Logitech Adds Business Services By Acquiring LifeSize

NY Times

In a move to break into the videoconferencing market, Logitech International has agreed to buy LifeSize Communications, a start-up that makes high-definition videoconferencing equipment, for $405 million in cash.

LifeSize, which is based in Austin, Tex., sells videoconferencing tools that cost less than most other products on the market. The high-definition video is so clear that viewers can see scribbles on Post-it notes.

Logitech, a maker of desktops and personal computer equipment that is based in Fremont, Calif., and Switzerland, will be competing against Cisco Systems, Polycom, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and I.B.M, which have all made investments in the industry.

With LifeSize’s technology, Logitech aims to “make lifelike, HD-quality video communication as mainstream and seamless as a telephone,” said Gerald P. Quindlen, Logitech’s chief executive.

For a long time, videoconferencing was limited to big businesses that could afford to build expensive systems for business VoIP and video in their conference rooms. But videoconferencing has become more accessible because Internet connections are commonplace, video has become more efficient and the price has dropped for high-definition cameras and displays. Now, many companies are trying to reach small businesses and individuals that previously used low-quality webcams on PCs.

Cisco, for instance, sells its high-end TelePresence system to big businesses that install it in conference rooms. Last month, Cisco said it planned to buy Tandberg, a Norwegian video communications company, for $3 billion. Tandberg makes smaller and less expensive videoconferencing tools that can sit on desks. Cisco has said it hopes to use Tandberg’s technology to sell equipment to small businesses and individuals.

The LifeSize Passport, a high-definition videoconferencing system for use with televisions or computers, was introduced in October. The device, which weighs less than a pound and is priced under $2,500, works with Skype business VoIP services and is aimed at workers who travel or telecommute.

Andrew W. Davis, senior partner at the consulting firm Wainhouse Research, said the deal surprised many in the industry because Logitech made products for consumers while LifeSize made products for businesses. “But that wall, like the Berlin Wall, will come down,” he said. “Logitech has been aggressive in this space across a variety of fronts, and that’s who you’ll see in your living room, not Cisco.”

How Google's Purchase Of Gizmo5 Can Benefit The Consumer

from PC World

Has Google found the final piece of its voice-calling puzzle? Rumors have it that the acquisition-happy search giant has acquired Gizmo5, a Skype-like VoIP startup.   TechCrunch is reporting googlethat Google has plunked down $30 million in cash for Gizmo5, which offers a software app that lets you make free phone calls to other Gizmo users, as well as inexpensive calls to landlines and cell phones. It supports SMS and instant messaging, too.

Google has yet to formally announce a Gizmo5 buyout, but many industry watchers think acquisition is a done deal. A Google spokesperson on Monday told PC World that the company doesn't "comment on rumor or speculation."

Andy Abramson, author of the VoIP Watch blog, sees the Gizmo5 acquisition as a key component of Google's overall voice strategy. The VoIP startup's technology provides Google with a PSTN link, or a means of enabling inbound and outbound calls to convention landline and cell phones. By integrating Gizmo5's tech with Google Voice, a clever call-management app that provides one number for all of your phones, and the Google Talk voice/chat client, a powerful phone service is born.

"If you put all of this stuff together, you have something a lot more powerful than Skype," Abramson says. "Google has just gotten to where Skype wants to go a little faster, assuming the deal is done."
Free Phone Service Coming?

So how might Google integrate the various pieces of its business VoIP puzzle? And how might consumers benefit?

Given Google tendancy to stir up trouble in established tech markets -- just ask GPS mapping firms Garmin and TomTom -- a free, ad-support phone service doesn't seem too far-fetched.

"Google has a very deep investment in voice search, features that enable people to say, 'find this, find that,' and then make a phone call," Abramson says.

"Let's face it, with the phone companies monopolizing (voice calling), Google could come in and say, 'Hey, we'll give you phone service that costs nothing, and that's driven by our advertising revenue,'" he adds.

One thing's for certain: Voice will soon get a lot more interesting.

U.S. Television Manufacturer Expects Big Growth In Next Year

Wall Street Journal

Vizio Inc., a supplier of low-cost flat-panel display TVs in the U.S., expects shipments of its LCD televisions to rise more than 70% to more than six million units this year and to remain profitable even as set prices fall at least 30%, the company's chief executive said.

Such steep declines in LCD television selling prices suggest more challenges ahead for major television manufacturers. Sony Corp., Panasonic Corp. and other major Japanese television manufacturers have struggled to reverse losses at their television businesses, unable to slash costs faster than falling prices, even though demand for new sets remains strong.

Vizio, a closely held company based in Irvine, Calif., is the U.S. market leader for LCD televisions with a 21.7% share in the second quarter, edging out Samsung Electronics for the top spot, according to research firm iSuppli. Vizio's shipments would be growing at more than triple the rate of the global market for LCD televisions, based on iSuppli's forecasts for 20.5% global shipments growth in 2009.

Its televisions are available at discount retailers and can sometimes cost several hundred dollars less than competitors.

The shift to flat-panel televisions opened the door to companies like Vizio, which focuses on design and marketing while leaving the production mainly to contract manufacturers. William Wang, Vizio's CEO and founder, said in an interview Monday that Vizio is now expanding to sell Blu-ray video players and speakers, again turning to contract manufacturers in Asia.

"There are plenty of factories these days," said Mr. Wang, who says his company made money last year and will again be profitable this year. He didn't give specific details.

Japanese companies are also increasingly turning to contract manufacturers to reduce costs. Sony agreed to sell a 90% stake in an LCD television assembly factory in Mexico to Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and then outsource production to Hon Hai. Hitachi also started to turn to outside manufacturers for some of its less expensive TVs for the U.S. market.

Mr. Wang was in Tokyo Monday to meet with retailers. Japan is a difficult market for discount brands, due to a loyalty to brand names and the abundance of domestic competitors. Vizio already sells televisions in Japan at stores run by Costco Wholesale Corp. but it has no immediate plans to expand in the Japanese market.

The company doesn't need capital right now, according to Mr. Wang, but it will likely raise capital in the future as it expands into other products and new markets. He also said a listing will happen eventually, saying a public offering will be good for brand building.

Notebooks That Are Easier On The Eye

Wall Street Journal

Like clockwork, retailers were ready for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 7 release last week with new desktops, laptops and netbooks, those inexpensive, smaller laptops that have become popular in the past year. Included in this selection of netbooks are some that improved the poor screen resolutions that have plagued these tiny PCs.

Screen resolution isn't the same as the size of the screen itself. Rather, it is related to the number of pixels—or distinct dots—on a display, and an indication of how much material can be seen on the screen without scrolling. A higher-resolution screen allows you to see more of a Web page, spreadsheet or list of emails than a lower-resolution screen, even if both are the same physical size.

Because higher-resolution screens cost more, most netbooks come with low-resolution screens to keep prices down. But poor resolution combined with a small netbook screen results in frustrating visuals, like Web pages that display just a small portion of their contents, forcing you to scroll down or horizontally to see the rest of the page.

This week, I tested two Windows 7 discount notebooks with unusually high-res screens: Hewlett-Packard Co.'s HP Mini 311 with an 11.6-inch screen and a resolution of 1,366-by-768 pixels, and Nokia Corp.'s Booklet 3G with a 10.1-inch screen and a resolution of 1,280-by-720-pixels. Both these small computers display the bulk of most Web pages without any scrolling necessary—a big relief on a netbook.

Though high-resolution screens make these netbooks easier on the eyes than others, I still had trouble adjusting to their shrunken features. I liked typing on the HP Mini's generous keyboard, which H-P says is 92% of full size. But its touchpad buttons felt stiff and uncomfortably located at the edge of the computer. The Nokia Booklet had the opposite problem: Its touchpad and buttons worked fine, but its tiny keys made me feel like I was typing on a kiddie computer.

Nokia is a bit more of a newsmaker here, because when the Booklet 3G (nokiausa.com) comes out in mid-November, it will be the first foray by the Finnish mobile-device company into the discount laptops. Best Buy began taking advance orders for them this week. It costs $300 if purchased with AT&T Inc.'s two-year Data Connect plan, which costs $60 a month for five gigabytes of data and allows users to toggle back and forth between two kinds of wireless connections, cellular 3G and Wi-Fi. If purchased without the AT&T plan, the Booklet 3G costs $600—a lot for a netbook—including only Windows 7 Starter, the low-end version of the new OS, and one gigabyte of memory.

The thing most people will notice right away about Nokia's netbook is that it seems to take its design cues directly from Apple Inc. Like the MacBook Pro, the Nokia Booklet 3G is made from a single piece of aluminum, and its keyboard is made of black Chiclet-style keys. Its edges are rounded and smooth. I used one with a glossy black lid, but it will also come in shades of ice white or azure blue.

Nokia boasts that this netbook's battery will last for 12 hours; after running it through a harsh test with its screen cranked up to the brightest setting, Wi-Fi on, music playing on a continuous loop and all power-saving features turned off, it ran for almost eight hours straight. This means that under normal circumstances, the battery might last for a remarkable 10 hours.

The Booklet 3G that I used differs from Nokia's final release version in a few ways: Mine wasn't loaded with AT&T's Connection Manager software, which enables switching between Wi-Fi and 3G; it lacked the Nokia Social Hub software, which the company says allows users to track social-media feeds and text messages; and the GPS wasn't yet connected to the U.S. map data server. My Booklet 3G included Ovi Suite, a Nokia-designed software program to bridge the connection between some Nokia smartphones and the Booklet 3G, like iTunes for the iPhone or BlackBerry's Desktop Manager. But the software I had wasn't the final version.

Unlike Nokia, H-P is no stranger to netbooks, having released nine of its Mini models of discount computers in the past year. The HP Mini 311 (hp.com/go/mini) costs $400 when purchased with Windows XP and costs an additional $50 when loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium. The Mini that I tested costs $474 because it also had two gigabytes of memory rather than one gigabyte.

The H-P model is a little bigger all around compared with the Nokia, with an inch-larger screen; it weighs 3.22 pounds compared with 2.76 pounds for the Nokia. Both felt relatively thin and light, and I carried them home together from my office with ease. The HP Mini 311 had H-P's subtle Black Swirl pattern on its lid—a faint pattern of silver swirls noticeable only at certain angles. It also comes in White Swirl.

I ran the same battery test on the HP as I did with the Nokia, and it lasted four hours and 15 minutes, giving it roughly six hours of juice under normal circumstances. H-P estimates that the Mini 311's battery will last for six hours and 25 minutes.

I didn't run into any problems while installing and using several programs on each of these netbooks or discount workstations, including Windows Live Essentials, Mozilla's Firefox browser, Picasa 3, TweetDeck, Adobe Reader and iTunes. The HP Mini felt more responsive and, in fact, loaded some programs a little faster, but it had twice the memory.

Both netbooks have slots for memory cards, HDMI ports for connecting to HD screens and three USB ports. And they come with built-in Web cams, a common feature on netbooks.

A cold start on both the Mini 311 and Booklet 3G required roughly the same amount of time: one minute and eight seconds for the H-P, and a minute and 12 seconds for the Nokia. But restarting was a different story. While playing a song in iTunes, running three Web pages in Firefox and using TweetDeck, I selected Restart. The HP Mini 311 took a minute and 20 seconds while the Nokia took nearly two minutes.

Even without the AT&T discount, the Nokia Booklet 3G's extra-long battery life and sleek design will be worth the extra money for some people—just beware its tiny keyboard. The HP Mini 311 is a good all-around netbook with a comfortable keyboard for typing. No one will be disappointed by the terrific screen resolutions.

Most products mentioned are available from DFS Direct Sales.

Ribbit Mobile Serves Up Competition To Google Voice

Information Week

Ribbit Mobile has launched a cloud-based service that enables users to combine multiple phone numbers, make calls from the Internet, and receive transcribed voicemails.

Like Google Voice, Ribbit lets calls ring multiple phone numbers and can transcribe voicemails as searchable text files. Upon receiving a call, Ribbit Mobile can ring various landline, mobile, and soft phones services such as Skype and Google Talk, and users can answer and initiate calls from a PC. Unlike Google's offerings, Ribbit Mobile users don't have to adopt a new number, as it works with existing mobile phone numbers.

Ribbit described the offering as a form of personal customer-relationship management (CRM). Users will also be able to see a caller's Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn messages when receiving a call. Ribbit said this "caller ID 2.0" gives context to verbal conversations. An online backup service is also offered.

Ribbit's service will be open to third-party developers, which is why the company is not yet positioning its service as an enterprise offering. The company said it is focused on building a solid communications platform that can be used by developers for consumers and businesses alike. iPhone and BlackBerry application are on the way, and Ribbit says it envisions multiple enterprise-focused apps eventually emerging from the developer community.

The company will also be rolling out a developer rewards program which will compensate content creators based on how much their apps are used. This is aimed at making Ribbit's app process more of a meritocracy than other app environments, the company said.

The service is currently in beta. It includes unlimited automated voicemail transcriptions and calls. Ribbit Mobile will have tiered pricing that ranges from free to $30 a month when it comes out of beta. Users can sign up at Ribbit's Web site for an invitation.

NY Attorney General Hits Intel With Antitrust Suit

AP

New York's attorney general hit Intel Corp. with an antitrust lawsuit Wednesday, claiming the company used "illegal threats and collusion" to dominate the market for computer microprocessors.

Following a similar case in Europe, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo claimed that the world's biggest computer chip maker paid billions of dollars in kickbacks to computer manufacturers and retaliated against those that did too much business with Intel's competitors, namely Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Intel used its market prowess to "rule with an iron fist," Cuomo said.

"Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," Cuomo said in a written statement. "Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices."

An Intel spokesman, Chuck Mulloy, denied the charges and said the company's sales practices were legitimate.

"We never threatened anyone," he said.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del., is the latest in a string targeting Intel's practice of paying large annual rebates to big customers.

Intel has described the rebates as simple volume discounts, but some regulators have disagreed. The European Union fined the company $1.45 billion in May, a decision Intel is appealing to EU courts.

Intel's closest competitor, AMD, sued Intel in the same court four years ago, accusing it of anticompetitive behavior. Cuomo's lawsuit mirrors many of the allegations in AMD's case, which is scheduled to go to trial in a few months. Cuomo said Intel's rebates were illegally designed to squash competition.

Computer maker Dell Inc. alone was paid almost $2 billion in such rebates in 2006, the state said, in exchange for an agreement not to market products from AMD.

Cuomo said Intel also resorted to "bullying" customers that didn't play along. Among other things, he said, Intel would threaten to end joint development ventures, and instead direct funding to a manufacturer's competitors.

The lawsuit said the fear felt by Intel's customers was revealed in internal e-mails, including one from an IBM Corp. executive who wondered in 2005 whether the company would risk too much by strengthening its business ties to AMD.

"Can we afford to accept the wrath of Intel?" he wrote, according to the lawsuit.

Another Dell executive worried that Intel's chairman and CEO would wage "jihad" against the computer maker if it did more business with AMD.

AMD's lawsuit quotes managers from Toshiba saying Intel's financial incentives amounted to "cocaine," and executives from Gateway complaining that Intel's threats of retaliation for working with AMD beat them "into guacamole."

Intel denies that it improperly pressured Dell or any other manufacturer of refurbished laptops or cheap desktops.

"We disagree with the New York attorney general," Mulloy said. "Neither consumers, who have consistently benefited form lower prices and increased innovation, nor justice, are being served by the decision to file a case now. Intel will defend itself."

Intel, which has its headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., owns about 80 percent of the worldwide microprocessor market for cheap laptops and cheap notebooks, while AMD in nearby Sunnyvale essentially has the rest. Technical missteps by AMD and the company's deep financial problems have contributed to some of its challenges, but the company claims Intel's illegal tactics have hindered its progress as well.

Autodesk Poised For Recovery

from The Street

Autodesk's AutoCAD is the dominant software brand for architetural CAD drafting and building design, with over 9 million users of its flagship software.

Over the last decade, the San Rafael, Calif., company has virtually vanquished its competitors in this market, and in Autodesk training, including privately held Bentley Systems.

Autodesk was founded in 1982 by John Walker, one of the authors of AutoCAD. Together, with a band of co-founders who helped commercialize the product, Autodesk became the leading PC-based application for architectural drawings. The company came public in 1985, offering 1.6 million shares at $11 per share.

Best known for its AutoCAD software package, Autodesk's applications stretch across building design. Civil engineering accounts for an estimated 55% of sales, mechanical product design as much as 25% of revenue, and video editing and animation for the entertainment and video game markets, the remaining 20% of sales.

We have been concerned for some time about Autodesk's exposure to the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sectors, which have dramatically reined in their spending on automation and IT services in the last year.

However, company revenue appears to have stabilized at an annual clip of about $1.6 billion, down from the $2.3 billion that it recorded in calendar 2008. While we are not predicting a quick snapback to previous revenue levels, the company is poised to participate in a global recovery, should there be a pickup in software spending and Autodesk education in the economically sensitive customer segments that it serves.

Most of Autodesk's revenue stems from PC-based software, and the company should be a beneficiary of the Microsoft Windows 7 upgrade cycle. Microsoft's(MSFT Quote) long-awaited new operating system, Windows 7, addresses many of the shortcomings of Microsoft's Vista, which was its first operating system debacle in many years.

Our view is that pent-up demand exists for Windows 7, because many businesses have delayed purchases of new computers and software, due to Vista's shortcomings, as well as the general economic malaise. The Windows upgrade cycle should drive an upgrade cycle for PC software developers, such as Autodesk, whose products run on Windows 7. Autodesk recently announced that nine of its products, including its mainstream AEC and mechanical desktop products, now support Windows 7.

Finally, a weak dollar will benefit Autodesk because over 60% of its sales come from outside of the U.S.

While it will be several quarters before Autodesk begins to show growth, revenue has stabilized, the company has exposure to the Windows 7 upgrade cycle and derives more than half of its revenue from overseas markets ---all of which bodes well for the future.

Old Electronice = New Work In Sunrise, Florida

Miami Herald

If you've recently thrown out some sort of gizmo, have you ever wondered where it goes?

It lands in a warehouse at the edge of Sunrise, where tossed-out televisions and computers stack up like towers. Maria Agro, a 44-year-old woman with small hands and thick bifocals, picks one up and starts prying the sprockets. She tosses them into a box where LaToya Reynolds will pick them up. Or Eduardo Fabian might try to refurbish them. Or they might be touched by the hands of the dozen or so special-needs adults responsible for recycling and refurbishing nearly all of the county's discarded electronics.

This week in Washington, D.C., elected officials are debating a climate change bill. There'll be lots of talk about cap-and-trade and inconvenient truths and capital footprints. More than 1,000 miles away, at the Achievement and Rehabilitation Center off Commercial Boulevard, are the quiet foot-soldiers of the green movement.

For more than half a century, the nonprofit organization has worked with people who have Down Syndrome, autism or another disability. They cater to more than 1,000 disabled children and adults -- giving them the chance to receive job training, play basketball, take trips, make friends.

Most of them aren't allowed to live or drive on their own. Their passion for recycling is based on something simpler and more personal than healing the world.

When Agro places items inside her box, she's really placing herself out of one.

``It makes me feel independent,'' she says.

• • •

The computer crunching began in 2001, when ARC won Broward's first contract to do its electronics recycling.

At first, the center devoted 1,000 square feet to the recycling program. That's grown to 12,000 feet.

The added space has helped them deal with the exponential increase in electronics recycling. In two years, the number of people who recycle their electronics in Broward has gone from about 9,000 to 19,000, county statistics show. By year's end, numbers will climb even more because many people have thrown out their televisions after this winter's conversion to digital TV.

This is good news for Peter Foye, who directs Broward's recycling program.

If they're not turned into refurbished desktops, the machines will end up in a landfill, where lead and other contaminants could leak and slide into drinking water. But as the public's concern about the state of the earth grows, more people are choosing to drop their electronics at a local site, where the center's workers pick them up.

``There is more awareness of the program and of the need to be more conscious about the material we throw away,'' Foye said.

• • •

Like her colleagues, Agro works three days a week, five hours a day. She wakes at 6 a.m., fixes herself breakfast and gets picked up by a group van that drives her to the center. There, she stuffs her small hands in gloves that are too big.

``This place is really nifty,'' she said. ``I earn my own money, I have friends, I found a boyfriend. His name's Frank.''

She sits at a station. Signs around her remind her to ask for help and to never take the gloves off. She carries a spiral notebook and opens a page to ``Maria's Work Day.'' She pulls the sprocket, then puts down a stray mark. One down.

``I want to make sure everyone knows what work is mine,'' she says.

Tupac Shakur raps softly from the speakers. Behind her, 27-year-old LaToya Reynolds is hauling a crane and a deep box full of electronics. She gathers up the unused parts and wires, which will be taken to another location so they can be shredded.

 Eduardo Fabian, 34, picks up the processors. He searches for the hard drive for corrosion. Then, he'll clear its memory and restore it with Windows XP.

The process of restoring used computers takes almost two hours, but he says he never gets bored. It's the only job he's ever wanted to do. It's the only job he really feels comfortable doing.

``Computers have always been what I've been good at,'' Fabian says. ``I've been working with them since I was 17.''

The workers do four weeks of training before they start. And its repetitive work -- pull, crank, toss, wait -- that bodes well for their abilities.

Racquel Henry is their supervisor. In her three years overseeing the staff, she has never seen anything worse happen to one of them than getting a deep cut.

On this day, she has just returned from a computer recycling conference that brought in companies from all over the country. Many were nonprofits; none used people with adult disabilities.

While she understands their contributions to the globe, she mostly sees their self-esteem and independence increase.

``It is amazing to see where they are coming from,'' Henry said. ``I asked one woman what she did with the money and she said she just saved it in her pocket book.

I had to tell her, `No, you should open up an account.' And in a few weeks, she was so happy to tell me she had her own bank card.''

The center itself also benefits from the arrangement. Broward County just signed a $3 million contract for the center to continue this work for another five years. And while the center donates some computers to charity, they also resell refurbished laptops and processors, starting at $175.

Then, there are the contracts with companies that want the center to handle their recycled electronics directly. With funding in the nonprofit world shrinking, the quirky project that started eight years ago is now helping the center weather the recession.

Little of that matters to Agro. What does matter is her one luxury: When she gets her paycheck, she calls her sister-in-law and invites her to lunch.

They dine at Sweet Tomatoes, where Agro will fix herself a big salad. And then, she'll pick up the tab.

The rest of the money goes to her savings fund. Ultimately, she wants to leave this place. She knows the stereotypes of a person with special needs. She's been mocked and underestimated all her life. So she wants to do something big.

``I want to go to college to be a pharmacist, or a scientist or a businesswoman,'' she says. ``I'll do it on the weekends, so I can make money here to pay for classes. I can do it. All I have to do is think positive, close my eyes and dream.''

Getting More Personal With Netbooks

From Government Technology

What's the optimal size of a personal computer? That's a question PC makers wrestle with all the time in designing new models, and it's a question every PC buyer should consider as well.

The trend is clear: Small. For the most part, stationary desktops as well as portable PCs have gotten smaller over time, one exception being monitors, which have increased in size.

When taken to an extreme today, you wind up with a handheld computer, also called a palmtop computer. Taken to an extreme in the future, we'll likely have fully functional, voice-activated, talking computers embedded in our wristwatches, clothing, and eyeglasses.

For now, the more mundane and more practical issue is how small should you go when buying new computers device for work, play, or both.

Netbooks

A relatively new category of computer devices, netbooks, adds a new option. Also called mininotebooks or sub notebooks, these are the smallest laptops today that have keyboards that you can type into with both hands for quick data entry. Unlike notebook PCs, they don't typically include a CD-ROM/DVD drive.

The name "netbook" came into use because these devices are ideally suited for using Web applications. Instead of running programs that reside on your computer's own hard drive, you run programs over the Internet that reside on server computers elsewhere. Google Docs (docs.google.com) is the best known.

Netbooks as a product category are only about two years old, emerging in late 2007, though some contend that netbooks first came into existence in 1999 with the Psion netBook, a device that never caught on. Today's netbooks have caught on, comprising nearly one-fourth of all portable PCs sold, according the latest report by the market research firm DisplaySearch. Compared with a year ago, netbook sales revenue grew a whopping 264 percent.

The attraction of netbooks is clear. Compared with other laptop computers, they're lighter, run longer on batter power, and cost less. The main negatives are the flip side of the positives. The smaller keyboards are more difficult to type on and the smaller screens are more difficult to read.

Some analysts have speculated that the netbook boom will end when the economy recovers, removing some of the attraction of their low price, which ranges from about $250 to $500. But market research firm iSuppli Corp. predicts that their popularity will continue to rise, with netbook shipments projected to quadruple over the next four years.

Top netbook brands, according to the latest testing by Consumer Reports, PC World magazine, and the online sites CNET and NetbookReviews.com, include those by Acer, Asus, Gateway, HP, and Toshiba.

I tested out netbooks by Acer and Gateway. The Gateway LT3103u is typical of larger netbooks, while the Acer Aspire One AOD250-1042 is typical of smaller ones. The Gateway has an 11.6-inch screen, 2 gigabytes of memory, and a 250-gigabyte hard drive, the Acer a 10.1-inch screen, 1 gigabyte of memory, and a 160-gigabyte hard drive.

I liked the Gateway better, but I'm a dyed-in-the-wool desktop PC aficionado, preferring faster typing and easier viewing over the convenience of smaller size. The Gateway is available from Gateway's site for about $400, the Acer from retailers such as Wal-Mart for about $250.

Most netbooks come with Windows XP as their operating system, though you can find them with Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Linux. The MacBook Air is Apple's answer to the netbook trend, but it's considerably pricier than Windows or Linux netbooks.

Here are some observations from regular users of netbooks, picked up from perusing various online discussion groups: Netbooks are good for just about anything except video editing. Typing speed increases with keyboard size, and typing error rate decreases. You're more likely to take a netbook with you when out casually than a notebook. A netbook is convenient even if you rarely or never take it out of the house, in moving it from room to room.

According to what I've observed, younger people take to netbooks more easily than bifocal folks. If you're used to texting on an iPod or cell phone, a netbook will seem positively roomy. But if you want to optimize ergonomic comfort as well as speed and efficiency when working, nothing beats a full-size stationary desktop computer.

Not All Energy Star Appliances So Efficient

NY Times

The Energy Department has concluded in an internal audit that it does not properly track whether manufacturers that give their appliances an Energy Star label have met the required specifications for energy efficiency

Some manufacturers could therefore be putting the stickers on unqualified products such as kitchen appliances, according to the audit, by the Energy Department’s inspector general, Gregory H. Friedman.

The Energy Star program, jointly managed by the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, has benefited from a renewed emphasis by the Obama administration, as a mechanism for reducing the waste of energy and curbing resulting greenhouse gas emissions. Under the federal stimulus bill, $300 million will go to rebates for consumers who buy Energy Star products.

Some consumers choose energy-efficient appliances for the same reason they might choose a car with good fuel economy: to save money or reduce the environmental impact.

Teams from the Energy Department and the E.P.A. oversee different categories of products. Last December, the environmental agency’s inspector general said the Energy Star ratings for products it oversees, like computers and television sets, were “not accurate or verifiable” because of weak oversight by the agency.

The Energy Department vowed then to scrutinize its performance in evaluating the products that it oversees, like windows, dishwashers, washing machines and refrigerators.

The new audit, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, indicates that the Energy Department has also fallen far short. Those shortcomings “could reduce consumer confidence in the integrity of the Energy Star label,” according to the department’s inspector general. The audit is to be submitted to Energy Secretary Steven Chu this week. While the Energy Department requires manufacturers of windows and L.E.D. and fluorescent lighting to have independent laboratories evaluate their products, the report said, companies that make refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters and room air-conditioners, which consume far more energy, can certify those appliances themselves.

One refrigerator manufacturer tipped off the Energy Department that some models from a competitor that carried the Energy Star label did not meet the criteria, the audit said. That problem was also described by Consumer Reports magazine in October 2008 about tests it had conducted. In a settlement last year, the manufacturer, LG of South Korea, agreed to modify circuit boards in the machines already sold, to reduce their consumption and to compensate consumers for the extra power consumed.

The report also noted that while the government said in 2007 that it would conduct “retail assessments” to ensure that all the products carrying the Energy Star logo deserved them, it is still not doing so for windows, doors, skylights, water heaters and solid-state lighting. And the department is not following through to ensure that when inappropriately labeled products are identified, the labels are actually taken off, the audit said.

In one category, compact fluorescent lights, the government has certified nearly all existing products, the audit said. “When 90 percent of the products qualify, the consumer cannot easily judge the relative efficiencies of C.F.L. products,” the report said.

Jen Stutsman, an Energy Department spokeswoman, cited the recent agreement with the E.P.A., and said, “The Obama administration is strongly committed to ensuring that all Energy Star products provide American consumers with significant energy and cost savings, and has moved forward with steps to streamline and enhance the program.”

An outside expert, Lane Burt, the manager of building energy policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said some of the criticisms were justified.

“It’s been a tremendously successful program,” Mr. Burt said. “It’s grown by leaps and bounds, and any time you have that kind of growth, you’re going to have growing pains.”

Nonetheless, he said, “it’s crucial to make sure consumers are actually saving money and energy when buying an Energy Star appliance.” On Sept. 30, the Energy Department and the E.P.A. signed a memorandum of understanding that seeks to address some of the shortcomings detailed in the report.

Other Energy Star Appliances:

• Blenders
• Slow Cookers
• Indoor Grills

Mr. Burt said the memorandum committed both agencies to having all of their products evaluated by certified independent laboratories, and to expand the Energy Star program to cover products that were not in common use when it began in 1996. No target date was set.

The memorandum called for a “super star” program within Energy Star to identify the top-performing 5 percent of products, ranked by efficiency, he said.

Lenovo Expects Lift From Windows 7

Reuters

Lenovo, the world's fourth-biggest personal computer maker, expects a boost in its PC sales from the launch of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, its chairman said on Saturday.

"It will have a big impact, and we have made a lot of preparations for it," Lenovo Chairman Liu Chuanzhi said in remarks, translated from Mandarin, which indicated the impact would be positive.

Liu spoke to Reuters on the sidelines of an industry forum but declined to give a revenue contribution forecast.

Earlier this week, Lenovo launched two new laptops under its corporate line, both running the new Microsoft operating system.

Industry-watchers are betting on further recovery of computer sales next year as the global economy improves and businesses replace old machines. However, opinion is divided on how strong the impact of Windows 7 will be.

Microsoft Corp launched Windows 7 on Thursday, its most important release for more than a decade, aiming to win back customers after the disappointing Vista.

Taiwan's Acer Inc's chairman J.T. Wang also told Reuters recently he expected the launch of Windows 7 to be a positive factor for sales as consumers look to upgrade computers running on the Vista or the 8-year-old XP system.

PC shipments in the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, grew 17 percent in the third quarter, research firm IDC said on Tuesday. Lenovo had the largest market share in Asia.

Nokia Sues Apple, Claiming Patent Infringement

From Information Week

Nokia has filed patent infringement litigation against Apple, charging that the iPhone infringes on several Nokia patents.

The litigation, which involves 10 patents, was filed Thursday in the Federal District Court in Delaware. The patents at issue, Nokia said, involve GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA), and wireless LAN standards.

"The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for," said Ilkka Rahnasto, Nokia VP of legal and intellectual property, in a statement. "Apple is also expected to follow this principle. By refusing to agree [to] appropriate terms for Nokia's intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation." Apple did not immediately respond to reports about the Nokia complaint.

The litigation is just the latest in the mobile industry, which has been racked by scores of patent and intellectual property suits. Nokia itself was involved in long and bitter patent litigation with Qualcomm that was settled in July 2008 with Nokia agreeing to make payments to Qualcomm over a 15-year period. That agreement included licenses for GSM features, which appear to constitute a major piece of Nokia's complaint against Apple.

Nokia pioneered GSM, which has figured in AT&T's exclusive network deal with the iPhone in the United States. The AT&T network also utilizes UMTS, likewise cited in the Nokia litigation. AT&T was not named by Nokia in the litigation. The Nokia complaint appears to be aimed largely at handset intellectual property, although Nokia didn't completely spell out the charges in its Thursday press release.

Nokia noted that it has successfully entered into licensing agreements with about 40 companies that include the patents cited in the Apple litigation, adding that it maintains that all Apple iPhones shipped since the smartphone's debut infringe on Nokia patents that cover wireless data, speech coding, security, and encryption.

Last week Nokia reported its first quarterly loss in years, while Apple reported very favorable earnings and revenue. Nokia leads the world in handset shipments with a 38% market share while Apple, still relatively new to the mobile market, is gaining share at a rapid rate.

Apple Launches New MacBook, iPod Mini And iMac

From Wired

 

Apple has revealed its 'holiday season' lineup - nothing earth-shattering, but some cool new hardware for Mac fans.

First up is a new MacBook. This now has a MacBook Pro-style 'unibody' one-piece chassis (still plastic, though), so no unsightly joins like other notebooks or laptops and hopefully fewer stress fractures after long-term use. There's a faster processor and up to seven hours' battery life, thanks in part to a low-power LED display.

The Mac Mini range has been tweaked - you can now get it with a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo and 4GB RAM, but the base model remains laughably underspecced for £500 - where does Apple even find these 160GB hard disks? Maybe from the same bankrupt stock as the previous MacBook's CD writer.

More interesting is the creation of a Mac Mini desktops server - by removing the optical drive Apple has squeezed in two 500GB hard disks. This comes pre-installed with the unlimited client version of Snow Leopard Server for your £799, and is aimed at small businesses as a relatively inexpensive and easy way of setting up an email, calendar and file server.

The big brouhaha was about the new iMac line of computers. This was very pretty. There's now a 21.5 inch and 27 inch model to replace the 20 inch and 24 inch versions, and resolutions are up to full HD 1,920 x 1,080 and CAD package-friendly 2,560 x 1,440. No Blu-ray drive for spinning disc HD playback, but you should be able to plug your blu-ray player into the 27 inch model's Mini DisplayPort input once Belkin brings out a suitable adaptor.

Product Review: New Bose SoundDock 10

From cNet

Believe it or not, iPod speakers were once rare objects--and Bose's SoundDock was one of the first to hit the market back in 2004. Since then, the company has followed up with the SoundDock II ($299) and the SoundDock Portable ($399), even as the iPod speaker category has become completely commoditized (nowadays, there are plenty of sub-$100 clock radios with built-in iPod docks). For the 2009-2010 buying season, Bose has gone back to the drawing board and produced the SoundDock 10.

Bose says it worked for several years on this new speaker system for the iPod and iPhone, with the lofty goal of building a product that can deliver "audio performance previously unattainable from a one-piece speaker system for iPod." The SoundDock 10 is bigger and more expensive (costing a whopping $599) than previous SoundDock models, but it's still relatively compact, measuring 17 inches wide by 9 inches high by 10 inches deep, and has a nice clean, understated design that gives the whole system a classy look.

We really liked the design, though it's worth noting that since there are no buttons on the unit itself, you have to use the included remote to control playback. Lose the remote and you'll have a problem, especially when it comes to adjusting volume. (The remote controls your iPod's basic functions, and, while the system does have a video output, Apple doesn't allow the iPod menus to be displayed on a TV or other video source, which would make it much easier to navigate the device from afar.)

The centerpiece of the unit is a hefty, custom woofer, bracketed by two Bose Twiddler transducers (no, that's not a new social-networking site; it's a combination of a high-frequency transducer and midrange driver). The woofer alone adds a lot of weight to the unit, and while the speaker can be moved around the house easily enough, the SoundDock 10 weighs a beefy 18.9 pounds (that's three times as much as the aforementioned SoundDock Series II and SoundDock Portable). Held in hand, this model feels quite substantial and well built.

As far as extra features go, you don't get a whole lot. There's no radio or clock, but you do get an audio input for other audio devices and a composite-video output for showing iPod/iPhone images or videos when connected to a TV. While Bose is known for its sound and not its video, we wish it had incorporated a component-video connection because composite video really offers a mediocre picture. Particularly at this price point, if you're going to include video, you might as well make it decent.

Bose also has equipped the SoundDock 10 with a proprietary interchangeable docking architecture, which it says is designed to "future-proof" the system and make it compatible with any hot media players or smartphones that might come along (around back, there's a USB port for uploading any future firmware updates). For instance, if Microsoft's Zune really took off, it could add a dock for that, but right now it's only offering an optional Bluetooth dock that costs an additional $149. For 600 bucks, you'd have hoped Bose would have integrated Bluetooth into the unit, but it didn't.

As you might imagine, that Bluetooth dock allows you to stream music wirelessly from your iPod Touch or iPhone to the SoundDock 10 using your Apple device as a source and a remote. When you move too far away from the device--we got about 40 feet away--or run into some interference issues (i.e., microwaves or other Bluetooth devices), a light starts blinking on the dock, which alerts you that the quality of stream may be affected. If the light blinks faster, you're more likely to have a problem.

For our Bluetooth tests, we used an iPhone 3GS, and the Bluetooth worked well. While Bluetooth streaming compresses the audio, we didn't notice a marked difference in sound quality (the degradation was only very slight). All in all, we really liked the option of using our iPhone as remote, but there's one serious drawback to the Bluetooth dock: if you have it plugged in, you can't charge your iPod or iPhone in the SoundDock 10. That's just unfortunate.

In terms of sound quality, the first thing you'll notice is that the SoundDock 10 plays loud and doesn't distort when you crank your tunes. Typically, most compact iPod audio systems just can't fill a large room with sound, but this model definitely plays much bigger than it looks.

We played an eclectic mix of music--everything from Bach to Dan Aurebach to Elvis Costello to Rihanna and Lady Gaga. The sound is rich, detailed, and well-balanced. That specially designed woofer delivers lots of bass. While it's not incredibly tight, it does have some good thump to it, and we agree with Bose that the SoundDock 10 has some party chops.

While some people might lament the lack of bass and treble controls, Bose tends to cater to an audience that isn't inclined to tweak their audio settings and just wants a system that's optimized out of the box. (Note: In some ways we prefer testing products that are optimized by the manufacture because it help eliminate a layer of subjectivity.)

So, does Bose deliver on its lofty sound goals? In large part, yes. For a compact speaker system, the SoundDock 10 sounds really good. If there's a weakness, it is that, like most iPod speakers that have their drivers placed right next to each other, you don't get much in the way of stereo separation. (Bose reps explained that its engineers designed the drivers to fire off at an angle rather than straight ahead, but you still don't get much stereo separation.) Despite that shortcoming, you'd be hard-pressed to find an iPod speaker system this compact that delivers better sound.

Of course, there's that little nagging issue of price. Six hundred bucks is a lot to spend on an iPod speaker and you can get home-theater-in-a-box systems that sound better for the same amount of money or even slightly less. You can also pick up something like the Altec LansingMix iMT800 iPod/iPhone boom box or the iHome iP1 for half the price of this model, but you're not going to get quite as good sound (the iMT800 is fairly close, however) or the upscale look of the Bose. B&W and Geneva also make iPod speakers in this price range that sound really good. However, their designs are more unique and may turn some people off.

Weighing the SoundDock 10's pluses and minuses, it's pretty easy to say that it's not for everyone. Its price is high and we wish Bose had integrated Bluetooth into the unit and not made it an extra feature that costs an additional $150. But if you're someone who's less concerned about price and really values the concept of a compact iPod/iPhone audio system that looks classy, plays loud (without distorting), and sounds really good for its size, we have no problem recommending the SoundDock 10. It's also worth noting that Bose does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test it out yourself and return the thing for a full refund if you don't think it's worth $600.

Upstart American Television Maker Leads The Industry

NPR

Americans will buy about 35 million televisions this year, and Japan's Sony and Korea's Samsung are two of the biggest brand names.

But there's a California company sharing the top of the list with those industry leaders: Vizio.

Like many other American brands, the Orange County-based upstart doesn't manufacture anything in the U.S. Vizio made its mark as the low-priced value brand. It was at the right place at the right time, with the right idea.

Back in 2001, Vizio's three founders had a company that was making computer monitors, but co-founder Ken Lowe says the trio was looking for the next big thing,

"We thought that flat panel TVs looked really nice," says Lowe, who heads the company's engineering department. "But a really nice plasma TV cost about $8,000, and we thought, 'That's too rich for us.' "

However, Lowe and his partners thought, "We know how these things are made; they shouldn't cost that much."

A Disruptive Company

The three worked their connections in the manufacturing world in Asia and created a 42-inch plasma TV that retailed for less than half the going price.

"At that time, we called ourselves a 'disruptive company,' because our price was so much lower than the competition," Lowe says.

Vizio's TVs sold briskly, and the company was soon producing well-priced products under its own name. Today it's among the top three sellers of TVs to U.S. consumers.

Industry analyst Paul Gagnon, of the market research firm Display Search, calls Vizio's rise very surprising: "They've managed to kind of catch lightning in a bottle — quick moving, aggressive, highly focused company."

Vizio had the foresight to jump into the market just as the industry was converting from old technology to digital TVs. That meant that all the manufacturers were, to some degree at least, starting from square one. But while the established firms had large legacy costs, Vizio did not.

"We're like outsourcing on steroids, right," Lowe says. "It's myself here and a few other engineers. That's it for Vizio."

New Pressure From Competitors

Lowe says only about 130 people work at the company headquarters, and a couple of dozen more work in another U.S. facility. All the manufacturing, along with the detailed design work, is done primarily in Asia.

"I specify exactly what picture performance I require, what inputs I require. I get these teams of engineers to sit down and work out all the circuitry to make that happen," Lowe says. "I like to say I've got a thousand engineers working for me, but they're all paid by another company ... in Asia."

He chuckles a bit as he says this, but he adds that building TVs in the U.S. would require a huge capital investment — and right now, at least, Vizio isn't about to make it.

The company buys the flat panels — the major component in TVs — directly from the suppliers, sometimes the very same suppliers that make panels for more expensive brands. Because Vizio sells so many TVs, it has the clout to negotiate good prices on the parts it buys.

There's yet another factor in the value price equation.

From the very beginning, Vizio sold its TVs through Costco and at Sam's Club, Walmart and, more recently, Target. Those retailers generally work on smaller profit margins, and that's helped to keep Vizio's prices low.

Industry analyst Gagnon says there's no question that Vizio has been instrumental in driving down the cost of digital TVs.

"Vizio made a lot of big companies blink," he says.

At first, the well-established leaders didn't pay that much attention to the new company. But Gagnon says that as Vizio began selling lots of TVs with premium features and low prices, the industry giants had to respond. They did, cutting their prices and putting new pressure on Vizio.