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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Gov't says up to 10 pct in US lack good Internet (AP) : Technet

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Gov't says up to 10 pct in US lack good Internet (AP) : Technet

Gov't says up to 10 pct in US lack good Internet (AP)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 01:23 PM PST

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Feb 17, 4:23 pm ET

WASHINGTON – As many as one in 10 Americans can't get Internet connections that are fast enough for common online activities such as watching video or teleconferencing, and two thirds of schools have broadband connections that are too slow to meet their needs. Those are some of the conclusions from the Commerce Department as it unveiled a detailed, interactive online map showing what types of high-speed Internet connections are available — or missing — in every last corner of the country.

The national broadband map, which was mandated by the 2009 economic stimulus bill, went live Thursday at http://www.broadbandmap.gov with both lofty aspirations and utilitarian goals. Government officials hope the map will help guide policymakers, researchers, public interest groups and telecommunications companies as they seek to bridge the digital divide in even the most remote reaches of the U.S. They also hope the map will serve as a valuable tool for consumers who just want to find out what local broadband options are available where they live.

Consumers can type an address into the map and pull up a list of the local broadband providers, along with details about the types of high-speed connections they offer — such as cable modem service, fiber-optic links or wireless access — and just how fast those connections are. The map also includes crowd-sourcing features that ask consumers to contribute their own knowledge to the database. They can, for instance, confirm that they are getting the Internet speeds the map says they should be getting or let the map know if a local broadband provider is missing from the neighborhood list.

In addition, the map allows users to run all sorts of comparisons — ranking counties across a state by the fastest broadband speeds or allowing consumers to look up where their own county ranks nationally, for instance. And it can produce snapshots of an entire community that could be useful for local economic developers or real estate agents — showing what percent of a county has access to particular types of broadband technologies or how many schools and hospitals in a community have ultra-fast links. It also allows users to compare broadband data with local demographics such as income and poverty levels.

Among the map's key findings:

• Between 5 percent and 10 percent of Americans lack access to broadband access that is fast enough to handle downloads of some Web pages, photos and video or simple video conferencing services

• Two-thirds of schools surveyed have Internet connections that are slower than 25 megabits per second — well below the 50- to 100-megabit connections that state education technology directors say are needed to serve roughly 1,000 students

• Only 4 percent of libraries have connection speeds that are faster than 25 megabits

• Only 36 percent of Americans have access to wireless connections that are fast enough to be considered fourth generation, with download speeds of at least 6 megabits per second, although 95 percent of Americans have access to third-generation wireless service.

"There are still too many people and community institutions lacking the level of broadband service needed to fully participate in the Internet economy," said Lawrence E. Strickling, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the arm of the Commerce Department that is overseeing the mapping project.

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission released a national broadband plan that set a goal of connecting 100 million U.S. households to broadband connections of 100 megabits per second — at least 20 times faster than many home connections now — by 2020.

One thing the map makes clear is that many Americans today do not have access to such cutting-edge, "future-proof" networks, said Tom Koutsky, chief policy counsel for Connected Nation, a non-profit that did the mapping work in 13 states and territories. Even among Americans who subscribe to broadband, he said, the map shows an emerging divide between those who have the ultra-high-speed connections — often delivered over fiber-optic lines — that are needed to watch video and handle other bandwidth-hungry applications, and those stuck with more basic services, such as digital subscriber line access, which may be too slow for tomorrow's Internet.

The raw data for the map comes from roughly 1,650 Internet service providers — primarily phone, cable and wireless companies — across the country. The NTIA awarded grants to government agencies or non-profits in every state to collect, confirm and package the data to go into the nationwide map, which was then compiled by the NTIA and the FCC. The total price tag of the map, which will be updated twice a year, comes out to $200 million over five years.

Federal officials say the data will shape national broadband policy and determine where best to invest government funds to ensure that all Americans have access to the high-speed connections needed in today's digital society.

The map comes too late to help guide Commerce Department and Agriculture Department officials who have awarded more than $7 billion in stimulus money to pay for high-speed Internet networks and other broadband projects across the country over the past two years. But the data will help set priorities for huge federal programs such as the Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service and the Universal Service Fund, which spend billions annually to subsidize telecom services. The FCC is in the process of overhauling the Universal Service Fund, which currently pays for telephone service in rural and poor communities, to subsidize broadband.

The Obama administration argues that broadband can play a critical role in bringing new businesses and new economic opportunities to depressed communities. High-speed Internet connections can also make it possible for doctors to consult with patients hundreds of miles away, for students to take online classes at universities across the country and for governments to deliver services more efficiently.

According to a survey of 54,000 households conducted by the Census Bureau in October, 68 percent of U.S. households subscribe to broadband.

Facebook adds civil unions option to profiles (AP)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 04:15 PM PST

– Thu Feb 17, 7:15 pm ET

NEW YORK – Facebook on Thursday added civil unions and domestic partnerships to the list of relationships that its users can pick from to best describe their romantic status.

The world's largest online social network also gives its users the option to list themselves as single, married, in an open relationship or "it's complicated," among others.

The option for civil unions or domestic partnerships is only available to Facebook users in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France and Australia, said the nonprofit Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which has been among the groups working with Facebook to add the options.

Facebook said it is rolling out the feature in countries where users asked for it.

"We will monitor user reaction and requests, and assess how to move forward with the rollout based on how this is going, and respond," said Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes in an e-mail statement.

Facebook has well over 500 million users. About 70 percent of them live outside of the U.S.

Retail sales of video games dip in January (AP)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 05:01 PM PST

– Thu Feb 17, 8:01 pm ET

NEW YORK – U.S. retail sales of video game consoles and software dropped 4 percent in January but the falloff would have been larger if not for the burgeoning popularity of Ubisoft's "Just Dance 2" and other dancing games.

Market researcher NPD Group reported Thursday that total sales of game software, hardware and accessories, such as Microsoft Corp.'s Kinect motion-sensing controller, were $1.14 billion last month. That's down from $1.18 billion in January 2010.

Hardware sales fell 8 percent to $324 million from $353.7 million.

Software sales slipped 5 percent to $576 million from $606.8 million. That's a smaller drop than the 8 percent falloff in software sales that analysts had been expecting.

Jesse Divnich, an analyst at Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, said the smaller-than-expected decline was due to strong sales of dancing games, which are just starting to take off.

The month's best-selling game was, as expected, the blockbuster shooter "Call of Duty: Black Ops" from Activision Blizzard Inc. The game set entertainment industry records when it launched last November.

But "Just Dance 2" came in at No. 2 and another dance game, "Dance Central," which works with the Kinect, was also in the top 10. A dance-exercise game, "Zumba Fitness: Join the Party," was No. 5.

"It's not typical to see this style of game do this well outside of the holiday season," Divnich said. "Dancing is going to be the new craze."

But, he added, "it's not going to last forever." Case in point: Activision killed off the iconic "Guitar Hero" last week, due to sluggish demand for the once-unstoppable franchise.

Divnich said software sales are on the decline because more people are acquiring games through digital means — as downloads, for example — rather than going to stores to buy a packaged disc. NPD does not include game downloads in its monthly sales data, so the numbers can show a decline even if more people are playing games.

Sales of video game accessories rose 6 percent to $235.1 million.

.

Verizon Wireless launches home phone service (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 08:44 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Thu Feb 17, 11:44 am ET

After a brief trial that began late last year, Verizon's new home-phone service—which lets you make unlimited domestic calls on a traditional landline phone for $20 a month, all with the help of a wireless router that taps into the carrier's cellular network—is now open for business.

Word of Verizon's Home Phone Connect service first surfaced back in December, and Boy Genius Report spotted a promo for the plan on the Verizon Wireless website on Thursday.

Initial reports about Home Phone Connect (including my own) had it that the service would only be open to existing Verizon Wireless subscribers, but from looks of the latest promo, it appears that anyone—including new customers—can sign up.

Here's how it works (and keep in mind that I haven't tested the service myself yet): You take any standard landline phone and simply plug it into Verizon's AC-powered Home Phone Connect base station, which looks like a home Wi-Fi router.

Once it's activated (and yes, you can port over your home phone number if you like), the Home Connect service offers up your usual menu of calling services—including call waiting, forwarding, caller ID, three-way calling, voice mail, and 911 service—along with unlimited calling to any U.S. number, for $20 a month.

Another option is add a line to an existing Verizon Wireless family plan for $10 a month, although your new home phone will have to share minutes with everyone else on the plan.

There's also the cost of the base station to consider: $129, with discounts available if you sign a contract (free for a two-year commitment, or $50 with a one year contract).

Verizon Wireless isn't the first cell phone carrier to offer a home-phone service; after all, T-Mobile had its @Home service up and running back in 2008. But T-Mobile shuttered @Home last year.

Besides competing with traditional landlines service, Verizon's Home Connect plan is also up against such bargain (or free) broadband-based alternatives as Skype, Ooma, MagicJack, and Vonage.

MagicJack, for example, lets you make VoIP calls on your home phone (with a little help from your PC and a broadband connection) for as little as $20 a year after a 12-month free trial.

But Verizon argues you don't need a broadband connection to use Home Phone Connect. The wireless base station also boasts a GPS chip that pinpoints your position when making a 911 call (VoIP service usually require you to register your address for 911 service), along with a battery pack in case of a power outage.

So, would you consider trading in your landline (assuming you still have one) for Verizon's new home-phone service? Or would you rather go the VoIP way?

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

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Redbox may take aim at Netflix with subscription video service (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 06:59 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Thu Feb 17, 9:59 am ET

When Redbox finally launches its long-awaited digital streaming service later this year, it will probably look less like the à la carte rentals offered by iTunes, Amazon, and Vudu and more like Netflix's all-you-can-eat buffet.

That's the word from Redbox President Mitch Lowe, who (according to the Los Angeles Times' Company Town blog) told analysts Wednesday that the plan calls for a flat-rate monthly subscription that would include video streaming on "multiple devices" as well as a helping of physical disc rentals from Redbox's ubiquitous red kiosks.

All that's missing now—besides an actual launch date and pricing details, of course—is a partner to power Redbox's promised digital video service.

Coinstar-owned Redbox confirmed last fall that it was getting into the video-streaming business, with company execs saying at the time that they'd rather buddy up with an established video streaming company than build a new one from scratch.

The usual suspects include the likes of Sonic Solutions (which operates Blockbuster's digital video service), Amazon, and Wal-Mart owner Vudu.

But now that Redbox is reportedly leaning toward a flat-rate, subscription-based video offering, the L.A. Times is tipping Amazon as a "likely candidate," especially since rumors surfaced that Amazon is prepping its own subscription video plan.

Redbox began testing the waters about an unlimited video-streaming plan less than a year ago, with the company sending out a survey last April to gauge interest in a $3.95-a-month plan for all-you-can-stream videos plus four free DVD rentals from kiosks.

Since Redbox is still charging only a buck a night for DVD rentals (for now, at least), that means anyone who regularly rents at least four Redbox DVDs a month would essentially be getting free video streaming in the bargain.

Interesting, but keep in mind that the survey is more than a year old, and that Redbox's eventual digital video partner will probably have its own ideas about pricing.

Of course, if Redbox does go ahead with an all-you-can-eat video streaming service, it would be taking direct aim at Netflix, which recently launched an $8-a-month streaming-only plan in the U.S. and Canada. And let's not forget Hulu Plus, which offers unlimited (albeit ad-supported) streaming TV shows and movies, also for $8 a month.

So, would you sign up for an unlimited video-streaming plan through Redbox—and if so, how much would you be willing to pay each month?

Related:
Redbox digital service will go toe-to-toe with Netflix [Los Angeles Times]

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

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House Republicans seek to block FCC Internet rules (AP)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 09:07 PM PST

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – 12 mins ago

WASHINGTON – House Republicans on Thursday moved to block the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing new rules that prohibit broadband providers from interfering with Internet traffic on their networks.

With a 244-181 vote, Republican leaders succeeded in attaching an amendment to a sweeping spending bill that would bar the FCC from using government money to implement its new "network neutrality" regulations.

The rules prohibit phone and cable companies from favoring or discriminating against Internet content and services, including online calling services like Skype and Web video services like Netflix that could compete with their core operations. The FCC's three Democrats voted to adopt the regulations late last year over the opposition of the agency's two Republicans.

The rules are already facing court challenges from Verizon Communications Inc. and Metro PCS Communications Inc. Republicans in both chambers of Congress have introduced legislation to try to repeal the rules outright.

Republicans argue that the net neutrality rules amount to onerous and unnecessary regulations that will discourage phone and cable companies from continuing to upgrade their broadband networks by making it too hard for them to earn a healthy return on those investments. They also maintain that the FCC overstepped its authority in adopting the rules.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., the sponsor of the spending bill amendment and chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, said his measure is "about keeping the government out of the business of running the Internet."

The FCC had no comment Thursday.

The new FCC rules require broadband providers to let subscribers access all legal online content, applications and services over their wired networks.

The rules do give providers flexibility to manage data on their systems to deal with network congestion and unwanted traffic, including spam, as long as they publicly disclose those practices. But they prohibit unreasonable network discrimination — a category that would likely include "paid prioritization," which favors the broadband providers' own traffic or the traffic of business partners that can pay extra.

The regulations also prohibit wireless carriers from blocking access to any websites or competing services such as Internet calling applications on mobile devices, and they require carriers to disclose their network management practices, too. Still, they do give wireless companies more flexibility to manage data traffic because wireless systems have less network bandwidth and can become overwhelmed with traffic more easily than wired lines.

While Republican efforts to repeal the FCC rules are likely to face an uphill battle in the Senate, where Democrats remain in control, the regulations may be harder to defend in court.

Both Verizon and Metro PCS are challenging the rules in federal appeals court in the District of Columbia. That is the same court that ruled last year that the FCC had exceeded its legal authority in rebuking cable giant Comcast Corp. for blocking its subscribers from accessing an Internet file-sharing service used to trade online video and other big files. Comcast maintained that traffic from the service was clogging its network.

The agency said Comcast had violated broad net neutrality principles first established by the commission in 2005. Those principles served as a foundation for the formal rules adopted by the FCC late last year.

Fla. agency under fire for death in toxic truck (AP)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 08:22 PM PST

By KELLI KENNEDY AND MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Kelli Kennedy And Matt Sedensky, Associated Press – 57 mins ago

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – For four days, Florida child welfare investigators searched for missing 10-year-old twins. They made home and school visits, called the children's father on his cell phone, talked to their mother and contacted relatives.

Now, agency officials are being slammed for one call they didn't make: They never reached out to police.

By the time police were notified, the little girl, Nubia, was dead, wrapped in plastic bags in the back of her father's exterminator truck parked alongside Interstate 95. Her brother, Victor, was in the front seat, coated in a toxic chemical with critical burns.

Their father was nearby on the ground, unresponsive and doused in gasoline in what he later told police was a futile attempt to kill himself.

Her death has reignited criticism against the state Department of Children and Families, an agency that overhauled its system a decade ago after a foster child was missing for more than a year before anyone realized.

A judge slammed investigators this week for not thoroughly working the recent case, and officials have called for an outside review.

Meanwhile, authorities focused their attention on the couple. Carmen and Jorge Barahona's home was considered a crime scene and said late Thursday it was serving a warrant to search the house. as authorities investigate claims the couple starved their 10-year-old daughter and locked her and her brother in the bathroom with their feet and hands tied as punishment. It's unclear how Nubia died, or how long she had been dead before her badly decomposing body was found Monday.

The couple, who adopted the twins from foster care in 2008, have been the focus of three abuse allegations in the past few years, but the agency said they were unfounded. State officials said the Barahona's home visits and other documents were "stellar."

Jorge Barahona, 53, appeared in court Thursday, charged with aggravated child abuse for dousing the boy with the chemical and loading his dead daughter in the back of his exterminator truck. Later Thursday he was charged with attempted murder. He was held on $1 million bond and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.

When Barahona was told to get ready for the hearing, he tried to injure his head and became uncooperative, authorities said. The judge decided he didn't have to come to the hearing, and the father was later taken to a hospital for observation before returning to jail.

Victor is in critical condition. Doctors are unsure of what chemical caused his burns, most of which were below the waist.

Child welfare officials tried to deflect claims they missed opportunities at several turns, looking for the twins in vain for days without alerting local police. DCF first started looking for the twins on Feb. 10 after someone called the abuse hotline, saying the children were being tied and kept in the bathroom.

Child investigators called and visited the Barahonas' home that day but no one was home. The next morning, investigators learned the children had been removed from school and were being home-schooled.

Investigator Andrea Fleary then went to the home Friday night, but Carmen Barahona said that she was separated from her husband and didn't know where he or the twins were. Officials now believe she was covering for him and expect charges will be filed against her.

Fleary said she did not interview the couple's two other adopted children at the home because it was 9 p.m. on a Friday night.

On Saturday, DCF officials unsuccessfully tried to call Jorge Barahona on his cell phone. The mother told another investigator that day that her husband had the children and that she did not know their whereabouts — while Jorge had told a relative who spoke with investigators that the children were with their mother.

The conflicting stories created enough concern for DCF to call police after four days of searching, southern regional director Jacqui Colyer said. Nubia was already dead by then.

An autopsy was done, officials said, but detectives were reviewing the report and had not yet released details. Child welfare officials said Jorge Barahona admitted to starving the girl.

Colyer said investigators worked the case every day, and one even sat for hours waiting to speak with the parents outside the Barahonas' home.

Investigators would have contacted police sooner if Carmen Barahona had not lied, Colyer said.

"If we hadn't been lied to, then we probably would have immediately began the process of trying to locate the father," Colyer said.

When asked if child investigators should have probed further, Colyer admitted "the questioning may not have been as thorough as it should have."

"It's not an exact science. We do our best."

On Wednesday, Judge Cindy Lederman blasted Fleary for her hasty investigation.

"How could we have gotten a call to a hotline on Feb. 10 and a child died" a few days later, she asked at the hearing.

Carmen Barahona declined comment at Wednesday's hearing, shielding her face with a piece of paper and crying at times.

Newly appointed DCF Secretary David Wilkins called Thursday for an outside review of the case, which could be the biggest scandal to hit the agency since it was reorganized nine years ago. That's when officials found 5-year-old Rilya Wilson had been missing for more than a year before officials noticed — in part because a caseworker filed false reports saying the girl was fine.

An investigation found that workers routinely falsified reports and were overworked and received low pay. It also found workers did not check the backgrounds of caregivers before placing children. The head of the agency resigned.

The department has since increased transparency and requires caseworkers to carry a device that tracks their whereabouts and takes photos of children to ensure the required visits are made.

___

Associated Press writer Terry Spencer in Miami contributed to this report.

New mobile can check pulse, send ambulance (AFP)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 08:04 PM PST

by Sebastien Guine Sebastien Guine – 1 hr 16 mins ago

BARCELONA (AFP) – You probably have good reason to worry if you get a call on your mobile phone with the following message: "Sir, an ambulance is on the way."

That's the worst call you can receive if you buy a new EPI Life mobile phone, which comes complete with mini electrocardiogram.

It's a new phone developed in Singapore that takes your pulse when you press your fingers on a receptor, and sends the results to a 24-hour medical call centre.

"We think it's a revolution. It has clinical significance," EPI medical chief Dr. Chow U-Jin said at the mobile industry's annual conference in Barcelona.

"Anywhere in the world you can use it as a phone but you are also able to transfer an ECG and get a reply," Chow said.

"If you get a normal reply it will just be an SMS," he added.

"If it's severe, you get a call: 'Sir, an ambulance is on the way'."

EPI Life has three hospitals in Singapore, all of which carry the phone users' history.

EPI Life costs $700 (516 euros), the price of a top range smartphone, and 2,000 of them have been on the market since 2010.

"The most obvious targets are people with heart disease," Chow said.

Depending on your health or nervous disposition you can choose from three packages offering 10, 30 or 100 tests a month.

There is now a mini $99 version with a smaller receptor that links via Bluetooth connection to your smartphone, which is due for launch soon in Spain and France.

The EPI Life is one of a series of mobile health initiatives unveiled in Barcelona.

Many of the services rely on SMS or MMS messages that even older mobiles can receive.

Health Company, which covers Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, sends medical information about sexuality, obesity, children's health etc. to about 430,000 customers in Arab and English.

"You could also send a consultation through SMS," said company vice president Fahad S. Al-Orifi.

"This SMS will go to our website where our doctor answers you to your mobile."

Mobile health is developing in poorer countries where it can play a crucial role, said Kazi Islam, chief executive of Grameenphone in Bangladesh.

In his country there are 156 million people and fewer than 3,000 hospitals but 66 million people have access to a mobile phone.

"Most women don't have access to information of health. Seventy-five percent of women from 15 to 24 have never heard of STIs (sexually transmitted infections)," he said.

"With a simple SMS we are sending information to expectant mothers. This is a necessary help".

FBI: Web-based Services Hurting Wiretapping Efforts (PC World)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 01:30 PM PST

Grant Gross Grant Gross – Thu Feb 17, 4:30 pm ET

Web-based e-mail, social-networking and peer-to-peer services are frustrating law enforcement wiretapping efforts, a lawyer for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation told lawmakers Thursday, but she did not offer concrete ideas on how to fix the problem.

President Barack Obama's administration is debating ways to deal with Web-based services not covered by traditional wiretap laws, including incentives for companies to build in surveillance capabilities, said Valerie Caproni, general counsel at the FBI.

Many Internet services are not covered by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which requires traditional telecom carriers to allow law enforcement agencies real-time access to communications after a court has issued a wiretap order, she told members of a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee

But Caproni told lawmakers she was not asking for expanded CALEA powers. And she stopped short of calling for rules requiring Web-based communication providers to build in so-called back doors allowing law enforcement access to their software, although she said she's optimistic the U.S. government can find incentives for companies to "have intercept solutions engineered into their systems."

The FBI is concerned that law enforcement investigations are being compromised by the lack of wiretap capability on some Web-based services and encrypted mobile telephone traffic, Caproni said.

"We are not looking for any new authority," she added. "We are concerned we are losing ground in actually being able to gather the information we are authorized to have."

The American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns that expanding wiretapping capabilities would harm the Internet. Adding wiretapping capabilities to Web-based services "will actually change the structure of the Internet, providing the government with a master key to our online communications," Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, said in a statement.

Witness Susan Landau, a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, raised security concerns at the hearing. Extending CALEA rules to Internet services could leave them vulnerable to attack, said Landau, an author on privacy issues and formerly an engineer at Sun Microsystems.

"The intent of proposals to extend CALEA to IP-based communications is to secure the nation," she said. "Rather than doing so, surveillance mechanisms built into communications infrastructure threaten to create serious vulnerabilities for national security and present threats to innovation."

Representative John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, asked Landau if the ACLU's privacy concerns were justified.

"When you make it easy to wiretap, when all you have to do is flip a switch, it becomes much easier for privacy to be violated," Landau said. "When you make it technologically simple to wiretap, it can be abused."

The FBI is concerned about privacy and the Internet's security, but also about criminals running loose because the agency can't execute a wiretap, Caproni said. "That criminal may be a massive drug dealer, they may be an arms trafficker, they may be a child pornographer or a child molester," she said. "We need the actual ability to conduct the wiretaps so we can keep the streets safe."

Conyers questioned the need for more CALEA powers. "So what's a little privacy invasion compared to all those big things that you are worrying about, right?" he said.

Caproni's testimony prompted Representative Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat, to ask about the reason for her appearance at the hearing. "What are you seeking here today?" he said. "What is it exactly that you would want Congress to do?"

The FBI would have recommendations for Congress soon, Caproni said. "You invited me, and we came," she said. "I'm really here today to talk about the problem."

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

Clearwire eyes end to Sprint fight (Reuters)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 03:35 PM PST

By Sinead Carew Sinead Carew – Thu Feb 17, 6:35 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Clearwire Corp (CLWR.O) promised it would soon boost revenue "substantially" by ending a fight over the rates it charges to Sprint Nextel (S.N), its biggest customer and investor.

Shares in Clearwire, which is 54 percent owned by Sprint, rose 2 percent after the high-speed wireless service provider said it expects an imminent resolution to its wholesale rate dispute with Sprint, which rents network space from Clearwire.

"That is excellent to hear," said Roe Equity Research analyst Kevin Roe. "Getting (the Sprint dispute) resolved is very important."

Clearwire said it is still seeking new financing options including a spectrum sale or an equity investment to fund its network expansion. But the operator said it would not make a decision on funding until it has resolved the Sprint argument, which has been hurting its revenue in recent quarters.

T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), is seen as the main bidder for the spectrum. Clearwire has also discussed the option for an equity investment from T-Mobile USA in exchange for a wholesale agreement with that company. Clearwire did not comment on specific talks during its conference call on Thursday but said it expects to make a decision about a spectrum sale in the second quarter.

Clearwire said fourth-quarter revenue rose to $180.67 million from $79.9 million in the year ago quarter. Because of the dispute with Sprint, revenue was well below Wall Street estimates for $192.6 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

SETS MODEST PACE ON RETAIL

In the meantime, Clearwire said it would set a "modest pace" for its retail growth efforts going forward in order to cut expenses. It will instead focus on aggressively expanding its wholesale business, which brings in less revenue but growing rapidly and is less expensive to operate.

The comments about retail follow the company's announcement late last year that it would pull back on retail investments to save money. Last week Reuters reported that it would pull back further in retail.

In the past Sprint had said that it disagreed with Clearwire's pursuit of a retail strategy, which was a drain on resources needed to build Clearwire's network, for which it needs billions of dollars more financing.

But now, Clearwire Chief Executive Bill Morrow told analysts on the company's conference call that the relationship with Sprint is "healthy." After a wholesale agreement they will look into opportunities for joint network expansion efforts, he said. These could come from Sprint's planned upgrade to its own network, which it could use to also benefit Clearwire.

The pair had a head start in offering services with the latest generation of high-speed technologies but they face tough new competition, particularly from market leader Verizon Wireless, which has kicked off its own high-speed service during the fourth quarter.

Clearwire said it still added 1.5 million customers in the quarter compared with the average expectation for 1.4 million from four analysts contacted by Reuters. This included 126,000 retail customers and 1.42 million wholesale customers from clients such as Sprint, which depends on Clearwire's network for its high-speed services.

Despite its cutbacks, the company said it still expects to double its customer base to 8.8 million by the end of 2011.

It said it expects to expand its network to markets with a population of 130 million by the end of the year from the 119 million people its network currently covers.

Clearwire's plan to spend less than $400 million on the expansion was much less than Roe had expected but in keeping with the company's need to conserve cash.

"They've outlined a very prudent business plan for 2011," he said. "They don't have a choice."

The company posted a loss of $128 million, or 81 cents per share compared with a loss of $98.7 million, or 55 cents per share in the same quarter the year before.

In 2012, Clearwire aims to turn from a loss to positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.

Its shares rose to $5.35 in late trade after closing down 3 percent at $5.21 on Nasdaq. Trading in the company's shares has been volatile due to uncertainty over its future.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; editing by Bernard Orr)

Romanian Pleads Guilty to Role in $2.7M EBay Scam (PC World)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 05:40 PM PST

Robert McMillan Robert Mcmillan – Thu Feb 17, 8:40 pm ET

A Romanian man has pleaded guilty to participating in a well-organized scam that took in about US$2.7 million from unsuspecting users of online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist and AutoTrader.com.

Adrian Ghighina, 33, of Bucharest, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Illinois, the Department of Justice said Thursday.

Prosecutors say Ghighina was a money mule whose job was to pick up cash wired to him by online buyers who thought they were purchasing cars, RVs, and motorcycles from legitimate sellers. He is one of 11 people charged in the scam, which dates back to November 2004.

Ghighina's crew used a variety of tricks to fool people into sending their money, typically via Western Union. They hijacked legitimate eBay accounts, sent buyers fake "second chance" offers, or pretended people's money would be held in escrow until the goods they bought were delivered.

These scams are still a big problem for online marketplaces. In fact, Craigslist advises its users to never wire money because "anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer."

The gang took money from 1,100 victims, according to court documents.

As payment, Ghighina would keep between 20 percent and 40 percent of the cash wired to him, which often totalled thousands of dollars at a time.

He is due to be sentenced on May 9 and faces 20 years in prison. Ghighina has already been given a 27-month sentence in Florida for wire and visa fraud.

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

Google reacts to Apple's in-app subscriptions with One Pass service (Appolicious)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 12:11 PM PST

Stanford Technology Can Double Wi-Fi Speeds (NewsFactor)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 01:55 PM PST

Mark Long, newsfactor.com Mark Long, newsfactor.com – Thu Feb 17, 4:55 pm ET

Stanford University researchers have developed an innovative technology for enabling the simultaneous transmission and reception of wireless signals over a single Wi-Fi channel. The goal is to help wireless service operators double the speed of their existing networks.

Until now, wireless communication over a single channel has been limited to sequential transmit and receive operations. Last September, however, Stanford researchers Jung Il Choi, Kannan Srinivasan, Mayank Jain, Philip Levis, and Sachin Katti reported on their development of an innovative technique called antenna cancellation that filters out self-interference on a single communications channel to such an extent that full duplex communications can take place.

When a radio is transmitting, its signal is millions or even "billions of times stronger than anything else it might hear -- it's [like] trying to hear a whisper while you yourself are shouting," said Stanford Assistant Professor Philip Levis. However, a radio receiver can now be built that can filter out the substantial noise generated by its associated transmitter, "so you don't hear your own shout and you can hear someone else's whisper," Levis explained.

Improving Wi-Fi Performance

Due to the more challenging real-time requirements of enabling voice communications to run over cellular networks, the researchers are currently focused on applying their breakthrough to Wi-Fi networks. However, the new antenna-cancellation technique is not Wi-Fi specific and so may eventually also be deployed by cellular networks and other wireless communication operators.

In the Wi-Fi space, Levis envisions some simple and basic applications for the new technology that could improve Wi-Fi performance and be backward compatible with existing 802.11 standards. To take advantage of the technology's range of capabilities, however, the creation of a new standard or an extension of an existing standard may be required.

On the other hand, there is nothing to stop vendors from quickly moving to embrace the technology as a way to gain an immediate market edge, even as a standards body such as the IEEE moves to develop future standards or extensions. According to the researchers, the implementation is fairly simple and can be built using off-the-shelf hardware with software radios.

"For a system with an antenna each for transmit and receive, since the system knows the transmit antenna's signal, it can subtract it from the receive antenna's signal and decode the remainder using standard techniques," the researchers wrote in a paper entitled "Achieving single channel, full duplex wireless communication."

Making It Commercially Viable

Unveiled last September at MobiCom 2010, the original 2.4-GHz prototype based on the 802.15.4 wireless standard required approximately seven inches of space for antenna placement. As a result, the design could be deployed in an access point or laptop body, but "cannot easily fit in a PCI-Express wireless card," the paper's authors wrote.

More recently, Stanford researchers have made several design improvements that have removed this limitation, Levis noted in a telephone conversation Thursday. "But there still needs to be some antenna separation," he added.

Still, there are no fundamental limits that would prevent the still-evolving technology from being deployed in standard 802.11 networking gear, or even in devices as small as a cell phone -- at least in theory, Levis observed.

"The question we are asking right now is: Since there is no fundamental limit, then how hard will it be to engineer and to make commercially practical? Certainly we think some aspects of the technology could appear in the marketplace very quickly," Levis explained.

Sony's Music Streaming Service: What Were They Thinking?! (PC World)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 02:59 PM PST

JR Raphael Jr Raphael – Thu Feb 17, 5:59 pm ET

Sony is getting into the cloud-based music streaming game -- but its plan of attack seems almost built for failure.

Sony's new service, called Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, launches in the U.S. today. And aside from its practically unpronounceable name (CURE-ee-ossity? KWHIR-ossity? Queer-ee-oh-CITY?), there really isn't much noteworthy about it.

Harsh words, I know. But read on, and I think you'll agree.

Sony's Music Streaming Service: Meet Qriocity

First, the basics: Sony's Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity allows you to stream music over the Net without having to purchase individual songs. You pay a flat monthly fee -- $9.99 for the full-featured "premium" plan -- and stream all you want. In order words, it's Rhapsody. Or Napster. Or any of the other subscription-based streaming services already available in the States.

Unlike most of those services, however, Sony's Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity doesn't actually let you stream your tunes anywhere you want. As of now, it's limited only to use on Internet-connected Sony devices -- things like Sony Bravia TVs, Sony Blu-ray players, and Sony Playstation consoles.

In other words, you pay 10 bucks a month to stream songs to a few select Sony products -- and nowhere else. For the same exact price, Rhapsody, Napster, and other existing music services give you unlimited streaming to any device -- your smartphone, your computer, or your home theater components (whether they're Sony-made or not). Most of those services allow you to download tracks so you can listen to music offline, too -- a feature Qriocity also doesn't provide.

Now, Sony's new streaming service does have one element that sounds somewhat intriguing: the ability to sync music you already own into Qriocity and then listen to it from any Sony device. Once you read the footnote attached to this item, though, it becomes a lot less compelling: "Applies to DRM-free music files and to music which has been licensed for playback on Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity." Translation: If you own songs that are available for streaming in Qriocity, you can stream them in Qriocity as part of your already-unlimited streaming plan. Nothing to see here, folks.

One final piece of the puzzle to deconstruct: In addition to its $10-a-month "premium" subscription, Sony's Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity offers a $4-a-month "basic" subscription. For that fee, you gain access to an "infinite ad-free radio station" that lets you create personalized channels based on musical genres. Does that sound oddly familiar? It should; I just described Pandora. Pandora, of course, is free. It also has a premium ad-free option available for $3 a month, a buck less than Sony's clone. And you can use it on a wide range of mobile and home-based devices.

Sony says it plans to expand Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity to Sony-branded portable devices in the future, and then eventually to third-party Android phones and other mobile devices. When that happens, Sony's service will at least be almost on par with the competition, even if it doesn't bring anything significantly different to the table. Until then, it appears to be a scaled-down, limited version of what you can already get elsewhere for the same price or less.

Quite Qrious, indeed.

JR Raphael is a PCWorld contributing editor and the author of the Android Power blog. You can find him on both Facebook and Twitter.

Apple's Jobs at tech CEO meeting with Obama (Reuters)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 08:05 PM PST

By Matt Spetalnick and Gabriel Madway Matt Spetalnick And Gabriel Madway – 1 hr 14 mins ago

WOODSIDE, California (Reuters) – Apple Inc's iconic chief executive Steve Jobs, who is on medical leave from the company he co-founded, attended a meeting of technology industry leaders with President Barack Obama in northern California on Thursday.

Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, was joined by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and other members of the Silicon Valley elite for talks with Obama at a venture capitalist's sprawling estate outside San Francisco.

Jobs, 55, a high-tech visionary who has come to embody Apple's turbulent history and some of the industry's most cutting-edge products, stepped away from the company on medical leave last month. It was the third time in seven years that he has taken time out because of health reasons.

Obama's two-day West Coast visit was aimed at promoting technological innovation to help boost the struggling U.S. economy and reduce stubbornly high unemployment -- considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.

The meeting was also part of Obama's efforts to mend fences with the U.S. business community after his Democrats were routed in the November congressional elections, and garner support for a $3.7 trillion budget proposal released this week and already facing stiff Republican resistance.

The National Enquirer on Thursday published pictures that purported to show Jobs arriving at the Stanford Cancer Center in Palo Alto, California.

A spokeswoman for Stanford Hospital declined to comment.

The company has refused to provide any details on Jobs' health, comment on the recent reports or say when he might return from leave.

Shares of Apple closed down 1.3 percent in Thursday's trading.

Jobs was not seen by a pool of White House reporters who were kept out of sight of participants at Thursday's working dinner at venture capitalist John Doerr's secluded home in the affluent suburb of Woodside. But a White House official confirmed that all those on the guest list were present.

HEALTH TROUBLES

Jobs had surgery in 2004 for an unusual type of tumor on his pancreas called a neuroendocrine tumor. He had a liver transplant in 2009.

Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook is running Apple's day-to-day operations while Jobs is on leave.

Analysts noted that Jobs' health problems are widely known by investors, who are not likely to be shocked by Internet reports.

"I find it puzzling that he would be on campus and 'working' from home if he was that sick," said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies. "Seeing him go into a cancer treatment facility shouldn't be a surprise."

Jobs had been seen in recent weeks on Apple's campus in Cupertino, California. The company has said he will continue to be involved in major strategic decisions.

Known for his idiosyncratic style, Jobs rescued the computer maker from near death in 1996 after a 12-year absence from the company he co-founded.

The launch of the iPhone, a smartphone with a touchscreen in 2007, and the iPad, a tablet computer in 2010, forged new business lines for the company that created the personal computing category and helped lead the technology industry into new directions.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said ahead of Thursday's meeting: "This is a part of our economy that has been a huge contributor to economic growth in the last several decades and we expect will continue to be."

Other executives attending the meeting with Obama were: Carol Bartz, president of Yahoo!; John Chambers, chairman of Cisco Systems; Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter; Reed Hastings, CEO of NetFlix ; Art Levinson, chairman of Genentech; and Steve Westly, managing partner and founder of The Westly Group.

Obama will wrap up his trip on Friday with a visit to Hillsboro, Oregon, where Intel Corp CEO Paul Otellini will give him a tour of the company's advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Dave Zimmerman and Jackie Frank)

Another Huge Reason to Avoid Microsoft's Windows Phone (PC World)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 02:39 PM PST

Katherine Noyes Katherine Noyes – Thu Feb 17, 5:39 pm ET

Microsoft may say it loves open source software, but it certainly has a funny way of showing it. In fact, the company has now banned apps involving any open source licensing from its Windows Phone Marketplace.

"The Application must not include software, documentation, or other materials that, in whole or in part, are governed by or subject to an Excluded License, or that would otherwise cause the Application to be subject to the terms of an Excluded License," reads section 5.e of the Microsoft Application Provider Agreement for the Windows Marketplace.

Included by that umbrella term "excluded license"--explained in section section 1.l--are the GPLv3, LGPLv3, Affero GPLv3 license and equivalents, or pretty much "any license that requires redistribution at no charge," as open source evangelist Jan Wildeboer pointed out on Wednesday. The discovery of the restriction was made over the weekend by members of a Nokia discussion forum.

In other words, Microsoft wants no open source code whatsoever, and nothing governed by an open source license, in its Windows Phone Marketplace.

The Apple Model

It wasn't long ago that Apple kicked the popular free and open-source video player VLC out of its App Store because the app used an open license. Apple is known for its extremely closed nature and its tight-fisted control over its App Store, of course, and now it appears Microsoft is set to take a similar approach.

Both company's stores use a form of DRM to prevent the sharing of applications, and neither offer a way to make source code available. The result is that both are incompatible with open licenses like the GPL.

So, for now, it looks like popular open source apps such as VLC will not be available in either store, forcing users to find them elsewhere. Not only will that hurt users and developers of these apps, but it will hurt Microsoft's platform as well.

A Lack of Choice

Microsoft has struggled to keep up in the mobile arena, and recently partnered with floundering Nokia in a bid for greater success. This will surely raise its mobile platform's overall profile virtually overnight; whether that lasts, however, will be determined by the decisions the two companies make moving forward.

It's difficult to see how excluding open source applications--and even proprietary apps that include some open source code, libraries or documentation--could be a smart move for Microsoft. Rather than alienating developers and users, one would think it would want to be as inclusive as possible to ensure the widest appeal for its platform, which must compete with the skyrocketing success that is Android.

Instead, even as it offers the occasional olive branch to the open source community, it can't help but show its true colors, again and again. And whereas Apple at least has some innovative technology going for it, Microsoft doesn't.

Weak technology, lax security, restrictive policies, and a lack of choice--these, it appears, are to be what the Windows Phone platform is all about. Smart businesses would do well to stay far away from it.

Follow Katherine Noyes on Twitter: @Noyesk .

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Intel to Ship 10-core Xeon Processor in First Half (PC World)

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 02:00 PM PST

Agam Shah Agam Shah – Thu Feb 17, 5:00 pm ET

An Intel spokesman on Thursday said its upcoming 10-core Xeon processor, code-named Westmere-EX, will reach servers in the first half of this year.

The chip will succeed Intel's fastest server chip, code-named Nehalem-EX, which was released last year and includes up to eight processor cores. The company declined to comment on clock speed, but with more cores and improved latency, the Westmere-EX processor will be faster than Nehalem-EX.

The Westmere-EX chip will be targeted at high-end servers in data centers running applications such as databases. The chip will run in servers with up to eight sockets, and each physical core will be able to run two threads, giving servers the capability to run 160 threads simultaneously.

The chip will also be socket-compatible with existing Nehalem-EX chips, which should make it easier for customers to upgrade servers. Two-socket systems running on Westmere-EX chips will support up to 2TB of memory, the company has said.

Intel competes in the server chip space with Advanced Micro Devices, which in the third quarter will start shipping a 16-core Opteron processor code-named Interlagos, which is based on the new Bulldozer architecture.

The 10-core Xeon chip will be made using the 32-nanometer manufacturing process, an improvement from the Nehalem-EX chip, which is made using the 45-nm process. The chip is based on the Westmere architecture, which is a manufacturing refresh of the older Nehalem microarchitecture.

The first Westmere chips shipped early last year for laptops and desktops, and server chips based on the architecture followed shortly after. Intel earlier released PC chips based on its latest Sandy Bridge microarchitecture. Server chips based on the Sandy Bridge architecture are not yet available.

The Westmere architecture includes some new security features such as AES-NI (Advanced Encryption Standard-New Instructions) for faster encryption and decryption of data. The feature could help secure data in virtualized environments.

Intel originally detailed many features of the Westmere-EX chip at the Hot Chips conference in Stanford, California, last year.

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