Ford Employs Robots for Better Production

Story first appeared in USA Today.

For Ford, the goal of the 700 robots is to reduce physical strain and save energy at the Louisville, Ky., plant that's going to make the new Ford Escape.

Ford says with the help of cameras, the robots are programmed to recognize any tiny deviation from specification such as gaps between door panels or the windshield and the vehicle body.

The ability of the machines to register any difference in each vehicle on the line improves our quality by providing a custom-like build.

Robots may work right alongside humans, and would reduce the need for Workers Compensation Insurance Coverage for much of the workforce.

Some of the robots work in concert with line workers to build the Escape more efficiently. The plant also has a variety of semi-autonomous robots, which do tasks that aren't safe for humans to do repetitively.

Robots manhandle the instrument panel, glass, paint and fenders on Escape. They try to fit door panels more tightly to reduce wind noise, upping the quality of each Escape that rolls off the line. A robotic arm applies the adhesive for the windshield to provide consistent, repeatable application and the glass is placed mechanically with suction cups.

In the paint shop, 88 new robots reduce energy costs by more efficiently applying paint and sealer inside the body and to the exterior of the vehicle, Ford says. Keeping humans out of the zones where the paint is applied reduces airflow and climate control requirements thereby saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.

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New Google Cloud-based Computers Pros/Cons

Story first appeared in USA Today.

Google is mum on how many Chromebooks have been sold since launching the cloud-based computers with laptop-makers Acer and Samsung nearly a year ago. But the machines haven't exactly gone mainstream, with fewer than 220,000 Chromebooks have shipped so far, a modest sum.

Indeed, much of the noise in the portable computing space these days surrounds the "Ultrabook" class laptops evangelized by Intel. When it comes to operating systems, the chatter focuses on Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 or Apple's Mac OS X Mountain Lion.

Yet Google claims to be "very happy" with Chromebook sales to date, pointing out that the computers routinely show up on Amazon's best-seller lists and are gaining ground in education and business.

Google is about to crank up the volume for Chrome hardware and the cloud-based operating system that relies on a Chrome Web browser for practically all that you do. Today, the search giant unveils two models for Chrome, both from Samsung, both with Intel Core processors.
There's the next version of the Chromebook itself, $449 with Wi-Fi only or $549 for a version that adds built-in 3G cellular. Then there's the $329, small rectangular Chromebox that reminds you of Apple's Mac Mini in that you'll have to supply your own mouse, monitor and keyboard.

The machines incorporate the eighth significant update to Chrome software since launch. Such regular software updates are a key feature of Chrome that promises to keep the computers fresh, secure or, as Google's likes to say, "always new" without you having to manually install anti-virus software or anything else. So even folks who purchased a Chromebook last year should benefit.

Those initial Chromebooks were only peddled online. But beginning next month Google will start selling the computers in select physical Best Buy stores in the U.S. as well.

The first Chromebooks were appealing as relatively light, attractive, portable computers that are a breeze to set up and that boot up very quickly. They have good battery life. But there was also at least one critical — some would say fatal — flaw: The computers are largely crippled when you are without access to the Internet. To be sure, we're migrating to a cloud-based era of computing, but folks are still accustomed to installing software and storing stuff internally. Both the Chromebook and Chromebox have 16 gigabytes of internal SSD storage, not very much.

Of course, having gobs of internal storage is beside the point. The latest Chrome computers, like their predecessors, are built for the cloud. You pretty much rely on Web apps, though Google has tried to make the computers more usable when you're offline. In all, Google says, there are tens of thousands of apps in the Chrome Web Store, hundreds that work offline.

As before, set-up is dead simple. You choose your language and network for connecting online, enter your Google (Gmail) credentials and you're pretty much good to go. Your bookmarks and open tabs for Web pages on any other computers you have with the Chrome browser should be synced up. And this time around, though, the Chromebook experience is generally more polished.

With an active Internet connection, you can listen to all the music you have stored in the cloud through a Google Play app; watch movies on Netflix, something not possible on earlier Chromebooks; and stream YouTube videos at 1080p high-definition resolution.

Through a built-in photo viewer, you can perform simple edits (cropping, brightness). And you can do a video chat with up to nine friends using the Google+ Hangout app.

The interface has been redesigned to let you "pin" favorite apps to the launcher at the bottom of the screen — switching among them is easy. Managing all the tabs that opened simultaneously at the top of the screen, however, was somewhat messy at times.

Boot times are even zippier than before. Users arrived at the login screen for Chromebook about five seconds after pressing the power button. The new touchpad is more responsive than the first model.

Google says the latest Chromebook is about 2½ times faster than before, and Chromebox about 3½ times faster.

The Chromebox, has 6 USB 2.0 ports and two display ports and is Bluetooth compatible.

Chromebook has a decent 12.1-inch display and weighs 3.3 pounds. Google says you'll get about six hours of continuous use off the battery, which seems reasonable. Chromebook has 4 gigabytes of RAM and sports a pair of USB 2.0 ports. Also on board are slots or connectors for memory cards, bigger displays and Gigabit Ethernet.

But you can't run a cable to a printer and expect it to work. Instead, you need to take advantage of Google's "cloud print" service, if you have a compatible printer. The workaround if you don't have such a printer requires you to have Chrome installed on a Windows PC, Mac or Linux machine that is connected to the printer.

Google Drive is coming with the next software update, about six weeks away, though it's now available as a beta. You will be able to copy files from a File Manager onto Google Drive or access files from Google Drive and make them available offline on the Chromebook. For now I was able to display Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDF files. The ability to edit Microsoft Office files offline is promised over the next several weeks as well.

Google is making available a Chrome Remote Desktop app, still in beta, that lets you access and control a remote PC or Mac desktop screen, and even display that desktop full-screen on the Chrome computer.

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Huge Computer Virus Attacking Sensitive Information

Story first appeared in USA Today.

A massive, data-slurping cyberweapon is circulating in the Middle East, and computers in Iran appear to have been particularly affected, according to a Managed IT Service.

Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab ZAO said the "Flame" virus was unprecedented both in terms of its size and complexity, possessing the ability to turn infected computers into all-purpose spying machines that can even suck information out of nearby cell phones.

This is on a completely different level. It can be used to spy on everything that a user is doing.

The announcement sent a ripple of excitement across the computer security sector. Flame is the third major cyberweapon discovered in the past two years, and Kaspersky's conclusion that it was crafted at the behest of a national government fueled speculation that the virus could be part of an Israeli-backed campaign of electronic sabotage aimed at archrival Iran.

Although their coding is different, there was some evidence to suggest that the people behind Flame also helped craft Stuxnet, a notorious virus that disrupted controls of some nuclear centrifuges in Iran in 2010.

Whoever was behind Flame had access to the same exploits and same vulnerabilities as the Stuxnet guys. Two teams may have been working in parallel to write both programs.

Stuxnet revolutionized the cybersecurity field because it targeted physical infrastructure rather than data, one of the first demonstrations of how savvy hackers can take control of industrial systems to wreak real-world havoc.

So far, Flame appears focused on espionage. The virus can activate a computer's audio systems to eavesdrop on Skype calls or office chatter, for example. It can also take screenshots, log keystrokes, and — in one of its more novel functions— steal data from Bluetooth-enabled cell phones.

Tehran has not said whether it lost any data to the virus, but a unit of the Iranian communications and information technology ministry said it had produced an anti-virus capable of identifying and removing Flame from its computers.

Speaking Tuesday, Israel's vice premier did little to deflect suspicion about the Jewish state's possible involvement in the latest attack.

Whoever sees the Iranian threat as a significant threat is likely to take various steps, including these, to hobble it. Israel is blessed with high technology, and we boast tools that open all sorts of opportunities for us.

Flame is unusually large.

Malicious programs collected by U.K. security firm Sophos averaged about 340 kilobytes in 2010, the same year that Kaspersky believes Flame first started spreading. Flame weighs in at 20 megabytes — nearly 60 times that figure.

A professor of computing at the University of Surrey in southern England, said the virus was modular — meaning that functions could be added or subtracted to it as needed. He compared it to a smartphone, saying that, depending on what kind of espionage you want to carry out, you just add apps.

He was particularly struck by Flame's ability to attack Bluetooth-enabled devices left near an infected computer.

Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communications protocol generally used for wireless headsets, in-car audio systems or file-swapping between mobile phones. Woodward said that Flame can turn an infected computer into a kind of industrial vacuum cleaner, copying data from vulnerable cell phones or other devices left near it.

The chief executive of Cyber-Ark, an Israeli developer of information security, said he thought four countries, in no particular order, had the technological know-how to develop so sophisticated an electronic offensive: Israel, the U.S., China and Russia.

It was 20 times more sophisticated than Stuxnet, with thousands of lines of code that took a large team, ample funding and months, if not years, to develop. It's a live program that communicates back to its master. It asks, 'Where should I go? What should I do now?' It's really almost like a science fiction movie.

It's not clear what exactly the virus was targeting. Kaspersky said it had detected the program in hundreds of computers, mainly in Iran but also in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The company has declined to go into detail about the nature of the victims, saying only that they range from individuals to certain state-related organizations or educational institutions.

The Kaspersky researcher, said stolen data was being sent to some 80 different servers, something which would give the virus's controllers time to readjust their tactics if they were discovered. He added that some of Flame's functions still weren't clear.

Kaspersky said it first detected the virus after the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union asked it for help in finding a piece of malware that was deleting sensitive information across the Middle East. The company stumbled across Flame when searching for that other code, it said.

Spokespeople for the Geneva-based Telecommunication Union didn't return emails seeking comment.

The discovery of the Flame virus comes just days after nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers in Baghdad failed to persuade Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment. A new round of talks is expected to take place in Moscow next month.

The Israeli vice premier, told Army Radio on Tuesday that the talks in Iraq yielded no significant achievement except to let Iran buy time. He appeared to take a swipe at President Obama by saying it might even be in the interest of some players in the West to play for time.

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HP Axes Jobs

Story first appeared in USA Today.

Embattled tech giant Hewlett-Packard said Wednesday it would slash 27,000 jobs, 8% of its worldwide workforce, by 2014 in hopes of saving billions of dollars and reversing a financial funk amid brutal competition.

The multiyear restructuring plan, which aims to save $3 billion to $3.5 billion, is the biggest in HP's 73-year history and absolutely critical for the long-term success of the company.

HP is paring thousands of jobs because its revenue and profits are fading. The Palo Alto, Calif., company reported earnings of $1.6 billion, or 80 cents a share, for its second fiscal quarter, which ended April 30, down 30% from a year earlier. Revenue was $30.7 billion, down 3% from the same period a year ago. A consensus of Wall Street analysts forecast revenue of $29.92 billion and a profit of 91 cents a share. Investors liked what they heard. HP shares rose 9% in after-hours trading.

The workforce bloodletting is believed to be the third-largest in tech history. IBM shed 60,000 jobs in mid-1993, and AT&T laid off 40,000 in early 1996, according to analyst Phil Fersht of HfS Research. HP chopped 25,000 jobs in 2008. This is the start of a long process, and is likely not going to be the last workforce correction that will happen this year.

The cutbacks are the latest in a long, painful sequence for HP. The venerable PC giant jettisoned 50,000 jobs over five years under the former CEO. The cuts are especially vexing for the current CEO, who ran on a jobs-creation platform during her unsuccessful bid to become California governor in 2010. The layoffs are equivalent to the population of Eureka, Calif.

HP's revenue is being squeezed by a phalanx of competition from Dell, Apple, IBM and others on multiple product fronts. The projected slackening demand for PCs this summer won't help matters, nor will HP's lack of a tablet strategy.

Another former CEO had proposed jettisoning the PC business and emphasizing more profitable businesses, including commercial software and cloud computing. The new CEO nixed that idea, but she has said HP will continue to expand its software and services businesses.

HP expects to use the cost savings, which would include voluntary retirement, to increase investments in cloud computing, big data and analytics, and security.

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Wireless Carries Getting Rid of Unlimited Data Plans

Story first appeared in USA Today.

Brace yourself, parents: You may have to share your monthly wireless data allotment with your Netflix-loving kid.

In a bid to sell and connect more devices to their wireless networks — and generate more money per subscriber — major carriers are preparing to introduce "data share" plans that will likely require more coordination among family members.

In such plans, customers will pay for a fixed bucket of monthly data and share it among family members. If you live alone, the data in the bucket can be shared among various devices capable of receiving over-the-air signals, such as tablets, smartphones, security monitors in the car and other connected devices. For example, a customer can choose a plan with 5 gigabytes for two devices, instead of 3 GB for one.
A typical current wireless family plan allows you to share voice minutes, but any data allotment has to be assigned to individual devices.
The changes come as the industry is trying to improve profit margins even as companies invest heavily to build out the next new generation of fast wireless networks, called 4G LTE. As consumers' appetite for data grows unabated, the carriers are tinkering with their data plans to maximize revenues and also to bring in new waves of users who still are using call- and text-only phones.

Verizon Communications, which owns a controlling stake in Verizon Wireless, confirmed to analysts Wednesday that the wireless carrier will introduce a data-share plan and phase out unlimited data plans for customers who renew their contracts or upgrade to new phones. Customers have told Verizon that they want to share data, similar to how they share minutes today. They are working on plans to provide customers with that option later this year.

AT&T has said in recent days that they will introduce a similar plan.

Sprint, which has been promoting unlimited data plans, declined to comment.

Verizon and AT&T didn't elaborate on pricing or details of their data-share plans. But analysts say they'll be structured in a way to make it easier for customers to add new devices and expose more people to surfing the web or streaming a movie while on the move and away from Wi-Fi.

Now, if you buy another (wireless) device, you buy another data plan. A vast majority people don't want that approach. People don't want to pay a full price for a small percentage of data used. But it makes sense if you add a tablet or a child to your plan.

Such plans exist in Asia and Canada. And the changes reflect the carriers' vision of where their future growth will come from.

Phone carriers similarly introduced family share plans for voice calls, and that broadened their base of cell phone-toting customers. With the explosion of demand for data, the carriers are looking to replicate the strategy.

If a carrier can keep a family satisfied with a data plan that makes adding new devices easy, it'll discourage customers from fleeing to a competitor, a constant source of concern for the industry. The motivation is to get everyone data-oriented. Once you get customers sticky to data, they have to keep it.

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