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Monday, December 6, 2010

Google mobile head says Nexus One too ambitious (AP) : Technet

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Google mobile head says Nexus One too ambitious (AP) : Technet

Google mobile head says Nexus One too ambitious (AP)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 09:20 PM PST

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – 33 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – The head of Google's Android mobile operating software says the search company "bit off a little more than we could chew" with the sale of the Nexus One, a smart phone Google began selling online early this year but then stopped offering after similar devices powered by Android hit the market.

Speaking at the D: Dive Into Mobile technology conference run by the tech blog AllThingsD Monday evening, Andy Rubin said that Google Inc. figured that it could sell the phone over the Web and people would buy it as they already do electronics like digital cameras.

Google unveiled the Nexus One with much fanfare in January as a challenger to Apple Inc.'s iPhone. Made by HTC Corp., the phone was sold unlocked so users could choose their own service provider — either T-Mobile USA or AT&T Inc. in the U.S. — or they could buy it locked through T-Mobile. Mobile phones are commonly sold in Europe unlocked, and users pick a carrier.

Consumers didn't flock to the phone, though. And two other carriers, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp., later decided not to sell the phone because they preferred other Android-powered phones. Google closed its online store that was selling the phone in May, saying it would rely on traditional retailers instead.

Rubin said Google's big problem with the Nexus One was one of scale. For each wireless operator it worked with, it had to do things like set people up with phone numbers, perform credit checks and more, he said. The process was time consuming, and given that there are more than 150 carriers worldwide, it seemed like a better idea to focus on things like building newer versions of Android, he said.

Rubin said that the Nexus S, the follow-up to the Nexus One that Google and Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled Monday, still keeps alive that vision of selling an unlocked phone. But it will be sold in the U.S through Best Buy Co. stores, which already have systems in place to set customers up with wireless carriers. The phone will cost $529 unlocked, or $199 when bought with a two-year T-Mobile contract.

The Nexus S uses Mountain View-based Google's newest operating software, Gingerbread, and includes features like Near Field Communication, which lets users wave the phone near a bar code or sensor to make payments similar to swiping a security card to get into a building. Like the iPhone, it also includes a gyroscope, which allows you to do things like zoom in and out in applications by moving the phone closer or farther away from you.

Rubin, who founded Android (which was subsequently bought by Google), also said that the mobile software is profitable, making money through online ads on Android devices. He added that since Google first released the free, open-source mobile software two years ago on a handset — HTC's G1 smart phone — it has expanded to 172 different phones.

"I think we're doing pretty well," he said.

Rubin showed off a prototype of an upcoming tablet from Motorola Inc. running an early version of what will be the next Android operating software, Honeycomb. The black tablet had a large, glossy screen and appeared to have a camera integrated on its face.

Rubin said that Honeycomb, which will be more optimized for tablet computers, will enable applications to have multiple views, depending on if they're running on a phone or a tablet. For example, he showed off a version of Gmail on the tablet that showed a list of e-mails in one column and the body of the one you're reading in a second column. One an Android phone, you'd only see one column at a time, as you do now.

.

Assange may surrender to British police (AP)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 09:38 PM PST

By SYLVIA HUI and JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Sylvia Hui And John Heilprin, Associated Press – 16 mins ago

LONDON – Julian Assange's lawyer was arranging to deliver the WikiLeaks founder to British police for questioning in a sex-crimes investigation of the man who has angered Washington by spilling thousands of government secrets on the Internet.

Lawyer Mark Stephens told reporters in London that the Metropolitan Police had called him to say they had received an arrest warrant from Sweden for Assange. Assange has been staying at an undisclosed location in Britain.

"We are in the process of making arrangements to meet with police by consent," Stephens said Monday, declining to say when Assange's interview with police would take place.

Scotland Yard refused to comment.

The 39-year-old Australian is wanted on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion in Sweden, and the case could lead to his extradition. Interpol placed Assange on its most-wanted list on Nov. 30 after Sweden issued an arrest warrant. Last week, Sweden's highest court upheld the detention order.

Assange has denied the accusations, which Stephens has said stem from a "dispute over consensual but unprotected sex." The lawyer has said the Swedish investigation has turned into a "political stunt."

The pressure on WikiLeaks mounted from other quarters Monday: Swiss authorities closed Assange's bank account, depriving him of a key fundraising tool. And WikiLeaks struggled to stay online despite more hacker attacks and resistance from world governments, receiving help from computer-savvy advocates who have set up hundreds of "mirrors" — or carbon-copy websites — around the world.

In one of its most sensitive disclosures yet, WikiLeaks released on Sunday a secret 2009 diplomatic cable listing sites around the world that the U.S. considers critical to its security. The locations include undersea communications lines, mines, food suppliers, manufacturers of weapons components, and vaccine factories.

Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan called WikiLeaks' disclosure "dangerous" and said it gives valuable information to the nation's enemies.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard told a news conference Tuesday that it is "grossly irresponsible" for WikiLeaks to publish items like critical infrastructure lists.

But she backed away from her comment made last week that posting classified U.S. government documents on the WikiLeaks website was an "illegal" act.

After being pressed by reporters to distinguish between leaking the documents and posting them, Gillard said their publication would not have been possible "if there had not been an illegal act undertaken" in the United States. She said police were still investigating whether Assange has broken any Australian laws.

WikiLeaks has been under intense international scrutiny over its disclosure of a mountain of classified U.S. cables that have embarrassed Washington and other governments. U.S. officials have been putting pressure on WikiLeaks and those who help it, and is investigating whether Assange can be prosecuted under espionage law.

In what Assange described as a last-ditch deterrent, WikiLeaks has warned that it has distributed a heavily encrypted version of some of its most important documents and that the information could be instantly made public if the staff were arrested.

For days, WikiLeaks has been forced by governments, hackers and companies to move from one website to another. WikiLeaks is now relying on a Swedish host. But WikiLeaks' Swedish servers were crippled after coming under suspected attack again Monday, the latest in a series of such assaults.

It was not clear who was organizing the attacks. WikiLeaks has blamed previous ones on intelligence forces in the U.S. and elsewhere.

WikiLeaks' huge online following of tech-savvy young people has pitched in, setting up more than 500 mirrors.

"There is a whole new generation, digital natives, born with the Internet, that understands the freedom of communication," said Pascal Gloor, vice president of the Swiss Pirate Party, whose Swiss Web address, wikileaks.ch, has been serving as a mainstay for WikiLeaks traffic.

"It's not a left-right thing anymore. It's a generational thing between the politicians who don't understand that it's too late for them to regulate the Internet and the young who use technology every day."

Meanwhile, the Swiss postal system's financial arm, Postfinance, shut down a bank account set up by Assange to receive donations after the agency determined that he provided false information regarding his place of residence in opening the account. Assange had listed his lawyer's address in Geneva.

"He will get his money back," Postfinance spokesman Alex Josty said. "We just close the account."

Assange's lawyers said the account contained about $41,000. Over the weekend, the online payment service PayPal cut off WikiLeaks and, according to Assange's lawyers, froze $80,000 of the organization's money.

The group is left with only a few options for raising money now — through a Swiss-Icelandic credit card processing center and accounts in Iceland and Germany.

Monday marked the first day that WikiLeaks did not publish any new cables. It was unclear whether that had anything to do with the computer attacks.

____

John Heilprin contributed to this story from Geneva. Associated Press Writers Anne Flaherty and Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington, Raphael G. Satter in London and Malin Rising in Stockholm also contributed.

___

Online:

http://wikileaks.ch

Google opens e-book store in challenge to Amazon (AP)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 02:51 PM PST

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke, Ap Technology Writer – Mon Dec 6, 5:51 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Google Inc. is making the leap from digital librarian to merchant in a challenge to Amazon.com Inc. and its Kindle electronic reader.

The long-awaited Internet book store, which opened Monday in the U.S., draws upon a portion of the 15 million printed books that Google has scanned into its computers during the past six years.

About 4,000 publishers, including CBS Corp.'s Simon & Schuster Inc., Random House Inc. and Pearson PLC's Penguin Group, are also allowing Google to carry many of their recently released books in the new store.

Those publishing deals will ensure that most of the current best sellers are among the 3 million e-books initially available in Google's store, said Amanda Edmonds, who oversaw the company's partnerships. Millions more out-of-print titles will appear in Google's store, called eBooks, if the company can gain federal court approval of a proposed class-action settlement with U.S. publishers and authors.

The $125 million settlement has been under review for more than two years. It faces stiff opposition from rivals, consumer watchdogs, academic experts, literary agents and even foreign governments, which worry that Google would get too much power to control prices in the still-nascent market for electronic books. Amazon.com, which started its business as a seller of books over the Internet, is among the competitors trying to squelch the settlement. The U.S. Justice Department has advised the judge overseeing the case that the settlement probably would violate antitrust and copyright laws.

Books bought from Google's store can be read on any machine with a Web browser. There are also free applications that can be installed on Apple Inc.'s iPad and iPhone, as well as other devices powered by Google's own mobile operating system, Android.

But Google's eBooks can't be loaded on to the Kindle.

Electronic books are expected to generate nearly $1 billion in U.S. sales this year and climb to $1.7 billion by 2012 as more people buy electronic readers and computer tablets such as the iPad, according to Forrester Research. The research group expects a total of 15 million e-readers and tablets to have been sold in the U.S. by the end of the year.

Google believes it's already offering the broadest selection of digital titles in the world, and it plans to keep adding to the inventory if it can gain the necessary copyright clearances. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., believes it eventually will be able to make electronic copies of the estimated 130 million books in the world. It's also planning to start selling books outside the U.S. next year.

Google's eBooks store, originally to be called Editions, has been in the works for more than a year. The company already had been showing books no longer protected under copyright in their entirety and displaying snippets of other titles through its widely used search engine.

The company is trying to position its new sales outlet as an ally to publishers, merchants and consumers looking for alternatives to Amazon's electronic book store, which feeds Amazon's hot-selling Kindle, but not other e-readers, including Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook.

Google's e-books will work on the Nook, Sony Corp.'s Reader devices and practically every other e-reading device except the Kindle. Google achieves this with the help of Adobe Inc.'s copy-protection system for e-books. That system is already used by public libraries and smaller online bookstores, but hasn't seen much interest from the major players. Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Apple all have their own copy-protection systems.

Google plans to offer sharp discounts on many of its e-books but it will still pay publishers 52 percent of the list price for sales made on its site, unless another arrangement has been negotiated with an outside agency. The formula means that even if Google elects to sell a book with a $10 list price for $6, the publisher would still be entitled to $5.20.

Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey described Google's latest effort as a "game expander" rather than a game changer.

The growing embrace of digital sales by the publishing industry is expected to result in the closure of hundreds more book stores during the next few years, adding to a media mortuary of music and video merchants killed by electronic distribution.

Google's announcement comes on the same day that activist investor William Ackman, who owns a 37 percent stake in Borders Group Inc., offered to finance a Borders-led takeover bid for rival bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. If successful, it could ultimately lead to closures of overlapping stores.

In a move that could delay closures of other retailers, Google is allowing independent book stores to sell its inventory through their own sites. More than 100 book retailers in 36 states already have agreed to team up with Google. They include Powell's in the Portland, Ore., area and online-only merchant Alibris.com.

Opening the door to book merchants who can't afford to invest heavily in technology could help some of them survive the digital transition, McQuivey said. "At least this gives them a fighting chance."

Although Google expects the lion's share of its eBooks revenue to be funneled to its partners, its portion of the sales could help the company develop another way to make money besides the Internet ads that bring most of its income. The availability of eBooks also could help boost advertising sales by giving people another reason to come to Google's website.

Google shares edged up $5.36, or nearly 1 percent, to close Monday at $578.36.

To allay concerns that it will exploit the dominance of its Internet search engine to spur e-book sales on its own site, Google plans to include links to several other places where people can buy a book mentioned in a search request. And when visitors come to the book section on Google's website, they will be asked if they are interested in buying or just doing general research.

___

Online: http://books.google.com

Kindle won’t play nice with e-books purchased from Google’s eBookstore (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 11:20 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Mon Dec 6, 2:20 pm ET

One of the main benefits of Google's just-launched eBookstore is that you can read your free and for-pay e-books on a wide range of devices, ranging from the iPad and the Nook to a laptop or any phone with a modern mobile browser. Don't count on reading any purchased digital volumes from Google on your Kindle, however.

The long-awaited Google eBookstore finally opened its doors Monday, boasting hundreds of thousands of titles from big-name publishers like Penguin, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon and Schuster, and Hachette Book Group, as well as thousands of independent and individual book publishers.

Prices for bestselling books typically fall between $9.99 and $14.99, about what you'd expect to pay on Amazon's Kindle store, iTunes, or Barnes & Noble's online Nook storefront. Millions of free e-books are also available.

The big difference between Google and its competitors, though — well, besides the fact that Google won't be selling its own dedicated e-reader (unless, I suppose, you count Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab) — is that you can read free and purchased eBooks on just about any device with a Javascript-enabled Web browser, from basic "feature" phones to laptops and desktops.

Google is also releasing custom e-book apps for iOS devices, such as the iPad and the iPhone, as well as for Android handsets (naturally).

Another option for Google eBookstore shoppers is to download a PDF or an ePub file (either open or DRM-protected, courtesy of Adobe), which you could load onto a PDF- or ePub-compatible e-reader like the Nook or the Sony Reader. (The ability to download books from Google's eBookstore alleviates one of my prior reservations about the service: that an Internet connection might be required to read a Google e-book.)

But while Amazon's Kindle e-reader is perfectly capable of displaying a standard PDF file, it still doesn't support the ePub format (well, not officially, at least), nor is it compatible with Adobe's e-book DRM platform.

That means if you buy, say, the latest James Patterson thriller (no relation) from Google's eBookstore, you'll be able to read it on your desktop PC, your iPhone, the Nook, the Kobo eReader, the Sony Reader, or a garden-variety flip phone — just not your Kindle.

Indeed, the lack of ePub support on the Kindle isn't just a problem for those using the Google eBookstore. As ZDNet's Larry Dignan has previously pointed out, ePub books lent out by libraries can't be read on a Kindle, and same goes for self-published authors who rely on the ePub format.

So, why doesn't the Kindle do the ePub thing, anyway? According to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the company is "innovating so rapidly" with features such as its Whispersync technology (which wirelessly syncs up your bookmarks and highlighted passages) and tweakable font sizes, that "it's helpful not to have to wait for some third-party standard to catch up."

Maybe so, but Amazon also has a strategic interest in its closed e-book format as it looks to fend off competitors like Apple and (now) Google.

Of course, none of this will matter if you're a die-hard Kindle user devoted only to Amazon's Kindle store, which happens to be one of the biggest online bookstores on the planet — or at least, it won't matter until you find a book in the Google eBookstore isn't available as a Kindle edition.

For its part, Google says it is "open" to supporting the Kindle "in the future," assuming Amazon ever decides to get on board.

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

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Google unveils Nexus S with Android 2.3 ‘Gingerbread’ (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 09:10 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Mon Dec 6, 12:10 pm ET

Yep, the rumors are true: The Samsung-built, "pure Google" Nexus S is real, and it's coming to T-Mobile or a Best Buy near you this month — complete with "Gingerbread," the latest version of the Android OS.

Google unveiled the long-rumored Nexus S -- the sequel to the Nexus One from way back in January -- early Monday, and as expected, the new handset is chock-full of snazzy new features.

Among them: a 5-megapixel camera in back (capable of 720p video recording), along with a VGA lens for video chat up front; a 4-inch, WVGA Super AMOLED display; 16GB of internal storage; and NFC (Near Field Communications) support for reading "smart" tags on nearby, "everyday" objects like movie posters, stickers and the like — or even, eventually, allow you to use your phone as a tap-enabled credit card. Under the hood hums a 1GHz Hummingbird processor.

No, the Nexus S's 4-inch, 800-by-480 screen isn't a Retina display, like the one on the iPhone 4. Instead Google is touting what it calls the Contour display: a slightly curved screen designed for the contour of your face. Interesting.

More important than the new hardware goodies is the fact that the Nexus S will be the first phone to ship with the long-awaited Android 2.3 Gingerbread update.

Expect such features as one-touch word selection for copy-and-paste (just tap a word and hold to select a single word and copy it to the clipboard, or tap to bring up a pair of arrows that you can drag around a selection of text); a new application manager that shows you how much power and memory your various apps are using; native Internet voice calling support; a redesigned on-screen QWERTY keypad for "faster, more intuitive typing" (so says Google); and a series of user interface tweaks for "simplicity and speed."

As with the HTC-made Nexus One, Google is calling the Nexus S a "pure Google" phone that was built by a third-party manufacturer — Samsung, in this case — under Google's strict supervision, to guarantee "tight integration of hardware and software" and essentially deliver an unfiltered Android experience, free from any bloatware or custom elements imposed by carriers.

Google promises that the handset will be available online and at Best Buy — either unlocked or with a T-Mobile contract — starting Dec. 16, or after Dec. 20 in the U.K. at Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy outlets. Unlike the Nexus One, however, Google will not be selling its new Nexus direct over the Web. As for pricing: $529 unlocked, or $199 with a two-year T-Mobile service plan, according to Best Buy's website (via Android Central).

TechCrunch managed to crank out an early review of the Nexus S, which it calls "sleeker" and "significantly faster" than the Nexus One, even if its "generic black plastic case" feels "somewhat cheap." TechCrunch also praises the phone's "good" battery life and solid camera quality.

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

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U.S. works to stop arms flow to Islamists: leak (Reuters)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 07:29 PM PST

– 2 hrs 24 mins ago

LONDON (Reuters) – Washington has worked discreetly to block the supply of Iranian and Syrian weapons to Islamist groups in the Middle East, Britain's Guardian newspaper said on Tuesday, citing U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks.

The United States, in many cases using secret intelligence provided by Israel, had pressured Arab governments not to cooperate with arms smuggling to Palestinian group Hamas or Lebanon's Hezbollah, it said.

The details were part of 250,000 diplomatic cables obtained by the website WikiLeaks that are being made public.

U.S. State Department cables showed Washington warned Sudan in January 2009 not to allow the delivery of unspecified Iranian arms that were expected to be passed to Hamas in the Gaza Strip around the time of an Israeli offensive there in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed, the Guardian said.

U.S. diplomats were told to express "exceptional concern" to Sudanese authorities, it said.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Chad were informed of the alleged Iranian plans and warned that any weapons deliveries would be in breach of U.N. resolutions banning Iranian arms exports, the newspaper said.

In March 2009, CBS News reported that Israeli aircraft had attacked a suspected arms smuggling convoy in Sudan two months earlier, killing more than 30 people, to block an arms delivery to Hamas in Gaza.

State Department documents record that Khartoum then privately accused Washington of carrying out two air attacks in eastern Sudan: one in January 2009, with 43 dead and 17 vehicles destroyed, and another on February 20, with 45 dead and 14 vehicles destroyed.

In March 2009, the United States informed Jordan and Egypt about new Iranian plans to ship a cargo of "lethal military equipment" to Syria with onward transfer to Sudan and then to Hamas, the Guardian said.

Washington asked that the planes be forced to land for inspection or denied overflight rights, it said. It is not known whether any deliveries went ahead.

In April 2009, Egypt's interior minister, Major-General Habib el-Adli, was described in U.S. cables as being behind the dismantling of a Hezbollah cell in Sinai as well as "steps to disrupt the flow of Iranian-supplied arms from Sudan through Egypt to Gaza," the paper said.

At the end of that month, Egypt's intelligence chief, Omar Soleiman, told U.S. officials Egypt was "succeeding" in preventing Iran from channeling financial support to Hamas.

"Egypt had sent a clear message to Iran that if they interfere in Egypt, Egypt will interfere in Iran, adding that EGIS (Egyptian intelligence service) had already begun recruiting agents in Iraq and Syria," Soleiman said, according to the Guardian.

(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Ralph Gowling)

Remains of the Day: White iPhone off the starboard bow! (Macworld)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 04:30 PM PST

Dan Moren Dan Moren – Mon Dec 6, 7:30 pm ET

A sign in an Apple Store is the latest bearing on the quest for the legendary white iPhone 4, an iPhone app is a life-saver, and Cupertino brings aboard talent for the latest addition to its campus. The remainders for Monday, December 6, 2010 are here to kick off the week.

Apple confirms white iPhone 4 for 'Spring 2011' (9 to 5 Mac)

Quick, somebody call Captain Ahab: we've got a sighting of the white iPhone 4! The oft-delayed unicorn is apparently going to be available in Spring 2011, according to a supposed display at an Apple Store. Just in time for my plan to build a remote island fortress entirely out of white iPhones. Muahahahahaha!

Ahem.

High school coach saves player's life with $1.99 iPhone app (Business Insider)

How to save a life? No, I'm not talking about the song. Eric Cooper, basketball coach at La Verne Lutheran School, was able to perform CPR on player Xavier Jones, who collapsed during practice on November 22. The rescue came thanks, in part, to a $2 CPR app Cooper had downloaded the day before. Granted, Cooper had also been previously trained in CPR, so we suggest you not go to extremes to field test the app on your own.

Norman Foster to design Apple's new campus in Cupertino? (MacStories)

Apple recently purchased a tract of land that formerly belonged to HP in order to expand its Cupertino campus. Now, noted British architect Norman Foster is rumored to be Apple's choice for head of operations of the project, which will reportedly involve green technologies and an underground tunnel system. Granted, one look at the guy's wardrobe and we can tell why Steve picked him.

Study links cellphones to child misbehavior (Reuters)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 04:31 PM PST

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Maggie Fox, Health And Science Editor – Mon Dec 6, 7:31 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Researchers studying the health effects of cellphones say they have found evidence that when pregnant women use them regularly, their children are more likely to have behavioral problems.

The study, sure to renew controversy over the safety of mobile telephones, does not demonstrate that cellphone use causes the behavioral problems and does not suggest a possible way that they could.

But the researchers say their findings are worth checking out.

"It is hard to understand how such low exposures could be influential," Dr. Leeka Kheifets, an epidemiologist at the University of California Los Angeles who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

"It is just something that needs to be pursued."

Kheifets and her team looked at data from 28,000 7-year-olds and their mothers who took part in a large Danish study that has been tracking 100,000 women who were pregnant between 1996 and 2002.

The mothers of about 3 percent of the children said they had borderline behavioral problems, and 3 percent showed abnormal behavior, such as obedience or emotional issues.

The children whose mothers used cellphones while pregnant and who also used the phones themselves were 50 percent more likely to have behavioral problems, the researchers reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Children whose mothers used the phones but who did not themselves use mobile phones were 40 percent more likely to have behavioral problems, they found. They found the children were no more likely to have epilepsy or delays in development.

About 5 billion mobile phones are in use worldwide. The World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health have found no evidence that cellphone use can damage health.

INCONCLUSIVE STUDIES

Last May, experts who studied 13,000 cellphone users over 10 years hoping to find out whether they cause brain tumors found no clear answer.

International researchers launched the biggest study to date into mobile phones and health in April. [nLDE63L1UO]

Kheifets tried to account for other possible causes, such as whether women who used cellphones were different from women who did not, especially during the time of their pregnancies when cellphone use was less common than it is now.

"We looked at social status, we looked at the sex of the child, we looked at the mother's history of behavioral problems, we looked at the mother's age and stress during pregnancy and whether the child was breastfed or not," she said.

"One thought was that it was it not cellphone use but mothers' inattention that led to behavior problems. While it was important, it didn't explain the association that we found."

Nonetheless, some experts questioned the findings.

"I am skeptical of these results, even though they will get a lot of publicity," said David Spiegelhalter, a professor of Biostatistics at Britain's University of Cambridge.

"The authors suggest that precautionary measures may be warranted because they have 'virtually no cost', but they ignore the cost of giving intrusive health advice based on inadequate science."

Experts at the U.S. National Institutes of Health had no immediate comment.

John Walls of the mobile telephone industry group CTIA noted that other studies have failed to show a health risk from cellphones. "We just don't comment on any specific studies because we don't have any expertise, frankly," Walls said in a telephone interview.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Tumblr blogging service back on feet after crash (AFP)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 04:39 PM PST

– Mon Dec 6, 7:39 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Popular blogging platform Tumblr on Monday was getting back on its feet after a database tumble that left it out of service for nearly 24 hours.

The New York City-based startup apologized for the system crash that had it offline from late on Sunday until mid-day on Monday.

Tumblr said in Twitter messages that it had a "major issue in one of its database clusters."

"The recovering database cluster is online and healthy," Tumblr said Monday afternoon in a Twitter message. "We're incrementally opening up access to blogs while monitoring performance."

Tumblr's network could have cracked under the pressure of rocketing growth. The number of people using the mostly free service for blogging or reading the works of others has soared intp the millions this year.

Tumblr lets people post pictures, comments, Web links, video or other digital content to short blogs hosted at the service.

Widevine Purchase Will Protect Google Streaming (NewsFactor)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 01:49 PM PST

Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com Jennifer Leclaire, newsfactor.com – Mon Dec 6, 4:49 pm ET

Google has scooped up yet another Internet-based innovator. This time, the search giant acquired a company that creates digital rights management software that Google needs to connect the dots as it moves deeper into the streaming-video world. Terms of the Widevine Technologies acquisition were not disclosed.

Google is betting the on-demand video market will post more growth. Mario Queiroz, vice president of product management at Google, said streaming video is rapidly becoming the standard way to find content to watch right away. He pointed to YouTube -- which gets more than two billion views daily -- as well as the growing popularity of subscription services and tablet devices.

"Content creators and distributors are making huge strides in bringing us content in this way, but to do so, many require high-quality video and audio, secure delivery, and other content-protection and video-optimization technologies," Queiroz said. "With these tools in place, they can easily and effectively give you access to the rich library of content you want to watch, with the immediacy you've come to expect."

Widevine Casts Wide DRM Shadow

For all those reasons, Google acquired Widevine. Google liked Widevine's diversity. The company has worked with the studios that create popular TV shows and movies, cable systems and channels that broadcast them online and on TV, and hardware manufacturers who allow streaming.

"By forging partnerships across the entire ecosystem, Widevine has made on-demand services more efficient and secure for media companies, and ultimately more available and convenient for users," Queiroz said.

Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner, sees the acquisition as a good move. DRM, he noted, has been an issue for the Android platform. Netflix, for example, recently said it has not issued services for Android because there's no central DRM it's comfortable with.

"Acquiring Widevine makes sense for Google," Gartenberg said. "One of the lessons Google has learned is if they want to do business with content providers, they have to figure out how to play by some of those rules."

New Revenue Stream

Beyond Android-based smartphones, YouTube and Google TV also stand to gain from the acquisition. What's more, with the Widevine buy, Google is picking up a new revenue stream.

Queiroz said Google will maintain Widevine's agreements with existing clients and continue taking on new clients. Hundreds of clients, including AT&T, Netflix, Best Buy, Samsung, NBC.com, Blockbuster and DISH Network, use Widevine's multi-platform DRM and video-optimization solutions. Widevine also has more than 60 patents for content-protection and video-optimization technologies.

"With the recent growth of Internet video and network-connected devices, it is increasingly important for technology to provide consumers with the capability to watch what they want, when they want, where they want," said Brian Baker, CEO of Widevine. "By working with Google, we are even further committed to the consumer Internet video experience and to the needs of content owners."

Help Desk Software Startup Zendesk Raises $19 Million (Mashable)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 04:04 PM PST

Sarah Kessler Sarah Kessler – Mon Dec 6, 7:04 pm ET

Web-based customer support software company Zendesk is announcing a $19 million round of Series C funding today led by Matrix Partners with participation from Benchmark Capital and Charles River Ventures, putting the 3-year-old startup's total funding to date at about $25.5 million.

Zendesk, which manages customer service responses for companies like Groupon and RackSpace, does away with the phone tree and gives both customers and employees transparency into how customer inquires are being handled.

For instance, both the customer and the company's customer response team can see which employee is handing the customer's ticket and when that employee is expected to respond.

The service is within a price range that small businesses with small customer bases can afford, but it also counts a number of companies with puny employee-to-customer ratios like Groupon and Twitter.

The company recently acquired its 5,000th paying customer, and CEO Mikkel Svane says it's achieved about a 300% revenue increase in 2010.

With the $19 million of new funding, Zendesk is planning to expand the number of channels to which customers can submit inquiries and continue its aggressive innovation (the company has launched four new features for its product in the last three months).

Five things to consider before buying a smartphone (Appolicious)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 05:20 PM PST

Studiometry Touch gets iPad update, improved tools (Macworld)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 01:50 PM PST

David Chartier David Chartier – Mon Dec 6, 4:50 pm ET

Oranged Software has updated Studiometry Touch, a business management companion to its Mac and PC clients, with a dozen new features and improvements, including an iPad version.

Previously native to only the iPhone and iPod touch, Studiometry Touch is now a universal app for the iPad as well: you can now manage projects, edit shared calendars with fellow employees, send invoices, and track time, expenses, and clients from any of Apple's iOS devices.

Also new in Studiometry Touch 1.5 is a variety of new features and tweaks, including the ability to set a passcode to protect your data, tweaks to editing text fields and picking times, and bug fixes. These are in addition to existing features like syncing over-the-air with Oranged Software's desktop clients and sending invoices using templates you customize with the Mac and PC versions.

Studiometry Touch is a free app, though it requires a $40 license per device per year to sync with Studiometry for Mac or PC, both of which also offer free trials. Studiometry licenses start at $200 for a single user; multi-user packs start at $925 for five licenses. Studiometry Touch requires iOS 3.0 or later, while Studiometry for the Mac works on Mac OS X 10.3 Panther or later.

TD Bank in talks to buy Chrysler Financial: report (Reuters)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 06:21 PM PST

– Mon Dec 6, 9:21 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is in talks to buy Chrysler Financial Corp, the auto loans company owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP (CBS.UL), Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

TD Bank declined to comment.

Chrysler Financial was not immediately available for comment.

The report said Chrysler Financial may sell for almost $6 billion to $7 billion and the parties may reach an agreement as soon as this week.

One person is cited saying an agreement could stretch into next week.

(Reporting by Paritosh Bansal and Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

NY website owner accused of threatening hundreds (AP)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 04:07 PM PST

By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Larry Neumeister, Associated Press – Mon Dec 6, 7:07 pm ET

NEW YORK – An eyewear website operator left dozens and possibly hundreds of customers fearing for their lives as he bullied them into accepting his counterfeit and inferior products and encouraged them to complain online to boost his Internet ranking and drive more customers his way, a prosecutor said as she argued against bail Monday.

Vitaly Borker, 34, of Brooklyn was ordered held without bail after Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Danya Perry described him as the messenger for "absolutely unspeakable and bone-chilling" threats that frightened hundreds of customers around the world, leaving many of them in fear of their lives.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael H. Dolinger agreed there was a sufficient showing that the operator of DecorMyEyes.com was a danger to the community.

He said "someone who would engage in this pattern of behavior is potentially a very explosive person."

A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan accused Borker of threatening customers after he cheated them out of the luxury eyeglasses they were expecting by instead delivering counterfeit and inferior quality goods from the website he has operated since at least 2007.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Borker was accused of cheating his customers and then when they complained, he "tried to intimidate them with obscenity and threats of serious violence." Well over 200 complaints against him had been filed with the Federal Trade Commission, prosecutors said.

Perry said in one instance Borker made threats to the life of a 9-month-pregnant woman and her child. She said he generally subjected people who complained about his shoddy products to a campaign of obscene and intimidating conduct, including telling them he knew where they lived and he would expose them and their families to horrific violence.

Ironically, the prosecutor said, complaints registered online against Borker had the effect of boosting his online profile and making it more likely others would find and use his website.

"In his distorted world view, it would increase his gains," she said.

As Broker was brought into court for an initial appearance before a judge, his wife cried loudly from a back row of the small courtroom.

Borker's court appointed lawyer, Bruce Kaye, said he could understand why the court might be troubled by the allegations about threats but he added: "No one has been subjected to any physical harm. ... To say he's a danger to the community is an unfair assessment."

Kaye said his client was married with a young son and had no criminal record.

So far, Borker is charged with cyberstalking, making interstate threats, mail fraud and wire fraud. The charges carry a potential penalty of up to 50 years in prison.

Perry said Borker could face additional charges as federal agents study what they found in a search of his home.

The prosecutor said investigators found "disturbing" images and videos of prepubescent children in Borker's home, along with five handguns, at least one which appeared to be an automatic weapon.

Kaye said the handguns were actually "prop guns" like those seen in Hollywood movies.

4 Reasons to Try LibreOffice (PC World)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 12:50 PM PST

Katherine Noyes Katherine Noyes – Mon Dec 6, 3:50 pm ET

The Document Foundation on Sunday announced the availability of the first release candidate of LibreOffice, marking the approach of the first stable version of the brand-new open source productivity suite.

Coming just a few weeks after the software's third beta version, the new release candidate is now available for download for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. The release is not yet intended for production systems, as there are still some known issues. Nevertheless, it's the closest look we've had at the software since The Document Foundation announced its "fork" of the popular OpenOffice.org package.

Many of the major Linux distributions will be replacing OpenOffice with LibreOffice once the final release is available, so there's no better time to check out the new software. Here are just a few reasons why you should.

1. It's Powerful.

Based on OpenOffice.org 3.3--for which Oracle just released a seventh release candidate--LibreOffice 3.3 adds numerous improvements that make the new office productivity suite especially attractive to business users.

Code optimization has been a particular focus in the development work on this first LibreOffice package, for example, and developers have been working hard to improve the quality and stability of the legacy code inherited from OpenOffice.org.

Even more noticeable for users, however, is that all modules of the suite are undergoing extensive rewrites to incorporate new features, improve compatibility with Microsoft Office and generally offer more consistent performance.

2. It's Free of Oracle

Ever since Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems early this year, there has been considerable concern over the future of OpenOffice.org as well as the other open source projects Oracle inherited in the process.

While Oracle has publicly asserted its commitment to keeping OpenOffice going, its behavior toward open source projects in other areas has caused many to doubt its real intentions. The company has sued Google over its use of Java in Android, for example, and it's also pulled the plug on the OpenSolaris project.

Most recently, Oracle has claimed ownership of the open source Hudson project originally developed by Sun.

Oracle's apparently profit-minded actions are part of the motivation behind The Document Foundation's decision to fork OpenOffice, and they are also a good reason to choose LibreOffice instead.

With an open, independent and meritocratic organizational structure, the project has already received support from organizations include Google, Novell, Red Hat, Canonical, the Open Source Initiative, the GNOME Foundation and NeoOffice. It promises a software package that will put user needs first, without fear of any conflicting profit motivations associated with a corporate sponsor.

3. It's Free

As with all free and open source software, LibreOffice is not just free of corporate control, it's also free of cost. You can download and test out the productivity suite at will, with no financial commitment.

4. It's Just the Beginning.

LibreOffice 3.3 already promises to be a better and more stable version of OpenOffice.org, but given that less than three months have gone by since the project was announced, it's clear that the changes we see so far are just a first taste of what's to come.

Along with the extensive rewrites being performed on each of the software's major modules, in fact, there's going to be a significant refocusing of the project back onto usability, The Document Foundation has said.

Specifically, LibreOffice aims to let users focus on the contents of their documents rather than having to worry about the mechanics of the software, as steering committee member Charles Schulz recently pointed out.

In short, LibreOffice promises a more stable, open, powerful, compatible and usable office productivity package than its competition. It's also going to be the default in many Linux distributions. I don't know about you, but I think the time has come to take it for a spin.

Follow Katherine Noyes on Twitter: @Noyesk.

A global goodbye for Japan pop star Hikaru Utada (AP)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 07:33 PM PST

By TOMOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press Tomoko A. Hosaka, Associated Press – 2 hrs 21 mins ago

TOKYO – Japanese pop star Hikaru Utada, one of the country's best-selling artists of all time, is calling it quits at the end of the year, but not before performing for fans this week in a concert that will be streamed live online.

The New York-born singer-songwriter shocked fans when she announced on her blog in August that she would be taking a hiatus starting in 2011 to focus on self-improvement. She hasn't said if the break is permanent or temporary.

She'll perform to sold-out crowds on Wednesday and Thursday in Yokohama, near Tokyo. The Wednesday show will be simulcast at 64 movie theaters around Japan.

Video streaming provider Ustream Inc. said Monday that her Wednesday concert would also be shown live online, accessible to viewers globally.

Utada, 27, has said that her life has been devoted to music since she was 15 and now it's time to shift her focus.

"I want to study new things, and see and experience things in this big world that I don't know about," she wrote on her blog.

Utada shot to fame when her debut album "First Love" was released in 1999. The album — Japan's best-selling album ever — sold more than 8.5 million copies and millions more across Asia. Her subsequent albums also became smash hits.

She won fans across Asia for her mix of American pop, R&B and hip hop.

Her forays into the U.S. market have been less successful. She released her North American English-language debut album "Exodus" in 2004 and another album "This is It" in 2009.

Utada grew up in both New York and Tokyo and briefly attended Columbia University.

___

Online: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wl1
at 10:05 PM

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