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Friday, February 25, 2011

Google tweaks search to punish 'low-quality' sites (AP) : Technet

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Google tweaks search to punish 'low-quality' sites (AP) : Technet

Google tweaks search to punish 'low-quality' sites (AP)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 03:19 PM PST

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writers Barbara Ortutay And Michael Liedtke, Ap Technology Writers – Fri Feb 25, 6:19 pm ET

NEW YORK – Google has tweaked the formulas steering its Internet search engine to take the rubbish out of its results. The overhaul is designed to lower the rankings of what Google deems "low-quality" sites.

That could be a veiled reference to such sites as Demand Media's eHow.com, which critics call online "content farms" — that is, sites producing cheap, abundant, mostly useless content that ranks high in search results.

Sites that produce original content or information that Google considers valuable are supposed to rank higher under the new system.

The change announced late Thursday affects about 12 percent, or nearly one in every eight, search requests in the U.S. Google Inc. said the new ranking rules eventually will be introduced in other parts of the world, too. The company tweaks its search algorithms, or formulas, hundreds of times a year, but most of the changes are so subtle that few people notice them. This latest change will be more difficult to miss, according to Google engineers.

"Google depends on the high-quality content created by wonderful websites around the world, and we do have a responsibility to encourage a healthy web ecosystem," Google fellow Amit Singhal and principal engineer Matt Cutts wrote in a blog post. "Therefore, it is important for high-quality sites to be rewarded, and that's exactly what this change does."

Google makes significant adjustments to its search formula on the same scale as the latest change four or five times a year, Singhal said in a statement Friday.

What makes the new revisions so notable is that Google spent about a year trying to come up with a way to judge the quality of the content posted on the site.

That focus could hurt Demand Media, which depends on search engines for about 41 percent of the traffic to its websites, with most of those referrals coming from Google, according to documents filed last month after the company completed an initial public offering of stock.

Demand Media, based in Santa Monica, assigns roughly 13,000 freelance writers to produce stories about frequently searched topics and then sells ads alongside the content at its own websites, including eHow.com and Livestrong.com, and about 375 Internet other destinations operated by its partners. Articles range from the likes of "How to Tie Shoelaces" to "How to Bake a Potato" and more.

Many of the ads appearing alongside those articles are sold by Google, which accounts for about one-fourth of Demand Media's revenue of $253 million last year.

Demand Media said it doesn't consider itself a "content farm" or "content mill," but rather as a more responsive approach to addressing topics on people's minds.

"We believe that our platform for satisfying today's consumer demand is the most comprehensive and effective of any online publisher," Demand Media CEO Richard Rosenblatt told analysts earlier this week after the company announced the first quarterly profit in its four-year history. "The standards we put in place, the process that we follow, and most important, the qualified professionals we rely on to create and copy at the solution are unprecedented in traditional and new media.definition."

In a Friday blog post, another Demand Media executive said the company applauds search engine changes that "improve the consumer experience." Google's revisions caused some of Demand Media's articles to rank higher and other to rank lower in search results, wrote Larry Fitzgibbon, Demand Media's executive vice president of media and operations.

"It's impossible to speculate how these or any changes made by Google impact any online business in the long term — but at this point in time, we haven't seen a material net impact," Fitzgibbon wrote.

Investors seemed uncertain how Google's move would affect Demand Media. After falling nearly 5 percent in earlier trading, Demand Media's shares rebounded to close at $22.96, up 36 cents for the session.

___

Liedtke reported from San Francisco.

___

Online:

Google's blog post: http://bit.ly/i3OOUx

Demand Media's blog post: http://bit.ly/fRqV5Z

Developers showcase hummingbird-shaped drone (AP)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 07:36 PM PST

– 1 hr 48 mins ago

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – A project manager has demonstrated a tiny spy plane with flapping wings like a hummingbird.

Matt Keennon of AeroVironment showed off the high-tech device Friday to journalists at company facilities in Simi Valley.

The aircraft with a 6.5-inch wing span can record sights and sounds on a video camera in its belly.

Developers say it can perch on a window ledge and gather intelligence unbeknownst to an enemy.

The craft can hover and move quickly in almost any direction, a capability defense officials want in a small aircraft for intelligence and reconnaissance.

The craft was developed for a U.S. defense agency, but it's not clear if it will ever leave the lab.

It buzzed Keennon's head before landing on his hand during the demonstration.

Sony chops PSP price to $130 ahead of NGP launch (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 08:19 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Fri Feb 25, 11:19 am ET

Starting Sunday, the nearly two and a half-year-old PSP-3000 will get a $40 price cut to just $130—but is it a bargain worth scooping up, given that Sony's next-generation gaming handheld is waiting in the wings?

Sony announced the deal on the official PlayStation blog Friday, along with a series of price cuts for such popular PSP titles as Assassin's Creed Bloodlines, Dissidia Final Fantasy, LittleBigPlanet, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (now $20 each), as well as Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Daxter, Killzone: Liberation, and SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fire Time Bravo ($10 each).

Sony says it will also chop the price of its PSP Entertainment Packs (which come bundled with disc-based UMD games) to $160, down from about $200.

The price drops will take effect Sunday, February 27, according to the PlayStation blog.

The slider-style, UMD-less PSP Go already saw a price drop back in October, from $250 to $200—and it'll still cost $200 come Monday.

The news comes about a month after Sony unveiled its long-awaited, next-generation gaming handheld, which (for now) goes by the code name "NGP," for (natch) Next-Generation Portable.

Set for release this coming holiday season, the NGP promises to eclipse the old PSP in just about every way imaginable, with the new handheld slated to arrive with a five-inch touchscreen, dual analog joysticks, a secondary rear touchpad, embedded 3G data support, and a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor.

The NGP is also sure to surpass the existing PSP in the price department, although Sony has yet to announce any pricing details.

So, with the NGP about six to seven months away, is there any point in snapping up a bargain-priced PSP-3000?

Nope, argue the gamers at Kotaku, who note in their newly updated shopping guide that while the PSP was once a "great system" that "had lots of good games," the aging console (the original PSP-1000 debuted about six years ago) and its all-but-abandoned UMD disc format is "about to be sent to the yard."

There are also other new portable gaming options to consider, Kotaku continues, such as the soon-to-be-released, 3D-enabled Nintendo 3DS ($250, on sale March 27 in the U.S.), as well as the burgeoning selection of games for iOS and Android devices. There's also the existing and ever-popular Nintendo DS Lite, which sells new for $130.

Of course, bargain hunters dead-set on getting a PSP could always save even more by buying a second-hand console on Amazon or Ebay; prices seem to be hovering around $100, and they may sink even lower once Monday's price drop kicks in.

Personally, I'm waiting for the NGP (or whatever it ends up being called), but make no mistake—it won't be cheap, with the general consensus being that the upcoming, turbo-charged handheld will cost anywhere from $250 to $300.

Correction: Sony's price drop for the PSP takes effect Sunday, February 27, not (as I originally wrote) on Monday. Apologies for the mix-up.

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

Follow me on Twitter!

Netflix: 30% of streaming videos have subtitles, shooting for 80% by end of 2011 (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 06:34 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Fri Feb 25, 9:34 am ET

Nearly a year after Netflix finally began adding subtitles to its collection of streaming "Watch Instantly" movies, the video rental giant has checked in with a progress report: 30 percent down, and another 50 percent—for the remainder of 2011, at least—to go.

Posting on the official Netflix blog late Thursday, company exec Neil Hunt wrote that about 3,500 streaming TV shows and movies for U.S. subscribers now come with closed captions, a figure that doesn't include foreign-language videos with English subtitles "burned" into the frame.

"More subtitles are being added every week," wrote Hunt, who added that the goal is to have "80% viewing coverage" domestically (with "similar goals" for Canadian Netflix users) by the end of the year.

Hunt also points out a new page on the Netflix website that lists all available streaming shows and movies with subtitles, and explained how to enable subtitles using the Web-based player (click the "Subtitles" button in the bottom-right corner, between the volume control and the "Full Screen" button) and on Netflix-ready devices (select the "Audio and subtitles" option on the video detail page).

But while all PC and Mac users can activate subtitles, there's only a short list—for now, anyway—of Netflix-enabled set-top boxes, TVs, and game consoles that are subtitle-friendly.

The list includes the Nintendo Wii, the PlayStation 3, Google TV devices, and the Boxee Box, Hunt wrote, with the Xbox 360 and Roku set-top boxes to get Netflix subtitle support "later this year."

Meanwhile, "most" new Netflix-enabled devices sold "this summer or later" will be able to handle captions, Hunt added.

OK, but what about existing HDTVs and Blu-ray players with Netflix functionality—not to mention Netflix-enabled TiVo devices? Good question. (I've reached out to Netflix for a comment.)

Netflix only began adding captions to its streaming video titles starting last April, long after sites such as YouTube and Hulu had started serving up subtitles.

Back in June of 2009, Hunt blamed technology issues involving Netflix's Silverlight-based streaming client (sites like Hulu and YouTube use Flash for their videos) for the delay.

The situation came to a head the following October, when a free, 70th anniversary stream of "The Wizard of Oz"—without subtitles—drew the ire of the National Association of the Deaf.

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

Follow me on Twitter!

Google search formula gets more discerning (AFP)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 08:03 PM PST

by Glenn Chapman Glenn Chapman – 1 hr 20 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Google has changed its secret search formula in the United States to be more discerning when it comes to which websites are worth recommending and which should sink in the rankings.

The move announced late Thursday was part of an ongoing duel between the search titan and low-quality websites that feature only content copied from elsewhere on the Internet or use techniques to trick their way high in results.

"Many of the changes we make are so subtle that very few people notice them," Google principal engineer Matt Cutts and Google fellow Amit Singhal said in a blog post.

"But, in the last day or so we launched a pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking."

They said the search formula change affects 11.8 percent of search queries, dropping low-quality websites in results while elevating high-quality websites with original content such as research, analysis, or in-depth reports.

"We do have a responsibility to encourage a healthy web ecosystem," Cutts and Singhal wrote.

"Therefore, it is important for high-quality sites to be rewarded, and that's exactly what this change does."

Google said that it has been working on the issue for more than a year and engineers spent several months crafting the algorithm change, which was implemented in the United States and will be rolled out elsewhere over time.

The change at the world's most popular search engine was a hot topic among website operators on Thursday, with some happy that Google knocked "content farms" down a few notches and others complaining of unfairly dropping in rank.

Content farms are in Google crosshairs because such websites are known to pack pages with copied or superficial material crafted to capitalize on attention-getting topics.

Such websites want to attract as many people as possible in hopes of making money off online advertising.

"They may have whacked eHow good, but they did it in part through a crude duplicate content filter," someone with the online name 'Content ed' said in a busy chat forum at webmasterworld.com.

"I'm seeing long established sites getting killed because they have been ripped-off, copied and rewritten/repurposed to the point that Google can't tell who was the original."

Demand Media runs eHow, answerbag and other websites referred to by some as "content farms" because they are crammed with articles seemingly geared more to score high in search rankings than be top sources of information.

"As might be expected, a content library as diverse as ours saw some content go up and some go down in Google search results," Demand Media executive vice president of operations Larry Fitzgibbon said in a blog post.

"It's impossible to speculate how these or any changes made by Google impact any online business in the long term," he continued. "But, at this point in time, we haven't seen a material net impact on our Content & Media business."

Demand Media websites focus on "useful and original" content, Fitzgibbon maintained.

The Google crackdown comes a month after Demand Media went public with its first offering of stock. Demand Media shares slipped more than three percent to $22.19 per share in late trading on Friday.

Google continually refines its search formula in a quest to deliver more relevant and useful results at faster speeds.

Website operators from the honorable to the nefarious have taken to employing "search engine optimization" tactics such as abundantly repeating popular query terms or fostering high numbers of links to other properties.

While Google keeps its search formula secret, both those factors raise websites in rankings of results.

There is tremendous subjectivity in the debate regarding content farms, and Google is in a difficult position, Greg Sterling of search news website Search Engine Land told AFP.

"Their success has bred a whole industry of freelancers producing articles that are ultimately designed to show display ads and rank highly in search results," Sterling said.

"They feel compelled to address it because they are being criticized by many sides that results are full of spam," he continued. "Google feels that if it doesn't address this, its existence is threatened."

Nintendo launches 3-D console in Japan (AFP)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 08:57 PM PST

by David Watkins David Watkins – 26 mins ago

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's Nintendo launched the world's first video game console with a 3-D screen that works without special glasses, a device the entertainment giant hopes will reverse its sliding fortunes.

But as the DS3 makes its debut in Japan on Saturday, it will be looking for a place in an increasingly crowded gaming market.

More than 1,500 fans queued outside Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara, the hub of Tokyo's comic-book subculture, to be the first to own the machine, with many having spent the night on the streets ahead of the morning launch.

"I'm extremely excited. I can't wait to start playing it," said Arisa Kubo, a 19-year-old nursing student who began queuing on Friday night.

"The quality has dramatically improved," said Kubo, who tried a pre-sales demonstration of the console last month. "The screen is beautiful. 3DS is totally different from the normal DS."

Nintendo, which for many gamers is synonymous with its "Super Mario Bros" series, is facing a raft of challenges to its one-time domination of the market.

Traditional gaming rivals such as Sony with its Playstation, and Microsoft whose XBox has been a global hit, have been joined in the fray by smartphones and tablet computers, including Apple's iPhone and iPad which have taken a chunk out of the gaming market.

Falling sales and a stubbornly strong yen are also hitting Nintendo, which saw its group net profit plunge nearly 75 percent for the nine months to December and analysts say the new console is a vital plank in the hoped-for turnaround.

"For the next five years or so, Nintendo fully expects the 3DS to act as a key pillar underlying its overall business performance," said Jay Defibaugh, director of equity research in consumer electronics and games for MF Global FXA Securities.

"Whether 3DS ends up being a one-trick pony or gimmick will be determined by whether Nintendo and its third-party partners can deliver innovative new approaches to gameplay."

The dual-screen 3DS, priced at 25,000 yen ($305) will test the appetite of Nintendo's core fans and the wider market for 3D gaming, after rivals catering to what is seen as a more "serious" gaming market launched their own updates.

The 3DS ran into controversy ahead of its launch after the company warned children under the age of six should not use the gadget in 3-D mode because it could affect their eyes.

The device is entering a fast-evolving and highly competitive area of gaming technology.

Sony last year launched its PlayStation Move system, which enables users wearing special glasses to play 3-D games using wand-shaped controllers.

And in January it unveiled its latest portable touchscreen gaming console codenamed "Next Generation Portable" to succeed its PlayStation Portable device, boasting 3G mobile connectivity and WiFi.

Microsoft's motion-sensing Kinect system for the Xbox 360 system, which lets players use body gestures and does not require hand-held controllers, hit the market last year.

"Nintendo's competitors used to be just Sony and Microsoft, but the company now faces challenges from Samsung, Apple and providers of social-networking games," said Yusuke Tsunoda, analyst at the Tokai Tokyo Research Centre.

For its latest device, "the target should be children... I believe it is difficult to make adults add the 3DS to the items that are already in their handbags at a time when more and more people use smartphones."

Nintendo's latest machine allows the illusion of depth to be increased or decreased so that games can be played in both 2D and 3D, while built-in cameras let users take 3D pictures.

Like many smartphones it also includes an accelerometer-based motion detector, while it can connect to existing Wi-Fi networks to download additional content and exchange data with other nearby 3DS units.

Around 30 software titles will be available by June, Nintendo said.

The company reportedly plans to release around 1.5 million units in Japan in the first month in an effort to avoid the huge shortages seen with the launch of earlier versions.

The new-generation DS machine will be released in Europe and the United States in March.

Xoom 4G Upgrade Could Take More Than Six Days (PC World)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 04:10 PM PST

Nancy Gohring Nancy Gohring – Fri Feb 25, 7:10 pm ET

Users will have to send their Motorola Xoom tablets away for a week in order to upgrade them to 4G, Verizon Wireless said this week.

The Xoom, the first device to run Google's Android Honeycomb OS for tablets, works on Verizon's 3G network and became available on Thursday.

When Motorola announced the tablet last month, it said users would be able to upgrade it for use on Verizon's 4G LTE network. At the time, Motorola didn't say how it would manage such an upgrade.

Users can sign up to receive an e-mail notification from Verizon when the upgrade is available. Verizon said it would be "shortly," while Motorola said the upgrade would happen in the second quarter.

To get 4G, users are instructed to first back up all the data on the Xoom and then send it in to Motorola. They should expect to be without their device for six business days, Verizon said. That means the process could take a week or more, since six business days would encompass a weekend.

There is no additional cost for the upgrade. The Xoom costs US$600 with a two-year Verizon data contract, or $800 without.

While there are other Android tablets available, the launch of the Xoom is being closely watched because it is the first to use a version of Android designed specifically for tablets. Previous tablets have used older versions of Android that were designed primarily for smartphones.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com

LinkedIn says access restored in China (AFP)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 08:48 PM PST

– 36 mins ago

BEIJING (AFP) – Networking site LinkedIn said access to its service in China appears to have been restored after it was blocked following calls for Middle East-style rallies in the country.

"We're now seeing indications that access to the LinkedIn service has been restored in China," company spokesman Hani Durzy told AFP on Saturday.

"We will continue to monitor the situation."

A China-based AFP journalist was able to access LinkedIn on Saturday. However, the website just-ping.com, which monitors web accessibility around the world, said the service was still not available in parts of the country.

The site was blocked in China in recent days after the launch of an online campaign for weekly "Jasmine rallies" in 13 Chinese cities -- a reference to Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" -- rattled government officials already uneasy about the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

China, which has the world's largest online population at 457 million, has a huge Internet censorship system that blocks content deemed objectionable by the ruling Communist Party.

Government censors in China have long barred access to foreign social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and in recent days have heavily censored online chat about the wave of unrest sweeping across the Arab world.

LinkedIn, which describes itself as the world's largest professional network on the Internet with more than 90 million members in more than 200 countries, filed last month to stage an initial public offering in the United States.

Nintendo 3-D handheld goes on sale in Japan (AP)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 06:33 PM PST

By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama, Ap Business Writer – 2 hrs 50 mins ago

TOKYO – Nintendo's latest game machine, offering glasses-free 3-D images, went on sale in Japan on Saturday ahead of a global rollout, and analysts say it promises to be the world's first 3-D mass-market product.

"I'm so excited," said 9-year-old Natsumi Miyasaka, clutching her brand new blue 3DS portable that her father bought for her.

Lines formed outside Tokyo electronics stores, although they weren't as long as some previous gadget launches, as Nintendo offered purchase reservations in advance.

The Nintendo 3DS, which costs 25,000 yen ($300) in Japan, goes on sale in Europe on March 25 for 250 euros, and arrives in the U.S. on March 27 for $250.

Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. is banking on the 3-D technology as sales momentum gradually fades for earlier hits such as the Wii home console and predecessor DS models.

Nintendo expects to sell 4 million of the 3DS machines through the end of March — 1.5 million in Japan and the rest overseas. The company is expected to have no problems meeting that target.

"It is the most comprehensive handheld gaming device from Nintendo to date, with high-quality graphics and online features," said Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst with J.P. Morgan in Tokyo. "I believe the 3DS will be the first mass-market 3-D device."

While 3-D technology for TVs has created a buzz, and 3-D camcorders are also gaining some attention, such products have not sold in big numbers so far, making for a tiny fraction of overall TV and camcorder sales. So selling 4 million 3DS machines in a month would be significant for a 3-D product.

The 3DS looks much like older DS machines, and has two panels. The top panel shows 3-D imagery, giving players an illusion of virtual reality, such as a puppy licking the screen from inside the machine. The bottom screen is a touch panel.

The device also comes with three cameras, and allows the user to take 3-D photos. It doesn't require the special glasses needed for 3-D theater movies or 3-D game consoles like rival Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3. They also don't require 3-D TV sets.

Sony is promising a new handheld code-named NGP later this year, but has yet to give pricing and the machine does not offer 3-D gaming.

On the downside are growing fears about the health effects of too much 3-D. Some people have gotten sick by watching 3-D movies or playing 3-D games.

Nintendo has issued a warning that the 3DS could harm the eyesight of children 6 or younger, recommending they play in 2-D. It also says users should stop playing if they become tired or start to feel ill.

Although more game software is expected to be ready by the Europe and U.S. launch dates, only eight games were ready for the Japan launch. But the machine comes with several built-in games and other features.

Such drawbacks didn't faze Toyohisa Ishihara, a 43-year-old engineer, who stood in line for two hours to get his 3DS.

"The images seem to pop out. There is a sense of a world spreading beyond," he said. "I can't wait to play it."

Compared to Westerners, Japanese are expected to use 3DS for networking, creating avatars, listening to music and other lifestyle enjoyment, rather than just for games — partly because of their long daily train commutes.

"The 3DS is moving in on the territory typically held by Apple products," said Richardo Torres, editor-in-chief of GameSpot, an online gaming review site. "I expect Nintendo to sell 3DS as fast as they can get them into stores."

Verizon Wireless iPhone sales mostly online (Reuters)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 06:29 PM PST

By Sinead Carew Sinead Carew – 2 hrs 55 mins ago

BASKING RIDGE, NJ (Reuters) – Verizon Wireless sold more iPhones online than in stores, its top executive told Reuters, disputing a concern that the sparse crowds that greeted the store launch of the Apple Inc device signaled low sales.

Chief Executive Daniel Mead said in an interview at the company's New Jersey headquarters that demand for the phone has been at record levels since Verizon Wireless began selling the phone on its website February 3.

Mead told Reuters that the lack of long lines outside Verizon Wireless stores on February 10, the day it hit store shelves, could be attributed to the fact that about 60 percent of the company's iPhone sales were made on its website.

The executive said the device had helped substantially increase the rate at which customers switched to Verizon Wireless from all its other U.S. rivals.

At peak sales times Mead said iPhone brought 100 times more orders than usual to its website but he did not give specific numbers.

Mead reaffirmed the company's guidance that it would sell as many as 11 million iPhones in 2011. He said the company would give specific iPhone sales figures when it reports first-quarter earnings.

"This is the largest retail launch we've seen," the executive said. "When I look over the last three weeks or so it (sold) much more than we've seen in any previous device."

Verizon's iPhone launch ended AT&T Inc's more than three years of exclusive U.S. rights to sell the device.

AT&T was plagued with complaints about its network's performance due to the strain of additional data traffic from iPhone users. Verizon said its network was performing well despite additional data traffic from iPhone.

However, Verizon Wireless has not been immune to iPhone reception problems caused by the phone's antenna, according to Consumer Reports. The influential nonprofit organization, which publishes guides on everything from cars to TVs, said on Friday that holding the Verizon iPhone "in a specific but quite natural way" can cause the phone to drop calls.

But Mead said the company's dropped call rate for iPhones was only 0.5 percent.

In a separate interview on Friday, Verizon Wireless vice president for network planning Nicola Palmer said the company had been preparing for the device for more than a year.

This involved sending Verizon Wireless engineers out to Apple's California headquarters as often as once a week during that period, the executive said.

She said the company was seeing data usage rates from the iPhone similar to those of Verizon customers who use phones that run on Google Inc's Android software.

Palmer declined to say when Verizon would get an iPhone on its new high-speed network, which is based on a technology known as Long-Term Evolution. (LTE) But she said the company would bring out more Apple products.

"I fully anticipate we'll be working on more things down the road (with Apple)," Palmer said. "It's a partnership ... we'll continue to develop it."

Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

Shares in Verizon Communications ended the day up 1.1 percent at $35.97, and held steady in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Richard Chang and Carol Bishopric)

Is Apple Prepping for a "Places" Product? (Mashable)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 01:49 PM PST

Jolie O'Dell Jolie O'dell – Fri Feb 25, 4:49 pm ET

Apple has just applied for a new patent indicating the company's possible interest in the location-based social networking space.

The gadgets giant applied to trademark the word "Places" in both Europe and China. The trademark application is, according to its numeric classifications, related to a wide range of hardware, online social networking, entertainment, media and GPS systems; it's not related to photos or geotagging.

This particular patent application was first unearthed by Patenty Apple, which noted that the application may or may not have anything to do with Ping, Apple's social music service linked to iTunes.

Given the plethora of location-aware Apple devices, it's almost silly to think that Apple wouldn't be working on products and features in the location space -- which, as you're probably aware, becomes hotter by the day, both in terms of startup innovation and user adoption.

Of course, not every Apple patent application ends up leading to a bona fide Apple product or feature; nevertheless, these documents can be telling when it comes to the company's ambitions.

Here's a look at the trademark application itself; let us know in the comments where you think this might be headed:

Google adding e-books to Android Market (Appolicious)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 01:23 PM PST

T-Mobile USA Loses Subscribers but Gains Smartphones (PC World)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 01:00 PM PST

Stephen Lawson Stephen Lawson – Fri Feb 25, 4:00 pm ET

T-Mobile USA suffered a net loss of 23,000 customers in the fourth quarter but gained 1 million smartphone users, which helped to increase the data revenue that the carrier pulled in from an average subscriber.

The fourth-largest mobile operator in the U.S. ended 2010 with 33.73 million customers, down from 33.76 million in the third quarter. Its additions of traditional postpaid customers fell in the quarter, primarily because of revised credit standards and "competitive intensity," T-Mobile said in a press release. T-Mobile's service revenue rose just 0.9 percent from a year earlier, and its net income dropped to $268 million from $306 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The bright spot for the company, the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom, was consumer migration to smartphones that rely on data plans. At the end of the quarter, there were 8.2 million T-Mobile subscribers using smartphones, representing a net increase of 1 million from the third quarter. Meanwhile, average revenue per user (ARPU) from data services rose to $12.80 per month, up 25.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009. Overall ARPU for both postpaid and prepaid customers was up only slightly from a year earlier.

Even as the carrier continues to introduce new handsets and roll out a fast HSPA+ (High-Speed Packet Access) network, it faces even tougher competition from mobile giants AT&T and Verizon. Both now offer Apple iPhones, and Verizon last year launched an LTE (Long Term Evolution) network with downstream speeds between 5M bps (bits per second) and 12M bps. Sprint Nextel, the nation's third-largest carrier, offers service over Clearwire's WiMax network with advertised speeds nearly as high. Both of those fast networks reach more than 100 million U.S. residents.

T-Mobile has countered these speed gains with a network based on HSPA+ (High-Speed Packet Access), which the carrier said on Friday reaches 200 million Americans. The company has said its HSPA+ network can deliver speeds of 21M bps and will be upgraded to 42M bps this year. Though those are theoretical speeds and average users are likely to receive less throughput, the new infrastructure could make T-Mobile more competitive against the other major U.S. carriers. Last month, T-Mobile said it also plans to stem subscriber defections by improving in-home coverage offering low-cost smartphone options.

Last month, AT&T reported a record net gain of 2.8 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, including 4.1 million iPhone activations, to reach 95.5 million customers. Verizon Wireless said it added 803,000 retail subscribers during the quarter and had 102.2 million mobile customers at the end of the year, before it had even introduced its version of the iPhone.

Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com

Remains of the Day: Tearing up for teardowns (Macworld)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 04:30 PM PST

Dan Moren Dan Moren – Fri Feb 25, 7:30 pm ET

I think we all remember that pivotal day when Ronald Reagan uttered those famous words: "iFixit…tear down this laptop." Don't worry, they obliged. Elsewhere, the Verizon iPhone 4 has an unfortunate resemblance to its AT&T sibling, but Verizon says sales are still good! And Apple buys some music streaming insurance. Fortunately, the remainders for Friday, February 25, 2011 are protected against fire, flood, hurricanes, and alien invasion.

MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Early 2011 Teardown (iFixit)

Those fine gentlemen at iFixit have already taken apart one of Apple's new Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pros and found a few interesting tidbits. For example, the Thunderbolt controller is the fourth largest chip in the MacBook Pro. And it's powered by actual thunder. Personally, I just hope that iFixit never decides it wants to know what makes me tick. *shiver*

Verizon iPhone 4: Mind the gap, our tests show (Consumer Reports)

We know it's what's inside that counts, but Consumer Reports still seems fixated on exteriors—specifically, the exterior antenna on the iPhone 4. Having now tested the Verizon model, CR has deemed it has the same signal attentuation issue as the AT&T version. As a result, the publication says it cannot recommend the phone, even though it offers "great multimedia functionality, a sharp screen, and the best MP3 player we've seen on a phone." You know, this sounds a lot like the iPhone 4 review I got from a friend of mine.

Verizon Wireless CEO Says iPhone Sales Strong (Wall Street Journal)

Speaking of the Verizon iPhone, we can think of many possible reasons that it didn't spawn the enormous lines of its AT&T equivalent. Despite people not queuing up around the block, Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead says sales have been strong, especially online, which apparently accounted for 60 percent of phones sold. Having waited in three iPhone lines myself, I give that a resounding "duh".

Apple shares Mac OS X Lion with security experts (CNet)

Cupertino has butted heads with security researchers in the past, but it's extending an olive branch by inviting several experts, including Charlie Miller and Dino Dai Zovi, to check out its Lion developer preview. I look forward to what should basically be the software security version of Will it Blend?.

Apple's Lala purchase appears to have been "insurance" (Ars Technica)

Apple bought music streaming service Lala in 2009, but it doesn't seem to have done much except shutter the site. According to a story in the Financial Times (registration required), the purchase was for "insurance" that its download model would survive. Rumors continue, however, that the company may use the technology to allow users to stream tracks they've bought from iTunes. So, I guess this is one of those insurance policies that says something to the effect of "Nice industry…it'd be a shame if something happened to it."

Mac OS X Lion Adds Features from the iPhone's iOS (NewsFactor)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 02:22 PM PST

Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Barry Levine, newsfactor.com – Fri Feb 25, 5:22 pm ET

Accompanying the release Thursday of new MacBook Pros, Apple unveiled a developer preview of its next Mac OS X, version 10.7 Lion. The upcoming OS adds a variety of features from Apple's iOS used on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

With Google revamping its smartphone Android OS for the tablet platform in the 3.0 Honeycomb version, Hewlett-Packard touting how its new webOS works across smartphones and tablets, and Microsoft talking about how Windows Phone 7 supports various Xbox games, operating systems that share features across device platforms are becoming a key component of the next generation of operating systems.

'A New Generation'

Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said the "iPad has inspired a new generation of innovative features in Lion."

Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, pointed out that, while iOS and Lion remain "fairly distinctive" from each other, Apple is moving what he called "iOS' greatest hits" to the Mac.

One of those features is the recently launched Mac App Store, which now offers one-click access to apps for the Mac, similar to the groundbreaking App Store for Apple's mobile devices. In Lion, access to the Mac App Store is built in.

With so many apps easily obtained, Greengart noted, "those apps need a place to live so they don't become buried in the Applications folder." Lion offers LaunchPad, which shows apps as they would appear on the home screen of an iOS device. And Mission Control merges Expose, Dashboard and Spaces to give an integrated overview of all apps and windows running on the Mac.

'Flourishing of Desktop Innovation'

While the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad have touch-sensitive screens, Macs do not. But the new MacBook Pros released Thursday have larger touchpads, and Greengart noted that Lion will support "a lot more gestures" for navigation and other control. Some of those gestures are currently supported in Mac OS X Snow Leopard, but Lion is expected to make the interaction more akin to how Apple's mobile devices work.

Lion also supports full-screen view of applications, as in mobile devices. This allows a PDF, for instance, to be read without the visual cluttering of a menu from the app or icons in the dock.

There's also auto-save in Lion to automatically preserve changes in a file. A lock prevents saving, if you so wish, and a revert function returns to the original document. The new Mail 5 features a user-interface design that is similar to the one found in the iPad.

Greengart noted that the integration of some iOS features into Lion is "not a momentous" merging of the two, but represents "a flourishing of desktop innovation" for a platform -- laptop and desktop computers -- that "has been lagging in innovation for some time."

Chrome Browser Acts More Like an OS, But Security Is Unclear (PC World)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 12:42 PM PST

Keir Thomas Keir Thomas – Fri Feb 25, 3:42 pm ET

Google has announced that forthcoming releases of its Chrome browser will be able to run apps in the background. Essentially, the feature moves Chrome one step closer to becoming a true application platform--and with continuing efforts to develop HTML5, in a few years time it's very likely the Chrome browser will have more in common with an operating system than a humble Web browser.

Google says the new feature will see use "checking for server-side changes and pre-emptively loading content into local storage," and it's not hard to imagine how apps could use the feature. A chat application could listen for messages, for example, and then pop up a new window should somebody want to message you. A cloud office suite could watch for changes made to your online docs and download them locally, ready for you to work on them instantly when you choose.

The background processes keep running for as long as Chrome is running, even if no browser windows are open. Right-clicking the taskbar icon will allow users to see what background apps are running.

One of the central definitions of a contemporary operating system is the capability to run tasks in the background. MS-DOS did it with infamous terminate-and-stay-resident programs, while Windows does it with Services. Linux and Unix use daemons.

As with those operating systems, significant security issues come up with the capability to run background apps. Running code in the background without the user's knowledge is the modus operandi of viruses, for example.

It's not clear how Chrome is going to be able to tell apart good and bad background processes, or whether Google intends to rely on third-party applications like antivirus suites to do so.

Google says "backgrounding" will be allowed only for apps and extensions, and not Web pages, which will avoid drive-by infections from nefarious Websites. Chrome users already have to confirm installation of apps and extensions, giving security warnings at the time. If the app or extension isn't offered via Google's official distribution channels, it's usually blocked from installation unless the user makes a configuration change allowing it.

However, as anybody who's used the Android Marketplace will know, Google takes a laissez-faire attitude towards monitoring apps. Last year the company pulled around 50 third-party and unauthorized Android banking apps from the Marketplace after suggestions came up that they could easily be used to harvest account details.

To ensure user safety, the bar for app and extension quality is going to have to be set high, and there's no indication in this announcement that that's going to happen.

However, security issues aside, Google's efforts will bring a smile to cloud computing advocates. By blurring the distinction between browser and operating system, Google's making it far more intuitive for us both to work and store our data online. Of course, data is what Google is interested in, and it seems Google won't be satisfied until it has control of all the data in the world.

It's not hard to imagine a future scenario whereby we first boot our computer and then "boot the Internet" by double-clicking a browser like Chrome. Upon starting, Chrome will automatically log into all our favorite Web applications, and start any necessary background services. The new tab screen within Chrome, which shows installed apps, could easily evolve into a desktop-like experience in the future, wherein users are able to start and stop apps, and manage any data stored online.

A lot has been written about whether the Chrome browser or OS will ultimately succeed, but it's not an either-or situation. It's better to view the projects as two heads of the same animal. If you buy a new computer, then Google can provide an operating system, but if you prefer to stick with what you know--such as Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux--then Google will offer you the same functionality via a program you can download.

Essentially, Chrome browser and Chrome OS are heading in the same direction, which is to turn the Internet into an platform where we all can work. If we're ready to abandon our desktops, however, is yet to be seen.

Keir Thomas has been making known his opinion about computing matters since the last century, and more recently has written several best-selling books. You can learn more about him at http://keirthomas.com. His Twitter feed is @keirthomas.

IT Software Spending Will Focus on CRM in 2011 (NewsFactor)

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 02:22 PM PST

Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Barry Levine, newsfactor.com – Fri Feb 25, 5:22 pm ET

A new survey indicates that customer relationship management (CRM) software will have the largest spending increase this year among all types of software. The survey, by industry research firm Gartner, said 42 percent of respondents expect to increase their CRM spending from 2010.

About 39 percent will increase outlays for office suites, and 36 percent for enterprise resource planning. The survey was conducted among 1,500 heads of IT departments in 40 countries through last July. The questions were oriented toward actual budgets for last year and projections for 2011.

Opportunities in 'Greenfields'

The growing increase in CRM spending comes as spending on application software in general is rising a projected 31 percent this year. The largest increase is taking place in the Asia/Pacific region, which is growing 37 percent. Latin America application spending is growing by 35 percent, and the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region by 27 percent.

Gartner describes both Latin America and Asia/Pacific as "greenfields" with the greatest sales opportunities.

Hai Hong Swinehart, a Gartner research analyst, said key areas for general software investment include the online channel; software as a service (SaaS) deployments; and technologies that enable customer loyalty management, cross-sell and up-sell opportunities, and levels of customer service that are more targeted.

"Software application vendors should continue to build, fund and invest in software sales and marketing programs as the market is recovering," Swinehart said. He added that a market downturn and its aftermath are "disrupters that create great marketing and sales opportunities" if a company has "the right products, market programs, and funding."

Social CRM

For CRM buyers, Swinehart said, spending is focusing on customer retention and ways to enhance the customer experience, and there is increasing interest in "technologies that encourage development of customer communities and social networks."

Gartner said SaaS within the CRM industry could top $4 billion in revenue by 2014, which would make it nearly one-third of the entire CRM market. The segment with the strongest growth is marketing automation, driven by campaign and lead management and analytics.

The survey comes at a time when, according to Gartner, CRM is in a new era that is more about relationships and less about management. This new emphasis, the research firm said, is being driven by social media, and is yielding a "more open, honest and balanced approach" that works with customers to provide mutually beneficial relationships.

Earlier this month, Gartner reported that the CRM market is entering a three-year shake-up period with rapid changes. That report said the keys to the shake-up are the rise of social CRM and SaaS, the market reshuffling led by Salesforce.com, and the selling of CRM software from consultants and system integrators.
at 9:35 PM

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