Electronics America Blog

Turning Geeks Into Batteries

2012-02-07T10:01:00.001-05:00

First appeared in the Wall Street Journal

Any geek can tell you that battery life hasn't kept up withgadget innovations. But not to worry: Inventors are figuring out how to turngeeks into batteries.

While most gadget lovers hunt for empty wall sockets tocharge their devices, Kevin Bartholomew just plugs his cellphone into his hip.That is where he keeps a nine-inch device looped around his belt that convertsthe kinetic energy of his motion into enough power to keep his devices running.

Mr. Bartholomew's tube-shaped personal energy generator,called the nPower PEG, can turn 15 minutes of walking into a minute of phonetalk time.

It is a good alternative to finding a plug, depending on howmuch exercise you get, says the 31-year-old electrical engineer from Logan,Utah.

The latest in body-powered technology includes gizmos thatabsorb excess energy produced by motion, like the jiggle of a backpack or bendof a knee. There are T-shirts that capture the electricity in sound waves,boots that convert walking into energy and solar panels that attach to everythingfrom pants to bikes.

A tech truism called Moore's Law holds that computing powerwill grow exponentially, as transistors get smaller. But it doesn't apply tobatteries. Apple Inc.'s latest iPhone 4S comes with eight hours of talkingtime—exactly as much as the original iPhone model that came out in 2007.

The battery deficit has created a market opportunity forcompanies like Goal Zero, of Salt Lake City. It first started makingpersonal-size solar panels in 2007 for cellphones in Africa, but found a needamong gadget addicts closer to home, says President Joe Atkin. Last year, hesold some 200,000 foldable 14-inch solar chargers. "It is aboutfreedom," says Mr. Atkin.

Marc D. Latrique, a media liaison at the United Nations inNew York, carries his personal solar panel with him every day "just incase, for any reason, I'm stuck in a situation where I won't have access to anoutlet," he says.

While solar panel technology has been around for a longtime, recent innovations have made the panels portable and efficient enough forfolks to use as everyday personal power generators.

To keep the juice flowing, Mr. Latrique, 38, seeks outwindows and sunny patches in the street. In pursuit of power, he has wrappedhis panel around his jeans and clipped it to his backpack. In an clumsierepisode, he accidentally set it afloat on a Hawaiian beach.

On a recent flight, he hooked his panel up to the planewindow to charge his daughter's iPod. "My daughter said, 'Oh, Daddy, youare saving the planet.'" His response: "No, I'm just beingconvenient."

There is much more potential to energize humans, sayinventors.

Last summer, for the Glastonbury music festival in Scotland,British phone carrier Orange produced T-shirts that used a so-calledpiezoelectric panel to convert sound pressure waves into electricity. The panelallowed those standing close enough to the speakers to charge a smartphone.

One finding: The "Sound Charge" shirts collectedmore energy with dance music than jazz or classical, says Mat Sears, aspokesman for Orange parent company Everything Everywhere. That is because bassnotes—more common in dance tunes—carry more energy. "But it didn't seem tocare who was singing," he says.

Zhong Lin Wang, a professor at the Georgia Institute ofTechnology, is tackling a new kind of power suit—made from fabric that usesnanotechnology to generate energy as the body moves around.

Any wrinkle in shirts, pants—even undergarments—made withthe fabric produces a charge, he says. The trick involves super-slim wires,measuring one-thousandth the width of a strand of hair, that are woven into thefabric. When the specially treated plastic and zinc material moves, it createsmechanical energy that can be harvested by a capacitor, so nobody gets shocked.

Mr. Wang's self-powering clothes are at least two yearsaway, he says.

Knees are another frontier. Max Donelan has been working forroughly a decade on a device that captures energy as people walk with a generatorattached to their legs.

Knee muscles naturally push and pull upon one another tospeed the body up and slow it down, he says. The device, which is being made bya company called Bionic Power Inc., captures energy by selectively turning on agenerator at certain parts of the stride.

"As long as you're walking, you have access toenergy," says Mr. Donelan, who is Bionic Power's chief science officer.The downside is comfort: His knee braces weigh roughly two pounds per leg,about the same as one worn by a professional basketball player.

The nPower PEG, used by Mr. Bartholomew, was one of thefirst commercial kinetic energy generators when it came out last year—and itsmaker, Tremont Electric Inc., is already sold out.

The idea came to inventor Aaron LeMieux, 37, when he wasbackpacking along the Appalachian Trail. "I was always stopping into townsto buy batteries to keep my electronics running," he says. "I waspaying $10 or $12 for a pack of batteries that are heavy, expensive and didn't supplyall the power I needed."

His solution is a metal rod that produces energy when amechanism inside moves up and down with the motion of the person wearing it.

But it is not for the sedentary geek. "It won't takeyour iPhone off the power grid unless you're a long-distance backpacker,"says Mr. LeMieux.

Victor Sherwood, 24, rarely goes out without the PEG sittingupright in his backpack to build up a charge, he says.

One time, though, the field IT engineer left his PEGunshaken in his car for several days exactly at a moment when he needed it: duringa late-night job at a warehouse when his phone ran out of juice.

So Mr. Sherwood turned himself into a human power station,running around and shaking his PEG up and down like a jackhammer, to createmore energy.

"I got enough of a charge that I could call the bossand tell him that my phone was dead," he says.

Sony CEO Warns of $2.9 Billion Loss

2012-02-06T09:29:00.002-05:00

First appeared in Reuters

Ailing Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp warned it washeading for a bigger-than-expected $2.9 billion annual loss, presenting adaunting task for incoming CEO Kazuo Hirai, who vowed to move quickly to turnthings around.

Overtaken by more innovative rivals such as Apple Inc andSamsung Electronics over the past decade, Sony posted a $2.1 billion net lossfor October-December, normally a strong quarter boosted by year-end holidaysales, as it battled a strong yen, flooding in Thailand that ruptured supplychains, and a weak economy.

It also took a one-off charge for exiting a flat panel jointventure with Samsung, and said sales dropped 17 percent to 1.82 trillion yen.

The forecast for a 220 billion yen ($2.9 billion) net lossfor the year to March, Sony's fourth straight year of red ink, was close todouble what the market had expected, and revealed the task ahead for Hirai, whoreplaces Howard Stringer as CEO in April.

Hirai, a 51-year old Sony veteran known for reviving thePlayStation gaming operations through aggressive cost-cutting, said he wouldnot hesitate to scale back or withdraw from businesses if they were notcompetitive.

"I have a very strong sense of crisis about theenvironment surrounding us," Hirai told a news conference. "We cannotbe afraid to make painful choices for the future of Sony. Our rivals and theoperating environment won't wait for us."

There is unlikely to be a honeymoon period for Hirai, who isunder immediate pressure to sort out the ailing TV business after it fellbehind South Korean rivals such as Samsung in a market where prices aretumbling.

Above all, Hirai will strive to recapture the innovativeflair that led Sony to come up with the Walkman personal music-player in the1980s and the PlayStation in the 1990s, and regain ground lost since then toApple and Samsung whose iPhones, iPads and Galaxy gadgets are snapped up byconsumers.

Some analysts believe Hirai -- 51, tall, urbane and a fluentEnglish speaker -- can rekindle the flame, saying he has a good grasp of theoverall business and is likely to know how to break down its silos andintegrate its divisions.

Others are less optimistic about his chances.

"It won't be easy for Sony to regain its lost groundunder new leadership, as its overall competitiveness has sharplyweakened," said Kim Young-Chan, analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp inSeoul.

"It's got structural problems that will take years tofix.

"It's not just Sony, but Japanese IT firms have similarproblems. They are failing to innovate and produce industry-leading products inalmost every major area - from TVs to displays, tablets and smartphones."

Hisashi Kuroda, general manager of equity investment atMeiji Yasuda Asset Management in Tokyo said Sony had to take tough decisions.

"Unless they do radical reforms, like the ones thatwould put everything completely upside down, Sony may not be able even to makeprofits."

PAINFUL DECISIONS

A chief concept in Hirai's strategy hinges on merging Sony'srobust roster of entertainment properties - including singers Kelly Clarksonand Michael Jackson, and the "Spider-Man" and "Men inBlack" film franchises - with its Vaio, Bravia and other electronics brands,in an effort to boost sales.

He said the TV business would be crucial to this"convergence" strategy, brushing aside suggestions it may need topull out of the market even with the business set to lose 220-230 billion yenthis financial year.

"There's still a chance in home electronics and I don'tthink Sony should quit TV's, but unfortunately I can imagine the day may comewhen they will pull the plug on the business," said a former engineer andexecutive at Sony.

"This is because when you keep making losses and youhave no fresh ideas, that becomes the easy choice."

Chief Financial Officer Masaru Kato said Sony aimed to halvelosses on flat TVs in the next financial year from April, when as a company ithopes to make an operating profit of about 200 billion yen.

Hirai singled out medical as a potential core business forthe future, but he declined to comment on any possible investment in troubledendoscope maker Olympus Corp.

TROUBLED LEGACY

Welsh-born Stringer, a former journalist who ran U.S.broadcaster CBS, was brought in as a rare foreign CEO in Japan to shake thingsup, but many analysts see his major achievement as cost-cutting.

Sony's shares have lost nearly two-thirds of their valuesince Stringer, who turns 70 this month, took the helm as CEO and chairman in2005.

Stringer sold off TV factories in Spain, Slovakia and Mexicoand outsourced more than half of its production to other companies, includingHon Hai Precision Industry, the contract electronics maker whose key customer isApple.

Recently, Sony exited an LCD panel venture with Samsung,enabling it to obtain screens for its TVs more cheaply. It also agreed to buyout Ericsson's half of their smartphone venture for $1.5 billion to shore upits position in a market where Apple and Samsung have become leaders.

Hirai was effectively anointed as Stringer's successor lastMarch when he was promoted to head Sony's consumer products and servicesbusinesses, which produce the bulk of Sony's $85 billion in annual sales.

"They've been grooming him for a while," said DanErnst, Hudson Square analyst. "I think he will carry on the plan for Sony- as difficult as it is."

The last year has been brutal for many Japanese companies,hit by a strong yen that hurt exports, and two natural disasters - the Marchearthquake in Japan and the Thai floods.

Stringer said those disasters and the Lehman shock of 2008had hit Sony hard and masked much of the progress made during his watch.

"If we hadn't reformed Sony as we did, can you imaginewhere we would be today," Stringer said. "I rest my case."

($1=76.13 yen)

Holiday Sales Didn't Help Microsoft

2012-01-25T23:19:00.000-05:00

First appeared in NY Times
Weak sales of personal computers made for a tough holiday selling season for Microsoft.

The results, released Thursday after the markets closed, are a sign of the challenges that Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., faces as it tries to adapt to deep changes in the technology industry. While Microsoft continues to reap profits from products like Windows and Office, growth is shifting away from the personal computer industry on which those two software franchises rest toward mobile devices like tablets and smartphones.

The company said net income in its second quarter, which ended Dec. 31, declined slightly to $6.62 billion, or 78 cents a share, from $6.63 billion in the year-earlier period. The company said revenue was up 5 percent at $20.89 billion.

The earnings exceeded the expectations of Wall Street analysts, who had predicted 76 cents a share, though Microsoft fell short of their revenue forecast of $20.93 billion, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.

The PC market is looking increasingly shaky. Microsoft said revenue from Windows, one of the pillars of its profits, fell 6 percent, to $4.74 billion, in the quarter.

Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, said that most analysts had braced for poor Windows sales but that the actual numbers were worse than most had expected.

“We were negative 4 percent, and they still missed,” he said.

In an interview, Microsoft’s chief financial officer, Peter S. Klein, said the decline in Windows sales was the result of problems in the consumer market, not purchases of PCs by businesses, which continued to grow during the quarter. He said the sales of the inexpensive laptops known as netbooks were especially bad, falling to 2 percent of worldwide consumer PC shipments in the quarter, from 8 percent a year earlier.

Worldwide shipments of PCs fell 0.2 percent during the fourth quarter from the year-earlier period, while PC shipments in the United States fell 5 percent for all of 2011, the worst showing since 2001, according to the International Data Corporation. IDC attributed the anemic results to weak economic conditions and shortages of hard disks caused by flooding in Thailand, a manufacturing center for those devices.

The weakness in Microsoft’s report also reflects competition from cellphones and tablets like Apple’s iPad.
After stumbling in mobile phones and tablets in recent years, Microsoft finally has software products for these devices that are winning positive early reviews. But Microsoft’s tablet and cellphone plans have not yet begun to produce big sales.

The company released its redesigned mobile operating system, Windows Phone, in fall 2010, but the first smartphones that used the software were lackluster and had tepid support from wireless carriers. Microsoft is betting that a partnership with Nokia, the Finnish cellphone maker, will help turn around its mobile business. The first devices from their collaboration went on sale only recently.

Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone and smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system are devouring most of the market. During the fourth quarter, Android phones accounted for 51.7 percent of the smartphones acquired by United States consumers within three months, while the iPhone accounted for 37 percent, according to estimates by Nielsen. Phones running Microsoft software, including an older operating system it is no longer developing, accounted for 3.8 percent, Nielsen said.

Microsoft is also developing a new version of its flagship operating system, Windows 8, to run tablet computers. Early test versions of the software have been praised by developers and technophiles. The software is not expected to go on sale until late this year, though.

Other parts of Microsoft’s business are performing well, especially its entertainment and devices division, dominated by sales of the Xbox video game system and related products. Revenue from that division grew 15 percent to $4.24 billion from the year-earlier period, reflecting strong sales of the Xbox 360 console, the Kinect game sensor and the Xbox Live online game service.

Another standout was Microsoft’s server and tools division, which sells databases and other software to businesses. That division’s sales rose 11 percent, to $4.77 billion.

Do Employees Own Their Ideas?

2012-01-25T23:12:00.001-05:00

First appeared in NY Times
This interview with Katherine Hays, chief executive of GenArts, a visual effects technology company.

Q. When was the first time you were somebody’s boss?

A. The first time I had a real leadership position was at Massive, a video-game advertising company that I co-founded. We started that from an idea, and built it into a company with international offices before selling it to Microsoft. You wear every hat at the beginning, and then you gradually hire a team and you begin handing off some of those specific hats. A Wash DC Intellectual Property Lawyer is curious about the progression.

Q. Was that a natural transition for you into a leadership position?

A. I would say some things were natural, and others were not. One of the core things that is important to leadership is passion for the vision. I’m not sure I could sell anything I didn’t believe in. And honesty and fairness are also key. Someone was doing a reference check on me at some point a few years back, and people said that I’m extremely honest and fair, and that was one of the greatest compliments somebody could give me, because those are really core to being a great leader.

Q. What else have you learned about leadership?

A. It’s important to keep things in context, whether it’s good news or bad news. Either can be very distracting to the team. I’m pretty good at keeping those in context and focusing on the task at hand. Some of the boards I’ve worked with are really good at that as well. They just don’t overreact, no matter what the news is. A Boston Intellectual Property Lawyer agrees.
Those things came naturally to me. That being said, I think being a great leader is like being a great athlete. You can start with some natural abilities, but what a shame if you’re not continuing to build on them very deliberately, and continuing to kind of push yourself out of your comfort zone, trying to understand what you’re missing, and what you can learn from other people.

Q. Any other lessons?

A. Being very good at hiring people is key. And I would say I made two mistakes in hiring. Both times they had all the right answers to the questions, amazing backgrounds, really strong résumés, but my gut just said, hmm, this doesn’t feel right. And I didn’t listen to myself, and I hired them, and it was a mistake. I couldn’t articulate what it was that didn’t feel right, which is why I think I convinced myself to hire them. But something felt less than genuine about them.
So the lesson there was, at the end of the day, even if everything seems to check out, you listen to your gut. And I’ve given that guidance to a lot of my team. If they come in and they say, “You know, something doesn’t feel right,” I say, “Don’t hire them.” Far better to pass on someone than to bring the wrong person into the team.

Q. What about lessons when you were younger?

A. I learned as an athlete — I rowed for four years in college — that you have to be present in the moment, and you can’t be distracted by something you just did that was really good, or by the fact that you’re a little bit behind in a race. You can’t focus on what’s just happened because you can’t change it. That’s not to say we shouldn’t pause and congratulate ourselves, but you have to balance that with maintaining focus on what the next steps are. You learn as an athlete to say: “Great, we won that race, but what are the things we could have done better? Because we have a race next week.” A Wash DC Intellectual Property Lawyer is ready to help.

Q. What about your parents? What kind of influence did they have?

A. Both my parents started their own businesses and built them from scratch. My father runs a pest control company, and my mom bought apartments, restored them and sold them. So a lot of our discussions around the dinner table were about solving business problems. It was just something that seemed very natural to me. It wasn’t just a job for them — they were building something that they were excited about.

Q. What are some specific business lessons you learned from your parents?

A. Probably the biggest thing I learned from my father was to focus on the customer. Talk to the customer, and if you ask them in the right way and you really listen, you will find out what you need to be successful in your business. They can give you a huge amount of guidance in pointing you to the right answer, and helping you realize something that you might have been missing. In his business, he realized that it wasn’t just about controlling the bugs. It was really about happy residents. You’re going into their apartment or home, and they wanted a technician who had a tucked-in monogrammed shirt, and a reminder the day before that they were going to be there. All of those elements were actually more important, or certainly as important, as the pest control itself. And that allowed him to build a business that has sent all of his kids to Ivy League colleges. A Frankfurt Intellectual Property Lawyer mentions similar things.

Q. Other mentors?

A. One of the next leadership lessons I learned was from the person I worked for at Goldman Sachs. I went there right out of undergrad to work in equity research, and he really taught me to think about the ultimate outcome you want. This is one of the interview questions that I ask people. Where do you ultimately want to be? Envision the ideal in five years or 10 years, and then work back to what that means in terms of what you’re doing right now. It gives me a good window into how they think.
This approach applies in a business context, as well. You’re negotiating a deal with a key partner. What would be ideal? And often people don’t think through negotiations that way. But when you do, then you can back into an agreement by simplifying what your priorities are as part of the negotiation.

Q. What are some leadership lessons you’ve learned more recently?

A. I’d say I’m learning more about being quiet, stepping back and having my team really direct more of it. And to help them think about things as owners. I joke with them that what I think doesn’t matter. But to some extent it doesn’t. If I like the logo, for example, but the logo’s not accomplishing the outcome we want, then it’s kind of irrelevant what I think. Because if it doesn’t work with customers, we’ve lost. If you’re an owner, you’re fine with being wrong if someone’s helping you get to a better answer. And you’re just focused on that outcome — what’s going to make us a better company?

Q. Talk more about the culture you’re trying to create.

A. I think it comes back to the ownership thing. If you’re really the owner of a piece of work, you’re actually excited about the feedback because it’s going to help you improve what you’re doing. I think you have to have a culture where being wrong is O.K. — at least during the process — so that people can say, O.K., I got this piece wrong, but now I’ve corrected it and we’re moving forward to a better answer.
And then I think it also goes back to hiring. You want to hire people who are really strong at what they do, and very confident — not overly confident, but I’ve found that the more talented people are, the more comfortable they are if they find out they are wrong. They have a lot more humility. So they’re much more receptive to correcting things when someone else points out a way to improve. Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Lawyer advocates agree.

Q. You’ve talked about wanting to hire people who think like owners. How do you get at that in an interview?

A. I might ask about experiences that you had where you really owned the outcome. And how did you think about what would happen if it failed, and how did you define success? How did you get buy-in from others for that? To me that would demonstrate that you had an idea, and you kind of went out on a limb and it was going to be yours if it was a home run, and it was going to be yours if it was a flop, and you were comfortable with that. That’s the kind of person you want — someone who really is ready to be an owner, even if it doesn’t always mean success. A Wash DC Intellectual Property Lawyer likes this idea.

Q. But they’re not actually owners of the company, so can you explain this distinction a bit more for me about the mind-set you’re looking for?

A. You want people who are more interested in the outcome, not the process. So you might have done all the right tasks, but if they didn’t get you to the right outcome, it’s kind of irrelevant. Usually people who’ve started something themselves or started a project within a bigger company themselves have to be really outcome-focused versus task-focused.

And they talk more about the outcome in an interview. They’ll say, “Here are the outcomes I was looking for, so I tried this and it didn’t work, so then I tried these other two things and those didn’t work, and finally I went down this path and that was the successful one.” There are usually a lot of roadblocks before you hit the right one. A Salt Lake City Intellectual Property Lawyer can answer similar questions.

People sometimes ask me for advice about being an entrepreneur. Typically, I say you need to feel really comfortable with your vision, because if you’re onto something and you’re onto something innovative, no one else is going to see it for a long time. So do your homework. Make sure it’s the right opportunity. But for a long time, people you try to raise money from, your first partners, your first customers, your first hires, they’re not necessarily going to see the vision, so you have to really believe in the vision.

And you have to get very comfortable about hearing the word “no.” You’ll hear “no” so often it starts to have the emotional impact of “hello.” But you have to not let that stop you. You have to ask people: “How can we make this work? What could help us get to a yes?”

"Lane-Keeping Technology"

2012-01-25T23:08:00.001-05:00

First appeared in NY Times
A DRIVERLESS car is not yet ready for the market. But in the meantime, automakers are continuing to market some components of one. The Ford Motor Company announced last month that it would offer “lane-keeping technology” as an option for its 2013 Ford Fusion and Ford Explorer. The price has not yet been set.

When lane-keeping technology works, it can save lives. But it is suited only for certain road conditions, and there are reasons to doubt that it will activate as consistently as it should.

Ford’s technology relies on a camera mounted to the rear-view mirror. When the system is switched on and the vehicle is traveling more than 40 miles per hour, it will use the road’s lane markings to sense veering near one edge of the lane or the other. If the turn signal is off, the system will assume that the drift is unintentional and will send a vibration to the steering wheel as a warning.

If the driver doesn’t correct the drift, the software is then supposed to engage the power steering and turn the car back toward the center of the lane.

When all goes well, this will be flat-out wonderful. But the camera may have difficulty detecting the lane markings — when the sun is at a low angle, for example, or during heavy rainfall or on curves. If it fails to see the markings, it simply remains dormant.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has declined to give lane-keeping technology its blessing. Ronald Medford, deputy administrator of the agency, says, “We believe additional evaluation and research about lane-keeping systems is needed before we can decide whether we should recommend it to the public.”

Earlier research by the highway agency found performance problems in other systems then available. When asked about that, Michael Kane, a development engineer at Ford, acknowledges that certain conditions, such as when driving into direct sunlight, confound the system. “It’s not perfect,” he says.

But, he continues, “we’ve worked to enable the system to detect lane markings on a much higher percentage of situations, such as tree-lined curves with lots of shadows.”

When Toyota introduced similar technology in its 2010 Prius, it chose to call it “Lane Keep Assist.” Lexus and Mercedes also use similar language for their systems. That “assist” keeps expectations from getting out of hand. Ford is going instead with “Lane Keeping System,” without any namby-pamby qualifier.

Advanced automotive safety technologies, like lane-keeping systems, are most prevalent in Europe, says Eddy Llaneras, a staff member of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

“In Europe, the driving population understands that ultimate responsibility remains with the driver,” he says. “Here in the U.S., we are inclined to believe the technology will do all the work for us. And if it doesn’t, we’ll sue.”

Mr. Llaneras expects that within five to 10 years we will see “lane centering,” in which the vehicle steers itself. “The technology exists today — it’s been tested on research vehicles,” he says. “But manufacturers hesitate to introduce it because the systems can never be 100 percent reliable and they introduce liability exposure.”

Mercedes makes its lane-keeping system active by default, but Ford, like Toyota and Lexus, insists that its system be turned on manually, every time; the driver doesn’t have the option to designate that it be activated by default, or when cruise control is used — a seemingly natural combination.

Ford’s new technology package also includes what it calls a “Driver Alert System,” which will provide warnings when the software detects a pattern of driving associated with drowsiness, such as weaving within the lane boundaries. For the first warning, Ford’s designers have chosen to sound a soft chime and to display this message on the dashboard: “Rest suggested.” If the problem persists, a louder chime and a new message — “Rest now” — follow.

Mr. Kane could not point to any test data, however, that suggests that a driver who is sleepy to the point of being dangerous is likely to find and heed display warnings. Notwithstanding the chimes, delivering the message with an insistent recorded voice would seem a better choice.

J. Christian Gerdes, director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford and an associate professor of mechanical engineering, has been testing driverless cars since the early 1990s. One such vehicle successfully climbed the twisty road to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado — and did so multiple times. Its technology, however, isn’t coming soon to an auto showroom near you: its navigation relies on a base station in the area to transmit a Differential Global Positioning System signal.

Even if camera-based lane-keeping systems were to work well, we might not end up safer. Mr. Gerdes calls attention to the “risk accommodation” problem. “As vehicles are made safer, drivers may compensate by engaging in riskier behavior,” he explains.

As humans, we have one thing that works in our favor while driving: we are more likely to handle unexpected events successfully than the software in an autonomous car.

“Humans understand context,” Mr. Gerdes says. “If I’m driving along a row of parked cars and a ball rolls out into the street, I know to look for a child.”

Then again, we humans aren’t always exemplary in paying attention to the road. Ford’s system may lack perfect vision, but it will never be distracted because it’s checking its e-mail.

Suicidal Xbox Makers

2012-01-12T12:51:00.000-05:00

First appeared in the Boston Globe

Dozens of workers assembling Xbox video game consoles climbed to a factory dormitory roof, and some threatened to jump to their deaths, in a dispute over job transfers that was defused but highlights growing labor unrest as China’s economy slows.

The dispute was set off after contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group announced it would close the assembly line for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 models at its plant in the central city of Wuhan and transfer the workers to other jobs, workers and Foxconn said Thursday.

Workers reached by telephone said Foxconn initially offered severance pay for those who wanted to leave rather than be transferred, but then reneged, angering the workers; Foxconn, in a statement, disputed that account, saying only transfers were offered, not severance.

The workers climbed to the top of the six-story dormitory on Jan. 3 and threatened to jump before Wuhan city officials persuaded them to desist and return to work, according to the workers and accounts online. The workers gave varying estimates of the numbers involved in the strike, from 80 to 200, and photos posted online showed dozens of people crowding the roof of the boxy concrete building.

“Actually none of them were going to jump. They were there for the compensation. But the government and the company officials were just as afraid, because if even one of them jumped, the consequences would be hard to imagine,’’ said Wang Jungang, an equipment engineer in the Xbox production line, who left the plant earlier this month.

The fracas is the latest labor trouble to hit Foxconn, a unit of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. that makes iPads and iPhones for Apple Inc. as well as Xboxes and other gadgets, helping consumer electronics brands hold down costs. Its massive China plants are run with military-like discipline, which labor rights activists say contributed to spate of suicides in 2010.

Foxconn said that all workers on the Xbox line were offered transfers at their current pay but that 150 demanded severance and not all of them participated in the rooftop protest. “It is our understanding that certain individuals threatened to jump from the building if their demands were not met,’’ the statement said.

Strikes and other job actions have risen in recent months across China as factories cope with rising costs, scarce credit and declining orders from Europe, the United States and domestic companies. Complicating matters is the approaching Lunar New Year, a time when many of the migrant workers who man factories quit jobs to return home temporarily before looking for better paying employment.

Foxconn’s Wuhan plant employs 32,000 people. The site previously had a couple of suicides or attempted ones a couple years back, prompting the government to take over the operations of the dormitories, said Wang, the equipment engineer.

After the rooftop protest, Microsoft said in a statement that it investigated, finding that the dispute centered on Foxconn’s staffing and transfer policies, not working conditions. “After the protest, the majority of workers chose to return to work. A smaller portion of those employees elected to resign, the statement said.

Ultimately, Foxconn said, 45 of the employees resigned from the company while the rest chose to stay. It did not say whether the resigning workers were given compensation. Wang, the engineer, said he received $4,700 (30,000 yuan) in compensation but that was because he planned his departure early, telling his supervisor six months ago he would leave.ionals, our award-winning solutions include custom displays, exhibit rentals, trade show graphics, shipping, installation and exhibit storage.

Microsoft Is Coming Back

2012-01-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

First appeared on CNN Money

Perhaps it's time for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to develop a new monkey boy dance?

Ballmer is set to take the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Monday night (for the last time) and he's likely to rave about Microsoft's Xbox and Kinect gaming devices and its upcoming Windows Phone with partner Nokia (NOK).

Cue the Gloria Estefan? (If you haven't seen Ballmer's famous 2001 pep rally speech to developers, please do yourself a favor and click here. It's an amusing 75 seconds.)

Ballmer may finally have plenty of reasons to repeatedly jump up and down again.

While Microsoft's stock has been stuck in the tech version of No Man's Land between value and growth for about a decade, investors have taken a liking to Mister Softee so far in 2012.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) shot up more than 8% last week. The stock is now less than 5% below its 52-week high of $29.46. If the momentum keeps building, it's possible that Microsoft can finally surpass the $30 level that it's flirted with for the past few years but can't seem to crack.

Microsoft still may appeal more to the value crowd than investors craving sexy growth. The stock trades for only about 10 times earnings estimates for this fiscal year -- which ends in July. And earnings per share are only expected to rise 2% this year and 11% in fiscal 2013.

Awesome, unreleased gadgets of CES

There's also that pretty big dividend. Microsoft yields 2.8%, nearly a percentage point higher than a 10-year Treasury if you're keeping score at home.

With $57 billion in cash, Microsoft could easily afford to keep boosting its payout for the foreseeable future.

"The stock is just too cheap and you have the dividend," said Gary Bradshaw, manager of the Hodges Equity Income (HDPEX) fund in Dallas. "It's been a dismal performer but Microsoft has grown earnings over the past few years and there's probably little downside.

The fact that Microsoft has been so unloved for so long could also mean that it may not take much for the stock to move significantly higher. Investors have grown accustomed to new product releases underwhelming the market. A big hit could go a long way.

"People say it's a PC stock and PCs are dead. You can't argue with that," Bradshaw said. "But there's still a lot of growth in emerging markets. And Windows Phone and Windows 8 are coming down the pike. It's got the potential to be a growth stock again."

There is, dare I say it, growing excitement about Windows 8, Microsoft's next operating system. That is currently scheduled to debut sometime later this year.

If early reviews of beta versions of Windows 8 for developers are to be believed, Microsoft may finally have some software that can help it in the rapidly growing tablet market. Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPad and the many devices running on Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android are early leaders in tablets.

The new four horsemen of tech

But hopes are high for Microsoft's tablet-ready Windows. That's because Microsoft has finally agreed to move beyond its heavy reliance on processor leader Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) and also embrace chips designed by ARM Holdings (ARMH), the U.K. company often referred to as the Intel of mobile semiconductors.

"Yes, it's an old stodgy technology company compared to others but you have plenty of exposure to growth areas like mobile, search cloud and gaming with Microsoft," said Ted Parrish, co-manager or the Henssler Equity Fund (HEQFX) in Kennesaw, Ga. "Rumors of Microsoft's demise are always greatly exaggerated."

Parrish owns the stock in his fund and said that he's hopeful Windows 8 will be as successful as Windows 95 was for Microsoft. That may be tough given the increased competition from Apple and others.

But Parrish owns Apple too. So he is hedging his bets in tech ... which is a pretty smart move for anyone looking to invest in a sector that can often be as unpredictable as Ballmer's dance moves.

Best of StockTwits: Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) kicks off the earnings parade Monday but there's little excitement. And Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY, Fortune 500) is buying hepatitis C drug developer Inhibitex (INHX) for a huge premium. That's got biotech investors thrilled.

bradloncar: I've never seen a company post decent earnings just a week after announcing a restructuring. Don't expect $AA to be the first today.

Agreed. In fact, I think earnings overall won't be as strong as many hope. For more about that, check out this column I did last week.

Cash_Cow: $BMY buyout of $INHX will get the funds buying up small cap pharmaceuticals trading at dead lows like $ANX $ARNA $HGSI $ABIO $SQNM $POZN

Investors need to be careful. There could be a feeding frenzy in biotech. (See next tweet) But many small cap drug companies are unprofitable and risky. Hence, they deserve to be trading at their lows.

EXPstocktrader: Roche is probably pissed that $BMY has stepped on a deal that they intended to Buy IMO and we may have a horse race here soon.

The BMY deal, combined with last year's purchase of Pharmasset (VRUS) by Gilead Sciences (GILD, Fortune 500), could mean that Big Pharma will try and buy up the other companies working on hep C treatments. Achillion (ACHN) and Idenix (IDIX) both surged Monday.

jfahmy: Movies, Drugs, and iPads are all up this morning...What else do you need really?

Coffee? Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) and Dunkin' Brands (DNKN) are both down though. Oh well.

PC Makes Waves with Ultrabooks

2012-01-06T11:16:00.000-05:00

Story first appeared on WIRED
At last year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, you couldn’t throw your schwag bag across the show floor without hitting a 3-D television or Android tablet. This year’s hottest gadget? It looks like it will be the ultrabook.

Super thin and remarkably light, ultrabooks are expected from all the major PC manufacturers. Tablets aren’t going away by any means, but you can expect CES 2012 to be dominated by this emerging notebook category that’s being heavily pushed by Intel.

Intel, in fact, coined and trademarked ultrabook as a marketing term, using it to differentiate high-performance, ultra-portable, Intel-based notebooks from more mainstream, bottom-feeding notebooks and tablets. Apple proved to the world that this product category has legs via the success of its MacBook Air, and now Intel (and its partners) want a piece of the action too.

Intel says that to qualify as an ultrabook, a notebook must meet stringent criteria: It must weigh no more than 3.1 lbs, be no more than 0.71 inches thick, and provide five-plus hours of battery life. Even more germane to the consumer experience, it must boast flash-based storage, and incorporate Intel’s Rapid Start Technology for speedy boot times.

At CES 2012, you can expect to see 30 to 50 ultrabook models from Dell, HP, Toshiba, Acer, Asus and Lenovo, a few of which already have ultrabooks in their arsenals of shipping products. Most of next year’s ultrabooks will be in the $1,000 to $1,200 price range, and that’s a problem, according to Display Search analyst Richard Shim, who says these devices need to be priced around $699 to appeal to mainstream consumers.

“The challenge is that you’re trying to make a premium product mainstream,” Shim says. “It’s sort of an oxymoron, because as soon as it’s mainstream, it’s not premium anymore.”

Forrester analyst David Johnson says, “Apple has proven that people will pay a premium for style, but only time will tell if that magic can be applied to ultrabooks intended for Windows.”

Although ultrabooks are a response to consumer demand for more tablet-like computing experiences, they won’t be displacing the tablet at CES 2012. “I think ultrabooks and tablets will share dual billing,” Shim says of this year’s CES. “They offer kind of the same experience, so ultrabooks might be the headliner, but tablets are the next act.”

Forrester analyst David Johnson adds, “While the ultrabooks are thin, light and offer instant-on convenience, the tablet will still have a place in the computer bag for reading, reviewing documents, and informal discussions or presentations.”

As far as specs and features announced at next week’s CES, don’t expect any huge changes from the ultrabooks we’ve already seen. Your average ultrabook will have a 14-inch screen, Intel Core i5 processor, and between 128GB and 256GB of SSD storage.

“At this stage, it’s still hardware design and price competition. Who can get thinner, lighter,” Shim says. So, while we probably won’t see any one-pound ultrabooks this year, there are other ways an ultrabook might distinguish itself from the competition.

Manufacturers could use more “exotic case materials and innovative designs,” Johnson says. Samsung’s Series 9, for example, is made of Duralumin alloy, a material that is also used in aircraft manufacture. Battery life, display quality and screen resolution are other areas that ultrabook makers can capitalize on.

Johnson hopes to see a few models built to AMD’s “Ultrathin” standards, potentially based on the company’s new Brazos platform and Radeon HD 7000 graphics. Though, of course, lacking Intel silicon, these models won’t really be dictionary-definition ultrabooks.

“Ultimately, the real value will be when you complement that with software, and Windows 8 will help with that,” Shim says.

Windows 8 won’t be shipping until mid-2012 at the earliest. This means ultrabooks won’t really begin to shine until later this year and early next year — we’re just in the “build-up phase” right now, Shim says.

Johnson says Intel’s 22nm Ivy Bridge processors will drive a new crop of Ultrabooks towards the middle of 2012. We could also see “retina”-quality displays up to 2880×1800 resolution arriving toward the end of the year. Other updates to expect: higher-capacity Lithium-Polymer batteries and ever larger SSD capacities becoming available as new models are released.

What about desktops and high-performance notebooks in 2012?

“There will always be a segment of the audience looking for higher performance systems,” Shim says. “Just like with cars, there’s guys looking for muscle machines and hot rods.”

LAWSUIT AGAINST MICROSOFT BRINGS GATES TO THE STAND

2011-11-30T16:36:00.000-05:00

Lawsuit against Microsoft brings gates to the stand

Story first appeared in the Associated Press.

Microsoft's Bill Gates returns to the witness stand Tuesday to defend his company against a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit that claims the software giant tricked a competitor into huge losses and soared onto the market with Windows 95. A Boston Intellectual Property Lawyer was keeping himself posted as the case continued.

Utah-based Novell Inc. sued Microsoft in 2004. The company says Gates duped them into thinking he would include its WordPerfect writing program in the new Windows system, then backed out because he feared it was too good. A Frankfurt Intellectual Property Lawyer watched the high profile case closely.

Novell said it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss.

Gates testified Monday that Microsoft was racing to put out Windows 95 when he dropped technical features that would no longer support the rival's word processor because engineers warned it would crash the system. A Leeds Intellectual Property Lawyer thought that this appeared to be a reasonable answer.

Windows 95 was a major innovation, and Gates said he had his mind on larger issues. A Nashville intellectual Property Lawyer said this is not uncommon.

Gates said Novell just couldn't deliver a Windows 95 compatible WordPerfect program in time for rollout, and its own Word program was actually better. He said that by 1994, Microsoft Word was rated No. 1 in the market above WordPerfect. A Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Lawyer said she liked Microsoft Word.

WordPerfect once had nearly 50 percent of the market for computer writing programs, but its share quickly plummeted to less than 10 percent as Microsoft's own office programs took hold.

Microsoft lawyers say Novell's loss of market share was its own doing because the company didn't develop a Windows compatible WordPerfect program until months after the operating system's rollout. A San Francisco intellectual Property Lawyer agreed this would be a tough argument.

Gates called it an "important win" in an email to executives.

Attorneys for Novell, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group as a result of a merger earlier this year, concede that Microsoft was under no legal obligation to provide advance access to Windows 95 so Novell could prepare a compatible version. The Redmond, Wash.-based company, however, enticed Novell to work on a version, only to withdraw support months before Windows 95 hit the market, Novell attorney Jeff Johnson said. A Zurich intellectual Property Lawyer listen closely.

Microsoft lawyer David Tulchin argued that Novell's missed opportunity was its own fault, and that Microsoft had no obligation to give a competitor a leg up.

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz late Monday denied Microsoft's request to dismiss the case. He said Novell's claims appeared thin but that he would let the case continue another month and allow a jury to decide. An Athens Intellectual Property Lawyer said a jury would have a tough choice to make.

Gates was the first witness to testify Monday in his company's defense after a month-long case by Novell. Cross-examination begins Tuesday.

Gates, a billionaire, began by testifying about Microsoft's history. He was just 19 when he helped found the company. Today, Microsoft is one of the world's largest software makers, with a market value of more than $210 billion. A Bucharest Intellectual Property Lawyer would like to have Gates as a client.

Problem with iPhone Battery

2011-11-29T16:36:00.000-05:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.

Apple concedes there's a problem with the new iPhone 4S battery life after all — a snag that apparently extends to other devices running the new iOS 5 mobile operating system software.

A small number of customers have reported lower-than-expected battery life on iOS 5 devices. Apple has found a few bugs that are affecting battery life, and they will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.

Apple didn't reveal the nature of the bugs or go into any other specifics.

Apple's statement follows a rash of complaints in various online Apple forums from customers upset about battery woes on the new iPhone 4S. As previously reported in USA TODAY, users said they've lost as much as 15% of the battery power per hour, even when the phone is not in active use. Last Friday, TheGuardian reported that Apple engineers contacted iPhone 4S owners seeking an answer to the battery issue.

Some speculation has centered around a location setting involving a "time zone" function that is useful for customers who travel a lot but that may potentially sap the battery. Also, iOS 5 brings a systemwide Notification Center that keeps users constantly informed of missed calls, messages, appointments, reminders and more.

Apple touted great battery life for the iPhone 4S — up to eight hours of 3G talk time — when it introduced the phone last month.

Creative Strategies President Tim Bajarin believes the fact that the issue can be resolved through a software fix makes a big difference and that sales won't be hurt. Apple tends to wait until they're certain of a problem and then works very fast to try and correct it.

The fact that Apple said the bugs lie within iOS 5 suggests other products may be affected, including the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone 4 and 3GS.

Lenovo Tablet Review

2011-11-23T16:36:00.002-05:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.

Persuading people to embrace a tablet that's not an Apple iPad compels rivals to come at buyers from a different angle. Lenovo's angle is to market a tablet at mobile professionals and students for office or classroom use. As the Chinese computer maker behind the ThinkPad-branded notebooks that are popular in business, Lenovo would appear to have the chops to pull it off.

The result is the ThinkPad Tablet that went on sale recently. I've appreciated many ThinkPad notebooks dating back to the IBM days — Lenovo snagged the ThinkPad franchise from IBM more than six years ago — so I was curious how Lenovo's tablet would measure up. Well, Lenovo has produced a solid machine — one that in the end I liked but didn't love.

Though the design and use of a tablet obviously differ from a laptop, you get the sense that the device was meant to evoke warm feelings from fans of ThinkPad notebooks. It costs $499 for a model with 16 gigabytes of storage, $569 for 32 GB and $669 for 64 GB. All are Wi-Fi-only; Lenovo hasn't announced specifics for versions with cellular connectivity, though a SIM slot is on board.

The tablet fuses business needs with entertainment and runs Android version 3.1 Honeycomb. It's about an inch taller than an iPad 2 and thicker. At 1.65 pounds, it's got some girth — providing space for a full-size USB 2.0 port that is concealed behind a sliding door. (Apple iPad has no USB.) There's also a microUSB port (you can use for charging) and a miniHDMI port for connecting to a high-definition television (at 1080p) and microSD card reader. There are front- and rear-facing cameras but no flash.

ThinkPad has a 10.1-inch multitouch display protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass. The screen didn't wow me. The home screens are a combination of icons, widgets, a carousel app wheel and a so-called Lenovo Launcher for quick access to frequently used apps, but I found the overall software interface to be cluttered and a little confusing. I rarely used the four physical buttons at the bottom of the screen (in portrait mode) for locking the screen, browsing, returning to a previous screen, and returning to the home screen.

As with the iPad, you can browse the Web (including Adobe Flash video, unlike iPad), fire slingshots on Angry Birds or watch a flick via Netflix. Those are among the preloaded apps, joining an app collection that includes Amazon's Kindle app, Amazon MP3, Slacker radio and the Zinio magazine reader. You can, of course, tap into the Android Market to fetch additional apps or browse through a modest selection in Lenovo's own App Shop, a nod to IT managers who might be concerned about viruses turning up on apps purchased elsewhere.

Still, you are drawn to this machine for its serious side. Along those lines, Lenovo supplies free Documents To Go software that lets you create and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files — an app that otherwise costs $14.99 in the Android market. The machine has security and remote access tools aimed at keeping the IT manager at your company happy. A USB file manager app lets you easily drag and organize files from a USB drive onto the tablet.

What stood out for me, though: a pair of optional accessories. For starters, ThinkPad is one of the few modern tablets to take advantage of a pressure-sensitive digitizer pen that you can use to draw, doodle or capture notes in a lecture hall or meeting room. The pen costs $30 at Lenovo.com. Too bad the company didn't include it gratis.

One place to use the pen is in MyScript's Notes Mobile app. You can leave notes in a notebook just as you wrote them or convert your scribbles into text, with more misses than hits in my test. You can also use the pen in Documents To Go.

The other accessory is a $100 keyboard folio that lets you prop up the tablet to use with a physical qwerty keyboard. When you're done, you leave the tablet inside and fold the whole thing up into a neat cover. It's a fine mobile keyboard, even if it doesn't measure up to the ones on ThinkPad notebooks. I was less pleased with the finicky optical Trackpoint that made me long for its eraser-head counterpart on Lenovo notebooks. Lenovo says the machine will last 8.7 hours off a single charge with Wi-Fi turned on. But I got only a little more than six hours in an informal battery test with brightness turned up to the max and a heavy dose of streaming video. The machine should do better under less-taxing conditions.

If you're looking for a tablet that mixes business and pleasure, ThinkPad fits the bill.

HP Board Discusses Ousting CEO

2011-10-04T12:19:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared on Reuters.

A change could be underway at the top at Hewlett-Packard. The company’s board convened on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of ousting CEO Leo Apotheker after less than a year on the job and may appoint former eBay chief Meg Whitman to fill in as interim CEO, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. HP’s board of directors has come under increasing pressure in recent months after a raft of controversial decisions has left investors uncertain of the company’s leadership.
Newly minted Apple CEO Tim Cook will try his hand as star presenter at an October 4 company event widely expected to include the launch of the latest version of the tech behemoth’s iPhone handset, according to a report on AllThingD. Sources told the website that the plan is to make the iPhone 5 available to consumers within weeks of the event. Apple has yet to officially announce or even acknowledge that the new device exists at all. For those tired of yet another story about a rumored release date, there was something akin to a confirmation on Wednesday from an unlikely source: former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Gore, an Apple board member, apparently told a tech conference that the next-generation phone will indeed be available next month. Oops?!
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt traveled to Washington on Wednesday to face critics who say his company has become a dominant and potentially anti-competitive force on the Internet. Schmidt told a Senate antitrust hearing that his company has not “cooked” its search results to favor its own products and listings, despite accusations to the contrary from senators and other Web companies. “Google is in a position to determine who will succeed and who will fail on the Internet,” said Republican Senator Mike Lee, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel. Google has been broadly accused of using its clout in the search market to stomp rivals as it moves into related businesses, like travel search.
Dust your library cards off, Kindle users. Amazon announced on Wednesday its Kindle ebooks will now be available for borrowing from more than 11,000 libraries across the U.S. Borrowing a book seems pretty simple: customers find the book they want on their local library’s website and choose the “Send to Kindle” option, which will then redirect them to Amazon.com where they must log in to complete the check out. Amazon then gives customers the option of delivering the book wirelessly to their device of choice – the books are compatible with all Kindle models and mobile apps – or transferring it manually using a USB drive.
Netflix and Discovery Communications reached an agreement to bring episodes of popular TV adventure shows including “Man vs. Wild” and “River Monsters” to the streaming service, the companies confirmed to Reuters correspondent Paul Thomasch on Wednesday. The two-year deal covers only material from prior seasons of the TV shows and is limited to Netflix subscribers in the United States. Discovery has an option for a third year.

New Memory Chip Line Hurts Competition

2011-10-04T12:16:00.003-04:00

Story first appeared on Reuters.

Samsung Electronics, the world's No.1 memory chip maker, said on Thursday it had started operations at a new memory chip line, a move that may further exacerbate semiconductor oversupply and hit smaller rivals.
The South Korean firm said the new line was the industry's largest and most advanced memory fabrication facility, producing chips with 20-nanometre class processing technology, which improves manufacturing costs by some 50 percent.
Lower line-widths processing technology allows more circuits on a chip, making them smaller, cheaper, more powerful and more energy efficient.
The new line comes as computer memory prices have fallen more than 30 percent over the past three months to below production costs due to faltering demand from computer makers.
Global shipments of computers are projected to grow only a low-to-mid single digit percent this year as consumers switch to more popular tablets and smartphones.
Samsung competes with local rival Hynix Semiconductor Inc, Japan's Elpida Memory Inc and Taiwan's Powerchip.
Smaller rivals are struggling with worsening profitability and bracing for a tough outlook as weak demand and falling prices force them to delay capital-intensive facility upgrades.
Elpida said last week it was considering shifting some production to Taiwan to cope with a currency near record highs and to survive in a dwindling market.
Samsung invested 12 trillion won ($10.4 billion) in construction of the new facility in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, since it started construction in May last year.
Samsung said it would also boost production of NAND-type flash memory chips to meet market demand. They currently do not sell Used NetVanta Routers.

Another New CEO This Year HP

2011-10-03T17:04:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
Hewlett-Packard on Thursday named Meg Whitman CEO, ending the disastrous 10-month run of Leo Apotheker.
Whitman, the former eBay CEO for a decade, immediately takes over a tech giant that has seemingly lost its way. HP (HPQ) said Ray Lane, a former Oracle executive, will become executive chairman of the company's board of directors after previously serving as non-executive chairman.
The ouster of Apotheker, who also lasted less than a year as CEO of SAP, didn't happen overnight. It was an incremental decision brought on by the board's mounting frustration with missed sales forecasts and the poor handling of HP's announcement last month to spin off or sell its multibillion-dollar PC division.
But investors are just as frustrated with HP's board, which has burned through two CEOs — Apotheker and Mark Hurd— in rapid succession.
The crisis is deep. At a time when consumers increasingly are snapping up smartphones and tablets in lieu of lower-cost PCs, HP decided to switch course. Apotheker wanted to transform HP into a provider of more profitable software and services for businesses, like IBM and others. HP still may follow that course as that is the right long-term strategy.
Rumblings of Apotheker's ouster gained steam this week, prompting HP's board to powwow Thursday to hash out issues. One topic was canning Apotheker, who slashed sales forecasts, reneged on promises to integrate mobile software into devices and faced a slumping stock price. HP shares fell 5%, to $22.80, Thursday before the Whitman appointment.
Apotheker will get a handsome severance package, including $7.2 million in pay and bonuses and stock worth about $3.5 million, based on Thursday's closing price. He also gets to keep the $8.6 million bonus and relocation assistance he received in the 2011 employment contract he signed last November, according to company filings. Hurd received severance valued at about $37 million when he was ousted in August 2010.

Purchases Using Tablets Has Surprising Results

2011-09-29T09:48:00.003-04:00

Story first appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

Retailers have found an interesting characteristic of consumers who browse their websites using tablets: They're much more likely to pull the trigger on purchases than other online shoppers.
That discovery is making retailers focus on tablets ahead of the all-important holiday season, as the tough economic backdrop puts a premium on what the industry calls "conversion"—making sure the shoppers who show up actually buy something.
Tablets still account for only a small percentage of overall e-commerce, but they are punching above their weight. While the conversion rate—orders divided by total visits—is 3% for shoppers using a traditional PC, it is 4% or 5% for shoppers using tablets, says Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research.
Many retailers also report that tablet users place bigger orders—in some cases adding 10% to 20% more to the tab—on average than shoppers using PCs or smartphones. Retailers are trying to take advantage of that trend by tweaking their websites to better accommodate tablets and rolling out catalogs that have been developed for the device.
Journal Community
The tablet market is still dominated by Apple Inc.'s iPad. Offerings from new entrants including Amazon.com Inc., which is expected to unveil a tablet Wednesday, could further broaden the market. Forrester Research thinks one-third of U.S. adults could own tablets by 2015.
For most retailers, e-commerce is the fastest growing part of their businesses, posting double-digit revenue gains each year even as in-store growth remains muted. Around 3% of the nearly $150 billion U.S. consumers spent online last year came via mobile devices, of which tablets are a rapidly growing component.

Members of the media examined Sony's new Android-based tablet computers. Tablets account for a small percentage of overall e-commerce, but they are punching above their weight.
While only 9% of online shoppers own tablets, their behavior is encouraging for retailers. Consumers tend to spend more time on the Web after buying a tablet, and nearly half shop from the device, according to a survey of more than 2,300 consumers by Forrester. Tablet owners tend to be wealthier, which gives retailers a self-selected audience of their best customers. They may also be encouraged to spend by less tangible attributes: large touchscreens that draw users into the content, and a portability that helps users get more comfortable than when surfing on PCs.
Macy's, teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Gap Inc. all say they are seeing the highest percentage of conversions from shoppers using tablets. The companies wouldn't disclose figures.
Blake McCrossin, a public-relations associate in New York, says he thought shopping would be the last thing he would do on his iPad. The 30-year-old has since used the Apple device to order everything from clothes to a flat-screen television and has already finished most of his Christmas shopping using it. "The visuals and graphics are amazing, and I get caught up in impulse buying.
Shopping network QVC promotes tablet use on-air and through its social media channels. It is also using alternative technologies to Flash on its website to accommodate the iPad, which doesn't support that software.
Mobile commerce accounts for about 3% of QVC's revenue, which last year came to $7.8 billion. Tablets are the fastest growing part of mobile and deliver a higher conversion rate than mobile or PC users.
Macy's, which owns its namesake department store as well as Bloomingdale's, began making its sites compatible with devices that don't support Flash this year. The department store owner is rethinking the "point and click" experience of its website, which like most others was designed on the premise that links would be clicked with an arrow controlled by a mouse rather than by a user's finger, which is more blunt.
Many retailers are finding tablet users prefer to visit their main websites directly through a browser, just as they would from a PC, even though some companies have pumped lots of money into creating specialized sites that would work better with mobile phones' small screens and long load times.
Cosmetics chain Sephora uses the same website for tablets as it does for PCs, says Bridget Dolan, Sephora's vice president of interactive media. Sephora also has a free tablet app. QVC also says more tablet users visit directly through its website than via its apps.
Some retailers are revamping their catalogs in light of tablets, which allow them to add videos, slideshows, how-to demonstrations and 'order' buttons. Sephora dropped its summer catalog for the first time this year and shifted entirely over to tablets in an experiment to see what effect it would have on sales. The company will continue to produce print versions of its other seasonal catalogs.
Sephora has partnered with Google Inc. and online shopping site TheFind, both of which have tablet apps that aggregate catalogs from brands such as Nordstrom Inc., Crate & Barrel, Neiman Marcus and Urban Outfitters Inc. Users can swipe through their favorite catalogs and place orders through the free apps.
Siva Kumar, CEO of TheFind, says the conversion rate on its Catalogue app is about 10% higher than on its website, and average order size is between 10% and 20% higher.
Tablet users on average are spending three times as much time on the catalog app than on the website, he says.Sephora receives as much revenue from tablets as it does through mobile, even though people visit Sephora by smartphone much more often. Sephora's tablet conversion rate and average order size is also higher than PC and mobile.

Can Best Buy Compete With The Internet?

2011-09-15T17:09:00.003-04:00

Story first appeared in the Wall Street Journal.
Investors abandoned Best Buy Co. Tuesday amid new signs its big-box strategy is being undermined by cost-conscious shoppers shifting more of their spending to online rivals.
The world's largest electronics chain reported a 30% drop in quarterly profit and saw its stock decline after saying sales at its U.S. stores open at least 14 months dropped for the fifth-consecutive quarter. However, Used HP Procurve Routers say a slight increase in sales.
Its shares, which reached their lowest level since December 2008 in Tuesday trading, fell 6.5% to $23.35 in 4 p.m. composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
While the retailer said it gained market share in smartphones and tablets—the hot growth categories in electronics retailing—those gains fell short of offsetting declines in its old cash cows, sales of televisions and computers.
Best Buy also cut its full-year earnings forecast, saying it expected tough consumer spending trends to continue through the holidays.
Some analysts said investors appear to be losing confidence with what they see as a slow response by management to a growing crisis.
Executives earlier this year set plans to cut the company's big-box square footage by 10% over the next five years as leases expire, but company critics want the retailer to close underperforming stores faster.
Best Buy Chief Executive Brian Dunn said in an interview the company's 1,100 U.S. namesake stores are still an advantage over online-only rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. Roughly 40% of online purchases from Best Buy are picked up by customers in stores, it said during a conference call with analysts.
Mr. Dunn said he understands there is sentiment in the market that they'd like to see him close more stores, but the company's mixture of online and store retailing is the winning scenario for the long haul. He added that there are still things in the physical world that are going to be important: expert advice and the ability to see and touch the latest tablets.
Best Buy became the dominant electronics retailer in America through oversized stores that carried a broad assortment of music and movie discs, televisions and computers, all under one roof. But online competitors now offer vastly greater assortments—without collecting sales taxes in most U.S. states—and movie and music sales have dwindled due to the rise of digital downloads, turning what was once an advantage into a potential liability.
Best Buy has responded by beefing up its online assortment by more than 20,000 extra items this year, and expanding a smaller new store format called Best Buy Mobile that is focused on selling smartphones inside malls, but not Used Adtran Switches. But its signature stores are still struggling to adapt to the changes in the electronics market, and analysts worry many of them have become showroom" for merchandise that consumers wind up purchasing online from competitors such as Amazon.
In addition to concerns its big-box stores may be too large for modern electronics retailing, Best Buy faces questions about its struggling venture into U.K. retailing. Best Buy said Tuesday it remains committed to opening namesake stores in the U.K. despite disappointing early results from a partnership with Carphone Warehouse Group PLC.
Best Buy established its electronics dominance largely by grabbing an outsized market share in lucrative categories such as high-definition televisions and laptop computers. But sales of those products are stagnating, as many consumers are being cautious with new purchases and delaying replacing older models.
Profit for its fiscal second quarter, ended Aug. 27, fell to $177 million, or 47 cents a share, from $254 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue was up a hair at $11.35 billion.
Meanwhile, Best Buy is facing tough competition for such items as tablets and smartphones, for which the market is significantly more fragmented due to rival stores run by mobile-phone carriers, as well as the retail outlets of Apple Inc.
For example, mobile phones now make up 15% of all electronic sales but are only 5% of Best Buy's sales. However, they have considered increasing sales by selling Used Cisco Catalyst Switches.
Best Buy said it now expects a lower profit this year than it had previously projected. Though the company actually raised its per-share earnings outlook to a range of $3.35 to $3.65, up from $3.30 to $3.55, it was now factoring in the expected benefits of buying back $1.5 billion in stock to reduce shares outstanding.

Technology: IPad Outsells 19-1

2011-09-15T16:46:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared in Bloomberg News.

Research In Motion Ltd., depending on its new PlayBook to bolster sales as demand for its BlackBerry phones withers, may have shipped just one of the tablet computers last quarter for every 19 iPads from Apple Inc.

The company, which reports earnings tomorrow, probably sold about 490,000 PlayBooks during the first full quarter of sales, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts, compared with the 9.25 million iPads shipped last quarter. Analysts cut estimates for full-year PlayBook shipments, to an average of 2.2 million, according to the survey.

RIM overplayed the PlayBook in terms of its sales and prospects,
said Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co. in New York. What this really shows is that the company’s prospects will depend on the next generation of BlackBerrys.

When RIM first disclosed plans for a tablet last year, analysts including Tero Kuittinen, then at MKM Partners LLC, said the device had the potential to evolve into a significant new product category.
Yet RIM didn’t get the 7-inch tablet to market until April, a year after the first iPad and behind rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co.
Even then, RIM drew criticism for introducing the PlayBook without dedicated e-mail or instant messaging and a shortage of consumer applications like Netflix Inc. movies.

The company will ship about 1.5 million tablets this year, compared with 39.2 million for Apple and 7 million for Samsung, said Michael Walkley, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity Ltd.

Minneapolis-based Walkley, who has a hold rating on the company said RIM hasn’t given up on the PlayBook, but it’s clearly off to a poor start. That creates huge pressure on the new BlackBerry phones, he said.

Revenue Decline

Last week, Walkley lowered his PlayBook forecast for fiscal 2012 to
1.5 million from 2.2 million, and William Power, an analyst at Robert W Baird & Co., cut his 2012 estimate to 2 million units from 2.45 million. This week, Steven Li, an analyst at Raymond James Ltd., reduced his PlayBook forecast to 2.4 million units from 4 million.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company will likely report its first revenue decline in nine years when it releases results tomorrow. Sales for the fiscal second quarter will probably decline to $4.53 billion from $4.62 billion, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts.
Profit may drop to 91 cents a share from $1.46, according to analysts.

New Smartphones

RIM is struggling to compete in the smartphone market against Apple and companies such as Samsung and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. that use Google Inc.’s Android operating system. RIM’s share of the global smartphone-software market dropped to 12 percent in the second quarter from 19 percent a year earlier, according to Gartner Inc. In the same period, Apple climbed to 18 percent from 14 percent, and Android rose to 43 percent of the market.

After its last earnings report in June, RIM tumbled 21 percent as the company cut its profit forecast for the year. RIM also unveiled plans to eliminate about 2,000 jobs, or a 10th of its workforce.

RIM slipped 4 cents to $30.13 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading and has dropped 48 percent this year.

The company is introducing new smartphones to gain back ground against rivals. RIM started selling phones that run on the BlackBerry 7 operating system in the U.S. this month and in Europe last month. The company plans to shift to a new operating system, QNX, with a lineup of phones that co-Chief Executive Officer Mike Lazaridis said will come out in early 2012.

Analysts have mixed impressions of the latest phones. Power, of Robert W Baird, said early sales of the BlackBerry 7 phones are sluggish.
Ehud Gelblum, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said positive initial reviews may bolster sales.

QNX Prospects

Models like the new touchscreen Bold 9900 are proving popular with corporate users and existing BlackBerry fans, while phones without keyboards like the Torch 9810, aimed at ordinary customers, are selling less well, said Canaccord’s Walkley.

He said consumer-centric retail store checks indicated smartphone customers continue to overwhelmingly choose the iPhone 4 or new Android smartphones.

The real test of RIM’s ability to compete with Apple and Google will come when it introduces the first QNX phones, said Gelblum. Because of how long it took RIM to get the PlayBook on the market, he’s concerned they may be delayed.

Gelblum, who is based in New York and rates RIM equal weight and said BB7 is just a stepping stone to QNX devices, but given RIM’s recent track record, it is difficult to know for certain if these devices ship on time.

Slow sales of RIM’s PlayBook raise the stakes for the next generation of smartphones. Now more than ever, RIM needs a hit to rebound the company's fortunes.

Apple Winning Sales Race

2011-09-15T15:51:00.001-04:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
The breathless anticipation swirling around the upcoming iPhone 5 release, and the runaway success of the iPad 2, may make it seem like Apple is entirely focused on its iOS devices these days.
But the company's Mac division is no slouch, either.
According to the latest figures from research firm NPD, MacBooks, Mac Minis and iMacs had a really strong summer, with sales rising 22% in July and August. Based on those figures, Gene Munster — a veteran Apple analyst at Piper Jaffray — released a short note predicting Apple will sell a total of 4.5 million Macs this quarter. (And that's a conservative estimate, based on the notion sales will slow to 16% growth for the quarter overall.)
To put that in perspective, Apple sold 4.1 million Macs during the 2010 holiday quarter — traditionally the strongest time of year. That marks the company's previous one-quarter record.
What's driving all the sales? In part, they represent a roaring start for Lion, the latest version of OS X, which came out in July and is packed with more cool, new features than the average OS X upgrade. On its first day of release, Lion — which is only available online or pre-installed in new Macs — saw an incredible 1 million downloads. That made it more popular than any previous Apple desktop operating system.
Timed to the Lion release, Apple also launched updated versions of the MacBook Air, Mac Mini and Apple Cinema Display. After this the sales of IBM pSeries Servers leveled off.
Things should naturally quiet down a bit in the Mac section of Apple Stores as Lion gets a little longer in the tooth. On the other hand, nobody knows how much foot traffic the iPhone 5 launch will bring into stores next month — or how many customers might pick up a laptop or a Mini while they're there.
But it seems a fair bet that the passing of the baton from Steve Jobs to Tim Cook has not slowed the juggernaut that is Apple — just as we predicted.

Free TV and Movies

2011-09-12T10:34:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared on Kiplinger.com.
Not long ago, TV reception depended on how well your rooftop antenna picked up the signal. But now cables and satellites have commandeered our screens. Today, about 87% of U.S. households subscribe to a multi-channel video service, mainly cable or satellite TV.
Thanks to new offerings via the Internet, viewers are increasingly catching their favorite shows free or for a fraction of what their cable company charges. And going online to view TV shows or movies doesn't mean you're stuck watching programs on your computer or tablet screen.
The Apple TV box ($99), for example, streams iTunes, Netflix, YouTube and some sports programming to your TV. Or you may be able to use a video-game console -- such as a Sony Playstation 3, Wii or Xbox 360 -- or a device designed to stream TV shows and movies from the Web to television, such as a Roku box ($60 to $100) or Boxee ($200). Plus, some Blu-ray players and HDTVs have built-in connections for receiving shows online. Using either a cable or a wireless device, you can connect your PC to your TV and view anything that's streaming to your laptop on your big screen. An HDMI cable, for HDTVs, offers the best-quality picture, and you can find a cable for $15 or less. For about $100 to $200, you can buy a wireless device, such as the Warpia StreamHD, to do the same job.
You may already be paying for Netflix or other services that can substitute for cable, and some replacement programming is free. Here's an incentive: Letting go of cable or satellite TV would save the average household about $840 a year.
Television
A new antenna or shows ordered a la carte from the Web may be all you need.
First, find out what you can watch free on local broadcast TV. At www.antennaweb.org, enter your address and other information about your home to see the stations you can likely receive and the kind of antenna you need to access them. You may be able to find an outdoor antenna for $30 to $150, depending on the type; indoor antennas cost $40 or less, but reception may not be as good.
Then check Hulu.com to see whether you can watch your favorite shows free. Hulu has partnerships with many network and cable channels. A lot of prime-time shows appear on Hulu the morning after they air, although you won't find popular shows from premium cable channels. With Hulu's free service, you can typically watch only the five most recent episodes in the current season; the subscription service, Hulu Plus ($7.99 per month), provides access to full seasons and the ability to stream programs to your TV via gaming consoles and other devices. Also explore the Web sites of networks and cable channels to see what's available. Many have partnerships with Hulu to aggregate content.
Fans of Fox TV shows, take note: If you don't pay for participating cable or satellite services, you now must wait eight days after episodes air before you can watch them free with Hulu's regular service or at Fox.com; Hulu Plus subscribers can watch them the next day. More networks may follow Fox's lead as they try to boost revenue and ratings.
Some services offer TV shows to rent or buy. With iTunes, you can rent single episodes for 99 cents, and Amazon Instant Video sells discounted episodes if you sign up for a TV pass. Full seasons of shows are also available for purchase. These services may be most useful if you've missed most of a current season and want to catch up, if you'd like to buy previous seasons of shows, or if you prefer to own episodes so that you can watch them repeatedly. Otherwise, find out whether you can view new episodes free on Hulu or on the network's Web site.
Movies
Ditch the premium channels and stream or download the latest blockbusters.
Some services allow you to stream the newest movies. Vudu, for example, has a wide selection of high-definition movies available to stream the day they are released on Blu-ray. (You can also watch Vudu movies at Walmart.com.) Amazon Instant Video, CinemaNow, iTunes and Zune also stream new movies that you can watch on your computer or TV. Most of the services also offer a selection of movies (and TV shows) in HD, usually for an additional price. You may not be able to watch HD programming in all formats. Amazon Instant Video, for example, currently streams HD movies to your TV through compatible devices, but not to your computer.
Many online services limit the amount of time you have to watch a rental to one to two days after you begin to play it. Netflix, however, lets you keep discs as long as you wish, and its streaming content is available to view anytime. Netflix is getting heat from customers for changing its pricing model, charging separately for disc-rental and streaming subscriptions. But if you watch several movies in a month, a subscription service could still save you money. If you're primarily interested in newer, popular movies, stick with disc rental. If you'd rather browse for less-current movies, documentaries and TV shows, Netflix's streaming service has a broad selection.
You can search elsewhere for lesser-known or older movies at a discount. Look for 99-cent movie specials from CinemaNow and iTunes. Vudu offers a different 99-cent special every day, and you can choose from thousands of movies to rent for $2 for two nights. Amazon Instant Video has special deals on movies and TV shows, and it compiles movies into price categories. Recently, for example, the first six movies in the Harry Potter series were available to rent for $2.99 each. Hulu has a collection of free movies and documentaries but no new releases.
Willing to get up from the couch? Aside from visiting a standard movie-rental store, you can go to Redbox or Blockbuster Express kiosks to rent new movies on DVD or Blu-ray for $3 or less per night. And renting films from the local library is free.
Sports
It's not as easy for rabid fans to watch their favorite teams without cable.
Depending on which sports and teams interest you, you may be able to catch games you want to see free. Fan of the home team? Local broadcast TV may carry most of the games, depending on whether blackout policies prohibit coverage in local markets. (The National Football League, for example, doesn't allow games to be broadcast locally unless they sell out.)
ESPN3.com streams live broadcasts of professional baseball, basketball, soccer, golf and tennis, as well as college football and basketball. You can stream ESPN3.com content to an Xbox 360 gaming console and watch it on your TV, but you must have an Xbox Live Gold membership, which is $9.99 per month or $59.99 per year. (Ditto for streaming Netflix content to your TV with the Xbox 360.)
Some sports leagues, including Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League, offer packages that stream out-of-market games. So if you're a Los Angeles Dodgers fan living in New York City, you can catch your team's games with MLB.tv (depending on blackout rules). NHL GameCenter Live and NBA League Pass Broadband allow subscribers to watch up to 40 out-of-market games per week.
If you want to watch all the NFL games, you have to buy DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package ($335) -- available only if you're a DirecTV customer. (One exception: If you can't get DirecTV -- say, because your condo prevents you from using a satellite dish -- DirecTV allows you to buy Sunday Ticket and stream to your computer without subscribing to a TV package.)
Broadband
You'll need a fast connection.
Enter your address at Broadbandexpert.com to compare prices and data speeds for broadband Internet services available in your area. A tool on the site tests the speed of your current Internet connection. The average bill for Internet service from cable and satellite companies is about $47 a month, but you may find that your current service is still the best deal.
Streaming quality increases with the amount of bandwidth you have. Some services list minimum requirements to stream video. Vudu, for example, suggests a connection speed of at least 1 megabit per second for standard-definition movies (480p), 2.25 Mbps for HD (720p) and 4.5 Mbps for HDX movies (1080p). Netflix automatically chooses the level of video quality you'll stream based on your connection speed.

TOUCHPAD IS DISCONTINUED

2011-09-12T10:26:00.002-04:00

Story first appeared on ABC News.
When HP announced its most recent quarterly financial results, the company had some shocking news: it would no longer offer its recently released tablet, the Touchpad. HP followed up this unexpected announcement with a closeout sale, with prices at many retailers initially slashed to a mere $99 -- one fifth of the price of the popular iPad 2 or Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Those promotions spurred such demand for the device that it can now be very hard to find.
Of course, many buyers were no doubt opportunists looking to resell at a higher price. If you happen to come across one, though, it may be worth buying and keeping.
The Touchpad's dimensions are very close to those of the original iPad. Unlike the wide screens on many Android tablets, the dimensions of Touchpad's 9.7-inch screen are more like those of a photo. In fact, the Touchpad's controls and jacks -- including volume, power, and the microUSB charging and transfer port -- are arranged so similarly to those of the iPad that some cases designed for the original iPad may fit the HP device very well.
(The Touchpad is significantly thicker than the iPad 2 and lacks the iPad 2's rear-facing camera. That said, it does have a front-facing camera for video chat, as well as tightly integrated support for the popular Skype service.)
But a big part of the story is webOS, the Touchpad's operating system, which made its debut with the Palm Pre and became part of HP when the company purchased Palm about a year ago. The larger screen really allows webOS to perform well -- particularly its innovative system of managing different on-screen cards that can be grouped to keep parts of related tasks together. For example, if you're a singer using a Touchpad rehearse music, you can have several sheets open at once, alongside a media player screen the plays music tracks, so you can hear how a song should sound as you read the music.
Another Touchpad benefit is Just Type, which lets you search a wide range of Web sites and information on the tablet just by tapping an area of the screen and starting to type. The Touchpad also boasts great sound, courtesy of its stereo speakers and Beats Audio interface for headphones. That should come in handy when watching TV shows and movies, a key way consumers use tablets according to the Broadband Video survey by NPD Connected Intelligence.
Unfortunately, while the Touchpad has solid Web and email apps, only a few hundred third-party applications take advantage of the product today, and the system can get bogged down and present messages about having too many cards open. Like Palm before it, HP has had limited success in wooing developers attracted to the high volumes of the iPad and the promise of sleek Android-based competitors.
Making matters worse, HP compounded its problems before the Touchpad's release by changing a key method for developing webOS applications. Now many apps created for older devices simply won't run on the Touchpad, and it may take some time for even wiling developers to come up to speed with the new system. HP says it will continue to encourage developers to create webOS programs, but it will be an even steeper uphill climb than it has in the past, since there is now so much doubt hanging over the webOS operating system.
Even so, HP did offer a number of nifty accessories in its Touchpad lineup, including a custom Bluetooth keyboard and a Touchstone wireless charging dock. The dock allows you to charge the tablet's battery just by placing it against a flat stand, and the tablet can display a clock or photos as its battery refills. If you can make do with the basics of tablet apps while hoping that HP will be able to finally fill out the Touchpad's app gap, you'll enjoy an elegant if occasionally balky tablet experience.

Farmers’ Almanac Still Used

2011-09-07T12:00:00.002-04:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
The Farmers' Almanac has a hole punched in the corner, made for hanging it on a hook in the outhouse "library" in the olden days. These days, though, there are some higher-tech options, including social networks, cellphones and e-readers used for predicting when you should do fall lawn care.
Known for forecasts that use an old-fashioned formula, the almanac now has a mobile website for smartphones and nearly 6,000 followers on Twitter. More than 30,000 people "like" the publication's Facebook page. By year's end there'll be software applications for Kindle, Nook and iPad.
Karen Shackles, of Dillon, Colo., follows the almanac on Twitter and Facebook, checks its website and receives its email newsletter. She likes the folksy style of the almanac and appreciates its embrace of technology. She and her husband use the information for their snow-plowing business.
She said they try to reach out to see who is giving some long-range forecasts and then they go through them all and put them together and come up with what we might expect for the winter, and the Farmers' Almanac is one of the best sources for long-range forecasts, which is used by those doing fall lawn maintenance.
The latest version of the annually updated almanac, released this week, is predicting stormier-than-usual weather this winter from the Middle Atlantic to New England. Its reclusive weather prognosticator, who works under the pseudonym Caleb Weatherbee, sums it up as a winter of "Clime and Punishment."
Editor Peter Geiger said this one is definitely wet, and definitely stormy, and depending upon where you are, it's going to be either snow or rain, leading farmers to purchase new ag tires.
Elsewhere, the weather formula dating to the 1800s suggests it'll be colder than usual in the Upper Midwest and wetter than usual in the Pacific Northwest.

Are PCs Dead?

2011-09-06T15:41:00.006-04:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
Steve Jobs' bombshell resignation as CEO. Hewlett-Packard's abdication of its multibillion-dollar PC group. Google's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility. Dell's wobbly sales forecast.
The whipsaw sequence of recent events in the technology industry highlighted what many are calling the rise of mobility and the marginalization of the PC. Meteoric spikes in the sale of smartphones and tablets are merely hastening the diminished status of the traditional desktop PC, whose sales have flattened the past few years with little relief in sight. This has great benefits for Used HP Blade Servers.
The shift from PCs to mobile devices and so-called cloud-based computing has sent ripples throughout the high-tech industry, uprooting HP's business strategy and propelling a Google wireless partnership that seemed unthinkable weeks ago.
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt put it bluntly last week at a cloud conference here: He said tech had exhausted the limits of the PC as a platform, and the future would center on mobile devices.
Absent Jobs' daily wizardry and exacting standards, many now openly question whether even Apple can maintain its innovative ways and marketing guile several years from now, further jeopardizing its own PC sales and inflicting more damage on an-already reeling PC industry.
PC's waning dominance
Certainly the PC isn't necessarily going the way of the dinosaur, pay phones and space shuttle missions. But "personal computer" isn't necessarily the first thing most people think of when they talk computers. For many, it's iPhone, Android phone, iPad, Kindle — even BlackBerry.
Mark Dean, an IBM veteran who helped build the first PC 30 years ago, recently wrote that when he helped design the PC, he didn't think he would live long enough to witness its decline on his blog. But, while PCs will continue to be much-used devices, they're no longer at the leading edge of computing.
The social revolution is driving a paradigm shift in hardware and software, says Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff, who has predicted the end of the PC for years. HP was the first to go, and others will if they don't keep up with changes, he added.
The rise of software and cloud computing have paralleled the waning dominance of the PC and contributed mightily to its current state, say venture capitalists and tech executives. Kids, in particular, are eschewing desktop PCs and laptops for smartphones and iPads to play games, use e-mail and perform other tasks that do not require large screens.
Pat Richards, a former IBM executive that worked with IBM Memory, is now chief technology officer of SCIenergy, an energy-management software company, says the PC device has evolved in terms of size, shape, use and ubiquity, and there is no doubt software and apps are a huge part of that by letting consumers perform computing tasks everywhere at any time.
He says we are moving from the general-purpose PC to task-specific devices. He adds that the iPad can do a lot of what a PC does, and, increasingly, TV screens are replacing computer screens.
Kevin Spain, general partner at Emergence Capital Partners, which has invested in Salesforce.com and Yammer, a social-networking service for companies says Cloud-based services eliminate the need for heavy local software.
And, despite its formidable stronghold at businesses, there are signs that the Microsoft Windows monopoly is "cracking," says Ben Horowitz, co-founder and general partner at venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
The massive move to mobile devices and tablets is reflected in worldwide sales. Market researcher Gartner says sales of smartphones will soar 56%, to 467.6 million, this year. Tablet sales will grow nearly four times, to 69.8 million this year, Gartner says.
Worldwide PC shipments, meanwhile, are expected to edge up 9%, to 383.6 million this year, Gartner says.
As PC shipments slacken, so have sales of the peripherals that work with them. U.S. consumer sales of printers and keyboards/mice are flat to slightly up, while those for monitors are flat or slightly declining, says researcher The NPD Group. Intel, meanwhile, increasingly is going mobile. Though it builds chips that power 80% of the world's PCs, it cannot escape the inevitability of the smartphone age.
HP's cautionary tale
The jump to mobile devices, especially outside the U.S., happened so fast that it caught many flat-footed. The immolation of HP, the world's No.1 PC maker, is Exhibit A.
The original garage start-up's abdication of the PC business is the latest blow to an industry reeling from paper-thin margins and a massive migration to mobile computing.
Just a year ago, HP was inhaling lesser rivals such as 3Par and ArcSight and posting sterling financial numbers. Today, it's contemplating whether to sell or spin off its PC division, which could mean more than one-third of its 300,000 employees might be working for someone else soon. With less new sales the sales of Used HP Procurve Routers increases.
HP's decision to distance itself from the PC business reflects CEO Leo Apotheker's desire to expand the company into software and services that help customers deliver computing over the Internet, via the so-called cloud.
Its challenges are underscored by lackluster quarterly results and dim prospects for the near future. HP's about-face echoes a plan laid out by IBM CEO Sam Palmisano in 2005. Then, IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo to focus on services and software. This drove up sales in Used IBM Storage Arrays.
Not dead yet
Or is the PC era — whose roots stretch back 30 years — not dead but merely changing in size and shape?
The post-PC era, if that's the right terminology, is essentially a new mix of desktop PCs and laptops, with smartphones and tablets thrown in. Analysts believe hand-held devices, which are selling like digital hotcakes, are new must-have "addictive" markets and that the PC will continue to rule workplaces and have a place in the home.
Mark Anderson, publisher of Strategic News Service, one of the longest-running tech newsletters, says the PC is not dead. Its paid subscribers include tech executives such as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Oracle co-president Mark Hurd and Dell CEO Michael Dell.
Anderson says two things are happening: There has been an explosion in consumer devices for watching a movie, reading a book, playing games, looking at photos, and these devices that Steve Jobs incorrectly calls post-PC are mobility devices and carry-alongs, but they have nothing to do with personal computing.
He says the recession impacted PC sales more than anything else, because corporations and government agencies cut back on purchases, and consumers saved their money during a down economy. That means more people are re-purposing old equipment and looking for Used HP Server Racks.
Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg says tablets such as iPad and Samsung's Galaxy won't displace PCs but will increasingly be used as a second or third device for consumers and business users.
A worldwide installed base of 1.2 billion Windows-based PCs is proof of the PC's relevance, says an analyst at market researcher The NPD Group.
By comparison, Gartner predicts an astounding 1 billion smartphones will be sold in 2014, about double that of PCs in the same year.
Former Microsoft executive Paul Maritz envisions consumers getting mountains of information from whatever device or cloud-based application is best for them.
He says we inexorably are shifting from a device-centric world to an information-centric world.
He added that an individual's data will determine what devices look like, rather than the other way around, because it will outlive any particular piece of hardware where it may reside.
Hardware — whether a desktop PC or tiny smartphone — will always be necessary to encase data, says Sandy Kurtzig, the former Ask CEO who came out of retirement to launch cloud computing-based company Kenandy last week.
Reinventing an industry
History is littered with dead industries that were victims of new ideas or new business models, says Michael Lenox, professor at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. In the case of diminished industries, survivors must reinvent themselves. For example, we still have mainframe (computers); they just have a new role. The same will happen with PCs. They may end up being used for PowerPoint presentations. Some have been searching frantically for Used HP Procurve Switches.
Lest anyone else dismiss the PC as an endangered species, consider speculation that Oracle is sniffing at HP's PC division. Even Microsoft has been mentioned as a possible suitor for HP.
Analyst Anderson says HP's situation is unrelated to the health of PC sales. Adding that Lenovo just announced great numbers.
The Hong Kong-based PC maker, benefiting from low-manufacturing costs and government contracts in China, announced $5.8 billion in third-quarter sales.
Microsoft's role
And Microsoft is a multibillion-dollar testament to the power of the PC market. Some 31% of its nearly $70 billion in fiscal year 2011 revenue came from Windows Operating System-related products and services. The Windows OS is still used in more than 90% of the world's PCs, and Microsoft plans to roll out 75 retail outlets called Microsoft Stores in the near future.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said in a 1999 opinion piece in Newsweek, that they prefer to think of this as a PC-plus era that will be just as revolutionary. He added that it will take the PC's power and make it available almost anywhere, on devices that haven't yet been dreamed up, including those that may use a Dell Poweredge Server.
Microsoft still adheres to that credo.

New Tablet To Be Introduced

2011-08-30T09:20:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared on eWeek.com.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) could sell anywhere between 3 million and 5 million Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android tablets in the fourth quarter, making it far and away the most successful slate provider on the open-source platform, according to Forrester Research.
The e-commerce giant is expected to introduce a tablet based on Google's Android "Honeycomb" operating system in October. To compete with Apple's iPad, which has sold more than 30 million units to date, Amazon is expected to leverage its expertise in content distribution.
The company will sell applications from its Android Appstore, movies through Amazon Instant Video and MP3 downloads supported by the Amazon Cloud Player storage service for consumption on its media tablet.
Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps, who has first predicted an Amazon tablet in March, said that while she believes the e-tail giant could find success with a tablet, the company would have to price it under $300 and make sure that it has enough devices to meet consumer demand.
Epps' report comes two weeks after Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin said the Amazon tablet might cost $300 to make, but Amazon would discount it by $51 to entice consumers to buy it. Amazon could make up the difference in movie rentals, music downloads, Kindle book sales, other application purchases and advertising.
Amazon, using its one-click buying method as an easy-on-ramp to customers to make purchases through its Android Appstore and regular e-commerce offerings, could make back the $51 difference within six months and make a profit between 10 percent and 30 percent over the last 18 months of the device's accounting period, Bajarin noted.
One interesting caveat to this punditry: Even if the Amazon tablet is built with Google's Android "Honeycomb" operating system, Epps said they shouldn't market it as such. In fact, Amazon might want to take a page out of Barnes & Noble's playbook and play down the Android software on the slate.
Apparently, product strategists from Android tablet OEMs have expressed frustration with the bugginess of the Honeycomb software and the weak user experience of the Android Market.
Only 9 percent of consumers considering buying a tablet actively prefer an Android tablet—compared with 16 percent who prefer iOS and 46 percent who prefer Windows. Barnes & Noble has chosen to emphasize its own brand and user experience on the Nook Color rather than emphasize the Google or Android brands, even though the Nook is built on Android. Amazon may not wish to go that far on the curation spectrum, but it does need to differentiate its flavor of Android from all the rest, and that may come from emphasizing the Amazon experience over the Google one.
On the other hand, the benefit of hitching itself to Android is that Amazon can over time provide its software and services on slates from Samsung, Motorola, Asus, Acer, Toshiba and others.
In a year from now, we could see a range of “Amazon tablets” made by different hardware manufacturers. That is, of course, assuming Apple won't successfully sue to block Android tablet distribution the way it has with Samsung overseas.

Apple Icon Steps Down

2011-08-25T09:43:00.001-04:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
Jobs, the iconic tech visionary who co-founded Apple and recently made it the most valued U.S. corporation, abruptly resigned as chief executive Wednesday night.
Jobs, 56, who has battled pancreatic cancer the past few years and looked noticeably weaker recently, told Apple's board of directors in a brief note that he could no longer meet his duties and expectations as CEO.
The company in recent days overtook Exxon for the title of most-valued corporation but is now a close No. 2.
Jobs wrote that he hereby resign as CEO of Apple, and he would like to serve, if the board sees fit, as chairman of the board, director and Apple employee. He added that as far as his successor goes, he strongly recommends that they execute their succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
Apple's board quickly named Cook, a 13-year Apple veteran, as CEO and elected Jobs chairman.
But Jobs' passing of the CEO mantle is a seminal moment in corporate history.
Jobs' decision to step down is the latest jaw-dropping news to rock Silicon Valley. Last week, Hewlett-Packard said it was exploring options to sell or spin off its multibillion-dollar PC division — just as the PC industry was celebrating its 30th anniversary. Jobs played a key role in the formation, and maturation, of that industry.
A former Apple senior vice president who worked closely with Jobs from 1980 to 1985 said Hewlett-Packard has given up because of what Apple has done, and the reality is this guy was so committed to making the best products in the world.
Perhaps no tech figure in recent history — or U.S. executive, for that matter — carries as much sway as or has made more of an imprint on his company than Jobs. Since returning to the PC pioneer in late 1997, he almost single-handedly has resurrected the company from near-extinction to a company worth more than $330 billion.
Apple is widely expected to unveil the iPhone 5 this fall and a successor to its popular iPad 2 tablet shortly thereafter. Apple stock is expected to take a blow this morning, and many in the past have openly wondered whether Apple can maintain its mojo and innovative streak without Jobs at the helm.
Shares closed Wednesday at $376.18, up $2.58. But in after-hours trading, after Jobs' resignation, the stock dipped 5% to $358.50.
Taipei-based Foxconn Technology Group, which makes Apple iPhones and iPads, said in a statement that despite Jobs' resignation as CEO, it has every confidence in Apple's leadership and its ability to continue to innovate and to drive much of the global technology industry's growth.
Analysts also expect a smooth transition. Cook, 50, has earned kudos for his steady stewardship of Apple, filling in as temporary CEO, while Jobs was on medical leave. Apple is also renowned for its deep roster of engineers, marketers and other executives.
Gartner's Michael Gartenberg says that despite Jobs being considered by consumers as Apple incarnate, No individual does it alone.
The tech market has been one of the few industries largely immune to the prolonged downturn in the U.S. economy, and Apple had a lot to do with that by churning out eye-catching, popular products such as the iPad and iPhone.
Jobs' run of smash hits has been unprecedented in modern times, says Richard Doherty, an analyst at The Envisioneering Group. He said it's the power to say, “No. " He added that a lot of products could have gotten to market earlier, but he wanted it better. So many products fail because they're not ready, referring to HP's decision last week to ditch its TouchPad tablet computer less than two months after its debut.
Apple's DNA
Jobs' departure from the CEO role won't bruise Apple in the near term, though, experts say.
"The next wave of Apple products are well into the product-development cycle," says Charles Golvin, analyst at Forrester Research. "The next iPhone is certainly done. The next iPad is certainly along the way."
Financial analysts who cover Apple have repeatedly cited the unknown status of Jobs' health among risk factors to the company. That's because Jobs is viewed as a unique category of leader with a hands-on approach tied to much of the company's success.
Jobs has installed a focused and pervasive culture at the company, with people who share his passions. Nonetheless, three senior executives who reported to Jobs have left the company in the past six months. Just last week, vice president Andy Miller stepped down as mobile ad chief to join Highland Capital Partners.
In June, J.C. Penney poached Apple retail chief Ron Johnson, who will become its CEO Nov. 1. And in March, Bertrand Serlet, a senior vice president responsible for development of the Mac operating system, bolted.
What many industry experts express, however, is uncertainty about how Apple will fare without Jobs as CEO in the long term. Though he brought simple, elegant technology to the masses, the reclusive Jobs — even before his illness — rarely spoke publicly, except at Apple events.
But in one interview, in his Pixar office in 1998, he offered a rare insight into who he is. Jobs said he identified with Flik, the idealistic ant in ABug's Life, the animated movie from his Pixar Animation Studios. Flik saves his colony from an army of grasshoppers that bears an eerie resemblance to Microsoft.
Jobs discovered he had a form of pancreatic cancer in October 2003, informed Apple employees in 2004 and acknowledged the cancer during a commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005. In 2009, Jobs took a medical leave. Cook took over day-to-day operations in Jobs' absence then. Jobs later returned to the helm but then in January this year took an indefinite medical leave.
The beginning
At age 21, Jobs co-founded Apple Computer with Steve Wozniak. By 25, Jobs was a millionaire, and he made the cover of Time magazine at 26. But by 30, the prickly Jobs was unceremoniously booted from Apple, in 1985.
During the ensuing dozen "wilderness years," as they were called by Jobs followers, Jobs bought what became Pixar Animation Studios for $10 million from director and producer George Lucas in 1986 and started NeXT Computer in 1988. NeXT struggled to sell its high-priced machines, but Apple acquired it for more than $400 million in 1996, setting the stage for Jobs' return to Apple. Disney bought Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion.
Still, there was controversy. Later that same year, Apple — whose stock would soar past $200 per share in 2007 — appointed a special committee that discovered irregularities with roughly one in seven stock grants that Apple issued from 1996 to 2004. Apple was forced to restate earnings and took a pretax charge for unreported compensation expenses of $105 million. Disney also investigated and found backdating at Pixar during Jobs' stint as CEO. Yet the events at the two companies did not cost Jobs his job, as it did dozens of executives at other tech firms. Jobs did not directly benefit from backdated options.

GOOGLE TO BUY MOTOROLA MOBILITY

2011-08-18T09:59:00.001-04:00

Article First Appeared in New York Times:
In a bid to strengthen its mobile business, Google announced on Monday that it would acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings, the cellphone business that was split from Motorola, for $40 a share in cash, or $12.5 billion.
The offer — by far Google’s largest ever for an acquisition — is 63 percent above the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday. Motorola manufactures phones that run on Google’s Android software.
Android has become an increasingly important platform for Google, as global smartphone adoption accelerates. The platform, launched in 2007, is now used in more than 150 million devices, with 39 manufacturers.
The acquisition would turn Google, which makes the Android mobile operating system, into a full-fledged cellphone manufacturer, in direct competition with Apple.
“This is an emphatic exclamation point that Google is a mobile company,” said Ben Schachter, an analyst with Macquarie Capital. “This is clearly a defensive deal, they were backed in a corner and they had to protect the Android platform.”
Google, Motorola and Mobile
Both companies have met with both successes and struggles as they adapt to and influence a changing market for mobile phones.
The deal answers a big question about Google’s next strategic step in wireless. Google has been battling with Apple and Microsoft over patents.
Last month, Apple and Microsoft led a consortium of technology companies in a $4.5 billion purchase of roughly 6,000 patents from Nortel Networks, the Canadian telecommunications maker that filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Google, which lost out in the bidding, criticized the deal as an anticompetitive strategy. Several weeks later, Google acquired more than 1,000 patents from I.B.M.
Motorola holds more than 17,000 patents.
While the acquisition will move Google directly into the telecommunications hardware business, Larry Page, Google’s chief executive, said in a blog post that “this acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business.”
Still, the deal is certain to attract significant antitrust scrutiny. The Federal Trade Commission is already investigating Google’s dominance in several areas of its business. The company has agreed to pay a $2.5 billion reverse termination fee, if it walks away, and Motorola will pay a $375 million break-up fee if it takes another offer, according to a person close to the transaction, who was not authorized to speak.
In a conference call on Monday morning, Google said it was confident that it will be able to win regulatory approval, since the deal will ultimately improve competition in the smart phone market.
“We think this is a competitive transaction,” David Drummond, the company’s chief legal officer said. “This is not a horizontal transaction, Google has not materially been in the handset business.”
The acquisition of a major handset maker may still pose a significant challenge to the search giant, which has not specialized in manufacturing or marketing of smartphones. Last year, it closed down the online store for its first Google-branded phone, the Nexus One, citing the store’s underwhelming performance. A Motorola tie-up may also irk other phone manufacturers, like Samsung and HTC, which will now be competing directly with Google.
“Can they convince their competitors that Motorola will truly operate as a standalone business?” Mr. Schachter said.
And while Google has made dozens of acquisitions in recent years, most of them have been for less than $1 billion — despite a current war chest of some $40 billion in cash. On the company’s official blog, Mr. Page said Google was purchasing the handset maker to bolster its Android mobile operating system and increase the number of patents it owned.
Android accounted for 43.4 percent of smartphone sales in the second quarter, according to Gartner Research, a major increase from the year ago period, when it made up about 17 percent of sales.
“Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anticompetitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies,” Mr. Page said.
Carl C. Icahn, Motorola Mobility’s second-largest shareholder, had urged the company last month to “explore alternatives regarding its patent portfolio to enhance shareholder value.” Mr. Icahn owns 9.03 percent of Motorola Mobility.
On Monday, he applauded the transaction, calling it “a great outcome for all shareholders of Motorola Mobility, especially in light of today’s markets.”
Lazard and the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised Google. Frank Quattrone’s investment bank, Qatalyst Partners, Centerview Partners and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advised Motorola Mobility.
The acquisition has been approved by both boards.

HP IS CHOSEN FOR GOVERNMENT CONTRACT

2011-08-04T10:49:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared in the Silicon Valley News.
HP Enterprise Services, a division of Hewlett-Packard Co, said Monday it has been picked for a U.S. Department of Justice contract to provide information technology support services.
The Palo Alto-based company said its enterprise services division is one of 20 companies that may compete for task orders under the $1.1 billion contract, which has unspecified delivery and quantities.
HP is expected to offer application development, systems and software engineering, Web development and other IT services.
The senior vice president and general manager, U.S. Public Sector, HP Enterprise Services said the government needs to obtain high-quality technical expertise at a reasonable cost. He added HP has experts with significant technological proficiencies who can provide the Department of Justice with innovative information technology solutions while helping them achieve their cost-savings goals.
The award provides for a base year period of performance that ends Sept. 30, with six available one-year option periods.

MOTOROLA’S PROBLEMS THAT HURT IN THE THIRD QUARTER

2011-08-02T17:28:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared in Reuters.
Chief Executive Sanjay Jha said Motorola's Bionic, a high-speed device for Verizon Wireless, would be delayed until September, which was later than analysts had expected for the device whose launch had already been delayed to the summer from its original target for a second quarter launch.
The delay, which also involves a Motorola tablet computer, will put Motorola under ever more pressure to compete with Apple Inc, which is expected to launch a new iPhone this fall at Verizon Wireless.
Analyst Lawrence Harris said tt would have been nice if Motorola had a clear window prior to the release of the new iPhone. Motorola had announced the product on January 5 at the consumer electronics show.
Harris said it's highly unusual to have a product delayed this long. They really had to go back to the drawing board in this, and he noted that many people on Wall Street had hoped for an August launch of the phone.
A high-speed version of Motorola's Xoom tablet, also announced in January, will also be delayed until September, Motorola said. It had also originally slated that product launch for the second quarter.
Gross profit margins will also be worse than expected this quarter, because Motorola was forced to cut the price of its first version of Xoom to compete with rivals such as Apple Inc's iPad and Samsung Electronics's Galaxy Tab.
DELAYS AND PRICE CUT
Motorola cut the price of Xoom to $499 from $799 at Verizon Wireless on July 25 to compete with iPad and tablets like Galaxy as consumers weren't willing to pay a premium for the Motorola device, which like Galaxy is based on Android software from Google Inc. It launched Xoom at Verizon on February 24.
The company gave a third-quarter earnings target ranging from break-even to 10 cents per share, excluding unusual items, compared with analyst expectations for 24 cents a share.
Motorola's full year forecast for 2011 of 48 cents to 60 cents per share missed Wall Street expectations for 71 cents per share.
Jha said he had misjudged pricing in the highly competitive tablet market but vowed that Motorola's profit would be back on track in the fourth quarter, when he promised to introduce more competitive products.
Jha said they now recognize where the price points are. For the fourth quarter they will launch very good, new tablets and we'll have a good quarter.
By year end, Jha promised that Motorola would have five devices based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) -- the high-speed technology both Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc are using.
This will include at least one more LTE handset besides the Bionic and two more tablets besides the LTE version of Xoom, Jha said.
For the second quarter, it reported a loss of $56 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with a profit of $80 million, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding unusual items Motorola earned 9 cents per share in the quarter, ahead of analyst expectations for 6 cents a share.
Revenue rose to $3.3 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $3.12 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Motorola said on Thursday it shipped 4.4 million smartphones in the quarter, in line with expectations from six analysts contacted by Reuters. It has also sold 440,000 tablet computers, ahead of analyst expectations for about 366,000.
The company tweaked its full year sales estimate for Android tablets and smartphones to a range of 21 million to 23 million from 20 million to 23 million.
Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.
Motorola shares fell to $22.01 in after-hours trading, down 3.9 percent for their $22.91 close on the New York Stock Exchange.

IS BLACKBERRY A DINOSAUR

2011-08-01T16:17:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
With this week's announcement that Research in Motion is cutting 10 percent of its workforce, the BlackBerry death watch moved into high gear.
The smartphone that's been a corporate status symbol for more than a decade faces a rapidly declining market share amid new competition, while the company has suffered a series of missteps in both strategy and execution.
Even the management shakeup announced on Monday wasn't what Wall Street had been hoping for. RIM's stock is down more than 50 percent this year.
With Apple's iPhone and smartphones based on Google's Android operating system stealing RIM's thunder in both the consumer and corporate spaces, the BlackBerry's outlook appears grim.
One analyst says surviving in the context of being a formidable force across the industry as it was in its glorious days is not going to happen.
That doesn't mean all is lost for RIM and the BlackBerry platform. It's still wildly popular in international markets, and smartphones powered by a new operating system are coming next year.
But analysts say the company needs to act quickly and effectively, which it's had a hard time accomplishing over the past several years.
Judging from the numbers, it's obvious that fewer people want BlackBerrys.
According to market research firm comScore, RIM held 24.7 percent of smartphone subscribers in the three-month period ending in May, down 17 percent from a year ago.
In the corporate market, traditionally RIM's bread and butter, IT departments are increasingly allowing individual users to choose their own mobile devices, and more of them are choosing iPhones.
The company has taken notice. RIM is set to unveil smartphones based on version 7 of the BlackBerry operating system.
But critics have long complained that BlackBerry OS has gotten long in the tooth, especially compared with sophisticated platforms like Android and Apple's iOS.
Next year, RIM will unveil BlackBerry devices based on QNX, the operating system that powers RIM's PlayBook tablet. QNX promises to deliver performance and features that better compete with iOS and high-end Android devices.
But RIM has been snakebitten by a series of execution missteps, including product delays and releasing new devices that seem half-baked, such as the PlayBook's curious lack of built-in e-mail capabilities.
Most alarming to Wall Street, there's a sense of sluggishness in a company that operates in a rapidly changing industry.
One analyst stated that with QNX they have a real next-gen operating system. He added that those phones that come out next year will be much more competitive with the high end of the market.
But Doradla, who maintains a "Hold" rating on RIM shares, says there's little reason to be excited about the BlackBerry platform in the near term.
He says the question is between now and early next year when the QNX comes in, what is holding a customer to stick with a BlackBerry phone
Dominance Lost
Despite the near-term gloom, analysts point out there are factors that work in RIM's favor.
Although BlackBerry smartphones are falling out of favor in the United States, they're still wildly popular overseas.
Also, businesses have made significant investments in BlackBerry Enterprise Servers, so they're not likely to abandon the platform completely.
McCourt sees the corporate market playing out as a duopoly with BlackBerry and the iPhone. Doradla points out that given RIM's strong presence in corporate enterprises, the company is likely to remain viable in the long term.
Earlier this year, RIM opened its BlackBerry Enterprise Server to enable support for iPhone and Android smartphones, enabling IT departments to centrally manage those devices on a single system. The move addresses the reality that more organizations are supporting multiple mobile platforms.
But Mark McKechnie, an analyst at ThinkEquity, believes the company needs to go farther by opening up its network operations center, or NOC, to other smartphone platforms.
He says they've created this great infrastructure that all the corporations use to secure their e-mails. They collect about $5 per month per subscriber. But if you're going to have a problem competitively with your handsets, then that asset—the NOC—is a declining asset, he added
In a recent research note, McKechnie said that of ThinkEquity's $6 earnings-per-share estimate for fiscal year 2013, $4.25 comes from NOC recurring revenue, $1.75 from the handset business.
McKechnie says you could still have RIM be a niche supplier to the BlackBerry servers, but the market's a heck of a lot bigger when you start throwing in the Apples and the Androids and whatever other technologies people want to bring in from their homes and run on the corporate network.
The fall from being the dominant provider to a niche player is nothing new in the technology industry. But analysts say in RIM's case, it's a situation that could have been avoided.
All in all, these were big strategic mistakes that were made years ago and now they're feeling the pain. Ironically they've figured that out now, but it takes a few years for the new strategy to take hold. They probably don't have more than two years to re-engage the high end of the market before their brand is permanently damaged here.

APPLE FRAUD IN CHINA: THE WHOLE STORE IS FAKE

2011-07-26T15:03:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared on the Associated Press.
It looks almost exactly like a sleek Apple store. Sales assistants in blue T-shirts with the company's logo chat with customers. Signs advertising the iPad 2 hang on the white walls. Outside, the famous logo sits next to the words "Apple Store" - one of the few clues that the whole thing is a fake.
China, long known for producing counterfeit consumer gadgets, software and brand name clothing, has reached a new piracy milestone - fake Apple stores.
An American who lives in Kunming in southern Yunnan province said Thursday that she and her husband stumbled on three shops masquerading as bona fide Apple stores in the city a few days ago. She took photos and posted them on her blog.
The 27-year-old blogger, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the setup of the stores was so convincing that the employees themselves seemed to believe they worked for Apple.
It had the classic Apple store winding staircase and weird upstairs sitting area. The employees were even wearing those blue T-shirts with the chunky Apple name tags around their necks, but some things were just not right: the stairs were poorly made. The walls hadn't been painted properly. Apple never writes “Apple Store” on its signs - it just puts up the glowing, iconic fruit.
A worker at the fake Apple store on Zhengyi Road in Kunming, which most of the photos of the blog show, said that they are an "Apple store" before hanging up.
But the three stores are not among the authorized resellers listed on Apple Inc.'s website. The maker of the iPhone and other hit gadgets has four company stores in China - two in Beijing and two in Shanghai - and various official resellers.
Amy Bessette, a spokeswoman for the Cupertino, California-based company, said it had no comment on the Chinese stores, but pointed to a Web page on Apple's Chinese site that lists its authorized resellers.
The manager of an authorized reseller in Kunming, who gave only his surname, Zhang, said most customers have no idea the stores are fake.
Some of the staff in the stores can't even operate computers properly or tell you all the functions of the mobile phone.
There are more and more of these fake stores in Kunming. Although they may sell real Apple products, some of those products were not imported through legal means.
The proliferation of the fake stores underlines the slow progress that China's government is making in countering a culture of rampant piracy and widespread production of bogus goods that is a major irritant in relations with trading partners.
China's Commerce Minister promised American executives earlier this year that the latest of several crackdowns on product piracy would deliver lasting results.
China's official Xinhua News Agency reported this month that police arrested more than 9,000 suspects in a nine-month anti-piracy campaign as it shut down more than 12,000 factories that produced counterfeit goods. China's supreme court said this spring that the nation's judicial system rendered verdicts last year in more than 40,000 intellectual property cases involving property with a combined value of almost 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion).
Fake Apple stores are a particularly egregious example of brand piracy, but their emergence is not surprising given the amount of product counterfeiting faced by corporations such as Apple, said Ted Dean, president of BDA China Ltd., a telecommunications market research company. He said he once saw a fake Apple phone in China that had an apple logo - but with no bite taken out of it.
Apple said this week that China was very key to its record earnings and revenue in the quarter that ended in June.
Revenue was up more than six times from a year earlier to $3.8 billion in the area comprising China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Apple's Chief Operating Officer Timothy Cook said in a conference call on Tuesday.
The company plans to open two more Apple stores in greater China - one in Shanghai and another in Hong Kong - by the end of the year.
Trade groups say illegal Chinese copying of music, designer clothing and other goods costs legitimate producers billions of dollars a year in lost potential sales. The American Chamber of Commerce in China says 70 percent of its member companies consider Beijing's enforcement of patents, trademarks and copyrights ineffective.
Piracy is especially sensitive at a time when Washington and other Western governments are trying to create jobs by boosting exports. In 2009, the World Trade Organization upheld a U.S. complaint that Beijing was violating trade commitments by failing to root out the problem.
Rampant copying also has hampered Beijing's efforts to attract technology industries because businesspeople say companies are reluctant to do high-level research in China or bring in advanced designs for fear of theft.

TABLETS REPLACE TEXTBOOKS

2011-07-26T14:07:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
Outside the classroom a hot summer day beckons, but fourth-grade teacher Yeon Eun-jung's students are glued to their tablet PCs as they watch an animated boy and a girl squabble about whether water becomes heavier when frozen.
The small scene in this rural town is part of something big: South Korea is taking a $2 billion gamble that its students are ready to ditch paper textbooks in favor of tablet PCs as part of a vast digital scholastic network.
France, Singapore, Japan and others are racing to create classrooms where touch-screens provide instant access to millions of pieces of information. But South Korea — Asia's fourth-largest economy — believes it enjoys an advantage over these countries, with kids who are considered the world's savviest navigators of the digital universe.
A 2009 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-headquartered grouping of wealthy nations, found 15-year-olds in South Korea scored highest in their ability to absorb information from digital devices, beating runners-up New Zealand and Australia by a large margin.
At Sosu Elementary School in Goesan, principal Jo Yong-deuk speaks of a future in which his students interact in virtual reality with Ludwig van Beethoven and Abraham Lincoln. In the classroom, the children scribble answers in their tablet PCs with touchscreen pens as they watch the video clip explaining the scientific properties of frozen water.
More than 60 primary, middle and high schools are now using digital textbooks as part of their curriculum, according to the state-run Korea Education and Research Information Service, which provides technical support for the program. Seoul believes it can finish the $2.1 billion program to build a single computer network packed with high-quality digital content by 2015. Replacing textbooks with tablet PCs will account for a quarter of that budget.
According to South Korean officials, France is handing out tablets in the Correze region and is pushing to expand digital material, while Japan began distributing tablet PCs in a primary school last year under a pilot program. Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore said on its website that Singapore began adopting tablet PCs in 2004.
But Kim Doo-yeon, a South Korean official leading the project, said his country will have no trouble competing.
South Korea is one of the most wired places on earth. More than 80 percent of South Korean households have broadband access to the Internet, according to the statistical office here. U.S. Web hosting company Akamai said earlier this year that South Korea enjoys the fastest Internet connection in the world. South Korea also ranks first in wireless broadband subscriptions, according to an OECD release last month.
Lee Sang-hyeob, a student at Sosu Elementary School, spends a lot of time at home playing online games and chatting with schoolmates. Another Sosu student, Jang Woo-dam, often surfs her school's website to see messages from friends.
The 2009 OECD study says there's a positive relationship between students' use of computers at home for leisure and their digital navigation skills. Proficient digital readers tend to know how to navigate effectively and efficiently.
The study said students who read online more frequently also read a greater variety of print material and report higher enjoyment of reading itself.
Another telling example of the influence of the Internet on this nation of 50 million is the number of so-called PC rooms, or Internet cafes, which stood at 15,000 as of December last year, according to the PC room business association.
PC rooms, which usually operate around the clock, have long been the breeding ground for South Korea's so-called professional e-gamers, whose popularity has given birth to an industry dedicated to airing their matches and promoting high-tech gadgets through them.
Enchanted with games, Jeong Yu-jin, 16, has been teaching himself programming since he was a child and is now developing a game that warns of the consequences of global warming as a player clears stages filled with challenges like angry polar bears and crumbling glaciers.
Kim, the South Korean official leading the tablet PC project, said the country envisions a digital scholastic network for students to go beyond digital textbooks and national boundaries. In the future, all their students will be connected to a single computer network that allows them to also learn from teachers in other countries.
Loaded with video, animation, photos, voices, songs and Web documents created by experts and by teachers and students, digital textbooks allow students to enjoy a custom-made learning experience, Kim said. Kids who fall behind in a regular curriculum can start from levels they feel comfortable with.
Young North Korean defectors struggling to adapt to South Korea could also benefit from having tablet PCs. More than 21,000 North Koreans, including children, have come to South Korea since the two countries' 1950-53 war. Many choose to study in special schools to catch up before they attend regular ones.
Those who study digital technology and education have been generally positive about introducing digital textbooks, but there have also been warnings that Internet addiction may deepen among South Korea's teenagers.
The number of students addicted to the Internet amounted to 782,000, or 12% of the total student population, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said last year. The government, worried by the problem, plans to increase the number of counselors dealing with Internet addiction to 5,500 next year.

Verizon Business Rises With New iPhone Subscribers

2011-07-26T13:02:00.001-04:00

Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
Verizon is seeing a big boost from the iPhone, adding more new subscribers on contracts in the second quarter than it has in two and half years.
Yet AT&T, which was been the exclusive seller of Apple's iconic phone in the U.S. until February, still activates three iPhones for every two Verizon does.
When posting a profit for the second quarter on Friday, Verizon also said Chief Operating Officer Lowell McAdam will take over from long-time CEO Ivan Seidenberg, 64, on Aug. 1. The company has signaled the succession for the past year. McAdam, 57, is the former head of Verizon Wireless.
Seidenberg will remain chairman of the company. He became the CEO of Bell Atlantic in 1998. It changed its named to Verizon in 2000 after a major acquisition.
Verizon added 1.26 million wireless subscribers under contract in the April to June period, a result that flies in the face of the slowdown in new subscribers across the industry in the last two years. Since nearly everyone already has a cellphone, gaining new subscribers is chiefly a matter of luring them over from other carriers. A year ago, Verizon added just 665,000 subscribers under contract.
Verizon activated 2.3 million iPhones, well below the 3.6 million AT&T reported for the same period. Verizon sells only the iPhone 4, starting at $200, while AT&T also sells the older iPhone 3GS for $49.
McAdam said iPhone sales haven't quite been as good as the company expected, chiefly because it believed a new iPhone model would arrive this summer, as it usually does. Apple hasn't said why there's no new phone yet.
Even with relatively slow iPhone sales, Verizon is handily outdoing AT&T, which recruited only 331,000 new contract subscribers in the quarter. The iPhone is AT&T's chief draw, while Verizon has other advantages on its side, like a broader "3G" data network and new, ultra-fast "4G" network in many cities. In the quarter, Verizon sold 1.2 million devices that use the 4G network, including laptop modems and the HTC Thunderbolt smartphone.
Verizon ended the quarter with 106.3 million devices connected to its wireless network, making it the largest carrier in the country. No. 2 and chief rival AT&T is trying to leapfrog Verizon in size by buying No. 4 T-Mobile USA for $39 billion.
Verizon said its net income was $1.61 billion, or 57 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30. A year ago, it posted a loss of $1.19 billion, or 42 cents per share.
Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings for 55 cents per share, on average.
Revenue rose 2.8% to $27.5 billion, in line with analysts' expectations.
Excluding the sale of phone lines in 14 states at the end of last year's second quarter, Verizon's revenue grew 6.3% on the back of its thriving wireless operations.
However, only 55% of Verizon Wireless' profits flow to Verizon Communication's bottom line, because British carrier Vodafone owns 45% of the cellular carrier.
Verizon shares fell $1.02, or 2.7%, to $36.55 in morning trading.

SMARTPHONE SALES SHIFT

2011-07-26T12:28:00.000-04:00

Story first appeared in Bloomberg News.

Samsung Electronics Co., maker of the Galaxy mobile phone, may have surpassed Nokia Oyj and Apple Inc. in smartphone sales for the first time on demand for devices that run on Android software, a research company said.

Samsung is estimated to have sold between 18 million and 21 million smartphones globally in the April-June quarter, compared with 16.7 million for Nokia and 20.3 million iPhones, Neil Mawston, a London- based analyst at Strategy Analytics, a research company based in Boston, said in an e-mailed response to questions on July 22. The data exclude tablet-computer sales.

The estimates show Google Inc.’s Android is gaining ground on Apple in smartphones as Nokia, which is turning to Microsoft Corp. for software support, struggles to keep up with the pace. Samsung, which also produces low-end phones that aren’t capable of downloading applications, has said it aims to more than double sales of high-end devices this year.

Samsung’s Android portfolio is selling strongly in most regions. Samsung stands a reasonable chance of capturing the top spot on a quarterly basis if it can continue expanding its Android portfolio across high-growth markets like China and Brazil. Samsung and Apple will be at similar levels in smartphones by the end of the year.

Catching Nokia

Including basic phones, Samsung will probably have a 20 percent share this year, compared with Nokia’s 26 percent, closing the gap between the world’s two largest handset makers to the narrowest ever, he said.

Samsung wasn’t immediately able to verify the figures, said Nam Ki Yung, a Seoul-based spokesman for the Suwon, South Korea- based company. Steve Park, a Seoul-based spokesman for Apple, declined to comment.

Cherry Gong, a Nokia spokeswoman in China, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Samsung fell 0.4 percent to 847,000 won at the 3:00 p.m. close in Seoul, while South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index lost 1 percent. The shares have declined 11 percent this year.

Samsung’s global smartphone sales had lagged behind Nokia, Apple and Research in Motion Ltd. in the first quarter, according to researcher International Data Corp.

The South Korean company’s sales are accelerating after it began selling the Galaxy S II, a successor to its best-selling Android device introduced last year to counter Apple.

New Galaxy

Samsung planned to roll out the model in 120 countries through 140 operators from May, the company said in April. The latest Galaxy handset went on sale last week in five cities in China, including Beijing and Shanghai, as the company seeks to make a push into the world’s largest market for mobile phones.

The latest 4.27-inch Galaxy phone, unveiled in February, helped Samsung more than double operating profit at its mobile phone business in the second quarter, according to five analysts polled by Bloomberg News.

Apple reported net income that beat estimates on July 19, lifted by record sales of iPhones and iPads. In contrast, Nokia reported its first quarterly loss since 2009 as the Finnish company struggles to sell handsets based on its 10-year-old Symbian software.

Cupertino, California-based Apple plans to introduce a new iPhone in September that boasts a stronger chip for processing data and a more advanced camera, two people familiar with the product said last month.

Lawsuits

Apple sued Samsung in April, claiming the Galaxy products “slavishly” copied technologies and designs used in the iPad and iPhone. The suit against Samsung added to its patent fights with Android-device makers including Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and HTC Corp., with the Google software gaining market share.

Android’s share will rise to 44 percent by 2015 from 39 percent this year, according to a forecast by IDC. Global sales of smartphones will soar 55 percent to 472 million units this year, according to the researcher.

Samsung is also tapping consumers looking for lower-priced models with devices using its own Bada software. It plans to introduce a new model based on the system in the second half, J.K. Shin, head of Samsung’s mobile-phone division, said July 20.

The debut of a new iPhone may slow the momentum for Samsung, Mawston said.

Samsung will need to work hard to hold off that competitive threat.

PHONES HACKING FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION

2011-07-14T09:46:00.002-04:00

A new security hole has opened up in Apple Inc.'s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, raising alarms about the susceptibility of some of the world's hottest tech gadgets to hacker attacks.
Flaws in the software running those devices came to light after a German security agency warned that criminals could use them to steal confidential data off the devices. Apple, the world's largest technology company by market value, said Thursday that it is working on a fix that will be distributed in an upcoming software upgrade. This has increased the sales of Aruba Access Points.
With the security hole, an attacker can get malicious software onto a device by tricking its owner into clicking an infected PDF file. Germany's Federal Office for Information Security called the flaws critical weaknesses in Apple's iOS operating system.
Internet-connected mobile devices are still subject to fewer attacks than personal computer, but they could eventually prove a juicy target for hackers because they are warehouses of confidential banking, e-mail, calendar, contact and other data.
Software vulnerabilities are discovered all the time. What makes the latest discovery alarming is that the weaknesses are already being actively exploited — albeit in a consensual way.
The latest concerns were prompted by the emergence of a new version of a program to allow Apple devices to run any software and circumvent the restrictions that Apple notoriously retains over software distributed through its online store. There are security risks of doing so, but many people find it liberating to install their own software.
Although this program is something people would seek out, the weaknesses that its authors discovered could easily be used for malice, security experts say who use Dell memory Modules.
There is an irony in the controversy: The site distributing the program offers a fix for the problem, but to get the fix, a user has to first install the program in question. So a user must defy Apple's restrictions to get the protection until Apple comes up with a fix of its own.
A prominent hacker of Apple products, said it likely took months to develop the program to break Apple's restrictions, but a criminal might need only a day or two to modify it for nefarious purposes.
Apple Inc. spokeswoman said Thursday the company is aware of this reported issue and developing a fix. She would not say when the update will be available.
One reason for gadget owners to take heart: Attacks on smartphones and other Internet gadgets are still relatively rare. One reason is PC-based attacks are still highly lucrative. Still, vulnerabilities such as the ones Apple is confronting show that consumers should take care of securing their mobile devices as they would their home computer with HP Memory Upgrades.
People need to realize that phones are computers — they're just small, portable computers that happen to have a phone tacked onto them.

OBAMA'S DEATH IS REPORTED ON FOX NEWS

2011-07-07T16:57:00.002-04:00

Hackers broke into Fox's political Twitter account early Monday, posting updates saying President Barack Obama had been assassinated. Some are saying this came from someone using an IBM as400 Server.
A series of six tweets coming from the Fox News Politics account reported that Obama had been shot to death in Iowa and the shooter was unknown.
In a statement posted on its website later Monday morning, Fox News called the tweets malicious and false. It said the hacking is being investigated.
Obama plans to spend the July Fourth holiday at a barbecue at the White House with military families and administration staffers.
Secret Service spokesman says the agency wouldn't comment on the tweets.
Fox's political Twitter account has more than 34,000 followers.

SKYPE BID OVER THREE TIMES OF LAST YEAR’S VALUE

2011-06-23T15:36:00.000-04:00

SKYPE BID OVER THREE TIMES OF LAST YEAR’S VALUE
The Federal Trade Commission is letting software giant Microsoft Corp. proceed with its largest deal ever, a $8.5 billion bid for web chat and call service Skype.
The FTC announced Friday that it had finished its review of the buyout so it can proceed if the Department of Justice also approves. Both agencies must review any deal worth more than $65.2 million, according to the FTC.
Microsoft already has a Skype-like service called Windows Live. But Skype lets users of different kinds of computers and phones chat directly. The deal could enable Microsoft to sell more digital advertising and offer more popular business conferencing tools.
Microsoft's bid is more than three times Skype's value 18 months ago when eBay Inc. sold a two-thirds stake to private equity firm Silver Lake.

THE LATEST ELECTRONIC GAMES REVEALED

2011-06-15T10:32:00.001-04:00

Last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles drew nearly 47,000 video-game developers, publishers, retailers, analysts and media, showing off and taking in the latest and greatest in equipment and titles. Attendees got a look at the battle plans for dueling futuristic military shooters Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and previewed the Wii U, a future system from Nintendo. Here's a look at other top items:

Apple has gotten a lot of attention recently for the unveiling of its iCloud, but in the video-game sphere, two companies already in the cloud, delivering complex games via the Net to smaller, simpler devices than consoles and PCs, unveiled new advances.

OnLive demonstrated new apps that allow full-featured games to be played on tablets such as the iPad, the Motorola Xoom and other devices based on Google's Android system.

Many games will be able to be adapted for touchscreen control when the service expands later this summer. From Dust, a game in development by Ubisoft for Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, was shown being played using the iPad's touchscreen. Players also can choose to use an accessory universal controller (no price set).

You can have this little TV, if you will, and this controller, and have a full gaming experience. OnLive, which began delivering games via browsers to computers and, using an adapter, to TVs last year. (Games can be rented, purchased or played as part of a $9.99 monthly subscription.)

If publishers choose, they could adapt games so that OnLive players could use a tablet and TV in tandem, which is the vision that Nintendo was showing at E3. The in-development Wii U console's handheld controller includes a 6.2-inch touchscreen. The difference is, of course, this is something that works outside of your living room and is not tethered to the TV.

Also on the way: OnLive capability built into Vizio TVs and other smart sets.

Cloud-gaming competitor Gaikai takes a different approach, pitching publishers such as EA to use its globally connected network of servers to deliver their games directly to consumers. Games and demos can be played within a standard Web browser on computers, TVs and tablets.

Most games can be streamed, but deep, rich games such as Mass Effect 2 might have a portion of the software downloaded to the user as the initial scenes play out. The download would be smaller than the standard game installation. They believe in the Web being the future.

Publishers also could allow their games to play directly through Facebook.

Services that deliver console-quality experiences without requiring console-strength hardware could be a glimpse into the future. This may be the last generation of consoles, and if it is, it's going to be replaced by this sort of thing. Having two competitors just validates the space.

Perhaps the most talked-about game at E3 was BioShock Infinite (due in 2012 for PS3, Xbox360 and PCs), the third in 2K Games' celebrated sci-fi action series.

Unlike its predecessors, based in the ruins of the underwater city of Rapture, this imaginative sequel takes place in the floating-on-air city of Columbia in an alternate 1912. You play as an agent, who is attempting to rescue the mysterious young Elizabeth from her jailer: a 20-foot-tall birdlike mechanical creature called the Songbird.

The stunningly detailed world, memorable characters and intense action sequences — including a heated firefight that becomes dizzying when you hop on a roller-coaster-like sky-rail system to get around — all add to the unique, immersive experience.

They really wanted to put the player in this amazing world and tell their story not through non-interactive sequences —they tell the story through the world. Irrational Games, which created the original 2007 hit BioShock said they tell the story through the character you areand through the woman you're with.

First James Bond, then Dr. Who. Now the latest British action hero to be reborn? Lara Croft.

An origin story due in 2012, Tomb Raider unveils Lara Croft's transformation into the tomb-raiding adventurer. And this game, now in development for PS3, Xbox 360 and PCs, leaps out of its previously cartoonish mode into a full Mature-rated treatment, a first for the series.

The story line involves Lara surviving a shipwreck only to be pursued on a mysterious island.

Crystal Dynamics said that in order to portray this survival experience, this real visceral experience on the island going through these situations, you cannot do that in a Teen-rated world.

Early creepy scenes show her evading a shadowy captor in a dark, claustrophobic escape and self-treating serious wounds.

The creater said it is not about being able to constantly drop the F-bomb and have gore and grotesque use of language - it's just real survival and real situations. They want to make you feel like you are right there with her.

At the outset, Lara is sort of innocent, young and naive, but she has some of the qualities and the essence, the determination and the grittiness. There are stages of character development. The goal of that is there will be a point in the game, probably within the first 1½ or two hours, when the player will fell that they now feel connected to and understand Lara Croft.

The franchise also is getting a movie reboot (the two originals starred Angelina Jolie)expected in 2013.

Sony officially christened its next-generation portable the PlayStation Vita, successor to the PlayStation Portable , to sell for $249 (Wi-Fi) and $299 (Wi-Fi plus 3G) when the global rollout begins at year's end.

The PS Vita has a 5-inch multitouch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen, a rear touchpad, two thumbsticks, front- and rear-facing cameras and SixAxis motion control.

Among the Sony games in development for PS Vita are Uncharted: Golden Abyss, WipeOut, Sound Shapes and Modnation Racers. Several third-party games were revealed as part of the Vita roster, too, including an original BioShock title from 2K Games, Street Fighter X Tekken from Capcom and Call of Duty from Activision. Other publishers such as EA,THQ and Ubisoft also are supporting the portable.

They believe this device will change how people think about portable gaming. They claim the advanced technology packed into the PS Vita will deliver experiences never before seen on any handheld.

AT&T will serve as the exclusive carrier for the 3G models.

Sony is introducing the Vita as it attempts to reverse its fortunes in the portable gaming market. Although the company's announced sales of the PSP exceed 70 million units worldwide, the device has struggled against Nintendo's formidable DS, which has already sold more than 135 million.

MISCROSOFT BRAND TABLET?

2011-06-13T17:12:00.001-04:00

Microsoft is considering launching its own-brand tablet PC that features Windows 8 by the end of 2012 with cooperation from Texas Instruments and Taiwan-based OEMs/ODMs. Companies like Microsoft are considering all kinds of things like dell deals, but that doesn't mean it will happen.
Intent isn't the same as execution, but in the case of a Microsoft branded tablet it should be. Microsoft cannot stay out of the tablet market any longer - as provider of hardware, software and supporting services. Apple has seized control of a category Microsoft pioneered. In a few months, iCloud will transform how Apple customers use tablets and other iOS devices, using push rather than pull for data synchronization. Microsoft must launch its own tablet, regardless of potential channel conflict with its OEM partners.
At the least, the Microsoft tablet could be to its partners what the Nexus smartphone series is for Google. The Google-branded phone offers a hardware baseline for its OEM partners and stable platform always running the newest version of Android for its developers. Google sells the smartphone, too -- and that's a smart way of courting the enthusiast market and getting its brand inside retail stores. Google should go further, and release its own branded tablet.
There's precedent, for Microsoft, strangely. During PDC 2009, Microsoft gave away thin and light laptops is had designed with Acer. Microsoft designed the laptop with features and baseline hardware for which developers should create their applications. Touchscreen was among the capabilities. At the time, Microsoft struggled with netbooks sapping Windows revenues - they were selling so well running cheaper versions of the operating system. Microsoft's PDC attendee laptop giveaway was a brilliant response to the netbook problem. The company had talked about thin and light laptops as better alternative to netbooks - and for good reasons. Thin and light laptops offer many of the size and weight advantages of netbooks but with hardier hardware performance, better customer experience and greater operating system margins for Microsoft.
That laptop set a baseline for developers, and other OEM partners. The strategy paid off in many ways. For example, Samsung released the Series 9 thin and light laptop, which is prominently displayed at the Microsoft Store in San Diego. Last week, Intel announced a new laptop category, Ultrabook, which is thin and light but also takes on some characteristics of media tablets. IBM memory upgrades may be necessary. Microsoft set the bar for thin and light laptops, and partners responded. But the bar could have been lower by actually releasing a branded model for sale to businesses and consumers.
With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft chose a different approach, by establishing a minimum hardware set of standards for OEMs to follow. They did just that - the minimum. What Microsoft really needed was its own smartphone leading the way for partners and setting a baseline for developers. Microsoft’s partnership with Nokia may be the next best thing - or perhaps better.
For tablets, there are few reasons why Microsoft shouldn't go further like to release a Microsoft branded tablet with Windows 8. But 2012 is just too long to wait.
Tablets aren't a new category, by any means. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates tried to jumpstart it in 2000. He introduced the "Tablet PC" concept running Windows and using a stylus. The first tablets, based on Windows XP, shipped two years later. For nearly eight years after, the category nudged forward and stalled; it was niche, not mainstream. Then 14 months ago, Apple started selling iPad, which was a surprising success - certainly more than analysts predicted. The tablet market was declining until Apple set it off with its iPad.
This week, at Apple's annual developer conference, iOS software, announced 25 million iPads sold in just 14 months. That may not seem like much now, considering 84.3 million PCs shipped in their first quarter. But the analysts also identified media tablets as cannibalizing PC sales.
Low prices for consumer PCs, which had long stimulated growth, no longer attracted buyers. Instead, consumers turned their attention to media tablets and other consumer electronics. With the launch of the iPad 2 in February, more consumers either switched to buying an alternative device, or simply held back from buying PCs.
It's time Microsoft made the hard decision about tablets. Is it going to roll over and be gutted by Apple and maybe even Android tablets? Or is it going to fight back and show leadership to its enterprise customers, developers and OEM partners? Software isn't enough. It's time for a brand Microsoft tablet, with supporting software and cloud services, too.

BLACKBERRY MAKER STRUGGLING

2011-06-13T17:09:00.001-04:00

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. is already struggling to keep up with rivals such as Apple Inc. The phones, that use a reputable injection molding company, now it faces another challenge: dissident shareholders who are calling for changes in how the company is run.
A Canadian investment firm is calling for RIM to separate the roles of CEO and chairman, saying that's vital for the board to be able to do its job. Shareholder-rights groups often support separating the two positions. A board of directors is tasked with overseeing the CEO, which can be difficult if the CEO is also chairman of the board.
The firm, Northwest & Ethical Investments, is also asking that the company require any future board chairmen to be independent from the company, which essentially means that they cannot be RIM employees.
Shareholders will vote on NEI's proposal at the annual meeting July 12 in RIM's hometown of Waterloo, Ontario.
RIM has an unusual leadership structure, where two executives, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, serve as both co-CEOs and co-chairmen. The company is asking shareholders to vote against NEI's proposal, saying that the board's lead independent director serves many of the functions that a chairman would.
Balsillie and Lazaridis have long histories at the company.
In 2009, they settled allegations with the SEC and the Ontario Securities Commission about stock options that had allegedly been backdated. As part of the settlement, Balsillie agreed to step down from the board for about a year and use a cheap dell laptop.
In March, RIM reported higher revenue and net income for the fiscal year ended Feb. 26. But in April, it cut its predictions for future earnings and sales, saying it's selling fewer and cheaper phones than it had expected. BlackBerrys are known for their security and reliability as email devices, but they haven't kept pace with Apple's iPhones or phones based on Google Inc.'s Android software when it comes to running third-party applications.
Since the beginning of the year, RIM's stock has fallen 37 percent to $36.56.
RIM will report earnings for the fiscal first quarter on Thursday.

PANDORA IS GOING FOR MORE THAN EARLIER ESTIMATES

2011-06-13T17:06:00.001-04:00

Pandora raised the price range of its initial public offering Friday by at least a third and boosted the number of shares to be sold by as many as a million, demonstrating again a seemingly insatiable demand from investors for a stake a new slate of Internet companies that have used sun blade servers.
The popular online radio service may raise as much as $176.3 million with the new offer.
Proceeds for Pandora Media Inc. could reach about $72 million if the shares price at $12. Selling stockholders would get up to $104.2 million.
Pandora raised the price range for the shares to between $10 and $12, up from the initial $7 and $9 it was seeking. Pandora and the selling stockholders are also now offering up to 14.7 million shares, up from 13.7 million earlier.
The IPO from Pandora, based in Oakland, Calif., comes amid a sizzling market for the latest generation of Internet companies that have used hp servers. These include daily deals site Groupon Inc., which has filed to go public and professional networking service LinkedIn Corp., which has already completed its IPO.
Shares of LinkedIn, issued at $45 in mid-May, soared above $100 before noon on the day they hit the market and closed at $94.25 on a trading volume of 30 million shares. Shares are now trading above $72.
Pandora got its start in 2000 as a music recommendation service, then known as Savage Beast Technologies. It changed its name in 2005 when it launched an Internet radio service that lets people stream music over the Web. Users can create custom stations based on songs, genres or artists.
Joseph Kennedy, a former salesman for automaker Saturn Corp. and executive for online banker E-Loan, has been Pandora's CEO since 2005. He owns 4.2 million Pandora shares. Other stockholders include venture capitalists Crosslink Capital, Walden Venture Capital and Greylock Partners and newspaper and magazine publisher Hearst Corp.
Pandora offers a basic, ad-supported service for free. Users can pay for a service with no ads that allows them to skip more songs they don't like and listen to songs in higher sound quality. Most listeners still use the free service.
The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering to pay accrued dividends on its redeemable convertible preferred shares and for general corporate purposes, and to replace used cisco catalyst switches.

NEW WIRELESS AFFECTS GPS

2011-06-13T17:01:00.001-04:00

New government test results show that a proposed high-speed wireless broadband network being launched by a company called LightSquared could jam GPS systems used for aviation, public safety, military operations and other uses leaving them scrambling for electronic component datasheets.
The results released this week by a federal working group come amid mounting concern that LightSquared's planned network could cripple GPS systems embedded throughout the nation's infrastructure. And they raise questions about whether the government will allow LightSquared to turn its network on as scheduled next year.
In January the Federal Communications Commission gave LightSquared approval to build a nationwide fourth-generation wireless network that would compete with super-fast systems being rolled out by AT&T and Verizon. The new network will wholesale access to other companies that will rebrand the service under their own names.
The FCC sees the LightSquared network as one part of a broad government push to bring high-speed Internet connections to all Americans. It would cover at least 92 percent of the U.S. by 2015.
But the company's plans have set off alarm bells among GPS equipment makers and the many government agencies and companies that rely on GPS systems and a Seagate usb driver, because LightSquared's network would use airwaves right next to those already set aside for GPS. They warn that sensitive satellite receivers — designed to pick up relatively weak signals coming from space — could be overwhelmed when LightSquared starts sending high-powered signals from as many as 40,000 transmitters on the ground.
LightSquared's network could cause devastating interference to all different kinds of GPS receivers.
Faced with these concerns, the FCC has made clear that LightSquared cannot launch its network until the interference problems are resolved. It is requiring the company to participate in a technical working group with GPS manufacturers and users to study the matter. That group conducted GPS interference tests using LightSquared equipment in Las Vegas last month and will report the results to the FCC next week.
The agency will then seek public comments on the matter. The FCC said it will not allow LightSquared's commercial service to proceed if that would cause widespread harmful interference with GPS or a fujitsu hard drive.
Results compiled by a working group of the National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing — a government organization that advises and coordinates among federal agencies that rely on GPS technology — found potential for widespread GPS interference.
The tests showed that wireless signals from LightSquared's planned network interfered with GPS receivers used by the Coast Guard and NASA and caused Federal Aviation Administration GPS receivers to stop functioning altogether.
The tests — most of which were conducted by various federal agencies at Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in April — also caused GPS receivers used by New Mexico state police and by fire and ambulance crews to lose reception. In addition, GPS receivers built into farm equipment made by John Deere lost signals, as did most General Motors' OnStar navigation systems.
Last week RTCA, a nonprofit group that advises the FAA, released the results of its own interference tests and found that LightSquared's use of airwaves closest to the GPS spectrum would cause a complete loss of GPS receiver function over large metropolitan areas.
Despite the test results released so far, the FCC insists the interference questions are far from settled. Some of the tests to date may have relied on different assumptions, metrics and mitigation assumptions, and so may not accurately reflect the potential for interference as a result of how the network may be operated.
LightSquared executive vice president said he remains confident that the company's new network and GPS systems can co-exist. After all, he noted, findings of interference do not come as a surprise. What matters, he said, is what can be done about the interference.
Among the solutions outlined by the government working group: modifying LightSquared's antenna patterns and reducing the power levels of its base stations; limiting the slices of airwaves that LightSquared can use or moving the company to a different part of the spectrum; and installing better filters on GPS receivers to screen out LightSquared's signals.
GPS makers and dell refurbished users are particularly concerned about the final option since they say it could take many years — and possibly billions of dollars — to upgrade all of the GPS receivers in use.

NINTENDO HIT BY HACKERS

2011-06-13T12:49:00.001-04:00

Nintendo was targeted in a recent online data attack, but no personal or company information was lost, the Japanese maker of the Wii game console said Sunday.
The server of an affiliate of Nintendo Co.'s U.S. unit was accessed unlawfully a few weeks ago, but there was no damage. There were no third-party victims, but it is a fact there was some kind of possible hacking attack.
The damage from what could be part of a recent spate of such data breaches targeting big-name brands was more serious at rival Sony Corporation.
Sony has said massive personal information, including email addresses, names and birth dates, and involving more than 100 million users, is suspected of having been stolen after security was compromised in April for its network service for the Play Station 3 game machine, for other online services and, in the past week, from Sony Pictures' website.
It is still unclear who is behind the attacks at Sony or Nintendo, based in Kyoto.
Hackers calling themselves Lulz Security, a reference to Internet jargon for "laugh out loud", claim to have compromised more than 1 million Sony users' personal information, posting many of the details to the Internet.
Lulz Security also claimed credit for the Nintendo attack, posting what they said was a Nintendo server configuration file to the Web. The group added that they pulled the hack off just for fun.
The group said they were not targeting Nintendo, adding they like the N64 (gaming console) too much, they hope Nintendo plugs the gap.
Tokyo-based Sony has said it is strengthening security measures. It has contacted the FBI and other authorities for an investigation into the cyber attacks.

SONY REELS FROM ANOTHER SECURITY BREACH

2011-06-13T12:42:00.001-04:00

Another massive data breach at Sony has left hackers exulting, customers steaming and security experts questioning why basic fixes haven't been made to the company's stricken cybersecurity program.
Hackers say they managed to steal a massive trove of personal information from Sony Pictures' website using a basic technique which they claim shows how poorly the company guards its users' secrets. Security experts agreed Friday, saying that the company's security was bypassed by a well-known attack method by which rogue commands are used to extract sensitive data from poorly-constructed websites.
Coming on the heels of a massive security breach that compromised more than 100 million user accounts associated with Sony's PlayStation and online entertainment networks, the latest attack suggested that hackers were lining up to give the company a kicking.
Culver City, California-based Sony Pictures has so far declined to comment beyond saying that it is looking into the reported attack — which saw many users' names, home addresses, phone numbers, emails, and passwords posted on the Web.
It wasn't clear how many people were affected. The hackers, who call themselves Lulz Security — a reference to the Internet jargon for "laugh out loud"— boasted of compromising more than 1 million users' personal information — although it said that a lack of resources meant it could only leak a selection on the Web. Their claim could not be independently verified, but several people whose details were posted online confirmed their identities.
Lulz Security ridiculed Sony for the ease with which it stole the data, saying that the company stored peoples' passwords in a simple text file, something it called disgraceful and insecure.
Several emails sent to accounts associated with the hackers as well as messages posted to the microblogging site Twitter were not returned, but in one of its tweets Lulz Security expressed no remorse.
Claiming that innocent people whose data they leaked should blame Sony.
Sony's customers — many of whom had given the company their information for sweepstakes draws — appeared to agree.
A 39-year-old computer instructor in Ohio, said he was extremely upset to find email address and password posted online for the whole world to see. He has since been changing his passwords on every site that uses a login. Sony stored his passwords in plain text instead of encrypting the information. It shows little respect to their customers.He and others complained that they had yet to hear from the company about the breach, news of which is nearly a day old.
The chief technology officer for the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit — a research group devoted to monitoring Internet threats — was emphatic when asked whether users' passwords could be left unencrypted. He commented that passwords should always be hashed. Some kind of encryption should be used. He has been critical of Sony's security in the past, and said the company needed to take a hard look at how it safeguards its data.

Sony Ericsson Introduces The Xperia Play

2011-06-06T17:22:00.000-04:00

The Xperia Play is Sony Ericsson's latest bid to regain relevance in the U.S. Once a thriving handset manufacturer, the company was late in adopting Google Inc.'s Android software and didn't manage to capitalize on the early success of the smartphone market. As a result, it has been forced to play catch-up around the world, and particularly in the U.S.
With so many Android handsets in the market, Sony Ericsson had to go the extra mile to set itself apart. The Xperia Play, which Verizon Wireless began selling a week ago for $199.99 with a two-year contract, does just that.
The big selling point: a slide-out bottom half that mimics the trademark PlayStation-controller layout. It includes a direction pad, physical control buttons on the upper corners and face, and two circular touchpads in the center that take the place of the twin thumbsticks found on Sony's Dual Shock controllers.
It's an eye-catching feature, and one that quickly hooks those who own PlayStation 3s.
An avid gamer spent several hours a day for a week using the Xperia Play, and enjoyed it immensely. It comes preloaded with six games, including Electronic Arts Inc.'s "Sims" and "Madden NFL 11," plus Sierra Entertainment Inc.'s "Crash Bandicoot." The games ran smoothly thanks to a 1 gigahertz processor and an extra graphics processor. He appreciated the option of physical buttons instead of a touch screen when playing Madden. They gave him more precise control over the virtual version of Eli Manning, as well as an improved ability to handle a spaceship in "Star Battalion". Another benefit of physical controls over virtual ones: he wasn't covering the screen with his fingers, allowing a full view of the game.The controls aren't perfect. He found the circular touchpads to be clumsy and unresponsive, making games such as "Brothers in Arms 2," from Gameloft frustrating to play.
While the games carry the PlayStation-certified label, they are related to Sony's videogame system by name only. PlayStation 3 or Playstation Portable games won't work on the Xperia Play. Instead, Sony Ericsson is encouraging developers to take existing mobile games and add support for its control pad, something the company says is easy to do.
It's a smart move that opens up the device to a wider array of games. If Sony Ericsson had insisted on exclusive titles or games that only work for the Xperia Play, it would have greatly limited the customer base and discouraged developers from looking even looking at the phone.
Sony Ericsson said the Xperia Play launched with a respectable 60 titles that are compatible with its controller. It expects to have 150 games by the end of the year.
Still, the open philosophy means that aside from the specialized controls, there really isn't a good reason to choose the Xperia Play over a cornucopia of rival smartphones. All of the games available on this phone are already found on other Android phones and Apple Inc.'s iPhone.
As a result, the phone is recommend for dedicated gamers, particularly ones who are tired of lugging around a phone and another portable gaming device. This is perfect if you own a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 at home, and look to spend a fair chunk of time on the road playing games. But if all you care about are some casual games, the Xperia Play probably presents too many sacrifices. The phone is bulky, primarily because of the extra, bottom half for gaming. Sony Ericsson says the controller has to be substantial enough for gamers to properly grip the device.
If you're not into gaming, there are thinner phones and devices that can tap into the super-fast 4G wireless network. At 4.7 inches high, 2.4 inches wide, 0.63 of an inch thick and 6.2 ounces, the Xperia Play outsizes and outweighs the 4.8-ounce iPhone 4.
The Xperia Play works decently as a phone, though there can be difficulty hearing callers properly in loud public places. The speakers, however, will loudly broadcast a game or voice call.
The smartphone runs on Gingerbread, the latest available version of Android for smartphones. The phone feels zippy when you swipe from screen to screen, browse the Internet and open applications.
Rather than follow the trend of placing illuminated touchscreen keys at the bottom of the phone, Sony Ericsson opted for a thin set of physical keys for the home, back, menu and search functions. Unfortunately, those keys are hard to find in dim light, and there are no lighted icons, leaving people fumbling for the right key in the dark.
Battery life is acceptable. Sony Ericsson claims five hours of game play, though in a test, in which a played a game nonstop, it was closer to four and a half hours before the low-power warning showed. The company says the Xperia Play is rated for seven hours of talk time.
The Xperia Play is a major gamble for a company that hasn't had a hot device in the U.S. since the Walkman phone, launched in late 2005. But in making something so unique with the Xperia Play, Sony Ericsson may have carved out too narrow of a niche for itself.
This phone is a solid choice if gaming is your No. 1 priority.

WORLD’S 2ND LARGEST COMPUTER SHOW IS UNDERWAY

2011-06-02T12:41:00.002-04:00

Apple’s iPad launch in April of 2010, left computer manufacturers fighting for a piece of the tablet pie. The obsession with tablet computing will be on full display this week as Computex, the world's second-largest computer show, begins its annual five-day run in Taipei. The prominence of tablets underscores a dramatic shift under way in the personal computer industry - and keenly felt in Taiwan, which is home to some of the world's biggest PC manufacturers - as many consumers opt to buy a tablet rather than a Cheap Dell Notebooks.
Computex will feature more than 50 tablet models with big names including Lenovo Group Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. having their products displayed including Juniper SSG Firewalls.
Researchers have predicted slower growth in PC sales this year because of the rising consumer interest in tablets and the impact of Computer Parts Wholesalers. Researchers recently cut their sales growth forecast for global PC sales in 2011 from 15.9 percent to 10.5 percent. According to IHS iSuppli, world PC shipments declined 0.3 percent year-on-year to 8.1 million units in the first quarter of 2011, with sales by No. 3-ranked Acer plunging 20 percent.
Many analysts say it may take two or three years before mobile device software from Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. can catch up with iPads, which have thousands of applications for consumers to choose from. That may mean a hard time for many PC makers in the short term.
Research states Apple Inc. had a 73 percent share of the tablet market in the last quarter of 2010. South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. was a distant second with 17 percent. It said 2010 tablet sales totaled 18 million units. Apple is expected to account for 70-80 percent of 2011 tablet sales that it predicts will reach 50 million units.
Besides tablets, Computex will also feature corporate and home servers and other cloud-based computing equipment and services, a sector Taiwanese firms have recently entered to make up for shortfalls in PC sales.
The world's top contract laptop manufacturer, Taiwan-based Quanta Computer Co., is among those producing servers for global firms such as Google.
Cloud computing involves running applications in web browsers. The cloud allows users to store and retrieve data over the Internet whenever it is needed, instead of saving it on their own computers.
At least 10 of the tablet models to be shown at Computex are powered by Intel Corp.'s new Atom chip, the U.S. technology giant's first microprocessor designed for tablets. Intel has moved into the fast growing market now dominated by chips using designs by UK-based ARM Holdings.
The new Atom delivers improved video playback, fast Internet browsing and longer battery life.
There is a tremendous amount of experimentation going on in the industry. Tablets, which are more popular in mature markets, will not replace used computers, noting the strong PC demand in Asia and emerging markets.
Taiwanese high-tech firms are also entering the mobile device market pressured by Apple, whose market dominance - extending to the second generation iPad2 - has cut into their PC sales and dented the profits of some.
Taiwan's top two PC vendors, Acer Inc. and AsusTek Computer Inc., are among those using Computex to display a range of touch-screen tablet computers. Their tablets run on the Android operating system that Google distributes free to allow quick Web browsing or film viewing, or on Microsoft mobile software that mostly targets the commercial market.
Acer and AsusTek have promoted their tablets - Iconia Tab and Transformer among others - as having expandable memory slots, hoping to lure consumers with more storage needs. The iPads don't have built-in USB ports.
In addition, the companies say their sleek devices can become full-fledged laptops when plugging them into a keyboard docking station for easy typing.
In terms of tablet prices, Apple's big orders give it a huge edge, while South Korean Samsung Electronics is able to bring costs down by making key components in house - an advantage denied local makers.
So far, the Taiwanese company with the best success in selling mobile devices is HTC Corp.
The company manufactured the first handset based on the Android operating system in 2008. It has since marketed a wide range of smartphones to meet different tastes, and has recently introduced a movie viewing program called "HTC Watch." HTC's sales jumped to 9.7 million handsets in the first quarter, up from 3.3 million a year earlier.
HTC's first tablet, the 7-inch Flyer, sold well in pre-orders in Taiwan this month, vendors say. Its 16 gigabyte Wi-Fi version is priced at $499, the same as the 9.7-inch iPad. But HTC says its smaller-size device has an advantage, because it is lighter, and more manageable than the iPad or used hp integrity servers.
By contrast, Acer and AsusTek have pursued a low-price strategy. Their Iconia Tab and Transformer models - despite having larger 10.1-inch screens - are priced at $450 to $500.
By far Apple leads the market when compared to Taiwanese companies who typically have high prices on their tablets.

THE NEW US TECHNOLOGY SECURITY PROGRAM

2011-05-31T10:15:00.002-04:00

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is researching using open-source software as a means for defending government networks for IMB Memory Upgrade. The open-source software can be manipulated to meet government needs without giving up security.
A new five-year, $10 million program aims to survey existing open-source software to find those like Baltimore IT Services that could fill "open security" needs. Called the Homeland Open Security Technology program, or HOST, it also may plant seed investments where needed to inspire innovative solutions that can fill gaps in cybersecurity defenses.
Although this idea is not to be the main solution, it is being seen as a viable option to raise security. Open-source software often gives users the right to change its code to suit their purposes, as well as to share or give away copies. That means the U.S. government could modify such software to suit its cybersecurity needs.
It also means that a federal agency could distribute software copies to all of its 10,000 employees without paying extra licensing fees for electronics such as a Toshiba Hard Drive.
The ultimate goal is for open source and open security to be considered whenever there's a tech solution needed, possible even through IT Services Maryland. They don't want it mandated for the government; they just want a level playing field.
Open-source software allows anyone change the core of the software, but that doesn't make for bad security. On the contrary, having such transparent innards means that a big open-source community of savvy programmers can root out any weaknesses.
Unfortunately, people can put a backdoor or Trojan Horse in just about anything, even possibly Voice Optimized DSL. The open-source model's ability to include transparency in development and maintenance can make it as secure, if not more secure than existing processes.
In fact, more than half of all Internet websites rely upon a popular open-source software product called Apache. That software runs the Web servers that serve as the heart of the Internet.
The open-source perk also means that the U.S. government is not at the mercy of companies that hold the license for proprietary cybersecurity software or a Hosted Voip Call Center. If bugs crop up or an exploiter penetrates the cybersecurity defenses, programmers can dive right into open-source software to fix it.
Many government employees who purchase security software or used HP storage arrays, simply don't realize that open-source choices exist so the HOST program aims to change that.
The Homeland Security effort has already begun comparing existing open-source products with the needs of government users, so that it can decide where to invest seed capital to encourage innovative solutions to meet those needs. But any open-source solutions for cybersecurity must ultimately stand on their own commercial success or they will die.
In a time when budgets are getting smaller, the government is tightening it’s belt and looking for alternative ways such as IC parts sourcing, to meet their needs without breaking the bank. Looking at alternatives such as open-source software could be one of the answers to their security woes.

THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU IGNORE THOSE DOWNLOAD WARNINGS

2011-05-18T11:06:00.001-04:00

When a download warning pops up, 25 to 70 percent of the time that program will actually be malicious. Hackers are getting creative in their efforts to download Trojans onto your computer. With advancements in programming, hackers are finding it harder to hit your computers, so they have taken a new approach…get you to do it for them.
One out of every 14 programs downloaded by Windows users turns out to be malicious. And even though Microsoft has a feature in its Internet Explorer browser designed to steer users away from unknown and potentially untrustworthy software, about 5 percent of users ignore the warnings and download malicious Trojan horse programs anyway.
Five years ago, it was pretty easy for criminals to sneak their code onto computers. There were plenty of browser bugs, and many users weren't very good at patching. But since then, Internet security has evolved: Browsers have become more secure, and software makers can quickly and automatically push out patches when there's a known problem.
Now, instead of hacking the browsers themselves, the criminals are trying to hack the people using them. It's called social engineering, and it's a big problem these days. The attackers have figured out that it's not that hard to get users to download Trojans. Social engineering is how the Koobface virus spreads on Facebook. Users get a message from a friend telling them to go and view a video. When they click on the link, they're then told that they need to download some sort of video playing software in order to watch. That software is actually a malicious program.
Social-engineering hackers also try to infect victims by hacking into Web pages and popping up fake antivirus warnings designed to look like messages from the operating system. When these are downloaded they infect your computer. The criminals also use spam to send Trojans, and they will trick search engines into linking to malicious websites that look like they have interesting stories or video about hot news such as the royal wedding or the death of Osama bin Laden.
In enterprises, a social-engineering technique called spearphishing is a serious problem. In spearphishing, the criminals take the time to figure out who they're attacking, and then they create a specially crafted program or a maliciously encoded document that the victim is likely to want to open such as materials from a conference they've attended or a planning document from an organization that they do business with.
With its new SmartScreen Filter Application Reputation screening, introduced in IE 9, Internet Explorer provides a first line of defense against Trojan horse programs, including Trojans sent in spearphishing attacks.
Internet Explorer also warns users when they're being tricked into visiting malicious websites, another way that social-engineering hackers can infect computer users. In the past two years, Internet Explorer's SmartScreen has blocked more than 1.5 billion Web and download attacks.
Better browser protection appears to be pushing the criminals into social engineering, especially over the past two years where these types of crimes are off the charts. Odds are that each user will see approximately two pop up SmartScreen warnings a year. With that in mind, each user needs to think twice before they ignore these warnings.

Are you willing to risk your life for the new iPad 2?

2011-05-09T14:48:00.006-04:00

Dell deals never looked so good as people go on a rampage in Beijing to get the new Apple iPad 2.

People were excited to get the new, latest and greatest technology; however, demand is higher than production. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on the new Apple iPad 2 through a store purchase, you can count yourself a member of a very elite club. Now others must find alternative ways to meet their technology needs with a tight pocketbook. In comes items like used cisco switches and a used dell notebook.

Many feel the only way to upgrade is not to buy new but to buy used or refurbished. The demand for these products is on the rise. The market has also seen a significant rise of repair companies and do-it-yourselfers looking for an it parts database to find that elusive piece that will make their it equipment whole again. It services Baltimore has been looking for plasmon optical drives and refurbished cisco routers in ic parts sourcing companies.

A perfect example of the new technology shortage was seen recently at an Apple Store in Beijing. The store was opening to its first day of business selling the iPad 2 to 1000 customers who had been waiting since as early as 4:00am. A violent attack broke out between a customer and an Apple Store employee that left four people injured. The customer was surmised to be a scalper who tried to cut in the huge line. Three Apple security guards and an Apple manager attempted to shove the scalper aside, which ultimately resulted in a shoving match between an Apple security guard and a member of the scalper’s family.

The iPad 2 went on sale in China at 8 am Friday. The first stock-out was reported about four hours later. The slimmer, faster and lighter rendition of iPad was also available on the China Apple Online Store. By Friday afternoon this supply had also been depleted.

The incident confirms the problem scalpers are posing to Apple product launches. Scalpers are buyers who attempt to buy as many Apple devices as they can to later sell it at a premium. Scalpers then resell the devices on Craigslist, eBay or export to other countries.

Another violent incident occurred and police had to be called at the New York Apple Store in March to break up crowds after genuine customers attempted to get past scalpers. Chinese scalpers had lined up outside Apple Store in New York to get hold of as many iPads as they could to later sell the tablets in China at a premium.
Scalpers at New York doled out $100 bills to five cohorts who then went and disbursed the amount to more than 200 Asians waiting outside the queue, who then cleared iPads of the shelf. One of the scalpers demanded $1700 for a top of the line iPad 2 which is priced at $829. However much of the merchandise was shipped to China.

The new devices command a huge premium on sites like Craigslist and eBay. In March when an AT&T iPad 2 was listed on Craigslist, a Russian entrepreneur offered $1050 for the device. The Russian buyer confirmed that he was buying as many AT&T iPads as he could to resell them in Moscow. The site also cited that scalpers usually go for AT&T iPads rather than Verizon ones, as AT&T devices are GSM and come unlocked.
The system followed by the Russian scalper was to wait in the queue from 6 am with seven other friends in New York City. After the first round of purchases they waited in the line again and then arrived again on the scene the third time in a disguise wearing glasses and a baseball cap. He also paid $200 to a guy standing ahead of him to get him another iPad. The scalper specifically went for AT&T iPad 2's. The Russian operative also stated that he would be going to Canada for repeat performance at the Apple Store launch.

At the back of Apple's success scalpers are profiteering by exploiting the Apple iPad 2 mania which has gripped customers globally. However, the violence in Chinese reveals that Apple will have to take action to curb scalpers from curbing supply for real buyers.
Where does that leave the rest of us? Well like many, we go to places like it services Gaithersburg for our Seagate hard drives or for a refurbished dell notebook. After all, either we can’t afford what the scalpers are selling or we just do not want the physical risk to get what we really want.

NOT USING A PASSCODE ON WIRELESS ROUTERS LEADS TO WRONGFUL ARRESTS

2011-04-25T10:48:00.003-04:00

A man and his wife in Buffalo, New York are awakened when federal agents break down their door and storm in throwing the husband to the floor and aiming guns at them. The agents had tracked the homeowners IP address; an IP address that was used to download child pornography. The innocent man was actually a victim of theft. The homeowner had tried unsuccessfully to put a password on his wireless router and now someone else has used it for illegal information, and is now looking for an ESOP Lawyer.
During the morning of the arrest, investigation agents tapped away at the homeowner's desktop computer, eventually taking it with them, along with his and his wife's iPads and iPhones. Within three days, investigators determined the homeowner was innocent. If someone was downloading child pornography through his wireless signal, it wasn't him. About a week later, agents arrested a 25-year-old neighbor, screen name “Doldrum”, and charged him with distribution of child pornography. The case is pending in federal court.
Another man in Sarasota, Florida received a similar visit from the FBI last year after someone on a boat docked in a marina outside his building used a potato chip can as an antenna to boost his wireless signal and download an astounding 10 million images of child porn, or the North Syracuse, New York, man who in December 2009 opened his door to police who'd been following an electronic trail of illegal videos and images. The man's neighbor pleaded guilty April 12.
For the Buffalo man, he later got an apology from U.S. Attorney William Hochul and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Lev Kubiak for the invasion into his home and wrongful accusations. But this wasn't a case of officers rushing into the wrong house. Court filings show exactly what led them there and why.
On February, 11, an investigator with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees cybersecurity enforcement, signed in to a peer-to-peer file sharing program from his office. After connecting with someone by the name of "Doldrum," the agent browsed through his shared files for videos and images and found images and videos depicting children engaged in sexual acts. The agent identified the IP address, or unique identification number, of the router, then got the service provider to identify the subscriber. Investigators did not take the extra step before going inside the house to see whether there was an unsecured signal. That alone wouldn't have exonerated the homeowner, but it would have raised the possibility that someone else was responsible for the downloads.
After a search of his devices proved the homeowner's innocence, investigators went back to the peer-to-peer software and looked at logs that showed what other IP addresses Doldrum had connected from. Two were associated with the State University of New York at Buffalo and accessed using a secure token that UB said was assigned to a student living in an apartment adjacent to the homeowner. Agents arrested John Luchetti March 17. He has pleaded not guilty to distribution of child pornography.
Luchetti is not charged with using his neighbor's Wi-Fi without permission. Whether it was illegal is up for debate. The question is whether it's unauthorized if the wireless point is open and unprotected.
In Germany, the country's top criminal court ruled last year that Internet users must secure their wireless connections to prevent others from illegally downloading data. The court said Internet users could be fined up to $126 if a third party takes advantage of their unprotected line, though it stopped short of holding the users responsible for illegal content downloaded by the third party. The ruling came after a musician sued an Internet user whose wireless connection was used to download a song, which was then offered on an online file sharing network. The user was on vacation when the song was downloaded.
It's unknown how often unsecured routers have brought legal trouble for subscribers. Besides the criminal investigations, the Internet is full of anecdotal accounts of people who've had to fight accusations of illegally downloading music or movies. Unfortunately, even if you are not guilty you look like you are because the activity is linked back to your router. Experts say that this is just one of many reasons to secure home routers.
Experts say the more savvy hackers can go beyond just connecting to the Internet on the host's dime and monitor Internet activity and steal passwords or other sensitive information. A study released in February provides a sense of how often computer users rely on the generosity - or technological shortcomings - of their neighbors to gain Internet access.
The poll conducted for the Wi-Fi Alliance, the industry group that promotes wireless technology standards, found that among 1,054 Americans age 18 and older, 32 percent acknowledged trying to access a Wi-Fi network that wasn't theirs. An estimated 201 million households worldwide use Wi-Fi networks, according to the alliance.
For some, though, leaving their wireless router open to outside use is a philosophical decision, a way of returning the favor for the times they've hopped on to someone else's network to check e-mail or download directions while away from home . These people feel letting the public use their Wi-Fi is for the common good.
The government's Computer Emergency Readiness Team recommends home users make their networks invisible to others by disabling the identifier broadcasting function that allows wireless access points to announce their presence. It also advises users to replace any default network names or passwords, since those are widely known, and to keep an eye on the manufacturer's website for security patches or updates.
People who keep an open wireless router won't necessarily know when someone else is piggybacking on the signal, which usually reaches 300-400 feet, though a slower connection may be a clue.
Although it may take extra time to read through your wireless routers manual, or Used Cisco Switches manual, it is highly recommended to make the effort to protect yourself by using passcodes.

NORIA OHGA DIES AFTER TOUCHING THE WORLD

2011-04-25T10:45:00.002-04:00

After his recent death, Noria Ohga’s life story is revisited. A man, not necessarily known by his name, but definitely by his accomplishments. His visions helped to create the Compact Disk, but will be remembered by so much more.
Ohga had graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1953 and Berlin University of the Arts in 1957. He was set to pursue a career as a baritone opera singer when Sony co-founders Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, intrigued by his complaints about the sound quality of Sony tape recorders, recruited him to the company. He was a Sony executive by his 30s, a rarity in a Japanese company. He was appointed president of CBS Sony Records in 1970, chairman of what later became Sony Corporation of America in 1988, and chief executive of Sony in 1989. He left the day-to-day business in about 2000.
As a young man, aspiring opera singer Norio Ohga wrote to Sony to complain about the quality of its tape recorders. That move changed the course of his life, as the company promptly recruited the man whose love of music would shape the development of the compact disc and transform the Japanese electronics maker into a global software and entertainment empire.
Sony's president and chairman from 1982 to 1995, Ohga, 81, died Saturday in Tokyo of multiple organ failure.
Ohga's connection to music steered his work. The flamboyant music connoisseur insisted the CD be designed at 12 centimeters (4.8 inches) in diameter to hold 75 minutes worth of music - in order to store Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in its entirety.
From the start, Ohga recognized the potential of the CD's superior sound quality. In the 1970s, when Ohga insisted CDs would eventually replace record albums, skeptics scoffed. Sony sold the world's first CD in 1982 and CDs overtook LP record sales in Japan five years later. The specifications are still used today and fostered the devices developed since.
It is no exaggeration to attribute Sony's evolution beyond audio and video products into music, movies and game, and subsequent transformation into a global entertainment leader to Ohga-san's foresight and vision. Some decisions made during Ohga's presidency, such as the $3.4 billion purchase of Hollywood studio Columbia Pictures, were criticized as unwise and costly at the time. But Ohga's focus on music, films and video games as a way to enrich the electronics business helped create Sony's success in his era. Ohgas claimed the big secret to Sony’s success was that they were always chasing after things that other companies would not touch.
Shattering the stereotype of the Japanese executive, the debonair Ohga was never shy, his hair neatly slicked back, his boisterous manner exuding the fiery air of an artist. His persona added a touch of glamour to Sony's image at a time when Japan had global ambitions. Ohga is remembered as an outgoing, international-minded executive who could talk about business and a wide variety of music. He was very outgoing, was always talking, always smiling and laughing.
An experienced pilot, Ohga at times flew the plane himself for business trips. A gourmet, he boasted about his roast beef. His hobby was cruising on his yacht and was thought to use car shipping.
Chairman of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra since 1999, he continued to conduct there a few times a year. In 1993, he conducted the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in a charity event funded by Sony.
Ohga often compared leading a company to conducting an orchestra. He felt that just as a conductor must work to bring out the best in the members of his orchestra, a company president must draw on the talents of the people in his organization.
Sony started amid the destruction and poverty after World War II and built itself on the popularity of transistor radios, the Walkman, the Trinitron TV, the CD - shaping the history of modern electronics.
The company says he was key in building the Sony brand, especially working on design, as well as quality, to make products that looked attractive to consumers.
Ohga had tried to lead a double life of artist and Sony man. One day, he dozed off from exhaustion in the stage wings while waiting to go on in the "The Marriage of Figaro," rushed in from the wrong direction and watched his embarrassed co-stars stifling giggles. He gave up his opera career but still promoted classical music in Japan by supporting young musicians and concerts.
He will be greatly missed by his wife, Midori, and those at Sony who saw him as an innovative, businessman. A private wake is currently being planned.

RETALIATION OR A REAL CASE

2011-04-25T10:34:00.001-04:00

Which came first, the patent lawsuit by Apple Incorporated or Sasung Electronics Corporation. The two are playing a tug of war in the court system. Some are calling the recent suit brought on by Samsung as revenge against Apple for their lawsuit.

First, Apple sued Samsung for patient rights violations, then a few days later Samsung returns the favor with a duplicate suit for the same reasons. Samsung is accusing Apple of violating its rights to 10 smartphone and computer patents. The company filed lawsuits Thursday in Seoul, Tokyo and Mannheim, Germany. Apple alleges Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones and tablet computers copy Apple's popular iPad and iPhone.

The recent attacks are just two battles in long war between phone makers. Many suits have been filed with the large phone makers over their patents and with the growing technology; this war seems far from over.

CISCO MAKES DRASTIC MOVE TO GAIN CONFIDENCE

2011-04-13T10:09:00.001-04:00

Cisco has not been doing well with its returns and investors are uneasy. Cisco has to make some major changes in order to restore investor confidence, hence the recent decision to start getting out of the consumer business. This week Cisco announced that it will stop making the Flip camera, a popular pocket-sized video camera. A change that shocked many because of the money that Cisco spent only a couple of years ago for the technology from a company called Pure Digital.
The big change was an effort for the business to realign itself to focus on selling its core products like Cisco Network Equipment. This network-centric platform strategy will focus on how to help their enterprise and service provider customers optimize and expand their offerings for consumers, and help ensure the network's ability to deliver on those offerings.
Cisco bought Pure Digital, the maker of the Flip camera, in 2009 for $590 million. The decision to stop making the camera is a hard pill to swallow since the Flip products are considered market leaders and Pure Digital remains far and away the leading consumer video camera company.
Cisco needed to do something drastic to show Wall Street that it was getting back on track. For more than two decades, Cisco has dominated its core markets of Internet Protocol routing and switching. It has provided networking equipment to almost every large company, government entity, broadband and telephone service provider, and thousands of small and medium businesses around the globe.
Unlike many other tech companies, Cisco has managed to weather dips in the economy and almost always emerges from recessions stronger than it did going into them. CEO John Chambers is viewed as managerial guru and technology oracle. Investors, customers, and even governments listen carefully to what he says and the tone of his comments for glimpses of advice and insight which have helped the business stay strong.
As Cisco moved into new markets, sales in its core businesses slowed and Cisco lost market share. While Cisco still dominates in the IP routing market, it has been more challenged in its Ethernet switching business, where it faces stiff competition from a slew of competitors, including Hewlett-Packard and Chinese manufacturers, such as Huawei. Investors have begun questioning whether the company can hit its long-term growth projections of between 12 percent and 17 percent.
Cisco has a long history of growing its business through acquisition to enter new markets. In fact, its lucrative Ethernet switching business was the direct result of an acquisition in the mid-1990s. But for much of its history, Cisco has kept it acquisitions close to its core business: Internet and corporate network infrastructure.
In the past five or six years, Cisco has ventured beyond its core competencies as it tries to enter new markets. The company's first major foray into the consumer market was its 2003 acquisition of home routing company Linksys.
For several years, Cisco toyed with the idea of offering more products in the consumer space like Used Cisco Hardware. Then, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2009, Chambers revealed Cisco's ambitions for the consumer market. He said that he expected Cisco's consumer business to generate between $5 billion and $10 billion over the next few years.
Cisco's consumer strategy has largely been one failure after another. Cisco's home-grown products, such as the Linksys Wireless Home Audio system and the Umi telepresence product have all been priced too high for consumers. And even though Cisco acquired a successful consumer business with the acquisition of Pure Digital, it has managed to stifle growth in that product area.
Flip has actually lost market share since Cisco acquired it in 2009, even though overall sales of products in this category have increased 5 percent between 2009 and 2010. Flip, which had led this product category in early 2010 with 26 percent market share, had a disappointing 2010 holiday season. The business unit's sales fell 19 percent versus the prior year, and its market share dropped to 17 percent. Analysts attributes the decline in Flip camera sales to strategic marketing missteps, and more aggressive competition, as opposed to any evidence of an underlying fall in demand.
But slowing sales momentum is not likely the main reason that Cisco decided to abandon the Flip product. The biggest problem for Cisco was likely rationalizing the thin product margins in the consumer business. Cisco is used to getting profit margins in the 60 percent to 70 percent range. But consumer electronic products are lucky to get profit margins in the low 30 percent range. Even though Flip was already an established brand, its cameras, which generally sell for between $100 and $200, were likely not profitable enough for Cisco.
Still, the Flip camera could have been an attractive and profitable business to another company, even if Cisco felt it was a drag on its earnings. While Cisco does not break out sales of individual products, it is estimated that Flip camera sales total about $400 million annually. This is small compared with Cisco's total yearly revenue of about $40 billion, but sales of this product could have been significant to a potential acquirer. Questions are being raised as to why the Flip product line, which is a growing market, was just not sold by Cisco. Cisco’s comment was that after a detailed analysis, and it was determined that the best thing to do was to shut down the business. Others believe that that the reason was because Cisco may be using the technology at another time so they would not want to sell it off.
Cisco does acknowledge that it still sees video as an important part of its strategy. They also stated that the knowledge they have gained about video and the people who use it have helped them with advancing the company with their core products.

New Video Podcast is Promoting Michigan Businesses, Communities and People

2011-04-12T17:24:00.004-04:00

Photo: Duane Weed and Frank Krywicki on the set recording the upcoming Buy Local TV episode.

Welcome to Buy-Local TV, a video netcast where hosts Duane Weed and Frank Krywicki, have teamed up to promote Michigan businesses, communities and its people.

“The goal is to show the importance of buying local in your community,” states Frank. “We are producing county spotlights, promoting businesses and events, as well as, providing marketing and technical tips that will help the consumer and business professional.”

The duo has video episodes highlighting the new format. Topics recently covered in these Michigan video profiles include: Spotlight on Montcalm County, Mecosta County and even a road trip for the “Up North Adventure.” “The ‘Up North Adventure’ is style we want the show to have,” Frank commented. “That is going on-site to communities, events, meeting with the people and showing off what Michigan has to offer. Duane has even interviewed Detroit Red Wing legend Ted Lindsay which is on episode #56.”

“What started out one year ago as a simple one minute internet marketing video podcast entitled the ‘Buy-Local Minute’ has grown into spotlighting businesses, communities, and events that inform and promote Michigan. They are now 10 to 20 minute video production segments entitled ‘Buy Local TV,’” comments Duane. “The show is an extension of what we are doing with the Buy Local Video Profiles - that is ‘Everyone has a story to tell and we are telling it.’”

According to Frank, “Since the format is new it will take awhile to reach the desired audience. That is ok, as our main goal is to promote Michigan by showing off what great people and businesses we have here. In addition if we can bring tourist and businesses to Michigan and show off the importance of buying local that will be a bonus.”

“Just like the seasons in Michigan, the show will change and evolve as we grow”, Duane continues. “We invite everyone to check out the show at www.buylocaltv.us, on Facebook, Twitter and through our Buy Local Video blog.”

Buy Local TV is a division of DW Video & Multimedia, LLC (www.dwvideo.com). Have a show idea or need some internet video marketing or technical advice? To learn more about promoting your Michigan business contact Duane at 231-937-5420. The Buy Local TV team will be happy to air your ideas on an upcoming episode.

Contact:
Duane Weed
5510 Maple Hill Rd
Howard City, MI 49329
(231) 937-5420

CISCO SYSTEMS IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE

2011-04-06T11:20:00.001-04:00

The Chief Executive Officer, John Chambers, for Cisco Systems Inc. emailed employees that Cisco is struggling financially, but a solution is in the works. The email message stated that Cisco has lost its credibility and now changes would be made to restore the company. Chambers warned staff to prepare for a number of unspecified changes in the next few weeks and coming fiscal year, starting in August.
Chambers, one of Silicon Valley's most respected in the corporate realm, confessed in an internal email that the networking giant had been slow to make decisions, fallen down on execution and lacked discipline in an aggressive expansion. The long-serving CEO, who has apologized repeatedly to shareholders for missing Wall Street's targets, confessed his company let investors down and confused its own employees.
Chambers stated that the business had been slow to make decisions, had surprises where they should not, and had lost the accountability that has been a hallmark of their ability to execute consistently for customers and shareholders. He also added that this is unacceptable and it is exactly what they will attack.
Cisco's last two quarterly results have disappointed the market. In November, the company announced sales growth would be lower than analysts expected. In February, it warned of dwindling public spending and weaker margins from tough competition. The shares have lost a third of their value over the past 52 weeks. Including that slide, Cisco has lost slightly more than half its value since the start of 2001, when it was almost worth $40 a share.
Cisco has lost some of the credibility that is foundational to its success, and now must earn it back. Chambers believes Cisco’s and its market are in transition. He contends that the time is right to define this transition for Cisco and its industry.

PHILIPS PUTS HOPE AND LOTS OF RESPONSIBILITY IN NEW CEO

2011-04-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

After a couple of years of low profits, Philips replaces their ceo. Frans Van Houten started as chief executive officer of Royal Philips Electronics NV on Friday, April 1 with the challenge of turning around the 3 billion-euro ($4.2 billion) television business, a task that eluded his predecessor.

Van Houten, whose appointment was approved by shareholders on March 31st, succeeds Gerard Kleisterlee, who is stepping down after 10 years at the helm.
Van Houten has made it very clear that turning around the business is the top priority.

In a timely reminder of the job in hand, Philips this week predicted a first-quarter loss from TVs of as much as 120 million Euros ($170 million), close to the unit’s entire deficit for all of 2010. TVs are a remnant of the once consumer- orientated electronics company that Philips was before Kleisterlee spent a decade buying and selling businesses to focus on more profitable industries such as medical equipment.

Philips forecast it will likely fail to break even with the business this year, which would mark the fifth consecutive annual loss. The television subsidiary has suffered as Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. cut prices to combat local Chinese suppliers.

Philips has lost 5 percent in value over the period of Kleisterlee’s tenure. Kleisterlee sought to make Philips’s earnings more stable by selling assets including the chip business, which van Houten ran before returning last year.

Philips felt investors’ discontent on March 28, when the shares dropped 1.8 percent after the company said the TV business is heading for a loss of 100 million to 120 million Euros in the first quarter. Last year, Philips lost 125 million Euros from televisions, measured as earnings before interest, taxes and amortization. TVs account for 12 percent of sales. The company’s stock is little changed so far this year, valuing it at 22 billion Euros.

The appointment of Van Houten, who rejoined Philips in October last year for an introduction period, is part of a broader management reshuffle. Chief Financial Officer Pierre- Jean Sivignon was succeeded by Ron Wirahadiraksa, who used to be CFO of the Philips’ health-care unit. Former Royal Dutch Shell Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Jeroen van der Veer was appointed chairman, succeeding Jan-Michiel Hessels.

The new management team looks very promising yet it will take some time to make significant progress on the main challenges facing Philips. With the TV business so weak, the strategic options open to van Houten could be limited.

The new executive comes with restructuring credentials. After overseeing the semiconductor unit’s spinoff and eventual sale to private-equity owners, van Houten set up an advisory firm at the end of 2009. Among his services was helping ING Group NV break into banking and insurance companies in 2009.

Philips, which invented the compact disc, now consists of three
businesses: health-care, lighting and a consumer lifestyle division that aims to develop electronics that synch with aging population and healthy lifestyle trends. Among Philips’s most recent products is an air-powered dental floss.

Kleisterlee revived earnings from the low point in 2001 and 2002, the first years of his reign, when the company posted losses. With the exception of 2008, the company has been profitable since with margins climbing from near zero. Profitability equaled 8.1 percent of sales in 2010.

Shareholders have yet to reward his efforts. The total annualized return over the past decade was negative. The company has been underperforming peers such as Siemens AG, which has been more aggressive in divesting loss-making units and focusing on growth. Siemens had a total annualized return of 3.16 percent since 2001.

Philips is unlikely to make sweeping strategy changes or major acquisitions.

In lighting, the new CEO will find the marketplace in flux following a Siemens’ announcement this week that it will carry out an initial public offering of Osram, the world’s No. 2 lighting supplier after Philips. Slicing off a business with sales of 4.68 billion Euros and 40,000 workers could change the dynamics of the industry.

Home health care is one of the targeted growth areas for Philips. The division represents about 15 percent of total health care revenue of 8.6 billion Euros in 2010. Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Stephen Rusckowski predicted in an interview last week that the market for medical products that can be used at home will grow 7 percent to 9 percent annually.

Philips recognizes that in the past it has been notorious for failing to monetize its inventions, many of which haven’t been successful on a commercial basis.

Van Houten has a lot on his plate to get Philips in a positive market position, and he has the knowhow and initiative to make it happen.

Cloud Storage Available From Amazon

2011-04-01T15:59:00.001-04:00

Now you can upload and store files like music, videos and photos for free. Amazon.com Inc. wants to be more than a destination for shopping online: It also dreams of being a place where you can store your music, photos, and videos and access them any time, from any computer.
The online retailer launched two offerings late Monday: Amazon Cloud Drive and Amazon Cloud Player. The first lets you upload and store files such as music, videos and photos on Amazon's servers, which you can get to from a Web browser on a Mac or PC. The second lets you play songs you've uploaded on your computer or on a smartphone that runs Google's Android operating software. The "cloud" in the services' names refers to the practice of storing content online and streaming it to a computer over the Internet
Google Inc. and Apple Inc. also are believed to be working on similar services to allow consumers to store and access music and other content when away from their home computer.
While Amazon will charge for the Cloud Drive service, it's offering anyone with an Amazon account 5 gigabytes of free storage. That's less space than you'd get on the smallest iPod Touch, but it's a move that's likely to woo plenty of users who might later decide to pay for more storage space.
The Seattle-based company, which already runs an online storage service for companies called Amazon S3, decided to roll out a consumer cloud service to make it easier for customers to access digital content no matter where they are.
The offerings could also benefit Amazon's bottom line: The company realized customers were hesitant to purchase music digitally at work because they didn't want them tied to their office computer, so Cloud Drive and Cloud Player may drive more impulse music shopping.
The company also wants to sell cloud storage. If your tunes and videos take up more space than the 5 GB Amazon is giving out, you can pay an annual storage fee to use Cloud Drive: The use of 20 GB of storage, for example, will cost $20 (and this includes the 5 free GB). For an undisclosed period of time, however, Amazon is offering 20 GB of free storage to those who buy a digital album from its Amazon MP3 store.
Documents or videos you've uploaded to Cloud Drive will open with programs on the computer you're using, while songs in the standard digital formats - MP3 or AAC - will be playable through the Web-based Cloud Player.
The Cloud Player claims to be simple to use especially for people on the go. Listening to music anywhere is available with an updated version of the Amazon MP3 digital music-buying app, which will include Cloud Player. This allows users to get to their Amazon stored music via their cell phone.

ORACLE BIDDING ON LAWSON SOFTWARE

2011-03-29T10:48:00.001-04:00

Big money can be made with a merger or acquisition, and one of the biggest may be taking place if Oracle wins the bid for Lawson Software. Traders that profit from mergers and acquisitions are betting the $1.8 billion takeover of Lawson Software Inc. will get trumped by a higher offer, with Oracle Corp. the most likely bidder.

Lawson Software, which counts billionaire investor Carl Icahn as one of its biggest shareholders, has risen 4.4 percent above the offer of
$11.25 a share from Infor and Golden Gate Capital disclosed March 11, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s more than any U.S.
deal over $500 million. Oracle, the second-biggest seller of business applications software, may buy Lawson.

Oracle stands to profit from Lawson Software’s electronic medical records and software for task management, which analysts estimate will help push the St. Paul, Minnesota-based company’s earnings to a record this year. A bidding contest would also increase Icahn’s windfall from his 10.9 percent stake in Lawson Software, which currently represents a 51 percent gain.

Lawson Software, which jumped 15 percent in the week ended March 11 on speculation it was putting itself up for sale, closed at $11.75 yesterday. That’s higher than the all-cash offer of $11.25 a share from Alpharetta, Georgia-based Infor and buyout fund Golden Gate Capital of San Francisco.

The bid represented an 8.4 percent premium to Lawson Software’s average price in the 20 days prior to the offer. Including net debt, the takeover valued Lawson Software at 14.8 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

By both measures, the price for Lawson Software is lower than other acquisitions in the industry. The average premium for so-called enterprise software and services takeovers of more than $500 million equaled 41 percent. The median Ebitda multiple for deals in the industry has been 20.2 times.

Oracle, with $24.4 billion in cash and equivalents, has historically offered a median 22.3 times Ebitda in takeovers and only paid less than 20 times once -- when it agreed to buy Sun Microsystems Inc. for 8.3 times Ebitda in April 2009.

Oracle may bid for Lawson Software because of a U.S. law that now requires hospitals and other providers to adopt electronic medical records and billing systems in order to receive higher payments for patients enrolled in federal health care programs. Lawson sells the software that providers need to make the switch.

Lawson Software’s unit that targets customers in the health-care industry and used cisco switches, had an operating margin of 23.8 percent in the three months ended November, its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. That compares with 7.4 percent for the division that sells software to manufacturers.

Analysts estimate that Lawson Software will earn $85.3 million in net income before abnormal items in its fiscal year ending May, an increase of 24 percent. Earnings may top $100 million next fiscal year before jumping 38 percent in 2013.

Shares of Lawson Software have climbed 77 percent in the past year, bringing its market value to $1.92 billion.

Oracle finds that attractive because that’s a very big area in terms of money. Hospitals are in the process of becoming more and more high tech. Medical care in America is a hundreds of billions of dollars a year proposition.

While speculation of an Oracle bid has lifted shares of Lawson Software, it’s no guarantee one will materialize, and it is unclear if there are any other buyers

Even without a competing offer, Icahn still stands to gain from his stake in Lawson Software. The 75-year-old investor, who made millions in the 1980s pressuring companies from USX Corp. to Texaco Inc. to split up or boost dividends and buybacks, reported an 8.54 percent stake in Lawson Software in May and said he intended to seek talks with management to boost shareholder value.

He owned 17.85 million shares as of March 14, which he acquired for about $139 million, or $7.79 a share. Icahn said in the filing that he supports Lawson Software’s strategic process and that the company should be sold at the highest price.

Based on the original $11.25 offer price, Icahn would make $62 million, or a profit of about 44 percent, from his Lawson Software stake. At yesterday’s closing price, his windfall would increase to about 51 percent.

Hewlett-Packard and Oracle In Battle Again

2011-03-25T12:03:00.002-04:00

Hewlett-Packard continues to battle with their corporate rival Oracle Corporation. The current rant comes about from Hewlett-Packard’s claim that Oracle is planning on dropping support for a server chip that would cause Hewlett-Packard millions of dollars in lost productivity. Oracle plans on stopping development on software for Itanium-based servers that is used by Intel Corporation for server chips because the technology is phasing out.
The corporate battle began when ousted Hewlett-Packard CEO was hired by Oracle, the largest maker of database software and other corporate applications. Oracle claims that Hewlett-Packard is aware on Intel starting to slow production of the chip that was initially developed jointly by Intel and Hewlett-Packard. Oracle is also stating that is will continue to support existing Itanium customers. Hewlett-Packard is the biggest producer of server computers that use Itanium.
Oracle became a competitor to Hewlett-Packard last year through an acquisition in which Oracle acquired servers that run on Itanium rival called Sparc. Hewlett-Packard feels Oracle is taking shots at Itanium because Hewlett-Packard systems based on the processor are winning orders, while Sparc- based servers are losing market share. Hewlett-Packard also argues that this is Oracles attempt to force customers into their Sun-server products. Customers are said to use refurbished cisco switches which does not use Itanium.
Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, said it will continue to produce Itanium and has plans for future versions. Oracle maintains -- despite Intel’s denial -- that Hewlett-Packard knows that Intel plans to shift away from Itanium.

3-D Phone Screens to Premier

2011-03-22T11:27:00.003-04:00

Soon after a 3-D Screen premiered on the Nintendo 3DS game system, AT&T gets ready to launch a smartphone with a 3-D screen and a dual-lens camera for 3-D snapshots.
AT&T said Monday that the LG Thrill 4G will be released within in the next few months. It didn't say what the touch screen phone would cost.
The Thrill will run Google's Android software and will be able to play games and YouTube clips in 3-D, and you will not even need 3-D glasses.

Enery Star Label to Appear on Laptops

2011-03-14T11:16:00.004-04:00

Star Ratings are on the way for computers

After making star ratings mandatory for refrigerators and air conditioners, the government is mulling making manufacturers put the efficiency indicator on personal computers (PCs), laptops, photocopiers, printers, fax machines and set top boxes to reflect the energy consumption by these products.

The government is currently compiling a list as to which products would be included in this process and that should comply with star ratings to show the energy consumption. A few of these products includes desktops, laptops and office products like photocopiers, fax machines and printers. These items are being considered because they consume a lot of energy as users keep them on for more than six to eight hours per day, both at homes and in offices. By rating these products the government will ensure better energy efficiency for these products.

According to the proposal, the government will initially put these products in the voluntary list. After six months, it will be mandatory for these products to sport the star ratings. Older computer models such as Dells top quality products liked the Used Dell Inspiron and Refurbished Dell Vostro will not be required to have the star rating.

The labeling program for energy efficiency, popularly known as star labeling, is an initiative undertaken by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the ministry of power. Star ratings determine the amount of power used by consumer durable items.

With every rise in the number of stars, energy efficiency improves by 20 percent.

At present, star labeling is mandatory for four products - frost-free refrigerators, , tubular fluorescent lights and distribution transformers. It had come into effect from January, 2010.

According to an official at the power ministry, by 2012-end the government plans to take the number of mandatory products to 11 while adding 21 more products to the voluntary list. It is expected that this new procedure will impact used equipment such as Cheap Laptops which are expected to remain cost effective as more products hit the market.

Value for homes diminishes, increasing mortgage applications

2011-03-09T11:02:00.001-05:00

While current homeowners continuously face drops in their home's equity, large numbers of new homebuyers took advantage of attractive mortgage rates and applied for mortgage loans last week.

The latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association, displays mortgage application volume for the week ending March 4 rose 15.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week. Rising to its highest level this year was volumes for purchase loan applications at a seasonally adjusted 12.5%. Also increasing to near peak levels since January 11 was Refinance loan volume at 17.2%.

"An improving job market is beginning to pave the way for an improving housing market." said MBA's vice president of research and economics, Michael Fratantoni. In addition to progressing job market, he also attributed the growth to lowering interest rates"...mortgage interest rates remained below 5 percent for a second week, maintaining affordability for buyers and leading to an increase in refinance applications." he added.

The exceeding growth in mortgage lending has ignited the interests among software developers who create programs for portfolio management. Banking professionals and lenders are beginning to demand for better financial risk management software to improve control and enhance client relations.

Yesterday, a report by CoreLogic stated that in the final quarter of 2010, 23.1%, of all residential properties were valued at less than the outstanding balance on their mortgages. That reflects a 2.7% rise from the previous quarter.

New Eye-Tracking Laptop Out of Lab

2011-03-01T16:50:00.004-05:00

Electronic News Article
By Associated Press

New Eye-Tracking Laptop Out of Lab

NEW YORK (AP) - Ever wish your eyes were lasers? A laptop prototype brings that wish closer to reality.

It tracks your gaze and figures out where you're looking on the screen. That means, among other things, that you can play a game where you burn up incoming asteroids with a laser that hits where you look.

In another demonstration this week, the computer scrolled a text on the screen in response to eye movements, sensing when the reader reached the end of the visible text.

In the future, a laptop like this could make the mouse cursor appear where you're looking, or make a game character maintain eye contact with you, according to Tobii Technology Inc., the Swedish firm that's behind the tracking technology. Many small firms including an IT consulting Frederick company have been watching developments very closely.

The eye tracker works by shining two invisible infrared lights at you. Two hidden cameras then look for the "glints" off your eyeballs and reflections from each retina. It needs to be calibrated for each person. It works for people with or without eyeglasses. Laptops with eye-tracking technology are among many recent workplace management tools that are close to hitting the market.

Rather than a replacement for the traditional mouse and keyboard or the newer touch screen, the eye-tracking could be a complement, making a computer faster and more efficient to use.

Tobii has been making eye-tracking devices for researchers and the disabled for nearly a decade. The laptop is its way of showing that eye-tracking could expand beyond those niches.
The laptop is made by Lenovo Corp., and incorporates Tobii's eye-tracking cameras in a "hump" on the cover, making the entire laptop computer package about twice as thick as a regular laptop. But future, commercial versions can be slimmer and are reported to be years away.

One of Lenovo's biggest computers with eye-track and laptops is Dell. Dell is running tests on eye-tracking technology on some of it's used dell laptops.

Lenovo and Tobii made 20 of the laptops and planned to demonstrate them at the CeBIT technology trade show in Hanover, Germany.

Tobii's current, standalone eye-trackers cost tens of thousands of dollars, but Barclay said the cost of adding consumer-level eye-tracking to a commercial laptop or refurbished desktops for workplace applications could be much less.

New ways to use computers have been proliferating in recent years. Touch screens are becoming popular on smart phones and tablet computers such as the iPad. Nintendo Corp.'s Wii game console brought motion-sensing technology to the masses. Microsoft Corp. released an accessory for its Xbox games console that incorporates used Cisco switches that tie into an infrared camera to sense the movement of bodies in three dimensions.

New Software From SAP Rivals Salesforce.com And Microsoft CRM Online

2011-03-01T10:29:00.000-05:00

At today's Cebit show, software giant SAP will unveil a new application called Sales OnDemand. The program is has the potential to rival comparable software applications such as Salesforce.com and Microsoft CRM Online.

SAP's Sales OnDemand is among of a series of software applications in which the company is positioning as program extensions to its in-house ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. The strategy behind the application is to preserve revenue streams from on-premises software while handling the needs of those same users who want to expand and innovate their IT services through SaaS (software as a service).

The software company is designing the applications to include the platform that underlies SAP's Business ByDesign ERP software suite. According to a statement by SAP, Sales OnDemand will be released this year in addition to specialized applications for expense management and human resources.

SAP's vice president of product management and head of co-innovation Sven Denecken said that the company is focusing on new approaches to its platforms and will emphasize a "person-centric" design principle. That means a more user friendly, Facebook-like design for Sales OnDemand. In addition, the new software contains core SFA (salesforce automation) capabilities, Denecken added.

The cost of the new application has not been released, but according to Denecken it will be "very competitive" with comparable products on the market.. But the application's seamless integration with SAP's ERP systems will give Sales OnDemand an attractive edge, he added.

SAP is also planning to release at the launch of the new application mobile support capabilities for iPhones, BlackBerries and Android devices, he said.

Sales OnDemand is not yet a complete replacement for SAP's existing CRM (customer relationship management) software, said analyst Ray Wang, CEO of Constellation Research.

"At the beginning, I would say it will have 20 percent of the full suite. But that 20 percent is what people use 80 percent of the time," he said. For now, much of the value derives from financial software tools as well as the tracking and management consumer relations.

"This is a sales tool for sales people," he added. "Part of the problems most people face in terms of (CRM software applications) is they've been designed for managers, (who) want things tracked and reported. This does that in a much more natural way. ... It's a very sexy product."

SAP hopes to attract the interests of many businesses in a number of industries with Sales OnDemand. The product can be applied to commercial retailers to consulting firms specializing in financial risk management software.

Other leaders in the CRM software industry are adapting to the computing habits of end users. For instance, Salesforce.com has added a feature of social networking and collaboration with the release of a tool called Chatter. Another example is Microsoft's CRM Online, as this platform now applies a "role-based" user interface while offering a native Outlook client.

Real-time financial risk analysis solution for banks now available

2011-02-17T17:03:00.000-05:00

Polaris Software, a company that specializes in financial technology, has recently launched a new risk assessment platform for international banks called Global Risk Audit (GRA).

GRA offers real-time management of financial figures coupled with credit audit capabilities that precisely assess the liquidity and credit risk exposure across dynamically intricate, mass business transactions.

The new banking solution from Polaris provides users with the ability to centralize exposure management across the bank's product offerings and assist in executing better-informed credit decisions.

GRA is a scalable solution to facilitate high volume payment requests and offers a flexible system to process variant messaging and communication standards.

The new innovation is parallel to Sageworks' web-based financial analysis software products. These tools, which are used widespread by lenders and financial analysts, help professionals monitor loan portfolios, assess credit risk, make industry comparisons, in addition to many other features to help improve client relations.

Polaris' GRA is based on SOA (service orientated architecture), covering specific business and financial services, modular types and reusable components - all of which can be used independently per client or converged with multiple accounts.

The product is also able to track bank risk with fast and accurate financial information about clients - by customer and industry sector; adaptability to coexist with the banks' existing business applications landscape; improved customer service such as reduced error rates automated referral process, enhanced global MIS reports at the customer level.

The solution also empowers the credit risk management team to enhance the available balance check process with the introduction of multiple balance computation by combining multiple balance/credit entities and accordingly frame the decisions.

Microsoft makes more managerial shifts

2011-02-09T12:03:00.001-05:00

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, sets to extend a managerial shake-up targeted to adding additional product executives with educational backgrounds in engineering background.

These shifts may be announced this month, said one of the individuals. In January, Ballmer unleashed a server division president, claiming the company needed new leadership that could focus on areas such as cloud computing software.

Microsoft's move would broaden an effort to promote more people in management who have skills in engineering as well as experience executing product plans - an effort to chase key Web services rivals such as Apple Inc. and Google - two leaders in smartphones and tablet computers. The initiative is also an attempt to quite criticism from the board and investors that Microsoft is falling behind in some markets.

“Engineering is become a core focus because the company's CEO is seeing a need to expand on a vision. In order to execute on new technologies, rather than focusing on sales on sectors like used laptops.” said an analyst at research firm associated with Microsoft.

Ballmer wants to earn Microsoft a bigger piece of the pie in mobile phones and tablet computers, as well as ensure that the company isn't left in the dust around cloud software. Cloud technology enables customers keep their applications and information in remote data storage centers to access them over the Internet.

Some of the top management position replacements will most likely be executives who understand how to combine server software with Web-based services. Shifting the management team would also allow Ballmer re-exert his influence amid mounting criticism from investors, the people said.

In addition to the managerial changes soon to take place, efforts to buy Cisco equipment and build a solid hardware foundation are being considered. While it may seem like a long term process to up the company's technical capabilities, hints of a doing business with a Cisco reseller are being passed around.

Microsoft investors are concerned that the company is falling too far behind in tablet computers and mobile phones, said an analyst at Loomis Sayles & Co. Those devices could replace some personal-computer purchases, hindering a core revenue stream from Microsoft’s Windows operating system, he added.

Microsoft’s board has voiced concerns about Ballmer’s leadership as well, citing the company’s performance in mobile phones and new types of computing devices, according to a September regulatory filing.

"We need to ramp it up" said a inside official at the company. "Too many consumers are looking for used Dell computers, refurbished HP notebooks, and other refurbished products."

The CEO has already expressed a desire to appoint engineers or product experts to run divisions. Key management positions were replaced by engineering experts, rather than other company executives who were thought to be next in line. Although not for certain, there is some word about the company putting personnel on tasks specifically to help buy Cisco hardware.

When Chief Software Architect of Microsoft announced plans to step down in last year, Ballmer elected not to replace that role, claiming the company had “strong technical leaders in each business group.”

"We need to start driving new, innovative programs. Instead of competing with the 'Sell Cisco hardware' market, we need evolve into the tech company we set out to be." said a spokesperson in a recent announcement.

Hackers Breach Nasdaq

2011-02-07T11:54:00.001-05:00

Federal government investigators are puzzling the pieces to identify Hackers who have repeatedly penetrated the computer network of the company that runs the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The platform that facilitates the trading operations of the exchange was not compromised, investigators told the media. However, it couldn't be determined which other parts of Nasdaq's computer network were hacked.

Official on the case are considering a wide range of possible motives for the hack, including theft of trade secrets, unlawful financial gain and a national-security threat designed to hinder the exchange.

Because of Nasdaq's vital role to many other critical systems, the hacking has set off a series of alarms within the government. Such systems include power companies, air-traffic-control systems, auto transport providers and all part of the nation's basic infrastructure. Other infrastructure components have been compromised in the past, including a situation in which hackers implemented potentially viral software programs in the U.S. electrical grid, according to national-security officials.

"So far, (the hackers) appear to have just been looking around," said an individual involved in the Nasdaq matter. Another person familiar with the case said the incidents were, for a computer network, the equivalent of someone snooping around someone's house and not touching anything.

Investigation into the matter was initiated by the Secret Service and now the case involves the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The motive mystery of the hackers is making investigators scratch their heads. They remain unsure whether they have completely plugged all potential gaps in the exhange's security—especially considering invaders often seek new routes to breach systems.

The Nasdaq case is part of what cyber-crime authorities consider a broader problem of hackers nosing around corporate computer networks.

Businesses in the U.S. are a consistent target, and often times their public websites are vandalized. It is less common for hackers to break into internal systems. Breaches like the case with the trading exchange will rarely see the media because companies are afraid that acknowledging such hacks would chase away customers.

A former World Bank computer security official who now works for Core Security Technologies said the most elite hackers are increasingly targeting financial institutions, or companies tied to many connections, like car shipping companies and those involved in the stock market.

Many hackers also pinpoint companies tied to financial analysis software due to their valuable database information.

"Many sophisticated hackers don't immediately try to monetize the situation; they oftentimes do what's called local information gathering, almost like collecting intelligence, to ascertain what would be the best way in the long term to monetize their presence," he said.

Officials familiar with the matter claimed the Secret Service started the investigation last year. People taking on the case have informed White House officials of the case, according to the people working on the investigations.

Authorities on the case have not yet been able to pinpoint a specific individual or country. Those working on the case said that some evidence points toward Russia, but the backers could be potentially anywhere, perhaps using computers in Russia merely as a conduit.

The hack leads to two causes for concern: preserving the dependability and stability of digital trading and sustaining investor faith in that computerized system and their financial risk management.

NYSE Euronext spokesman added reinforcement to the subject: "We take any potential threat seriously and we are continually working to ensure that our systems operate at the highest levels of security and integrity,"

The individual did not release any specific instances of hacking attempts against that exchange.

The issue of computer hacking is a problem for many tech-advanced countries. In the past, authorities in the U.S. have battled cyberattacks connected computers in Russia, China and Eastern Europe.

Good hackers utilize geography as a smokescreen. Officials noted Albert Gonzalez, a pro hacker, landed his biggest digital heist with help from computers in Europe. His residence is in Miami. Gonzalez used computers in the U.S., Latvia and Estoniato to steal over 100 million credit-card numbers from many sources, according to a 2009 federal indictment. Many of his sources came from online shopping stores ranging from microfiber cleaning cloth makers to estate jewelers.

AMD Chief Fights for Credibility in Intel Showdown

2010-11-11T01:52:00.000-05:00

Bloomberg

For Chief Executive Officer Dirk Meyer, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s new lineup of chips is more than an effort to win back customers lost to Intel Corp. It’s a bid for credibility.

After four years of production delays, slumping sales and shrinking market share, Meyer says he wants to convince customers and investors that AMD can consistently deliver quality products and challenge its dominant competitor. The first test comes with its new Fusion chips, built with graphics capabilities that AMD says Intel can’t easily match.

Fusion also provides a chance to redeem AMD’s 2006 acquisition of ATI Technologies Inc., a $5.4 billion purchase that threatened to sink the company with debt. By combining its processors with ATI’s graphics chips, AMD aims to get a payback on the deal. Another part of the comeback plan: AMD spun off its factories in 2008, freeing up cash to focus on innovation.

“You gain credibility out of executing successfully over quarters and years,” Meyer, 48, said in an interview at the company’s Sunnyvale, California, headquarters. “We haven’t been doing it for years yet.”

AMD, which was founded a year after Intel, has spent 40 years in the shadow of its rival, the world’s largest chipmaker. AMD has less than 20 percent of the global personal-computer processor market, compared with Intel’s 80 percent, and its revenue last year of $5.4 billion was a seventh of Intel’s.

Fusion Release

AMD began shipments today of its first Fusion product, which puts processors and graphics chips onto one piece of silicon. Computers based on the product will go on sale in early 2011. That will coincide with a new design from Intel, called Sandy Bridge, which also beefs up graphics features.

AMD’s last big hit was a server processor called Opteron that over three years grabbed 20 percentage points of market share from Intel. Opteron, introduced in 2003, also helped AMD squeeze more profit from each chip. In 2005, AMD’s products began to approach Intel’s famously high gross margins, which run as high as 67 percent.

That’s when AMD’s fortunes reversed. Opteron’s successor, Barcelona, was late to the market and needed to be redesigned. That failure was partly because AMD wasn’t ready for the big time, Meyer said.

Meyer is familiar with both companies. He worked at Intel in the 1980s, then spent almost a decade at Digital Equipment Corp., a computer maker acquired by Compaq Computer Corp., which is now part of Hewlett-Packard Co. When Meyer arrived at AMD in 1995, he led the team that designed its flagship processor.

Focus on Execution

Meyer comes from a technical background. He earned a degree in computer engineering from the University of Illinois and got an MBA from Boston University. After rising through the executive ranks at AMD, he replaced Hector Ruiz as CEO in 2008.

So far, AMD has struggled to follow through on its innovations, said Josh Spencer, a portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price Group Inc. in Baltimore.

“Where they’ve always fallen down in the past has been execution,” said Spencer, whose firm owns AMD shares as part of the more than $400 billion it has under management. With Fusion, “they have a chance to compete with Intel.”

AMD now has more than one engineering team capable of delivering multiple chip designs on time, Meyer said. That’s possible because it no longer has the distraction of running multibillion-dollar chip plants, known as fabs. AMD spun those off into a new venture called Globalfoundries Inc., backed by the government of Abu Dhabi.

‘Deep Hole’

The $8.4 billion transaction in 2008 helped reduce AMD’s debt from $5.5 billion in 2007 to about $2.2 billion now. It also let the company cut capital spending to about 10 percent of what it was three years ago, according to Chief Financial Officer Thomas Seifert.

Profitability will continue to improve. Today, Seifert predicted gross margin, the percentage of sales remaining after deducting production costs, will be between 44 percent and 48 percent in 2011. A year ago, he predicted a 40 percent to 45 percent range for 2010. AMD will be able to achieve a margin of above 50 percent in the long term, he said today during a presentation at the company’s headquarters.

“They were coming out of a deep hole,” T. Rowe’s Spencer said. “I’m impressed by what they’ve done.”

‘Critical Mass’

The moves haven’t reignited investor interest in the stock. The shares have declined 18 percent this year, and they’re trading at a fraction of their $42 price in 2006. Intel shares have climbed 3.7 percent this year.

AMD fell 23 cents to $7.91 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Intel lost 7 cents to $21.16.

“A company that’s up against some huge odds managed to stay in it,” said Alex Gauna, an analyst at JMP Securities LLC in San Francisco. “The question is: Will they get more interesting? I’m not anticipating they’re going to be a disruptive force.”

Rick Bergman, AMD’s senior vice president of products, disagrees.

“The No. 1 thing we have to do is have a differentiated product,” said Bergman, who joined AMD with Markham, Ontario- based ATI in 2006. In the past, “AMD didn’t have the critical mass, got bogged down in running fabs, and now we’re free from that burden.”

The difference between the new chips, according to Bergman, is that AMD will have state-of-the-art graphics, worthy of the most advanced computer games. Intel’s Sandy Bridge chip is years away from being able to handle that, he said.

“It just can’t do certain things,” Bergman said. “Would you want to buy a notebook and know from day one it has three-or four-year-old graphics technology?”

Single Chip

Intel says its Sandy Bridge chip represents a significant advance in graphics. “The overall performance and graphics capabilities of the Sandy Bridge processor are outstanding and represent a major step forward,” said Tom Beermann, a spokesman for Santa Clara, California-based Intel.

Both Fusion and Sandy Bridge combine two of the key components of a computer onto one chip. That reduces battery drain and speeds up processing by letting computers better share memory. Until now, advanced graphics chips have mainly gone into add-on computer boards. Those products are popular with gamers, who use them to get more realistic visuals.

AMD is counting on more than gamers to help Fusion catch on. New versions of programs for surfing the Web, including Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer, could take advantage of the graphics features as well, the company says.

If AMD is right, computer users will get faster browsing, higher-definition video from programs like Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash, and home movies that can remove the jerks and swings from handheld cameras.

Before AMD’s vision for Fusion can take hold, the company needs to keep delivering chips on time and find ways to be more nimble than Intel, Meyer said.

“As a small company, we’ve got to always look for ways to answer the question, ‘What’s better, what’s different about AMD?’” he said. “I can’t rely on having home runs.”

Ellison: Oracle has $4 Billion Case against SAP

2010-11-11T01:51:00.000-05:00

Associated Press

Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison turned up the pressure in an industrial espionage trial Monday by testifying that archenemy SAP AG should have paid $4 billion for licenses to Oracle software.

SAP and Oracle, two of the world's biggest business-software makers, are fighting over how much SAP should pay to atone for the shady tactics of a now-shuttered software support subsidiary called TomorrowNow.

SAP has already admitted to bad behavior. It acknowledged that TomorrowNow stole customer support documents from Oracle password-protected websites and used them to steal business from Oracle by offering similar services at a cheaper price.

Oracle has said that it is owed billions for the value of the intellectual property that was taken from it. Ellison's $4 billion estimate concerned the amount of money SAP would have paid for the appropriate licenses to Oracle's software, under certain conditions.

SAP claims TomorrowNow wasn't that effective at stealing customers, and it should only have to pay $40 million for Oracle accounts it did manage to lure away.

The trial, in its second week in federal court, offers a rare look at the corners big companies might be tempted to cut in the battle for new business.

It is also as much a public relations bonanza for Oracle as it is an attempt to recover damages, since Oracle gets to pillory two rivals at once: SAP and Hewlett-Packard Co.

The conflict with SAP has grown as Oracle has moved beyond its core business of selling database software and into SAP's stronghold of applications that help companies manage payroll, human resources and other tasks.

The beef with HP stems from Oracle's decision to start selling computer servers, an HP mainstay. Also, Ellison has taken HP to task for hiring Leo Apotheker, SAP's former CEO, as HP's new CEO. Apotheker is replacing Ellison's friend and tennis buddy Mark Hurd, who was ousted as HP's CEO over expense-report lapses. Ellison has since hired Hurd to serve as an Oracle co-president.

Apotheker may not wind up testifying live about his role in the TomorrowNow espionage.

Oracle has tried to force him to appear in court but says HP has refused the subpoena. Apotheker has proven so elusive that Oracle has hired investigators to try and track him down and serve him with the subpoena if he appears within 100 miles of the federal courthouse in Oakland, which includes HP's headquarters in Palo Alto.

If Apotheker stays out of range, Oracle can't force him to testify.

HP accuses Oracle of harassing its new executive and says Oracle had ample time to question Apotheker during an earlier sworn deposition. If Apotheker doesn't appear, Oracle could play the videotaped testimony.

Ellison's testimony injected some celebrity drama into the trial. Although he is known for trash-talking against rivals, his courtroom appearance was devoid of theatrics, and he didn't give any public comments afterward.

Ellison testified that he was deeply worried that his company would bleed customers because of what seemed like SAP's masterstroke of an acquisition of TomorrowNow in 2005. Ellison called the TomorrowNow deal a "brilliant idea" that posed a "grave risk" to Oracle because of its ability to let SAP steal business, even without the theft of Oracle's documents.

The extent of those fears, and how they squared with the amount of business SAP actually poached, consumed most of his hourlong testimony.

Lawyers from Oracle and SAP questioned Ellison on his initial fears that Oracle could lose as much as 30 percent of the customer contracts it got as part of its $10.3 billion acquisition of PeopleSoft in 2005.

That deal sparked SAP's interest in TomorrowNow, since TomorrowNow supported PeopleSoft software.

SAP insists that it owes far less than Oracle is demanding because TomorrowNow stole far fewer customers than Oracle thought it would. SAP's lawyers have repeatedly cited SAP's claim that TomorrowNow stole only 358 Oracle customers, out of the thousands that came to Oracle through the acquisition.

Report: Hasbro Device to Bring 3D to iPhone, iPod

2010-11-10T05:57:00.001-05:00

PC Mag

As if you needed more of an excuse to waste time on smartphone games, Hasbro is reportedly developing a device that will enable 3D gaming on the iPhone or iPod touch.

The toy company on Tuesday was scheduled to show its investors a handheld device known as the My3D, according to the Associated Press. It apparently looks like a pair of binoculars and lets people attach their iPhone or iPod for 360-degree gaming, as well as travel and entertainment options.

It would retail for $30 and be sold next spring wherever iPhones and iPods are available. The App Store will then add My3D content, some of which will be free. Hasbro is working with Dreamworks, Discovery, Sony, and Imax on content for the My3D, AP said. On the travel front, Hasbro will partner with the LA Visitors Bureau for virtual tours.

Hasbro did not respond to a request for comment.

From the Kansas City Star

Hasbro unveils device that promises 3-D on iPod

Hasbro Inc. is betting that iPod and iPhone users want 3-D viewing on the go.

The nation's second-largest toy maker is set to unveil to investors on Tuesday a handheld device called My3D that attaches to the two Apple Inc. devices. It promises three-dimensional content that offers a 360-degree experience in gaming, virtual travel experiences and entertainment content. It's aimed at both children and adults.

The device, which resembles a pair of binoculars with a slot in which users insert their iPod or iPhone, will be priced at $30. It will be available starting next spring at stores where Apple's iPhones and iPod Touches are available.

Shoppers can then visit Apple's App store, which will allow shoppers to browse for additional My 3D content. Content varies in price; some apps will be free.

Hasbro said it was guided by Apple during development and believes there's nothing available that matches the quality and 3-D experience on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

If it catches on, it has big potential. More than 125 million iPod Touches and iPhones have shipped, according to Shaw Wu, senior research analyst at Kaufman Bros. L.P. He predicts that will hit 200 million by end of 2011.

"The issue with this is whether they are going to get enough content for it," Wu said.

Hasbro is confident it will and says it has teamed up with Dreamworks Animation, whose movie "Megamind" hit theaters last weekend, to develop material.

Separately, Hasbro's My3D will use content from a 3-D television network from Discovery, Sony and Imax scheduled to make its debut next year. Viewers will be able to see trailers and exclusive behind-the-scenes snippets from films for up to 20 minutes. Hasbro says the device will be a key way to market its own brands in a 3-D experience, though details haven't been set.

Meanwhile, Hasbro worked with LA Inc., the Los Angeles Convention and Vistors Bureau, to create virtual travel experiences that include visits to the Wax Museum and the Santa Monica Pier.

Through other apps, users can feel like they're immersed in deep water, exploring coral reefs or playing a shark attacking a tuna, while all along learning facts about sea life. There are also shooter games in a virtual galaxy.

"The idea of being able to be somewhere in Los Angeles, in this 360-degree environment, to be in the shark tank, to be able to swim with the fish and chase after the fish. These are really breakthrough immersive experiences," said Brian Goldner, president and CEO of Hasbro.

Opera Steps Up Browser Battle On Android

2010-11-10T05:57:00.000-05:00

Information Week

As promised, Opera Software has made a beta version of its Opera Mobile 10.1 web browser available for Google's Android platform.

Opera announced its intent to offer Opera Mobile 10.1 to Android in October. On Tuesday, it delivered, making the free application available for download from the Android Market. Opera's full-featured Opera Mobile browser is already available for the Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms.

Opera Mini is already available to Android, but Opera Mobile is an entirely new ballgame. The key difference between Opera Mini and Opera Mobile is that Opera Mini uses server-side proxies to compress and deliver web sites to mobile handsets. The data compression helps to reduce mobile data requirements and saves both customers and mobile network operators money.

Opera Mobile, on the other hand, is a full, device-side browser that does all the heavy lifting on the handset and not on remote servers.

Opera Mobile for Android brings two major features to the browser. First is hardware acceleration. With hardware acceleration baked into Opera Mobile, the browser should see a performance boost. Opera Mobile also includes pinch-to-zoom. Pinch-to-zoom has become a must-have feature for smartphones, as it makes interacting with web-based content easier and more manageable. Pinch-to-zoom is offered in the native Android browser, as well as the iOS and BB6 browsers.

Other features included in the new browser include support for tabbed browsing; Opera Turbo powered by the Opera Presto rendering engine; bookmark syncing with desktop browsers; geolocation support; and scalable vector graphics.

I downloaded and tested the new browser this morning. True to its claims, Opera Mobile performs well, and renders full HTML web sites nicely. It loaded the full NYTimes.com web site, though the text was so small as to be illegible. I was forced to zoom in to read anything beyond the main headlines. I was disappointed to see that Opera Mobile skipped to the mobile version of CNN.com, however. The pinch-to-zoom gesture worked flawlessly, and zooming around web sites was not a problem at all. Everything about the browser's performance was smooth and speedy.

One thing of note, Opera Mobile does not support Flash. Several times I was greeted by "Oops, we're sorry" messages on web sites pointing out the browser's inability to playback Flash content. Opera says that Flash will be included in a future version of Opera Mobile.

Opera has a tough road ahead if it is interested in converting Android users. The stock Android browser is already very good, and there are a number of alternatives available, such as Skyfire, Dolphin HD, and Firefox. What's to convince the common Android users to switch? Perhaps tie-ins with Opera's desktop browser, as well as its desktop-phone syncing services.

Toshiba rolls out slimmer Form Factor for SSDs

2010-11-09T05:03:00.001-05:00

Computer World

Toshiba America Electronic Components on Monday announced a series of solid-state drives featuring a new form factor that's 42% smaller than today's mini-SATA or mSATA SSD modules.

Toshiba's new Blade X-gale SSD series is just 2.2mm thick but comes in models capable of holding 64GB, 128GB or 256GB of worth of data. The mSATA version offers 30GB and 62GB capacities in a form factor that's4.75mm thick. The new SSD is almost one-third of the thickness of a 2.5-in. hard disk drive.

Toshiba also upped the performance of its SSD module from a maximum read/write speed of 180MB/sec. and 70MB/sec. in the mSATA drive to 220MB/sec. and 180MB/sec. in the Blade X-gale. The new SSDs use the SATA 3Gbit/sec. interface.

Toshiba's latest SSD offerings are designed for mobile devices such as tablet PCs, laptops and mini-mobile and netbook PCs.

"Delivering a product that enables superior user experience in a smaller footprint is the ultimate goal," said Scott Nelson, vice president of Toshiba's memory business unit, in a statement.

The Blade X-gale uses multilevel cell (MLC) NAND flash chips, storing two bits per cell.

Toshiba said a new board design that minimizes warping allowed it to increase the capacity of the modules by mounting the flash chips on both sides.

"Until recently, storage designers looking for high-capacity storage had accommodated the size of [hard disk drives] into their designs," Nelson said. "Toshiba's module-based SSDs break with this approach, giving hardware designers greater freedom and flexibility in enabling their product design."

Hanvon to Launch First Ebook Reader with Color E Ink

2010-11-09T05:03:00.000-05:00

PC Mag

While there are plenty of ebook readers on the market, almost all of them have black-and-white displays. Chinese company Hanvon wants to change that. The company is expected to unveil the first tablet with a color E Ink screen on Tuesday at the FPD International 2010 trade show in Tokyo, the New York Times has reported.

According to the Times, 90 percent of the ebook readers on the market use monochrome display technology from the company E Ink. Hanvon will be the first company to showcase E Ink's color capabilities. E Ink's color screen is made by fitting the original black-and-white display with a color filter.

Last month, Barnes and Noble announced the Nook color, but the 7-inch screen uses LCD technology, similar to what is used in televisions and computer screens. Like many tablets on the market, Apple's iPad also uses LCD technology.

The benefits of using E Ink as opposed to LCD are that E Ink uses less battery power and can be read in direct sunlight without glare. According to the Times article, the color E Ink that will be featured on Hanvon's e-reader isn't the same quality as LCD technology on, say, an iPad, however. The colors aren't as vivid, and appear to be more muted, and the screen can't support video. This is why Amazon, for example, hasn't yet embraced color E Ink on its Kindle e-reader.

"I'm convinced that a lot of times it takes one company to prove the market," Sriram K. Peruvemba, a vice president for E Ink, told the Times.

The iPad has been available in China since Sept. 17. Hanvon's new ebook reader will go on sale in China in March for around $440. Hanvon president Liu Yingjian said the product, fitted with a 9.68-inch color screen and Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, might be sold in the U.S. later. Hanvon, the number one ebook reader outfitter in China, sells some products in the U.S., both online and through electronics retailer Fry's.

Microsoft's Kinect Already Hacked?

2010-11-08T09:19:00.000-05:00

PC Mag

Has someone already won the $2,000 bounty for delivering open-source drivers that work with Microsoft's recently released Kinect motion-tracking system? Odds are looking good!

Here's the background. Adafruit Industries announced a $2,000 prize last week for anyone who managed to hack into the Kinect in an effort to unlock the device for use with hardware other than the Xbox 360. In short, here's the official challenge: "Upload your code, examples and documentation to GitHub. First person / group to get RGB out with distance values being used wins, you're smart – you know what would be useful for the community out there. All the code needs to be open source and/or public domain."

Well, user AlexP over at the NUI Group Community Forums has posted a video that appears to show a Kinect being controlled via a standard PC interface. That's the only background we have so far, so it remains to be seen whether the potential submission will actually fulfill all the criteria of Adafruit's contest.

Nevertheless, one thing is certain: Microsoft won't be very happy about the results.

"Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products," said a company spokesperson in an interview with CNet. "With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant."

So why the challenge? Adafruit is hoping that the Kinect's "radar camera," as Make magazine senior editor Phillip Torrone puts it, can be unlocked for use with robotics. But as for specific purposes, the sky's the limit—Nintendo's gyroscopic Wii Remote, after all, has been transformed into everything from a VR head-tracking device to the controller of a 15-ton robotic arm.

Android Revolution May Overwhelm BlackBerry

2010-11-08T09:18:00.000-05:00

PC World

The Android army may soon claim Research In Motion's BlackBerry as its first victim in the smartphone war. Between July and September, 44 percent of new smartphone users in the United States bought a Google Android phone, according to market research firm NPD Group. During the same period, 23 percent of the users bought an iOS device and 22 percent purchased a BlackBerry. NPD's report is another sign of Android's growing market power, and RIM's dramatic decline. But the battle for smartphone supremacy is far from over, and it's unclear whether Android can continue its impressive growth.

Android by the Numbers

Android outsold RIM by 2-to-1 and nearly did the same to Apple's iOS during the third quarter. Devices based on Google's smartphone OS increased by 11 percentage points in comparison to the second quarter of 2010, while RIM fell by 6 points and Apple rose by 1, according to NPD.

What is most stunning, however, is NPD's assertion that RIM's market share among new smartphone users in the U.S. fell by 53 percent when compared with the third quarter of 2009. NPD failed to mention how much Android rose or fell compared with those numbers, but the research firm said Apple's iOS also fell by 21 percent in that quarter.

Android Isn't the Top Device

Despite Android's growing strength overall, NPD found that Apple's iPhone 4 was the most popular mobile phone purchased by new users. BlackBerry Curve 8500 series devices came in second, followed by the LG Cosmos (an Internet-capable feature phone). The Android-based Motorola Droid X and HTC Evo 4G came in fourth and fifth.

Android's Long and Winding Road

Android has been the top smartphone OS for several quarters, but it isn't growing fast enough to beat out the iPhone and RIM in terms of overall user adoption. The most recent numbers from the Nielsen Company indicate that Android has 19 percent of all smartphone users in the U.S., while the iPhone has 28 percent and BlackBerry leads the pack with 30 percent adoption overall.

But Android's growth may slow in the next few months as new contenders attempt to take a bite out of the smartphone market. Next Monday, nine Windows Phone 7 devices from Microsoft will go on sale, and new smartphones from HP using an updated version of WebOS are expected to hit the market in early 2011.

If the rumors are to be believed, Apple's iPhone may also extend its reach in 2011 by expanding the popular smartphone to other U.S. carriers.

Smartphone Rising

Nielsen reports that during the most recent quarter 41 percent of new mobile phone buyers in the U.S. opted for a smartphone over a feature phone -- up 6 percentage points from the previous quarter. If that trend continues, expect to see a lot more competition among smartphone manufacturers in the coming months. The big question, however, may not be whether Android can rise to the top spot. But whether RIM can turn around its declining user adoption rates to remain a viable top 5 smartphone manufacturer against a slew of innovative devices from Apple, Google's numerous Android partners, HP and Microsoft.

Does Skyfire App Really Bring Flash to the iPhone? Hands On

2010-11-06T11:55:00.000-04:00

PC Mag

The Skyfire Web Browser app, which claims to play Flash videos on the iPhone, made its debut in the Apple App Store Wednesday afternoon. For $2.99, the app will turn Web-based Flash video into HTML5 and play it on your iPhone. But does it really work?

The app is designed as a full-fledged Web browser and includes an address bar, Google search box, and popular trending search terms. In theory, the app transcodes Flash content into HTML5 via the embedded the Safari browser, but in a brief test Wednesday afternoon, Skyfire left a little something to be desired.

After downloading Skyfire, the app issues a warning that it contains age-restricted material, presumably because it can troll the entire Web, including adult content. As such, Skyfire Web Browser has an adult, 17+ label due to "frequent/intense sexual content or nudity," according to the App Store.

After a few instructional screens providing an overview of what the app can do, Skyfire landed on its Web browser. Since an October demo video from Skyfire showed the app in action on the Daily Show's Web site, I too navigated to DailyShow.com to test it out. The site loaded normally enough. The main video up top was blacked out with the phrase "Adobe Flash Player" in blue in the middle. At first the app didn't do anything, so I tapped on the video, which took me to the Adobe Web site. A pop-up on the "SkyBar" below then told me I'd have to use the video button to access Flash content.

Returning to DailyShow.com, the video button did indeed pop up in a small icon on the bottom bar. Tapping on the video image took me to another page, where it buffered for a moment before failing. "Unable to play video. Would you like to report it to help us improve our system?" a message read. I reported, and navigated back to the site.

I decided to give the "video" section of DailyShow.com a chance, and had better luck – sort of. The video button emerged, and the video actually started loading this time, but it eventually displayed a "poor connectivity – video playback in low bandwidth mode" message. The video did load, and I could hear audio, but the video didn't sync up, and eventually stalled, returning to the "Video loading" screen.

Given that my service level is not ideal in my cube, I moved down the hall, where my iPhone 4 kicked from two bars to four. Still, this did not improve connectivity on Skyfire.

I navigated over to CNN.com and CBS.com to see if video on those sites would fare any better, but CNN.com had trouble loading and CBS.com returned the original "unable to play video" error. Skyfire warns that videos may take between 15-25 seconds to load, but I gave it much longer than that and nothing. It could be first-day growing pains or a lot of eager users clogging the system, but at this point, I wasn't able to actually get it to work.

Those looking to circumvent the Hulu Plus pay wall are out of luck; Hulu is not supported. "They don't allow it," Skyfire said in the app description. The Skyfire Web Browser also does not support Flash games or apps.

UPDATE: Demand for the app has prompted Skyfire to temporarily stop accepting new purchases from the App Store, the company said in a blog post. "The demand far exceeds our initial projections," the company wrote. "Thus we are effectively 'sold out' and will temporarily not accept new purchases from the App Store. We are working really hard to increase capacity and will be accepting new purchases from the App Store as soon as we can support it." The app is no longer showing up in search; it was the top grossing app on the App Store after five hours, Skyfire said.

T-Mobile, Sprint Sow Confusion Over '4G'

2010-11-05T11:42:00.000-04:00

The Wall Street Journal

Get ready for a confusing new war of words in the cellphone business.

While many American consumers are still scratching their heads over what exactly to make of current 3G mobile technology, carriers are already aggressively rolling out claims of faster, next-generation service on networks they're spending billions of dollars to upgrade.

The new buzzword is 4G—for fourth generation—and the implication is super fast speeds that make it a snap to watch streaming videos or download big data files on the go.

The catch is the carriers disagree about what counts as 4G. And the one organization that sets anything like an official definition has come up with a surprising conclusion: None of them deliver speeds that qualify.

T-Mobile USA is the latest to jump into the fray, boasting in ads that started running Tuesday that it owns "America's largest 4G network"—the same one it advertised in March as the country's fastest 3G network.

That doesn't sit well with Sprint Nextel Corp., which has been evangelizing the benefits of 4G for the past two years and rolling out an advanced network. Sprint's ads brag the carrier is "bringing you the first wireless 4G network."

"They are putting a mask on 3G and pretending it's 4G," Matt Carter, head of Sprint's 4G business, said of T-Mobile's campaign.

Clearwire Chief Commercial Officer Mike Sievert said the company's ability to deliver more capacity and better value will continue to set it apart. He added customers aren't going to get caught up with the alphabet soup of technology buzzwords.

Sprint's network, which is being built by partner Clearwire Corp., runs on a technology called WiMax, the first wireless broadband standard.

T-Mobile has been upgrading its network to a faster technology called HSPA+.

T-Mobile defends its decision to brand its network as 4G, claiming it is faster—downloading data at five to eight megabits a second versus three to six megabits a second for Sprint and Clearwire.

"If you look at the speed of the WiMax network out there, we're meeting, beating and exceeding them right now," said Reid Walker, a spokesman for T-Mobile USA, which is a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG.

The increased rhetoric underscores the high-stakes game played by the carriers as they jockey for position.

With subscriber growth slowing, carriers are counting on upgrading customers to more powerful phones and more expensive data services in order to drive growth.

Carriers are also trying to lure consumers by advertising new 4G-capable smartphones, such as Sprint's HTC Evo 4G. Consumers in turn are starting to show interest in so-called 4G networks, even if they don't quite know what they are.

The conflicting campaigns probably won't help.

A recent survey by Yankee Group of more than 1,200 consumers found 57% had either never heard of 3G or didn't understand the term. With 4G, the ranks of the confused jump to 68%.

"That is going to get pretty ridiculous really quickly," said Christopher Nicoll, analyst at Yankee Group.

Jamie Monberg, a 38-year-old executive for a Seattle-based design firm, is a gadget enthusiast who covets a 4G phone. But he acknowledges it's tough to sort out all the claims. "To be perfectly honest, even as a technologist, it's incredibly confusing," Mr. Monberg said.

In a sense, T-Mobile and Sprint/Clearwire are both wrong. The International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations agency responsible for setting global standards for communications technology, announced Oct. 21 that only two technologies—LTE-Advanced and WiMax 2—truly qualify as 4G. The ITU determined those could clear its hurdle of speeds of 100 megabits per second for mobile downloads.

While Verizon Wireless is launching an LTE network and Sprint and Clearwire have embraced WiMax, they are using earlier-stage technologies that don't come close to the specifications laid out by the ITU.

"We are comfortable with the way our LTE network will perform," a Verizon Wireless spokesman said.

He declined to comment on whether the carrier would embrace the 4G name.

The increased noise over 4G only diminishes Sprint and Clearwire's early move into faster technology.

Clearwire, which turned on its WiMax network in the New York area Monday, is available in nearly 60 markets. Verizon Wireless plans to have its LTE network up and running in 38 markets by the end of the year.

AT&T Inc., meanwhile, is rolling out the same HSPA+ technology as T-Mobile.

"Third-party research is clear—AT&T has the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, period," said an AT&T spokesman.

The carrier plans to start moving to LTE next year. It hasn't said whether the network will be called 4G.

Western Digital Frames Photo Viewer For Android, Apple

2010-11-04T08:03:00.000-04:00

Information Week

Free app enables smartphone users to remotely access pictures stored on their home network drives.

External storage provider Western Digital has launched a free app that will give Android and iPhone smartphone users the ability to securely view all photos stored on their home WD network drive anywhere they have an Internet connection.

The Photo Viewer app works with WD's My Book Live, My Book World Edition, or ShareSpace network drive. It's compatible with Apple iPhones and iPads and most Android smartphones, including the Motorola Droid, the HTC Droid Incredible, Nexus One, and the HTC EVO 4G, the Lake Forest, Calif.-based company said. It is available as a free download at the Android Market and Apple App Store.

Once users copy their pictures into the shared pictures folder on their WD network drive, they will have access to their photo library when connected to either their home network or from their compatible mobile devices. The app eliminates the need for uploads to online photo services and having to choose which photos to sync to their smartphone. Users can search for specific photos by name or the date a picture was taken and scroll through thumbnail previews from their Android device.

"Android phones are enjoying a huge success in the market," said Dale Pistilli, VP of marketing for WD's branded products group, in a statement. "By customizing the WD Photos app for Android phones, we provide a greater number of our users a better experience for viewing and sharing the precious photos safely stored at home on their WD home network drives."

Other features of the WD Photo Viewer app include the ability to instantly post pictures on Facebook; create a slideshow with transitions to create digital art; view all photos at once or filter them in a folder or photo album; use search capabilities; email a photo to a friend; assign a photo to a contact; or, on the Apple iOS4, listen to music while viewing photos.

Users must have either a Western Digital My Book Live home network drive (priced at $229.99); a My Book World Edition home network drive (priced at $259.99); My Book World Edition II dual-drive network storage (priced at $519.99); or a WD ShareSpace network storage system (priced at $1,179.99) to use the photo app.

Users must register with WD's MioNet secure remote access service, which is included for free with all WD's network drives, and have an Android device running 2.1 OS or higher, or an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch with 3.1 OS or later.

Intel Opens Door to Contract Chip Manufacturing

2010-11-04T08:02:00.000-04:00

PC World

Intel on Tuesday said the company would begin contract manufacturing of chips, a change from the company's policy of serving only itself through its factories.

The company earlier this week said it would make a line of FPGA (field-programmable gate array) products for Achronix Semiconductor using its upcoming 22-nanometer manufacturing process. Intel will start manufacturing chips for laptops, desktops and servers using the 22-nm products later next year.

"We are ... open to adding other customers beyond Achronix," said Bill Kircos, an Intel spokesman, via e-mail on Tuesday. He declined to say when the company would start signing up other customers.

Intel advances its manufacturing process every two years, and invests billions to upgrade factories. The company last month said it would invest between US$6 billion to $8 billion over multiple years to build a new plant and improve existing manufacturing plants in the U.S. A part of that investment will be applied to making 22-nm chips, which are faster and more power-efficient than chips made using the current 32-nm process.

The company also announced the opening of a $1 billion chip testing and assembly facility in Vietnam last week.

Making FPGAs for Achronix would make up a tiny amount of overall chip manufacturing capacity, Kircos said. Achronix makes specialized integrated circuits and chips for sectors like networking, communication and high-performance computing.

By accepting a small customer like Achronix, Intel is dipping its toes in the contract manufacturing waters, analysts said. Intel's chip development and manufacturing are tightly linked, and it could be years before Intel is ready to compete with large-scale contract manufacturers such as TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.), UMC (United Microelectronics Corp.) or GlobalFoundries.

"It's more of a test drive than a real commitment," said Dan Hutcheson, senior analyst at VLSI Research, which focuses on the semiconductor and chip manufacturing industries.

Intel has a good reason to look at FPGAs as they are "an incredibly profitable market," worth $4.7 billion, Hutcheson said.

Intel excels at chip manufacturing and has an advantage over rivals such as TSMC with its manufacturing process, Hutcheson said. Intel may believe it is faster than rivals at advancing process technology, he said.

Higher capital investments are also needed to advance manufacturing processes, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64. Intel perhaps realizes that contract manufacturing could fill extra capacity, and offsettin the high fixed cost related to making chips.

"Every generation gets more expensive," Brookwood said. "Looking forward, you could see where you might want to have these third-party customers to help offset some of the fixed expenses."

Brookwood said Intel may also be taking a page from rival Advanced Micro Devices, which last year spun-off its manufacturing operations into a separate entity called GlobalFoundries. AMD explicitly said it spun off Globalfoundries as it couldn't justify enough demand to make investments to scale production, Brookwood said.

"They could see the same sort of phenomenon that Advanced Micro Devices saw half a dozen years ago," Brookwood said.

Intel has mostly been serving itself through its factories, and will have to learn about supporting third parties, Brookwood said. Contract manufacturers have lots of experience supporting third parties, and have basic designs for different Arm, MIPS and PowerPC cores to attract fabless customers.

If Intel is looking at the foundry business model, the company may initially make specialized third-party chips for devices like smartphones and TVs, markets the company is going after aggressively, said Shane Rau, research director at IDC.

These chips could help improve sales of Intel's processors, while using up factory capacity, Rau said.

"The need to fill the fab is ever present," Rau said.

FTC Modifies Intel Antitrust Settlement

2010-11-03T12:19:00.000-04:00

eWeek

The FTC has modified the agreement it reached with Intel that settled antitrust complaints against the chip maker. The modification removes an interface requirement from Intel's "Oak Trail" Atom platform.

Intel's legal dispute with the Federal Trade Commission appears to be wrapping up, after the agency announced Nov. 2 that it had modified the initial agreement reached with the giant chip maker in August to settle antitrust allegations.

According to the FTC, the agreement was amended to allow Intel to ship its upcoming "Oak Trail" Atom platform without the required PCI Express interface because Intel began manufacturing it before the two sides reached the settlement Aug. 4. The FTC's modification will allow Intel to ship the Oak Trail chip until June 2013, but all future generations of the chip after that date must come with the PCIe interface.

In December 2009, the FTC filed suit against Intel, alleging that the chip maker abused its market dominance to illegally quash competition from the likes of Advanced Micro Devices, Via Technologies and Nvidia by offering system makers special discounts and rebates in return for limiting their use of products from those other companies, or by threatening retribution.

The FTC also said Intel altered some of its technologies, such as compilers, so that they would hinder the performance of AMD products, and then laid the blame for the poor performance on AMD's technology.

The accusations echoed similar claims made against Intel, not only by rivals like AMD and Nvidia, but also by other regulators, including the European Commission and the N.Y. Attorney General's Office. Intel executives have steadfastly denied that their business practices—while aggressive—violated antitrust laws.

Intel last year settled its long-running legal dispute with AMD, and currently is appealing a $1.45 billion fine levied by the EC. The chip maker reached a settlement with the FTC in August that outlined what Intel could and could not do in regard to its competitive business practices.

One of those provisions was the inclusion of the PCIe interface in the Intel chips for at least six years to ensure that they could not limit the performance of graphics chips, and to let Nvidia, AMD and others more fairly compete against Intel.

The FTC's modification excludes the Oak Trail Atom platform from that requirement. Oak Trail, designed for such form factors as tablet PCs and thin refurbished notebooks, will start appearing in systems in 2011.

The FTC also said that it rejected the arguments from some parties, including Via and chip designer ARM, that the agreement reached with Intel was not punitive enough on the giant chip maker. Via sought some changes in the original agreement, and ARM—which is coming into closer competition with Intel, as Intel is looking to muscle into the mobile handset market that is dominated by ARM-designed processors—asked the FTC to extend the order against Intel beyond the x86 market. The FTC rejected the suggestions from both vendors.

The FTC's suit against Intel refueled debate over the federal government's more aggressive stance in antitrust cases, particularly in the high-tech industry. Regulators not only are looking at Intel, but also other major tech players, including IBM. Some see the government's actions as necessary to level the playing field and to stop actions that they say ultimately are harming consumers. However, others see the regulators at creating an anti-business atmosphere in the United States.

Trial Opens Over Damages in Oracle Copyright Case With SAP

2010-11-02T22:16:00.000-04:00

NY Times

The dispute between the software giants Oracle and SAP, in one of the most closely watched court cases in Silicon Valley history, is not over whether SAP engaged in a copyright infringement scheme, but over how much damage was done to Oracle.

SAP has already admitted that it infringed on Oracle’s copyrights and has conceded liability. At issue in a jury trial that began on Tuesday in Federal District Court is how much money SAP will pay in damages. Oracle has argued for $2 billion, and SAP has countered that tens of millions of dollars would be enough. It has set aside $160 million to cover the cost.

For most people in the technology industry, though, the trial is a forum for Lawrence J. Ellison, Oracle’s outspoken chief executive, to go after Léo Apotheker, SAP’s former chief executive and now chief executive of Hewlett-Packard. H.P. had been a close partner of Oracle’s, but in recent months the companies have become rivals.

In the weeks before the trial, Mr. Ellison publicly castigated Mr. Apotheker for overseeing the infringement. He also criticized H.P. for hiring Mr. Apotheker, who succeeded Mark V. Hurd. Mr. Hurd was hired by Oracle as co-president after he resigned from H.P. over an ethics question.

The opening arguments in the trial, which is expected to last four weeks, highlighted the cutthroat business tactics of competitors in the business software industry.

Jo-Ellen Pozner, a professor of management and organization at University of California, Berkeley, said that Mr. Ellison was using the trial to sully the image of his rivals. She likened his attacks to a negative campaign advertisement, calling them nasty but memorable in the minds of potential customers.

“He’s killing two birds with one stone,” Ms. Pozner said.

Geoffrey Howard, a Bingham McCutchen lawyer representing Oracle, told Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton, an eight-person jury and a packed courtroom that SAP executives had been well aware of the theft carried out against his client, and that, in fact, they had encouraged it. He painted a picture of a company so fearful of Oracle’s growing power that it chose to purloin its software in an effort to steal its customers.

“The scope is vast,” Mr. Howard said. He also quoted from a 2005 e-mail written by Mr. Apotheker that said, “We need to inflict some pain on Oracle.”

SAP’s lawyer, Robert A. Mittelstaedt of Jones Day, was contrite about the copyright infringement, telling the jury that SAP admits “that it did something wrong.” But he minimized its scope by saying that other than some lost profits and lost customers, Oracle suffered little damage.

“They want a windfall,” Mr. Mittelstaedt said. “They want a bonanza that is all out of proportion to the harm.”

The theft stems from SAP’s acquisition in 2005 of TomorrowNow, a company that provided technical support to some of Oracle’s customers. TomorrowNow routinely downloaded copies of Oracle’s software and maintenance manuals onto its computers and distributed some of those copies to clients — all without paying Oracle.

One of the biggest questions about the trial is whether Mr. Apotheker will testify in person. Oracle’s lawyer was vague on the matter, leaving the door open to his appearing in a video deposition.

Mr. Ellison has suggested that Mr. Apotheker, who started work at H.P. on Monday, is trying to dodge an appearance by staying outside the country. H.P. declined to comment on Mr. Apotheker’s whereabouts.

Ray Lane, H.P.’s chairman, defended Mr. Apotheker’s integrity in a statement last week. He emphasized that Mr. Apotheker had known little about the infringement, and he called Mr. Ellison’s criticism merely an effort to harass Mr. Apotheker and “interfere with his duties.”

At the trial, each side produced e-mails and internal documents that shed an unflattering light on the other.

Oracle’s lawyer showed an e-mail in which an SAP executive had warned Shai Agassi, then SAP’s president, of the potential copyright liability of acquiring TomorrowNow. John Ritchie, a TomorrowNow employee, offered another blow in a video deposition by saying that his superior had ignored his concerns about copyright infringement and went so far as to tell him never to write anything down.

SAP’s lawyer countered with e-mails in which Juan Jones, an Oracle employee, had referred to Toyota, an Oracle customer, with an expletive and boasted of refusing it a lower price on software. The lawyer said the contents had showed that Oracle’s poor service led to some customer defections and that SAP should not be held liable for those.

Indeed, Oracle claimed that SAP had been trying to steal thousands of customers it provided support to, pointing to an internal SAP presentation. But SAP responded that despite its rosy projections, the company lured only 358 of Oracle’s 9,000 or 10,000 support business customers, and that many of them would have left anyway.

Android, iPhone Leave Windows Mobile In Dust

2010-11-02T10:59:00.000-04:00

Information Week

Windows Phone 7 can't arrive fast enough for Microsoft, which saw its share of the smartphone OS market fall a stunning 66% in just three months, according to new data released Monday.

Market watcher Canalys reported that Windows Mobile's share of the U.S. smartphone market slipped to just 3% in the three months ended September 30. That's down from about 9% in the second quarter. Microsoft's rivals, meanwhile, are surging.

Apple's iPhone, with a 26% share, was the best selling single platform shipped during the quarter. RIM, developer of the corporate-friendly BlackBerry, held a 24.2% stake. Google's Android OS, which is available on devices from a host of manufacturers, was the most popular mobile OS overall, with a 44% share.

Microsoft is hoping to avoid utter irrelevancy in the increasingly important smartphone market when it launches Windows Phone 7 later this month. AT&T will offer models from HTC, Samsung, and LG, while T-Mobile will stock units from HTC and Dell. Verizon and Sprint plan to begin offering Windows Phone 7 phones next year.

The OEM devices cover a broad range of form factors, from the Dell Venue Pro's slide-out keyboard to the HTC Surround's Dolby speakers, but all conform to a reference design laid out by Microsoft. All Windows Phone 7 devices, for instance, will feature a start screen that's grouped into six "Smart Tiles", from which users can view real-time updates and access calling, social media, messaging, photo, e-mail, and personal applications and services.

Canalys analyst Chris Jones said he believes Windows Phone 7 gives Microsoft a chance to get back into the smartphone race.

"Windows Phone 7 is streets ahead of earlier iterations and provides a vastly improved user experience that will pleasantly surprise many people when they come to use it," said Jones, in a statement. "The integration of Microsoft service assets, such as Xbox Live, Bing, Zune, and Office, greatly strengthens the proposition and we are confident that the initial array of products will perform well," said Jones.

The first Windows Phone 7 devices hit the U.S. market on November 8.