2 million net subscribers for a total 92.2 million. Even if just 5 percent switched, AT&T would lose those gains and see a dramatic decrease in switchers -- at least from Verizon.

Among Verizon subscribers, 17.52 percent of respondents would switch from another handset to iPhone. That's a huge number for the carrier and, at the least, valuable for retaining customers rather than having some switch to AT&T for iPhone 4. The benefits to Verizon shouldn't be understated. During the first three quarters of 2010, Verizon added only 400,000 net subscribers for a total of 93.2 million. Putting it altogether, 9 out of 10 respondents with AT&T iPhone won't switch to Verizon iPhone. One in six Verizon customers will switch to iPhone. Regarding the internal switchers, there is question: will many switch from Android handsets? Probably not, since the install base is largely feature phones. Betanews reader responses somewhat supports this contention.

"I already use Verizon and have an Android phone," writes commenter Robert Bradley. "Why would I want an iPhone and the iTunes anchor?"

Douglas Utley also won't give up Android. "I'm sure a lot of AT&T customers and part of the younger crowd that doesn't mind not being able to customize their phone might jump on it but I'm sticking with Android for the foreseeable future," he writes.

Regarding those "no" answers in our poll, the numbers are unsurprisingly higher than those for yes: 20.8 percent of respondents won't switch from AT&T iPhone to Verizon iPhone. Another 25.62 percent won't switch from another carrier and non-iPhone device. Among existing Verizon customers, 22.52 percent won't switch to iPhone.

"I doubt I ever will [switch]. I'm still enjoying my one-year old Droid," Gerstenberger adds. "Thanks mostly to a large community of coders pumping out updated ROMs to a device that Verizon has completely given up on. I enjoy what I can do with it. But thats me, I like to hack my hardware and push it to it's limits beyond what was originally 'intended.'"

Microsoft says Apple can't trademark 'app store,' files dispute

Publié: janvier 12, 2011, 4:40pm CET par Tim Conneally

Microsoft is challenging Apple's 2008 trademark application for "app store," reports said on Wednesday. The term, Microsoft contests, should be non-trademarkable, because, in short, an App Store is a generic term for a store that sells apps, not a proper name.

"The undisputed facts further show that the combined term 'app store' is commonly used in the trade, by the general press, by consumers, by Apple's competitors, and even by Apple's founder and CEO Steve Jobs as a generic name for online stores featuring apps," Microsoft's complaint with the Trademark Trial and Appeal board says. "A search of Westlaw's US ALL NEWS database found over 1,000 current articles using 'app store' as the generic name for stores featuring apps."

The complaint goes on to quote Steve Jobs in an interview where he said "There will be at least four app stores on Android which consumers must search through to find the app they want…"

Microsoft's opposition to Apple's trademark application is now pending at the Trademark Trial and Appeal board, with the ultimate goal of keeping "app store" free for everyone to use.

Hands-on with Book Saver, iON's Book-to-eBook scanner

Publié: janvier 12, 2011, 8:08am CET par Tim Conneally

ion Book Saver

At the end of December, I looked at some of the book scanning options for small collections looking to archive their unique printed matter and make it accessible on digital platforms. Now, thanks to the availability of low-cost cameras and optical character recognition software, that sort of scanning is about to break into the mainstream.

iON, maker of every type of entry-level analog-to-digital conversion appliance, announced it will begin selling its own paper-to-eBook scanning solution this year called the Book Saver.

Built something like a Wii remote, the device's plastic shield holds printed media open, while the dual flash cameras take shots of the left and right pages. The images can be saved as .Jpg or .pdf and stored directly onto SD cards.

The solutions I looked at in December from Atiz could capture about 700 pages an hour with dual DSLR cameras, and similar DIY solutions could do about 400 pages an hour for literally 3000% less money. iON says the Book Saver, while not capable of anywhere near the quality of the DSLR-based solutions, can capture about 800 pages per hour. iON has not yet announced a price or availability for the device.

The Book Saver felt considerably flimsy, as one would perhaps expect from iON, which is Numark Industries' consumer-grade line of products. It didn't seem like it would stand up to even a single book worth of scanning. However, it appears to be well-suited for college students looking to create digital copies of their textbooks, or Web content creators who want to scan old 'Zines, flyers, catalogs, and other ephemera.

While it certainly won't provide archival-grade shots like the kind of scanners Google Books is using, sometimes that's not what's needed.

Still trying to shake off its past, MySpace lays off almost half of its staff

Publié: janvier 12, 2011, 12:42am CET par Tim Conneally

MySpace, the social network that defined social networking in the dawn of the 21st century, is undergoing another round of massive cutbacks which will terminate 47% of its employees, parent company News Corp announced Tuesday. The site has been trying to re-invent itself as a music and entertainment hub as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other social communication services pick away at its rapidly dwindling audience.

The last round of layoffs at MySpace that were this severe took place in 2009, when 30% of the staff was laid off to compensate for "the realities of today's marketplace."

Today, shielded somewhat by the headline-stealing Verizon iPhone 4 announcements, MySpace announced it would be laying off about 500 employees globally in a move "purely driven by issues related to our legacy business, and in no way reflect[s] the performance of the new product," MySpace CEO Mike Jones said.

Jones said the new design has actually prompted an uptick in new user profile creation (approximately 3.3 million since its launch), and significant activity in its entertainment "topic" pages.

As I took my annual drive across the country, I happened to catch a commercial for a radio call-in show where the host said of one of his guests: "Your sweater is so old, it's got a MySpace account!"

It is interesting, therefore, that Jones should refer to the "legacy" business in the negative while the site retains its now stigmatized name, perhaps the biggest legacy of all.

Google does an Apple in reverse -- will drop H.264 support in Chrome

Publié: janvier 11, 2011, 11:25pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Would someone please stop the "Twilight Zone" music from playing. I'm hearing it now following today's Google bombshell (Yes, there is other news besides Verizon iPhone): Chrome will soon no longer support the H.264 codec. Google supports Flash Video, but Apple has abandoned it. Apple supports H.264, and Google is giving it up. Someone pinch me when there is something resembling sanity among these companies' positions. Perhaps Firefox can save us all and our online video streaming. No, wait! Mozilla also spurns H.264. Well, gulp, Internet Explorer anyone?

Apple's Flash abandonment is nutty enough, at least in the here and now, given how widely Adobe's technology is used on the Web. H.264 also is pervasive, making Google's plan as out of touch, from a user experience perspective. Then there is Google's support for Flash to consider. Am I missing something or isn't H.264 a primary Flash codec?

Google's position on H.264 is strange because the stated reason is openness or lack of it. Rather than H.264, Google is opting for the WebM audio and video codec, which is a fairly recent but open entrant. "We expect even more rapid innovation in the web media platform in the coming year and are focusing our investments in those technologies that are developed and licensed based on open web principles," Mike Jazayeri, Chromium product manager, asserted in a blog post. Excuse me, isn't there something contradictory here? What is open about Flash, or some of the other technologies Google supports?

"To that end, we are changing Chrome's HTML5 [video tag] support to make it consistent with the codecs already supported by the open Chromium project," he continued. "Specifically, we are supporting the WebM (VP8) and Theora video codecs, and will consider adding support for other high-quality open codecs in the future. Though H.264 plays an important role in video, as our goal is to enable open innovation, support for the codec will be removed and our resources directed towards completely open codec technologies."

One commenter to the blog post, going by handle Andrex, called Google's video codec changeling a "ballsy move." Commenter Abe challenged: "Your move Apple." In the tit-for-tat skirmish between Apple and Google over web video, the H.264 abandonment warrants response.

"These changes will occur in the next couple months but we are announcing them now to give content publishers and developers using HTML5 [video tag] an opportunity to make any necessary changes to their sites," Jazayeri emphasized. My question: What should be the real definition of open -- open availability or open licensing/development? By the measure of open availability, Google's H.264 position makes as little sense as Apple's regarding Flash.

Several other commenters to Jazayeri's blog post captured my sentiments and surprise. "Well, that [is] a violent move: that leave[s] the site's owner with the choice of staying with Flash player + H.264 alone or to double encode their videos -- one in WebM for half the browser market, the other in H.264 for the rest of the world," writes commenter, Jean-Pierre. "I know YouTube is doing it, but for the rest of the world, that's not a cheap enough move. Aren't you afraid to simply kill the HTML5 video tag?"

"Ugh. This is a move by Google where they care more about the open source 'community' than they do actual users of their browser," Commenter Shidoshi griped. "Let's be real here: WebM has a long way to go before it will have any serious amount of traction...Like it or not, H.264 is becoming the standard, and dropping support for it for no good reason is ridiculous."

Of course, many people have said the same about Flash, and that didn't stop Apple from giving Adobe or anyone else using the technology a big middle finger. Google, or the Chromium team anyway, is making a philosophical stand -- and one that might eventually move more developers to open codecs. But in the here and now, particularly with so many devices offering hardware that supports H.264, the Chrome user experience may suffer in a few months. Of course, someone can always release a H.264 extension, giving Chrome users the video they want and allowing Google to keep purity with the open-source community and to pursue other development goals.

What about Android's browser? Google could drive open codecs' adoption by also dumping H.264 there and working with WebM and phone manufacturers and chip suppliers to offer hardware support for the codec.

What do you think of Google's plans? Please answer in comments.

First U.S. LTE plans could be bad news, say consumer groups

Publié: janvier 11, 2011, 10:29pm CET par Tim Conneally

Advocacy groups Free Press, Media Access Project, and New America Foundation sent a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday regarding the policies of MetroPCS, the nation's fifth-largest wireless operator, and the first one to activate its LTE 4G network. The groups complain MetroPCS' new "unlimited" wireless broadband service plans fall through loopholes in the FCC's new net neutrality plans, and could set a precedent for unfair content blocking.

Last week, MetroPCS unveiled new 4G LTE service plans which cost $40, $50, or $60 dollars. Each of the plans offers unlimited talk, text, and 4G Web browsing, but then the company puts up vague content barriers without defining what the usage cases are, and what consumers have access to.

"This is exactly the way we expected carriers to 'test' the FCC's resolve with respect to wireless network neutrality," The Media Access Project's Senior Vice President and Policy director Jay Schwarzman said Tuesday. "Unless the Commission responds decisively, MetroPCS' competitors are likely to follow suit."

The group's letter to the FCC cites MetroPCS' terms and conditions:

"We shall determine in our sole discretion what data usage constitutes Data Access and reserve the right to alter, make additions to or deletions to what type of data usage, or protocols, constitute Data Access without notification to you. Data Access may include, for example, multimedia streaming and video on demand services, as well as certain multimedia uploads, downloads and gaming services and applications."

The organization says that this gives MetroPCS the power to decide what constitutes "Data Access," and could result in users on certain tiers being blocked from certain sites and services despite the fact that they're lawful to access.

"MetroPCS's practices are particularly problematic because, as the company itself recognizes, it disproportionately serves lower-income subscribers, the same audience that is increasingly relying on mobile access to the Web," said Free Press Policy Counsel M. Chris Riley. "A walled garden in mobile broadband leaves a large number of Internet users on the wrong side of the digital divide."

Can you switch from AT&T to Verizon iPhone without paying hefty termination fees?

Publié: janvier 11, 2011, 7:27pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Verizon's iPhone will be available Feb. 10, 2011. Will you buy it?online surveys

No, but you can act like you did. The iPhone's high resale value can cover early termination fees and possibly cost of a new handset from Verizon.

In December, I abandoned AT&T and iPhone 4, returning to T-Mobile with the Samsung-manufactured, Google-branded Nexus S. AT&T charges a $325 ETF for smartphones, which is prorated depending on number of months left on the contract. I signed up for new AT&T service is June, making my December ETF $275. That set the minimum price for which I would sell iPhone 4.

I took the eBay auction route, by putting the 32GB iPhone 4 up for just 24 hours with $410 starting bid. I based the starting bid and reserve price based on average selling prices for the device that week. Twenty-four hours later, a woman living in the United States bought the phone for $525; I expedited shipping for Christmas. Of course, eBay gets its cut -- and PayPal, too -- putting my net around $450.

A week earlier one of the phone geeks at my local T-Mobile store sold his unlocked iPhone 4 on Craigslist for $710. He listed it at $750, which I thought was outrageous. But buyers from other countries will pay that much, because it's less and/or unlocked option -- for example, just south of San Diego in Mexico, he said. The phone geek also switched to Nexus S.

So, what's the going rate for iPhone 4 on eBay? While writing this post one auction finished, after 30 bids, for a new 16GB iPhone: $598. If that was you, and you're ETF was $275 and new Verizon iPhone $199, you would be able to cover full switching cost (when adding tax and eBay/PayPal fees) and still have a little left over. Sure, you're still out the original cost of the device. But that's the price for switching. On the bright side, any cases or peripherals purchased for the older handset should work fine on the new iPhone 4.

But these eBay auctions can be unpredictable. Another auction ended while I was writing this post with zero bids for a used 16GB iPhone 4. Starting and ending bid: $599. The seller should have set a lower starting bid and included more photos. But who knows, he might relist and catch a buying wave. In my experience watching eBay auctions, shorter placement is usually better for hot gadgets.

AT&T isn't going to let you get away without giving up blood. But you can minimize the number of pints by selling your older iPhone 4. Remember to carefully wipe the data. You don't know what Russian hacker might be the eventual buyer. ;-) Five hundred bucks used might seem like lots to you, but it's not for many overseas buyers -- particularly in markets where handsets are usually sold with carrier commitment but where Apple/wireless provider demands it.

Live from CES 2011: Visteon iPad dock

Publié: janvier 10, 2011, 5:49pm CET

By Stephen Jensen

The Visteon iPad dock provides a charging cradle for Apple's "I look cool" device. However, what's really cool about this product is its communicating with the vehicle's computer via a completely wireless network. Control of the HVAC, radio, phone and navigation system is possible from any seat in or out of the vehicle.

AT&T should shut up about Verizon iPhone

Publié: janvier 10, 2011, 5:35pm CET

By Robert Scoble

I see over on Business Insider that AT&T's PR boss is already bashing the Verizon iPhone that will be announced [this] week.

AT&T should shut up.

I still can't use my iPhone in parts of San Francisco and at Consumer Electronics Show? AT&T was nearly unusable.

AT&T has absolutely no credibility to bash its competitors. It has, simply, provided horrible service over the past three years and I'll be very happy to leave it, even if top-end speeds are slightly slower.

Why am I happy to leave AT&T? Because it has proven unable to support us at big events. Yes, South by Southwest was pretty good. But the World Series? Unusable. CES? Unusable. Web 2 expo? Unusable.

They refuse to make the kinds of investments they need to make to keep our service up and running and now they are trying to bash Verizon?

Hello AT&T. Every Verizon phone last week at CES worked just fine.

You should shut up. Maybe after 40 percent of your customers leave because you mistreated us for so long your service will be faster. But it won't matter at that point because you mistreated us for so long.

Sincerely, Robert Scoble, a guy who has paid you many thousands of dollars over the past three years to have your horrid service.

Update: Oh, and now I see that Verizon is going to be offering iPhone/Verizon users unlimited data plans, in contrast to your lame 2GB cap.

Reprinted with permission.

Robert Scoble is a long-time tech and video blogger who works for Rackspace, where he is part of the building 43 project. He started blogging in 2000 at scobelizer.com; from 2003-2006 he was a high-profile Microsoft evangelist blogger, and he helped start Channel 9. Scoble grew up in Silicon Valley. He is @scobleizer on Twitter.

2011: The year of Google

Publié: janvier 10, 2011, 12:55pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Google logo

By just about every measure, 2010 was a great year for Google -- perhaps its best ever. So I'm surprised to have read over the last 10 days or so, several commentaries and punditries asserting that Google has slowed down and is losing its competitive edge. These prognosticators of Google doom are fraking crazy. Anyone who asserts that Google has lost its mojo is simply and absolutely clueless.

Google is on a roll and showing its mojo everywhere. No tech company on the planet is iterating products and services faster than Google. Not a week goes by when Google isn't announcing something new somewhere. Perhaps some of Google's critics aren't paying close enough attention, since there are few Apple-like media events, which draw lots of attention.

There are many measures of Google's 2010 success and infuence and what they foreshadow for 2011. For example, four Google blog posts ranked among Techmeme's top-10 tech stories of the year. Next to Apple, Google overwhelmingly had the most stories on Techmeme's top-50 tech stories -- 19 and 13, respectively. Clearly somebody is paying attention, if not Google doomsayers. Google blogs had 24,768,052 unique visitors in 2010, up 70 percent year over year, according to Google. To get a real sense of just how quickly the search and information giant is iterating products everywhere, visit the Google Blog Directory.

Three attributes define Google's success and why 2011 will be second of several big years:

1. Google made several key, strategic investments years ago that are starting to bear fruit in new products and services. Android is among them.

2. The year 2010 marked a dramatic change in software/services development, with Google making iteration development priority. The company started releasing more features and new products on shorter cycles -- every six weeks for the Chrome browser.

3. Mobile is the next big thing in computing. Feature phones and smartphones offer huge opportunities for utility features and services that help people connect and communicate. Google's success with Android and Chrome mobile are foundational for making the company a major player in the market for cloud-connected devices.

Apple Investments That Paid Off

Google Nexus One During the mid- to late-Noughties, Google made several key investments that are now starting to hugely pay off, such as the 2005 acquisitions of Android and YouTube. As significantly, Google brought to market during the economic crisis foundational products that will pay back dividends for years. The information and search giant started reaping the fruits of these investments in 2010. But it is in 2011 and the two to four years that will follow where Google can really reap the benefits. The pace of Google product development has never been faster, and it's the crucial ingredient for continued and future success.

Historically, companies that continue to invest during a recession or other economic downturn are rewarded later on. Apple is glaring, recent example. In September 2009 post "2001: An Apple Odyssey," I explained how four Apple investments were foundation for the company's current success: iTunes, Mac OS X, Apple Store and iPod -- in order of release. The recession of 2000-01 hit Apple hard, devastating its share price. Another company might have pulled back research, development and new product releases, but Apple pushed ahead.

The "2001 four" are foundational to every product success since:

iTunes grew into music and, later, applications stores
Mac OS X led to iOS that runs on iPad, iPhone and iPod, and, of course, it powers Macs
Apple Store provides a place to sell products and the Apple lifestyle, and anchors the company's massive marketing and distribution channels.
iPod established the global retail distribution channels that support iPad and iPhone -- and these devices are descendants.

That's the simplistic perspective. You can read the September 2009 post for depth. This post is about Google and not Apple. But the parallels are worth noting. In late 2008, Google released Android and Chrome, which are transforming the company into something more than search and information gathering -- like Apple's "2001 four" pushed beyond the Mac into consumer electronics and cloud services.

Google Investments That Will Pay Off

Android and Chrome aren't just huge successes, they're fundamentally changing Google. Perhaps it's this change that Google doomsayers emotionally perceive without intellectually understanding the meaning. Let's measure the success. First, Google's mobile OS. T-Mobile launched the first Android handset, the G1, in late September 2008. During 2009, global Android handset sales reached 6.8 million units, according to Gartner. Not a bad start. By December 2010, Google was activating more Android handsets in a single month (9 million) than were sold for all of 2009. Activations rose from 60,000 a day in February to 300,000 in November. Last week, Nielsen put Android smartphone OS market share ahead of iOS in the United States.

Android may be open source, but it wouldn't have gotten this far so fast without continued and aggressive investment from Google. For example, Google announced the Nexus One smartphone in early January 2010. Few bloggers and journalists seem to have groked the N1. I daren't count the number of times I read someone calling the smartphone a failure, because of the seemingly low number of sales or Google selling direct. These critics don't get it. Google released Nexus One with two clear goals, and both were achieved: To provide manufacturers a baseline reference design and to give developers an Android phone that always has the newest version available. The runaway success of Android in 2010 cannot be understated, and Nexus One lit the fire.

Google Cr-48 laptop

What about Chrome? Google released the browser's public beta in early September 2008. Two months later Google, which has a long history of keeping products in beta for years -- certified version 1.0. It was a dramatic change in Google software development. The company continued to rapidly iterate Chrome throughout 2009 and 2010, significantly outpacing Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla browser development. Chrome reached version 8 by end of last year. In July 2010, Google announced an accelerated release schedule of new Chrome versions every six weeks.

According to NetApplications, Chrome usage share rose from 2.64 percent in 2009 to 9.98 percent by early January 2011. That's less than Firefox two years after its November 2004 release, but Chrome is available in more places. Every Android phone ships with Chrome (as does every iPhone with Safari). If Android sales keep or increase pace, Chrome should have the largest install share of any mobile browser by end of 2011. Wild card: iPad, which first two quarters of sales are remarkably strong.

Apple defenders will squawk that Mobile Safari's usage share is higher, based on monthly data released by several ad metrics companies and also NetApplications. In December, iOS browser usage share was 1.69 percent on all devices -- iPad and iPod touch as well as iPhone, according to NetApplications. By comparison, Chrome usage share was .40 percent but with faster month-on-month growth of 29 percent. Chrome's mobile usage share is immaterial right now; Google is laying foundation for future. Meanwhile, Chrome is itching to break out. In November 2010, Chrome 7.0 had the second largest monthly usage share gains in NetApplications tracking history. In mid December, Google claimed there are 120 million Chrome users.

Then there is what Chrome is becoming. In early December, Google dispatched 60,000 test laptops running Chrome OS. The Linux-based operating system is planned for summer release. Amazingly, many of the same critics calling Google a floundering has-been also claim Chrome OS will fail or that Google will give up development. Well, hell, Chrome OS hasn't even launched yet. Assuming the laptops only cost Google $500 to purchase, receive and dispatch to testers, that's a $15 million investment. That sure seems like commitment to me.

Rapid Iteration makes for Quick Product Cycles

Google did something quite remarkable in 2010, building on foundations started during the era of forever betas and from process of shorter development cycles beginning in 2008: Products and services rapidly improved through iteration, and many on an accelerated schedule. As important, Google seemed to iterate everywhere at once, blogging about updated features or new products at least weekly and often much more frequently. For example, Chrome advanced from version 4 to 8 in 2010 and Google Maps for Mobile from version 3.4 to 5.0.

By just about every other measure, Google set rapid pace in 2010 that sets foundation for this year and the next few to follow. Among the many, many, many new products/services or updated ones released in 2010 (seriously, this is a short list):

AdMob acquisition
Android 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
Android and iPhone apps (simply too many to list)
Blogger Template Chooser
Chrome (v4.0.249 - v8.0.552)
Chrome Web Apps Store
Caffeine search engine
E-mail Delegation (for Gmail)
Gmail phone calling (US/Canada free for 2011)
Gmail multiple accounts in one browser
Google Apps Marketplace
Google Books
Google Buzz (desktop and mobile)
Google Earth for Android
Google Instant search (desktop and mobile)
Google Maps for Mobile (v3.4 - v5.0)
Google Place Search
Google TV
Google Voice (public availability)
Google Voice for iPhone
"Near Me Now" for mobile
Priority Inbox for Gmail (and Gmail mobile)
YouTube updates (simply too many to list)
"Where Am I?" for mobile

Why is all of this lost on the people asserting that Google has lost its mojo or simply has lost its way? Some of them can't get over calling Nexus One and Google TV failures, sure signs to them Google has lost its way. Then there is Wave, which Google retreated from; the product had little traction and was too difficult for most people to grasp. But Wave was a brilliant concept that was simply ahead of its time. If Wave doesn't come back, it surely will power other Google products or services. In some ways, Facebook Messaging is what Wave could have been minus the complexity, collaborative features and real-timeness. That Google is trying new things like Wave, Chrome OS or Google TV and so constantly and consistently releasing new features or products are signs it's still surging. Wave is sign of Google's wave of continued success.

Google doomsayers also point to Facebook's 2010 successes, which definitely shouldn't be understated. Some of them seemed to rejoice over Facebook topping Google.com as most visited website in the United States during the first 11 months of 2010, according to Hitwise. But Google properties still ranked No. 1.

For traffic, YouTube is hugely important to Google. Based on ComScore data, YouTube searches often are greater than second-ranked Yahoo. If ComScore counted these searches in monthly data, Google would hold the No. 1 and No. 2 spots some months and one and three other ones. YouTube had 2 million viewing sessions in November 2010, and the average time spent online by viewer was a gigantic 4.5 hours, according to ComScore (For comparison, second-ranked VEVO was 85.4 minutes). Hulu generated more ad impressions, but that will change in 2011, I predict. Time online is hugely important to advertisers, and Google repeatedly tweaked the YouTube ad model in 2010. Time is ripe for the advertising to match potential ad impressions; Google should get there this year.

What It All Means for 2011 and Beyond

Search and advertising may pay Googlers salaries, but all the other products and services generate information and other content that extend search, keywords and ads' reach. The big growth market is mobile, where Android and Chrome will be hugely important in 2011 and beyond. There Google is fanatically innovating and iterating with features like voice search that make finding stuff that matters to people now easier to find. During World Mobile Congress in February 2010, CEO Eric Schmidt said that Google's priority would now be mobile applications "first" before desktop apps: "Our programmers are working on things mobile first." That's certainly clear from looking at the speed of Google's mobile product/services iteration and its focus: cloud-connected devices.

Many Google critics and Apple defenders share similar flawed thinking: They assume that iOS will be the platform of choice because of applications. But the app-centric model is transitional. Businesses and consumers love apps in part for their familiarity -- what they use on PCs. Developers love mobile apps because they're generally easier to create than desktop applications and there's more money to be made (its an economies of scale thing, there being so many more mobile than PC users). But feature phones and smartphones are fundamentally different from PCs -- the devices are more personal and they're carried everywhere.

There is something like 4 percent difference between human DNA and that of chimpanzees. But, whoa, what a difference. Likewise, smartphones and PCs may be computers capable of similar tasks but they aren't the same things. Smartphones are smarter. They can locate themselves geographically (GPS and compass) and spatially orient themselves (gyroscope). They respond to human touch (capacitive screen) and interaction (accelerometer, proximity sensor). They can take voice commands and help people find their way (maps). And so on. Smartphones are multifunctional and personal, and fundamentally they're still about communications and connections: Voice or video; texting, IM and e-mail; and search for stuff nearby or what people want to buy.

Google Voice for iPhone

The person who might spend hours in front of a PC, spends seconds or minutes at a time on a smartphone (though many more interactions). Phone behavior is more about utility but personally in ways that matter to the user. Google rival Microsoft has the right approach with Windows Phone 7: Get on and get off the device quick; bring relationships closer through built-in features or extended apps.

I'm not suggesting that mobile applications will disappear, but there must come a point when the number of them overwhelm people as they settle down to using smartphones every day, all day in spits and spurts. Do you really want to go to three or four different apps to get news or would you prefer to get it one place? That's utility. Providing what you want, where you need it. With search and other mobile facilities, Google has got utility cold. Perhaps this essay could be titled "2011: The year of mobile utility." Google has it.

In looking at Google in 2011 and beyond, five technologies will define products as the company iterates existing ones and releases others:

1. Search (including keywords and advertising)

2. Android

3. Chrome/Chrome OS

4. Messaging (e.g. Gmail, Google Talk, Google Voice)

5. Cloud sync/identity

Perhaps if Google wasn't investing so much to extend what it offers customers, the lost-mojo doomsayers might be right. But Google invested in the right places from 2005-2010, and it iterated products at breakneck pace in 2009 and 2010. Is your computer running Mac OS or Windows better this week than it was last week? Did Apple or Microsoft add new compelling features to your browser in the last six weeks? Sure, these companies are improving their products, but nothing like Google's pace. In the race to lead the next computing era -- cloud-connected devices -- speed and utility are everything. Google delivers both.

Live from CES 2011: Parrot Electronics' Android-based Asteroid head unit

Publié: janvier 10, 2011, 5:53am CET

By Stephen Jensen

Parrot Electronics showcases its new Asteroid single din head unit running the Android operating system using an ARM 9 processor at roughly 500 MHz. Music, Bluetooth, Navigation, USB connectivity and an integrated amplifier all fit in a form factor less than 5-inches deep. Best of all, the unit will be open for community application development.

ZTE proves to be a company to watch in upcoming LTE deluge

Publié: janvier 10, 2011, 4:59am CET par Tim Conneally

Two of the world's top four mobile phone makers hold their prestigious positions with almost no presence in the United States at all, but one of them looks to have what it takes to make a strong impression in the U.S. in the not too distant future.

I'm talking about Nokia and ZTE, who each enjoy massive popularity in Europe and Asia, but who have remained relatively silent in the states. Judging by ZTE's performance at the end of 2010, and its presence at CES 2011 this week, however, the Chinese telecommunications company will be stepping up its brand in the United States in a big way when the transition to 4G technology is in full swing.

ZTE's contributions in the consumer hardware space have thus far been mostly USB mobile broadband modems, but in August, the company launched its first phone of any sort in the US; and just three months later, it released Peel, an innovative product that turns the iPod Touch into a 3G device on Sprint's network. The company's announcements at CES this year, focused on providing 4G modems and hotspots worldwide in the second quarter of 2011, and entry-level Android tablets for Europe and Asia.

Though ZTE's plans for this 2011 do not explicitly include an Android smartphone or tablet for the US market, the company's new products should absolutely not be overlooked.

ZTE Blade

To put it in the bluntest terms: they're cheap or free, but they're not total garbage. No doubt this is part of the reason why ZTE has become the fourth largest handset maker in the world.

"Many of the most advanced devices available on the market today are priced out of most consumers' range," a statement from the company said on Wednesday. "We are working with our partner carriers to change that in 2011."

At CES 2011 this week, all of the LTE handsets that were shown off from HTC, Samsung, LG, and Motorola looked like they would fall in at the top of their respective product lines, and any LTE-enabled tablets that were announced: Acer Iconia A500, Cisco Cius, and Motorola Xoom with external LTE attachment, were not priced. But based upon their specs, these too are likely to be put in the higher pricing echelons.

ZTE, on the other hand, announced updates to its Light family of Android tablets, which appear to follow the entry-level philosophy the company has taken with its Android smartphones.

ZTE Light Android tablet

The family is made up of three 7" Android 2.2 tablets, one that has a 600MHz processor (Light), one that has a 1GHz processor (Light 2), and the still-mysterious 4G tablet (Light LTE). While ZTE only had the former of these new tablets to show off at CES, the company said the LTE tablet could be released within the next two months. So with GSMA's Mobile World Congress in early February, and International CTIA WIreless convention in late March, we find ourselves looking forward to a deluge of LTE Android tablets in the second quarter, and ZTE's Light LTE could be there to set the entry level.

Live from CES 2011: Ford product design manager Chris Demeniuk tells all about HMI

Publié: janvier 10, 2011, 4:33am CET

By Stephen Jensen

Sean Clark, from mp3Car.ccom, interviews Chris Demeniuk from Ford about the application design process for vehicles. Simplicity, usability, and engineering with the end user in mind are all important themes when creating a Human Machine Interface.

Kinect on our PCs and set top boxes is coming...but not exactly from Microsoft

Publié: janvier 9, 2011, 7:42pm CET par Tim Conneally

Softkinetic --"Kinect" for Intel Atom

In an interview with the BBC, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the Kinect motion control interface released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 will be coming to PCs "in the right time."

But Belgian middleware company SoftKinetic might just beat Microsoft to the punch with its own white-label gesture interface for Atom-based PCs and set-top boxes.

SoftKinetic, who launched a content partner program for its stereoscopic gesture-based platform called iisu last month, gave us a look at their product so far at CES 2011.

The company is developing the entire stack for manufacturers who want to offer their own Kinect-like experience on PCs and set-top boxes, from the software to the UI. SoftKinetic is manufacturing a camera as well, but its software and UI will be compatible with any depth-sensing camera, including Microsoft's Kinect.

In the demonstration the company gave me, they were using an Intel Atom-based PC with one of their own 3D cameras. The demonstration included some rudimentary games, a media player interface, a general content management system and more. In the video below, the company demonstrates some of the more practical aspects of the package, including background isolation, which essentially is "greenscreening" that can be performed without the green screen, a zero-click text input system, and an adaptive UI that recognizes gestures as subtle as a wrist flick.

After I grabbed this video with SoftKinetic, I ran over and had a meeting with Microsoft's Mediaroom group, who touted Kinect as a real breeding ground for unique interaction with broadcast television media and our TVs in general. LIkewise, a large number of other companies were showing off their contributions to the motion controller field, like Omek which concentrates on gesture recognition, and Aiken Labs and PrimeSense, both of which concentrate on the motion sensors themselves. The interface's potential is widely recognized.

It's funny, the hype surrounding 3D displays has been significant at the Consumer Electronics Show both this year and last, but CEA president Gary Shapiro himself has even dismissed the ability to watch TV and movies in three dimensions as simply a feature.

It seems the real future of 3D and our TVs might be in the cameras mounted atop our sets pointing back at us.

Live from CES 2011: Visteon C-Beyond car's thermal IR responds to you

Publié: janvier 9, 2011, 3:34am CET

By , Betanews

Rob Wray, from mp3Car, shows off the Visteon C-Beyond car. The center console has a thermal IR sensor that detects your hand location and opens and closes the console compartment automatically according to hand movement.

Adjustable ambient lighting can be changed based on the passenger's mood. Motion sensing lighting can aid passengers in finding lost items at night as the floor can illuminate based on hand gestures. "Vertical Air Flow" eliminates the need for conventional HVAC vents on the dash. Individual zones of the vehicle are more easily climate controlled based around circular ceiling and floor modules. A Windows PC and Centrafuse front end controls all of the technology.

Live from CES 2011: Pelagicore demonstratws Genivi Meego cross platform in-car solution

Publié: janvier 9, 2011, 3:19am CET

By Stephen Jensen

Rob Wray, from mp3Car, speaks with Mikael Soderberg, from Pelagicore, to discuss two new vehicle hardware setups.

First, the ARM processor of the Beagleboard C4 is paired with a daughterboard from Pelagicore to enable easy communication with systems in the vehicle including the MOST, CAN, & LIN protocols. AM/FM radio integration, Bluetooth and power management capabilities are also integrated.

Second, the Intel Atom 1.6GHz based system, utilizing multi-threading, easily communicates with the vehicles CAN and MOST 50 protocols. It has LVDS, USB, AM/FM radio, Bluetooth, and more.

Both systems run on the Genivi software stack, based on Meego 1.1 IBI.

Live from CES 2011: Pelagicore demonstrates Genivi Meego cross platform in-car solution

Publié: janvier 9, 2011, 3:19am CET

By Stephen Jensen

Rob Wray, from mp3Car, speaks with Mikael Soderberg, from Pelagicore, to discuss two new vehicle hardware setups.

Second, the Intel Atom 1.6GHz based system, utilizing multi-threading, easily communicates with the vehicles CAN and MOST 50 protocols. It has LVDS, USB, AM/FM radio, Bluetooth, and more.

Both systems run on the Genivi software stack, based on Meego 1.1 IBI.

Why Verizon won't let Apple announce iPhone

Publié: janvier 8, 2011, 10:01pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Verizon isn't taking any shit from Apple.

Late yesterday, the wireless carrier set Wall Street and the Web abuzz with invitations to a mysterious January 11 event in New York. Several Apple journalists reported receiving the invites, including veteran Mac reporter Jim Dalrymple (disclosure: we're friends, and I hope will still be after this post). The timing fits with other rumors about the imminent launch of iPhone 4 -- let's call it iPhone 4.5 for this post -- on Verizon Wireless. I say iPhone 4.5, because this isn't your daddy's GSM handset. Verizon's network is CDMA, and it's moving to LTE.

Not surprisingly, Apple journalists and Macheads speculated about why Verizon sent the invitation. Surely it should have come from Apple. In a TechCrunch post, "Why Apple will let Verizon announce iPhone," Dalrymple offers explanation (The headline to this post play's off his headline). "The most important reason Apple would let Verizon make this announcement is that Apple is managing expectations," he writes. "If Apple sent out its typical invitation to join them in California for an event, the speculation would be that Apple was going to release the iPhone 5 or perhaps the iPad 2. I believe when the Verizon-compatible iPhone does come, it will simply be a CDMA version of the iPhone 4."

We can Agree to Disagree

I'm with him regarding a CDMA device but disagree with the rest. Dalrymple has reported about Apple for more than 15 years, and he is remarkably astute in his observations and he is careful about story sourcing. But for once -- in the rarest of instances -- Apple Kool-aid poisoned his judgement. Dalrymple wrongly assumes Apple is driving the announcement -- that Verizon needs iPhone. Machead John Gruber expressed similar sentiments. Gruber and I rarely agree on anything. This is a rare instance where Dalrymple and I disagree. Sorry, Jim.

Make no mistake, Apple has no problem sending out event invitations that generate rumors. Every Apple event generates broader rumors about what's coming than what actually does. More significantly, Apple had good reasons to churn up some speculation and rumors this week, drawing attention away from the Consumer Electronics Show. Apple CES oneupmanship is a seemingly annual activity.

It makes more sense that Verizon had reasons to hold back any invitation and also to be the one sending it. One Betanews commenter almost gets it right. Bay Area CA Male writes: "Anything that Verizon could possibly want to announce and was allowed to would have been done at CES that started yesterday and ends Sunday. Now to most people out there, it's pretty obvious what this means. The only thing Verizon was not allowed to announce at CES is the iPhone." It's not that Verizon wasn't allowed, the carrier didn't want to take away from other new handsets on its network before they were announced -- that the more sensible conclusion. This week Verizon announced some of the hottest Android handsets available on any US carrier -- from HTC, Motorola and Samsung.

Verizon isn't AT&T. The United States' largest cellular carrier isn't accustomed to taking crap from handset manufacturers. Verizon controls everything on its network and is quick to customize handsets with its software and services. AT&T is different, or was when Apple launched the original iPhone in June 2007. AT&T made lots of concessions to get iPhone, such as granting Apple control over the software and updates. The company then known as Cingular was relaunching as AT&T; iPhone would anchor the brand change. But Apple made concessions, too, as a handset manufacturing newcomer, granting AT&T exclusive US iPhone distribution rights for what was then reported to be five years.

Perhaps 18 months ago, Verizon would have ceded more to Apple. After all, AT&T was stealing away customers who wanted iPhone, and Verizon had nothing even remotely comparable to offer. But then in autumn 2009, Verizon launched the Droid -- a cool, Android 2.0 handset supported by a $100-million marketing campaign. Other hot-in-demand Droids followed. The Verizon that once desperately needed iPhone could continue on without the handset, even if painfully.

What Sales and Subscriber Numbers Reveal

The numbers tell the story, but it requires digging deep to get the ending. During third quarter 2010, Verizon Wireless added 997,000 net customers for a total 93.2 million. A year earlier, the carrier added 1.2 million net customers for a total of 89 million. Both quarters followed new iPhone launches, 4 and 3GS, respectively. Not surprisingly, AT&T hugely benefitted from new iPhone launches. In third quarter 2010, during which Apple launched iPhone 4, the carrier added 2.6 million net customers, for a total 92.8 million. A year earlier, AT&T added 2 million subscribers, for a total 81.6 million. So in a year, with iPhone available, AT&T grew by 11.2 million net subscribers, while without Apple's handset Verizon grew by net 4.2 million. During Q3 2010, AT&T activated 5.2 million iPhones and 3.2 million a year earlier. Those numbers would certainly suggest Verizon desperately needs iPhone, but let's look at them from another perspective.

For the first three quarters of 2010, AT&T's net subscribers increased from 87 million to 92.2 million, for a 5.2 million subscriber gain. During the same time period, AT&T activated 11.1 million iPhones, or more than twice the number of net subscriber gains. Carrier switching, or what the industry calls churn, is one reason for the difference; existing subscribers purchasing iPhone is another. By comparison, Verizon's wireless subscribers grew from 92.8 million to 93.2 million, for a gain of only 400,000. That would again suggest that Verizon desperately needs iPhone.

But Verizon's bargaining positon is stronger than it seems because of bigger trends and the large number of successful Android phones the carrier and others sell. Apple claims to have sold 14.1 million iPhone during third calendar quarter, but the company measures sales into the channel. Gartner, which measures actual sales to users, put the number sold at 13.5 million. Assuming AT&T Q3 iPhone activations were for devices sold during the quarter, the one carrier in one market accounted for about 38.4 percent of global iPhone sales in Q3. The United States' second largest carrier is hugely important to Apple, but adding the nation's largest would be even more important, particularly when looking at larger trends related to Android device sales.

Google claims it is activating 300,000 Android handsets a day, which works out to 27 million per quarter or more than the most generous Wall Street analyst projections for Q4 iPhone shipments. Every major US carrier offers Android handsets, but only one sells iPhone -- and, again, in the market accounting for more than one-third of global sales.

More troublesome, despite AT&T's subscriber gains, iPhone is losing sales to Android. This week, ComScore and Nielsen both announced new data on US cell phone sales. There is one consistent trend: iPhone market share is flat, which is surprising considering iPhone 4's June launch. ComScore's data compares two separate three-month periods, ending in August and November. Android's share of smartphone subscribers rose from 19.6 percent to 26 percent, while iPhone's nudged up from 24.2 percent to 25 percent, according to ComScore.

Nielsen used a different measure -- smartphone OS share -- which puts iOS ahead (28.6 percent share) of Android (25.8 percent share). However, iOS isn't really gaining, while Android experiences dramatic growth. From June to November, with some fluctuations, iOS smartphone operating system market share rose from 27.9 percent to 28.6 percent. Meanwhile Android's share leaped from 15 percent to 25.8 percent. More revealing: November, 40.8 percent of new acquirers bought an Android smartphone -- that's up from 27.3 percent in July. By comparison, iOS share among new purchasers was flat, going from 26.2 percent to 26.9 percent during the same time period.

Verizon takes No Crap from Suppliers

Is the point obvious enough? In iPhone's home -- and arguably still most important -- market, iPhone is stalling against the Android onslaught, which is everywhere. That makes Apple's need for the nation's larget carrier hugely important, perhaps more so than Verizon's need for iPhone. At the least Verizon is on fairly equal footing negotiating terms and selecting launch venue. Dalrymple's mistake is the same as many other people watching Apple -- assuming the company. will set the terms of the deal and lead the launch. No way, Jose.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is worshipped by many people. He's a cult leader, an iconic CEO. Some analysts, bloggers and journalists have called Apple's handset the Jesus phone. Maybe, but Jobs isn't the Almighty, and he has met his match before. For example he backed down before record labels and their demands for fluid rather than static music prices at iTunes Store. Verizon is a hugely successful and aggressive company. Verizon Wireless CEO Daniel Mead worked his way from within Verizon to assume the leadership position. He is a tactical and loyal operator. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg is a formidable figure in American business. His cunning acquisitions brought together Bell Atlantic, GTE and (and earlier NYNEX) to form Verizon in 2000. He didn't need an iPhone to relaunch or rebrand. Seidenberg isn't the type to cow before Jobs, no matter how revered.

So, I'm not surprised the invitations came from Verizon, and, again that's assuming all the rumors and speculation are right about the iPhone 4.5 launch. The venue is hugely sensible. Apple knows something about influencing Wall Street through rumors. Verizon knows perhaps even more about influencing through execution. The New York venue is well chosen for that. Verizon has something it wants to communicate to Wall Street analysts and to investors. Microsoft also typically launches major new products from New York -- that is when holding special events. It's the right place.

No one should expect Verizon to take a backseat to Apple, the way AT&T has. Verizon will be ruthless promoting the benefits of its network over AT&T's for iPhone. But Verizon also sells many other smartphones, Androids among, and announced many new handsets during this week's Consumer Electronics Show. Verizon won't depend on iPhone the way AT&T has. Apple is just another phone supplier, albeit a hugely successful one. Verizon proved its mettle in its competitive marketing campaign against AT&T reliability and when launching Droids. If Verizon does announce iPhone 4.5 next week, the event won't be about Apple but Verizon and its customers.

Hands-on with the world's first color E Ink reader

Publié: janvier 8, 2011, 2:23am CET par Tim Conneally

All of the e-readers that use legitimate "e paper" and not some other display type license their technology from the E Ink Corporation. It's the high-visibility screen technology used in the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, the original Nook, and many more.

Late in 2010, E Ink debuted an active matrix color E Ink technology called Triton, and Chinese manufacturer Hanvon jumped on board as the first adopter of the new screens.

Hanvon shows the first real color E-ink reader

Hanvon's 10" color touchscreen e-reader will be released in March 2011 exclusively in China. There are currently no companies that have publicly committed to using the new technology for readers in the U.S., so this is currently the only way consumers will be able to see color E ink.

Hanvon color e-ink reader

Furthermore, it is Hanvon's only attempt thus far with the technology. The company's big unveil for CES 2011 was not another color reader, but instead a black and white e-paper reader with 200dpi resolution which it showed off for the first time on Wednesday.

As one would expect, the color contrast is quite low in the color E ink reader, especially in pictures with high saturation. Furthermore, the screen refresh is in the neighborhood of 2 seconds per page, and the touchscreen handling is unwieldy at best. But coming from a company that claims a 95% e-reader market share in China, it is a big trailblazer for the technology.

Hanvon color e-ink reader

Whether it comes to a platform like Amazon's Kindle remains to be seen.

Could it be iPhone really and finally is coming to Verizon?

Publié: janvier 8, 2011, 12:01am CET par Joe Wilcox

What would another day be without somebody, somewhere having some kind of inside information -- from (gasp) unnamed, so-called reliable sources -- that the iPhone is coming to Verizon? Next year. Next month. Next week. Next day. Next minute. Two new dates have popped up -- January 11 and February 3 -- over the last 24 hours. Could it all be true this time?

January 11 is interesting if no other reason than it's closer. Today, several journalists received invitations to a special, unnamed Verizon event in New York City next week. My buddy Jim Dalrymple received an invite. He writes: "While it doesn't mention anything about Apple this could be the Verizon iPhone." TechCrunch's MG Siegler got one, too. Now there's someone who is an Apple hugger du jour.

"I don't typically get invites directly from Verizon to anything," Siegler writes. "At least not that I can recall. They usually send those directly to the MobileCrunch and CrunchGear guys. But this invite appears to very specifically be for me -- it's non-transferable. Would Verizon send me such an invite unless it was specially about Apple?"

That's a good question. Siegler ranks high on my list of journalists who I expect would glowingly praise a poop-colored Mac (you know, like the 30GB brown Zune). "Steve Jobs is now earth mother to us all with this fashionable beauty," I imagine Siegler writing. Nudge me, please, when I stop puking.

Then there is the wannabe admission. A no-byline post at Gizmodo offers other so-called evidence: "We're great friends with Verizon. (Hi guys!) We've worked with them for years, and we've been to like every event they've had over the last three years. We haven't gotten an invite. Which is weird. We've reached out to Verizon to see why, exactly, we weren't invited...The only reason we can think of is that it's an Apple event, and Steve [Jobs] doesn't want us there. You know the story."

Yes, we do. Apple payback for Gizmodo paying $5,000 for that lost stolen iPhone 4 prototype is never going to end. But maybe the invite got lost in the spam filter. There could be other explanations. I'm not on Apple's love list either, and I also received no invite. So what? That's supposed to lead to the conclusion Apple must be launching iPhone on Verizon? Oh, please, get a life!

iPhone 4 How convenient, January 11 could conceivably fit in with another date: February 3. Apple and Verizon announce on the 11th and preorders start soon after for delivery on release date nearly four weeks later. Yeah, but wouldn't the announcement put some AT&T iPhone sales at risk? Surely Verizon wouldn't mind, but how about Apple? A lost sale is a lost sale.

Where does the date come from? Early this morning, I spotted an interesting post at the Boy Genius Report. Jonathan Geller writes: "BGR has confirmed with a source close to Apple that the company has blacked out employee vacation requests between February 3rd and February 6th -- Thursday through Sunday. The four-day vacation freeze has been confirmed to be in effect in several regions in the United States." Geller notes that iPhone 4 launched over a Thursday through Sunday weekend and that Verizon typically launches new phones on a Thursday.

In a follow-up post, at 2:25pm ET, Geller firmed up the speculation, emphasizing: "We're predicting that Apple will send out media invites for its Verizon iPhone press event within the next week." Dalrymple posted about the Verizon invite at 3:07pm ET -- about 45 minutes later. Oh, how the plot thickens.

Now perhaps something really is going to happen this time. Here are three solid journalists putting forth information that may reveal the when about something long rumored: iPhone on Verizon. I'm puzzled why the invite didn't come from Apple. The company seems to defy logic when it comes to new product launches, which is why the rumors are often partially right at best and often wrong. But Apple also is known for controlling events like this. Something is missing here.

One of my favorite plays is Eugene Ionesco's "The Bald Soprano." London couple, Mr. and Mrs. Smith are entertaining Mr. and Mrs. Martin when the doorbell rings. Mrs. Smith goes off to answer it, but no one is there. The doorbell rings again and again, and Mrs. Smith dutifully gets up to answer but finds no one there. The doorbell rings again, but Mrs. Smith refuses to answer because she has learned that when the doorbell rings it's because no one is there. Someone is there, it turns out -- the fire chief.

I take the scene to be an indictment of the scientific method, in an absurd comedy rife with backhanded (and quite funny) ridicule about many sacred things. The doorbell keeps ringing, and rumor chasers get up to answer it. Sometimes they go down the wrong hallway and open a different door. Like Mrs. Smith they draw the wrong conclusions about what the ringing means. But surely sometime, like with the fire chief, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be at the door. Is this that time?

CES 2011: Seven tablets you should know about

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 10:53pm CET par Ed Oswald

Some are calling the year 2011 the year of the tablet, and from the looks of what's coming out of CES this week it certainly seems the case. For much of 2010, Apple's iPad ruled the roost and sold an estimated 10 million units.

The only serious competitor to appear was Samsung's Galaxy Tab, which debuted in September and sold 600,000 units in its first month alone. The success of the Tab showed that there may be a market for an iPod competitor, which should be heartening to these new entrants.

Here is the seven most exciting tablet computers coming out of CES that we think you should know about (in no particular order). You may see a common theme here -- many of them run on Android, which means 2011 could very well also be the year Android breaks out of its primarily phone-based shell.

1. Dell Streak 7
Dell's first entrant into the 4G world is its Dell Streak 7 tablet, which will come to T-Mobile USA's network later this year. The device includes a 7-inch screen and a dual core processor. The negative here would be the fact that it will run Android 2.2 out of the box, however Dell said it would be upgradable to Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" when that releases later this year.

A 10-inch version is also on its way, and was briefly shown by the company at the show.

Dell Streak 7

2. Toshiba "Tegra 2"
Although Toshiba's tablet hasn't exactly been named yet, the device would run on NVidia's Tegra chip technology. While the demo device shown to CES attendees is running Android 2.2, it should ship with Android 3.0. It's a little bigger than the streak with a 10-inch screen.

A cool feature with this tablet is the technology included called "Resolution Plus." Just like modern DVD players, the standard definition video is upconverted to appear as high definition. It will also include front and rear facing cameras, as well as Mini USB, USB, HDMI, and microSD card slots.

Toshiba Tegra 2 Tablet

3. Motorola Xoom
Our own Tim Conneally got to take a look at this planned tablet, although it was only a shell. Regardless, we got some early word on the specs: Android 3.0, dual-core 1GHz processor, front and rear-facing cameras, HDMI, and data support from Verizon Wireless when it releases later this quarter.

For those wishing to take advantage of Verizon's 4G LTE network, an attachment would be offered in the second quarter of this year. See this video from Tim for a little bit more on the Xoom.

4. RIM PlayBook
We've covered the PlayBook at length here, from being the first to actually confirm the true specs of the device back in July to its official unveiling in September. RIM is using the platform of CES to further build hype for its product, and we now know the company is moving up its launch goals to this quarter, a quarter earlier than expected.

Charles Arthur of The Guardian spoke with RIM's John Wong about the device:

5. Lenovo IdeaPad U1/LePad
Lenovo's entrant is somewhat interesting, because at first it really is not a tablet. It starts out as a 10.1-inch netbook running Windows 7. However, when detached it becomes the "LePad," running Android 2.2.

The computer's shell is almost like a case of sorts, and the screen is the tablet part that detaches out. Lenovo actually showed a similar product last year, however at that time they had planned to use a proprietary operating system developed in-house.

Now, the tablet portion can be purchased separately, giving the "LePad" portion a competitive $500 price point. Add the case that makes it a laptop, and the price shoots up to $1,300.

Erin Malinowski of Wired explains how it works:

6. Vizio Via
Thought Vizio just made HDTV's? Think again. The company is one of the many trying to make a splash at CES with its Via tablet. Like many of its new competitors, it is also running Android and sports an 8-inch screen. Those that have seen it up close say the sharpness beats that of the iPad: this could be explained by the fact that the iPad's screen is almost two inches larger.

Initial models of the device will include 802.11n and Bluetooth connectivity, although it would have the capability down the road to support cellular data, the company says. Mini-HDMI is supported, and not surprisingly the device includes IR support so you can use it as a remote control.

(We should note that Vizio also debuted an Android phone at the show as well. Here's hoping the phone and tablet are as budget-minded as their HDTVs are known to be!)

Vizio Via tablet

7. NEC LT-W
NEC's entrant, the LT-W, breaks the single screen mold of the traditional tablet, although from what the company is saying, is still a long ways off. Launch in Japan isn't expected for another six months, and the company has yet to specify if and when it would be launched internationally -- likely in any case wouldn't even bear the NEC brand (the company licenses its work to others).

Either way, the dual screen tablet opens like a book, which leads me to believe that this device may have a future as an e-reading device of sorts. Unfortunately, it uses resistive technology for the touch screen functionality, which means the display may not be as sensitive as some tablet users may have come to expect.

With its bulky industrial look and seemingly less consumer appeal, this type of tablet may see more commercial applications. NEC isn't sure either -- the company plans to make it available for partners and see where it goes from there. Thus, maybe the company is just trying to make its mark in a tech sector where everyone seems to be these days.

NEC LT-W

This is just a partial list -- believe us -- of the tablets floating around CES 2011. We'd be interested in hearing what other tablets you've seen out there at the yearly confab that have caught your eye.

Live from CES 2011: Foryou concept device does Froyo apps in the car

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 10:11pm CET

By Stephen Jensen

Although not available yet, the Foryou Electronics double din unit in this video features the Android 2.2 operating system. With it, a plethora of app possibilities can now exist in the vehicle, with a user interface conducive to in-vehicle use. Bluetooth, music, email, radio, internet access, and a fast processor are now all easily possible from your dash.

Live from CES 2011: Regulators boot Scosche iPad dash mount into the backseat

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 9:48pm CET

By Stephen Jensen

Scosche's front double din iPad mount will apparently never make it to market due to legal concerns. However, their new rear seat mount will. iPads continue to be a sought after solution for in-vehicle computing.

OLPC jumps ARM bandwagon with $165 laptop at CES

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 8:33pm CET par Scott Alperin

By James Nixon, THINQ.co.uk

One Laptop Per Child, the outfit dedicated to bringing affordable computers to children in developing countries, became the latest name to jump on the ARM bandwagon as it demonstrated the latest version of its portable PC at the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 in Las Vegas.

The organisation's new XO-1.75 laptop uses an ARM-based 1GHz Armada 610 chip from Marvell Technology. It has an 8.9-inch touchscreen and uses just two watts of power - half the figure consumed by its x86-based predecessor, the XO.

The new laptop replaces the cancelled x86-based XO-2, and takes a major step towards tablet computing. By placing the motherboard behind the device's screen, it leaves the other half containing just the keyboard and battery - paving the way for future models to do away with the keyboard entirely.

The forthcoming XO-3, which will have a 9.7-inch touchscreen - the same size as Apple's iPad - is due to be released in 2012, and will consume just 1 watt of power.

The XO-1.75 will begin shipping during the second quarter of this year. The new device's $165 price tag also brings it closer to the company's original goal of shipping laptops for less than $100 per unit.

OLPC's chief technology officer, Edward McNierney, explained that the firm has shifted its focus from price to power consumption, owing to the fact that it was shipping PCs to users with little or no access to regular power supplies.

"The biggest obstacle has been power," said McNierney. "We are pretty excited about getting a lower-power laptop out there."

McNierney demonstrated recharging the XO-1.75 with a hand crank, saying that the unit could be fully recharged by hand in just 1 hour and 47 minutes of twisting and turning, so the machine also doubles as a portable gym.

In another change of technology, the new laptop's battery is made from lithium ferrous phosphate, which McNierney claims is less prone to overheating than lithium ion.

OLPC's batteries are designed to last five years, and slow-recharging is one way to extend the life of the battery, McNierney said.

Can you feel the noose, Apple? Android gains against flat US iPhone market share

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 7:38pm CET par Joe Wilcox

What do the US market share leaders for cell phones and smartphone operating systems have in common? Android.

Yesterday, ComScore released September to November US mobile subscriber market share. Yes, I initially thought to cover it then, but there was simply too much news from the first official day of the Consumer Electronics Show. So here we are a day later.

Most of the news reports about the data has focused on Android passing iOS for smartphone market share. But there's more interesting in the numbers than Android's ascendence. Comparing the three months ending in August and ending in November, Android's US market share rose from 19.6 percent to 26 percent. Apple's share rose slightly, from 24.2 percent to 25 percent. The data is fairly consistent with numbers released earlier in the week by Nielsen: Flat iOS market share growth and Android rapidly rising -- 40.8 percent of recent purchasers chose a smartphone running Android.

It's revealing that iOS market share is flat, at least compared to Android, following release of iPhone 4, which, according to Nielsen, only gave iPhone a modest bump. Perhaps iPhone could really use that big price cut AT&T instituted today -- iPhone 3GS for a cool 49 bucks. Or perhaps that oft-rumored Verizon iPhone could help boost sales. After all, Android is available on phones from all US carriers. Poor little iPhone only has AT&T. Please, take out your handkerchiefs.

Microsoft's mobile operating system declined during the same period from 10.8 percent to 9 percent. Lost market share isn't surprising. That it wasn't more is. Sales decline ahead of Windows Phone 7's release is to be expected. The first handsets shipped at the end of the forecast period.

Top Smartphone OS Nov 2010

On the hardware side, Samsung ranked No. 1, with its share up to 24.5 percent from 23.6 percent between the two three-month series. Samsung is having a good run with Android-based Galaxy S series smartphones, selling over 10 million from June to end of 2010. In December, I bought the Galaxy S-based, Google-branded Nexus S. Two days ago, at CES, Samsung announced the SH100 digital camera, which uses Galaxy S phones as remotes, viewfinders and geotaggers.

Among the other top five, Numbers 2 and 3 -- LG and Motorola -- announced new Android-based smartphones and tablets this week at CES (Can you feel the noose tightening, Apple?)

Top Mobile OEMS Nov 2010

ComScore's data is for Americans 13 and older, 234 million of which used "mobile devices" (e.g. handsets) during the three months ending in November. The data is based on mobile phone subscribers. Smartphone ownership jumped 10 percent to 64.5 million during the same time period. What do people do with these devices? The majority of cell phone subscribers sent text messages (67.1 percent), while 35.3 percent used a browser and 33.4 percent downloaded apps.

Which smartphone do you use and which mobile operating system? Please feel free to answer in comments.

Google admits that, for some, Android is misdirecting texts

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 7:12pm CET par Ed Oswald

Google admitted this week that an issue with how the Android OS handles contacts and text messaging is causing phones to sometimes randomly send or misdirect SMS messages to the wrong users. The issue was first reported in late June of last year, but was not confirmed as a legitimate bug until now.

Engineers have been able to recreate the issue, and now say that they believe the problems stem from two different issues with the Android OS. That said, the company stressed occurrences of the bug are rare, and a fix for the problem has been developed and would be released soon.

According to bug reports in a thread on the Google Code website, in one case an SMS message appears as sent to the correct user. Instead, the OS sends it to another user in the phone user's contact list. Viewing the message details will then show the phone number of the incorrect recipient in the "To:" field.

Yet another problem appears to be one where the phone itself sends texts stored in memory randomly, sometimes months after the original message had been sent. That bug, however, seems to be quite rare.

Despite a good deal of arguing between participants of the Google Code thread, the company now itself has confirmed the issue. The first issue seems to deal with how the user interface loads: this is causing the wrong message thread to load in some cases.

"We've found in testing this issue, it is more likely to occur if you tap on a message before the Messaging app is fully loaded, so we recommend waiting for all the elements to load before clicking on the message you want to display," a Google representative wrote.

Google was very vague on the issue of misdirected texts, only offering that it had a fix on the way for the issue in a future update. As to its cause outside of the previous UI loading problems, that is unknown.

"While we don't anticipate any persistent problems, we'll continue to investigate in case we come up with additional ways to trigger these bugs," the company said.

Mac App Store tops 1 million downloads during first 24 hours

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 6:09pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Apple just won't let it go. While the rest of the industry is focused on the Consumer Electronics Show (Apple isn't there), the company keeps trying to steal other tech vendors' thunder. ;-) First, Apple launched the Mac App Store on CES 2011 Day 1. Now it's announced that Mac users downloaded 1 million apps within the first 24 hours. Yeah, but how many people paid?

"We're amazed at the incredible response the Mac App Store is getting," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. "Developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is."

The Mac App Store opened with about 1,000 free and paid apps, which I must concede are nicely presented. Snow Leopard users can get the store simply by downloading Mac OS X 10.6.6. The store will be integrated into v10.7, which is scheduled to release around summer. Apple's revenue-sharing deal gives developers 70 percent of sales (assuming they charge, of course). Other developer benefits:

1. Applications can be made available across multiple-sized devices -- Macs, iPads, iPhones and iPod touches.

2. Developers can now scale their applications across devices.

3. Developers can sell apps for which they will be paid; the app store deters piracy.

4. Rights protection is built in so that customers aren't exposed to onerous piracy-deterring activation mechanisms.

5. The store makes applications easily available to customers and more easily searched for than scouring the Web.

6. Developers can easily get digital shelf space -- and, therefore greater exposure -- where they might not get retail shelf space at all in stores like Best Buy.

7. Usage rights are assigned to a person, not a PC. There is an identity, which is potentially good for additional marketing efforts and establishing meaningful relationship with software buyers.

Mac App Store Featured

Apple's 1-million downloads is overshadowed by ominous news. A group calling itself "Hackulous" claims to have developed Kickback, a mechanism for cracking some applications' digital rights protection. However, as of this posting, Hackulous hasn't publicly released Kickback, reportedly waiting until the Mac App Store builds a larger library. Oh, 1 million downloads isn't enough? I've got to wonder: Will news of the crack lead to even more downloads?

In answer to my earlier question "How many people paid?", Apple offers some insight in Mac App Store charts. The 11 top-grossing apps:

Apple Aperture
Apple iPhoto
Angry Birds
Pixelmator
Sketchbook Pro
Apple iMovie
Apple Pages
Apple Remote Desktop
RapidWeaver
Apple GarageBand
Apple Keynote

Uh-oh, seven of the 11 top-grossing apps are from Apple. That benefits developers of the other 993 apps exactly how? Apple slashed the price of Aperture from $199 boxed to $79 in Mac App Store. Remote Desktop got a hefty price cut, too. When reporting anything my first question always is: Who benefits? Well, who benefits here? You tell me, please, in comments.

The ancient art of printing gets a game changer

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 5:33pm CET par Tim Conneally

Memjet, the printer design company headed by former Qualcomm COO Len Lauer, made its first major partnership announcements at CES 2011 yesterday, and its staggeringly fast inkjet printers will be brought to market by Lenovo in China, WEP in India, and Kpowerscience in Taiwan. North America and Europe are sure to follow.

Why should you care about Memjet? Because most of the big announcements coming from printer companies in recent years have revolved around advances in printer communication and broadened functionality. It isn't often that a disruptive technology comes along and results in a different kind of printer.

That's what Memjet is showing at CES, an inkjet printer that is capable of between 60 and 70 pages per minute because of its unique printhead design.

Just for the sake of comparison, HP's high-end OfficeJet Pro printers max out at 36 pages per minute, and the machines utilize a print head that slides back and forth to get the ink on the page. Memjet has a single printhead that is the width of the paper tray, that utilizes more than 70,000 color jets to ink a page.

Memjet is a printer and printhead design company, and licenses its patented technology to manufacturers, so when this type of printer is released to consumers, it will carry a more recognizable brand and is not likely to look like the models on display at CES.

Unfortunately, the company's representatives couldn't come forward with a timeline for manufacturing partnerships in the U.S, but we were assured that they are in the works, and we'll be seeing these super fast printers on the market soon.

Mac App Store already a target for hackers and piraters

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 4:35pm CET par Ed Oswald

Just a day after Apple launched the Mac App Store to generally positive reviews, reports that the copy protection may have been hacked have begun to surface. In addition, several developers may have improperly secured their apps, making the pirator's job that much easier.

A group calling itself "Hackulous" said that it has developed a program called Kickback which circumvents the DRM methods used by Apple. However, the group is holding off public release of the application until the Mac App Store builds a larger library.

The Cupertino company has used a drastically different way of distributing software -- tying the application to the purchaser and not the computer itself. Purchases are processed through iTunes -- and hackers have discovered in some cases unlocking a paid app is as simple as cut and pasting a receipt number from a free application.

At least one app has been identified as having the problem, and it's a popular one: the Mac version of Angry Birds. The directions to do so were publicly available on code site Pastebin.com as of Friday morning. It was also reported the game Incident was affected: it is unknown at this time how many others might be affected.

Of course, this requires the user have a copy of that app from somewhere else other than the Mac App Store itself: hackers have not figured out a way to fool the system itself into allowing the app to download without payment.

It should also be added that the problem, at least at this point, does not appear to be completely Apple's problem. Developers appear to be at fault here, failing to properly secure their applications.

Daring Fireball's John Gruber said most developers should be fine. "For apps that follow Apple's advice on validating store receipts, this simple technique will not work.," he said in a blog post. "But, alas, it appears that many apps don't perform any validation whatsoever, or do so incorrectly."

Gruber called on Apple to test for proper validation during the review process and reject applications which fail.

Apple was not responding to requests for comment on the situation.

5 things you should learn from CES 2011

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 3:59pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Today may officially be Day 2 of the Consumer Electronics Show, but, based on vendor announcements, it's really the fifth day. CES has a few lessons for those who live and breath tech, whether they work in the industry or follow it as analysts, bloggers, investors or journalists.

1. Rumors are often false. I shouldn't have to state this. Short of a reliable gadget blog/news site getting hands on a verifiably-authentic photo or video of something new -- or actual product -- rumors can't be trusted. The more general or speculative, the more likely to lead nowhere.

For example, it was widely rumored that Microsoft would debut during the opening keynote a Windows version for tablets, show off tablets running the new operating system and announce a new settop box to compete with Apple TV and Google TV.

It's unconscionable, or at least irresponsible, for so many people responsible for getting out accurate information to parlay this rumor game.

2. Everyone is asking about the tablet not here -- iPad 2. Apple isn't participating in CES, but its presence is as specter -- the ghost in the trade show. Perhaps iPad 2 would cast shorter ghostly -- or should that be ghastly -- shadow if more of the new tablets were releasing sooner. Many of them are tied to Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb), and it's simply not yet ready.

I've spoken to a couple analysts and journalists who already are calling the tablet wars over, with Apple the sure winner. That's simply an outrageous assertion to make based on two (soon to be three) quarters of iPad sales. Apple may have reinvigorated the category in 2010, but tablets have been around and will be around for some time.

The category's sudden resurgence is reason enough to watch for Apple to shake out. There's recent precedent: smartphones. The category was slow growing before Apple released iPhone in 2007, then jumpstarted. Soon after, many of the same voices bullish about iPad today predicted iPhone would dominate the smartphone market. They were wrong. Android suddenly and unexpectedly stormed the smartphone OS market, passing iPhone -- at least in the United States -- in late 2010.

3. Many tablet vendors are pursuing a flawed go-to-market strategy. Any tablet that requires carrier contractual commitment is already doomed. Apple was right to make data plans optional for iPad. Tablet technology will change too quickly over the next 18 to 24 months -- the typical contract length either in Europe or the United States. Carriers and manufacturers are asking too much of consumers to lock into one device for so long.

Motorola XOOM tablet

The strategy reminds me of 2000 and 2001, when consumers could get PCs for cheap or free with two- or three-year ISP commitment. Many of them came to regret the deals. If iPad appeals for no other reason, contract-free for affordable price will be among the most important.

4. CES is Apple's treasure trove of competitive information -- hell, it's better than corporate espionage. Most of the tablets and many of the hot new smartphones announced at CES won't ship for months. Apple is likely to announce iPad 2 first. While it's too late in the development process for Apple to make substantive design changes, marketing can be fine-tuned. Apple now knows what to expect from the fragmented market of tablet competitors, and those offering Android or Windows Phone 7 smartphones.

Apple also can better play its announcement. There's a lot of angst among vendors about what Apple will do and, as I've asserted so many times, the company's stock thrives on rumors. Apple can effectively shut out competitor sales simply by announcing iPad 2 before many of the tablets ever ship -- even if Apple doesn't ship for a month or even more.

5. CES is too big to be any longer relevant. The trade show exploded in size after Comdex's demise in the early Noughties. It's now an enormous venue, where many new products are announced too many months before they're released to market and too many others are lost in the noise. There's more to gain in competitive insight than the real value of networking with customers or partners.

Endpoint president Roger Kay pegs it: "Once upon a time, vendors met developers and distributors at the show. A trade booth was a modest enough affair, a place where vendors could show their proposed wares to people who might actually buy them. All that is long gone. These days, the venue is stuffed to the gills with 'students' and industrial spies. Mostly, your competitors, in various guises, come to your booth to see what you have."

Apple's Mac App Store fundamentally changes PC software usage rights

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 3:52am CET par Joe Wilcox

Mac App Store Featured

Earlier today, Apple officially launched its application store for Macintosh, with about 1,000 free and paid applications available. Snow Leopard users download the Mac OS X 10.6.6 update, and the store is included. But people using the software are in for a change. Consumers typically buy software by machine. Those people buying from the Mac App Store purchase by person. The software is attached to an identity. This is a dramatic departure from how consumer software is typically licensed.

Licensing agreements typically restrict installation on one PC, sometimes two or even three. If a consumer goes into a store and buys, say, Microsoft Office, the purchase ultimately is tied to a computer. For years, Microsoft took machine purchases on trust, but in 2001 added product activation to Office and later Windows. Office 2011 is the first Mac version of the productivity suite to require product activation, which essentially locks the software to a computer. Not a person. Similarly, when a new PC ships with Windows, the license is tied to the machine not the buyer.

The problem with machine licensing is piracy. The licensor expects to be paid for additional software installations, but many, probably most, consumers buying software for one machine don't see a problem with putting it on others. Microsoft developed product activation to prevent this activity, which it calls "casual piracy." Other software developers, Adobe among, use similar activation mechanisms.

Thinking Differently about Software Licensing

The Mac App Store changes the paradigm and usage rights associated with it. Buyers use an existing Apple ID (usually from iTunes) or create another. Software purchases are tied to that identity, not the PC. If a licensee buys another Mac, he or she can redownload the software using the same ID without paying again. People buying music from iTunes or apps for iPad, iPhone from iTunes are used to this kind of identity approach, but it's not common for computer software.

But uncommon doesn't mean non-existent. Some software developers offering digital downloads use an identity approach. Adobe does this. Customers set up an Adobe ID to which the purchase is tied. This allows the buyer to redownload the software and to reactivate it. But the process feels restrictive, because there are really two rights protection mechanisms -- the ID and password to download the software and product activation when entering a serial number.

Mac App Store Aperture

Will History Repeat in 2011

Apple's approach is simpler and feels familiar; repeating history, the company doing in 2011 what it did in 2003 -- fundamentally changing content licensing policy. Before the April 2003 launch of the iTunes Store, major labels applied different licensing rights to digitally downloaded music, confusing consumers and deterring purchases. There were restrictions on CD burning and listening to music on different computers. Apple negotiated uniform rights for all music, and they were generous -- up to three PCs (later extended to five) and multiple CD burns from a single playlist. All this started on the Mac, which was a safe experiment for record labels considering Apple's tiny PC market share.

Apple fundamentally changed how rights-protected digitally downloaded music is licensed, particularly after iTunes Store released for Windows in October 2003. One person in a household could buy music and make it available to others simply by authorizing the computer using the Apple ID associated with the music purchase. The same principle applies to Mac App Store but with a slightly different process. Each application is authorized using the Apple ID when downloaded -- like the iOS App Store.

The rights are hugely generous and more in line with consumer expectations: That they buy software once and use it anywhere within the household. According to the Mac App Store FAQ: "Apps from the Mac App Store may be used on any Macs that you own or control for your personal use." Emphasis: Any. Not three Macs, or five or any other number. Considering that most software is licensed for one PC -- although many developers probably don't have realistic expectation of 1:1 installation -- any is quite a change. Something else: applications purchased from the store do not require activation keys, registration numbers or serial numbers. Only the Apple ID and password are required.

Mac App Store Categories

Your Identity is Your Right to Generous Rights

Identity licensing isn't new, and it's widely used for content licensed for other purposes or mobile devices. Content streamed from Hulu Plus or Netflix uses an identity scheme. E-books stores like Amazon Kindle tie purchases to an identity. But rights are restrictive compared to Mac App Store. Amazon and Barnes & Noble offer limited, 14-day lending rights for e-books. This can be somewhat circumvented by having all the people in a family use the same Kindle account, since Amazon licenses the content for on up to five different devices associated with the account. But it is nevertheless restrictive. Apple's approach is better, and it could quite possibly change usage rights elsewhere, as iTunes did in the mid-Noughties. The place for Apple to start is in its backyard, securing more generous rights for e-books purchased from iBookstore.

The question developers and other licensors surely must ask: How will we get paid? The one software application-to-one computer approach theoretically means the developer makes money on each installation. But, c`mon, who really buys three copies of software for three home computers, unless forced to (say, by onerous product activation)? On the other hand, a consumer might pay once at the Mac App Store and use the application on four or five computers. What developer wants to get paid once when there is chance to collect several times?

To both scenarios, I say this: The Mac App Store provides a secure place where people can easily find the software; where they will pay for it at least once and where digital rights management technology deters (or prevents piracy). It's better to sell something than nothing at all -- and if the iOS App Store is any indication most developers will sell their wares.

Qualcomm's Mirasol full color e-reader display, one year later

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 3:00am CET par Tim Conneally

At CES 2010, Qualcomm made a surprise unveiling of a full-color e-reader display technology called Mirasol that utilized a new reflective technology called IMOD (Interferrometric Modulation) that gave it the color and refresh of an LCD screen, but with the sunlight viewability and low battery consumption of e-paper. At CES 2011, the screen still hasn't been employed in any e-readers yet, but it isn't far from being a reality.

Though Qualcomm couldn't tell me today who will be utilizing the technology in an e-reader/tablet, nor could they say when it should be expected, but judging by the company's readiness to let the public handle its protoype version --as opposed to last year's model, which was only viewed on appointment, and still couldn't be touched-- and time in development, a product offering the unique display should be in the channel this year.

Hands-on with RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, Sprint 4G not included

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 2:41am CET par Tim Conneally

Research in Motion's 7" BlackBerry PlayBook slate/tablet made its first official appearance back in September, and today at CES 2011, it's gotten its first 4G U.S. carrier partner, Sprint, and has gone on display for the public to touch.

Of course, what the public can do with the Playbook today is still very limited. You cannot, in fact, pick up the device, as it's attached to the display stand. However, you can swipe through the QNX-crafted interface, open up a few apps and demonstrations, use the browser, and develop a general longing for a deeper experience.

But it won't be long before it's ready to launch. Research in Motion representatives today said the first model to market will be the Wi-Fi only version, in just over a month. The 3G (or perhaps just GSM-based) versions are expected to come in the second quarter of 2011, and Sprint will be getting its WiMAX version (called the "4G PlayBook") some time in the Summer.

The touch experience, especially within the touch-sensitive bezel is smooth and responsive, and sliding upward on the screen serves as the "back" gesture, as well as opening an Android-like drawer of installed applications.

Though the device's weight and feel in hand are still something of a mystery, the BlackBerry PlayBook is shaping up to be an impressive device, even though it is in the 7" form factor, which is sometimes considered a less-than-ideal screen size.

Motorola's Atrix bends the definition of mobile computing

Publié: janvier 7, 2011, 1:14am CET par Tim Conneally

Motorola Mobility's Atrix Android smartphone, announced separately by both AT&T and Motorola yesterday, is drawing crowds on the CES showfloor today. After talking to Motorola and getting some solid hands-on time with it, I can say it's an easy contender for the best announcement of the show.

The Atrix is not so much a smartphone as a dockable cloud computer, and without its impressive feature-enhancing docks, could have easily gone unnoticed against the dozens of tablet announcements coming from CES this year. Because without these docks, it would just be another Android smartphone; albeit one with mind-bending specs.

But with them, it becomes clear that Atrix is much more forward-looking than your average superphone; it hints at a future where a device is not defined by the screen that is built into it, but is defined instead by the user's needs at the moment.

In this way, it's an anti-gadget. Yes, these docks are undoubtedly "gadgets" in nature, that make Atrix a Swiss Army knife of a mobile computer. But the real power of Atrix comes from the fact that it eschews a single form factor and hybridizes a mobile OS with a device-agnostic Webtop interface.

All of these gadgety components are to show off a platform that can be applied to a mobile computer, television, or desktop PC depending on what you need it to be. And if you take all those away, it is still a powerful smartphone.

The big question is: Is this a gimmick device, or is this a new class of devices for Motorola?

Naturally, Motorola dodged the question; but said that it is the first question lots of people --especially internally-- ask when they see the device in action. We can only hope that there will be other Motorola devices that adopt a similar approach to mobile computing...or at least that also use these cool docks.

SEC Disclosure: Tim Conneally owns stock in Motorola Mobility and Solutions.

Skype buys video service Qik in $100 million deal

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 9:39pm CET par Ed Oswald

Skype said Thursday that it had acquired streaming video service Qik for an undisclosed amount, believed to be around $100 million USD. The VoIP provider says it plans to use Qik's technology to enhance its own video calling functionality.

Qik was founded in 2006 and is compatible with about 200 phones across several platforms including the iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile platforms. The company has also struck several partnerships to have its applications come preloaded on select devices.

The concept is simple: the user shoots video with his or her camera phone, which is then uploaded to Qik's servers and delivered in near real time via the company's website. The user also has the option to share the video via social networking.

"Qik's deep engineering capabilities and strong mobile relationships will be an impressive complementary fit with Skype," Skype CEO Tony Bates said in a statement. The company did not disclose whether it planned to continue offering Qik's standalone application or fold its capabilities into Skype.

Bolstering Skype's video sharing capabilities seems like a solid move considering the increasing popularity of such applications including Apple's FaceTime and other video sharing apps like Knocking and UStream.

In related news, Skype also announced its own video capabilities had been improved. The application will now support videoconferencing for up to 10 parties for $8.99 per month, as well as announcing new partnerships with Sony and Vizio to build Skype into televisions and other consumer electronics.

Olympus woos enthusiasts, photo pros with XZ-1 and PEN E-PL2 digicams

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 9:15pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Olympus XZ-1

Olympus announced two new cameras at the Consumer Electronics Show, and, man, are they hot -- the diminutive XZ-1 and classy PEN E-PL2. Both cameras should appeal to enthusiasts and to pro photographers looking to carry a lighter kit. Honey, get the credit card. I want both.

The XZ-1 is Olympus' response to other high-end compacts, such as the Canon S95, Nikon Coolpix P7000, and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 (I got the Lumix DMC-ZS7 for Christmas; get the gift receipt because it's going back for refund). These cameras generally pack high-end features, such as big-aperture lenses and RAW-capture capability. The XZ-1's f/1.8 lens is remarkable in a compact and will let in lots of light (the PowerShot S95 is f/2.0) for shooting in dimly-lit areas or for better producing the bokeh, or background blur effect, popular for portrait photography. Perhaps more than any other feature, the lens distinguishes the XZ-1 from other high-end compacts.

Another characteristic among this class of camera: 10 megapixel. Contrary to marketing convention, in compacts more megapixels often isn't better. The more pixels squeezed onto the senor, the more artifacts and other distortions produced. The XZ-1's 10 megapixels is about right for the 1/1.63-inch CCD sensor.

There are features aplenty. Zoom range is 28mm to 112mm (film equivalent); the 3-inch OLED monitor is 600k resolution; auto ISO range is 100 to 3200; shutter speed is 60 - 1/2000 sec; 720p HD video records in stereo sound, among other features. The XZ-1 measures 110.6 mm wide by 64.8 mm high by 42.3 mm deep and weighs 275 grams. The camera is available this month in white or black for $499.99.

Olympus PEN E-PL2

For $100 more, Olympus also offers the new PEN E-PL2, micro four-thirds camera. Unlike the Olympus XZ-1, the E-PL2 can swap lenses. Olympus and Panasonic co-developed the micro four-thirds standard, which puts a dSLR-size sensor in a much smaller body and with generally smaller lenses. The E-PL2 measures 120.5 mm wide by 70 mm high by 35 mm deep and weighs 335 grams. For comparison, the Nikon D7000 dSLR measures 132 mm wide by 103 mm high by 77 mm deep and weighs 690 grams. It's a substantial difference. I've used Nikon dSLRs and own the PEN E-P2 and can attest to the portability advantages.

Olympus Fisheye Converter The 12.3-megapixel sensor is the same found in Olympus E-30 and E-620 dSLRs. The standard E-PL2 kit comes with updated f/3.5-5.6 and 14mm-24mm lens. Olympus has added new accessories, and one is surprising -- what Olympus calls the MAL-1 "macro arm," for positioning light for close-up shots or shooting HD video. Also new: Bluetooth accessory called PENPal. Olympus chose Bluetooth over WiFi for sending photos wirelessly. Both accessories fit in the camera's flash hot shoe.

The E-PL2 is a modest upgrade from the E-PL1, although features are now a bit more comparable to the higher-end E-P2. The sensor is the same as the E-PL2. Many other features are either the same or tweaked. The camera is available this month, in four colors, for $599.99 with kit lens.

Besides the camera, Olympus also announced three new compact conversion lenses: fisheye, wide-angle and macro.

Apple opens doors to Mac App Store

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 8:56pm CET par Ed Oswald

Mac App Store Front

Aiming to provide Mac users with a one-stop shop for basic applications, Apple on Thursday launched the Mac App Store. Much like its sister App Store for the iOS platform, the offering allows users to purchase and install applications from a single place.

Currently about 1,000 apps are available for download, ranging in price from free to as much as $79.99 for Apple's Aperture 3 product. Indeed, Apple is committing itself to the product, offering the Pages, Keynote, and Numbers applications from its iWork suite and the GarageBand, iMovie, and iPhoto apps from iLife '11 for individual download.

Purchasing the entire suite of iLife would cost about $5 cheaper than the boxed version, and would be missing both iDVD and iWeb; while purchasing iWork through the Mac App Store actually would come at a $20 discount to the boxed version currently sold through Apple Stores and its resellers.

"We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement.

Users of the App Store should find the layout of the Mac version familiar. Apps are split up into categories, and purchasing requires an iTunes account. Updating of the apps would work just like the iOS version, where the user must load the App Store application in order to process the updates.

Mac App Store App Description

Mac App Store's list of popular apps shouldn't be surprising. The Mac version of Angry Birds has shot to #1 already, and Apple's own iPhoto and iMovie apps are among the top five.

In order to use the Mac App Store, users must install the Mac OS X 10.6.6 update, also released today. The new version of Mac OS X is said to also include several bug and security fixes.

Twitter App from App Store

CES 2011 surprise trend: DIY surveillance gear

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 7:22pm CET par Tim Conneally

Every year, the average megapixel count of consumer mobile devices takes an incremental hop upward. Last year, the most common mobile phone cameras hovered around 5 megapixels. The phones being debuted at CES 2011 seem to be sticking around 8 megapixel with 720p video capture capabilities.

But at the same time as their internal sensors are getting more sophisticated, they're also becoming more sophisticated remote viewscreens. Today, Samsung launched a line of "DIY" video security cameras that can broadcast to smartphone or connected TV apps located either within the camera's local network, or remotely.

"Our new Samsung DIY Security Systems provide the advanced technology and sleek design that Samsung is known for and offers homeowners and SMBs an all-in-one solution to protect their most valuable assets" said Mike Palazzolo, vice president of sales and marketing, consumer products at Samsung Techwin America.

Samsung expects its DIY security camera products to come to market in March with a baseline price of $499.

D-Link is also making its customary showing strategically placed in front of the CES central hall press room. The company's display this time around is D-Link's new always-on 802.11n security cameras that it announced last night.

When teamed with the Mydlink app for iOS and Android, users can view their security camera feed over any Wi-Fi, or mobile broadband connection. This app is capable of viewing up to four simultaneous security camera feeds.

D-Link DCS-930L security cam

The actual cameras D-Link is showing off are two models going by the names DCS-930L and DCS-932L, which offer 802.11n Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), Motion JPEG and 20fps streaming. The 932L also has night vision mode with infrared illumination promising visibility up to 5 meters (16.4 feet).

D-Link's solutions will be considerably cheaper than Samsung's, and will be available in the second quarter of 2011 for around $100 and $150 respectively.

Sony Ericsson packs big features into the ultra-thin, curvy Xperia Arc

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 6:51pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

The days of teasers and rumors are over. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sony Ericsson unveiled the sleek and sexy Xperia Arc. Hell, I thought my Nexus S was bendy-looking with its curved screen. Curved doesn't aptly describe Sony Ericsson's new handset. It truly is arced.

The Xperia Arc has a curved 4.2-inch screen and measures a slim 8.7 mm, which makes it thinner than yesterday morning's CES hotness, the LG Optimus Black. Oh, how quickly these phones are outdated. ;-)

Unlike many other handsets announced over the last few days, Arc will ship with the newest Android version -- 2.3, or Gingerbread. The smartphone packs a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 8GB microSD (upgradable to 32GB), 8.1-megapixel camera with LED flash, FM radio and all the expected goodies, like Bluetooth and assisted GPS. Surprisingly, there is only 512MB internal phone memory, which looks paltry compared to many other new handsets. The phone captures 720p HD video, and the display has 854 x 480 resolution.

The phone measures 125 x 63 x 8.7 mm and weighs 117 grams (4.9 x 2.5 x 0.3 inches; 4.1 ounces).

Operation frequencies: UMTS HSPA -- 800, 850, 900, 1900, 2100MHz; GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz. That's good for AT&T subscribers looking for 3G data. T-Mobile is DOA without 1700MHz support.

According to Sony Ericsson's Arc product website, there is "possible limited market availability." Generally, the manufacturer's hottest phones release internationally before ever reaching the states.

My colleague Tim Conneally plans to offer hands-on, first-impression experience with the Arc -- photos, too -- later today. Watch for it.

Text me it's not true: iPhone 3GS costs 49 bucks

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 5:40pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Is iPhone 4 too rich for your recession-weary wallet? Can't spare $199 or $299 for Apple's newness but iPhone-envy is making you an insomniac? Today, AT&T announced the deal, or is that steal, of the week: iPhone 3GS for a sweet 49 bucks. Starting January 7.

The timing is baffling with the Consumer Electronics Show officially starting today and so many hot, Android phones being introduced -- the Motorola Atrix 4G and LG Optimus Black, among them. These are dreamy handsets. Who can get any work done just thinking about them?

But iPhone-envy is a documented psychological syndrome -- OK, well it should be -- and those craving 4 but can't afford it could still take 3GS. AT&T will offer the phone online and in its 2,200 retail outlets. Standard eligibility and contractual requirements apply.

Would you commit to a two year-contract for a year-and-a-half-old smartphone? I wouldn't. But for teenagers, it's a helluva a deal. The iPhone 3GS is simply the cheapest iPod touch they could buy -- oh, and it texts and makes phone calls. Too bad about those pesky monthly data fees.

Forgive my reporter's cynicism, but I've got to wonder if AT&T isn't making a last-ditch effort to pull in as many new iPhone subscribers as possible before a Verizon iPhone is announced.

Hey, Steve Ballmer, where's the beef?

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 3:59pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Steve Ballmer CES 2011

Critics, and even customers, accuse Microsoft of being empty, of having exhausted its innovation -- and for many of them that means imitation. Microsoft is often called he great imitator. At first glance, last night's opening Consumer Electronics Show keynote given by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer fits the bill. The keynote felt empty, and short. Microsoft didn't even show off something substantially new about tablets, which is one of the event's hottest product categories this year. The rumors about a tablet operating system were wrong.

What is Las Vegas? It's a place to be entertained (and, yes, gambling is one of the recreations). I think of Vegas as where entertainers who have passed their peak of popularity go. It is the city of celebrity has-beens. Perhaps then, Ballmer was where he belonged.

But from a different perspective, Ballmer and Microsoft aren't has-beens at all. Microsoft isn't a consumer company. Sure, hundreds of millions of consumers use Microsoft software, but the company earns most of its income selling to businesses, particularly enterprises. Microsoft has yet to see its star really rise over the consumer market. Sure, Xbox, Xbox Live and Kinect are popular consumer products, but they don't sustain Microsoft and they are no means its primary focus.

Over the consumer market, Microsoft's star is still rising. Last night, Ballmer and the Microsoft employees giving product demos peeked into Microsoft's consumer -- and even business -- market future. The stage delivery was tame, but the implications are ferocious. Microsoft wants to fundamentally change how we interact with computing devices. The company is in process of redefining user interfaces, and Xbox Kinect shows the way. Users command Kinect with their hands, arms and voice. A new forthcoming feature responds to facial expressions. Then there is Surface, which responds to touch.

We Are Tool Users

Human beings are tool users who experience and manipulate the world through five senses. Eyes are passive instruments, while hands and fingers are more important because they are active -- they're how people tactilely manipulate the world around them.

For example, how important is touch? Watching how people interact with items for sale reveals much. First people look -- and then they touch. Surely, many retailers find all that touching and handling of their goods to be irritating. People examine objects they desire as much with their hands as their eyes.

Too many technological devices are too difficult to use because they expose too much complexity. Compare to the human body: The underlying biological mechanisms behind hand movement may be complex, but for most people the complexity is largely hidden. The keyboard is unnatural user interface; it exposes too much complexity. There is little in human biological or cultural experience that supports use of the keyboard. It's a particularly unnatural construct, in which organization is based on the number of times letters are likely to be used. The mouse is more natural than the keyboard, because of the hand and finger-clicking movement. But the mouse is still a makeshift extension of the human being.

The finger and touch are more natural, because they extend you. Good user interfaces build on the familiar -- and there is nothing more familiar than me, myself and I. Successful user interfaces of the future will have similar attributes.

Ballmer showed the future last night, and some of it is here and now with Kinect and Surface 2.0. Microsoft is looking to make technology device interaction more meaningful by using all five senses and making hands, arms, facial movements and voice means of commanding and controlling tech gadgets. There was substance -- and lots of it -- in the keynote, after all.

This morning, I've read several commentaries asserting that Ballmer's keynote lacked substance. They're asking, as did the grandma in 1980s Wendy's hamburger commercials: "Where's the beef?" I say that Ballmer merely set out the entrees -- that the meal is yet to come. The chef is preparing the food fresh, and it's not quite ready to serve. Be patient. Wait for it.

First Impressions: Motorola's XOOM tablet

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 1:14pm CET par Tim Conneally

Motorola Mobility was very deliberate with news about its intentions to release a tablet. Back in September, CEO Sanjay Jha announced the company would have a product out in 2011, but wouldn't be rushing it, and then in December the company released something of a "diss" video, denigrating the other popular tablets.

At CES 2011's press day yesterday, the company officially announced its XOOM tablet and showed it off, but clearly didn't have a finished product on its hands. This is likely due to the unreleased nature of the OS it will be running, Android 3.0 "Honeycomb."

So the model we got to handle was simply running demo software showing off some high-def graphical capabilities of the Xoom, rather than anything that would give an example of live processing with its dual-core 1GHz processor, or outputting video from its HDMI port, or even taking pictures with its 5 megapixel rear camera and 2 megapixel chat camera.

All We got to handle was a husk, but at least it gave a feeling of the XOOM's general heft and sturdiness. A number of attendees who handled the device couldn't immediately discern if it was heavier or lighter than Apple's iPad. Motorola didn't disclose the actual weight of the device.

It will be available exlusively on Verizon Wireless later in the first quarter and have a couple of options for onboard connectivity. There will be a Wi-Fi + 3G model, and there will be an external attachment giving it 4G LTE support in the second quarter of 2011. Pricing will be announced at launch, and a Wi-Fi only model was not announced.

The XOOM is obviously close to readiness, but neither Android Honeycomb nor Verizon's LTE network are quite ready enough to have a product running on them together.

FCC survey suggests Schools and Libraries need more IT staff

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 8:02am CET par Tim Conneally

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau has released its 2010 E-Rate Program and Broadband Usage Survey, which gathered data from E-rate funded schools and libraries to assess the current state of broadband in our education system. The "E-rate" is a discount on telecommunications services and Internet access that the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Program offers to eligible institutions.

The report collected the various broadband connection types and speeds across urban and rural schools, districts, libraries, and consortiums; and then polled the administrators about whether they felt their speed and coverage were adequate.

22% said their connection speeds completely meet their needs, 58% said their connections mostly meets their needs, 16% believed their current connections sometimes meets their needs, 3% believed their connections rarely met their needs, and only 1% believed their connection did not meet their needs at all.

However, when given two questions "what is your average connection speed" and "what is the minimum speed needed," 38% put down a speed less than the minimum they felt was necessary and 36% put down matching speeds. 20% of respondents didn't know what would be an adequate minimum or didn't know their actual speeds, and only 6% felt their speeds exceeded the minimum requirements.

This disparity in perception, and the 20% who didn't know how to gauge their levels shows the prevalent need for public IT staff. School administrators, according to this survey, are somewhat clueless. For example, 45% of the school principals surveyed did not know the average speed, and 48% did not know the minimum speed needed. But only 3% of schools with a dedicated IT staffer didn't know this information.

The Bureau suggests that non-IT professionals making provisioning decisions could make erroneous judgements in hardware or bandwidth purchases; and this could certainly turn a perceived problem into a real one.

Microsoft denies link between Xbox failures and Kinect

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 5:26am CET par Ed Oswald

On the same day when Microsoft announced that it had sold eight million Kinects, the company is now finding itself facing criticism as consumers claim the accessory is reportedly causing "red ring of death" failures on Xbox 360 consoles.

A report from the BBC as well as posts scattered across Microsoft's Xbox support forums have highlighted the issue. The problems appear shortly after the Kinect is connected, and will render the console unusable. So named because the normally green lights of the Xbox 360's power button turn red, the "red ring of death" indicates a serious error that typically cannot be fixed without sending the console back to Microsoft.

To its defense, the Redmond company has denied that the errors are caused by Kinect. "There is no correlation between the three flashing red lights error and Kinect. Any new instances of the three flashing red lights error are merely coincidental," a spokesperson told the BBC.

Any problem could very well be extremely isolated considering the sheer number of the motion sensing controllers already in consumer's hands. Furthermore, the issue may even be related to an earlier mass failure incident.

In 2007, Microsoft admitted to issues with the first several manufacturing runs of the the Xbox 360, causing a failure rate that claimed to be as high as 30 percent. The issue was believed to be caused by a hardware defect.

Whether or not the two might be related is unknown, and hard to judge based on current failure reports. However, if it is, the issue may trigger yet another expensive recall due to Xbox malfunctions -- the aforementioned incident set the company back as much as $1 billion USD.

Ballmer CES keynote: Microsoft sells 8 million Kinect controllers

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 4:14am CET par Joe Wilcox

Steve Ballmer CES 2011

It wouldn't be the Consumer Electronics Show without Microsoft kick-off keynote. For about a decade, cofounder Bill Gates assumed the role. More recently the burden belongs to CEO Steve Ballmer.

Considering all the accolades given Apple chief executive Steve Jobs during 2010, I wonder if he would give the keynote if asked. After all, Job's is tech's CEO-darling of the hour, he runs the tech company with largest valuation and Apple's most successful products -- at least released during the new millennium -- are consumer electronics: iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and newer MacBook models. Apple's products have lots more to do with consumers and electronics than do Microsoft's. Ballmer's company mostly sells to enterprises and earns nearly all its profits from software. Apple sells hardware, and of course bundled software and services, to consumers.

But Ballmer bears the burden, which during his short tenure is more polished and approachable than his predecessor's keynotes. Gates often seemed to be talking to the wrong audience. Gadget geeks and massmarket CE manufacturers aren't IT pros or software developers. Gates often struck me as being out of his element speaking at CES. These weren't his people. Ballmer is more comfortable, and he commands the stage with gusto, prancing about like a lion. He's king of the jungle.

Ballmer Avatar Steve Ballmer Xbox Avatar

But I was surprised at the size of the jungle. As the CES kick-off keynote, I expected topics more appropriate to the entire industry. At first, I thought he would do that, as Ballmer alluded to three screens -- PC, TV and smartphone -- which are priorities for many CE companies. However, he reduced their relevance to Microsoft products.

Ballmer started by touting Xbox, particularly the Kinect controller. Some news: Controller-free Netflix and Hulu Plus will be available on Xbox in a few months. Another new feature coming is Avatar Kinect, which Xbox Live Gold members will get for free this Spring. The technology uses facial and body recognition to generate the avatars.

Avatar Kinect

Ballmer said Xbox Live has 30 million members, or two new ones signing up per second. But the big news was about Kinect. Microsoft expected to sell 5 million Kinects during the holidays "In the first 60 days we sold over 8 million Kinect sensors worldwide," Ballmer said. Whoa.

Ballmer switched topic to Windows Phone 7, touting the 5,500 applications and 2,500 developers. Whoa, and that compares how to the 200,000 - 300,000 apps at the Android Marketplace and iTunes App Store? "Job No. 1 is showing this phone to people," Ballmer said. "Once they see the phone, they fall in love with it." It's a good goal. Ballmer said that Windows Phone 7 would come to Sprint and Verizon during the first half of the year. "Windows Phone is the best phone out there," he boasted.

Tablet PC CES 2011 Tablet PC

Microsoft's CEO moved on to Windows. Ballmer left the stage for a demo and then returned to talk about the day's earlier announcement -- next version of Windows running on ARM processors and System on a Chip (SoC) architecture. Ballmer described Windows support for SoC as "an important step for Microsoft and the industry."

Ballmer emphasized that Windows would continue to support x86 processors, but Microsoft's strategic shift raises questions about the chip architecture's future. While Ballmer repeatedly touted the 1 billion Windows customers, the number of cell phone subscribers is 5 billion, according to the United Nations. The majority of those devices and the seemingly bazillion tablets announced over the last three days don't use x86 processors.

Surface 2.0 Pixel Sense

In some ways, "what was missing" overshadowed Ballmer's keynote. Contrary to rumors, Ballmer didn't dedicate any meaningful time to tablets -- at least not directly. Microsoft didn't launch a tablet operating system or show off dozens of slates running Windows 7. Yes, some devices made the demo, but with the emphasis on multifunctionality, such as Tablet PC with stylus and touchscreen.

From a public relations perspective, the approach has merit. Any zealous tablet push would have led to bloggers and journalists making iPad comparisons. By staying away from Apple and iPad, Ballmer kept the message Microsoft pure, which is good marketing. Microsoft sets the agenda on its terms rather than taking the position of following a competitor.

The biggest Microsoft news came more than five hours earlier, during a press event for ARM and SoC support. It is simply unprecedented for Microsoft to upstage its keynote like this.

Nevertheless, Ballmer commanded the stage, shining confidence and capability. He's got plenty of fight yet to give Microsoft.

Microsoft introduces "Pixel Sense" in new, slimmer Surface 2.0

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 12:46am CET par Tim Conneally

Windows Surface

At a pre-keynote briefing Wednesday, Microsoft unveiled Surface 2.0, the company's newest build of its touchscreen display that has thus far been employed mostly in signage and kiosk interfaces.

The first generation of Surface utilized cameras to sense where the user was touching the screen, and this made it a gigantic, immobile table. Now, in partnership with Samsung and AMD, Surface is only 4" thick, and it comes with the biggest piece of Corning's Gorilla Glass that has ever been bonded to an LCD screen. It's not unlike a big smartphone, and because it is so much thinner, it can now be mounted upon vertical surfaces.

Microsoft Wednesday said Surface 2.0 can be this thin because the cameras are gone, and it uses a technology known as "pixel sense."

Pixel Sense is infrared sensors dispersed throughout the screen, where each pixel can also act as an infrared camera. This way, it is more than a touch screen, because it's utilizing "vision" instead of electrical conductivity. Microsoft's trials included putting a piece of paper onto the new Surface display, and it could read the writing upon the paper.

"Pixel Sense" touch mechanism

Microsoft said the Royal Bank of Canada will be a launch partner for Surface 2.0 but did not provide any further details regarding a release of the technology.

"Windows 8" will run on ARM natively, Microsoft says

Publié: janvier 6, 2011, 12:13am CET par Ed Oswald

Windows for ARM Microsoft is taking notice of industry trends, and told attendees Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that the next version of Windows would run on ARM chips. The move is an acknowledgement of the changing face of consumer electronics -- that smart phones, tablets, and portable devices are indeed the future.

The move is also significant for another reason -- up until now, Microsoft on ARM was relegated to the stripped down versions of Windows, either Windows Mobile, CE, or Embedded. Having the capability to run a full version of the operating system natively on these mobile processors opens up more possibilities for manufacturers in developing compact devices, the Redmond company believes.

Windows running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform

"We've reached a point in technology where everyone really does want everything from their computing experience," Windows chief Steven Sinfosky said in explaining the decision. "Today's demonstrations will highlight the work we have done on the architecture of Windows to enable the richness of the Windows platform to run natively on the ARM platform."

Some manufacturers have already attempted to put Windows 7 on tablet devices, but the fact that the OS itself is still built for an x86 architecture does not make it optimal as it requires more battery life and power than can be fit into the smaller form factors of these devices effectively.

Other considerations are a native touch screen interface -- something Windows 7 essentially lacks -- and a user interface that works well with that type of input. It was not immediately clear if Microsoft also plans to make these necessary user interface tweaks as part of this new commitment.

Sinofsky was somewhat vague on bringing other critical applications -- such as Office -- to the ARM platform, only offering that Microsoft was "committed to making sure that Windows on [system-on-a-chip] architectures is a rich Windows experience."

Build number of Windows on NVidia Tegra 2 machine The build number of Windows running on the NVidia Tegra-based machine

The Redmond company did not offer any guidance as to when Windows 8 (as it is thought to be called) may release, although it is likely not for another two years. That said, the question now becomes whether that time frame may be too late.

With the ever quicker pace of innovation in mobile computing, in two years ARM may be yesterday's news, leaving Microsoft scrambling once again to keep pace.

Are this year's CES attendees afraid of Apple?

Publié: janvier 5, 2011, 11:20pm CET par Joe Wilcox

CES 2011 It's the question I've been asking all week. The Consumer Electronics Show doesn't officially start until tomorrow but unofficially tonight with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's 9:30 ET keynote. Yet there have been major announcements and press briefings all week. It's as if vendor attendees are rushing and stumbling over one another to get out their news before January 6. Now why is that?

There's more than CES going on tomorrow. Apple will launch the Mac App Store. In mid December, when the launch date was announced, I asserted: "Apple crashes CES party with Mac App Store." Perhaps many vendors fear the same. I don't recall there ever being so much news before the show's start. Amazon, ASUS, AT&T, Intel, Lenovo, LG, Netflix, Samsung and Vizio are just a sampling of major vendors holding big press events and/or making major announcements since Monday.

Microsoft Preempts Its Own Keynote

This afternoon, Microsoft held a press event at 4 pm ET. It's simply unprecedented for the company to preempt its own keynote with major news. Perhaps Microsoft wanted to make tomorrow's newspaper deadlines and get its news out for tonight's newscasts. Also I suspect there is fear of Apple's App Store launch sucking away CES attention tomorrow.

Think about it. Wall Street lives on Eastern Time, when Ballmer's keynote will finish late. By the morning, Ballmer's announcements would be considered old news, particularly with the news media's love-child Apple making a major announcement. Microsoft would miss the news cycle.

Certainly the news will interest Wall Street analysts and investors. During the press briefing, Windows and Windows Live President Steven Sinofksy revealed what had been rumored: Next version of Windows support for ARM processors. The recent days of X86 exclusivity are over. Windows will embrace System-on-a-Chip, or SoC. From one perspective, SoC isn't new for Microsoft; after all, the company has shipped embedded operating systems for many years.

But this is the first public instance of Microsoft demonstrating a future version of Windows on SoC -- from Intel. The demo also included Windows running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor -- yeah, that's ARM-twisting to you, baby.

So far, and as widely predicted, this year's CES has very much been about tablets and also smartphones. Microsoft's pitch is that Windows 7 requires less hardware oomph than its predecessors and mobile devices are getting faster processors and larger storage that makes them more like PCs. Apple isn't at the show, but its presence is everywhere, if no other reason than the number of tablets being launched that will eventually compete with iPad. If no blogger or journalist makes iPad vs everything else today, someone will tomorrow when Mac App Store is news of the day.

Windows Has Fallen and Can't Get Up

But those comparisons are warranted, and I wonder if Microsoft should have opted for missing that news cycle after all. During today's press event, Sinofsky revealed that the next version of Windows supporting SoC wouldn't be available for some time. In response to a question about when, Sinofsky responded: "There's a cadence that people would like...we try to aim for a release somewhere between 24-36 months between releases seems right." That would put the next Windows version in market as early as late 2011. Given Apple's recent enormous success selling iPad, the rapid iteration of Android and iOS mobile operating systems and this year's planned release of Google's Chrome OS even late 2011 seems 24-36 months too late.

The Microsoft news of the night should be not just that Microsoft has fallen behind in key, mobile OS categories but that it can't even execute a plan to catch up. In my January 2 post "11 resolutions Microsoft should make for 2011," I set as 10:

Set shorter marketing and product development goals. Microsoft, you aren't keeping pace with Internet time and haven't for sometime. Meanwhile, Google sets a rapid pace -- in little more than two years going from nowhere to somewhere with Android (US smartphone OS leader last year, according to NPD) and Chrome (six Windows iterations released in 2010). Both products launched in autumn 2008. Then there is Facebook, which iterates with a vengeance. Pace of innovation keeps nimbler companies in the news, on the blogs, generating positive perceptions.

There's nothing short or competitive enough about the timeframe given today. Whether or not Microsoft held the briefing out of fear Apple would steal any news thunder is now immaterial to what the software giant announced.

Clearly Apple has got nothing to fear from Microsoft.

Tim Conneally contributed to this post from CES

[Editor's Note: In response to a reader's comment, we got exact quote about 24-36 months. The time horizon was adjusted in the text and Sinofsky quote added.]

Motorola shakes the earth at CES with Atrix 4G Android phone/notebook

Publié: janvier 5, 2011, 11:16pm CET par Tim Conneally

Atrix 4G

The freshly spun-off Motorola Mobility has made a huge impact at CES 2011 with the new Android-powered Atrix 4G, a dual-core Android smartphone with 1GB of RAM that can be docked in a multimedia desktop dock or an 11" notebook dock, making it a full-blown Android PC either way.

Atrix 4G, simply stated, is the most powerful smartphone that has ever been announced. It has a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, support for up to 48GB of storage, a 4" (960 x 540) screen, 5 megapixel flash camera and front-facing VGA cam, HSPA+ mobile broadband, 802.11b/g/n, and Android 2.2 with MotoBLUR.

But by far the most interesting aspects of the Atrix 4G come when it's docked. With multiple docking options, this smartphone can become an HD multimedia center or a Firefox webtop-driven notebook PC.

The Atrix and its related accessories will come to AT&T in the first half of 2011, but there is no word on its price just yet. Like many of the other gawping attendees of CES this year, I intend on getting my hands on this for a run-through with pictures and a more detailed writeup. More info coming soon!

Toshiba wants you to take the glasses off for 3D

Publié: janvier 5, 2011, 10:48pm CET par Ed Oswald

Toshiba feels confident enough in its 3D technology that it has introduced an HDTV display at this year's Consumer Electronics Show that no longer requires the viewer wear glasses. Instead, the effect is maintained through a sophisticated system that recognizes the viewer's face to ensure proper viewing angle and a special lens that angles images for both eyes.

What this does in effect is akin to the 3D photos first made popular years ago, those who have seen it say. In order for the effect to work, it is only turned on when a camera on the monitor detects that the eyes are properly aligned. While this means a restricted viewing angle, Toshiba says that the benefits of not needing glasses would make the new technology appealing.

Only one face is recognized at a time, meaning if two are watching, only one would be exposed to the 3D effect. In addition, it requires the viewer sit much closer to the display than with other technologies that employ the use of glasses.

The first televisions are expected to go on sale in Japan in sizes of about 40 to 50 inches, according to reports. No details have been provided on an international launch, however.

Either way, analysts say the "glasses required" problem with 3D is what is holding it back. "Glasses really aren't working out very well, and consensus is that until the glasses go, 3D likely won't take off," analyst Rob Enderle told TechNewsWorld.

Google looks to counter Apple with Android newsstand

Publié: janvier 4, 2011, 1:11am CET par Ed Oswald

Google is aiming to keep on an even keel with Apple by looking for industry support for a planned newsstand for Android devices. The plans seem similar to what Apple already offers publishers to offer online subscriptions to their content through the App Store.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is currently in discussions with several content providers including Time Warner, Conde Nast, and Hearst Publications. Details are slim, but it appears the Mountain View, Calif. company is ready to do what's needed to bring content providers on board.

For example, Google is apparently offering publishers personal data of its users in an effort to help with marketing. In addition, it is also prepared to take a smaller cut of revenues than the 30 percent Apple takes for inclusion in the App Store.

It is not immediately clear what the timetable would be, or whether the initiative would come to fruition at all, the WSJ says. E-Commerce chief Stephanie Tilenius is said to be heading up the effort.

Apple and Google are not the only companies looking into cashing in on the digital magazine trend. Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble offer magazine and newspaper subscriptions via its respective Kindle and Nook e-book readers.

Also, rumored is a partnership between News Corp and Apple, which are said to be working on a iPad-only newspaper.

None of the companies would comment directly on the report. Apple declined to comment.

In an effort to keep publishers happy, Apple is making changes to the way it handles online magazines. For example, it will make selling subscriptions easier -- a common request of content providers.

It also would share more information on who is downloading the company's app for marketing purposes, although it would ask the customer for permission to share this information first. The WSJ said this was causing some consternation among its partners, saying most would choose to opt out.

Tablets look to steal the show at CES and beyond

Publié: janvier 3, 2011, 9:47pm CET par Ed Oswald

Acer 10" Android tablet

Could 2011 be the year of the tablet? It sure seems that way -- as many as 100 companies may release tablet computers in 2011, say analysts. This week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will be the debut of several of these devices, all hoping to at least compete with the juggernaut that Apple's iPad has become.

What was once a market that seemed to have little potential has proven to be one of technology's most lucrative -- and untapped. Apple was able to successfully take advantage of this opening, and has left its competitors scrambling in an attempt to catch up.

Among the companies expected to debut their tablets at CES are Toshiba, Motorola, RIM, and Acer. All will be going after the more than 60 million consumers who are expected to purchase a tablet in 2011, an increase of three times over last year. Even Vizio, a company more known for its budget TVs than anything, is planning to get into the act.

RIM's PlayBook is probably the most highly anticipated device. The tablet will run a new version of Blackberry's OS produced by QNX and includes Wi-Fi connectivity, 1GHz dual-core Cortex A9 processor, 1GB of RAM, and front and rear facing cameras.

HP may debut its PalmPad, although it hasn't confirmed that it would make an appearance at CES. Either way it's the first tablet device to run the Palm operating system, and reports indicate it would run on Sprint's 4G network.

Toshiba's tablet device will be shown, expecting to run on Android's next-generation OS dubbed "Honeycomb." Motorola's tablet device -- also making a debut here -- is also expected to run the new version.

Android will likely make significant inroads in the tablet sector -- while the Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" (the current version) adds some support making it useful for tablet devices -- such as support for larger screens -- it does not inherently support these form factors. Honeycomb will fix this, as it has been developed with tablets in mind.

Such a move was necessary if Google intended to make Android relevant outside of the smart phone space, say analysts.

Either way, if people are expecting any of these devices to be "iPad killers," they're likely to be disappointed. Honeycomb won't hit until the second half of this year, at the earliest, meaning devices based on it are also a long ways away.

If the past is any indication, the first generation iPad is nearing the end of its life cycle, ready to be replaced by a new and likely much better device fixing some of the problems and shortfalls of the first. No announcement has been made, but it is rumored that an announcement and release could come as early as the first quarter of this year.

CES 2011 trend: Single-die chips

Publié: janvier 3, 2011, 9:36pm CET par Tim Conneally

On Monday, just a couple of days before the International Consumer Electronics Show for the year 2011 takes place, chipmaker Intel revealed the specs for its long-awaited second generation Core i3, i5, and i7 processors and the related chipset family code named "Sandy Bridge." Intel's 32nm process chips will be the replacement for the Nehalem architecture that has been in use since 2008.

The most noteworthy qualities of the Intel Core 2011 chips come from their new construction, which integrates the CPU, GPU, and a multi-purpose I/O controller on the same little piece of silicon. What makes this especially interesting is that early testers of the chips say the integrated graphics processor (called either HD 2000 or HD 3000) can actually outperform certain low-level discrete graphics cards. Intel today highlighted the chips' graphical capabilites with "Intel Clear Video HD" for high def, and "Intel InTru 3D" for stereoscopic Blu-Ray playback.

The new chips also utilize Intel's Hyperthreading and Turbo Boost technologies to beef up processor performance, but ultimately, it's not so much about an increase in sheer number crunching, but about a decrease in size and power consumption.

The first notebooks offering Sandy Bridge chips were already revealed by PC manufacturers such as Asus and Acer, but Intel says over 500 different PCs equipped with Core 2011 processors will be shown off at CES 2011 this week.

Intel's chief competitor in the PC processor space, AMD, will also be officially launching its first chips combining CPU and GPU in a single die called Fusion APU (Accelerated Processing Unit.) The first platform in its Fusion family is codenamed "Brazos," and the company says more than 100 PCs running the platform will be on display at CES 2011 this week.

Brazos is specifically designed to be used in low-power mobile computing situations, and has a cousin based on the G-series platform called "eBrazos", which is designed for embedded systems.

"AMD is ushering in a new era of personal computing, and our industry partners are ready to take advantage of the first ever AMD Fusion APU," Chris Cloran, VP and GM of AMD's Computing Solutions Group said in December. "By combining the processing of the CPU with the GPU on a single energy efficient chip, we believe their customers can take advantage of better price/performance, superior 1080p HD playback and small form factors for innovative designs."

This year, the mega-hyped area for CES 2011 isn't expected to be in personal computers, no matter how small and mobile they may be (and how much better the chips are,) It's expected to be in consumer tablets.

On Twitter this afternoon, Linley Group Senior Analyst Kevin Krewell said, "Ironic note of the day: Intel launches its best microprocessor ever and yet stock is down because analysts say it's missing tablet market."

There will be no shortage of tablet news this year, but I'm going to devote some special time to talking with AMD and Intel at CES this week to discuss these new platforms and see what we have to look forward to in PCs this year.

BitTorrent reaches 100 million subscribers monthly, 400k downloads daily

Publié: janvier 3, 2011, 7:06pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Holy downloads, Batman, BitTorrent has 100 million monthly active users -- 20 million per day. Average daily downloads: 400,000. That's a whole lot of file sharing, and I wonder: How active are Betanews readers on BitTorrent?

BitTorrent revealed the subscriber data in one of many tech announcements leading into the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, which kicks off with Wednesday evening's keynote delivered by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

"This is an exciting day for our team," Eric Klinker, BitTorrent CEO, said in a statement. "Our vision is to build a complete technology ecosystem comprised of software, content and devices, designed to connect modern content creators with a massive digital audience. This milestone highlights the size of our user base and the power of our software."

That software is BitTorrent Mainline and µTorrent. BitTorrent allows users to download software in distributed bits from among many computers, making it easy to download -- some Hollywood studios might say "steal" -- large files. However, there is conflicting analyst data about whether this kind of downloading hurts or helps movie sales or TV watching.

File trading contributed to network's streaming TV shows over the Internet. Back in 2004-2005, NBC Universal's Syfy (previously known as SciFi) network broke into limited streaming after observing the strange benefits of pirating. Mindjack's May 2005 story on BitTorrent trading of "Battlestar Galactica" episodes is a harrowing tale of piracy boosting TV viewership. "Battlestar Galactica" aired in the United States before the United Kingdom, making its way to BitTorrent in the between time. Mark Pesce explains the outcome:

While you might assume the SciFi Channel saw a significant drop-off in viewership as a result of this piracy, it appears to have had the reverse effect: the series is so good that the few tens of thousands of people who watched downloaded versions told their friends to tune in on January 14th, and see for themselves. From its premiere, 'Battlestar Galactica' has been the most popular program ever to air on the SciFi Channel, and its audiences have only grown throughout the first series. Piracy made it possible for 'word-of-mouth' to spread about 'Battlestar Galactica.'

NBC Universal and Syfy responded by streaming select "Battlestar Galactica" episodes by summer 2005. Full-episode TV streaming was pretty novel in early 2005. YouTube hadn't yet opened to the public (but would later that year).

Returning to the here and now, BitTorrent is available in 52 languages with "clients checking in from over 220 countries every day." BitTorrent didn't release what subscribers might be downloading. But surely you know. For what it's worth "Lost" and "Heroes" were the top two pirated TV shows in 2010, according to TorrentFreak. The week's top downloaded movies on BitTorrent: "Little Frockers" and "TRON: Legacy."

I've got to ask: Do you use BitTorrent, and what for? Are you more or less likely to pay for a new movie after downloading it? Please respond in comments.

Motorola's big split takes place tomorrow

Publié: janvier 3, 2011, 6:23pm CET par Tim Conneally

After trading closes down today, Motorola Incorporated is expected to begin distributing shares of its newly spun-off mobile devices company known as Motorola Mobility (MMI). This split has been in preparatory stages for the last three years, and this marks the final stages of the separation. After all of the common stock for the new company has been distributed, Motorola Inc. intends to change its name to Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI.)

Motorola Mobility's CEO and Chairman will be Dr. Sanjay Jha, who has been in the position of co-CEO with Greg Brown since 2008. Prior to joining Motorola, Jha was the COO of Qualcomm Inc. Motorola Mobility's executive staff will also include Mark Rothman as Chief Financial Officer; John Bucher as Chief Strategy Officer; and Geoffrey Roman as Chief Technology Officer.

MMI will have two major businesses under it, the Mobile Devices segment, and the Home segment. Mobile devices includes all of Motorola's portable communications devices and software, and the Home segment includes all of the products and services for cable and telephone companies such as set top boxes, broadband modems, as well as VoIP and IPTV solutions. Motorola describes the new company's portfolio as including "mobile devices, wireless accessories, set top boxes, video distributions systems, and wireline broadband infrastructure products and associated customer premises equipment."

The timing of the stock distribution is interesting largely because the newly-split Motorola Mobility is expected to unveil a new Android tablet at CES just days afterward. So far, the product is rumored to be a 10.1" tablet running Android 2.4 (Gingerbread) on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 platform. While none of the stats of this device have been confirmed in any way, the suspicion that it has a 10" screen is important enough by itself.

Apple's iPad has a 10" screen, and its major competition in the tablet space thus far has been the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which is only 7" in size. This slight discrepancy in sizes is believed to place the Galaxy Tab in slightly indirect competition with the iPad. A new 10" Android tablet would be the first direct alternative to the mindshare-dominating iPad.

41% of new smartphone buyers choose Android

Publié: janvier 3, 2011, 5:39pm CET par Joe Wilcox

"The race for the lead in US. smartphone operating system (OS) consumer market share is tighter than it has ever been," begins a blog post today on Nielsen Wire. The winner is? No one yet. Apple's iPhone leads in total US consumer market share, while most people who recently bought a smartphone chose Android. I'm among them. "This race might still be too close to call," Nielsen asserts.

Perhaps the more important data point is about the broader smartphone category. "In November, 45 percent of recent acquirers chose a smartphone over a feature phone," according to the Nielsen post. That's up from 34 percent in June. Apple and Research in motion are "statistically tied" with respect to US smartphone OS market share -- 28.6 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively. Android's share is 25.8 percent.

However, 40.8 percent of recent acquirers chose a smartphone running Android, compared to 26.9 percent for iOS and 19.2 percent for BlackBerry OS. Perhaps the longer trend is more interesting; Nielsen's data is for the six months from June to November 2010. BlackBerry share as measured by new acquirers, fell about 10 percent in June, when Apple released iPhone 4, and continued to decline thereafter. After a nearly 5 percent surge between June and July, iPhone share was flat through November. By stark contrast, Android share increased during the entire six months, undeterred by iPhone 4.

Apple is hobbled by single-carrier distribution in the United States, while Androids and BlackBerries are available through all major carriers. That said, Android's dramatic surge against iPhone's flat sales raises doubts about how much boost Apple might eventually get from a distribution deal with Verizon, as oft is rumored.

Nielsen Smartphone OS

Samsung is one of the beneficiaries of the Android surge. Today, the company revealed that it sold 10 million Galaxy S smartphones since June. In December, Samsung extended the S line to include the Google-branded Nexus S.

Bozos in the cloud

Publié: janvier 3, 2011, 4:29pm CET

By Robert Wolf Mirasol

Wavy Gravy famously used to say, "We are all bozos on the bus, so we might as well enjoy the ride," meaning none of us really knows what we're doing. We do the best we can, try to look cool and hope nobody notices when we screw up, when it'd be so much easier to simply admit we're all just trying to figure it out, and let our mistakes hang out for all to see, so others don't have to make the same mistakes. You've got to take chances, and that's what I've done by moving from the safety and familiarity of the desktop to the cloud.

Let me start by letting you know I'm a total bozo when it comes to this cloud thing. I think we all are. It's so new, nobody really knows how to do it all right, and many people are afraid to try. Will their stuff be safe? What if there is no Internet connection? So I'm putting on my red rubber nose and diving into the cloud for everyone to see -- hope you enjoy the ride.

My cloud journey started unexpectedly, eighteen months ago, when my 72-year old mother embarked on an adventure driving across the country. To help her keep in touch and plan the next leg of her journey, I bought her a Dell Mini 10 with 4 GB SSD drive, 512 MB of RAM and Ubuntu for $198. At that price, it was disposable.

I showed her how to get online, set her up with accounts on Yahoo, Blogspot, YouTube and Photobucket, and I told her not to save anything to the machine's tiny hard drive, just in case the computer was lost or broken. She had no idea what a cloud pioneer she was.

The Dell Mini (and my mother) survived the adventure and she left the netbook with me, the evidence of her travels safely uploaded to her blog and other sites. I was so impressed with how much she'd been able to do with such a basic machine, I was sold on online services and started to move myself to the cloud. I started a different journey.

At first, I thought of it as my emergency backup plan. I uploaded important documents to Office Live and Google Docs, just in case. Then I realized how convenient it was to be able to get to my work anywhere I had an Internet connection, and I started using my online versions exclusively.

There were relapses. Photoshop does a lot more than online photo editor Picnik. It took less brain power to do things the old way, instead of figuring out how to do it online. I'd cheat by powering up my Windows desktop when I couldn't figure out how to do something online.

A turning point came several hours into trying to recover data from my other half's crashed laptop. I decided it was time to burn some bridges. I wiped my Windows machine, created a 4 GB partition, installed Ubuntu 10.10 and the Chrome browser, and uninstalled all the programs Ubuntu would allow. I'd have to sink or swim.

So far, my experience has had mixed results. I started out using just apps and extensions from Google, but found I needed more than that, so I've tried a few others that got good reviews, and I've abandoned a few that just didn't work for me. In a future post, I'll write about which apps and extensions I really like, and which ones I uninstalled after trying them. I promise to tell you about my great big flops along with my eureka moments. I hope you'll enjoy the ride with me.

Robert Wolf Mirasol is a systems administrator at a large company. He recently decided to move his entire digital life into the cloud and share the experience. He's a military veteran, and triathlete who was given a citation by the mayor of Chicago for his work mentoring underprivileged teens in the field of computer technology. He has embraced minimalism in areas beyond technology -- he owns fewer than one-hundred things. Two are motorcycles, which he races at Southern California racetracks. He crashes. A lot.

Could Kinect be Microsoft's iPod?

Publié: janvier 3, 2011, 3:19pm CET

By Robert Johnson

On November 8, 2010, one of my most anticipated packages arrived from Amazon: a 250 GB Xbox 360 Kinect combo. Kinect is one of the more popular devices to leave the doors of Microsoft. The Redmond, Wash.-based company initially expected to sell two million of them during the holiday season but upped estimates to five million due to high preorder sales. Not a day goes by without reports about how someone has hacked Kinect for some other use besides gaming. I think this suggests demand for natural user interfaces will expand beyond touch, and go mainstream. Couple that with the high cool factor Kinect offers and this could be the device that reinvigorates Microsoft's consumer image. Could Kinect be Microsoft's iPod?

I think so. In case you don't remember, Apple was largely a forgotten company in the mid 1990s. There were no mainstream products, Macs were very expensive for most consumers to buy and most businesses chose the certainty of Windows. Things began to change when Apple cofounder Steve Jobs returned to the company in late 1996 and became interim CEO the next year. In 1998, he launched the trendy, translucent iMac. But there wasn't much room for Mac sales to grow -- most people used Windows PCs. Apple needed something new.

How Things Should Have Been All Along

Then in 2001, Apple created the iPod. The first generation iPod, with 5GB capacity, only worked on Apple products, and it was expensive at $399. But subsequent iterations expanded to Windows machines, and Apple lowered selling prices. I remember the first time I used an iPod and purchased music through the iTunes Store, which Apple launched in April 2003 for Macs and expanded to Windows in October 2003. I could not believe how easy iPod and iTunes were to use. I was content with buying CDs online or at the store, but when I purchased my first song through iTunes, I felt like that was how things should have been all along. In an online world, it seemed more natural that I should be able to purchase and download music right away at my computer. Also, iPod was one of the coolest devices I had ever owned.

My Kinect "wow" experience so reminds me of using iPod for the first time. Microsoft does not have a device that many people consider to be cool. I know people that don't even know Xbox is even made by Microsoft! But that's changing with Kinect. For a company that is typically derided for copying its competitors, Microsoft came up with something quite different than Sony or Nintendo. Add to that, it has a high cool factor. I tell my friends about how I can fast forward and rewind live ESPN broadcasts by waving my hands, and they shake their heads in amazement; or how I can speak commands like "Xbox, pause" while watching a movie (or ESPN), and it works.

Microsoft would be foolish not to capitalize on the high cool factor. Kinect has put Xbox into the lives of some of the unlikeliest of people. My 53 year-old mother visited me for Christmas and called me the day after she got home to talk about which Xbox version she should get. She never plays video games. The pastor of my church bought Kinect and talked about it during a sermon. All of this for a device that has been on the shelves for about two months now.

Creating the Kinect "Halo" Effect

Microsoft can leverage this popularity into its other products. For instance, Apple has been selling iPods for years. This worked to its advantage in several ways. For one, analysts have talked about the "halo" effect, where satisfied iPod owners (and Windows users) bought Macs because they so liked the Apple user experience. For another, in the background, Apple was working on future devices based on the iPod ecosystem that would make the transition to these products less cumbersome. Apple had already built a strong brand image with the iPod so that when something as ridiculous looking as a phone with no keyboard came along, it was easier for the general public to trust it. As important, Apple already had strong retail and manufacturer channels through which to drive accessory sales. Like Apple, which controls iPod hardware, software and supporting services, Microsoft controls the full Xbox stack.

Kinect has the potential to create a halo effect that can propel other Microsoft products, particularly if the company is willing to extend the technology -- for example, bringing it to Windows or Windows Phone devices. Already, Microsoft developers can use the same tools for creating games for Windows, Windows Phone 7 and Xbox. But it is Kinect that could be the, forgive the pun, game changer. Like Apple and iPod, this can also work to Microsoft's advantage. Imagine how exciting the next version of Windows would be, if Microsoft included the natural user interface technology. Kinect could reinvigorate Microsoft's consumer image such that it will help sell more copies of the next Windows version.

Kinect is not just cool though, there is actually a legitimate need for it. How many times have you tried to use your phone, but your hands were dirty and you didn't want to get dirt smudges all over your screen? You could gesture. A gesture-controlled TV or PC in the kitchen could come in handy with someone who needs to navigate recipes. In this instance, a touchscreen interface wouldn't be ideal. But a simple gesture of the hands could allow the cook to navigate the interface. One day I was lying on my couch watching a game on Xbox Live ESPN and I could not find my remote, so I said, "Xbox pause," and it worked. At that moment I realized the technology is more than cool, it's also very useful.

Legitimate uses for Kinect-like technology coupled with high cool factor could be just enough to push Microsoft's consumer vision over the top and bring the company back to a level of popularity with consumers it has not enjoyed for almost a decade. Apple revolutionized music listening and purchasing, with iPod and iTunes Store. Microsoft could bring a more dramatic revolution, by changing how we use computers on the desktop and in everyday products -- all with the wave of a hand.

Robert Johnson is a user interface developer specializing in the user experience (UX) of .NET-based web applications. He has been working in some form of web development and graphic design for 14 years. He loves technology in general, particularly that of Apple, Google and Microsoft. He is a Betanews reader.

11 resolutions Microsoft should make for 2011

Publié: janvier 2, 2011, 9:35pm CET par Joe Wilcox

What should be Microsoft's top priorities for 2011? I've got an answer for that, as I have for seven years now. Rather than make predictions about what the company will do in the coming year, I offer what it should do. The advice is unsolicited, but given nevertheless with the hope Microsoft will make 2011 better than 2010. As I asserted on December 14: "The year 2011 will be make or break."

Unlike past years' advice -- eh, resolutions -- this list is more thematic. Microsoft has a huge perception problem, and as I've so many times asserted: In business perception is everything. The people with the loudest voices, such as analysts, bloggers, journalists, marketers and software developers are pining for companies like Apple or Google. This translates directly to Microsoft's share price, which is moribund and undervalued. In November I asked: "Why won't Wall Street give Microsoft a break?" Perception is a major part of the answer.

Perception management is a good 2011 priority for Microsoft, with no new versions of its flagship products planned for the year. The company needs to give consumers, developers and IT Pros reasons to get excited again about Microsoft software and OEM products. With that introduction, I present 11 resolutions for Microsoft in order of importance -- from least to most.

11. Appoint a Chief Startup Officer. Microsoft, many of your 80,000-plus employees have great ideas, but they're frustrated about not being able to do something with them. Office and Windows, as products and the management structure supporting them, are in the way. You need someone internally responsible for encouraging internal incubation projects and bringing them to market -- outside the normal management structure (see #1 for why this concept is so important).

10. Set shorter marketing and product development goals. Microsoft, you aren't keeping pace with Internet time and haven't for sometime. Meanwhile, Google sets a rapid pace -- in little more than two years going from nowhere to somewhere with Android (US smartphone OS leader last year, according to NPD) and Chrome (six Windows iterations released in 2010). Both products launched in autumn 2008. Then there is Facebook, which iterates with a vengeance. Pace of innovation keeps nimbler companies in the news, on the blogs, generating positive perceptions.

Your long-standing strength is executing on long-term plans, whereas many public company competitors set quarterly goals that change too often. The Microsoft that released three versions of Internet Explorer in about 18 months during the late 1990s executed tactically while keeping long-term plans in place. You need to do more of this, Microsoft. Setting and achieving short-term goals can boost mindshare -- that you're truly innovating. Innovation sells, imitation smells (see #1 for more on how to do this).

9. Hold smaller, more-intimate product events. Microsoft, you should learn from Apple, Facebook and Google about maximizing buzz without investing in big events. Sure, you make ongoing product announcements outside of tradeshows, but most of the events you participate in or hold are big. Hold more intimate events for bloggers, customers, enthusiasts, news media or partners -- lots of them. I'm not talking about the ongoing marketing and sales roadshows you already do, but invitation-only gatherings, like Apple's. They will generate buzz, particularly if the target audience doesn't officially include bloggers or journalists (but they can get in with a little prodding).

During 2010, Facebook and Google pulled off some seemingly last-minute events that were webcast. They weren't flashy, but they felt intimate, a quality that is lacking from your other forms of outreach, such as Channel 9. Please don't misunderstand; I'm not maligning Channel 9, merely suggesting that live events are newsy and will draw more attention.

Intimacy is hugely important to any relationship. It's easy for anyone with a keyboard to write bad things about an amorphous, distant corporation. It's something else when those same people interact with real executives and product managers. Personal contact changes everything. Walmart is a good example. Those greeters at the door aren't just there to be friendly. Walmart has learned that people who identify the store with a real person, the greeter, are less likely to steal.

8. Bring back Bill Gates -- to sell Microsoft products, vision. You've got an identity problem, Microsoft. You're too good at too many things, which makes your products hard to sell. In last year's resolutions, I suggested that you need a frontman to help build positive perceptions and better sell your stuff. On reconsideration, perhaps you should bring back cofounder Gates in a more visible role. I'm not suggesting Gates should replace Steve Ballmer as chief executive. Gates should be the person selling Microsoft's vision for the here and now and, more importantly, the future.

The technosphere is overly-obsessed with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who is viewed as being visionary, ultra cool and having good taste. But the majority of people aren't like Jobs. They're more like Gates, whose stilted speaking and awkward manner is more like them. Sure Gates is smarter than most people, which makes him unlike most everyone else from another perspective. But he's also the American Dream, the self-made and shrewd billionaire whose products are used by most of the world's population. Success commands respect, as does his philanthropy. Even better, bring in the Gates family, talking about how they use Microsoft technology in their home or when traveling the globe.

7. Resume giving financial guidance to Wall Street. Once again, this resolution makes the list, and it's up three places from No. 10. This month, two years will have passed since you stopped giving guidance for future earnings. Microsoft, how can Wall Street have confidence in you when you don't show confidence enough to give them quarterly guidance -- like other major public companies? Sure there is some risk that weak projections will hurt the stock. But by withholding guidance, you let uncertainty and gossip determine perceptions about sales and earnings performance -- particularly when Wall Street love child Apple now has larger market capitalization and quarterly revenue than you. Microsoft, take charge of perceptions by giving information, rather than withholding it.

6. Release reference designs -- and give them away or sell them (cheap). Google had the right idea with Nexus One (released in January 2010) and followup Nexus S (December 2010): Design and brand a product, even at the risk of causing conflict with retail or manufacturing partners. I'm surprised how many analysts, bloggers and journalists got hung up on Google direct sales or number of handsets sold -- and by those measures called N1 a failure -- while missing why it was a huge success. Nexus one appealed to enthusiasts and developers and established a baseline for manufacturing partners. More recently, Google gave out 60,000 laptops running Chrome OS, as part of a six-month test.

Microsoft, you're no stranger to this approach, you just haven't gone as far as Google. During PDC 2009 you gave away Microsoft-designed, Acer manufactured thin-and-light laptops to paid attendees. The laptop's features set a baseline around which developers could create applications. Then for Windows Phone 7, you set minimum hardware configuration for your mobile OEM partners. These are great strides that could be much more meaningful by:

Offering a Microsoft co-branded baseline laptop and mobile phone
Providing branded reference-design products to developers at cost or for free
Giving away the same products to select enthusiasts, user groups or IT managers

(See #2 for more on enthusiast advantages.)

5. Open a unified applications store. Microsoft, I've been encouraging you to sell third-party software from within the operating system for about as long as Office and Windows have had product activation (2011 is the 10th anniversary). I made several formal recommendations during the mid-Noughties, when working as an analyst. If you can activate your own stuff and distribute updates through a download mechanism built into Windows, surely you could make the technology available to third parties. Let them offer products for sale and activation through Windows -- from a branded Microsoft store.

If you're afraid of causing trouble with European or US trustbusters, don't be. Take the risk. Apple is selling iPads and Macs hand over first. There is plenty of PC competition, much of it from mobile devices. Apple will open the Mac App Store later this week. You should have been there first, but you can still do better.

Google has the Apps and Chrome Web stores offering apps in the browser/cloud. Apple and Google both have mobile app stores. You should combine the concepts into a unified applications store for mobile and PC applications and those running in the browser (or widgets) connected to the cloud. It's an ambitious project that would generate helluva lot of buzz and could shift some developer excitement winds back your way. Give developers a way to distribute their software anytime, anywhere and on anything, in a way that discourages piracy and makes bundles of money, and they'll love you. Or at least embrace your approach.

4. Step up the "value marketing." One of Microsoft's founding principles is value -- making computing affordable enough to put a PC on every desktop, in every home. Your marketing messaging has drifted from the value principle, Microsoft -- although Windows Phone 7 marketing shows right refocusing.

Apple commands a high price for cool, and there's a place for that. Apple is the Neiman Marcus of computing. There's no shame in your being Walmart. The giant retailer generates more revenue in one quarter than Target does for a whole year. Emphasis: Value. The cool, rich kids can have Apple. Microsoft should be computing for the rest of us.

Contrary to popular convention, value isn't about low pricing but getting the most from what you spend. For enterprises, isn't that what ROI (return on investment) and TCO (total cost of ownership) are all about? Perhaps one reason Apple focuses so little marketing efforts on enterprises is that it has so little value -- ROI and TCO -- to sell them.

Value matters to consumers, too, and not just by how much they spend. For families, there is the value products bring to them. The measure is often emotional. McDonalds succeeds for many reasons, but family values is among them. Happy Meals help make McDonalds an affordable place to bring the kids to eat. Later, as teenagers, they go there and shop the "value menu." Microsoft CEO Kevin Turner is a 20-year Walmart veteran and someone who should know something about value and family marketing (see #3).

3. Open 50 more stores or cafés. In my past three years of resolutions for you, opening retail stores ranked near the top of the lists (No. 4 last year). In little more than a year, you opened 7 stores, which is good start but not start enough. You need to open another 50, this year. After experiencing the store here in San Diego over six months, I see a winning retail formula. Families fill Microsoft Store here, in contrast to the Apple Store just four shops away. Microsoft Store should be a destination for families, gamers and computer enthusiasts -- and people seeking real value from their technology purchases. (see #4 for more on this advantage).

Don't be afraid of losing money on the stores, at least early years. They are marketing investments for better building your brand and for selling the Microsoft lifestyle. Among the metro areas I recommend launching stores: Austin, Boston, Chapel Hill-Raleigh-Durham Triangle, Columbus, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Make cities with high student populations a priority.

Internationally, open stores in Beijing, Berlin, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Seoul and Tokyo. Make cities with large numbers of tourists a priority. Localize the stores -- don't make them all the same like Apple does. Also use them to educate people about the benefits of buying software over pirating it.

2. Engage enthusiasts. This one makes my list most every year, and it's up six places from 2010. You did much better engaging enthusiasts in 2009 and 2010 than all the rest of the millennium's first decade. But you're not doing enough. Enthusiasts are any company's best marketers. You need to step up enthusiast engagement and extend it with more outreach, freebees and contests during 2011. It's more important this year than during the last five, because you're on the other side of major new product announcements -- Windows 7 (October 2009), Azure (February 2010), Office 2010 (May 2010), Windows Phone 7 (October-November 2010) and Xbox Kinect (November 2010).

With the big product launches behind, it's time to engage enthusiasts tactically -- as much for the future. New mobile products, Bing advancements and Office 365 are among the opportunities to generate excitement; 2011 should be the Microsoft year of the beta, where there is seemingly thousands of new products for enthusiasts to try and get excited about. Reward loyal customers with goodies, freebees and intimate engagement and they'll pay you back with praise that's the most valuable marketing ROI.

1. Empower internal "cloud" startups. You really upset this journalist when gutting Windows Live Labs (April 2009) and later shuttering the incubation project (October 2010). Live Labs was but one of many incubation projects whacked in 2009 and 2010. How dare you, Microsoft. Some of the best, mid- to-late-Noughties products or services came from incubation projects.

You've got to bring them back and focused on mobile and the cloud. Incubation groups should operate like mini-startups, free to develop unfettered by any requirement to connect any of their work to any other Microsoft product, particularly Office or Windows. Let them run free, run wild, wildly innovate. Reward innovation, with pay incentives and other goodies. Appoint a chief startup officer (see #11), whom employees can submit their projects, getting them outside stifling bureaucracy and mid-managers' self-preserving priorities.

Empowered employees will produce, Microsoft. You just need to let them.

Techmeme's top-50 tech stories show the influence of Apple, Google and corporate blogs and press releases

Publié: janvier 1, 2011, 4:32am CET par Joe Wilcox