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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Once-mighty MySpace deepens Facebook integration (AP) : Technet

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Once-mighty MySpace deepens Facebook integration (AP) : Technet

Once-mighty MySpace deepens Facebook integration (AP)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 01:29 PM PST

– Thu Nov 18, 4:29 pm ET

NEW YORK – In a sign of the companies' divergent fortunes, MySpace said Thursday it will let its users log in to their Facebook accounts through their MySpace page.

Doing so will port the likes and interests they have listed on their Facebook profiles to MySpace, where they will get a stream of entertainment content based on these interests.

MySpace users have already been able to sync their status updates to their Facebook profiles. Thursday's announcement is a deeper integration of Facebook's technology into MySpace. It doesn't involve any financial transactions.

The integration of Facebook Connect into MySpace's home page will be followed by the addition of Facebook's "Like" buttons across MySpace, the company said.

Once a mighty rival, MySpace has conceded that it is no longer a social network but a social entertainment destination — think MTV for the Web 2.0 generation. To this end, the company recently overhauled its website to give its mostly young audience more ways to consume music, videos and celebrity gossip. CEO Mike Jones said in a conference call Thursday that the users' initial response to the redesign is "very, very positive."

Facebook, meanwhile, is working to become the social overlay of the Web. Dan Rose, a Facebook vice president, called the integration with MySpace a "powerful demonstration of the Facebook platform."

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005. After a promising start, the site began to lose its luster. Users and advertisers flocked to Facebook. In its most recent quarter, which ended Sept. 30, News Corp. said its "other" business segment, which includes MySpace and the rest of the Digital Media Group, reported an operating loss of $156 million, $30 million greater than a year earlier. The main reason for this was lower search and advertising revenues at MySpace.

Chinese woman sent to labor camp for retweeting (AP)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 08:00 PM PST

Dell 3Q net income more than doubles (AP)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 05:00 PM PST

By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer Jessica Mintz, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Nov 18, 8:00 pm ET

SEATTLE – Personal computer maker Dell Inc. said Thursday that its net income for the latest quarter more than doubled as companies spent more to replace aging technology.

Dell's earnings topped Wall Street's expectations, and investors drove its shares up almost 5 percent after the results were announced.

Businesses of all sizes, plus government agencies and other public-sector customers, spent more with Dell in the quarter. Large-enterprise revenue jumped 27 percent to $4.3 billion from a year ago, and small-and-medium-business revenue rose 24 percent to $3.7 billion.

While networking gear maker Cisco Systems Inc. recently reported unexpectedly slow growth in new orders from government customers, Dell said public-sector revenue rose 20 percent to $4.4 billion. However, Dell's business with federal, state and local government accounts for just 9 percent of the public-sector business and 3 percent of the company's overall revenue.

Revenue from consumers, Dell's smallest customer segment in the quarter, increased 4 percent to $3 billion.

In an interview, Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden said the company expects to see similar "muted" growth through the holiday shopping quarter.

Desktop and laptop computers made up about 56 percent of Dell's revenue in the quarter. PCs are less profitable than Dell's technology consulting services and other smaller slices of Dell's business, but the company still managed to improve gross margin — a measure of profitability. Dell said lower component costs helped margins in the quarter, as did "pricing discipline" — not cutting prices too deeply to attract buyers — and improvements in the supply chain. The company said it also passed on some deals that could have hurt margins.

For the current fourth quarter, Dell indicated that gross margin would not be as strong. During a conference call with analysts, Gladden said less-profitable consumer PCs would make up more of the computers sold in the quarter. He also said component prices were bottoming out, and wouldn't provide as much of a lift.

Analysts came back with question after question seeking more details about margins.

"They did a good job. I'm not taking any credit away from that," said Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu in an interview. But, he added, "a lot of the supply-chain efforts have been ongoing for several years. All of a sudden, it is somewhat confusing that they show up this quarter." Wu also questioned the effect of one-time accounting gains had on profitability in the quarter, in addition to the reasons Dell cited.

Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar was left wondering what level of gross margin to expect from Dell in the future.

"A lot of us are skeptics out there. Clearly the margin they delivered was good, but it's not sustainable by any measure," Kumar said.

For the fiscal third quarter, which ended Oct. 29, Dell's net income jumped to $822 million, or 42 cents per share, from $337 million, or 17 cents per share.

Excluding a $72 million gain related to Dell's failed bid to buy data-storage maker 3Par and other items, Dell earned 45 cents per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Dell to earn much less — 32 cents per share.

Revenue jumped 19 percent to $15.4 billion from $12.9 billion, slightly less than the $15.8 billion analysts predicted.

For the full fiscal year, which ends in January, Dell said it expects revenue around the midpoint of its earlier guidance for an increase of 14 percent to 19 percent from last year. That would put fiscal 2011 revenue at about $62 billion. Analysts are currently predicting $62.4 billion.

Dell also said it expects businesses will continue to upgrade computers as they switch to Microsoft Corp.'s latest PC operating system, Windows 7, and other new software.

Gladden also shot down rumors that Dell is planning to go private.

Shares of Dell, which is based in Round Rock, Texas, rose 64 cents to $14.30 in extended trading. Earlier in the day, Dell shares added 31 cents, or 2.4 percent, to close at $13.66.

Willing to pay more for 4G wireless speed? (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 02:39 PM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Thu Nov 18, 5:39 pm ET

Charging subscribers based on how much wireless data they're using is rapidly becoming the norm. Now there's talk of also charging smartphone users for the speed of their data.

The latest rumblings come straight from the mouth of Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who told the Wall Street Journal that Verizon Wireless—which is on the cusp of launching its 4G LTE (short for "Long-Term Evolution") data network—is mulling the idea of making speed a factor in its upcoming tiered data plans.

"If you want to pay for less speed, you'll pay for less speed and consume more, or you can pay for high speed and consume less," said Seidenberg. Verizon plans to unleash its first LTE-enabled devices at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, and an LTE smartphone is due the following month, he said.

Both Verizon and AT&T are looking to LTE technology to power their upcoming 4G data networks. Verizon is slated to switch on LTE in close to 40 markets before the year is out.

AT&T says it'll kick-start its own LTE network in mid-2011; Sprint already has its 4G WiMax network up and running in more than 60 U.S. markets. T-Mobile's HSPA+ network—which the carrier used to tout merely as operating at "4G speeds" but is now being (controversially) billed as a true 4G network—is live in 75 metro areas.

For now, Sprint is still charging 4G customers the same $60 a month that it does 3G customers—and indeed, 4G users get a better deal, given that Sprint's 3G broadband plan is capped at 5GB a month while the 4G plan is (for now) unlimited.

Users of Sprint's two 4G phones—the HTC Evo 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G—are also subject to the same "Everything Data" bundles (starting at $69 a month) as are those with 3G phones. That said, Sprint also charges a $10 "premium data" fee for Evo 4G and Epic 4G users—although the carrier swears up and down that the extra charge is based on the hardware of those two handsets, not because they're using Sprint's 4G network. Right.

T-Mobile is sticking with the same data plans on its "4G" HSPA+ network that users of 3G data are paying: $40 a month for 5GB of data for mobile broadband cards, or $30 a month for 5GB of smartphone data, after which your download speeds will be "throttled" to sub-3G speed.

All four of the big U.S. carriers are promising significant speed boosts from their respective 4G networks—as fast as 20Mbps in ideal cases, although most will probably see speeds ranging from 5 to 10Mbps or so. Also, it'll take months or even years before most of the country is blanketed in 4G coverage, meaning that early adopters of the first 4G broadband cards, smartphones and tablets will have to put up with spotty 4G signals.

How much extra might Verizon charge for speedy 4G data? Verizon's Seidenberg didn't offer any hints in the Journal article, saying vaguely that "we need to get into it, figure out what the customer thinks is fair, and go from there."

For now, Verizon charges $30 a month for unlimited 3G smartphone data, or $15 a month for 150MB data. Verizon also began testing a $69-a-month plan that bundles unlimited 3G data and text messages with 450 minutes and data, similar to Sprint's Everything Data bundles.

Would you be willing to pay more for 4G data? And if so, how much more would you cough up per month? Or, how about this: Would you stick with 3G if it meant saving a little cash?

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

Follow me on Twitter!

Microsoft’s Kin phones are revived—sort of—by Verizon (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 08:51 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Thu Nov 18, 11:51 am ET

Yep, the rumors were true. After flopping over the summer, Microsoft's failed Kin messaging sliders are back on sale on Verizon Wireless—although in the interest of lower data fees, they no longer do everything they used to.

Available now—don't everyone flood Verizon's website all at once—the Kin One and Two (or, to be more precise, the "ONEm" and "TWOm") are selling for $120 and $220, respectively, or $20 and $50 with two-year contracts.

The Kin One comes with a 5-megapixel camera and 4GB of onboard storage, while the larger, pricier Kin Two has an 8MP camera and 8GB of storage. Both phones boast slide-out QWERTY keyboards, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Launched with great fanfare back in May, the two Kins represented Microsoft's stab at young (and mobile) social networkers. Both handsets featured something called the Kin Loop: a steady stream of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Windows Live updates.

At the bottom of the screen was the Kin Spot, a little icon upon which you could drag snapshots, URLs and anything else you wanted to share with your fellow social networkers. And the Kin Studio was a private webpage that organized all your daily Kin activity—phone calls, text messages, status updates, everything—into a minute-to-minute timeline.

That's all gone now. Instead, Kin ONEm and TWOm owners who want to use Facebook or Twitter will have to do so over the standard Kin browser.

[Related: 10 businesses the smartphone has destroyed]

It's a drag—especially given that the Kin Loop and Studio were the best things about the otherwise poorly reviewed handsets—but at least users will no longer be forced to fork over $30 a month in data fees. Now your options include $10 a month for 25MB of data, or $1.99 per MB on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The possibility of the Kins returning to Verizon cropped up last week after PPCGeeks posted a leaked carrier road map listing the two handsets, which had been reclassified as "feature" phones rather than full-fledged smartphones.

The two Kin sliders had barely been on sale for two months when Verizon slashed prices on the phones. Shortly afterward, Microsoft unceremoniously announced that it would cease development on the handsets.

Reviewers of the Kins weren't that kind either (myself included), saying that the phones were sluggish, too pricey considering the features, and lacked essentials like a microSD slot, a mapping app or an app store of any kind.

[Related: Android passes up iPhone in users]

In any case, it looks like Verizon is hoping to clear its inventory of unsold Kins by repositioning them as cheaper "feature" phones, but I'd expected that at least the lower-end Kin One would be free with a two-year contract. Instead, it's $20 with a two-year commitment, while the Kin Two is $50—or just as much as the Two was selling for after Verizon chopped its original $99 price tag. Oh well.

So, anyone willing to give the Kin another try?

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

Follow me on Twitter!

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Remains of the Day: That's why they call it money (Macworld)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 04:30 PM PST

Dan Moren Dan Moren – Thu Nov 18, 7:30 pm ET

Verizon continues to play coy about the iPhone, a surprising source is selling iPads at rock bottom prices, and—to our everlasting joy—Steve Wozniak is back in the news. I'm not going to lie: the remainders for Thursday, November 18, 2010 are looking forward to the weekend.

Verizon rethinks pricing (Wall Street Journal)

In an interview with the Journal, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said that the company's shift towards the 4G LTE standard had perked up Apple's ears, but that at the end of the day, the iPhone will come to Verizon for one reason: "because Apple thinks it's time." But…but…what time? Like, noon? Time for a new watch? What?

TJ Maxx selling iPads for $400 (One Foot Tsunami, via Twitter)

Yes, that's right: if you're looking for the best price on the hottest selling electronic device for the holiday season, don't head to the stores where you'd usually shop for electronics, like Best Buy, Target, or even Walmart. No, it's TJ Maxx, the discount department store best known for reasonable prices on apparel and massive data theft, that's selling the iPad for $100 less than Apple. Following this to its logical ends, we'll probably be able to snag an iPad and a Big Gulp from a 7-Eleven for like $20 by Christmas Eve.

Exclusive: Woz misquoted! 'Almost every app that I have is better on the iPhone' (Engadget)

They say a lie can get halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on. But when Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is involved, the truth saddles itself up a Segway and rides that lie down. In an interview with Dutch paper De Telegraaf, Woz was apparently misquoted as saying that Android phones would eventually become the dominant platform; in his clarification, he contends that Android could "get greater marketshare and still be crappy" and that every app he has is better on the iPhone. Which he followed up with a sting from his Rimshot! app.

Google offered to buy Twitter for $2.5-$4 billion (Business Insider)

Apparently, I would be a terrible entrepreneur. Because if somebody—even casually—offered me $4 billion for a site comprised entirely of people talking about Justin Bieber and what they had for lunch, you can be pretty sure that the only thing I'm going to say is "Cash or check?"

KIN ONEm (Verizon)

The story you're about to see is a fib, but it's short.

Tech-savvy Customer: "Whoa, you're selling the Microsoft KIN ONE and KIN TWO again? I thought that project was canned after two weeks."Verizon Rep: "No, no. As you'll clearly see, this is the KIN ONEm and TWOm."C: "Are those different from the ones you were selling earlier this year?"V: "Well, yeah, obviously. I mean, they have the letter m after them."C: "You just needed to move all that inventory, you couldn't sell, huh?"V: C: "Soooo, how about those Droids?"

NaturalMotion Games emerges with two inaugural iOS games (Macworld)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 03:15 PM PST

Stephanie Kent and Chris Holt Stephanie Kent And Chris Holt – Thu Nov 18, 6:15 pm ET

On Thursday, NaturalMotion Games, a digital publisher of mobile games, announced its formation as a games publisher. The Oxford-based group, who was responsible for the development of the successful iPhone game Backbreaker Football, has formed with the desire to contribute quality titles to the iOS gaming community and provide consumers with new means of immersion and accessibility in gaming.

NaturalMotion Games will serve as the publishing branch of NaturalMotion, a technology and game development company that you may not have heard of before, but has likely contributed to a game you have. NaturalMotion is behind the animation technology Euphoria, which has been utilized in titles like Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Euphoria animation is much more complex and realistic than rag-doll physics, ensuring that the character models react to the environment in a realistic way. If a stormtrooper is shot in the side, for example, they'll stagger and react in a realistic way.

Accompanying NaturalMotion Games' announcement of establishment, the publisher also revealed plans to release its two inaugural games, Backbreaker 2: Vengeance and Jenga for the iPhone.

Backbreaker 2, sequel to the well-selling iPhone game, looks to hold onto the impressive features of the original while adding improved animation, visuals, and game features. This new version of the football game will allow players to tackle the opposition in the all-new "Vengeance Mode." Here, you have the option to play as a defensive lineman tasked with stopping the ball carrier from making scoring a touchdown. NaturalMotion Games has also added additional maneuvers for players to utilize when on offense, including jumping and trucking. While these new moves are fancy, they're also going to be necessary: gates, hurdles, and other obstacles are now scattered about the field.

While not the most realistic football simulator, the Backbreaker is extremely challenging and visually satisfying—the sequel looks to push its gameplay in new directions while keeping the core concept intact. Fans of the original game will also be pleased to check out the two new stadiums and visual effects added in Backbreaker 2: Vengenace. Backbreaker Football was well renowned for its gorgeous graphics the first time around, but this version surpasses it with console-quality lighting, shadows, and a full Retina display resolution.

In addition to Backbreaker 2, NaturalMotion Games is at work developing Jenga for the iPhone. The physics game has been developed so that each individual block is affected realistically by the activity of the blocks around it. Like the physical, tangible version of the game, the Jenga tower is highly sensitive. Using the iPhone's sensitive touch screen, players must carefully remove blocks using a combination of gentle tap and drag controls. Also true to the real life version of the game, the tower tends to sway and wobble as it grows in height. In addition to the classic pull-and-build Jenga game, the iPhone app comes with a brand new way of experiencing Jenga: Jenga Arcade. In this fast-paced "match three" mode, removing certain colored blocks in combinations can earn coins and special boosts like multipliers and wildcards.

NaturalMotion's Jenga also captures the social aspect of the classic game. In addition to a single-player mode, up to four people can engage in the Pass'n'Play mode. While you're welcome to compete with your friends in classic competition, groups can also play together to build their towers together and then compare their work to towers around the world. While Jenga promises to provide for a faster cleanup when playing on the iPhone, it will be interesting to see if the tumbling of blocks on the screen comes close to being as satisfying as playing in real life.

Both Backbreaker 2: Vengeance and Jenga will be released this holiday season.

Shrinking of mobile gear market slows in Q3: Dell'Oro (Reuters)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 05:27 PM PST

By Tarmo Virki, European Technology Correspondent Tarmo Virki, European Technology Correspondent – Thu Nov 18, 8:27 pm ET

BARCELONA (Reuters) – The mobile telecom equipment market continued to shrink in the third quarter, research firm Dell'Oro said on Friday, casting further doubt on industry forecasts of flat to slight growth in the market in 2010.

The wireless telecommunications gear market has contracted since last year as operators cut spending during the recession and aggressive Chinese vendors drove down prices.

Of top vendors, Nokia Siemens has forecast the market, including fixed-line sales, to be flat in 2010, while Alcatel-Lucent has forecast 0 percent to 5 percent market growth.

The top wireless gear makers returned to sales growth in the quarter, but the market still fell 5 percent from a year ago, compared with 14 percent and 17 percent contractions earlier this year, the researcher said.

Dell'Oro analyst Stefan Pongratz said demand for new network technologies, which enable faster data transfer, was at a very strong level in the United States and Asia due to a surge in data traffic, but this did not not outweigh falling demand for older network gear.

"Chinese operators started spending again, driven primarily by subscriber growth. The security restraints that impacted Q2 were removed and we saw 2G pickup in India," Pongratz said.

"Component shortages were not as extensive as in Q2 but continued to affect vendors' abilities to meet demand."

Market leader Ericsson saw its share of the market rising slightly from a previous quarter to 33.7 percent, while Nokia Siemens Networks -- a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens -- lost No. 2 position to China's Huawei.

Nokia Siemens' market share slipped to 19.8 percent, while Huawei was able to hold on to its 20.6 percent stake of the market, Dell'Oro said in its quarterly market review.

Fourth-largest player Alcatel-Lucent saw its market share rising to 16.2 percent in the quarter.

On Thursday the Franco-American vendor said it has access to China's massive credit facilities used to boost the domestic telecom gear industry, a factor that could boost its position in global markets.

(Editing by Gary Hill)

Facebook founder's first website sold at auction (AFP)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 04:57 PM PST

– Thu Nov 18, 7:57 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – The FaceMash.com Web address that landed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in trouble as a Harvard University student has sold at auction for slightly more than 30,000 dollars.

FaceMash.com drew 10 bids, with the top contender offering 30,201 dollars, according to a posting online Thursday at domain name auction service Flippa.

Zuckerberg was a Harvard student in 2003 when he made a FaceMash.com website at which people could compare pictures of coeds at the college and rate which was "hotter."

The website was an instant sensation but was quickly shut down by Harvard administrators unhappy with the stunt. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard and started Facebook in 2004.

FaceMash has been cited as an inspiration for Facebook, which has attracted more than 500 million members and made Zuckerberg a celebrity billionaire.

The FaceMash legend has been memorialized in "The Social Network" film about the birth of Facebook.

The buyer of Web address remained secret on Thursday, but Flippa went on record saying that it wasn't anyone from Facebook or Sony Pictures, which made "The Social Network" film.

Baby, You’re A Rich Man: iTunes’ Beatles Downloads Cost More than CDs (PC World)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 04:14 PM PST

Jeff Bertolucci Jeff Bertolucci – Thu Nov 18, 7:14 pm ET

Now that The Beatles' music is available on iTunes, Fab Four fans have an easier way to load the iconic band's songs on their iPods and iPhones. They'll pay a hefty premium for the convenience, however.

While iTunes is selling most Beatles albums for $12.99, Amazon is offering CD versions of those same titles for only $7.99. Similarly, "The Beatles" double album (better known at the "White Album") is $19.99 at iTunes, but just $11.99 at Amazon. Compare for yourself:

It's unclear whether Amazon's super-low prices on Beatles' CDs will continue, or whether they'll creep up to iTunes' levels. It's important to factor in shipping costs too. If I buy Rubber Soul (my favorite Beatles album) at Amazon, I'll pay $7.99 plus $2.98 for shipping. My total cost: $10.97. That's $2 less than iTunes' price--not quite the killer bargain it first seemed. Then again, if I spend $25 or more at Amazon—maybe I'll get Revolver and the White Album too—shipping is free.

With CDs, of course, you could easily copy the Beatles' songs to your iPod. And you'd have a physical backup of each album, which you could keep or give to a friend, family member, or even a card-carrying member of the RIAA.

Other online retailers may beat Amazon's prices, but don't forget to factor in shipping and sales tax before you buy.

Contact Jeff Bertolucci via Twitter (@jbertolucci) or at jbertolucci.blogspot.com.

Google Launches Interactive Book to Teach Everyone About the Web (Mashable)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 02:51 PM PST

Ben Parr Ben Parr – Thu Nov 18, 5:51 pm ET

In an attempt to teach the average person about the fundamental of browsers and the web, Google has released an interactive online book that explains concepts like, TCP/IP, HTML, browser extensions and malware.

The short book, 20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web, is a step-by-step explanation of the web and how it works. It was created by the Google Chrome team using HTML5, but it also features a lot of clever illustrations by award-winning German illustrator and children's author Christoph Niemann.

The focus of the book is on 19 different topics (plus a recap, making for 20 things). It starts with "What Is the Internet?" and then dives into cloud computing, web apps, web programming languages, browsers, privacy, security and open source.

While regular readers of Mashable may be very familiar with these web concepts (and much more), Google realizes that most people have no clue about the function of a browser or what HTML5 actually is. This was exemplified last year when Google took to the streets and asked people, "what is a browser?" Less than 8% of the people it polled gave a correct answer.

With 20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web (available at 20thingsIlearned.com), Google can point these users to a website that will fill them in on the basics. While it's not a perfect solution (we suspect the book's too long for many in our attention-deficient society), it's definitely something I'd show to my mom or my technologically-challenged friends.

What do you think of Google's new Internet book?

Don’t forget to protect privacy when using location-based services during the holidays (Appolicious)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 11:18 AM PST

Yahoo! Connected TV store to start selling widgets (AFP)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 03:27 PM PST

– Thu Nov 18, 6:27 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Yahoo! on Thursday said it will let software makers sell programs known as widgets at a Connected TV store for televisions embedded with the firm's Internet technology.

"We are adding a very tangible monetization element to the Connected TV platform that didn't exist before by giving developers and publishers the opportunity to create paid widgets," said Yahoo! marketing executive Russ Schafer.

Applications currently offered for Connected TV sets are given away free. The programs can generate money from users through transactions such as subscriptions or charging for video downloads.

An online Connected TV Store in March of next year will let developers charge for applications, with Yahoo! getting 30 percent of the money.

The Sunnyvale, California-based Internet firm invited developers to begin submitting applications for the Connected TV Store.

"I think it will open up the world for a lot of other applications," Schafer said. "Categories that make sense include games; they are easy to use and take advantage of those big, beautiful screens."

Early this month, Yahoo! and Samsung raised their bet that television viewers want to easily link to websites such as Facebook without having the entire Web crammed into TV sets.

The faded Internet star and the South Korean consumer electronics giant announced they will sell Yahoo! Connected TV sets in 26 more countries in Europe.

That raised to 39 the number of countries where Samsung sells television sets embedded with Yahoo! software widgets that let users connect over the Internet to favorite websites such as Facebook or eBay.

Yahoo! and Samsung launched their Connected TV partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early 2009.

Sony, Vizio, Toshiba, and LG Electronics are among the heavyweights that make televisions embedded with Yahoo! software widgets.

Yahoo! is building on its strategy as Google weighs into the arena with Logitech boxes or Sony televisions that merge broadcast, cable, and online content.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled a second-generation Apple TV in September at an event in San Francisco.

IBM Tops Green500 List (PC World)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 04:30 PM PST

Joab Jackson Joab Jackson – Thu Nov 18, 7:30 pm ET

While China can take pride in topping the list of the world's most powerful supercomputers, IBM has been given another recognition: building the world's most energy-efficient supercomputer.

The next-generation prototype of IBM's Blue Gene, Blue Gene/Q, has topped the latest iteration of the Green500, a ranking of supercomputers by their power efficiency, released today at the SC2010 conference in New Orleans.

Blue Gene/Q is 165 percent more efficient than the Chinese supercomputer, Tianhe-1A, that topped the latest Top500 list, released Sunday. It is 77 percent more power-efficient than the number-two entry on the Green500 list, the Tokyo Institute of Technology's Tsubame 2.0.

In terms of raw numbers, Blue Gene/Q was shown to execute 1,684 megaflops per watt. Tsubame 2.0 demonstrated 948 megaflops per watt, and the EcoG system from the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Center for Supercomputing Applications placed third with 933 megaflops per watt.

The list shows that the most powerful supercomputers may not be the world's most efficient users of energy. Blue Gene/Q, for example, demonstrated a peak performance of only 653 teraflops, a small number compared with Tianhe-1A's 2.57 petaflops. However, Tianhe-1A only demonstrated an efficiency of 635 megaflops per watt, and placed tenth on the Green500.

Virginia Tech researcher Wu-chun Feng created the Green500 in 2007 as a way to draw attention to the growing energy consumption in supercomputers. "We consider [energy use] to be a first-order design constraint," Feng said in an interview with the IDG News Service.

Feng noted that by the end of the next decade, if system designs continue on their current trajectory, the cutting-edge supercomputer will consume a gigawatt, or 1 billion watts, of power. In contrast, the entire state of New York consumes about an average of 62 gigawatts per year.

The list is updated twice a year. Participation is voluntary, and rankings are based on how many floating-point operations are executed per watt of electricity. Only those computers placing in the Top500 are considered for the list.

This latest iteration of the test shows the growing use of GPUs (graphics processing units) as a relatively low-power way to add more computing power. Four of the top 10 entries on the list, for example, use Nvidia GPUs, which would have been unheard of a few years ago.

IBM's Blue Gene/Q did not incorporate GPUs but rather relied on another type of accelerator card, the IBM PowerXCell-based accelerator.

"2010 could be seen as being the year of the accelerator," Feng said. "It's an alternative computing platform that maps well to various tasks. The side benefit, which is very important, is that they happen to be energy-efficient."

Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com

China Hijack Raises Concerns for Internet Security (PC World)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 12:09 PM PST

Tony Bradley Tony Bradley – Thu Nov 18, 3:09 pm ET

Reports have emerged about an event earlier this year when much of the Internet traffic from around the world was temporarily hijacked--rerouted through China Telecom. China Telecom claims the incident was an accident, but regardless of intent it demonstrates that the Internet itself can be hijacked, and raises concerns over how to prevent future occurrences.

McAfee's Dmitri Alperovitch provides a detailed recounting of the incident in a blog post. "At 15:54 GMT on April 8, 2010, McAfee detected a routing announcement from China's state-controlled telecommunications company, China Telecom, which advertised 15 percent of the world's Internet routes. For at least the next 18 minutes, up until China Telecom withdrew the announcement, a significant portion of the world's Internet traffic was redirected through China to reach its final destination. This included data from U.S. military and government networks, civilian organizations and U.S. allies such as South Korea, India and Australia. Commercial companies were also affected."

Alperovitch continues, "What happened to the redirected traffic during those 18 minutes? That's a great question but no one except China Telecom operators are in a position to answer it. E-mails, instant messages and VoIP calls could have been intercepted and logged, data could have also been changed as it was passing through the country as well. The possibilities are numerous and troubling, but definitive answers are unknown. It is also unclear whether the incident was deliberate. This is one of the biggest routing hijacks we have ever seen, and it could happen again since a number of major telecommunications companies routing a lot of Internet traffic have the same capability."

Routing errors occur every so often, and are typically quite obvious and easily detected because data is unable to reach its intended destination. With this incident, though, China Telecom had the network infrastructure to absorb and reroute the traffic to its final destination--meaning end users did not see any indication that the connection was intercepted or hijacked other than perhaps a slight delay.

McAfee's Alperovitch explains, "The incident took advantage of the vulnerabilities in the design of Internet's fundamental building blocks, namely its routing protocols--vulnerabilities that were present in April and remain present today. Not only can this problem happen again, but it probably will. We have no way of knowing whether this event was done with malicious intent in mind or was an accidental failure as China Telecom operators have suggested, but it's clear that with this capability demonstrated publicly, sooner or later someone will use it for nefarious purposes."

If the rerouting of traffic was in fact intentional, this incident can be filed alongside the Stuxnet worm--malware that appears to have been developed specifically to compromise Iranian nuclear facility capabilities--as a new generation of cyber attacks with geo-political implications.

Even if neither the China Internet hijacking incident or the Stuxnet worm are truly state-sponsored attacks, they still illustrate what is possible for attackers with the skills and resources to pull it off.

Slew of New Business Tools Coming to Ubuntu (PC World)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 12:00 PM PST

Katherine Noyes Katherine Noyes – Thu Nov 18, 3:00 pm ET

If you use Ubuntu in your company, you're already familiar with its many advantages for businesses. But guess what? You ain't seen nothin' yet, as they say.

Particularly in the wake of the release last month of Canonical's user-friendly Ubuntu 10.10, or Maverick Meerkat, partners have been virtually lining up outside the company's door to help deliver business tools with high-level commercial support.

Boxed Ice, Opsview, Riptano, Unoware, Vladster, Wavemaker, and Zend all joined as Canonical Software Partners in the last few weeks, for example, and will work closely with the development teams that deliver Ubuntu to ensure that installation and operation are of the highest quality.

Then, too, there's Centrify, which has partnered with Canonical to provide security and compliance solutions for Ubuntu enterprise deployments; together, the companies are sponsoring an upcoming webcast, "Ubuntu for the Enterprise: Five Steps to Ensure Successful Adoption."

All in all, it's great news for business users of the world's most popular Linux distribution.

"In the past year, we've seen an increase in partners joining our ecosystem, an indication of Ubuntu's worldwide acceptance and growing use in the enterprise," said Matt Asay, COO of Canonical. "We welcome our newest partners and encourage our customers to take advantage of all that they offer."

Linux-Focused Business Tools

So what do these newest partners offer? Here's a quick summary:

* Boxed Ice's Server Density is a server monitoring tool provided as a service that makes it easy to monitor server performance and applications such as Apache and MySQL. E-mail, SMS and iPhone alerts offer notification when things go wrong, and the tool also helps users troubleshoot historical problems and plan future capacity.

* Opsview offers a commercially supported open source solution that delivers business-powered monitoring without the complexity or expense of proprietary software. Among the tool's benefits are a single console for managing and monitoring distributed deployments and a comprehensive view of your physical, virtualized and hybrid cloud infrastructure.

* Riptano's Cassandra is a scalable, high-performance database for online transactions that offers geographic distribution of data across multiple data centers and linear, incremental scalability. Resources can also be added on an as-needed basis.

* Unoware provides enterprise-level business and IT solutions that implement the best standards for SOA, BPM and EAM. They can run entirely on Linux platforms such as Ubuntu Server.

* Vladster delivers Point of Sale and inventory management solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. Its open source IncoPOS, for example, includes a variety of powerful non-free add-ons for easy data visualization and smooth interaction with other management systems.

* WaveMaker software is an open and easy-to-use Web and cloud development platform with visual, drag-and-drop tools that "flatten the Java learning curve" by 92 percent and create standard Java applications with 98 percent less code, the company says. WaveMaker applications are cloud-ready and include built-in support for multi-tenancy and elastic scaling.

* Zend Technologies provides products and services for developing, deploying and managing business-critical PHP applications. Zend products are deployed at more than 30,000 companies worldwide, it says.

* Centrify focuses on securing and auditing access to cross-platform systems and applications through Active Directory. As of last week, Canonical has certified and is distributing Centrify's free Active Directory integration solution, Centrify Express, through its Ubuntu Software Partner Repository. By using Centrify Express, IT professionals can quickly and easily integrate Ubuntu 10.04 LTS or Ubuntu 10.10 servers and desktops into Microsoft Active Directory for centralized authentication and single sign-on.

A Free Webinar for Businesses

Last but not least, Centrify and Canonical's free webinar on Ubuntu in the enterprise will demonstrate how organizations are enabling the broader deployment of Ubuntu by integrating it into their existing Active Directory infrastructure and management processes. The webinar will take place on Dec. 2; registration is now open.

Bottom line from all this? With each passing day, Ubuntu is getting better, not just for consumers but for businesses too. With this ever-increasing list of compelling business advantages, when will you break down and take Linux for a test drive?

Follow Katherine Noyes on Twitter: @Noyesk.

"Harry Potter" hits Web before big box office debut (Reuters)

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 08:30 PM PST

– 32 mins ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Warner Bros studio said on Wednesday it was working to remove a 36-minute Internet leak of the new "Harry Potter" film ahead of what industry experts said could be the biggest opening weekend box office yet for the major movie franchise.

Industry watchers and even the movie's parent studio, Warner Bros., think the film could eclipse the $100 million mark in the U.S. and Canada over its first three days in theaters, starting on November 19. They are even predicting a full run of more than $1 billion in global ticket sales.

Those eye-popping numbers were being talked about even as 36 minutes of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" turned up on a file-sharing website Tuesday night ahead of the movie's premiere in numerous countries around the globe.

Warner Bros said in a statement that the excerpt was "stolen and illegally posted on the Internet. This constitutes a serious breach of copyright violation and theft of Warner Bros. property.

"We are working actively to restrict and/or remove copies that may be available. Also, we are vigorously investigating this matter and will prosecute those involved to the full extent of the law," said the Time Warner Inc studio.

The first six "Harry Potter" movies, which are based on the best-selling books about a British boy wizard by author J.K. Rowling, have earned $5.42 billion at world-wide box offices, according to California-based BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. domestic distribution chief, said the film should top $100 million in the U.S. and Canada during its first weekend in theaters. Throughout the movie's entire life in theaters around the globe, he sees ticket sales rising to the rare level of more than $1 billion.

"This one is heading north of $100 million," Fellman told Reuters. And when asked about it's ability to be the first "Harry Potter" movie to pass the magic $1 billion mark worldwide, he replied, "I definitely think it will."

Fellman was not alone.

"This is going to be the biggest opening yet. It could surpass the $102.7 million U.S. opening for 'Goblet of Fire' in 2005"," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office tracker at Hollywood.com.

"This movie is the beginning of the end of the Harry Potter phenomenon and the culmination of a decade. It is hard not to put too high a figure on it," Degarabedian told Reuters.

Online U.S. movie ticket seller Fandango said on Wednesday that more than 2,200 Showtime for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" had sold out in advance of Friday's opening.

At MovieTickets.com, "Deathly Hallows" was the No. 5 best-seller of all time for advance ticket sales, just behind "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

The seventh and penultimate movie about the adventures Harry and his Hogwarts School friends will get its largest ever opening on Imax screens. Imax said "Deathly Hallows" would open on 239 of its screens in North America, and 117 screens internationally.

The final book in the series is split into two films. The film franchise ends its run in July 2011 with "Deathly Hallows: Part Two," which will be in 3D.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
at 9:32 PM

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