Cisco revenue outlook stokes competition fears (AP) : Technet

Cisco revenue outlook stokes competition fears (AP)
Amazon sells book offering advice to pedophiles (AP)
Review: Nifty scanner eases farewell to paper (AP)
Hands-on with Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab (Ben Patterson)
‘Peel’ mobile Wi-Fi case for iPod Touch gets official, coming to Sprint (Ben Patterson)
Amazon customers threaten to boycott over pedophile guide (Digital Trends)
RIM Plans To Take on iPad with a Price Below $500 (NewsFactor)
Future of IT Is Multiplatform and Mobile, Dell Says (PC World)
Twitter: Please Tweet While You Watch TV (PC World)
Michael Eisner partners with AOL on web series (Reuters)
New Startup Seeks to Empower Shoppers [INVITES] (Mashable)
Salute military veterans with your iPhone (Appolicious)
Motorola fires back at Microsoft with patent suit (AP)
Sneak peek of Olive Media's new O6HD music server (Digital Trends)
New cyber attack linked to Nobel Peace Prize (AFP)
Google Cleans Up Messy Data with Refine (Mashable)
Google pours another $3.2M into genetics startup (AP)

Cisco revenue outlook stokes competition fears (AP)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 09:04 PM PST

By ANDREW VANACORE, AP Business Writer Andrew Vanacore, Ap Business Writer – 21 mins ago

NEW YORK – Cisco Systems Inc. has given a disappointing sales forecast for the second quarter in a row, raising doubts about the network equipment maker's competitive chops despite an uptick in its most recent quarterly earnings.

Back in August, Cisco CEO John Chambers rattled investors by pointing to "unusual uncertainty" among customers about the pace of economic recovery.

But some analysts worry the latest shortfall in Cisco's revenue projections may have more to do with smaller competitors eroding its dominant market position.

Juniper Networks Inc., for instance, is just a fraction of Cisco's size but has grown revenue steadily over the past few years. And last month Juniper projected that fourth-quarter sales will be up at least 17 percent over the same quarter a year ago.

While the numbers are not directly comparable, Cisco said Wednesday that revenue for the quarter running from November through January will climb just 3 percent to 5 percent. That's less than half the growth rate that analysts predicted.

"The concern is that Cisco is growing slower than the market," said Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu. "If you look at what Cisco's peers have said, as well as other data points in the supply chain, they've been arguably more upbeat."

Wu said it is too soon to conclude that Cisco won't rebound from the competitive threat, but investors picked up on the concern as well. Cisco's stock dropped $3.09, or 12.6 percent, to $21.40 in extended trading after the company released results.

In a conference call with analysts, Chambers pushed back against the idea that the problem is fiercer competition, not economic trends.

With a broad customer base that includes government agencies and big companies across the globe, Cisco is thought of as a bellwether for technology spending. Chambers also pointed to broad economic factors resulting in the shortfall, from state governments in the U.S. that can't afford technology upgrades to European countries that have slashed budgets to cope with deficits.

The CEO conceded that orders in Cisco's television set-top box business in North America have slowed at least in part because Motorola Inc. has made inroads.

But, he said, "On the issues we can control and influence, I think we're as strong as ever."

Cisco said Wednesday it earned $1.9 billion, or 34 cents per share, in the fiscal first quarter ended Oct. 30. That's up 8 percent from $1.8 billion, or 30 cents per share, a year ago.

Stripping out unusual items, it would have earned 42 cents per share. Analysts expected 40 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 19 percent to $10.75 billion, just above the average forecast of $10.74 billion.

But that was still below the $10.95 billion that analysts had predicted for the quarter in August, before the company lowered expectations.

Cisco's outlook for the quarter that ends in January also fell short. The company's projected growth of 3 percent to 5 percent works out to revenue of between $10.1 billion and $10.3 billion, while analysts expected $11.08 billion.

Amazon sells book offering advice to pedophiles (AP)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 02:45 PM PST

By DANA WOLLMAN, AP Technology Writer Dana Wollman, Ap Technology Writer – Wed Nov 10, 5:45 pm ET

NEW YORK – Amazon.com Inc. is selling a self-published guide that offers advice to pedophiles, and that has generated outrage on the Internet and threats to boycott the retailer.

The availability of "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct" calls into question whether Amazon has any procedures — or even an obligation — to vet books before they are sold in its online stores. Amazon did not respond to multiple e-mail and phone messages.

The title is an electronic book available for Amazon's Kindle e-reader and the company's software for reading Kindle books on mobile phones and computers. Amazon allows authors to submit their own works and shares revenue with them.

Amazon issues guidelines banning certain materials, including those deemed offensive. However, the company doesn't elaborate on what constitutes offensive content, saying simply that it is "probably what you would expect." Amazon also doesn't promise to remove or protect any one category of books.

The author of "The Pedophile's Guide," listed as Philip R. Greaves II, argues that pedophiles are misunderstood, as the word literally means to love a child. The author adds that it is only a crime to act on sexual impulses toward children, and offers advice that purportedly allows pedophiles to abide by the law.

Many users on Twitter called on Amazon to pull the book, and a few threatened to boycott the retailer until it does.

Child online safety advocacy group Enough is Enough says it isn't surprised that someone would publish such a book, but believes that Amazon should remove it. It says selling the book lends the impression that child abuse is normal.

That doesn't mean Amazon should be prohibited from selling it, counters Christopher Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. He said that Amazon has the right under the First Amendment to sell any book that is not child pornography or legally obscene. Finan said Greaves' book doesn't amount to either because it does not include illustrations.

This isn't the first time Amazon has sold material that promotes illegal activity. It is currently accepting pre-orders for the hardcover version of "I Am the Market: How to Smuggle Cocaine by the Ton, in Five Easy Lessons" by Luca Rastello.

Nor is it the first time Amazon has come under attack for selling objectionable content in its store. In 2002, the United States Justice Foundation, a conservative group, threatened to sue Amazon for selling "Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers." That title is still available through Amazon.

In 2009, Amazon stopped selling "RapeLay," a first-person video game in which the protagonist stalks and then rapes a mother and her daughters, after it was widely condemned in the media and by various interest groups.

Review: Nifty scanner eases farewell to paper (AP)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 10:07 AM PST

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Wed Nov 10, 1:07 pm ET

NEW YORK – Here's where the iPad has gotten me: I'm sitting with an old book in one hand and a utility knife in the other. My plan is to make the two meet, by cutting up the book and feeding the pages through a scanner.

The printed word has been shackled too long to paper, and I want to carry it around on my iPad tablet computer.

Cutting a book is hard, though. There's a mental block to overcome. After a lifetime of valuing books, I find it difficult to destroy one, even to preserve it in digital form — particularly if it's a hardback.

The iPad, as a fantastic replacement for paper, deserves only half the blame for putting me in this position. The other half goes to the Fujitsu ScanSnap s1500.

As I started thinking about scanning my documents and "going paperless," I thought about the ideal scanner: It should take a pile of papers and scan both side of each sheet, so I don't have to feed them one by one.

It turns out that there aren't many affordable, consumer-level scanners like that. But all we need is one good device, and the ScanSnap is it. If you can swallow the $430 price tag, it's ideal. It goes through paper like a bonfire.

The ScanSnap is designed from the ground up to turn stacks of pulp to bytes. It doesn't have the large glass bed of the conventional scanner or copy machine. Instead, it looks like a small inkjet printer, taking up only a bit more desk space than a lunch box. It has a 50-sheet holder and feeds each sheet between rollers while scanning both sides at the same time through two thin strips of glass.

It takes just 3 seconds for the ScanSnap to scan a sheet at a decent resolution. That compares with 30 seconds for the two other sheet-fed, double-sided (or duplex) scanners I tried, the $140 Canon Pixma MX870 and the $270 HP ScanJet 5590.

The quality of ScanSnap's output is good, too. The other scanners had problems with pulling the paper at an even pace past the scanning slit. That resulted in letters that were either stretched out — too tall — or squished. That "funhouse effect" was nearly absent on the ScanSnap. It was also better at pulling the paper straight across the slit, avoiding skewed lines.

What if you forget to take out the staples from your tax return before stuffing it in the scanner? No problem! The ScanSnap is smart enough to figure out if two sheets are sticking together, and it will stop so you can fix the problem. Return the sheets to the feeder, hit a button and scanning resumes.

So what's the point of scanning your documents? Well, it's an easy way to organize everything. Like most scanners, the ScanSnap comes with software that "reads" the scans, making them searchable. Scanning also makes it easy to send documents around — if your mortgage broker needs your utility bill, it's easier to scan and e-mail it than to fax it. And obviously, scans take less space than binders full of documents.

Because the ScanSnap is so fast, it's tempting to scan books as well. You could carry a couple of bookshelves worth of scanned books on the iPad.

Copyright law gets in the way of that vision, though. You don't have a blanket right to scan your books. This probably comes as a surprise to people who have been "ripping" their CDs for a decade. The music industry doesn't challenge this practice, but that doesn't mean it's legal, strictly speaking.

Although copyright law is complicated, one thing is clear: Books published in the U.S. before 1923 are fair game. I bought a collection of fairy tales from 1913, and after steeling myself, cut the pages from the spine. It helped my conscience that the binding was already in poor condition. It took 10 minutes for the ScanSnap to turn it into a lovely PDF file, with the color illustrations intact. I loaded the file into the GoodReader app on the iPad, and it looked glorious.

One odd thing that needs mentioning is that the ScanSnap comes in two versions, for Windows and Mac. The printers are identical. Only the bundled versions of the PDF-editing software, Adobe Acrobat, are specific to Windows or Mac. However, the basic software that comes with each printer works on Windows and Mac, and that is sufficient to create PDFs. So one scanner will work OK even if you have both Windows and Mac computers in the house.

Secondly, the ScanSnap isn't quite a replacement for a good flatbed scanner if you want to scan photos. It's optimized for speed, not photo reproduction.

The Pixma and the ScanJet aren't necessarily bad products. They simply lack the ScanSnap's focus on scanning stacks of paper. Both have flatbeds for careful photo scanning, and the Pixma works as a color inkjet printer and a fax machine. They're also cheaper than the ScanSnap, but if you have a lot to scan, it's the one that's a bargain.

___

Need help with a technology question? Ask us at gadgetgurus(at)ap.org.

Hands-on with Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 02:04 PM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Wed Nov 10, 5:04 pm ET

I've been testing the Samsung Galaxy Tab — the first of the big-league Android tablets, in terms of both screen size and pedigree — for a few days now, and while it proves that a 7-inch tablet isn't an automatic flop (as Apple chief Steve Jobs smugly predicted a few weeks ago), it's still something of a mixed bag.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab went on sale Wednesday on T-Mobile, with Verizon and Sprint slated to launch their own versions in the coming days. (AT&T will pick up its own Tab eventually, too.)

Pricing for the Tab depends on the carrier. Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon are all charging $600 (ouch) for the tablet on a no-contract basis, with Sprint and T-Mobile offering to chop $200 off the sticker price if you sign up for a two-year contract.

Tab users will also be on the hook for 3G data, of course. Sprint will charge $30 a month for 2GB of data, or $60 for 5GB of data, plus an extra $30 a month to use the Tab as a mobile hotspot. T-Mobile's Tab data plans range from $25 a month for 200MB of data to $40 for 5GB, and it'll throw in mobile hotspot use for free. Finally, Verizon's data offerings will start at $20 a month with a 1GB cap.

So no — the Galaxy Tab ain't cheap, no question about it, although it's worth noting that the $600 Tab (which comes with a 16GB microSD memory card) is $30 less than than the 16GB, 3G-enabled iPad. Then again, as Jobs mentioned during his recent anti-Android tirade, the 7-inch Tab is only about half as large as the 9.7-inch iPad.

Smaller though it is, the Tab is undeniably fun to hold. (I tested the Sprint version, by the way.) A half-pound lighter than the 1.5-pound iPad, the Kindle-size Tab is easier to grip than the sometimes slippery Apple tablet, and its sharp, TFT-LCD display (not Super AMOLED, like Samsung's Galaxy S Android smartphones) is a pleasure to behold. Like all LCD displays, though, the Tab's screen wilts in direct sunlight.

Swiping through the three home pages is a smooth, fluid experience (made even more fun if you choose one of the animated "live" wallpapers, although you may see a slight performance hit if you do so), with the applications jumping quickly to life thanks to the 1GHz Hummingbird processor.

One benefit of the Tab's smaller, 7-inch display is that apps not built specifically for a tablet-size display still look pretty good, even when they're magnified to fill up the screen. The Amazon Kindle app, for example, looked great, as did the Slacker streaming-music app.

Even games look impressive; Angry Birds, for example, looked so good and played so well that I thought it might have been tweaked specifically for the Tab. (Turns out it hasn't.) I also tried the lite version of Labyrinth, the puzzle game where you guide a pinball through a maze with the help of the Tab's accelerometer — and again, the game looked sharp and played smoothly. Nice.

Samsung also bundles a few built-for-Tab apps with the tablet, including two-column apps for e-mail and contacts.

One of the Tab's big selling points — actually, make that two big selling points — are the dual cameras: a 3-megapixel camera (with both auto-focus and an LED flash) in back, and a 1.3MP lens in front for video chat using apps such as Qik and Fring. I haven't had the chance to try video chat yet, but I did snap some photos and shoot a little video, and image quality is pretty much what you'd expect from a midrange smartphone — good, not great. (The top range for video capture on the Tab is 720 by 480, by the way, well short of 720p.)

So far, so good, but I do have my share of complaints.

The Tab's browser comes with Flash Player 10.1, as advertised, meaning (unlike the iPad) you'll be able to play any Flash-based videos you find on the Web. And yes — Flash videos, banner ads, and other interactive elements render and function as they're supposed to. Remember the smooth performance I was cooing about earlier? Kiss it goodbye.

The Tab's browser begins to labor mightily whenever Flash comes into the picture, to the point where you find yourself waiting several seconds before the screen responds to your taps and swipes. The good news is that you can set Web-based Flash elements to load on an "on-demand" basis only, and if you do end up getting the Tab, I recommend you do so right away — although even then, browser performance on the Tab leans toward the herky-jerky side.

Also, tapping out messages on the Tab longer than a few words or so can be a bit tricky. Don't get me wrong — typing out a lengthy email on the iPad is no picnic, either, but at least its larger screen makes for a roomier keypad that you can actually touch-type on. Typing on the Tab, though, is a two-finger or two-thumb affair, and the on-screen keys are small enough to make XT9 error-correction a must. Luckily, the handy Swype app (which lets you quickly trace the word you want to type) comes preinstalled.

My biggest concern, though, is the version of Android that the Tab is running; 2.2 "Froyo," which Google says was never intended for tablet-size devices.

Yes, the Tab seems to run perfectly fine on Android 2.2, but given that most wireless watchers believe we'll see a tablet-specific version of Android — 3.0 "Honeycomb," to be precise — in the next few months, my preference would be to wait a little longer for the expected flood of built-for-Honeycomb tablets.

But won't the Tab get an update for the expected Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" and 3.0 "Honeycomb" versions? Probably, but as owners of Android smartphones know, you may have to wait weeks or even months for an update tailored to your particular device.

Overall, the Tab definitely got me excited about the potential for Android tablets in general, but is it the right Android tablet at the right time? Well, given that Android 2.2 hasn't even been optimized for tablets yet, going for the Tab right now seems a little premature — unless, I supposed, you absolutely must have an Android tablet this second. If you're feeling more prudent — and patient — I'd advise waiting just a few more months, until Android's tablet-compatibility situation clears up.

Anyone here thinking of picking up the Tab? Got any questions about the device you'd like answered? Let me know.

— Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

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‘Peel’ mobile Wi-Fi case for iPod Touch gets official, coming to Sprint (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 09:56 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Wed Nov 10, 12:56 pm ET

Outed a few months ago by the FCC and slated to arrive on Sprint early next week, the Wi-Fi-enabled Peel slide-on case will essentially turn your iPod Touch into an iPhone—as long as you're content to make voice calls with Skype.

Available this Sunday on Sprint for $79, no contract required, the ZTE Peel first made waves in the summer after snapshots and documentation for the 3.2-ounce, 0.68-inch-thick case cropped up in the Federal Communications Commission database.

Sprint made the Peel (Apple, peel, get it?) official Wednesday. The slide-on case promises to give your Wi-Fi-enabled iPod Touch wireless connectivity anywhere you go within Sprint's 3G coverage area.

Sure, there are already plenty of mobile Wi-Fi hotspots (such as the stand-alone MiFi, or smartphones like the HTC Evo 4G that act as mobile hotspots) that'll let you surf the Web and make Wi-Fi calls over Skype on the iPod Touch, even while you're on the go.

What sets apart the Peel (which boasts three hours of battery life, according to Sprint) is that it's designed to fit the iPod Touch like a gloveâ€"at least the second- and third-generation Touches.

Unfortunately, the new iPod Touch (which was announced shortly after the Peel was leaked by the FCC) won't slide into the Peel properly, although I suppose there's nothing stopping you from using the Peel as a mobile hotspot for the fourth-generation Touch anyway.

Getting down to the nitty-gritty: A gigabyte of 3G monthly data on the Peel will cost you $30 a month—a bit pricey, considering you can get unlimited 3G data from Virgin Mobile for just $10 extra each month. (Virgin Mobile offers its own no-contract version of the Novatel MiFi, one of my favorite gadgets from 2009, for $149. Verizon Wireless sells the MiFi for $99 with a two-year contract or $269 without.)

The Peel also has some technical limitations compared with other mobile hotspots I've tested. For example, the Peel will only support two Wi-Fi devices at a time, versus five devices on the MiFi and various hotspot-enabled smartphones.

And then there's the security issue: The Peel is capable of supporting only 64-bit WEP encryption, not tougher-to-crack WPA security.

Still, in terms of initial hardware, the Peel is one of the cheapest ways to turn the iPod Touch into a de facto iPhone, without a contract.

If you've got a fourth-generation iPod Touch or you'd rather pay a little extra for unlimited data, though, I'm still a fan of the MiFi on Virgin Mobile. Unfortunately, it's sold out.

— Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

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Amazon customers threaten to boycott over pedophile guide (Digital Trends)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 03:07 PM PST

Molly McHugh Molly Mchugh – Wed Nov 10, 6:07 pm ET

An e-book titled The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure by Phillip R. Greaves 2nd (yes, that is how his name reads on the cover) is becoming one of the most talked-about publications. And as can be expected, it’s not for its glowing reviews. The book is currently available on Amazon for Kindle for $4.75, and is more or less of guide of insight and conduct for engaging in pedophilia. It has been available (self-published, go figure) since October 28.

â€œThis is my attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certain [sic] rules for these adults to follow. I hope to achieve this by appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will results in less hatred and perhaps liter [sic] sentences should they ever be caught,â€

The tome has received the average customer rating of one out of five stars and has at the time of writing 546 customer reviews, including one that reads, "Goodbye Amazon, I'll be closing my account momentarily. Enjoy your freedom of speech, I will enjoy shopping else where [sic]."

And it looks like most Amazon customers agree with him. Twitter is currently displaying a hashtag labeled "#amazonfail," and Facebook now boasts a "Boycott Amazon for Selling Pedophile Guide" page. There is the odd comment here or there defending free speech, but the attention thus far has been overwhelmingly castigating.

In regards to the ordeal, Amazon maintains pulling the book would be censorship. It a statement to TechCruch, the company said, "Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decision." The shopping site, however, does object to "offensive material," including porn. In its content guidelines, Amazon describes exactly what that means, saying, "What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect." Apparently not.

The author appears to have several e-books available, sticking to the topics of sex and religion. In an interview with The Smoking Gun today, Greaves admitted he has manic depression, was recently involuntarily hospitalized, and is in fact, not a pedophile. Maybe Amazon can now remove his book under the guise of his inexpert advice? Until then, the site could be losing significant business.

RIM Plans To Take on iPad with a Price Below $500 (NewsFactor)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 09:09 PM PST

Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com – 16 mins ago

As its mobile devices lose ground, Research In Motion's decision to sell its jumbo BlackBerry, the PlayBook tablet, for less than $500 could help the company gain some traction. The Wi-Fi-equipped PlayBook has a seven-inch touchscreen and front and back cameras for video conferencing, unlike Apple's popular but camera-less 9.1-inch iPad.

The PlayBook will launch in North America in the first quarter next year and globally in the second quarter.

At the Group of 20 Business Summit in Seoul, Korea, this week, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie told news organizations that the device will sell for less than $500. The iPad's basic 16GB model with Wi-Fi sells for $499.

"A price under $500 enables a media tablet to reach a broader audience," said ABI Research analyst Jeff Orr.

Fits A Niche

The PlayBook is thin and light for traveling business users, has security options through the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, and supports Adobe Flash for video content, which is banned on Apple's mobile devices. That combination of features might make it a formidable iPad rival compared to other tablets like Samsung's Galaxy Tab, which went on sale this week.

"Professionals and business users are showing interest in a touchscreen companion computing device that allows easy interaction with frequently used applications for both home and work lifestyles," Orr said. "RIM's approach with PlayBook is to provide a Wi-Fi-enabled device initially that also synchronizes with BlackBerry smartphones."

But Orr said adoption of the devices in the workplace could pose a challenge to IT teams that will have to integrate them with current services, applications and security systems.

"Supporting any and every consumer device in the enterprise is cost-prohibitive," he said. "RIM's attempt to extend its IT-friendly BlackBerry solution to media tablets could give it a leg up on media-tablet vendors squarely focused on infotainment and delivering an excellent consumer experience in and around the home."

Sweet Spot

Devices powered by RIM's BlackBerry OS made up 14.8 percent of the market in the third quarter compared to the 16.7 percent share running Apple's iOS, according to Gartner Research.

The PlayBook will be powered by an operating system made by Canada-based QNX Software Systems, a RIM subsidiary. Most other recent tablet devices, including the Galaxy Tab, Toshiba's Folio100, and the Archos 7, are powered by Google's Android.

Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile will sell the Galaxy Tab for $599, though T-Mobile will offer it for $399 with a two-year data plan.

"Keep in mind that the 'sweet spot' for consumer electronics in the U.S. is still $200," Orr said. "Products priced below that threshold are more likely to be purchased on an impulse, while those priced above the mark require more budgeting and consideration before the purchase."

Future of IT Is Multiplatform and Mobile, Dell Says (PC World)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 04:29 PM PST

Keir Thomas Keir Thomas – Wed Nov 10, 7:29 pm ET

Once upon a time it was nice and simple. If you were in charge of corporate IT, you bought Microsoft. Serious quantities of computing power required a different solution, but for everything from mid-level enterprise down to desktops, Microsoft did the job. When it came to smartphones, Microsoft's products have never been great but always integrated neatly and were favoured by some although not all organizations.

How times change. Yesterday Michael Dell took to the stage at the KACE conference to discuss not only a pocketful of Android phones (apparently he made a show of pulling them from his pockets), but also to talk of a future where he anticipates the workplace is full of Apple, Android, and Microsoft computing devices. Dell also briefly confirmed a planned 10-inch tablet running Android.

Dell acquired systems management vendor KACE back in February. KACE's appliances allow remote management of computing devices, allowing managers to do things such as patch computers, enforce security policies, and generally keep an eye on things. KACE specialises in a multi-platform approach--Microsoft, Apple and Linux are all supported, as are mobile devices such as iPhones.

But what is the earthquake that's causing a once-homogenous IT landscape to became so broken up?

Linux tried to attack the desktop but didn't succeed. Many companies tried and failed miserably. A different approach was required and therefore several companies attacked Microsoft's Achilles' Heel: mobile devices.

The amount of money Microsoft has invested in mobile computing since the late 1990s could clear the debt of a smaller European country. However, it was RIM's BlackBerry that was arguably the first true smartphone success. It snuck under the door and hinted at a world free of Microsoft. RIM hasn't been having the best of times recently but the lubrication it left behind makes it easier for the likes of Google Android and even Apple's iPhone to squeeze into the workplace.

Google Android is now the biggest threat to Microsoft. To try and displace Microsoft on its home territory, Google took the attack vector of mobile computing but ensured their mobile operating system was scalable. Clever Google. Sure, we want you to use Android on mobile phones, Google might say, but it works equally well on tablet computers and netbooks. And, you know, if one day you want to use it on your desktop computers, it wouldn't take much to make it fit. Things will be easier to manage if Android is on all your devices, and Android is a touch-friendly, Internet operating system from the ground-up--unlike clunky old Windows.

But that's in the future. Possibly.

Microsoft is a one trick pony that's shackled to another pony called Intel. Whenever it tries its hand at computing not built around x86, its failures are more numerous than its successes. It's had success in the gaming arena, but that's the exception rather than the rule (and its big trick there was extend its PC knowledge into manufacturing consoles--the first Xbox was nothing more than a PC you could plug into your TV).

The danger posed by Android for Microsoft comes not only from the fact that it's a new operating system that's fast gaining ground. The chief danger is that Android is platform independent. Like all versions of Linux, Android is equally at home on ARM-based processors as it is on Intel or AMD chips. Google is not only churning up the operating system landscape, but digging deeper to turn-over system infrastructure too. x86 is no longer the sure bet it used to be. We might soon be seeing ARM-based server devices as part of the movement into the cloud.

It remains to be seen how much of a corporation's IT structure will be infected by the virus that is Android. I don't believe Windows will be getting wiped from desktops or file servers any time soon. However, we are undoubtedly experiencing the most diverse computing landscape in perhaps 15 or 20 years. This brings with it challenges but also plenty of opportunities for those able to spot the trends.

Twitter: Please Tweet While You Watch TV (PC World)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 03:07 PM PST

Mark Sullivan Mark Sullivan – Wed Nov 10, 6:07 pm ET

November 10, 2010--NewTeeVee Conference, San Francisco--A Twitter executive speaking here today says more and more people are using Twitter to add a social and community element to boring old TV-watching.

The Web TV industry has been talking for years about such an experience, and some companies have tried to build chat into their web TV services, but Twitter says its service makes "community viewing" possible now-no assembly required.

The statistics seem to be on Twitter's side on this one. A study recently found that a surprising number-60 percent--of people routinely watch the tube while also surfing the web on their laptop.

Twitter also points to Nielson ratings, which show that tweet traffic on the East Coast spikes every time an episode of Dancing with the Stars came on TV. Twitter's Robin Sloan says this phenomenon can work two ways: The airing of a popular show can spark waves of tweets, but the viewership of those shows also seems to increase as more and more people tweet about it.

Sloan says some shows are more "tweetable" than others. To be tweet-worthy on a large scale, the show needs to have "liveliness, uncertain outcome, and a wide national audience.

Sloan identifies three main modes of social viewing with Twitter.

1. Synchronous show tweeting, in which individual tweeters provide running commentary MST3000-style to their followers on Twitter.

2. Social Viewing, in which a community of Twitter users' tweets are displayed together (grouped by hash tag) so that a running group-conversation is created.

3. User involvement, in which the tweets actually become content in the show. Sloan says MTV is far and away the master of this model. He points to MTV's programming around its TwitterTracker site, which tracks how many people are tweeting in confidential votes for Video Music Awards contenders such as Kanye West, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift.

Just before the Awards, MTV sets up a huge stage outside the Nokia Theater where the awards are held. The stage is backed by a huge video monitor showing a (very wide) version of the TwitterTrack site, with the tweet totals of the music celebs tallying in real time on the screen. In front of the screen, a young MC moves about doing commentary and exhorts viewers to "Keep Tweeting!" The scene looks like some wild hybrid of a telethon, live election night coverage, and a live praise-in at a mega-church.

It's amazing--a whole new bi-directional medium.

Michael Eisner partners with AOL on web series (Reuters)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 06:06 PM PST

By Georg Szalai Georg Szalai – Wed Nov 10, 9:06 pm ET

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – Vuguru, the online studio of former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner, will produce at least six scripted original Web video series for AOL.

Financial terms and details about the series, which will include comedies and dramas, weren't immediately available.

Both companies said each series will amount to a story of about 90 minutes with natural breaks and cliffhangers.

The deal is part of AOL's focus on expanding its original video offering.

"Until now, there's been a gap in the online video consumer experience between user-generated video and the high production values of TV and film," said AOL chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong.

Continued Armstrong: "In joining forces with Vuguru and other premier studios and production companies, AOL is uniquely able to bridge that gap by bringing top quality, original video to the millions of users who come to our site each day."

"The Internet's next growth phase will be powered by professional, high-quality, story-driven content," said Eisner. "And the key to success is delivering that content to as many users as possible."

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

New Startup Seeks to Empower Shoppers [INVITES] (Mashable)

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 03:36 PM PST

Jennifer Van Grove Jennifer Van Grove – Wed Nov 10, 6:36 pm ET

This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Shwowp

Quick Pitch: Shwowp helps you gather your purchase history in one place.

Genius Idea: Say you need a new winter coat but would rather research good deals before buying online. Where do you go?

You could turn to your Facebook and Twitter friends for suggestions or page through online and print magazines, but private-beta startup Shwowp exists to help you surface better buys by harnessing the power of your own purchase data and from your friends.

At launch, Shwowp is a purchase-sharing site where you can input product purchases, share items with Twitter or Facebook, follow friends' purchase activity and start conversations around products.

Users can also categorize their purchases by type -- indicating that something purchased was because "I Need It" or "I Deserved It," for instance. These categorizations are handy when revisiting your past purchases but will also factor into future features and services offered by the startup.

Yes, the first iteration of Shwowp does resemble the Blippys and Swipelys of the world, but that's a side effect of Shwowp's status as a very early-stage startup.

Right now, Shwowp is in the "data-in" phase, explains Co-Founder and CEO Tara Hunt; the company is working to build better tools to help people gather their shopping history. Today, you can e-mail in receipts and add purchases on the site, but the goal is to soon make this a more automated process with mobile applications (with RedLaser integration for barcode scanning) and numerous integrations with third-party retailers through available APIs.

The idea behind Shwowp, however, is much grander than what you can you see during the data-in stage and includes two additional key pieces that more clearly show why the service is important.

The next piece, says Hunt, is the analytics phase. Shwowp will work to provide users with tools so that they can view who their purchases influence and how. The ultimate aim here is to identify micro-influencer niches based on past purchases, so those with the most influence can reap discounts and deals from merchants and marketers.

It's like Klout scores as applied to shopping -- though Hunt plans to eventually tie her micro-influencer data with Klout scores for a more complete picture.

The final piece in the puzzle is what Hunt calls "data out." In the data-out phase, Hunt envisions users sending out personal RFPs to merchants to get back bids for their purchases. For example, a user would indicate that she is interested in purchasing a new pair of black patent leather pumps, include her influence metrics and then solicit bids -- with prices discounted based on influence -- from online retailers.

It's a grand vision that Hunt can certainly deliver -- if investors take interest in the idea. Hunt tells Mashable that Shwowp has raised money from friends and family to the tune of $125,000 and is actively looking for seed funding at this time.

Even in its bare-bones state, Shwowp is a compelling product, especially for bargain-hunters looking to surface product recommendations and gather shopping insights from friends. In fact, women are the exact audience Hunt hopes to reach with the site, which is why she's opted not to go the route of automatically pulling in purchase information from credit cards.

With Shwowp, Hunt hopes to create an environment where female users feel safe, empowered and ultimately rewarded for their influential shopping habits.

Five hundred Mashable readers can signup to get early access to Shwowp here.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Romana Correale