Emerson to buy Motorola unit for $350 million

Slashdot It! Diversified manufacturer Emerson Electric agreed to buy a Motorola unit that serves the telecommunications, medical and defense industries for $350 million in cash, the companies said Friday. Emerson, whose portfolio includes motors, thermostats, storage units for supermarkets and technology to improve manufacturing efficiency, plans to acquire Motorola's Embedded Communications Computing business by the end of the calendar year, the companies said. The Motorola business, which had sales last year of about $520 million, provides embedded-computing products and services to communication infrastructure and equipment makers in the telecommunications, medical imaging, defense and aerospace, and industrial-automation industries, the companies said. gaming keyboard It will become a part of the Emerson Network Power business, boosting St. Louis, Mo.-based Emerson's presence in the $6 billion embedded-computing business, the companies said. "Wireless adoption is driving long-term telecommunications market growth, and broadband applications are reviving near-term wireline investment," Emerson Chief Executive David Farr said in a statement. "As we watch the telecom world quickly bring voice, video and data together for its customers, we believe the addition of the Motorola ECC business significantly strengthens our position for growth," he added. Cell phone maker Motorola, based in Schaumburg, Ill., said the deal enables it to focus on its core businesses. Based in Tempe, Ariz., the Motorola business employs about 1,100 people, the companies said. The primary purpose of embedded-computing technology is to control machines or other computer systems and manipulate data, the companies said. For example, in the telecommunications sector, such technology routes and monitors voice, video and data traffic across multiple networks. Power Supplies Dell Laptops Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft extends Windows XP's stay

Slashdot It! Bowing to pressure from customers and computer makers, Microsoft plans to keep Windows XP around a little longer. Large PC manufacturers were slated to have to stop selling XP after January 31. However, they have successfully lobbied Microsoft to allow them to continue selling PCs with all flavors of Windows XP preloaded until June 30, a further five months. Microsoft also plans to keep XP on retail shelves longer and will allow computer makers in emerging markets to build machines with Windows XP Starter Edition until June 2010. The move indicates the continued demand for the older operating system, some nine months after Windows Vista hit store shelves. In recent weeks, several PC makers launched programs that allow new PC buyers to more easily "downgrade" their Vista Business and Vista Ultimate machines to Windows XP. Fujitsu, which was among those lobbying for the change, has started including an XP restore disc in the box with all of its laptops running Vista Business. "This allows the installed base of Windows XP users more time to manage the transition to Vista, which is important for some smaller companies with limited resources," Paul Moore, senior director of mobile product marketing for Fujitsu, said in a statement. Dell also said it support's Microsoft's decision. "We believe the additional time will help some customers to prepare for the transition from XP to Vista," the company said in a statement. Microsoft, for its part, sought to downplay the impact of the move, disagreeing with the notion that there is still strong demand for XP. "We wouldn't term it strong," said Kevin Kutz, a director in Microsoft's Windows Client unit. "We would describe this as accommodating a certain element who needs more time." Kutz said Microsoft had seen similar demand patterns with past releases and noted that in the past, old operating systems remained available for around 18 months after the release of a new operating system. "While Windows Vista sales are still going strong...we recognize there are some customers that need more time," Kutz said. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Boeing tests an biofuel engine

Slashdot It! Boeing, Air New Zealand and Rolls-Royce today announced a Memorandum of Understanding to conduct a biofuel demonstration flight designed to help accelerate the development of viable and sustainable alternative fuels for commercial aviation uses. Boeing is exploring second-generation biofuel feed stocks and processes that have the potential to reduce greenhouse gases throughout their entire lifecycle. The demonstration flight is planned for the second half of 2008 using an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 equipped with Rolls-Royce engines. Boeing is in discussions with fuel-source providers around the globe to identify potential biofuels that are available in suitable quantities for laboratory and jet-engine performance testing and in compliance with stringent aviation requirements. Additional details will be announced closer to the actual demonstration flight date. "Our near-term goal in this pioneering effort is to identify sustainable alternative bio-jet fuel sources for the planes that are flying today," said Craig Saddler, president of Boeing Australia. A significant first step is identifying progressive fuel sources that will provide better economic and environmental performance for air carriers, without any change to aircraft engines or the aviation fuel infrastructure." The Air New Zealand bio-jet fuel demo flight will highlight the suitability of environmentally progressive fuel solutions (bio-jet fuels) that differ from traditional biofuel development. Bio-jet fuels will incorporate second-generation methodologies relative to sustainable feedstock source selection and fuel processing, which are uniquely suited for aerospace applications. These bio-jet fuels can potentially be blended with traditional kerosene fuel (Jet-A) to reduce dependency on petroleum-based fuels. Additionally, sustainable bio-jet feedstock sources avoid deforestation practices and potential competition with global food resources, while helping to lower aviation carbon dioxide outputs. "This test flight is another step in our plan to lead the globe in development of the most environmentally responsible airline," said Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe. "We have already taken large steps toward this goal by introducing fuel-efficient Boeing 777s and we eagerly await the first of our 787-9 Dreamliners which will burn 20 percent less fuel than the planes they replace." Air New Zealand, one of the world's most progressive airlines, is a launch customer for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, scheduled for entry into service in 2008. Air New Zealand will receive its first 787-9 in 2010. In addition to providing passengers with a better flying experience, it also will provide operators with a more environmentally efficient jetliner including lower carbon emissions and quieter takeoffs and landings. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Novell credits Microsoft for soaring Linux sales

Slashdot It! Novell says its Linux business has grown by 243 percent over the last three quarters, and it largely credits its deal with Microsoft. Novell has reached $100 million in revenue from Linux over the nine-month period, thanks to the close working relationship it has had with Microsoft since the two companies signed their collaborative deal in November. As part of the deal, Microsoft offers support for Novell's Suse Linux, and the two companies are working on making their respective software interoperable. "For Novell's first three quarters of our fiscal year, our Linux business was up 243 percent," said Justin Steinman, director of marketing at Novell. "This (sales increase) is public endorsement that our joint engineering efforts are already paying dividends to customers operating in a mixed environment, which, by the way, is pretty much all Linux users today," said Steve Harris, senior sales director for open source at Novell. "It helps us to maintain momentum and our investments in this collaboration work, which will continue to drive growth in our Linux business worldwide." It is the interoperability between Linux and Windows that "is really receiving a lot of customer interest right now," Harris said. As an example of the cooperation between the two companies, earlier this month, Microsoft and Novell announced a joint development lab in Cambridge, Mass., that will focus on cross-platform interoperability. The lab, which measures 2,500 square feet, will host a combined team of eight Microsoft and Novell engineers and two directors, working to make Windows Server and Suse Linux Enterprise work together, according to a statement from the two companies. One of the key areas of interoperability work will be in virtualization, which is seen as a crucial area by many IT professionals. The lab will also work on file formats, systems management and directory technology integration. Novell's main competitor in the Linux market, Red Hat, announced its quarterly results this week. The company said its quarterly revenue of $127 million was up by 28 percent compared with the same quarter last year. Its subscription revenue of $109 million was up 29 percent, Red Hat said. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

iPhone update really makes the iPhone an expensive brick

Slashdot It!

Users may not be able to add Apple features to an unlocked phone

An Apple software update is disabling iPhones that have been unlocked by owners who wanted to choose which mobile network to use.

Earlier this week Apple said a planned update would leave the device "permanently inoperable".

Thousands of iPhone owners hacked their expensive gadget in order to unlock it for use with other mobile carriers and to run a host of unsupported programs.

There are also reports of the update causing issues with unaltered iPhones. On Monday Apple issued a statement in which it said many of the unauthorised iPhone unlocking programs caused "irreparable damage" to the device's software. The company said this would "likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed". That warning has now proved correct as many owners are reporting their phones no longer work following installation of the update. Apple requires iPhone owners to take out a lengthy contract with AT&T in the United States but there are a number of programs on the net that unlock the device for use with other networks. Some owners are reporting on technology blogs and Apple's own forums that the update is deleting contacts information, as well as photos and music, on iPhones that have not been modified in any way. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

DVD format war to run another 18 months

Slashdot It! Sales of next-generation DVD players are not seen as likely to take off for another 18 months as consumers are still waiting for prices to fall and for the battle over two competing technologies to be resolved. Referring to the high-definition DVD format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, Forrester Research said in a report on Monday that while the two camps have "been fighting what seems to be a war of attrition for consumers' hearts and minds," few consumers are warming to either type of device. Sony backs the Blu-ray standard against Toshiba's HD DVD. Hollywood and electronics manufacturers hope new high-definition DVDs, with better picture quality and more capacity, will revive the slowing $24 billion home DVD market. But the format war has curbed adoption in a way reminiscent of the Betamax-VHS videotape format battle of the early 1980s, experts say. Forrester analyst J.P. Gownder stood behind his company's view that Blu-ray would eventually win out over HD DVD, but he said the Blu-ray camp needs to cut prices. A stand-alone Blu-ray player sells for about $500, while HD DVD players cost about $400, and prices are expected to drop further as the holiday shopping season nears. Gownder said Blu-ray's content advantages are somewhat diminished since the recent decision by Viacom's Paramount studio to commit exclusively to HD DVD. HD DVD hardware prices have also dropped into consumers' preferred price range, he said. "Weakened by these developments, Blu-ray needs to offer a viable hardware model at the $250 price point by Christmas 2007," he said in the report. "The Blu-ray camp must also stave off further studio defections, and employ more aggressive promotional tactics to counter HD DVD's recent momentum." Forrester said typical owners of high-definition televisions are not willing to pay more than $200 on average for a new HD DVD or Blu-ray player. "Failure to alter strategy would open up Blu-ray to a possible upset defeat at the hands of HD DVD," Gownder said. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Why Microsoft must abandon Vista

Slashdot It! While Vista was originally touted by Microsoft as the operating system savior we've all been waiting for, it has turned out to be one of the biggest blunders in technology. With a host of issues that are inexcusable and features that are taken from the Mac OS X and Linux playbook, Microsoft has once again lost sight of what we really want. As we're more than aware, Vista Ultimate comes at a premium. For an additional $160 over the Premium SKU price, Ultimate gives you a complete backup and restore option, BitLocker Drive encryption, the ever so popular Windows Fax & Scan, and the "Ultimate Extras." But what started with a promise of "Extras" by summer, quickly turned into an apology from Microsoft and the eventual release of DreamScene and Windows Hold 'Em (among others) today. And while each of the "Extras" runs just fine, Microsoft's "Extras" blunder is just another reason why the company must abandon Vista before it's too late. The first indication that Microsoft should abandon Vista is its poor sales figures. According to a recent report titled "Windows Vista Still Underperforming in U.S. Retail" from NPD, Vista sales are significantly behind XP sales during its early days. Even worse for Redmond, some are reverting to XP, citing issues with compatibility and overall design. And if that wasn't enough, Macs continue to surge and with the impending release of Leopard, Microsoft may be in for a rough holiday season. With each passing day, it's becoming blatantly clear that Microsoft released Vista too early and the company's continual mistakes and promises that can't be kept are further annoying the Windows faithful. Much talk has been given to Service Pack 1 and how this update should address many of the issues users have with Vista, but I simply don't agree. Will SP1 eliminate the ridiculous Microsoft licensing schemes? Will SP1 drop the price on the higher-end versions? Will SP1 eliminate the need for users to buy a new computer just to use the faulty OS? SP1 will do nothing but fix the holes and issues we currently know about and create even more. As we all know from the days of Windows ME and even XP, Microsoft is not the best company at finding and addressing security issues, and chances are, Vista will be no different. One significant problem that I have with Vista is its inclusion of new DRM, specifically the company's decision to install Protected Video Path. To prevent a person from copying (or in most cases, backing up) a movie, the operating system provides process isolation and if an unverified component is in use, the operating system shuts down DRM content. For the first time on any operating system, we're not even allowed to backup our favorite movies? Come on. I also find it interesting that Microsoft decided to take the user access control concept from Mac OS X and make it much worse. Can someone please explain to me why I need to be asked if I wanted to do something entirely innocuous like open a third-party app from a well-known software company? Never before have I seen such an abysmal start to an operating system release. For almost a year, people have been adopting Vista and becoming incensed by how poorly it operates. Not only does it cost too much, it requires more to run than XP, there is still poor driver support, and that draconian licensing scheme is a by-product of Microsoft picking on the wrong people. The road ahead looks dangerous for Vista and Microsoft must realize that. With Mac OS X hot on its tail, Vista is simply not capable of competing at an OS level with some of the best software around. If Microsoft continues down this path, it will be Vista that will bring the software giant to its knees--not Bill Gates' departure. Of course, categorically dumping an operating system is quite difficult and with millions already using the OS, chances are Microsoft won't find a good enough reason to do it. And while I can understand that argument, there's no reason the company can't continue to support Vista and go back to the drawing board for its next OS. Even better, go back to XP--it's not nearly as bad as Vista. As a daily user of Mac OS X, Ubuntu and Vista, I'm keenly aware of what works and what doesn't. Mac and Linux work. The time is up. Microsoft must abandon Vista and move on. It's the company's only chance at redemption. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

New-Look Search Sites Aim to Close Google Gap

Slashdot It! The race for supremacy in Internet searching has been decidedly one-sided for the last few years, with Google attracting an ever-bigger slice of the market. That has not stopped underdogs like Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask.com from trying again and again to find new ways to pull in more searchers. Microsoft is introducing another such effort on Thursday: a major overhaul of its Live Search service (www.live.com). It presents results in ways that are markedly different from the list of 10 blue links that have long been an online standard. A search using the words “digital camera,” for instance, will deliver photos and links to reviews and shopping information for the most popular digital cameras. This “product guide,” which includes information culled from sites like Amazon.com and PriceGrabber.com, will be followed by traditional search results. Over the next month, Microsoft will start using this approach for searches related to products, local businesses, health information and entertainment. The idea is to try to anticipate what users want, said Satya Nadella, corporate vice president of the search and advertising platform group at Microsoft. “We call it blended search,” Mr. Nadella said. “We’re giving you instant answers.” Meanwhile, Yahoo has quietly introduced a similar set of features on its search engine, calling them shortcuts, and is expected to deliver more updates soon. Ask.com made the most radical departure from standard results in June when it unveiled a service called Ask3D. The service displays results in three panels that combine standard search results with suggestions for related queries, blog items, videos, photos, news articles and shopping information. Yahoo’s shortcuts are already in use on searches related to music, sports, local businesses and travel. Vish Makhijani, senior vice president and general manager for Yahoo Search, said users clicked on shortcuts at a higher frequency than they did on the top Web result. “We’re delivering them because they are of really high value to Yahoo users,” he said. These companies’ efforts to set their results apart from Google’s come after years in which search engines were largely focused on delivering increasingly comprehensive and relevant links but did little to alter their presentation. The quest to improve the quality of the results themselves continues, and Mr. Nadella promised that Microsoft’s new service would finally be as good on that front as Google’s. Google, too, has changed its approach to presentation, but far more gradually than its rivals have. In May, for instance, it started a service called universal search that mixes videos, photos, news articles and other items with traditional search results. And it has progressively added modules atop its search results that deliver stock quotes, local weather and flight tracking information in response to queries on those subjects. Google’s caution has been deliberate. Company officials have said that Google tries to introduce new features without disrupting a formula that has proved to be a hit with users. Indeed, Google accounted for 56.5 percent of all searches in the United States in August, a gain of nearly 10 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the Web audience measuring firm ComScore. Yahoo was a distant second with 23.3 percent of the market, followed by Microsoft with 11.3 percent, and Ask.com and AOL with 4.5 percent each. AOL’s searches are performed by Google’s technology. Analysts said the new strategies by Microsoft, Yahoo and Ask.com were not likely to shake up those rankings anytime soon, in part because Google commands such strong loyalty. “Habits are hard to break, and it is especially hard to break good habits,” said Danny Sullivan, the editor of Search Engine Land. “If you’ve had a good experience with Google, you have little reason to switch.” Mr. Sullivan said users were unlikely to drop Google altogether. But he said the new features introduced by Microsoft and others may persuade some people to use those search engines for specialized queries — say, for health information, entertainment and products. “I don’t think any of the things Microsoft and Yahoo are doing are game changers on their own,” Mr. Sullivan said. The struggles of Ask.com illustrate how hard it is to battle the Google juggernaut. Ask.com has long been considered an innovator in search, and its new features have been praised by analysts and appreciated by its users. But the company has not been able to translate the good reviews into gains in market share. “We’re like the Oscar-winning movie that hasn’t made $100 million at the box office,” said Jim Lanzone, the chief executive of Ask.com, which is owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp. But Mr. Lanzone said he had not lost hope. “People don’t switch search engines overnight,” he said. Like Mr. Lanzone, Mr. Nadella of Microsoft said his goal was not necessarily to steal customers from Google, but rather to entice Microsoft’s millions of users to turn to the service more frequently. Charlene Li, an analyst with Forrester Research, said this strategy made sense. A company like Yahoo, she said, has hundreds of millions of people who visit its Web site, but not all of them use its search service. “They are not necessarily trying to get the Google loyalist,” Ms. Li said. “Yahoo is trying to get its core users one search at a time.” Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Internet Uses 9.4% of U.S. Electricity

Slashdot It! Equipment powering the internet accounts for 9.4% of electricity demand in the U.S., and 5.3% of global demand, according to new research from Uclue.com. The annual energy demand of computers, monitors, networking, and transmission equipment for the internet amount to 350 billion kWh in the US -- 9.4% of the 3.7 trillion kWh used in total. Similarly, world demand for the internet is 868 billion kWh, or 5.3% of total global electricity consumption of 16.33 trillion kWh. The largest demand for internet-related energy use comes from desktop computers and monitors, which account for two-thirds of total use. Networking equipment such as modems and routers are another sizable draw, as are the substantial power demands for data processing and equipment cooling at data centers. Actual data transmission, on the other hand, chiefly over telephone lines, is a small component -- approximately 0.1% -- of overall energy demand. "As far as we know, this is the first estimate of total internet electricity use," said David Sarokin, the Uclue researcher who compiled the data. "The raw numbers were all out there, but they hadn't been assembled in this way before." Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Intel says it's regaining market share

Slashdot It! Intel Chairman Craig Barrett said the microchip maker is regaining market share against Advanced Micro Devices and that its performance is looking "pretty good." Barrett also told Reuters in an interview that the world's largest chip company is fairly insulated against the U.S. economic slowdown, as most of its business is overseas. "I think we're in a very strong competitive position vis-a-vis AMD," Barrett said. "We've given guidance on our performance, and it looks pretty good," he said, declining to comment further on the company's outlook or on current demand. Intel earlier this month boosted its revenue to between $9.4 billion and $9.8 billion for its current quarter, which is completed around the end of September. That is compared with an earlier target range of $9 billion to $9.6 billion, and with $8.74 billion in the year-ago period. Barrett said his company has been regaining market share from AMD with new products. Intel has also fought market share losses to AMD with price cuts to older products. Intel stumbled in 2005, but it started introducing chips with new designs in the middle of last year that have helped the company regain market share against its smaller rival. Earlier this month, AMD introduced a line of chips code-named Barcelona that have four cores, the main computing engines in computers, to compete with quad-core processors from Intel. When asked whether he had concerns about a U.S. economic slowdown, Barrett said most of Intel's business is abroad. "The bulk of our business is outside the United States...The growth of our business is predominantly in emerging markets," he said. "If there (were) a worldwide slowdown, that would be a concern to us," Barrett said. "But most of the dialogue has been on the U.S." Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

15 things that Apple can do to improve the iPhone

Slashdot It! According to Computer World, they published an new report on what Apple can do to improve the future iPhones. A few suggestions include the much needed 3G and GPS Quote"1. Get on the 3G train Let's start with the most obvious shortcoming: The fact that the iPhone is tied to AT&T's old EDGE wireless data network instead of the technologically superior 3G network. One of the things that makes the iPhone revolutionary is its unprecedented use of the Internet. No other cell phone or handheld on the market offers the full-featured, Web-browsing experience of Safari mobile (to say nothing of YouTube, Maps or other Net applications). But the EDGE data service is too slow for many Internet tasks, especially downloading large amounts of data, such as a graphically intense Web page or a video from YouTube. The iPhone's ability to use Wi-Fi instead of EDGE mitigates these limitations, but that is only an option when you're in range of a Wi-Fi network. And even though AT&T offers 3G coverage in some areas, the iPhone itself doesn't support 3G. It isn't clear at this point how quickly AT&T plans to beef up its 3G service throughout the country. The company's Web site claims that it is working to expand 3G coverage, and its coverage indicator does show more 3G locations than when the iPhone was announced in January. What's more, a recent patent licensing deal struck between Apple and InterDigital strongly implies that 3G support for the iPhone is in the works. (InterDigital specializes in developing embedded wireless technologies and has already developed and licensed 3G technology to other companies, including Nokia, NEC, Sharp and Panasonic.) Even if AT&T's rollout of 3G isn't speedy, 3G performance for the iPhone is still critical for its success in other markets, including Europe, which has much more widespread 3G service than the U.S. 2. Add GPS Speaking of data services, the iPhone desperately needs GPS. Offering a dedicated Google Maps application is great, but its use is limited without GPS. After I got lost on a dark country road recently, one of my friends asked me, "How can you be lost when you've got an iPhone?" The answer, of course, is that the iPhone's Maps application is great, so long as you know where you are. If you don't, then it isn't much help. GPS would also position the iPhone to compete with in-dash navigation devices. Think about the ability for the iPhone to be not only phone, Internet device and iPod, but also navigation system. The added value is so incredible that it really is surprising Apple didn't include GPS in the iPhone to begin with." Read more at Computer World Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Mozilla to fix Firefox memory leak

Slashdot It! Many Mozilla community members, including both volunteers and Mozilla Corporation employees, have been helping to reduce Firefox's memory usage and fix memory leak bugs lately. Hopefully, the result of this effort will be that Firefox 3 uses less memory than Firefox 2 did, especially after it has been used for several hours. Memory usage Federico Mena-Quintero submitted a patch to make Firefox discard decompressed image data after five seconds (bug 296818). ImageLib module owner Stuart Parmenter experimented with a competing idea in bug 386377, but now he plans to help with Federico's patch. The patch will make image data join text runs in using time-based caching rather than traditional space-bounded caching. Aaron suggested having an "about:memory" page showing a breakdown of Firefox's memory use (bug 392351). When I pointed out the bug to Brendan Eich, he excitedly assigned the bug to himself. Eli Friedman discovered that nsFloatCache was no longer necessary and eliminated most of it (bug 381385). Memory leaks David Baron checked in a patch for the last bug that contributed to RLk on Linux, bringing the number of XPCOM objects leaked during this test to zero. Since this test runs on Tinderbox, it's likely that regressions will be noticed quickly, even if they don't turn Tinderbox orange. Robert Sayre created a script to load random pages and see whether they cause leaks. The random URLs come from the Yahoo directory (biased toward older, top-level pages), del.icio.us (biased toward newer, geeky pages), and AltaVista (biased toward pornography). The script detects leaks using trace-refcnt, the same test used by RL; future versions might use trace-malloc in order to catch additional leaks. Robert has caught at least 6 distinct leak bugs using this script, 3 of which have already been fixed. See LeakingPages and bug 394517 for details. David Baron created a series of patches to the cycle collector to aid in debugging leaks. With this code, DEBUG_CC builds of Firefox can notice when an object "expected to be garbage" is not collected and then explain in detail why it was not collected. Steve England tested the top 500 web sites, finding two leaks. Later, he tested the top 20 Firefox extensions and found leaks in several of them. David Baron recorded seven leak debugging screencasts, which you can watch to see how David Baron debugs real leaks. Kris Zyp found a leak in the JavaScript Engine when using the watch method (bug 394709). Igor Bukanov responded quickly with not only a patch for the bug but also a leak detection patch to enable regression testing of JavaScript Engine leaks. I asked him to modify his patch so I could use jsfunfuzz to test for JavaScript Engine leaks, and he did. (This led me to find several bugs in evalcx, but no additional leaks.) David Baron got the stack walking code and the stack fixer working on Mac, making it possible to use trace-malloc and the refcount balancer on Mac (bug 336517, bug 392118). How to help You don't have to be a C++ programmer to help find leaks in Firefox. If you're a Firefox user, an easy way to help is to browse with a trunk nightly build wrapped in a script that calls leak-gauge.pl when Firefox exits. If it reports that documents or windows leaked, try to figure out how to reproduce the leak and then file a bug report. If you're an advanced user, you can do something similar with with trace-refcnt, which detects leaks of all reference-counted objects, not just windows and documents. Build Firefox with the .mozconfig option "--enable-logrefcnt" (or build debug) and run your build with XPCOM_MEM_LEAK_LOG=2. When Firefox exits, it will print a detailed but understandable summary of what types of objects leaked. If you're are a C++ programmer and want to help diagnose or fix bugs, check out Performance:Leak_Tools along with David Baron's screencasts, and hang out in #developers on irc.mozilla.org. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Demonoid shut down?

Slashdot It! Demonoid.com, one of the most popular BitTorrent trackers has allegedly been taken offline by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). Both the tracker and the website have been unresponsive for nearly 24 hours now.

As of now it is still unsure what exactly happened, but the popular Dutch news site nu.nl reports that the CRIA is responsible for the downtime.

TorrentFreak contacted some of the Demonoid administrators, but they are not sure what happened either. It is certainly possible that Demonoid’s Canadian ISP pulled the plug after being pressured by the CRIA. The ISP said before that they would take it down if they would receive complaints.

Right now, the Demonoid server is still pinging, but the ISP could have firewalled the everything after they received some serious legal threats. Deimos, the founder and the head admin of the site is unreachable and has not responded yet.

This is not the first time Demonoid suffers major downtime due to pressure from the anti-piracy lobby. Demonoid had to move its servers from The Netherlands to Canada in June after The Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN filed a subpoena against Demonoid’s ISP. BREIN had asked the ISP to take Demonoid offline and hand over the administrator’s personal details, but Demonoid relocated their servers before any harm was done.

Unfortunately, it now seems that Canada is not the “safe haven” as they expected it to be. It is likely that Demonoid has to relocate again, for the second time in three months.

Demonoid tracks over a million .torrent files and is the second largest BitTorrent tracker after The Pirate Bay. The shutdown of the site and tracker is a huge blow for the BitTorrent community that lost 2 of the most popular BitTorrent trackers (TorrentBox was taken offline for US users a few hours ago) within 24 hours.

Update: Still no response from Deimos, the CRIA or Demonoid’s ISP.

Update: The CRIA and Demonoid’s ISP refuse to comment to the allegations, they don’t confirm or deny anything.

Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

OMX Outsources Global Network and Data Center Management to Verizon Business

Slashdot It! OMX, a leading expert in the exchange industry, has signed a seven-year agreement to outsource its global customer network operations and data center management to Verizon Business. OMX owns and operates the Nordic Exchange and supplies exchange technologies to more than 60 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in 50 countries worldwide. The company employs more than 1,500 people within its operations in Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. OMX's decision to outsource its network and data center operations will enable the company to focus on its core competencies by working with a single global provider. The company's communications network and data center facilities serve both OMX's own operations and those of its global customers. Under the agreement, Verizon Business will take responsibility for aspects of external networks and data centers. OMX will continue to be the prime contractor and offer a wide range of IT services to exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories worldwide. The overriding goal of the agreement is to further enhance OMX's global customer service delivery and support future growth. "Finding a dedicated outsourcing supplier for external network operations is an important element in our global growth plans," said Markus Gerdien, president, market technology for OMX. "Our external network operations are crucial to our business, and we needed to ensure we developed a relationship with a supplier truly able to support our global needs today and in the future. "We chose to work with Verizon Business thanks to the company's excellent track record in managed services, acknowledged experience of the financial services sector, solutions expertise, and a global network reach. This partnership is ultimately designed to benefit our customers. We look forward to realizing the benefits of Verizon Business' support as we continue to expand the reach of our IT services worldwide," Gerdien said. John Killian, president, Verizon Business, said: "The decision to adopt a managed services approach is increasingly seen as a strategic factor for business success. OMX is a truly global organization working, and also servicing customers, in one of the most demanding communications environments - the financial markets. OMX's business relies on fast, secure and reliable networks, and we are delighted that it has chosen to entrust the operation and management of this critical business asset to Verizon Business." Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Sony sells 250,000 new PSPs in four days

Slashdot It! Sony sold about 250,000 units of the new version of the PlayStation Portable in Japan in the four days since its launch, a game magazine publisher said Wednesday, roughly matching total Japanese sales of the original PSP in the two months through August. Sony launched the new PSP, which is cheaper and slimmer than the initial model, on September 20 in Japan in a bid to compete better with Nintendo's DS Lite. Both Sony and Nintendo released their handheld consoles, the PSP and DS, respectively, late in 2004. But sales of the PSP, which can play movies, music and games, have recently been outshone by the DS Lite, the lighter version of the DS. Sony sold 250,702 new PSPs in the four days through September 23, compared with 275,223 units of the original PSP it sold in July and August in Japan, according to data from videogame magazine publisher Enterbrain. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

OCZ Vendetta Exposed HDT CPU Cooler @ Benchmark Reviews

Slashdot It! Many manufacturers search out designs that will help them develop a product known for extraordinary performance. Benchmark Reviews has already reviewed many of the very best CPU coolers available to enthusiasts, from the very unique and original design of the Zaward Sylphee ZCJ003 and VIVO to the oversized Thermaltake MaxOrb CL-P0369. Not long ago, we even reviewed the Ultra ULT33186 Chilltec TEC CPU cooler which combined three different cooling technologies into one solution. All of these products performed very well, but none of them really set itself apart from the pack like the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 did. In this review we will test the OCZ Vendetta (OCZTVEND) Exposed Copper Heatpipe Direct Touch CPU cooler against a field of well-established competitors. URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=1 Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Tagan CS-EL Diablo Mid Tower ATX Case @ Benchmark Reviews

Slashdot It! Today Benchmarks Reviews takes a look at one of the newest additions to the Tagan Aplus case product line, the CS-EL Diablo BM Mid Tower ATX Case. Computer cases are no longer just a box to install your parts. Some of today’s higher end cases may cost more than a complete entry level computer. They have come to play a crucial role in the cooling of today’s high end CPU's and GPU's. And it is not just the how well the case cools, or how many drives it holds, but what it looks like that has become important. To a computer enthusiast the first impression a case makes is no trivial matter. Your case makes a statement about what type of computer user you are, from the small form factor, to the plane Jane vanilla beige cases, all the way up to the brushed aluminum water cooled cases. URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=91&Itemid=1 Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Buy a Laptop for a Child, Get Another Laptop Free

Slashdot It! One Laptop Per Child, an ambitious project to bring computing to the developing world’s children, has considerable momentum. Years of work by engineers and scientists have paid off in a pioneering low-cost machine that is light, rugged and surprisingly versatile. The early reviews have been glowing, and mass production is set to start next month.

A children’s laptop, equipped with a camera and wireless communication ability.

William B. Plowman

Nicholas Negroponte, head of M.I.T. Media Lab, said orders have been disappointing for a rugged laptop intended for third-world children.

Orders, however, are slow. “I have to some degree underestimated the difference between shaking the hand of a head of state and having a check written,” said Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of the nonprofit project. “And yes, it has been a disappointment.”

But Mr. Negroponte, the founding director of the M.I.T. Media Laboratory, views the problem as a temporary one in the long-term pursuit of using technology as a new channel of learning and self-expression for children worldwide.

And he is reaching out to the public to try to give the laptop campaign a boost. The marketing program, to be announced today, is called “Give 1 Get 1,” in which Americans and Canadians can buy two laptops for $399.

One of the machines will be given to a child in a developing nation, and the other one will be shipped to the purchaser by Christmas. The donated computer is a tax-deductible charitable contribution. The program will run for two weeks, with orders accepted from Nov. 12 to Nov. 26.

Just what Americans will do with the slender green-and-white laptops is uncertain. Some people may donate them to local schools or youth organizations, said Walter Bender, president of the laptop project, while others will keep them for their own family or their own use.

The machines have high-resolution screens, cameras and peer-to-peer technology so the laptops can communicate wirelessly with one another. The machine runs on free, open source software. “Everything in the machine is open to the hacker, so people can poke at it, change it and make it their own,” said Mr. Bender, a computer researcher. “Part of what we’re doing here is broadening the community of users, broadening the base of ideas and contributions, and that will be tremendously valuable.”

The machine, called the XO Laptop, was not engineered with affluent children in mind. It was intended to be inexpensive, with costs eventually approaching $100 a machine, and sturdy enough to withstand harsh conditions in rural villages. It is also extremely energy efficient, with power consumption that is 10 percent or less of a conventional laptop computer.

Staff members of the laptop project were concerned that American children might try the pared-down machines and find them lacking compared to their Apple, Hewlett-Packard or Dell laptops. Then, in this era of immediate global communications, they might post their criticisms on Web sites and blogs read around the world, damaging the reputation of the XO Laptop, the project staff worried.

So the laptop project sponsored focus-group research with American children, ages 7 to 11, at the end of August. The results were reassuringly positive. The focus-group subjects liked the fact that the machine was intended specifically for children, and appreciated features like the machine-to-machine wireless communication. “Completely beastly” was the verdict of one boy. Another environmentally conscious youngster noted that the laptop “prevents global warming.”

Still, the “Give 1 Get 1” initiative is mainly about the giving. “The real reason is to get this thing started,” Mr. Negroponte said.

He said that if, for example, donations reached $40 million, that would mean 100,000 laptops could be distributed free in the developing world. The idea, he said, would be to give perhaps 5,000 machines to 20 countries to try out and get started.

“It could trigger a lot of things,” Mr. Negroponte said.

Late last year, Mr. Negroponte said he had hoped for orders for three million laptops, but those pledges have fallen short. Orders of a million each from populous Nigeria and Brazil did not materialize.

Still, the project has had successes. Peru, for example, will buy and distribute 250,000 of the laptops over the next year — many of them allocated for remote rural areas. Mexico and Uruguay, Mr. Negroponte noted, have made firm commitments. In a sponsorship program, the government of Italy has agreed to purchase 50,000 laptops for distribution in Ethiopia.

Each country will have different ideas about how to use the machines. Alan Kay, a computer researcher and adviser to the laptop project, said he expects one popular use will be to load textbooks at 25 cents or so each on the laptops, which has a high-resolution screen for easy reading.

“It’s probably going to be mundane in the early stages,” said Mr. Kay, who heads a nonprofit education group, whose learning software will be on the XO Laptop. “I’m an optimist that this will eventually work out,” Mr. Kay said.

Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Ads on cellphone

Slashdot It! Companies like Google scan their e-mail users’ in-boxes to deliver ads related to those messages. Will people be as willing to let a company listen in on their phone conversations to do the same?

Pudding Media

The sort of ad Internet callers will see using Pudding Media.

Pudding Media, a start-up based in San Jose, Calif., is introducing an Internet phone service today that will be supported by advertising related to what people are talking about in their calls. The Web-based phone service is similar to Skype’s online service — consumers plug a headset and a microphone into their computers, dial any phone number and chat away. But unlike Internet phone services that charge by the length of the calls, Pudding Media offers calling without any toll charges.

The trade-off is that Pudding Media is eavesdropping on phone calls in order to display ads on the screen that are related to the conversation. Voice recognition software monitors the calls, selects ads based on what it hears and pushes the ads to the subscriber’s computer screen while he or she is still talking.

A conversation about movies, for example, will elicit movie reviews and ads for new films that the caller will see during the conversation. Pudding Media is working on a way to e-mail the ads and other content to the person on the other end of the call, or to show it on that person’s cellphone screen.

“We saw that when people are speaking on the phone, typically they were doing something else,” said Ariel Maislos, chief executive of Pudding Media. “They had a lot of other action, either doodling or surfing or something else like that. So we said, ‘Let’s use that’ and actually present them with things that are relevant to the conversation while it’s happening.”

The company’s model, of course, raises questions about the line between target advertising and violation of privacy. Consumer-brand companies are increasingly trying to use data about people to deliver different ads to them based on their demographics and behavior online.

Pudding Media executives said that scanning the words used in phone calls was not substantially different from what Google does with e-mail.

Still, even some advertising executives were wary of the concept.

“We can never obtain too much information from the targets, and I would love to get my hands on that information,” said Jonathan Sackett, chief digital officer for Arnold Worldwide, a unit of the advertising company Havas. “Still, it makes me caution myself and caution all of us as marketers. We really have to look at the situation, because we’re getting more intrusive with each passing technology.”

Mr. Maislos said that Pudding Media had considered the privacy question carefully. The company is not keeping recordings or logs of the content of any phone calls, he said, so advertisements only relate to current calls, not past ones, and will only arrive during the call itself.

Besides, Mr. Maislos said, he thought that young people, the group his company is focusing on with the call service, are less concerned with maintaining privacy than older people are.

“The trade-off of getting personalized content versus privacy is a concept that is accepted in the world,” he said.

Mr. Maislos founded Pudding Media with his brother, Ruben. Each had spent several years doing intelligence work for the Israeli military. Before Pudding Media, Ariel Maislos ran a broadband company called Passave, which he sold in May 2006 to PMC-Sierra, a maker of computer chips for telecommunications equipment, for $300 million. Richard Purcell, a former chief privacy officer at Microsoft, is an adviser to Pudding Media, Ariel Maislos said.

To give the ads greater accuracy, Pudding Media asks users for their sex, age range, native language and ZIP code when they sign up. For now, the company is running ads that are sold by a third-party network, but Pudding Media plans to also sell its own ads in a few months.

Advertisers pay based on how often a user click on their ads, and a spokeswoman said the rates were similar to the cost-per-click prices in Google’s AdSense network. Pudding Media plans to add other payment models, like charging for each ad impression or by the number of calls an ad generates to the advertiser.

As the company’s software listens in on conversations, it filters out explicit words in determining which ads to select, so that content and ads will not be shown with those inappropriate words. Pudding Media would not elaborate, beyond saying that these were “keywords with profanity and things you wouldn’t want a 13-year-old to hear.”

While the calling service only works through computers for now, Mr. Maislos said he saw the potential to use it with cellphones. The company is offering the technology to cellphone carriers to allow their customers to enjoy free calls in exchange for simultaneously watching contextually relevant ads on their screens. Callers can try Pudding Media at www.thepudding.com, dialing any number in North America. Because the service has so far been in a quiet beta test, the company would not say how many people have tried it so far.

Pudding Media is also trying to sell the technology to Web publishers and media companies that would like to offer readers free calls and content related to those calls. A news site, for example, could show only its own articles and ads to people as they talked to friends.

Mr. Maislos said that during tests he noticed that the content had a tendency to determine conversations.

“The conversation was actually changing based on what was on the screen,” he said. “Our ability to influence the conversation was remarkable.”

Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft to replace damaged 'Halo 3' discs

Slashdot It! Microsoft is offering to replace damaged discs of its just-launched Halo 3 game for the Xbox amid reports that special limited-edition packaging is scratching them. On its Xbox Website, Microsoft says the disc replacement program covers the "Halo 3" limited edition game disc and essentials disc at no charge through the end of the year. Microsoft began selling "Halo 3" on Tuesday, and the acclaimed alien shooter game is seen as the $30 billion video game industry's equivalent of a new "Harry Potter" book. The Associated Press said that blogs were brimming with reports that special limited-edition packaging is scratching the videogame discs Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Getting Free Cellphone Calls for Ads

Slashdot It! British cellphone users will get their first look Monday at a new mobile service called Blyk, which will offer subscribers some free calls and text messages in return for their agreeing to accept advertising on their phones. The idea behind Blyk is not new; Virgin Mobile in the United States started a similar service last year. But the introduction of Blyk in one of the most competitive and technologically sophisticated mobile markets means the service will be scrutinized as a test of mobile advertising’s viability. Compared with the hundreds of billions of dollars that mobile operators generate annually in fees from callers, text-message users and other network users, mobile advertising remains a tiny business. Analysts estimate that it will generate $1 billion to $2 billion in revenue worldwide this year. Yet activity is heating up, not just on the consumer side with services like Blyk, but also behind the scenes, as network operators, Internet companies, advertising agencies, technology start-ups and even phone manufacturers seek a piece of the action. Why are so many people trying to get into such a small business? Analysts say that spending on mobile advertising could surge, with estimates of the market ranging from $5 billion to $11 billion within five years. Perhaps more important, fees from callers are flat or falling in many markets, so network operators are scrambling for new sources of revenue. Everyone else wants to be there at the inception, in case mobile marketing turns into a bonanza, like online advertising. “There’s a battle raging between the Web world and the wireless world for control of mobile advertising revenue,” said Patrick Parodi, chief marketing officer of Amobee Media Systems, an online advertising specialist. “It’s going to be war.” Representatives of the Web world have been bolstering their positions for a bolder move into mobile advertising. Last week, Google announced a system for sending ads to mobile Web pages, similar to its AdSense online advertising program. Last month, Yahoo acquired Actionality, a company based in Munich that specializes in inserting ads into mobile games and other content. That deal followed two mobile marketing acquisitions in May, with AOL buying Third Screen Media and Microsoft buying ScreenTonic. Given the success of the Internet companies, particularly Google, in cashing in on online advertising, “there’s this assumption that they will move in and take control of mobile,” said Eden Zoller, an analyst at Ovum, a telecommunications consultancy. “It’s not that simple.” The biggest selling point of online advertising is the ability to show Internet users relevant ads, based on the Web pages they visit or search terms. But in the mobile world, network operators control information on their customers’ habits, and they are unlikely to give it up — not least for privacy reasons. Network operators have been been working with advertising specialists to develop their mobile marketing capabilities. Advertising agencies have also joined the rush to acquire mobile advertising specialist firms, now that many of the attractive targets in online advertising have been bought. WPP Group invested in JumpTap last spring; Aegis Group acquired Marvelous Mobile in June, and Publicis Groupe bought Phonevalley this month. Perhaps the most intriguing entrant in the mobile advertising game is Nokia, the world’s largest manufacturer of cellphones. Last week, Nokia agreed to buy Enpocket, a mobile advertising network based in Boston, building on previously announced mobile advertising and media plans. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Lenovo might buy Packard Bell

Slashdot It! Lenovo, the world's No. 3 maker of personal computers, said on Tuesday that it still held out hopes of acquiring Packard Bell, even after Gateway announced its own intent to buy the firm last month. While it is still in the process of integrating an ailing European arm inherited from IBM in 2005, Lenovo said last month that it was in exclusive talks to take over Packard Bell to spearhead a consumer expansion, allowing it to quickly grab market share. But those plans were dealt a blow when Gateway, itself the target of a $710 million takeover by Taiwan's Acer, later said it would exercise a right of first refusal to buy Packard Bell. "Packard Bell is a great fit, and we're still very interested," Lenovo Chief Executive Bill Amelio told reporters in Beijing. "It's not over until it's over." Lenovo is not currently in talks with Packard Bell, Amelio said, but is still holding out in the hope that if a deal was not signed between Gateway and Packard Bell, Lenovo could still have an opportunity. The company is in an intense battle for consumers with global leaders Dell and Hewlett-Packard, as well as Acer, which would unseat Lenovo as the world's No. 3 PC maker if its acquisition of Gateway goes through. Amelio said Lenovo was still interested in further acquisitions to springboard its move into global markets. He added, however, that the firm would be unlikely to take on any partners that would introduce instability to the company's operations, as it was still digesting its purchase of IBM's global PC business in 2005. "We are still not through our entire acquisition process with the two companies," he said. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Dell to Partner with Gome on Retail Sales in China

Slashdot It! Dell’s direct advantage and industry-leading technology will reach millions of in-store computer buyers across China thanks to a new partnership to sell the company’s latest products through Gome, China’s largest consumer electronics retailer. Today’s announcement adds to Dell’s momentum with leading retailers in countries around the world. Dell will begin rolling out its systems in about 50 major metropolitan Gome stores in early October and significantly expand its presence into the early part of next year. Additionally, Dell employees will be available in Gome stores to help customers with purchases and their overall experience. “Starting in October, consumers can buy Dell products at Gome stores that will help satisfy customers’ diversified needs. Our partnership with Dell will strengthen our commitment in providing a superior customer experience, and is an important action to deepen our customer relationships," said Mu Guixian, vice president of Gome. "I am confident that we made right decision to partner with a top-name brand to sustain our growth in China." Mu adds that Dell’s selection of Gome as its first retail partner in China shows that the large-scale consumer electronics retailer is becoming an increasingly important venue for customers purchasing IT products. The high-value products Gome offers are attracting more and more customers, especially from the younger generation. Gome’s extensive sales network, online store, reliable supply channel, shopping environment, professional sales staff, and good services are highly recognized. "Chinese consumers are increasingly sophisticated in how they buy and use technology, so it is only natural that a global brand like Dell partner with Gome to provide a preferred shopping experience,” said Michael Tatelman, vice president of marketing and sales for Dell’s global consumer business. “For Dell, this is a great opportunity to extend connections with Chinese customers we may not have reached in the past. We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding relationship with Gome.” Dell products available at Gome will include the award-winning notebooks and desktops such as the 13.3 inch XPS™ M1330, the XPS 720 performance desktop, Inspiron™ 1420 notebook, Dimension™ 9200 desktop and Inspiron 530 desktop. The partnership with Gome is Dell’s latest retail distribution agreement aimed at reaching more customers worldwide. The company recently announced relationships with Bic Camera Inc. in Japan, Carphone Warehouse in the U.K. and Wal-Mart in the U.S. Just last week Dell opened its first retail store in Russia. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft might buy an stake in Facebook

Slashdot It! Some people laughed at Mark E. Zuckerberg when he reportedly turned down a $900 million offer last year for Facebook, the social networking Web site he founded three and a half years ago. But Microsoft, Google and several funds are considering investments in the fast-growing site, according to people with knowledge of the talks, that could give the start-up a value of more than $10 billion. While discussions were still in the early stage, these people said that Microsoft was considering an investment of $300 million to $500 million for a 5 percent stake of the company. Google is also said to be interested in an investment. Facebook’s valuation could go even higher as the two rivals create the kind of competitive bidding situation that has recently driven the acquisition prices of other start-ups into the stratosphere. Representatives from Facebook, Microsoft and Google all declined to comment on the talks. The investment discussions by Facebook are part of its effort to raise an additional round of capital to further the company’s growth and build on its current momentum. The company has solicited interest not only from Internet companies but also from a handful of financial players including venture capitalists, hedge funds and private equity firms, according to people with knowledge of its plans. Facebook is seeking a minimum valuation of $10 billion but interested bidders have expressed a willingness to value it as high as $13 billion, on the assumption that, in the future, Facebook will become a powerful player in the online world. These numbers might have little basis in actual revenue or profit. Facebook is a private company and does not reveal its income. But earlier this year, a Pali Research analyst, Richard Greenfield, estimated that the company brought in $60 million to $96 million in annual revenue, with no real profit. Much of that revenue comes from a year-old advertising relationship with Microsoft, which places display advertisements on the site. Mr. Greenfield said the investment price that Microsoft was considering might have more to do with keeping the prize out of the hands of its powerful rivals. “There may be competitive reasons to be connected to this asset beyond what the specific valuation is today,” he said. “You may be paying a premium to keep others out.” The lack of a track record for Facebook might actually be driving the price up. “Trying to delineate a value today of what was a new industry five years ago is challenging right now,” Mr. Greenfield said. Last September, Yahoo was in acquisition talks with Facebook. It reportedly offered $900 million to buy the site outright and was rebuffed by Mr. Zuckerberg, the 23-year-old chief executive, who has said that he was determined to keep the company independent and take it public through an initial public offering. Google and Microsoft are jockeying for a stake in a social networking site that is said to be creating a new way for Internet users to meet people and interact with friends on the Web. In May, Facebook redefined itself as a platform, allowing other companies to create features like games, photo-sharing tools and music players that run in Facebook. That strategy, just four months old, has unleashed a flood of interest in the company, with thousands of independent software developers creating a range of programs for the service. “We have this situation where every developer worth his salt here in Silicon Valley seems to be working on a Facebook application,” said Charlene Li, an analyst at Forrester Research. Facebook is full of activities, from the goofy, like “biting” friends with a virtual vampire, to the more utilitarian, like seeing what parties and events Facebook friends are attending. There are more than 4,000 third-party applications on Facebook, the company said. The strategy has drawn plenty of attention and new users to the site. Facebook has more than 40 million members, up from 9 million last year. There may be personal reasons that Facebook would align itself with Microsoft, according to a person with knowledge of the companies’ executives. Mr. Zuckerberg has a personal friendship with Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect and one of the people stepping in for Bill Gates, the co-founder who is giving up his day-to-day responsibilities at the company. Also, Jim Breyer, a managing partner at the venture capital firm of Accel Partners and one of three Facebook board members, was an investor in Groove Networks, Mr. Ozzie’s company, which Microsoft purchased in 2005. The discussions between Microsoft and Facebook were first reported Monday on the Web site of The Wall Street Journal. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Amazon.com Launches Public Beta of Amazon MP3

Slashdot It! Amazon today launched a public beta of "Amazon MP3," a new digital music download store with Earth's biggest selection of a la carte DRM-free MP3 music downloads. Amazon MP3 has over 2 million songs from more than 180,000 artists represented by over 20,000 major and independent labels. Amazon MP3 complements Amazon.com's existing selection of over 1 million CDs to now offer customers more selection of physical and digital music than any other retailer. "Amazon MP3 is an all-MP3, DRM-free catalog of a la carte music from major labels and independent labels, playable on any device, in high-quality audio, at low prices," said Bill Carr, Amazon.com Vice President for Digital Music. "This new digital music service has already been through an extensive private beta, and today we're excited to offer it to our customers as a fully functional public beta. We look forward to receiving feedback from our customers and using their input to refine the service." Every song and album on Amazon MP3 is available exclusively in the MP3 format without digital rights management (DRM) software. This means that Amazon MP3 customers are free to enjoy their music downloads using any hardware device, including PCs, Macs(TM), iPods(TM), Zunes(TM), Zens(TM), iPhones(TM), RAZRs(TM), and BlackBerrys(TM); organize their music using any music management application such as iTunes(TM) or Windows Media Player(TM); and burn songs to CDs. Most songs are priced from 89 cents to 99 cents, with more than 1 million of the 2 million songs priced at 89 cents. The top 100 best-selling songs are 89 cents, unless marked otherwise. Most albums are priced from $5.99 to $9.99. The top 100 best-selling albums are $8.99 or less, unless marked otherwise. Every song on Amazon MP3 is encoded at 256 kilobits per second, which gives customers high audio quality at a manageable file size. Buying and downloading MP3s from Amazon MP3 is easy. Customers can purchase downloads using Amazon 1-Click(TM) shopping, and with the Amazon MP3 Downloader, seamlessly add their MP3s to their iTunes or Windows Media Player libraries. Amazon MP3 has over 2 million songs from more than 180,000 artists spanning every genre of music, including 50 Cent, Alison Krauss, Amy Winehouse, Ani DiFranco, Arcade Fire, Beastie Boys, Coldplay, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ella Fitzgerald, Feist, John Coltrane, KT Tunstall, Keith Urban, Koko Taylor, Lily Allen, Madeleine Peyroux, Maroon 5, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Morrissey, Nelly, Nickel Creek, Nirvana, Norah Jones, Paul McCartney, Philip Glass, Pink Floyd, Pixies, Radiohead, Ray Charles, Rod Stewart, Spoon, Stevie Wonder, The Chemical Brothers, The Decemberists, and The Rolling Stones. "Well done Amazon for making so much music available to so many people," said KT Tunstall. "It's good to know, in the words of The King, you're taking care of business!" Leading independent labels offering their catalog of music for the first time as DRM-free MP3s include Alligator Records, HighTone Records, Madacy Entertainment, Sanctuary Records, Rounder Records, Righteous Babe Records, Sugar Hill Records, and Trojan Records. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Halo 3 review on Cnet

Slashdot It! Regardless of how you felt about its cliffhanger ending, there's no denying Halo 2 was a gigantic success that raised the bar for what we, as a game-playing society, expect out of a good console-based first-person shooter. In the years that followed, plenty of games attempted to duplicate the Halo formula, with varying degrees of success. But there's still nothing quite like the genuine item. Luckily for all involved, Halo 3 is a positively amazing package that offers extreme satisfaction across all of its different parts. Maybe now you can finally retire your Halo 2 disc and really move into the next generation of games. 'Halo 3' at a glance The Good: • Satisfying story line provides closure while making you wonder what happens next. • Four-player online co-op is lots of fun. • Forge mode map editor lets you do crazy, unexpected things. • Web integration makes sharing new maps and custom modes easy. The Bad: • Rewinding saved films doesn't work as expected. • AI-controlled marines can't drive to save their lives (or yours). • Inevitable flood of prepubescent players could hamper enjoyment of the online modes. Read more at Cnet Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft sets pricing on Office 2008 for Mac

Slashdot It! Although the release of the next version of Office for the Mac has slipped into next year, Microsoft is ready with the pricing and packaging options. The product will come in three flavors. The standard version, known simply as Office 2008 for Mac, includes PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Entourage and will sell for $399. A $499 Special Media Edition also includes Expression Media, a digital media cataloguing program that Microsoft acquired from its 2006 purchase of iView Multimedia. Both the Special Media Edition and the standard Office for Mac also include the ability to connect to an Exchange Server, as well as some actions for Automator, Mac OS X's built-in scripting tool. The Home and Student version includes the four main programs, but not the ability to connect to Exchange or the Automator actions. The home version, which is designed for non-business use, can be installed on up to three Macs and sells for $149. Microsoft said last month that it was delaying the launch of Office 2008 to January. Microsoft marketing manager Amanda Lefebvre said that the company remains on track with its revised schedule, with plans to wrap up the code in December and make the final product generally available to consumers and businesses in the U.S. on January 15. Other language versions will be released over the course of the first quarter, she said, adding that with the new release Microsoft is adding a Nordic language pack, which includes Danish, Finnish and Norwegian. The new version is also the first to natively support Intel-based Macs, though it will also run on older PowerPC-based machines. Microsoft is also launching a tech guarantee program under which people who buy Office 2004 between now and March 15 will be able to upgrade to the comparable version of Office 2008 for only the cost of shipping and handling, around $10. The software maker does not plan to offer the public a chance to test out the code before the release, she said. "We've decided against that," Lefebvre said, adding that the company is doing testing internally and with a select group of external testers. "There will not be a wide public beta." Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Wireless-N might not appear

Slashdot It! The IEEE working group developing the 802.11n Wi-Fi is holding urgent meetings this week to discuss a significant threat to the standard from patents held by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Despite requests from the IEEE, CSIRO has failed to promise not to sue anyone for infringement. The next generation Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n, has been under development for years, and delayed many times. But delays may be of little importance: the realisation that CSIRO holds essential patents, and has failed to provide a Letter of Assurance as required by the IEEE, could prevent the standard ever being finalised. Letters of Assurance are requested from all parties holding patents which may be applicable to any IEEE standard. Basically they state that the patent owner won't sue anyone for implementing the standard. A request for such a letter was sent to CSIRO, but according to an internal IEEE memo seen by El Reg, no response has been received. This means that anyone who implements, or is implementing, 802.11n is at risk of being sued by CSIRO, and that the standard is very unlikely to be approved. As the internal memo, addressed to 802.11 Chair Stuart J Kerry, makes clear: "The IEEE-SA Standards Board will not make any final determination without first hearing your explanation of why the 802.11 working group is proposing IEEE-SA SASB approval of a draft standard without a response to a pending request for an [Letter of Assurance] for a known potentially Essential Patent Claim, but any standard submitted on that state of facts is at serious risk of not being approved." 802.11n promises to deliver a fivefold increase in speed, and double the range of 802.11g. Indeed in many cases it's already delivering something approximating that, as pre-standard kit has been available for almost a year. In May the Wi-Fi Alliance got so bored waiting for the IEEE to complete the standard that they started certifying kit as conforming to the draft, even though the final version isn't expected until 2008. Neither CSIRO nor the IEEE could be reached for comment, though the IEEE have promised to get back to us real soon with an update. Equipment vendors already selling 802.11n kit could easily be infringing CSIRO's patents, and if no standard is forthcoming then the development process of Wi-Fi, already stalling, could grind to a halt. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Xigmatek XP-S964 Copper Heatpipe 92mm CPU Cooler @ Benchmark Reviews

Slashdot It! deally every CPU cooler should perform well, which most do. But in the age of advertising and marketing, consumers are easily mislead into believing a product will perform well just because of the company branding it. I have reviewed some very nice coolers over the summer by some of the most well known names in the industry; only to be let down by their claims of premium performance. Well, to be honest, prior to very recently I had never heard of Xigmatek before. Just a few weeks ago Benchmark Reviews unveiled the Xigmatek HDT-S1283, which tested to be the best-performing CPU we have seen to date. Perhaps on the same level is the Xigmatek XP-S964 Copper Heatpipe CPU Cooler. ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=1 Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

See the live Warthhog now!!!

Slashdot It! Driving around with the Warthog is fun, but I think its better playing it in the game rather than in real life. Because you might never know what you might hit or run over.
Warthhog fun - Watch more free videos Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

New version of Gmail

Slashdot It! Gmail was launched on April 1, 2004, and has revolutionized the way many of us use email. The interface has remained largely untouched since it launched, but get ready, it’s soon to undergo a change in what they describe as a “New Version”. Only a select few people have access to use the new interface — mainly employees and trusted people outside the company called “Trusted Testers“. Unfortunately, there are no leaked screenshots to look at yet, but if you are one of the lucky few testers, I would love to take a peek.

How do I know they are working on a “New Version”? Well, Google lets every-day users who are fluent in both English and another language translate small snippets of English text into the language of their choice. This is how they can offer services in several languages without spending a dime on professional translators. Unfortunately, exposing sensitive information in this manner makes it hard to keep a secret.

One of my readers, who wishes to remain anonymous, stumbled across an interesting snippet of text (which I confirmed exists) spilling the beans on a new version of Gmail that is either currently being tested, or about to be released to testing in short order. It’s small, but telling — here is a screenshot of the text he was asked to translate.

What do you hope the new version of Gmail has in store for us? Do you think the transformation will be as large as the one Google Docs recently went through?

Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Nvidia challenges with Intel

Slashdot It! Nvidia is rolling out a graphics microchip that will be embedded in the main collection of components that make up a personal computer, as the company goes toe to toe with Intel in the integrated graphics chip market. Nvidia is expected to say on Tuesday that its new GeForce chips for desktop PCs give the performance of an entry-level separate graphics processor unit, as compared to traditional integrated graphics chips such as those made by Intel. Given the proliferation of graphically rich computer programs, Nvidia, Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and others aim to provide better graphics performance. Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, has already upgraded its integrated graphics offering, the G35, aimed at mainstream PCs. "As for going up against a strong competitor, that's nothing for Nvidia," said Jon Peddie, head of market research firm Jon Peddie Research, based in Tiburon, Calif. "They've got great technology and superior marketing skills." Traditionally, at the high end of the PC market--such as for video game enthusiasts--the graphics chip is a separate processor that connects to the motherboard, the guts of a computer, to give rich, crisp graphics performance. Nvidia already has 62 percent of the market for integrated graphics on motherboards used in PCs powered by AMD processors, according to Mercury research. But its market share on motherboards in Intel-powered PCs is less than 1 percent. "Nvidia has been extremely successful in providing integrated graphics, particularly for the AMD platform," Peddie said, noting AMD's platform has 5 percent to 10 percent of the desktop market, leaving nearly all the rest to Intel. "This move by Nvidia gives them a pretty big market potential." Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia said its GeForce 7150, 7100 and 7050 chips will support the Intel desktop PC processor range, such as Core 2, Pentium and Celeron, as well as new Intel processors due to launch on November 12, code-named Penryn. The Nvidia chips are aimed at desktops priced at $400 to $600. With graphics-intensive programs such as Google Earth from Google, three-dimensional graphics now built into Apple's iTunes, and increasingly graphics-heavy programs like Adobe Acrobat, both PC makers and chip makers are racing to offer good graphics at cheaper prices, Peddie said. AMD, for its part, bought Canadian graphics chipmaker ATI, Nvidia's principal rival, and PC makers Hewlett-Packard and Dell each bought high-end video game PC makers Alienware and Voodoo, respectively. Just last week, Intel said it bought privately held Irish company Havok, best known for technology to render physics in video games and films, such as for the depiction of billowing smoke and dust in explosions. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Halo 3 wins high ratings from reviewers

Slashdot It! Halo 3, the highly anticipated video game from Microsoft, won high praise on Sunday from game reviewers who gushed over the lush settings, cinematic feel and array of multiplayer features. The game, the final chapter of a trilogy that began in 2001 with the launch of Microsoft's original Xbox, is a key part of the company's strategy to take a bigger share of the console gaming market from Sony. Gaming news Web site GameSpy gave Halo 3 five stars, its highest ranking, saying it was so good that it was worth buying an Xbox 360 just to play it. The Xbox 360 costs $280 to $450, depending on features. "Quite simply, Halo 3 is the reason the Xbox 360 exists," GameSpy said. Since Halo 3 is the game industry equivalent of a new Harry Potter book or Star Wars movie, few expected it to be a flop. Specialty gaming retail chain GameStop Corp said the title set a record for advance orders while Microsoft has said it expects initial demand to surpass that for 2004's Halo 2, which racked up $125 million in its first 24 hours. The game is set to go on sale Tuesday. Reviewers did voice a few complaints. Some said the game's graphics, while impressive, fell short of titles such as Take-Two Interactive Software's BioShock and Gears of War, also from Microsoft. Others said the behavior of computer-controlled enemies wasn't very realistic. "Will Halo 3 live up to the hype? No. There isn't perfection here. There isn't an absolute, please-all quality," said gaming blog Joystiq.com, though it added that the game was still a must-have. Most critics said any shortcomings were more than made up for by unprecedented variety that includes a cooperative mode that allows four people to play together online, and editing tools to let gamers modify levels to compete against each other in "deathmatch" competitions. Dan Hsu, editor-in-chief of gaming magazine EGM, gave the game a perfect 10 rating. "It's such a huge package. It's hard to imagine something gamers don't like here," Hsu said. GameSpot, another top gaming news Web site, weighed in with a rating of 9.5, saying the new features refreshed the familiar feel of the Halo universe. "When you roll all this stuff together...it really feels like a dramatically different game, and a dramatically bigger game. It comes together in an amazing package that is definitely one of the year's best," said GameSpot Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Symantec warns users over Bluetooth security

Slashdot It! With Bluetooth wireless features fast becoming commonplace on mobile devices, users need to be aware of the security vulnerabilities linked to the technology, said a Symantec executive. A study by research firm InsightExpress revealed that 73 percent of mobile device users are not acquainted with security issues that could put at risk mobile devices such as cell phones and Bluetooth-equipped notebooks. To these users, terms such as "bluejacking," "bluesnarfing" or even "bluebugging" would probably be unfamiliar. "There are many other methods that (launch) a variety of denial-of-service attacks, and even some that could allow an attack to eavesdrop on private conversations," Ooi Szu-Khiam, senior security consultant at Symantec Singapore, said in an e-mail interview. Ooi noted that "numerous instances of mobile viruses, worms and Trojan horses" have emerged in the past year. "While none has done damage like some of the major PC malware, their rapid evolution presents an obvious cause for concern," Ooi said. Bluejacking, also known as "bluespamming," is a technique used to send anonymous text messages to mobile users via Bluetooth, Ooi explained. "Phones that are Bluetooth-enabled can be tweaked to search for other handsets that will accept messages sent via Bluetooth." "Despite the name, it doesn't hijack the phone or suck off the information. It simply presents a message, similar to e-mail spam. The recipient can ignore the unsolicited message, read it, respond or delete it," Ooi said. "While bluejacking can be an extremely annoying onslaught of unsolicited messages, it is generally a minimal security risk." Bluesnarfing, however, is a more dangerous technique that can allow a hacker to access information stored on a mobile device without its user's knowledge, said Ooi. "This technique takes advantage of a security flaw, (inherent) in some older versions of Bluetooth-enabled handsets, that could allow an attacker to access and copy data stored on the device without the user's knowledge," Ooi said. The Symantec executive noted that it is still possible to connect to such devices even if the users have configured their devices to be in "nondiscovery" mode, where the device remains hidden when someone searches the vicinity for Bluetooth devices. "Any potentially valuable information stored on a phone, such as address books, calendars, e-mail and text messages, are at risk in a bluesnarfing attack," Ooi said. A third threat, and possibly the most serious of the three risks, is bluebugging. This technique allows attackers to access mobile-phone commands using Bluetooth technology, without notifying or alerting the device owner, Ooi noted. "This vulnerability allows the hacker to initiate phone calls, send and receive text messages, read and write phonebook contacts, eavesdrop on phone conversations and connect to the Internet," Ooi explained. "As with all the attacks, the hacker must be within a 10-meter range of the (targeted) phone." Unlike bluesnarfing, which simply provides attackers access to personal information on the phone, bluebugging allows the attacker to take control of the device, he said. To ensure their wireless devices are well-protected, Ooi noted, users can equip their gadgets with mobile-security products, which include antivirus, firewall, anti-SMS spam and data-encryption technologies, that are easy to deploy, manage and maintain. "This kind of layered security can not only mitigate the unique security risks of mobile devices, but can also enable companies to more easily and cost-effectively comply with internal security policies and external regulations," Ooi said. Ooi highlighted four tips on how mobile users can protect their Bluetooth-enabled devices: Stay offline Turn off features that you are not using. If you have a Bluetooth-equipped device and do not need the function, then don't turn it on. Stay invisible If you are using the Bluetooth function and don't require your device ID to be visible to others, make sure the device's visibility setting is set to "hidden," so hackers will not be able to scan and search for it. Verify incoming transmissions Do not accept and run attachments from unknown sources unless you are expecting them. For example, if you receive a message to install an application and you don't know its origin, don't run it. Use passwords Ideally, use passwords with a large number of digits. A four-digit PIN or password can be broken in less than a second, and a six-digit PIN in about 10 seconds, while a 10-digit PIN is likely to take weeks to crack. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft hopes that Halo 3 can crush PS3

Slashdot It! Microsoft wants video gamers to "finish the fight" when the last chapter of its Halo trilogy comes out next week, but a carefully crafted merchandising strategy will make sure the space-marine protagonist Master Chief lives on for years to come. Halo is crucial to the success of Microsoft's Xbox video game business, which has lost billions of dollars since it was started in 2001 as a way to counter Sony's growing dominance. Hailed by some as the Star Wars for Generation Xbox, the Halo franchise has spawned a mini-empire of licensed toys, clothing and tie-ins. The game features a space marine called Master Chief trying to save humanity from an alien army known as the Covenant. For a company expected to post $57 billion in revenue this year, such licensing deals are little more than a rounding error. Yet Microsoft is driving to make the games division profitable this fiscal year, so every penny counts. "Halo merchandise is a logical way to earn some extra revenue, and they are trying to collect on as many fronts as they can to turn Xbox into a profitable business," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. The most important effect of new Halo-branded products, however, is to make people more aware of the game. "We make money and making money is great because this is a business. But we want long-term money that satisfies the fan base, not money today," said Steve Schrek, director of franchise development at Microsoft. Microsoft also hopes Halo will help it "finish the fight" against Sony, whose PlayStation 3 console has struggled in the United States since it made its debut nearly a year ago. The PS3's high price--still $500 after a July cut--is the biggest factor behind its woes, but Sony has also failed to deliver a true "system seller"--a game so good that people will buy a particular console just to play it. Halo 3 is just such a title, and Microsoft has kicked off an advertising blitz that includes evocative TV spots featuring live actors recalling events that happen in the game. Transmuting Halo from geek spectacle to the mainstream is a challenge for a company more used to pitching operating systems and word-processing software than building consumer entertainment products. Microsoft is wary of watering down Halo, meaning it would rather walk away from deals for Master Chief pajamas or Covenant sippy cups. "It's a balancing effort to be very, very careful that we don't oversaturate and piss off our 15 million fans," said Brian Jarrard, franchise lead at Bungie, the game studio within Microsoft that created Halo. "We are obviously looking to broaden Halo and make it accessible...while at the same time, we want to keep feeding our core audience." Microsoft had little experience in talking to toymakers and others about how to transfer an onscreen experience to real objects. But such experts exist in the licensing arms of movie studios, so Microsoft partnered with 20th Century Fox to act as the main licensing agent for the Halo brand. Items that did not make the cut were a Halo-themed lottery ticket, lingerie modeled after a female hologram character, and toy guns based on the game's weapons. Instead, fans can expect high-quality action figures from McFarlane Toys, a tabletop game from WizKids, and replica weapons for mature buyers. "We're very clear with them that this is not about running out and carpet-bombing everything. This is figuring out how in five years we're hitting new customers as opposed to in five years nobody cares," Schrek added. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Did studios trade HD DVD backing for cash?

Slashdot It! Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger says he's disappointed by some studios' recent decision to back the HD DVD format and accused them of taking "easy money" for their decision. Iger, who made the comments when he spoke to investors at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, did not name the studios to which he was referring. Disney backs Sony's Blu-ray format, which had appeared to be pulling ahead of Toshiba's HD DVD in the format war before Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG signed exclusivity deals in August to distribute next-generation films on HD DVD for the next 18 months. "We believe it's a no-brainer...that the industry should be behind Blu-ray," Iger said, noting that a decision by certain "entities" was disappointing. "I think those studios were likely taking easy money. We haven't taken any money because we believe it," he said. Viacom's Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation were not available for comment. Shortly after the two studios announced their decision to back HD DVD, The New York Times reported that Viacom executives with knowledge of the deals said both Paramount and DreamWorks would receive about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD. The Blu-ray vs. HD DVD war is reminiscent of the battle 30 years ago between the VHS and Betamax formats for home video recording. At stake is what is expected to be a multibillion-dollar industry. Disney has sent a traveling road show to the top eight U.S. shopping malls to promote Blu-ray players to those looking to upgrade. DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said at another conference earlier Tuesday that price was a key factor in the studio's decision to back HD DVD. HD DVD players and discs are cheaper than Blu-ray. "We believe that Toshiba and HD DVD (have) finally provided an affordable option," he said at the Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment Conference. Viacom also defended its decision to back HD-DVD on Tuesday. "We felt that HD DVDs had lower price hardware, which in our view is important for consumer acceptance," Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman told the Goldman conference ahead of Iger's comments. "We like the technical quality of it. So, we felt it was important for us to commit to a platform," he said. Earlier this month, Yoshihide Fujii, chief executive of Toshiba's Digital Network, told Consumer Electronics Daily at an industry conference in Berlin that reports that Toshiba paid the studios $150 million for their support were "totally wrong." He did say, however, that Toshiba promised Paramount and DreamWorks Animation "some money" to cover costs "to jointly promote" their titles in a deal for the studios to support HD DVD and not Blu-ray. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft allows computer markers to downgrade to XP

Slashdot It! While Microsoft is still pushing Vista hard, the company is quietly allowing PC makers to offer a "downgrade" option to buyers that get machines with the new operating system but want to switch to Windows XP. The program applies only to Windows Vista Business and Ultimate versions, and it is up to PC makers to decide how, if at all, they want to make XP available. Fujitsu has been among the most aggressive, starting last month to include an XP disc in the box with its laptops and tablets. "That's going to help out small- and medium-size businesses," Fujitsu marketing manager Brandon Farris said. Hewlett-Packard also started a program in August for many of its business models. "For business desktops, workstations and select business notebooks and tablet PCs, customers can configure their systems to include the XP Pro restore disc for little or no charge," HP spokeswoman Tiffany Smith said in an e-mail. She said it was too soon to gauge how high customer interest has been. "Since we've only been offering (it) for about a month, we don't really have anything to share on demand."

A Microsoft representative confirmed there were changes made over the summer to make it easier for customers to downgrade to XP. Under Microsoft's licensing terms for Vista, buyers of Vista Business and Vista Ultimate Edition have always had the right to downgrade to XP, but in practice this could be challenging. In June, Microsoft changed its practices to allow computer makers that sell pre-activated Vista machines to order Windows XP discs that could be included inside the box with PCs, or shipped to customers without requiring additional activation. Microsoft noted in a statement that neither it nor the PC makers are "obligated to supply earlier versions to end users under the end user licensing terms." While there is always resistance by some to move to a new operating system, there appears to be particularly strong demand, especially from businesses, to stick with XP. One of the challenges, for both businesses and consumers are Vista's hefty graphics and memory needs. Lenovo, for its part, has details for its downgrade program on its IBM ThinkPad Web site. Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden said Dell has been offering businesses that have a Premier Page set up the option to order systems with XP, Vista or Vista with XP downgrade rights. There is no extra charge for the downgrade rights. "We've been offering it and we're still offering it," she said. HP, Gateway and others also still sell machines with XP on them, nearly a year after Microsoft first started offering Vista to businesses. Vista went on sale broadly to consumers in January, at which point XP largely disappeared from retail shelves. However, demand for XP has remained. In April, Dell brought XP back as an option even on consumer PCs. There is an issue, though, over how long PC makers can keep selling machines with Windows XP as the preloaded operating system. Microsoft is requiring large PC makers to stop selling XP-based systems as of January 31, though some PC makers would like to sell XP machines for longer. "We're all lobbying for it," Farris said. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Benchmark Reviews Feedback Contest: Final Week

Slashdot It! This is your last week to enter! Benchmark Reviews is offering the Ultra ULT33186 Chilltec TEC CPU Cooler, Apevia X-Qpack 2 CM500 Camouflage SFF Case, and Hiper HPU-4K530-MS Type R Modular 530W PSU for two forum members who submit their feedback. This is an open contest, and everyone is allowed to enter - even staff from our own site and affiliates. Hurry over and submit your feedback; this contest ends October 1st! URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7026 Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

New and cheaper solar panels

Slashdot It! Colorado State University's method for manufacturing low-cost, high-efficiency solar panels is nearing mass production. AVA Solar Inc. will start production by the end of next year on the technology developed by mechanical engineering Professor W.S. Sampath at Colorado State. The new 200-megawatt factory is expected to employ up to 500 people. Based on the average household usage, 200 megawatts will power 40,000 U.S. homes. Produced at less than $1 per watt, the panels will dramatically reduce the cost of generating solar electricity and could power homes and businesses around the globe with clean energy for roughly the same cost as traditionally generated electricity. Sampath has developed a continuous, automated manufacturing process for solar panels using glass coating with a cadmium telluride thin film instead of the standard high-cost crystalline silicon. Because the process produces high efficiency devices (ranging from 11% to 13%) at a very high rate and yield, it can be done much more cheaply than with existing technologies. The cost to the consumer could be as low as $2 per watt, about half the current cost of solar panels. In addition, this solar technology need not be tied to a grid, so it can be affordably installed and operated in nearly any location. The process is a low waste process with less than 2% of the materials used in production needing to be recycled. It also makes better use of raw materials since the process converts solar energy into electricity more efficiently. Cadmium telluride solar panels require 100 times less semiconductor material than high-cost crystalline silicon panels. "This technology offers a significant improvement in capital and labor productivity and overall manufacturing efficiency," said Sampath, director of Colorado State's Materials Engineering Laboratory. Sampath has spent the past 16 years perfecting the technology. In that time, annual global sales of photovoltaic technology have grown to approximately 2 gigawatts or two billion watts -- roughly a $6 billion industry. Demand has increased nearly 40% a year for each of the past five years -- a trend that analysts and industry experts expect to continue. By 2010, solar cell manufacturing is expected to be a $25 billion-plus industry. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Google plans new undersea "Unity" cable across Pacific

Slashdot It! Google is planning a multi-terabit undersea communications cable across the Pacific Ocean for launch in 2009, Communications Day has learned. The Unity cable has been under development for several months, with a group of carriers and Google meeting for high-level talks on the plan in Sydney last week. Google would not strictly confirm or deny the existence of the Unity plan today, with spokesman Barry Schnitt telling our North American correspondent Patrick Neighly that "Additional infrastructure for the Internet is good for users and there are a number of proposals to add a Pacific submarine cable. We're not commenting on any of these plans." However, Communications Day understands that Unity would see Google join with other carriers to build a new multi-terabit cable. Google would get access to a fibre pair at build cost handing it a tremendous cost advantage over rivals such as MSN and Yahoo, and also potentially enabling it to peer with Asia ISPs behind their international gateways - considerably improving the affordability of Internet services across Asia Pacific. Communications Day cannot confirm the identity of the other carriers working with Google, although we have learned that both Asia Netcom and Telstra have discussed the concept with the California-based search and online advertising giant. One source suggested that the main player behind the planned Asia America Gateway cable - Telekom Malaysia - has not been invited to participate in talks. The same source speculated that at least half a dozen companies are party to the plans. The exact route for the cable is not yet finally determined although there are plans for a configuration using two separate routes to provide network diversity. It would potentially also be able to service Australia via interconnect to new and existing cables in Guam and Hawaii. The Unity name was first revealed in public in early September when Level 3 executive Mike Saunders listed it as one of several new cables planned across the Pacific in a Singapore conference presentation. Saunders' presentation warned of the potential for the new cables to create a new trans-Pacific capacity bubble, although he did not link Unity to Google. His presentation said Unity was planned for a service launch in 2009. Google also hinted at its ambitions in job advertisements earlier this year. In one for a submarine cable negotiator, it specified a job description that said in part "These negotiators will work closely with vendors to identify highly cost-effective solutions under the most favorable commercial and technical terms possible. They will also be involved in new projects or investments in cable systems that Google may contemplate to extend or grow its backbone." Google's infrastructure ambitions are no secret. The company has committed substantial expenditure on dark fibre and a network of data centres across the United States, and also recently indicated its interest in bidding for new 700MHz spectrum allocations there. Communications Day reported on 8 February that Google had begun peering with ISPs, enabling them to reduce their reliance on transit services via Tier 1 non-peering major IP networks such as Level 3 and AT&T. Asked to comment on its hire of submarine cable specialists, Google told Communications Day "It should come as no surprise that Google is looking for qualified people to help secure additional network capacity. In some parts of the world, these people will work with submarine cables because there is a lot of ocean out there." Another source said that Google's move could be disruptive to the capacity industry as it takes a major source of traffic - and revenue - out of the general market place. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Less Than 2 Percent of UK Companies Have Upgraded to Vista

Slashdot It! Less than 2% of UK-based firms have already upgraded all their desktops to Windows Vista. That was one of the findings of a new survey by CBR amongst 300 senior IT decision-makers in the UK, researched during September. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be bringing you a series of articles that shine a light on the most interesting results from that survey of UK IT business decision-makers, and at the end of the series we will look at the big picture: what do the results say about UK IT at large? Asked, “What are your firm’s Windows Vista upgrade plans?”, just over 1% said they have already upgraded all desktops to Windows Vista. Just shy of 5% said that they have begun a Windows Vista desktop upgrade program. 6.5% said they will upgrade in the next 6 months; 12.6% in the next 12 months; 13% in the next 18 months; and 18% in the next two years. That means that within two years from now, only 56% of survey respondents say they will have upgraded their firm’s desktops to Windows Vista. In a CBR report in February, we noted how Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer at that time called for financial analysts to cool down their predictions on how many copies of Windows Vista the company would sell between then and 2009. After addressing analysts the week before, they had taken him at his word, issuing cautious but optimistic research notes that, regardless, helped knock almost 3% off Microsoft's share price at that time. “People have to understand our revenue models because I think some of the revenue forecasts I've seen out there for Windows Vista in fiscal year '08 are overly aggressive,” Ballmer said at the meeting. He told analysts that much of Microsoft's operating systems sales growth comes from people buying new PCs, but that analysts growth models for Microsoft are more ambitious than their models for PC makers, something he called a “weird disconnect”. “There's a disconnect between what people think is the growth of the PC market and what they think is Vista growth,” he said. “So, either you have to increase your forecast for the total PC market, and then Vista will do just fine, or those two things are out of whack.” “If Vista is going to drive a major sort of surge in PC market growth rate, you would think that would also show up in what people [analysts] think about HP, Dell, Intel,” he said. “My basic assumption is we'll see a small surge”. The company had made discouraging noises about Vista earlier in the week, issuing a short statement asking people to stop speculating on what the next Windows might look like and when it might come. Vista was released to new PC buyers and retailers on January 30, and there was intense speculation on how much excitement Microsoft had managed to create. In terms of retail sales of Vista in a box, Ballmer said he believes most of that up-tick is concentrated in the first few months of the software going on sale. He doubted that this would carry over into Microsoft's fiscal 2008, which began in July 2007. Analyst estimates for fiscal 2008 growth in Microsoft's client business unit, which includes Vista, is around the 9% mark. Ballmer said that analysts should consider that rather than creating huge spurts of new growth “a new Windows release is primarily a chance to sustain the revenue we have”. “Every new Windows release is not necessarily a huge revenue growth opportunity, but if we don't have exciting, fantastic, outstanding Windows releases, there will be either a drop in the PC market, and/or there will be uptake of Linux and Mac and all of these other things,” he said. Ballmer acknowledged that Apple has gained market share against Windows-based PCs, but suggested this is largely an image factor. “The number one reason Apple has grown share is because they've had the sexiest high-end notebooks in the marketplace,” he said. “I think as you start to see the kind of higher end nice notebooks, sexy, high-end notebooks from Toshiba, from HP, from Dell, from others, that combination with Vista is going to put a lot of pressure back on Apple.” It seems unlikely that the entire 43% of UK businesses whose CIOs, IT managers and other senior IT practitioners -- who told us their firms will not have upgraded to Vista in two years from now -- will all be buying Macs, or indeed Linux on the desktop. But with the average PC refresh cycle estimated by analysts to be between three-to-five years, perhaps those figures are not surprising given Ballmer’s remarks back in February. One interpretation of our survey results is that companies are delaying their Vista upgrade plans until they upgrade the desktops themselves. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft leaks its own search plans

Slashdot It! A Microsoft employee has posted details about planned changes to Microsoft's Live Search, ahead of an event next week where the company was slated to unveil the changes to reporters. The changes to the search product, which were demonstrated at Microsoft's companywide meeting earlier this month, include improvements in several specific types of search queries, notably in video search and in searches for products. In a blog posting, Windows Live program manager Akram Hussein demonstrated how the revamped Live Search handles searches for digital cameras, showing not just product details, but also reviews. The new search scrapes details from other sites that have user reviews and other information and presents it from within the search engine. Microsoft has since taken down the blog, but the folks at Liveside.net managed to capture the images and the details Hussein provided. Microsoft plans to brief reporters at a "Searchification" event next week at its Mountain View, Calif., campus. Hussein also showed a new celebrity search page, demonstrating how a query of "Brad Pitt" includes a rating system of how popular he is at the moment, dubbed his "celebrity xRank." Finally, Hussein outlined an improved video search that allows a motion preview of a video search result. "You can preview videos online by moving your mouse over any video and it will play a preview of the video right away no delays!" he wrote. "Isn't this amazing, at least now you can preview the video before really going and trying to view it, and make sure this is the one you want." Some of the changes to Live Search have been gradually appearing on the site in recent days. Hussein, in an apology note that replaced his original blog posting, said his images came from a test build. "Just to notify everyone I apologize for the information it seems they are still in beta and it was like a test roll out so I am pulling off the blog post," he said. The changes come as Microsoft is struggling to make headway against market leaders Google and Yahoo. ComScore released its August search results on Friday, showing that Microsoft lost a percentage point of market share compared with July, attracting 12.3 percent of searches. Google gained more than a point, to hold 56.5 percent of the market, while Yahoo slipped two-tenths of a percentage point, to 23.3 percent. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

iPod nano costs less then $83 to build

Slashdot It! Apple calls it the iPod nano –but the latest version of the company's compact music player introduced last week is virtually a completely new design, reusing almost no components and sporting a bevy of fresh suppliers compared to the previous model, according to iSuppli. Component suppliers making their nano product line debut in the latest version include Micron Technology, Dialog Semiconductor GmbH and Intersil, while Synaptics returns to the platform after an absence, iSuppli detailed. "The changes in components have resulted in significant cost reductions in the nano design, allowing Apple to offer a product that is less expensive to build and that has enhanced features compared to its predecessor," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior analyst and teardown services manager for iSuppli. Dropping the BOM This teardown analysis team has dissected the low-priced version of the new nano and has determined the product carries a bill of materials (BOM) cost of US$58.85 for the 4GB version and US$82.85 for the 8GB version. The BOM of the new 4GB model is 18.5% lower than the US$72.24 direct materials cost of the previous version of the nano released in late 2006. The new product has the lowest BOM of any member of the nano line analyzed by iSuppli. iSuppli's estimate of the new nanos' BOMs is strictly limited to costs for components and other materials used to construct the product. iSuppli noted that the estimate does not include costs for manufacturing, software, intellectual property, accessories and packaging. The BOM figures also do not include research and development costs, since such data cannot be derived from a teardown and component analysis. Direct materials cost estimate of the new iPod nanos (US$)* Component 4GB 8GB Flash memory $24.00 $48.00 Display $10.60 $10.60 Core video processor/microprocessor $8.60 $8.60 Electro mechanicals $2.44 $2.44 SDRAM $2.72 $2.72 Mechanicals $2.33 $2.33 Misc. components $2.25 $2.25 battery $1.40 $1.40 Power management IC $1.38 $1.38 Video driver $0.85 $0.85 CODEC $0.90 $0.90 Mixed signal array / Touch wheel controller $0.65 $0.65 Buck regulators $0.15 $0.15 Utility flash memory $0.59 $0.59 Subtotal $58.85 $82.85 *Direct materials only: Manufacturing, accessories, IP, software, R&D, etc. are not included Source: iSuppli. Raising the margin The retail price of the 4GB version is US$149, compared to a hardware BOM of US$58.85. For the 8GB version, the retail price is US$199, compared to a hardware BOM of US$82.85. iSuppli observed that Apple's products traditionally have been sold at retail pricing that is about twice the level of their hardware BOM costs, this represents a high level compared to most electronic products. For the new nanos, Apple has exceeded even its usual lofty standards. Out with the old, and in with the nano The arrival of new nano semiconductor suppliers, Micron, Dialog and Intersil –and the return of Synaptics – has been accompanied by the departure of previous part providers, NXP Semiconductors and Cypress Semiconductor in the latest version of the product. Such wholesale supplier swaps are not unusual for Apple, which frequently switches its component partners. With Apple, it seems, no supplier is safe, and no slot is a given. Micron a big winner in the new nano US semiconductor supplier Micron was the most notable addition to the nano. This represents the first time that iSuppli's teardown analysis service has identified a Micron part in an iPod. In the nano torn down by iSuppli, Micron was the maker of the high-density NAND flash memory that serves as media storage, worth US$24 in the 4GB version of the product and US$48 in the 8GB version. This gave Micron the largest single portion of value in the nano of any supplier at 40.8% for the 4GB version and 57.9% for the 8GB. Apple's primary suppliers of NAND flash historically have been Korea's Samsung Electronics (which has been the dominant seller), Japan's Toshiba and Korea's Hynix Semiconductor. Micron is last in share position as a supplier to Apple for NAND flash, and only began shipping small quantities during the last year. While this is a major win for Micron, Samsung remains the world's largest maker of NAND-type flash and is likely to continue to be used as a supplier by Apple, iSuppli believes. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Halo 3 to come with 11 Multiplayer Maps

Slashdot It! We're not sure if this information/ screenshot has anything to do with the Norwegian Game Store that sold Halo 3 early, but somebody definitely got their hands on a copy and took a picture of the complete list of maps in the game. In the screenshot provided, you can see all 11 Multiplayer maps which include 3 that have never been heard of and they are, "Construct", "The Pit" and "Isolation".

Too bad the picture doesn't come with any screenshots of these maps, but we can settle for the names of all the maps for now. I mean, you honestly don't need everything spoiled for you before the game's available. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

MySpace to customize ads for users

Slashdot It!

Adam Bain, left, and Arnie Gullov-Singh are helping to lead MySpace’s effort to mine profile pages for ad purposes.

Members of the booming social network Web sites treat their individual profile pages as a creative canvas for personal expression. The social networking companies see those pages as a lush target for advertisers — if only they could customize the ads. Although Internet companies have talked about specifically aiming their ads since the inception of the Web, so far advertising on social networks has been characterized by mass-marketed pitches for mortgages and online dating sites. But MySpace, the Web’s largest social network and one of the most trafficked sites on the Internet, says that after experimenting with technology over the last six months it can tailor ads to the personal information that its 110 million active users leave on their profile pages. Executives at Fox Interactive Media, the News Corporation unit that owns MySpace, will begin speaking about the results of that program this week. They say the tailoring technology has improved the likelihood that members will click on an ad by 80 percent on average. “We are blessed with a phenomenal amount of information about the likes, dislikes and life’s passions of our users,” said Peter Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media, who will talk about the program at an address to investors and analysts at a Merrill Lynch conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday. “We have an opportunity to provide advertisers with a completely new paradigm.” MySpace’s rival, Facebook, also says it is experimenting with ad customization with the help of Microsoft, which signed with the up-and-coming social network last year to provide display ads on the service. To the consternation of privacy advocates, who say Internet users are unaware of such activity, the social networks regard these detail-stocked profile pages as a kind of “digital gold,” as one Fox executive put it last year. The companies hope that customizing ads to their members’ stated enthusiasms will improve the effectiveness of the ads and recruit new advertisers who want to pitch their messages to refined slices of the online audience. Fox executives also hope the technology can help MySpace recapture some of the momentum and attention that has recently gone to Facebook. Richard Greenfield, the managing director of Pali Research, predicts that MySpace’s fledgling program will help increase MySpace’s current revenue to $70 million a month from $40 million a month by next year. “This is a critical evolution of the MySpace business model envisioned from the day News Corporation bought it,” Mr. Greenfield said. A 100-employee team inside the Fox Interactive Media offices in Beverly Hills, Calif., called the “monetization technology group,” has designed computer algorithms to scour MySpace pages. In the first phase of the program, which the company calls “interest-based targeting,” the algorithms assigned members to one of 10 categories that represents their primary interest, like sports, fashion, finance, video games, autos and health. The algorithms make their judgments partly on certain keywords in the profile. A member might be obvious by describing himself as a financial information enthusiast, for example. But more than likely the clues are more subtle. He might qualify for that category by listing Donald Trump as a hero, Fortune magazine as a favorite publication or “Wall Street” as a favorite movie. The system also looks at the groups members belong to, who their friends are, their age and gender, and what ads they have responded to in the past. “Our targeting is a balance of what users say, what they do and what they say they do,” said Adam Bain, executive vice president for production and technology at Fox Interactive. MySpace evidently does not completely trust the technology. Every two weeks, teams of “relevance testers” come to Fox Interactive’s offices to manually check member profiles against the categories they have been assigned to. The company said that several national advertisers are trying out the service, though they declined to name them. Fox Interactive executives say that some kinds of ads benefited more than others. Clicks on tailored auto ads more than doubled and clicks on music ads jumped by 70 percent. For the last two months, Fox Interactive has also experimented with the second phase of its targeting program, called “hyper targeting,” in which it further divides the 10 enthusiast categories into hundreds of subcategories. For example, sports fans are divided into subgroups like basketball, college football and skiing, while film enthusiasts are further classified by their interest in genres like comedies, dramas and independent films, and even particular actors and actresses. For now, Fox’s advertising sales representatives are selling the new kinds of ad abilities. In November, according to Michael Barrett, Fox Interactive Media’s chief revenue officer, the company will set up an automated online system to allow smaller companies to aim at MySpace users with their ads without ever talking to a human being at Fox. A punk band performing in Seattle, for example, could publicize a performance by looking up all the people on MySpace who live in that area who are punk fans. MySpace also plans to give its advertisers information about what kind of people its ads have attracted. “We want them to leave knowing more about their audience then when they came into the door,” Arnie Gullov-Singh, vice president in the advertising technology group at Fox Interactive. That is precisely the goal that worries some privacy advocates. They argue that users of social networks like MySpace and Facebook are not aware they are being monitored and that current ad-targeting is only the first step in what has become a huge arms race to collect revealing data on Internet users. “People should be able to congregate online with their friends without thinking that big brother, whether it is Rupert Murdoch or Mark Zuckerberg, are stealthily peering in,” said Jeff Chester, executive director at the Center for Digital Democracy in Washington. His organization will ask the Federal Trade Commission, during a planned hearing on Internet privacy in November, to investigate social networks for unfair and deceptive practices, he said. MySpace and Facebook executives argue that they are harming no one. They say that they are using information their members make publicly available, and contrast their ad targeting with efforts by Yahoo, America Online and Microsoft, whose advertising technologies follow people around the Web and try to deduce what they are interested in based on what sites they are looking at. Fox executives also say they are planning on letting users opt-out of the ad-targeting program on MySpace, though it means those members will see fewer relevant ads. At least one MySpace member has no problems with the new technology. Mark Gong, a 26-year-old photojournalist from Washington, runs the 3,000-member Wanderlust group on MySpace and on his profile expresses an interest for foreign films like “Lost in Translation” and “The Spanish Apartment.” Not surprisingly, that has defined him as a prime target for travel ads on MySpace from companies like ShermansTravel.com, a travel deal site. “I’m not opposed to advertising,” Mr. Gong said. “They have got to make money.” But he also says he hopes MySpace spends the extra cash on making the site more reliable and fending off the Facebook threat. He says many members of his group have flocked to Facebook in the last two months and that even he is logging into Facebook more often. “Everybody I know is switching to Facebook,” he said. “MySpace has its work cut out for it.” Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft to sue Linux in Europe

Slashdot It! Linux users in the U.K. could face a greater threat from Microsoft than previously thought, although experts agree that British open-source users are in far less danger than U.S. users from Microsoft's claim that open-source software infringes its patents. Microsoft has claimed that Linux and other open-source software infringes 235 of its patents. Although the company has refused to say which patents are involved, the risk must be lower in the U.K. than in the U.S. because the company has far fewer patents in the U.K., Andrew Katz, a solicitor at Moorcrofts Corporate Law, argued last week. However, Microsoft does have more patents affecting the U.K. than the 51 U.K. patent applications Katz quoted, because Redmond also has a few hundred European patents that might have force here, depending on the decisions of U.K. courts, said David Pearce, an associate at Nottingham-based patent attorneys Eric Potter Clarkson, on the IPKat blog. Katz points out, though, that "even if 400 (patents) apply in the U.K., this is a vastly smaller number than the amount that apply in the U.S. It demonstrates that the U.K. regime is vastly different to the U.S. regime, which is the main point that needs to be drawn out." According to Katz, the European Patent Office has granted 431 patents to Microsoft, out of 4,341 applications. More than 7,000 patents have been granted to Microsoft in the U.S. European patents are more attractive than U.K. patents, explained Pearce. "For obvious reasons, and not just those relating to cost, most big companies nowadays much prefer to prosecute their patent applications before the European Patent Office rather than the U.K. Intellectual Property Office." Of Microsoft's 431 European patents, many will be irrelevant to the Linux case because they deal with hardware issues such as mice. "In a very brief and nonscientific scan of the 51 applications made through the U.K. patent office, the proportion of patents which were hardware-related seemed significantly higher than a quick, random sample of (Microsoft's) U.S. patents," said Katz. Europe's stance against software patents is not as firm as Katz said, according to Pearce. "Europe does indeed 'do' software patents, and has done for many years," he said. Since 1999, patents have been issued for computer program products according to complex criteria. "(It) depends on something to do with a 'technical effect'--that is, an effect beyond that of a mere computer program," Pearce explained. "This is easier to understand when computers are used to control industrial processes, but less so when applied to general-purpose computer applications." These criteria are just "loopholes" by which patent agents try to get around a European statutory exclusion for the patentability of computer software, Pearce said. The European Patent Convention and the United Kingdom Patents Act "make it clear that computer software 'as such' is not patentable. This obviously generates a lot of debate as to what 'as such' means." If its Linux patents are legal in the U.K., Microsoft would have to sue for "indirect infringement"--a supplier of computer programs providing the means to put Microsoft's invention into effect--rather than "direct infringement"--a supplier providing infringing computer programs. "The difference is one of level and burden of proof, and effectively makes it harder to enforce the relevant patents," said Pearce. "The patents would not, however, necessarily be invalid as a whole, just in part. This would not prevent Microsoft from suing anyone--just make it a bit harder for them to win." So both Katz and Pearce agree that Microsoft is much less likely to bring any patent infringement cases against open-source users in the U.K. The U.K. Intellectual Property Office doesn't grant computer program patents anymore--ever since two recent applications (submitted by Aerotel Medical Systems) were rejected. However, the status of patents already in existence is not clear without more case law, said Pearce. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

India now a serious market for game console makers

Slashdot It! India's nascent $30 million game market is set to grow to $700 million in the next five years, driven by global companies that are pushing new-generation consoles in the Indian market, industry watchers said. Microsoft launched its Xbox 360 in India in September 2006, the premium version retailing at 24,000 rupees ($593), without taxes. In April this year, Sony launched its PlayStation 3, priced at a hefty 39,990 rupees ($988), complete with the latest Blu-ray Disc-formatted optical drive. The third major console of the year, Nintendo's Wii, has not been officially launched in India but is sold through various channels at a substantial discount to the Xbox and the PS3. "The main drivers for the growth of the gaming industry in India would be seeding initiatives by the players, marketing, and pricing of the games, which is an important aspect in India," said Rajesh Jain, executive director at KPMG. He said India's game market would expand to $650 million to $700 million in four to five years from $30 million at present, including the gray market. Microsoft, with its first-mover advantage, is meeting the challenge head-on. "The response to the Xbox has been phenomenal...absolute demand has exceeded our expectations and plans," said Microsoft India's Mohit Anand, Microsoft's country manager for entertainment and devices. "I have more than 1,000 retail touch points across the top seven cities," he said. "We are everywhere...any retail outlet." While in the past, consoles were left to sell themselves, makers are now taking a proactive approach to sell their products. "This kind of an organized marketing thrust was missing when the first Xbox was launched," said Anand Gurnani, editor of game portal Animationexpress.com. People's perception of games has also changed. "It has gone from being a product for a cult group to a lifestyle product." Tanisha Kaul, product head of PlayStation at Sony India, said a study done prior to launch showed that increases in jobs, disposable income and Internet usage were inclining more people toward a digital lifestyle and alternate means of entertainment. "Indian consumers might catch everyone unaware by bridging the gaming gap with the developed markets more quickly than anyone could have imagined," she said. Price points are very important in India. Most games are priced steeply. In the United States, new games for the 360 retail at around $50 a DVD. In India, imported games attract a steep duty and retail at upward of 3,000 rupees ($74). Prices of games are being reduced as there are more homegrown games available. "Some of the PlayStation 2 games have already been brought down. That helps to grow the market," Jain said. "At the end of the day, the prices at which the games are bought is important." He pointed out that software developed in India leverages local strengths, bringing down costs and the selling price. So Microsoft has introduced a cricket-playing game in India priced at 1,699 rupees ($42). In fact, the company has absorbed 54 percent of the import duty on the Xbox. "It is not the cost of the box which is important...it is the cost of the recurring games," Jain said. "What is needed is localized content and games designed for the Indian market," said Tony Garcia, CEO of FXLabs. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Some iPhone updates

Slashdot It! Two new articles about the iPhone. The first one is that Verizon was not very much impacted by the iPhone Verizon Wireless saw some subscribers defect to AT&T to get the iPhone but the impact was short-lived, said one of Verizon's parents, Vodafone Group, on Wednesday. Vodafone Chief Executive Arun Sarin said on Wednesday that right after the iPhone was launched in late June, some Verizon Wireless customers moved, or ported, their numbers to AT&T. "Porting ratios went negative but a month afterward porting ratios were back," he said, adding that a similar trend occurred when Apple cut the price of its iPhone to $399 from $599 earlier this month. "Porting ratios go negative, then two weeks later were back to normal again," he said. Vodafone owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. mobile service. Verizon Communications owns the remainder. AT&T is the exclusive U.S. provider of the iPhone, which includes a music player and Web browser. Apple has signed deals to sell the iPhone through O2, owned by Telefonica, in the United Kingdom and with T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, in Germany. Sarin said he would be interested in talking to Apple about selling the phone when the company comes out with a high-speed wireless version. "When an HSDPA iPhone is available, we would be interested in talking to Apple," he said. Sarin said he believed the iPhone would increase the popularity of data services such as Web surfing, video downloading and social networking on cell phones. The second articles points out that Apple nearly double iPhone production Apple has prepared plans to nearly double its iPhone production in the fourth quarter, financial news Web site TheStreet.com reported, citing people familiar with the company. The plan calls for making 2.7 million iPhones next quarter, up from the 1.54 million originally targeted, the report said. Apple's plans now call for 4.8 million iPhones to be produced this year, up from the 3.6 million previously targeted, the report said. Earlier this month, Apple said it sold its 1 millionth iPhone a few weeks ahead of schedule. Apple executives were not immediately available for comment. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Palm Says Loss Is a Possibility

Slashdot It! Palm Inc., whose Treo smartphone is facing increasing competition from Apple, Nokia and other companies, warned Wednesday that it might have a small loss in its fiscal first quarter. For the quarter that ended Aug. 31, the company said it expected either to report a loss of 1 cent a share or to break even. Palm will report its full financial statement Oct. 1. In its last quarterly report, the company said it expected to earn 1 cent a share on revenue of $355 million to $365 million. Palm is now forecasting revenue of $359 million to $361 million, with smartphone sales accounting for $300 million to $302 million. Analysts were expecting revenue of $359.9 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial. Palm shares lost 29 cents in after-hours trading Wednesday. Excluding charges for stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets, patent acquisitions, revamping costs and the sale of land, the company said it expected a profit of 8 to 9 cents a share for the quarter. The company’s outlook for the quarter represents a substantial drop in earnings from the year-ago period, when the company had a profit of 16 cents a share, or 21 cents when special items were excluded. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Apple coming down hard on iPhone hacks

Slashdot It! Apple will actively work against any SIM unlocks of the iPhone, says Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs made the comments during a Q&A session that took place after yesterday's press event in London announcing availability details of the iPhone in the UK. When asked by a journalist whether unlocking was a concern for the company, Jobs said, "It's a constant cat and mouse game," according to ComputerWorld's account of the discussion. "We try to stay ahead. People will try to break in, and it's our job to stop them breaking in." The break-ins that Jobs spoke of have been flying fast and furious in the last month or so. One of the first full SIM unlocks involved using a Turbo SIM card, a somewhat complex process for the average consumer. Then teenager George Holtz published a way to hardware unlock his iPhone with some soldering iron-fu and released instructions for other adventurous unlockers. But none of this was "big" news to the world until the first (commercial) software unlock of the iPhone was announced by iPhoneSIMfree. This sent waves through the iPhone community to push for a free unlock from the iPhone Dev Team, which was achieved just this week with the release of iUnlock, followed by the GUI app to go along with it, anySIM. This app began to appear in the third-party iPhone software update app, Installer, which enabled many iPhone users to install the unlock and experiment with ease. Hacking is okay... sometimes Apple's stance on stopping hackers is different depending on the hack. When it came to hacking the Apple TV and introducing the first set of native iPhone applications—something that cannot be done the "legit" way because of Apple's lack of a formal SDK for developers—Apple took a neutral stance. Apple's Greg Joswiak said last week that Apple wouldn't stop anyone from writing the apps or actively work against them, but the company would also not make an effort not to break the hacks when releasing its own software updates. After all, the hacks are not officially supported. But when it comes to SIM unlocking the iPhone, the game changes drastically. Although Apple has less to lose by customers unlocking the device than AT&T, the company is bound by its contract to AT&T to do what it can to ensure that customers use the designated carrier. And Apple does have something to lose—the company is widely known to be getting a cut of subscription fees from AT&T for each person that buys and uses an iPhone. While it's unclear exactly how much Apple gets per customer, analyst estimates amount to millions of dollars per year in subscription fees going directly to Apple. Apple's contractual obligations aside, consumers in the US are legally allowed to unlock their mobile handsets after the US Register of Copyrights approved an exemption to the DMCA late last year, noting that "The underlying activity sought to be performed by the owner of the handset is to allow the handset to do what it was manufactured to do—lawfully connect to any carrier." But don't tell that to Apple and AT&T—unless the government bars them from locking out the unlocks, there's virtually nothing stopping them from making sure that the unlocks mysteriously stop working. A very expensive brick But we have reason to believe that Apple may go much further than just "breaking" the SIM unlocks that have been released so far. One move that the cat (or is Apple the mouse?) could make in this game would be to permanently and irreparably brick unlocked iPhones when they run this month's pending software update. It would serve as a warning shot to potential unlockers in the future—even if crafty hackers manage to rewrite their unlock apps to get around the changes made in the update, they could always be at risk of suddenly owning a shiny $400 chunk of metal and plastic. We believe this is a significant possibility, so here's a word for those who have unlocked their iPhones: be extremely careful when the software update lands; let others be the guinea pigs before you run it. A software restore of the iPhone likely won't save you, either, as the radio baseband firmware used to identify the SIM card will still remain unlocked (as it stands now, those who have run unlocks can still do a software restore and have an unlocked iPhone). And if Apple writes its update to make changes to the radio baseband firmware based on what it was expecting, the iPhone will not react well. Welcome to your new iBrick Extreme: the new paperweight from Apple. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft would not ban users who brought the Halo 3 game earlier then expected

Slashdot It!

Playing this will no longer get you banned from Xbox LIVE

Microsoft has backtracked on its original threat to ban the LIVE accounts of gamers who have purchased Halo 3 early following high street retailer Argos' admin error.

Earlier today, a Microsoft rep told Pro-G that gamers who played Halo 3 early would have their LIVE accounts banned. The rep also confirmed that Microsoft was able to ban accounts based on information collected by the console which showed when the game was played. However, after contacting another MS rep, who said the ban only applies to Microsoft employees. What this means for those of you lucky enough to have taken advantage of the Argos error is that you can start playing the game, if you already weren't, free from retribution. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Google to sell ads on Moblie Phone

Slashdot It! In another step to extend its dominance of online advertising, Google said Monday that it would begin selling ads on Web pages that are viewed on cellphones. The company said that its new product, AdSense for Mobile, would establish a cellphone advertising network in which Google would match ads with the content of mobile Web pages, much as it does online. Other Internet giants, including Yahoo and AOLTime Warner, as well as some start-ups, have also created advertising networks tailored for mobile phones. Dilip Venkatachari, product management director for AdSense, said the ads would provide a new source of revenue for publishers and could encourage more online sites to create mobile-focused Web sites. Like most other Google advertising systems, ad prices will be set through an auction and and advertisers will pay when a user clicks on its ad. Mr. Venkatachari said Google had encouraged publishers to have no more than two ads per mobile page, a smaller number than typically appear on a PC’s Web browser. Google has been testing the system with a limited number of advertisers and publishers this year. On Tuesday, it will open it to all mobile publishers in 13 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, China and India. Last summer, Google began selling ads that appear next to search results on mobile phones through a program known as AdWords. Last week, it said that all of its online AdWords advertisers, which are said to number in the hundreds of thousands, would be eligible to have their ads appear next to search results on cellphones. Google’s further inroads into mobile advertising have long been expected. But the market remains relatively small, and analysts do not expect the new service to contribute much soon to Google’s bottom line. Still, advertisers and publishers appear to be growing increasingly comfortable with mobile advertising. AdMob, a start-up that runs a mobile advertising network, showed 230 million ads in January and expects to show about 1.5 billion this month, said Omar Hamoui, its founder and chief executive. “The reason that Google and others are getting in is that the market is growing so rapidly, so people are getting very excited,” Mr. Hamoui said. Earlier in the year, AOL acquired Third Screen Media, an AdMob competitor, while Microsoft acquired ScreenTonic, a mobile ad company based in Paris. On Monday, Nokia said it would buy Enpocket, a company in Boston that displays ads on cellphones. Microsoft said it was expanding a mobile search partnership with Sprint first announced last November. Since then, Microsoft’s search technology allowed Sprint customers to look for ring tones and local Web content, like restaurants and stores. Starting Tuesday, Sprint customers will be able to use Microsoft’s service to search the entire Web on their cellphones. In addition, customers will be able to choose to have Sprint track their whereabouts, so that when they search for local content, they will not have to type in their location. Users will also have access to these services through voice-activated technology, allowing them to speak into the device rather than triple-tap or type in a keyword. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

HP to double Taiwan headcount

Slashdot It! Hewlett-Packard, the world's top PC maker, said it will double the number of its employees in Taiwan by 2009, part of a strategy to move more product development to the world's top PC-manufacturing hub. HP said it expects to have about 600 people at its product development center in Taiwan by the end of 2009, compared with about 300 at present. "Part of our strategy is to increase local hires and expand Taiwan operations," Ted Clark, senior vice president and general manager of HP's mobile-computing and global-business unit, told reporters at an event in Taipei. HP currently has four design centerr--in Taiwan, China, Germany and the United States--for its notebook business. Taiwan is the center of the world's PC making industry, with contract manufacturers such as Quanta Computer, Asustek and Compal Electronics supplying up to 80 percent of all laptops. Major component makers such as Hon Hai are also based on the island. Taiwan is also increasingly home to a number of companies trying to build global PC brands, most notably Acer, which would become the world's No. 3 player, with its pending purchase of Gateway, and up-and-comer Asustek. "For notebooks, the center of the universe is Taiwan, from an R&D standpoint," said Tom Mitchell, vice president and general manager of the consumer notebook business unit. HP, whose Taiwanese suppliers include Quanta and Hon Hai, currently develops over 100 products in Taiwan for the worldwide market, including more than 50 notebook platforms, Clark said. He added that about half of the company's commercial notebook PCs are now developed in Taiwan. Global notebook PC shipments are expected to rise 28 percent to 106 million units this year, well outpacing 19 percent growth forecast for all personal computers, Clark said, citing IDC data. HP, the world's top PC maker, with about 19 percent global share, aims to grow faster than the broader market for its notebook division, Clark said. The company's global share for notebook PCs now stands at 21 percent. HP on Tuesday said it saw good demand for its PCs in the current quarter and that it is making progress in reducing its 85 data centers to six in order to cut costs. The company has eliminated 15 to 20 data centers so far, while it is spending money to build the six new centers. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Moore law might end soon

Slashdot It! Gordon Moore, the unassuming billionaire co-founder of Intel Corp, says the end of the technology maxim bearing his name is drawing to a close, perhaps as soon as 10 years from now. Moore's Law -- based on the San Francisco native's observation in 1965 that the number of transistors on a computer chip doubles roughly every two years -- has for more than 40 years dictated the pace of change in the technology industry. To be sure, many, including Moore himself, have predicted the law's demise numerous times before. But, now, as Intel and the rest of the industry have made features on chips so small, they're running out of space to cram in more transistors and bumping against the laws of physics. "Another decade, a decade and a half, I think we'll hit something fairly fundamental" that would render the continuing pace of Moore's law untenable, Moore said on Tuesday at Intel's twice-annual technical conference, now in its 10th year. Transistors are the tiny switches that process the ones and zeros that are the foundation of digital computing, and now number in the hundreds of millions on modern microprocessors. Intel in January announced what it hailed as the biggest breakthrough in the basic building blocks of semiconductors in more than 40 years. The world's biggest chipmaker is now using an element called hafnium and metal gates in its chipmaking processes, which will let Moore's Law continue for now. As Moore, 78, who founded Intel in 1968, made his way on stage to chat with radio talkshow host Moira Gunn, the crowd bestowed on him a standing ovation. Current Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini, also a San Francisco native, laughed and applauded in the front row as the affable Moore recounted some of Intel's early days. "What's not to like?" Otellini told Reuters after Moore's comments to a packed hall of thousands at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Moore cited hard work and a good bit of luck for Intel's successes over the years. He and Bob Noyce, both part of the "traitorous eight" who split away from chip pioneer William Shockley's company to found Fairchild Semiconductor, eventually helped spawn what came to be known as Silicon Valley. Moore served as executive vice president of Intel until 1975, when he became president and chief executive. He was elected chairman in 1979 and remained CEO until 1987. He was named chairman emeritus in 1997. Asked what he would do if he were a youngster in college again, Moore paused before saying, "I'd probably look at something more in the biology mold. The interface between computers and biology now is a very interesting area." "It's an exciting time," Moore, an avid deep sea fisherman, said later in the discussion. "I'd love to come back in 100 years and see what happened in the meantime." Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Oxford University Press wins oldest HP-UX prize

Slashdot It! The longest-running HP-UX server in the U.K. has been found. The find is the result of a competition, launched by Hewlett-Packard in April, to locate the oldest HP-UX installation in continuous service. The server belongs to Oxford University Press, the publishing arm of the elite university, and it's still running happily after more than 10 years of service. Oxford University Press is the largest university book publisher in the world, and the Oxford English Dictionary is its largest project. The publisher has 11 terabytes of data stored on its main systems alone, including 5TB in production. Its old HP-UX systems sit happily in a data center alongside its multicore alternatives. As recognition of its support for HP-UX, HP has awarded Oxford University Press a prize of an entry-class Integrity server, a license for HP-UX 11i v3, installation and a three-year "Support plus 24" care pack from HP. The award was received by technical project manager Geoff Butler. Oxford University Press' HP-UX server is used to track the life cycle of its books. The system was based on a package which was developed over a period of three years or so, Butler said. Once the Oxford University Press was happy, the system ran--and ran. "It just does a job well," Butler said. "But it is an important job--mission-critical." The server fits into a wide range of systems at the publisher, running various applications, including Oracle and SAP, which Butler also works on. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Facebook opens new storage service to testing

Slashdot It! Facebook has quietly launched an open Data Store API beta program that may indicate plans to offer a data storage service to developers. Since Sunday, the Facebook Developer wiki has included a page offering users beta access to a data storage service. However, the wiki does warn users that the page is still in development and that users should make sure that data used in testing the service is properly backed up. The wiki does not elaborate upon how much storage is available to developers as part of the open beta. Further, there is no information provided about pricing or how much capacity the eventual storage service will provide. In his unofficial Facebook blog, Nick O'Neill said he doubts that the nascent data storage service will carry no charge. But if it did, he noted that the impact on the site would be tremendous. "I can't imagine them providing this service for free. If they do decide to make the service completely free, Facebook will have created an even bigger revolution," posted O'Neill on his blog. O'Neill speculates that Facebook's aspirations for entering the storage arena could be to wrestle away business from Amazon.com Inc.'s S3 service, or perhaps to even challenge Google Inc.'s considerable user base and popularity. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

False Ad clicks costs Google $1Billion per year

Slashdot It! Google Inc. loses about $1 billion US a year to "click fraud" or other invalid click-throughs on its ad service, the company says. Advertisers have been asking Google for a clearer picture of the reach and effectiveness of their ads. Google's AdWords service brings together advertisers and websites willing to display their ads. Advertisers pay Google a fee based on the number of click-throughs, and site operators receive a commission for each time that a visitor clicks on an ad. Special software that can click on an ad repeatedly can be used to inflate a rival company's advertising costs or boost a site operator's own revenue gained from displaying the ads. "Our invalid clicks rate — the activity rate — has remained in the range of less than 10 per cent of all clicks every quarter since we launched AdWords in 2002. At Google's current revenue rate, every percentage point of invalid clicks we throw out represents over $100 million [US per] year in potential revenue foregone," Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google's business product manager for trust and safety, wrote in a post to the company's Inside AdWords blog late Thursday. Google does not charge its advertisers for clicks it determines to be invalid. For example, if 10 out of 100 clicks were excluded Google would not charge its advertisers for the invalid clicks, cutting into the company's revenue. The Mountain View, Calif., internet search giant had previously come under fire after earlier reports that as much as a third of click-throughs on ads the company offered were false. Google settled a click-fraud lawsuit in July 2006 for $90 million US, with $60 million in ad credits going to the claimants and $30 million paid to the plaintiffs' lawyers. "Click fraud protection is something we take very seriously, and it requires a great deal of research and development to do effectively," Ghosemajumder said in the blog post. "We are disclosing these network-wide figures in order to provide greater transparency to Google advertisers and the marketplace as a whole," he said, emphasizing that the "figures illustrate the significant level of proactive protection we provide, and how this has resulted in minimizing the actual impact of click fraud on advertisers." 3-stage system Last year, Google launched a feature called the AdWords Report Center that shows advertisers how many clicks are being excluded. In the blog post, the company explained that it determines which clicks are invalid through a three-stage system. Most of the illegitimate clicks are automatically detected analyzed and filtered out in the first stage, Ghosemajumder said. The second part uses automatic and manual analysis of the AdSense network to weed out false clicks before they are logged to an advertiser's account. The final aspect is investigation of alleged false clicks reported by an advertiser. Just 0.02 per cent of click-throughs that are ultimately excluded fall into this category, Ghosemajumder said. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

IBM goes head crash with Microsoft

Slashdot It!

After years of watching Microsoft rake in billions of dollars from its desktop software franchise, its competitors are pouncing.

IBM on Tuesday announced the release of Lotus Symphony, a suite of free desktop applications based on the OpenOffice.org open-source product.

The computing giant, which has been challenging Microsoft's desktop dominance for years, said that Lotus Symphony is a standards-based alternative to Microsoft's proprietary Office. Separately, on Monday afternoon, Yahoo said that it paid $350 million to acquire Zimbra, a start-up that developed a Web-based e-mail and collaboration package comparable with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook. Meanwhile, Google on Monday introduced Google Presentations, an online version of Microsoft's PowerPoint presentation application that complements Google's Web-hosted document editor and spreadsheet. The flurry of investment in productivity software points to technology and business changes in the IT industry that are making Microsoft's cash cow vulnerable to alternatives, particularly among small businesses and consumers. But don't expect Microsoft coffers to start draining tomorrow. Analysts expect Microsoft to retain the great majority of its Office customers as it adjusts its product development to the Web and open source, even as competitors try to siphon off its Office revenue.

Steven A. Mills, senior vice president of I.B.M.’s software group, said the programs promote an open-source document format.

"I think there's some blood in the water between Microsoft not getting its Open XML (Office document formats) fast-track standards approval and the European Commission ruling," said Michael Silver, an analyst at Gartner, referring to two recent Microsoft setbacks. Microsoft failed to get its Office Open XML formats certified as ISO standards through its accelerated process earlier this month. On Monday, the European Commission ruled in favor of regulators in an antitrust case that could change how Microsoft does business in Europe. Microsoft has shown some signs of reacting to the full-court press it's seeing from competitors. Last week, it made a version of its Office suite available to students for $60. It is also developing Office Live, a set of online services that complements Office and is aimed at small businesses. A Microsoft spokesman on Tuesday said that Office meets its customers' needs because the company continues to invest in it. "Competition is good for the industry and good for customers. That said, Microsoft Office continues to be the overwhelming choice for a broad range of organizations and individuals," said Jacob Jaffe, director of Office at Microsoft. "Microsoft Office has changed as people's work has changed, and the alternatives for the most part have aimed to meet the needs of the past." Low-risk volley IBM on Tuesday offered up beta versions of the Lotus Symphony applications--a document editor, spreadsheet and presentation program--to end users and business customers for free download. The applications run on Windows and Linux, and a Mac version is planned. IBM executives said that the company's backing of OpenOffice-based software and the open-source project is similar to its decision in the 1990s to push Linux into businesses. For support, the company is pointing its customers to online forums on its Web site. But company observers expect IBM to start to make paid support services available to large customers. For IBM, which makes about half of its revenue from professional services, pushing into desktop software with Lotus Symphony is a low-risk way to try to upset the balance of power using standards as a lever, said Stephen O'Grady, an analyst at RedMonk. "If (Lotus Symphony) destabilizes Microsoft's Office business, that's a huge win and the potential risk for IBM is essentially nil because it's not a business where they are competitive anyhow. And it won't cannibalize any of its own products," O'Grady said. Realistically, Lotus Symphony applications don't have the same advanced features found in Microsoft Office. IBM said the programs are designed for ease of use and to be easily integrated with other applications. In addition, IBM made pains to point out that the programs support OpenDocument Format, or ODF, a standard document format. They also will work with Microsoft Office documents and Adobe Systems' PDF. Stripped-down productivity applications could have an appeal in some corporate computing situations, such as small businesses or companies that don't want to pay a full Office license for employees who rarely use the suite, some analysts said. While IBM, Sun Microsystems and Novell are attempting to offer OpenOffice-derived alternatives to Microsoft, Web businesses Google and now Yahoo are using Web 2.0-style features to attack Microsoft's largest businesses. Yahoo's Zimbra e-mail and collaboration software is notable because it resembles a full-featured desktop application but the client runs in a browser. To do that, Zimbra has made heavy use of the Web programming technique called Ajax to make its application more interactive and support features such as "mashups," Web sites or applications that combine content from multiple sources but appear seamless upon use. Zimbra has signed on 8 million customers through Internet service providers. The company designed its e-mail server for businesses as well, an area where Microsoft's Exchange is entrenched. But it's not clear whether Yahoo will continue to pursue that market, O'Grady said. Several other start-ups are developing Web-based Office alternatives using Ajax or Adobe's Flash, which are typically free for consumers. Google, meanwhile, continues to expand its Google Apps suite through new products, such as Google Presentations, and acquisitions including Web collaboration company JotSpot, which it bought last year. The Web search king also has its eye on large businesses. It approached consulting firm Capgemini to create support and installation services for Google Apps Premium Edition, which costs $50 per user per year. Capgemini executives said the product lacks the sophistication of Microsoft Office but can fill a role even inside large corporations, such as collaborating with business partners over the Internet. Chris Swenson, a software analyst at NPD Group, said the most recent sales data on Office 2007 looks very good for Microsoft. In the retail channel, sales to date this year show Office having a 96 percent dollar share and 98 percent dollar share in the commercial market. It's exactly that massive market share and the billions spent that explains IBM's introduction of Lotus Symphony and Web-based Office alternatives, said Gartner's Silver. He added that he has seen more "reasonable interest" in Office alternatives in the past year among Gartner's corporate clients. Microsoft "makes billions of dollars (in desktop software) so it's a hard market to ignore," he said. "But it's a hard market to get into." Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

USB 3.0 coming up

Slashdot It! Intel Corporation and other industry leaders have formed the USB 3.0 Promoter Group to create a superspeed personal USB interconnect that can deliver over 10 times the speed of today's connection. The technology, also developed by HP, Microsoft Corporation, NEC Corporation, NXP Semiconductors and Texas Instruments Incorporated, will target fast sync-and-go transfer applications in the PC, consumer and mobile segments that are necessary as digital media become ubiquitous and file sizes increase up to and beyond 25 Gigabytes. USB (Universal Serial Bus) 3.0 will create a backward-compatible standard with the same ease-of-use and plug and play capabilities of previous USB technologies. Targeting over 10x performance increase, the technology will draw from the same architecture of wired USB. In addition, the USB 3.0 specification will be optimized for low power and improved protocol efficiency. USB 3.0 ports and cabling will be designed to enable backward compatibility as well as future-proofing for optical capabilities. "USB 3.0 is the next logical step for the PC's most popular wired connectivity," said Jeff Ravencraft, technology strategist with Intel and president of the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). "The digital era requires high-speed performance and reliable connectivity to move the enormous amounts of digital content now present in everyday life. USB 3.0 will meet this challenge while maintaining the ease-of-use experience that users have come to love and expect from any USB technology." Intel formed the USB 3.0 Promoter Group with the understanding that the USB-IF would act as the trade association for the USB 3.0 specification. A completed USB 3.0 specification is expected by the first half of 2008. USB 3.0 implementations will initially be in the form of discrete silicon. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group is committed to preserving the existing USB device class driver infrastructure and investment, look-and-feel and ease-of-use of USB while continuing to expand this great technology's capabilities. About the USB-IF The non-profit USB Implementers Forum, Inc. was formed to provide a support organization and forum for the advancement and adoption of USB technology. The USB-IF facilitates the development of high-quality compatible USB devices, through its logo and compliance program and promotes the benefits of USB and the quality of products that have passed compliance testing. Further information, including postings of the most recent product and technology announcements, is available by visiting the USB-IF Web site at www.usb.org. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

How to Get Your App on the iPhone

Slashdot It! According to VirtualHosting, they published a new article about how to use third party apps on iPhone. Some apps that you might love to put on the iPhone. 1 ApolloIM: ApolloIM puts AIM-style instant messaging on the iPhone. 2 Scorekeeper: Keep score with this simple us vs. them app. 3 Loud is Relative: Users can look up events in their zip code. This app is integrated with Google Maps and phone call features. Read more at Virtual Hosting Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Intel Demonstrates Industry's First 32nm Chip and Next-Generation Nehalem Microprocessor Architecture

Slashdot It! Intel Corporation President and CEO Paul Otellini today outlined new products, chip designs and manufacturing technologies that will enable the company to continue its quickened pace of product and technology leadership. Speaking to industry leaders, developers and industry watchers at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), Otellini showed the industry's first working chips built using 32 nanometer (nm) technology, with transistors so small that more than 4 million of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence. Intel's 32nm process technology is on track to begin production in 2009. Otellini also described the near-term advantages computer users will experience with Intel's upcoming 45nm family of Penryn processors, which are based on its revolutionary high-k metal gate transistor technology. The industry's first 45nm processors will be available from Intel in November. The company also demonstrated for the first time the next-generation chip architecture codenamed Nehalem, due out next year. "Our tick-tock strategy of alternating next generation silicon technology and a new microprocessor architecture -- year after year -- is accelerating the pace of innovation in the industry," said Otellini. "Tick-tock is the engine creating today's most advanced technologies and keeps them coming out at a rapid cadence. Our customers and computer users around the world can count on Intel's innovation engine and manufacturing capability to deliver state-of-the-art performance that rapidly becomes mainstream." When Intel introduces Penryn in November, it will be the world's first high-volume 45nm processor. Penryn, along with the Silverthorne family of 45nm processors (available next year) will have the small feature size, low-power requirements and high-performance capabilities to meet a wide variety of computing needs from handheld Internet computers to high-end servers. Intel will quickly ramp the technology with plans to introduce 15 new 45nm processors by the end of the year and another 20 in the first quarter of 2008, extending Intel's leadership in product performance and energy efficiency. Intel has already achieved more than 750 design wins for the Penryn processor. "We expect our Penryn processors to provide up to a 20 percent performance increase while improving energy efficiency," said Otellini. "Intel's breakthrough 45nm silicon process technology allows us to provide low-cost, extremely low-power processors for innovative small form factor devices while delivering high-performance, multi-core, multi-featured processors used in the most advanced systems." Otellini also announced that Intel's 45nm processors and 65nm chipsets would use halogen-free packaging technology beginning in 2008. The result will be that Intel's 45nm processors will not only be more energy efficient but also better for the environment. Looking to 2008, Otellini made the first public demonstration of Intel's Nehalem processor and said the company is on track to deliver the new processor design in the second half of the year. The Nehalem architecture will extend Intel's leadership in performance and performance-per-watt benchmarks, and will be the first Intel processor to use the QuickPath Interconnect system architecture. Quickpath will include integrated memory controller technology and improved communication links between system components to significantly improve overall system performance. "Nehalem is an entirely new architecture that leverages Intel's Core Microarchitecture, bringing leading-edge performance advantages, power efficiency and important new server features to market just a year after Intel leads the industry to 45nm technology," said Otellini. Describing other advanced Intel technologies destined to quickly come to market, Otellini showed the world's first 300mm wafer built using next-generation 32nm process technology. The development of advanced test chips serves as a critical milestone in the company's march toward high-volume manufacturing of 32nm process technology. With plans to introduce processors built on 32nm technology in 2009, Intel will maintain its industry lead delivering the most advanced manufacturing technologies. Intel's 32nm test chips incorporate logic and memory (static random access memory --SRAM) to house more than 1.9 billion transistors. The 32nm process uses the company's second-generation high-k and metal gate transistor technology. This additional performance made possible by Intel's push to drive chip design and manufacturing technology forward will not only be seen in computing, but will enable more true-to-life entertainment and realistic graphics capabilities. As a result, the company said it will be placing increased emphasis on using the power of its processors to enhance key technologies such as visual computing and graphics. "Satisfying demand for ever-greater computer performance increases means we need to move rapidly to the next manufacturing technology." said Otellini. "Intel engineers and researchers deserve a great deal of credit for setting the pace for the industry. As our advanced technology reaches consumers and businesses in the next couple of years the amount of computing power they'll be able to harness will help them become even more productive, creative and innovative." Otellini also announced that a version of a Penryn dual-core processor operating at 25 watts will be available on the upcoming Montevina platform, which will include Intel's mobile WiMAX silicon. Several equipment manufacturers are already planning to introduce Montevina-based notebook PCs starting next year when the platform is introduced. Overall, WiMAX is expected to reach more than 1 billion people worldwide by 2012. The reach of WiMAX along with Intel's efforts to bring computing technology to developing nations through the World Ahead program and innovative products such as the Silverthorne processor will help bring computing to the next billion people worldwide according to Intel. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Aeneon Xtune PC2-8500 CL5 1066MHz DDR2 RAM Kit @ Benchmark Reviews

Slashdot It! High speed, reduced latency, excellent graphic performance and cool design – this is what today’s enthusiastic gamers are looking for. Aeneon offers a brand new series of overclocking memory modules designed on the needs of the most demanding hardware enthusiasts. The new Aeneon Xtune PC2-8500 CL5 1066MHz DDR2 overclocking memory modules feature exceptional system performance without any compromise of fast, stable and reliable system operation. ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79&Itemid=1 Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Nintendo Makes About $49 Per Wii Sold in U.S.

Slashdot It! An analyst in Japan has estimated the profit that each Wii sold generates in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. With currency conversions factored in, the Wii makes the most money in Europe ($74 each), followed by the U.S. ($49) and Japan ($13). Nintendo President Satoru Iwata promised from the very beginning that the Wii console would generate a profit on day one. While Nintendo has not disclosed exactly how much it costs them to make the Wii console, a new report in the Financial Times cites Nikko Citigroup analyst Soichiro Fukuda who estimates that Nintendo's gross profit per console is 1,500 yen in Japan, 5,600 yen in the U.S. and 8,500 yen in Europe. That equates to about $13, $49 and $74, respectively. Fukuda says that Nintendo is able to make more money on the console in the U.S. and Europe because of a slightly higher retail price and the bundling of the Wii Sports software. While the Wii is a profitable endeavor for Nintendo, the company's rivals Microsoft and Sony have yet to make money on their new platforms. Microsoft is aiming to make a profit in its Xbox division in 2008, while Sony likely won't profit on the PS3 until the following year. In the meantime, the Wii has surged, reportedly taking the #1 position worldwide with 9 million units sold. And following comments by Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime that Nintendo would have "unprecedented" supply this holiday season in North America, analysts in Tokyo expressed similar sentiments that the company would have little trouble ramping up production. "Nintendo's strategy has always been to have more than one supplier for the same part so there are no shortages," said one analyst in Tokyo. "This way, Nintendo always gets the best price and production is not an issue." The Times article itself actually focuses not so much on Nintendo's supply and profit, but the profit of its component makers. The Wii has no doubt been a great boon to many of the parts makers involved. For example, Mitsumi Electric, which provides the Wii's wireless LAN module and parts for its controllers, helps assemble the machine and also supplies parts for the very popular DS, can attribute an estimated 40 percent of its profit to Nintendo, analysts said. Additionally, Tabuchi Electric, which produces the AC adaptor for the Wii, reported a 492 percent increase in operating profit during its first quarter, and Hosiden, a parts maker in Osaka that helps assemble the Wii, saw sales rise 84 percent and operating profit rise 70 percent. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

EMusic to Offer Audiobooks

Slashdot It! The company that has given Apple’s iTunes the most competition in the song-download arena will now compete with it in selling audiobooks, too. Beginning tomorrow, eMusic, which is second to iTunes in music download sales, will offer more than a thousand books for download, with many of them costing far less than on iTunes. For example, “The Audacity of Hope,” read by author Barack Obama, will cost $9.99 on eMusic compared with $18.95 on iTunes. The retail price for a five-CD version of the same book is $29.95. The biggest selling point for eMusic is also its biggest point of controversy: the site uses the MP3 format, which works on any digital player but lacks the technology, known as digital rights management, that protects copyrighted material from unlimited duplication. By contrast, iTunes only works on an iPod, and songs downloaded from the service can be burned onto a CD only once and cannot be transmitted over the Internet. EMusic’s lack of piracy protection is the reason no major music label has signed on with it, and why only a few audiobook publishers have so far. But the site is enormously popular: although dwarfed by Apple, which has 71 percent of the music-download market, eMusic, which has 10 percent, still sells more than twice as many songs as competitors like Napster, Rhapsody and WalMart.com. It is owned by Dimensional Associates, an arm of JDS Capital Management. Some publishers are just dipping in a toe. Random House Audio, for example, will be selling about 500 titles, roughly 20 percent of its catalog, through eMusic. “We’re very interested in testing this, but we didn’t think it was appropriate to put all of our titles in a test program,” said Madeline McIntosh, the group’s publisher. Like her counterparts in the music business, Ms. McIntosh is concerned about piracy, but doubts it will be as big an issue for audiobooks, which draw an older audience and are unwieldy to circulate. Unabridged audiobooks sold in stores often comprise more than a dozen CDs, and, in digital format, the enormous files cannot be e-mailed as easily as single songs. “If we see that piracy of our products is increasing, we would stop,” Ms. McIntosh said, adding that her company monitors file-sharing networks and that there will be a “watermark” on eMusic files. “But I don’t expect that working with eMusic would lead to an increase.” “Our customers don’t steal music,” said David Pakman, chief of eMusic, of the company’s 300,000 subscribers, who pay from $9.99 (for 30 songs) to $19.99 (for 75 songs). “A lot of them are technically sophisticated, but they’re not prone to piracy.” Nevertheless, some publishers have no interest in signing on with eMusic. “I think it’s a mistake,” said Brian Downing, publisher of Recorded Books, which is more than 25 years old and whose authors include Philip Roth and Jodi Picoult. “I think our obligation to protect the files and protect the authors is a big one.” Hachette Audio will start by selling only about 15 titles on the site, but that includes bestsellers like “America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction” by Jon Stewart. At the other end of the spectrum is Penguin Audio, which will sell on eMusic all the audiobooks it currently makes available in a digital format on iTunes, about 150 titles. “Publishers have been waiting for other companies to play ball,” said Patti Pirooz, the executive producer. Most publishers have been playing ball with Audible Inc., which pioneered downloadable audiobooks 12 years ago and sells its wares through iTunes and its own Web site, audible.com. Audible sells about 15,000 audiobooks and another 20,000 recordings of public radio shows and periodicals like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Audible has its own proprietary digital format, which plays on both iPods and non-Apple devices, but still cannot be duplicated except to copy onto CDs just once. Spokesmen from Audible and Apple declined to comment on eMusic. Since it was founded in 1995, Audible has grown steadily. It went public in 1999, and its 2006 revenues of $82.2 million were up 30 percent over the previous year. But this growth has not translated into profit: Audible has lost money in seven of the last eight years, including $8.4 million last year. In 2006, Audible earned 24 percent of its income selling content on iTunes, compared with 11 percent in 2004. While eMusic will offer fewer titles than Audible sells on its site or through iTunes, it will do better on price. A one-book-a-month subscription to eMusic is $9.99; the same on Audible is $14.94, while a two-books-a-month subscription is $22.95. As for the issue of intellectual property, Mr. Pakman of eMusic said that his company’s expansion into audiobooks signaled growing acceptance of the easy-to-copy MP3 format in general. “Here you have Random House, the largest publisher in the U.S., taking part in this,” Mr. Pakman said, noting that Random House’s parent company, Bertelsmann, also owns BMG Music. “What they’re doing is prioritizing the need for sales and growing the market share over copy protection. It speaks to the larger trend that media companies are now getting comfortable with something they probably should have done seven or eight years ago.” Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft loses anti-trust appeal

Slashdot It!

Microsoft will have to offer Windows without Media Player

Microsoft has lost its appeal against a record 497m euro (£343m; $690m) fine imposed by the European Commission in a long-running competition dispute.

The European Court of First Instance upheld the ruling that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position.

A probe concluded in 2004 that Microsoft was guilty of freezing out rivals in server software and products such as media players. Microsoft has two months to appeal at the European Court of Justice. "The Court of First Instance essentially upholds the Commission's decision finding that Microsoft abused its dominant position," the court's statement said. Microsoft's top lawyer said it was important now for the company to comply with EU competition law, but that it had not yet decided on its next legal steps. Trustee rejected It threw out just one small part of the European Commission's ruling, which had established an independent monitoring trustee to supervise Microsoft's behaviour. The court has upheld a landmark commission decision to give consumers more choice in software markets Competition commissioner Neelie Kroes Profile: Neelie Kroes Q&A: What the ruling means for consumers "The Court criticises, in particular, the obligation imposed on Microsoft to allow the monitoring trustee, independently of the Commission, access to its information, documents, premises and employees and also to the source code of its relevant products," it said. Microsoft has now been ordered to pay 80% of the Commission's legal costs, while the Commission has to carry a specific part of Microsoft's costs. The Commission welcomed the verdict. It will give its competition commissioner Neelie Kroes a much needed boost, after her office lost several high-profile anti-trust cases. Ms Kroes described the victory as "bittersweet", saying that software customers still have no more choice than they did three years ago. Sharing information The 2004 ruling ordered Microsoft to ensure its products could operate with other computer systems by sharing information with rival software companies. It was also ordered to make a version of its Windows operating system available without Microsoft's Media Player software. HAVE YOUR SAY The EU is making an example of a strong US company - that's all it is Kenneth Macbeth Send us your comments Monday's ruling upheld that order, saying it was "beyond dispute" that Microsoft obliged customers to buy its Media Player software along with the operating system. Last year, Microsoft was told to pay daily fines adding up to 280.5 million euros over a six-month period, after it failed to adhere to the 2004 decision. Michael Reynolds, of law firm Allen & Overy, said the important thing was "that these principles of the judgement will not just apply to the Microsoft case". "They will apply to any dominant company that engages in the same behaviour. It's not just about Microsoft," said Mr Reynolds. "It provides legal certainty now as to what you can and you can't do in relation to information you have to make available to companies who compete in your environment to enable them to be a viable competitor," he added. "The court has upheld a landmark commission decision to give consumers more choice in software markets," Ms Kroes said in a statement. "Microsoft must now comply fully with its legal obligations to desist from engaging in anti-competitive conduct." Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Yahoo Acquires Zimbra For $350 million in Cash

Slashdot It!

Yahoo will announce the acquisition of open source online/offline office suite Zimbra this evening, we just heard through a very solid source. The price: $350 million, in cash, confirmed.

Our coverage of Zimbra goes back to 2005. They gained wide exposure at the 2005 Web 2.0 Conference. Recently they launched offline functionality. The company has raised $30.5 million over three rounds of funding from Benchmark Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Accel Capital, Sumitomo and Duff, Ackerman & Goodrich. They announced 6 million paid mailboxes back in March, and more recently inked a deal with Comcast that brings another 12 million potential subscribers. This was a very, very smart acquisition. In one quick move Yahoo is now in the race with Google for the next generation online/offline office suite. I would not be surprised to see them pick up Zoho next. That is, if they really want to dominate own this space and be a credible threat to Google Docs. Update: Here is the Yahoo press release and Zimbra CEO Satish Dharmaraj’sblog post on the acquisition. And here’s the Yahoo official blog post. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

New York Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site

Slashdot It! The New York Times will stop charging for access to parts of its Web site, effective at midnight Tuesday night. The move comes two years to the day after The Times began the subscription program, TimesSelect, which has charged $49.95 a year, or $7.95 a month, for online access to the work of its columnists and to the newspaper’s archives. TimesSelect has been free to print subscribers to The Times and to some students and educators. In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain. There will be charges for some material from the period 1923 to 1986, and some will be free. The Times said the project had met expectations, drawing 227,000 paying subscribers — out of 787,000 over all — and generating about $10 million a year in revenue. “But our projections for growth on that paid subscriber base were low, compared to the growth of online advertising,” said Vivian L. Schiller, senior vice president and general manager of the site, NYTimes.com. What changed, The Times said, was that many more readers started coming to the site from search engines and links on other sites instead of coming directly to NYTimes.com. These indirect readers, unable to get access to articles behind the pay wall and less likely to pay subscription fees than the more loyal direct users, were seen as opportunities for more page views and increased advertising revenue. “What wasn’t anticipated was the explosion in how much of our traffic would be generated by Google, by Yahoo and some others,” Ms. Schiller said. The Times’s site has about 13 million unique visitors each month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, far more than any other newspaper site. Ms. Schiller would not say how much increased Web traffic the paper expects by eliminating the charges, or how much additional ad revenue the move was expected to generate. Those who have paid in advance for access to TimesSelect will be reimbursed on a prorated basis. Colby Atwood, president of Borrell Associates, a media research firm, said that there have always been reasons to question the pay model for news sites, and that doubts have grown along with Web traffic and online ad revenue. “The business model for advertising revenue, versus subscriber revenue, is so much more attractive,” he said. “The hybrid model has some potential, but in the long run, the advertising side will dominate.” In addition, he said, The Times has been especially effective at using information it collects about its online readers to aim ads specifically to them, increasing their value to advertisers. Many readers lamented their loss of access to the work of the 23 news and opinion columnists of The Times — as did some of the columnists themselves. Some of those writers have such ardent followings that even with access restricted, their work often appeared on the lists of the most e-mailed articles. Experts say that opinion columns are unlikely to generate much ad revenue, but that they can drive a lot of reader traffic to other, more lucrative parts of The Times site, like topic pages devoted to health and technology. The Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones & Company, is the only major newspaper in the country to charge for access to most of its Web site, which it began doing in 1996. The Journal has nearly one million paying online readers, generating about $65 million in revenue. Dow Jones and the company that is about to take it over, the News Corporation, are discussing whether to continue that practice, according to people briefed on those talks. Rupert Murdoch, the News Corporation chairman, has talked of the possibility of making access to The Journal free online. The Financial Times charges for access to selected material online, much as The New York Times has. The Los Angeles Times tried that model in 2005, charging for access to its arts section, but quickly dropped it after experiencing a sharp decline in Web traffic. The question now is that what would happen to those who had paid? Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Sony unveils Blu-ray recorders to fight HD DVD

Slashdot It! Sony said it will launch four models of new Blu-ray high-definition optical disc recorders in November in Japan, as its format battle with the HD DVD camp heats up. Sony, along with Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial, promotes the Blu-ray technology, which competes with the HD DVD format, backed by Toshiba and Microsoft. The new models, capable of storing up to 16 hours of high-definition programs on a dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray disc, will go on sale on November 8. Sony's previous models, launched last year, were unable to record on a dual-layer disc. The top-end machine of the four, which comes with a 500GB hard disk drive, is expected to sell for about $1,752, roughly in line with Toshiba's flagship HD DVD recorder. "With high-definition TVs spreading rapidly and more digital cameras and camcorders are becoming HD-ready, time is ripe for household recorders to move onto a next generation," Sony Executive Deputy President Katsumi Ihara told a news conference. "We intend to make all our recorders in the domestic market Blu-ray compatible," he said. Blu-ray recorders can still handle conventional DVD discs. Outside its home market, Sony is considering offering Blu-ray recorders in Europe, but the launch timing has yet to be decided. Video rental chain Blockbuster, the largest U.S. provider of home movie entertainment, in June came out in favor of the Blu-ray format. But Viacom's Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation signed exclusivity deals last month to distribute their next-generation discs on Toshiba's HD DVD format for the next 18 months, a move that evened a contest where Sony's Blu-ray disc appeared to be pulling ahead. Sony had high hopes that its PlayStation 3 videogame console, which is equipped with a Blu-ray player, would give the Blu-ray camp an edge against the competing HD DVD format. But the PS3 has lagged behind rival Nintendo's Wii in unit sales since their launches late last year due to the Sony machine's relatively high price and scarcity of strong game titles. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Fair Use Worth More to Economy Than Copyright

Slashdot It! Fair use exceptions to U.S. copyright laws account for more than $4.5 trillion in annual revenue for the United States, according to a report issued on Wednesday by the Computer and Communications Industry Association. "Much of the unprecedented economic growth of the past 10 years can actually be credited to the doctrine of fair use, as the Internet itself depends on the ability to use content in a limited and nonlicensed manner," CCIA president and CEO Ed Black said in a statement. "To stay on the edge of innovation and productivity, we must keep fair use as one of the cornerstones for creativity, innovation, and, as today's study indicates, an engine for growth for our country." By one measure -- "value added," which the report defines as "an industry's gross output minus its purchased intermediate inputs" -- the fair use economy is greater than the copyright economy. Recent studies indicate that the value added to the U.S. economy by copyright industries amounts to $1.3 trillion, said Black. The value added to the U.S. economy by the fair use amounts to $2.2 trillion. The fair use economy's "value added" is thus almost 70% larger than that of the copyright industries. The $4.5 trillion in annual revenue attributable to fair use represents a 31% increase since 2002, according to the report, which claims that fair use industries are responsible for 18% of U.S. economic growth and almost 11 million American jobs. The fair use doctrine allows the use of copyrighted material without a license from the copyright owner. CCIA members include Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and many other tech companies that benefit immensely from fair use. The media also benefits from fair use -- quoting the copyrighted CCIA report would be illegal were it not for fair use. The same can be said for anyone who has ever printed copyrighted material from a Web page, sent copyrighted material in an e-mail, or used a recording device of some sort to capture copyrighted audio or video. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, use of copyrighted material may be considered fair use based on four criteria: "the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; the nature of the copyrighted work; amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work." However, assuming a use qualifies as fair use remains a gamble. The distinction between fair use and infringement isn't easily defined, as the Copyright Office puts it. Companies like Google, which has been sued at least four times so far this year for copyright infringement, know this all too well. Black said his organization's aim in releasing this report is to encourage lawmakers to recognize that copyright legislation requires balance. "What it points out is there's an important chunk of the economy that's impacted by what happens to copyright law," he said. "It points out to some extent ... that when you focus on only one side when making policy changes and don't recognize that, you're going to have a collateral impact on the other side." "Copyright was created as a functional tool to promote creativity, innovation, and economic activity," said Black. "It should be measured by that standard, not by some moral rights or abstract measure of property rights." Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

$100 Laptop becomes close to $200

Slashdot It! The vaunted "$100 laptop" that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers dreamed up for international schoolchildren is becoming a slightly more distant concept.

The $100 laptop has many innovative features including a pull cord for recharging by hand.

Leaders of the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child that was spun out of MIT acknowledged Friday that the devices are now slated to cost $188 when mass production begins this fall. The last price the nonprofit announced was $176; it described $100 as a long-term goal.

Spokesman George Snell blamed the increase on a variety of factors, including currency fluctuations and rising costs of such components as nickel and silicon. He said the project was committed to keeping the price from rising above $190. While less than $200 for an innovative, wireless-enabled, hand-powered laptop is a relative bargain, a price nearly twice what the project's memorable nickname promised could make it harder for One Laptop Per Child to sign up international governments as customers. Those governments are expected to give the computers to children for them to keep and tinker with, which the project's founders believe will cause critical thinking and creativity to blossom. "Where does it end? It started out at $130, then it was $148, then it was $176, now it's $188 -- what's next? $200?" said Wayan Vota, the former director of the Geekcorps international tech-development organization and current editor of the OLPCNews blog. "You have these governments who were looking at this original, fanciful $100-per-child figure, now we're going up towards or maybe past $200." One Laptop Per Child says it has commitments for at least 3 million of its rugged "XO" computers, though it won't disclose which countries are first in line. Among the nations that have shown interest are Brazil, Libya, Thailand and Uruguay. The "XO" machines feature an open-source interface designed to be intuitive for children; a sunlight-readable display; very low power consumption; built-in wireless networking; and a pull cord for recharging by hand. The laptops are being made by Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of portable computers. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Super Computer Powered by Bicycle

Slashdot It! SiCortex, the first company to engineer a Linux cluster from the silicon up, demonstrated the opportunity for power savings in high-performance computing. The SC648 computer conducted complex genomics analysis at billions of calculations per second while being powered by a team of 8-10 bicyclists. The demonstration was shown at Wired NextFest. SiCiortex says that power consumption has become one of the most important issues in supercomputing in the form of not only power required to operate the computers, but also power required to cool the computers due to heat generated. "Ten years ago, this analysis was impossible on even the biggest computers, and now it's being done on a bicycle powered machine," said Mucci "Ten years from now, we'll probably be doing it right down at the docks as they unload the ships. But these tools will only proliferate if we learn to design them to be sustainable." The computer used in the demo was powered by cyclists from the Jax Racing team using eight special Trek bicycles putting out 260W each. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

HP, Lenovo, Dell Support Solar Power for PCs

Slashdot It! Productive Product: Let's start by clarifying a vital point: this story is about solar power adapters for conventional PCs, not about "solar-powered PCs" per se. You don't actually get a solar panel slapped to the side of your tower case; you get 86 pounds of schleppability. But you also get to help save the planet and circumvent your local power company. Lenovo, which is the former IBM PC division, is the latest company to join the trend. Their new ThinkCentre A61e is $399 after a rebate, runs on a mere 45 watts, and has EPEAT Gold certification. For solar power, Lenovo resells Advanced Energy Group's Solar-PowerPAC II. The device uses a rolling cart and costs $1,229 plus $98 for shipping and handling. So while it's feasible to make your money back, it's mainly for making an energy statement. Another version for 230-V markets is only $499, but it has one-third of the power capacity. "It's really a little subjective in terms of what will be the benefit. But the device can power the PC and do it on a rather sustainable basis," said Carl McClellan, owner of Advanced Energy. On the other hand, "We don't have that type of business where what I buy is obsolete when I leave the store," he noted. A new version is due out in the first quarter of next year. "This is not the magic bullet to power up the desktop PC, but it is a valid technical concept," he explained. Lenovo isn't alone. Hewlett-Packard began reselling the same device for point-of-sale computers in June, McClellan said. Also, "Dell has not released yet, but they've got the equipment and completing their laboratory testing. I expect they'll be on board soon," probably within 30 days, McClellan said. Dell recently announced the OptiPlex 755 energy-efficient system but without mentioning the prospect of solar power. A Dell spokesperson was not available for comment this afternoon. It is also possible to build your own solar power system or to consider a flash-based solar computer. Surf the web faster with Mozilla FireFox

Microsoft updates Windows without users' consent

Slashdot It! Microsoft has begun patching files on Windows XP and Vista without users' knowledge, even when the users have turned off auto-updates. Many companies require testing of patches before they are widely installed, and businesses in this situation are objecting to the stealth patching. Files changed with no notice to users In recent days, Windows Update (WU) started altering files on users' systems without displaying any dialog box to request permission. The only files that have been reportedly altered to date are nine small executables on XP and nine on Vista that are used by WU itself. Microsoft is patching these files silently, even if auto-updates have been disabled on a particular PC. It's surprising that these files can be changed without the user's knowledge. The Automatic Updates dialog box in the Control Panel can be set to prevent updates from being installed automatically. However, with Microsoft's latest stealth move, updates to the WU executables seem to be installed regardless of the settings — without notifying users. When users launch Windows Update, Microsoft's online service can check the version of its executables on the PC and update them if necessary. What's unusual is that people are reporting changes in these files although WU wasn't authorized to install anything. This isn't the first time Microsoft has pushed updates out to users who prefer to test and install their updates manually. Not long ago, another Windows component, svchost.exe, was causing problems with Windows Update, as last reported on June 21 in the Windows Secrets Newsletter. In that case, however, the Windows Update site notified users that updated software had to be installed before the patching process could proceed. This time, such a notice never appears. For users who elect not to have updates installed automatically, the issue of consent is crucial. Microsoft has apparently decided, however, that it doesn't need permission to patch Windows Updates files, even if you've set your preferences to require it. Microsoft provides no tech information — yet To make matters even stranger, a search on Microsoft's Web site reveals no information at all on the stealth updates. Let's say you wished to voluntarily download and install the new WU executable files when you were, for example, reinstalling a system. You'd be hard-pressed to find the updated files in order to download them. At this writing, you either get a stealth install or nothing. A few Web forums have already started to discuss the updated files, which bear the version number 7.0.6000.381. The only explanation found at Microsoft's site comes from a user identified as Dean-Dean on a Microsoft Communities forum. In reply to a question, he states: * "Windows Update Software 7.0.6000.381 is an update to Windows Update itself. It is an update for both Windows XP and Windows Vista. Unless the update is installed, Windows Update won't work, at least in terms of searching for further updates. Normal use of Windows Update, in other words, is blocked until this update is installed." Windows Secrets contributing editor Susan Bradley contacted Microsoft Partner Support about the update and received this short reply: * "7.0.6000.381 is a consumer only release that addresses some specific issues found after .374 was released. It will not be available via WSUS [Windows Server Update Services]. A standalone installer and the redist will be available soon, I will keep an eye on it and notify you when it is available." Unfortunately, this reply does not explain why the stealth patching began with so little information provided to customers. Nor does it provide any details on the "specific issues" that the update supposedly addresses. System logs confirm stealth installs In his forum post, Dean-Dean names several files that are changed on XP and Vista. The patching process updates several Windows\System32 executables (with the extensions .exe, .dll, and .cpl) to version 7.0.6000.381, according to the post. In Vista, the following files are updated: 1. wuapi.dll 2. wuapp.exe 3. wuauclt.exe 4. wuaueng.dll 5. wucltux.dll 6. wudriver.dll 7. wups.dll 8. wups2.dll 9. wuwebv.dll In XP, the following files are updated: 1. cdm.dll 2. wuapi.dll 3. wuauclt.exe 4. wuaucpl.cpl 5. wuaueng.dll 6. wucltui.dll 7. wups.dll 8. wups2.dll 9. wuweb.dll These files are by no means viruses, and Microsoft appears to have no malicious intent in patching them. However, writing files to a user's PC without notice (when auto-updating has been turned off) is behavior that's usually associated with hacker Web sites. The question being raised in discussion forums is, "Why is Microsoft operating in this way?" How to check which version your PC has If a system has been patched in the past few months, the nine executables in Windows\System32 will either show an earlier version number, 7.0.6000.374, or the stealth patch: 7.0.6000.381. (The version numbers can be seen by right-clicking a file and choosing Properties. In XP, click the Version tab and then select File Version. In Vista, click the Details tab.) In addition, PCs that received the update will have new executables in subfolders named 7.0.6000.381 under the following folders: c:\Windows\System32\SoftwareDistribution\Setup\ServiceStartup\wups.dll c:\Windows\System32\SoftwareDistribution\Setup\ServiceStartup\wups2.dll Users can also verify whether patching occurred by checking Windows' Event Log: Step 1. In XP, click Start, Run. Step 2. Type eventvwr.msc and press Enter. Step 3. In the tree pane on the left, select System. Step 4. The right pane displays events and several details about them. Event types such as "Installation" are labeled in the Category column. "Windows Update Agent" is the event typically listed in the Source column for system patches. On systems that were checked recently by Windows Secrets readers, the Event Log shows two installation events on Aug. 24. The files were stealth-updated in the early morning hours. (The time stamp will vary, of course, on machines that received the patch on other dates.) To investigate further, you can open the Event Log's properties for each event. Normally, when a Windows update event occurs, the properties dialog box shows an associated KB number, enabling you to find more information at Microsoft's Web site. Mysteriously, no KB number is given for the WU updates that began in August. The description merely reads, "Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: Automatic Updates." No need to roll back the updated files Again, it's important to note that there's nothing harmful about the updated files themselves. There are no reports of software conflicts and no reason to remove the files (which WU apparently needs in order to access the latest patches). The only concern is the mechanism Microsoft is using to perform its patching, and how this mechanism might be used by the software giant in the future. Surf the web faster with