Sponsoer by :

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Japan's Venus probe fails to enter orbit (AP) : Technet

Sponsored

Japan's Venus probe fails to enter orbit (AP) : Technet

Japan's Venus probe fails to enter orbit (AP)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 08:16 PM PST

By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Eric Talmadge, Associated Press – 1 hr 25 mins ago

TOKYO – A Japanese probe sent on a two-year mission to Venus failed to enter orbit and may have flown passed the planet, space agency officials said Wednesday.

The probe, called Akatsuki, which means dawn, appears to have not fired its engines enough to inject it into the proper orbit after it passed near Venus on Tuesday. Japan's space agency, called JAXA, said it still had communication with the probe.

Akatsuki, launched May 20, was designed to monitor volcanic activity on Venus and provide data on its thick cloud cover and climate, including whether the planet has lightning. The probe is equipped with infrared cameras and other instruments to carry out its mission.

Officials said the probe lost communications shortly after firing its engines to place it in orbit. Communication was restored, but the probe put itself on safety mode and did not achieve the position it needed to reach orbit.

JAXA said it had not given up hope.

"Unfortunately, it did not attain an orbit," said JAXA's Hitoshi Soeno. "But it appears to be functioning and we may be able to try again when it passes by Venus six years from now."

Inserting the probe into orbit would have been a big success for Japan, which previously failed in an effort to put probes around Mars. The Mars mission, called Nozomi, or "hope," and launched in 1998 experienced a series of technical glitches.

The 25 billion yen ($300 million) Akatsuki probe was to maintain an elliptical orbit around Venus, ranging from passes 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the planet's surface to outer swings 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) away that will allow it to comprehensively monitor weather patterns.

The failure Wednesday was a big letdown for Japan's space program.

Japan has long been one of the world's leading space-faring nations. It was the first Asian country to put a satellite in orbit around the Earth — in 1970 — and has developed a highly reliable booster rocket in its H-2 series.

Japanese scientists had been hopeful of success with the Venus probe after the country recently brought a probe back from a trip to an asteroid.

Russia, the United States and the Europeans have successfully explored other planets. The Russian space program has been sending missions to Venus since 1961 with more than 30 attempts. Its early missions were marred with many failures.

But in recent years, Japan has been overshadowed by the big strides of China, which has put astronauts in space twice since 2003 and was the third country to send a human into orbit after Russia and the United States.

Japan's space program has never attempted manned flight and instead operates on a shoestring budget that focuses primarily on small-scale scientific projects.

WikiLeaks founder is jailed in Britain in sex case (AP)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 07:23 PM PST

By CASSANDRA VINOGRAD and RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Cassandra Vinograd And Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press – 2 hrs 18 mins ago

LONDON – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested and jailed without bail Tuesday in a sex-crimes investigation, but his organization scarcely missed a beat, releasing a new batch of the secret cables that U.S. officials say are damaging America's security and relations worldwide.

A month after dropping out of public view, the 39-year-old Australian surrendered to Scotland Yard to answer a warrant issued for his arrest by Sweden. He is wanted for questioning after two women accused him of having sex with them without a condom and without their consent.

Assange said he would fight extradition to Sweden, setting the stage for what could be a pitched legal battle. And as if to prove that it can't be intimidated, WikiLeaks promptly released a dozen new cables, including details of a NATO defense plan for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that made Russia bristle.

The Pentagon welcomed Assange's arrest.

"That sounds like good news to me," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on a visit to Afghanistan.

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson insisted Assange's arrest and the decision Tuesday by both Visa and MasterCard to stop processing donations to the group "will not change our operation."

Hrafnsson said the organization has no plans yet to make good on its threat to release en masse some of its most sensitive U.S. documents if it comes under attack.

There appeared to be no need.

To protect WikiLeaks, scores of individuals and organizations — including the office of Bolivia's leftist Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera — have created websites that either partially or fully duplicated WikiLeaks' main site. WikiLeaks said more than 1,000 such "mirror" sites had gone up by evening.

At a court hearing in London, Assange showed no reaction as Judge Howard Riddle denied him bail while he awaits an extradition hearing Dec. 14. The judge said Assange might flee if released. When the judge asked him whether he would agree to be extradited, Assange said: "I do not consent."

It was not publicly known which jail Assange was sent to, since British police never reveal that for privacy and security reasons. Some prisoners occasionally get Internet access, though only under close supervision.

The U.S. government is investigating whether Assange can be prosecuted for espionage or other offenses. On Tuesday, Pentagon and State Department officials said some foreign officials have suddenly grown reluctant to trust the U.S. because of the secrets spilled by WikiLeaks.

"We have already seen some indications of meetings that used to involve several diplomats and now involve fewer diplomats," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. "We're conscious of at least one meeting where it was requested that notebooks be left outside the room."

Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said the military had seen foreign contacts "pulling back."

"Believing that the U.S. is not good at keeping secrets and having secrets out there certainly changed things," Lapan said.

Assange defended his secrets-spilling website in an opinion piece published in an Australian newspaper Wednesday. He denied that the website's publication of classified information has endangered lives.

"WikiLeaks has a four-year publishing history. During that time we have changed whole governments, but not a single person, as far as anyone is aware, has been harmed," Assange wrote. "But the U.S., with Australian government connivance, has killed thousands in the past few months alone."

He wrote that democracies require strong media to keep governments honest and that WikiLeaks helps fulfill that role. "WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption," he wrote.

During the hour-long court hearing in London, attorney Gemma Lindfield, acting on behalf of the Swedish authorities, outlined the allegations of rape, molestation and unlawful coercion that were brought against Assange following separate sexual encounters in August with two women in Sweden.

Lindfield said one woman accused Assange of pinning her down and refusing to use a condom on the night of Aug. 14 in Stockholm. That woman also accused of Assange of molesting her in a way "designed to violate her sexual integrity" several days later. A second woman accused Assange of having sex with her without a condom while he was a guest at her Stockholm home and she was asleep.

A person who has sex with an unconscious, drunk or sleeping person in Sweden can be convicted of rape and sentenced to two to six years in prison.

Assange's lawyers have claimed the accusations stem from disputes "over consensual but unprotected sex" and say the women made the claims only after finding out that Assange had slept with both.

Prosecutors in Sweden have not brought any formal charges against Assange. WikiLeaks lawyer Mark Stephens said there are doubts as to whether Sweden has the legal right to extradite him simply for questioning.

Experts say European arrest warrants like the one issued by Sweden can be tough to beat. Even if the warrant were defeated on a technicality, Sweden could simply issue a new one.

The extradition process could take anywhere from a week to two months, according to Assange's Swedish lawyer Bjorn Hurtig. If Assange loses, he may appeal to the High Court. There can be further appeals, and Sweden also has a right to appeal if the court finds in Assange's favor.

In the meantime, Stephens said he would reapply for bail, noting that several prominent Britons — including socialite Jemima Khan and filmmaker Ken Loach — have each offered to post 20,000 pounds ($31,500) so Assange could go free.

Australian government officials said they are providing Assange with consular assistance, as they do with any countryman arrested abroad. The consul general in London spoke to Assange to ensure he had legal representation, the government said.

Some people protested outside the London court, bearing signs reading, "Save Wikileaks, Save Free Speech" and "Trumped Up Charges."

"I came to show my support for Julian," said 26-year-old electrician Kim Krasniqi. "He is innocent. Europe is bullying him, They don't want him to publish what he is publishing."

The latest batch of confidential U.S. cables could strain relations between Washington and Moscow. The documents show that NATO secretly decided in January to defend the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania against military attack.

Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO, said Tuesday that Moscow will demand that NATO drop the agreement, which he argued is clearly aimed at his country.

"Against whom else could such a defense be intended? Against Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland? Against polar bears, or against the Russian bear?" Rogozin said.

___

Associated Press Writer Gillian Smith contributed to this report.

Microsoft unveils new privacy feature for IE (AP)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 02:10 PM PST

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson, Ap Technology Writer – Tue Dec 7, 5:10 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – An upcoming version of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser will let users add lists of sites that they don't want tracking them, a peace offering amid uproar over the sneaky ways that websites watch their users as they bounce around the Internet.

The new feature, however, won't be as sweeping as a "do not track" option that the Federal Trade Commission is proposing to limit advertisers' ability to do that. Users will have to create or find their own lists of sites they want to block.

And the feature won't be automatically turned on when it debuts with the release of Internet Explorer 9 early next year.

Part of the reason for the uproar over tracking is that it's hard to tell which sites you're sharing information with. Websites use many third-party advertising partners, and some may use shady surveillance schemes, perhaps without the knowledge of the websites.

Requiring users to sort out which sites are good and bad puts the onus on the wrong people, said Anup Ghosh, founder and chief scientist of Invincea, which makes software that works with Internet Explorer to improve security.

"With this kind of 'do not track' list, the industry is not held accountable for not tracking. It's the user that's responsible. They kind of got it backward," he said. "Users aren't equipped to make these kinds of decisions, nor do they want to."

A familiar refrain among security and privacy professionals is that Internet users by and large don't fully appreciate the extent to which sites harvest their personal information.

Visiting a modern website is less like a handshake between two friends than it is glad-handing a room full of strangers. Unless you have tinkered with your security settings, in most browsers, you implicitly give any site you visit permission for it and all of its advertising partners to track you. The tracking happens silently, and your browsing habits are sold and analyzed by advertising firms looking for ways to show you more relevant ads.

Ghosh said it would be more useful for Microsoft to work directly with privacy groups to identify and create lists of sites that engage in controversial forms of tracking.

Dean Hachamovitch, who leads Internet Explorer development for Microsoft, said Microsoft isn't doing that because it doesn't want to judge which sites are OK to track consumers.

"Choosing a tracking protection list is a statement around what the consumer wants out of the box, and in some ways that is completely up to the consumer," Hachamovitch said.

Privacy worries and corporate interests often collide in building a browser, which is why the privacy features that do make it into the finished product are often compromises between competing interests.

As a seller of Internet advertising, Microsoft has to weigh two needs: consumers' desire to be completely shielded consumers from tracking, and its advertising customers' need to monitor people to sell them more targeted ads.

Also, an insistence on complete privacy, by turning off tracking features altogether and cranking up the privacy protections all the way, can make surfing the Internet difficult because sites will forget who you are and your browser will forget where it's been.

Jules Polonetsky, former chief privacy officer for AOL Inc. and online ad network DoubleClick, which is now owned by Google Inc., said that although most consumers probably won't use the new Internet Explorer features, they will likely appeal to people who are concerned about online privacy.

Industry trade groups, consumer groups, privacy watchdogs and government agencies will likely create lists of sites for consumers to plug into the new tool, said Polonetsky, who now serves as co-chair and director of the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington think tank that gets funding from big technology companies and advertisers.

Polonetsky said the features are an improvement over the filtering feature in the current version of Internet Explorer. That feature requires users to turn it on every time they use the Internet. And once it's turned on, it blocks not only online ad networks, but also online news feeds and all sorts of other third-party content that appears on Web sites.

___

AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler in Washington contributed to this report.

Google’s Chrome OS: Ready to live your life on the Web? (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 01:41 PM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Tue Dec 7, 4:41 pm ET

Google is promising some pretty enticing stuff for upcoming netbooks (think midyear) running on its ultra-thin, long-awaited Chrome operating system: instant-on operation. Ultra-tight security. Seamless sharing. Awesome battery life. A constant yet invisible stream of OS updates. Even printing from the cloud.

Yep, we're talking netbooks in the truest sense of the word: a thinner-than-thin client, essentially a Web browser sitting on top of an Intel processor, the closest thing to a true "network computer" that I've seen yet.

Exciting stuff — heck, I think I want one right now.

But living by the cloud could also mean dying by the cloud — just ask anyone who suffered through Tumblr's daylong outage Monday.

First, the highlights of Google's Chrome-focused presentation Tuesday afternoon. Nope, there won't be any Chrome OS netbooks on sale until the middle of next year, with the initial manufacturers being Acer and Samsung. Under the hood: processors from Intel. Pricing? Nothing on that point yet.

But though there won't be any Chrome OS notebooks on sale for several more months, an unbranded "reference" 12.1-inch netbook is undergoing testing now — and if you want in on the testing yourself, visit this Web page to apply.

The 3.8-pound Cr-48, as it's being called, boasts eight hours of battery life, built-in Wi-Fi and 3G from Verizon (more on that in a moment), a full-size keyboard and a native "jailbreak" mode for developers who want to muck around. Missing in action: a spinning hard drive (you won't need one), function keys (Google is leaning on Web developers to fill the gap) and a caps-lock key.

Open the Cr-48's lid, and you'll be greeted by the Chrome Web browser, which pretty much serves as your gateway, to … well, everything. Want to compose a Word document? You'll use Google Apps, though Chrome. Want to unwind with a game? You'll fire up a Web-based HTML5 version that you bought from the Chrome Web Store (which is open now, by the way, with a collection of about 500 apps for download). Want to schedule an appointment? You'll do that through Chrome, too.

Clearly, using the Chrome OS means being always on — or almost always on. One way to help you stay connected is the built-in 3G networking that will be a part of every Chrome OS notebook, including 100MB of free data a month via Verizon Wireless for two years. If you use up the 100MB, no-contract data plans will start at $9.99 for an unlimited day pass.

Of course, even with 3G and Wi-Fi at your disposal, you won't be able to stay connected all the time, which is why Google is promising offline modes for Google Apps and many of the apps from the Chrome app store.

Those HTML5-based games, for example, can be cached and played locally, even without an Internet connection; same with the articles you read on the (remarkably iPad-like) New York Times app, or the books on the (just-announced, but not available until next year) Kindle on the Web app.

You'll also be able to keep working on a Google Doc offline, with your changes — and any changes made by your Google Docs collaborators — syncing up once you're back in the cloud. (It's unclear how multiple changes will be reconciled if more than one collaborator edits the same section of a document, but I guess we'll find out once the functionality comes to Google Apps — "soon," we're told.)

Putting your faith in a laptop that more or less depends on the Web is a somewhat unnerving thought — for me, at least. But according to Google, the "nothing but the Web" way can bring some tremendous advantages.

For one thing, setting up a new Chrome OS laptop could take mere minutes — you'd just sign in with your Google ID and all your apps, bookmarks, preferences and themes would sync within seconds. All your files? Stored in the cloud, silly.

And if you want to share your Chrome OS netbook with a family member or a friend, no problem. Just go to a log-in screen to let a family member sign in and get a personalized (and "heavily encrypted," Google promises) Chrome experience on your machine. Or let a friend sign in using a secure "Incognito" mode that'll wipe out any trace of the friend's browsing history or personal info.

Google also claims that onerous OS updates will be a thing of the past: Chrome OS updates will be regular and seamless. And every Chrome notebook will be capable of performing "verified" boots to ensure that the OS hasn't been corrupted by malware (although that feature is already stirring the ire of hackers who'd like the ability to "root" their systems). Project head Sundar Pichai even went as far as to boast that Chrome OS will be "the most secure consumer operating system that's ever shipped."

Other feature to expect from Chrome netbooks include a near-instant wake from a sleeping state (within milliseconds, Pichai said), more than a week of standby time and about eight hours of battery life, and cloud-based remote printing (Google Cloud Print, a feature that's still in beta).

OK, so where are these new Chrome OS devices? "We aren't fully done yet," Pichai said, explaining that Google engineers still need to "tune performance" a little, work on the functionality of USB ports and squash some stubborn bugs.

Of course, one of the biggest questions about the upcoming Google Chrome-powered notebooks is how much they'll cost. Will they be $200 each? $500? More?

If the price starts to creep up too close to the $1,000 mark, why not just buy a standard Windows-based netbook or a MacBook Air, with all the luxuries of a device that's still very much centered on a local hard drive?

If we're talking $500 or less, a Chrome netbook could make for an enticing prospect, especially if you never have to install an OS service pack again.

But still, there's that central question: Are you comfortable living your life — including doing your work, playing your games and storing your personal and mission-critical info — on the Web? Ready to depend on a laptop that itself is so dependent on the cloud — and what if the cloud has a bad day? (Or, on the other hand, is it safe to say we're already living our digital lives on the Web — for better or worse — anyway?)

You tell me.

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

Follow me on Twitter!

‘Inception’ joins ‘Knight and Day’ as first premium DVD kiosk rentals (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 09:11 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Tue Dec 7, 12:11 pm ET

Starting Tuesday — today — you'll find both the Christopher Nolan-directed blockbuster "Inception" and the Tom Cruise dud "Knight and Day" in selected Blockbuster Express DVD kiosks, about a month earlier than you'll find them through Netflix or Redbox. The catch? You'll have to pay $3 for the first night's rental.

Both "Knight and Day" and "Inception" are now available in about 900 NCR-operated Blockbuster Express DVD kiosks with "premium" pricing: $3 for the first night, then the usual $1 for subsequent nights, according to NCR spokesman Jeff Dudash. Test markets include San Francisco, Phoenix, Miami and Atlanta.

The idea of NCR's new premium pricing stunt is to see whether consumers will be willing to pay more to rent a new DVD the day it goes on sale, rather than waiting 28 days for a rental "window" to expire.

20th Century Fox and Universal just inked new distribution deals with NCR that involve holding back their latest DVDs from Blockbuster Express kiosks until they've been on retail shelves for 28 days, in the hopes that the rental delay will boost disc sales. In return for the 28-day wait, the studios are offering their movies to NCR (as well as Redbox and Netflix, which have already signed similar deals with the studios) for steeply discounted prices.

The two studios are participating with NCR (which owns and operates Blockbuster Express kiosks, not Blockbuster Inc.) in the pricing test, with "Knight and Day" being the first (previously announced) "premium" Fox title.

NCR, however, has yet to strike a distribution deal with Warner Bros., the studio behind "Inception," which means that the studio's movies aren't necessarily subject to a 28-day delay through Blockbuster Express kiosks. (It also means that NCR had to get its "Inception" discs from sources other than the studio, and probably at retail prices.)

NCR decided to add "Inception" anyway, because "we felt like that was an appropriate title to include in the test."

That means Blockbuster Express customers in areas outside the four initial "premium" test markets won't be able to rent "Inception" until early January, the same wait that Netflix and Redbox users will have to endure. (Don't worry, we'll survive.)

The 28-day wait for DVD rentals at kiosks and through Netflix is quickly becoming the rule rather than the exception. Netflix recently signed a pact with Sony that includes a 28-day wait for its latest releases, leaving Disney and Paramount as the last two studios that offer so-called day-and-date DVD rentals to Netflix subscribers.

And though NCR has 28-day agreements only with Fox and Universal for now, expect that to change soon. An NCR exec tells Dow Jones Newswires that the company is in "constructive discussions" with the other major Hollywood studios.

So here's the big question: Would you pay $3 for the first night's rental of "Inception," if it meant not having to wait until early January?

(Photo credit: Warner Bros., via Yahoo! Movies)

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

Follow me on Twitter!

WikiLeaks chief Assange behind bars in Britain (AFP)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 06:55 PM PST

by Alice Ritchie Alice Ritchie – 2 hrs 46 mins ago

LONDON (AFP) – WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange was refused bail by a British judge over alleged sex crimes in Sweden, dealing a fresh blow to the website which vowed to stay online and reveal more secrets.

The elusive 39-year-old Australian said he would fight an extradition request by Swedish authorities as he appeared in court in London just hours after he emerged from a month in hiding and surrendered to police.

Filmmaker Ken Loach, socialite Jemima Khan and campaigning journalist John Pilger each offered to put up part of his bail but a judge in London refused, saying a court would review the situation at a hearing on December 14.

"I am satisfied that there are substantial grounds to believe that if granted bail, he would fail to surrender," district judge Howard Riddle said at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court.

The judge said the Swedish arrest warrant contains "extremely serious allegations" and that Assange had the "means and ability to abscond if he wants to."

The court heard Assange is accused of unlawfully coercing and sexually molesting a woman on August 14, and of deliberately molesting her on August 18.

A fourth allegation claims Assange had sex with a second woman on August 17 while she was asleep at her Stockholm home, and without using a condom.

The WikiLeaks founder, who has denied the allegations, seemed calm as he appeared in court. Wearing a navy blue suit and a white shirt without a tie, he spoke to confirm his name and address in Australia.

British police said earlier that officers had arrested Assange on a European warrant "by appointment at a London police station" at 0930 GMT.

WikiLeaks criticised the court decision to hold Assange as "bizarre", and said it would continue to release documents from a cache of 250,000 confidential US diplomatic cables that it started to publish on November 28.

"Let down by the UK justice system's bizarre decision to refuse bail to Julian Assange. But Cablegate releases continue as planned," it said on Twitter.

Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens told journalists outside the court that the allegations were "politically motivated", adding that he expected a "viral campaign" on the Internet on his client's behalf.

"We have heard the judge say he wishes to see the evidence himself. I think he was impressed by the fact that a number of people were prepared to stand up on behalf of Mr Assange and declare his innocence," he said.

Loach, Khan -- former wife of Pakistan cricket great Imran Khan and one-time girlfriend of film star Hugh Grant -- and Pilger each offered 20,000 pounds (23,600 euros, 31,400 dollars) towards bail. Another three donors offered 120,000 pounds between them.

Australian-born Pilger said the case against Assange was "a travesty", adding: "This is a man who has made some very serious enemies for the best reasons."

However Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny said Tuesday her investigation "has nothing to do with WikiLeaks".

The prosecutor's office however came under cyber attack by members of the "cyber hacktivist" group called "Anonymous", in the latest salvo by his online supporters.

And although US Defence Secretary Robert Gates described Assange's arrest as "good news", the State Department insisted it did not concern a separate US probe into the leaked files.

WikiLeaks is battling to stay afloat after infuriating Washington with the release of the cables, which have resulted in a string of diplomatic embarrassments.

In one of the latest, cables released Tuesday showed Saudi Arabia proposed setting up an Arab force to fight Hezbollah militants in Lebanon with the help of the United States, UN and NATO.

WikiLeaks has hopped from server to server as various countries tried to close it down and hackers attacked the site, though its supporters have responded by setting up hundreds of "mirror" sites to keep it online.

The website is coming under increased financial pressure, with Visa following in the footsteps of MasterCard and PayPal Tuesday by announcing it was suspending all payments to WikiLeaks.

Swiss authorities shut down one of Assange's bank accounts on Monday, while a major WikiLeaks donor in Germany is in trouble for not filing its accounts on time.

In an opinion piece for The Australian newspaper after his arrest, Assange said the website was "fearlessly" pursuing facts in the public interest.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd vowed the country's diplomats would support Assange, even after the whistleblower accused Canberra of "disgraceful pandering" to his foes.

Google unwraps Chrome PCs too late for holidays (Reuters)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 03:30 PM PST

By Alexei Oreskovic Alexei Oreskovic – Tue Dec 7, 6:30 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The first laptops powered by Google Inc's Chrome operating system will reach store shelves months later than expected and miss the holiday shopping season as the Internet company fixes software issues.

The Web-centric computers, intended as an incursion into territory dominated for years by Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc, will ship around the middle of 2011.

Google is holding off launching the Chrome-based PCs until it can fix some software bugs and make sure that the computers are compatible with other devices such as digital cameras, Google product manager Sundar Pichai said on Tuesday.

"Amazing progress, but we aren't fully done yet," Pichai told reporters at a press briefing in San Francisco.

"If I'm shooting for one holiday season, I wouldn't be working on it. This is a journey," Pichai told Reuters.

Once they arrive, the computers will embody Google's strongest foray into consumer and business computing.

Prices of the laptops have not been determined, executives said when asked if the Web-centered notebook computers might cost less than traditional PCs which brim with storage and processing hardware.

"You will see a variety of notebook price units," Pichai said.

Samsung Electronics and Acer will make the first laptops. Intel Corp will make the processors in the first batch.

The first laptops will come with 100 megabytes of free wireless data transfers per month for two years, courtesy of Verizon Wireless. According to Verizon, streaming video for just two minutes every day amounts to 260 megabytes of data downloads in a month.

The laptops promote Web-centric computing, in which people use online applications instead of software loaded onto PCs.

As part of that effort, the company on Tuesday opened an Internet store selling about 500 games, news and other software applications for Chrome, carving out a bigger role in Internet media and entertainment.

BLACK IS BACK

The company did not explain how the Chrome operating system would contribute to profits. With Google's Android operating system for smartphones and tablets, Google offers the platform for free, but earns revenue from mobile advertising.

As with Android mobile phones, the Chrome software is expected to spur people to use the Internet more often, and likely to search for more things. That could boost Google's Internet ads business.

"Success is tens of millions of users using these products. That's what we work toward," Pichai said.

Google will earn 5 percent on every application sold through its online store, enough to cover costs, while most of the revenue goes to its developers.

Apple, maker of iPhone and iPad, said in October that it would open an applications store for its Macintosh computers as it tries to replicate the success of iPhone apps. That store is expected to go live early next year.

Google has begun a pilot program distributing prototypes to schools, businesses, developers and other users with the intent of collecting feedback.

The all-black "CR 48" prototypes come with 12.1-inch screens, 3G connectivity and webcams, but do not have any logos or branding.

The Chrome Internet browser, on which the operating system is based, has 120 million users, Google executives said. In May, it had 70 million.

Google shares closed up 1.5 percent at $587.14.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Edwin Chan. Editing by Robert MacMillan, Bernard Orr)

Sprint CEO Says WiMAX Bet Paid Less Than Hoped (PC World)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 05:41 PM PST

Mark Sullivan Mark Sullivan – Tue Dec 7, 8:41 pm ET

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, speaking in an interview with Walt Mossberg at the All Things D Dive Into Mobile event in San Francisco, admitted that his company's bet on WiMAX technology hasn't given it the big lead in 4G it had hoped for.

Hesse explained that his company made a big bet on WiMAX (and WiMAX company Clearwire) back in early 2008 because it wanted to be the first US carrier to offer 4G. At the time WiMAX was the only 4G technology that was ready to deploy, Hesse said. And together, Sprint and Clearwire held enough wireless spectrum to roll out a national network.

Sprint's WiMAX network is now in more than 60 cities, and the company already sells two 4G-capable smartphones, the EVO 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G. But Verizon has hurried to launch its own 4G network, lighting up 39 cities December 5.

Verizon doesn't sell a 4G phone yet, but says it will by the middle of next year. And that'll be it for Sprint's head start. "It was less than we thought because it prodded Verizon to build its 4G network," Hesse explained.

But here's the real problem: WiMAX may be a doomed technology. The vast majority of carriers and equipment vendors around the world have already said they will adopt LTE, not WiMAX. Because all those players will be producing products for LTE networks, the price of all those products will go down, meaning that LTE will become a far more cost-efficient technology than WiMAX. Hesse acknowledges this: "I will grant that LTE will be the larger global ecosystem," Hess said.

The good news is that converting from WiMAX to LTE would not be starting from scratch for Sprint. But it may be forced to make this move eventually.

Foursquare CEO Downplays Facebook Deals Threat (PC World)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 11:17 AM PST

Mark Sullivan Mark Sullivan – Tue Dec 7, 2:17 pm ET

One of the first things I thought of at the announcement of Facebook Deals, was the possible demise of the pioneer in location-based services, Foursquare. I'm sure I wasn't alone.

But Foursquare , speaking at the WSJ's Dive Into Mobile event, says he doesn't see Facebook Deals as a threat. Quite the contrary.

"It's ultimately good for the [location-based services] industry," Crowley said. Pressed by moderator Kara Swisher, Crowley explained that his company does something different and more than what Facebook is doing with Deals.

"We have always said that the check-in is going to be a commodity, Crowley said. "The check-in itself isn't interesting; it's what happens after the check-in that matters.

Crowley is talking about the gaming mechanics element that is a big part of Foursquare. In Foursquare, users earn badges and "mayorships" based on how many times they check in from specific locations.

Crowley says the main benefit of Foursquare is its utility. Foursquare allows users to get place recommendations and information from their friends and others based on where they check in. For instance, a user might get a notification on their phone saying something like "the oldest elevator in New York is across the street."

"The point is 'how do we make New York easier to use?'" Crowley said.

M.J.'s first posthumous music video precedes album (AP)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 08:11 PM PST

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch, Ap Special Correspondent – 1 hr 30 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – A new Michael Jackson music video is hitting the Internet preceding the launch of a posthumous Jackson album.

The video, previewed by The Associated Press, debuts at midnight Thursday Eastern time on worldwide websites, including MichaelJackson.com, said Jackson estate co-administrator John Branca.

It showcases Jackson's duet with Akon, "Hold My Hand," recorded before the superstar's 2009 death. It's the first single release from the 10-song CD, "Michael," launching Dec. 14.

The hyperkinetic, four-and-a-half-minute video shows Jackson in concert, Akon singing and dancing, sentimental scenes of children, families and old people holding hands and a woman weeping.

The song opens with the prescient line, "This life don't last forever...So tell me what we're waiting for...Hold my hand. "

Salesforce Seeks to Lure Enterprise into Social Collaboration with Chatter Free (Mashable)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 12:29 PM PST

Jennifer Van Grove Jennifer Van Grove – Tue Dec 7, 3:29 pm ET

Five months ago, Salesforce released Chatter as a "Facebook for Enterprise." With more than 60,000 companies already using the cloud-based app, Salesforce is today releasing a complimentary version called Chatter Free to enable a more viral mechanism around enterprise adoption.

Chatter Free is an extension of the Chatter product line and operates around an invitation model, so a licensed Salesforce user can invite non-licensed colleagues to use Chatter without incurring additional costs. The model is designed to help accelerate the user acquisition process for the social collaboration platform.

Those who get invited into the Chatter Free experience can create profiles, post status updates, consume feeds, share files, participate in groups and use the Chatter Mobile and Desktop apps just like their Salesforce-licensed coworkers. Chatter Free users are not gifted with the more premium features of the app, however. This means they can't do things like follow accounts, get reports, have access to calendars or employ custom objects. These features can, of course, be enabled by upgrading to a Chatter Plus license costing $15 per user, per month.

Chatter Free is really a crafty marketing maneuver dressed up as a product launch. There are certainly company benefits associated with the release of the free version -- ensuring all project stake holders can use the app is a biggie, for instance. But Salesforce, which competes with Yammer in this space, will likely be the real winner as long as they can successfully convert Chatter Free users into paying customers.

Chatter Free was announced at the Salesforce Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. Earlier today, the company also announced the launch of its enterprise cloud database offering, Database.com, and will be unveiling additional updates to its Force.com platform over the course of the event.

How Android fits into the bigger picture: more notes from D: Dive Into Mobile (Appolicious)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 12:46 PM PST

Google Chrome-powered notebooks on sale next year (AFP)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 06:16 PM PST

by Glenn Chapman Glenn Chapman – Tue Dec 7, 9:16 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Google is building its Chrome operating system into notebook computers expected to hit the market next year in a challenge to the software at the heart of Microsoft's empire.

The technology giant on Tuesday began releasing an unbranded notebook to businesses and consumers as part of a pilot program aimed at testing a computing model that shifts operating software into the Internet "cloud."

"For us, it is a long journey building a true cloud computing model," Google vice president of product management Sundar Pichai said while demonstrating the Chrome operating system at a press event in San Francisco.

"That is what we are working on," Pichai said.

Taiwan's Acer and South Korea's Samsung are building Chrome notebook computers that will go on sale next year, according to Pichai. Pricing will be revealed by the notebook makers closer to the launch dates.

Organizations signed on to take part in the pilot program include the US Department of Defense as well as Kraft, American Airlines and Virgin America.

Google has partnered with US telecom titan Verizon to provide wireless broadband connections for Chrome notebooks.

"Not only is this the right time to build these products, but because they work they will be very successful," Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said.

"Cloud computing will define computing as we all know it in the coming decades."

Schmidt added that Chrome will be a "viable third choice" when it comes to operating systems for laptop computers. Microsoft Windows software has long been the ruling operating system in the world computer market.

The Chrome operating systems "is different in ways that matter if you believe in cloud computing," Schmidt said.

Shifting operating software to banks of servers on the Internet means that Google will tend to matters such as updating programs and fending off hackers and malicious software.

Advantages include quick start-ups from disk-drive free machines, long battery life, and essentially being able to dive into one's desktop data from anywhere on the Internet.

People will also be able to share their computers, with the operating system preventing snooping on one another and even providing "incognito" guest sessions that Google boasted was the most private online mode available.

"My friend has no access to my data, and once he closes the notebook anything he did is erased," Pichai said of guest mode. "We call this a 'friends let friends log in' mode."

Data is cached so Chrome OS users can access Web programs and content offline, but the notebooks are being built with broadband connections to synch with wireless telecom networks.

"We've put in a lot of work to make sure users always have the option to stay connected with the Chrome notebook," Pichai said.

A launch deal with Verizon will provide Chrome notebook users 100 megabytes of wireless data per month free for the first two years.

Verizon data plans include a 9.99-dollar "day pass" or paying only for amounts of data sent over the network.

The announcement came with a claim that Google's Chrome Web browsing software that competes with Internet Explorer, Firefox and other programs used to access the Internet has been a hit with users.

The number of people using the Chrome Web browser nearly doubled in the past six months to 120 million, according to Pichai.

"We have grown in every country," he said of the Chrome browser's popularity.

Google Offers a Peek at Its Chrome Laptop. Hint: It's an NC (PC World)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 06:50 PM PST

Robert McMillan Robert Mcmillan – 2 hrs 51 mins ago

Google gave the world a first look at its new Chrome OS laptop Tuesday and according to CEO Eric Schmidt it's very much like the Network Computer devices that he was pitching while chief technology officer at Sun Microsystems 13 years ago.

Only this time around, the idea will actually catch on, Schmidt said.

The difference, Schmidt said, is that the Web-based development tools used to build programs for Chrome OS have had had years to mature. "Our instincts were right... but we didn't have the tools," he said of the computer industry's failure to make lightweight computers that could compete with Microsoft Windows in the enterprise.

Google thinks that Web applications are finally ready to displace Microsoft's hegemony and businesses will buy computers that can't run programs such as Word or Excel.

"I think there's every reason to believe that when you go back and you look at history, not only is this the right time to build these products, but because they work and they work at scale, they'll be very successful," Schmidt said.

Google didn't say if or when it was going to start selling its own lightweight laptops. But the company did offer a sneak peak at a completely black, unbranded notebook, running the Chrome OS, that it's shipping out to developers and a limited number of lucky consumers.

Dubbed the Cr-48, the laptop has a 12.1 inch display, a regular-sized keyboard, and a battery that will last for eight hours.

Like the Network Computer (NC), the Cr-48 is designed to run software over the network. But instead of Java -- which proved to be clunky and hard to develop on the NC -- Chrome OS developers can use the same Web development tools they've been working with for years. Google's system boots up in 60 seconds; after it goes to sleep, it can resume operations nearly instantly; it encrypts all data automatically; and it uses a piece of encryption hardware called a trusted computing module to digitally sign components of the operating system and check them for tampering.

And like today's smartphones, Chrome OS systems are designed to be always connected. Thanks to a deal with U.S. carrier Verizon, Chrome OS notebook users will get two years worth of free 3G wireless connectivity. Their free usage will be capped at 100 MB per month, but Verizon will offer plans for more bandwith-intensive users.

"Why do I think this strategy is going to work well?" Schmdit asked. "A lot, because of mobile computing."

Increasingly, mobile devices such as the BlackBerry and the iPhone are becoming critical business tools.

Google had been hoping to announce its first Chrome OS laptops by years end, but that deadline has slipped. Intel-based systems from Samsung and Acer will ship by mid-2011, Google now says.

Google also announced a new Web store for Chrome browser users and updates to its browser software at Tuesday's event.

Despite heavy promotion by enterprise vendors such as Sun and Oracle, the NC never managed to win the hearts of enterprise software developers. Google seems to understand that it will take some work to win those people over with Chrome OS computers that can't run popular Windows programs. It has already started pilot programs with enterprises such as American Airlines, Cardinal Health, Intercontinental Hotels, the U.S. Department of Defense and others.

Robert McMillan covers computer security and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Robert on Twitter at @bobmcmillan. Robert's e-mail address is robert_mcmillan@idg.com

No apparent Stuxnet impact in US: cyber official (AFP)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 01:09 PM PST

– Tue Dec 7, 4:09 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Computer software targeted by Stuxnet is used in US infrastructure but the virus does not appear to have affected any systems in the United States, a US cybersecurity official said Tuesday.

Greg Schaffer, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told reporters here that Stuxnet demonstrates the increasingly sophisticated nature of cyber threats today.

"It was a very tiered, very complex, very sophisticated virus," Schaffer told the Defense Writers Group.

"It was looking for specific kinds of software and very special implementations within that software," he said.

Stuxnet targets computer control systems made by German industrial giant Siemens and commonly used to manage water supplies, oil rigs, power plants and other critical infrastructure.

Most Stuxnet infections have been discovered in Iran, giving rise to speculation it was intended to sabotage nuclear facilities there.

Computer security firm Symantec said last month that Stuxnet may have been specifically designed to disrupt the motors that power gas centrifuges used to enrich uranium.

Schaffer said Stuxnet "focused on specific software implementations and those software implementations did exist in some US infrastructure so there was the potential for some US infrastructure to be impacted at some level."

"There was some risk because those software packages exist within the US ecosystem, but it's not clear that there's any particular process that is in the United States that would have triggered the software," he said.

Schaffer said US cybersecurity experts "made a lot of information available to the community of interest with respect to what the code was really designed to do, which systems it was designed to attack and how it actually worked."

He added cyber threats today are becoming "more sophisticated, more targeted, more capable, harder to detect, harder to mitigate."

"This is no longer a world in which malicious defacements of Web pages are what we are focused on," he said. "We are worried about the migration towards things of value, intrusions that are very targeted and very specific."

"I cannot rule out the potential vulnerability of any system that is connnected to the network today," he said.

"It is widely recognized that the cyber ecosystem that we have today favors the offense and not the defense," he said.

Schaffer declined to discuss the release of secret US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. "I really have no comment on the WikiLeaks problem," he said. "DHS has as its focus the protection of our networks."

Kindle books to open on Web browsers (AFP)

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 06:24 PM PST

– Tue Dec 7, 9:24 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Amazon will make its Kindle electronic books available for reading on Web browsers beginning early next year, with people's digital collections saved in the Internet "cloud."

Amazon executives on Tuesday showed off "Kindle for the Web" at a Google press event introducing a new, swifter version of the California technology giant's Chrome software for navigating the Internet.

Kindle for the Web was unveiled a day after Google opened an online electronic bookstore in a heavyweight entry into a booming market long dominated by Amazon.

Google eBookstore rolled out in the United States features the Mountain View, California-based company's massive library of digitized works online at books.google.com.

Hundreds of thousands of digital books from leading publishers such as Macmillan, Random House and Simon & Schuster are for sale in the eBookstore, which Google said will expand internationally next year.

Google e-books are kept online in the Internet "cloud" and available for reading from any Web-linked computer or using free applications on gadgets such as Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch or on smartphones running Google's Android software.

Kindle for the Web will launch early next year and the application will be available in a Google Web Store that made its debut on Tuesday.

Kindle books will be accessible through any standard browser, which will enable new features such as being able to do Internet searches on words highlighted in digital works, a demonstration showed.

"All the books you love will be right there in the browser," said Amazon vice president David Limp. "All the books I have are backed up in the cloud."

About two months ago Amazon began letting people read the first chapters of Kindle e-books free through Web browsers.

The expanded version of Kindle for the Web rolling out next year will allow bookstores, authors and others to earn fees for selling Amazon's digital books at their websites.

Kindle books can be read using most popular Internet gadgets including smartphones and iPads.

"And now, anywhere you have a Web browser," said Kindle Content vice president Russ Grandinetti.

"Your reading library, last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights are always available to you no matter where you bought your Kindle books or how you choose to read them."
at 9:59 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

My Blog List