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Thursday, April 7, 2011

AP source: Google, gov't near deal on travel buy (AP) : Technet

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AP source: Google, gov't near deal on travel buy (AP) : Technet

AP source: Google, gov't near deal on travel buy (AP)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 04:46 PM PDT

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Apr 7, 7:46 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Google Inc. could receive government clearance as early as Friday to purchase airline fare tracker ITA Software in a $700 million deal that could make the search leader the hub of online travel, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Although talks are ongoing and could still fall apart, Google appears close to a deal with the Justice Department on an agreement that would let it buy ITA. Google must accept government conditions to protect other companies in the travel industry, the person said. The person was not authorized to discuss the review and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The government review of the deal has been seen as a test of how aggressively U.S. antitrust regulators intend to police Google as the company uses the wealth and influence gained from its dominance in Internet search to expand into other markets.

The acquisition would give Google control over software that powers the reservation systems of most major U.S. airlines and many popular online fare-comparison services, including Kayak, TripAdvisor and Hotwire.

Google has said it wants to use ITA to improve its search results for travel — giving consumers more choices and better ways to search for plane tickets. That would enable the company to command higher ad rates from airlines, hotels, rental car agencies and other leisure services.

Rivals fear that Google could use ITA to build its own online travel service and then use its control over Internet search to steer consumers to that service while burying competing sites further down in its search rankings. The person said Justice Department officials might subject Google to government oversight to ensure that the company does not favor its own travel products and services in its search results.

Such a condition would go to the heart of broader antitrust concerns surrounding Google as it enters new markets. The company's Internet search results already highlight some of its own services, including mapping, video and finance. The European Commission and the Texas attorney general are currently looking into whether Google manipulates search results to extend its monopoly into other online businesses.

Companies that rely on ITA also fear that Google could deny them access to the software, particularly as it introduces upgrades. Google so far has only promised to honor all of ITA's current contracts, which expire over the next few years. They also worry that Google could use its control over ITA to get access to their proprietary technology.

Justice Department officials are therefore considering conditions that would require Google to license ITA software to rivals and prohibit it from gaining access to other companies' technology, the person said.

News that an agreement was close was reported earlier by The Washington Post.

In an unrelated case, Google last week agreed to adopt a comprehensive privacy program to settle federal charges that it deceived users and violated its own privacy policy when it launched a social networking service called Buzz last year. The settlement mandates independent audits to oversee and verify Google's privacy program every other year for the next 20 years.

FCC adopts rules to drive wireless competition (AP)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 01:58 PM PDT

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Apr 7, 4:58 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators adopted rules Thursday to drive more competition in wireless broadband as more people access the Internet using iPhones and other popular mobile devices.

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 on Thursday to require big wireless carriers to open their data networks to smaller regional operators in places where they don't have their own systems. The large carriers have to offer network access at reasonable prices, and the FCC would resolve any disputes.

The so-called "data roaming" rules are a response to consolidation in an industry dominated by two nationwide carriers, AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless. And they come just weeks after AT&T, the nation's second-largest wireless company, announced plans to buy T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest, in a $39 billion cash-and-stock deal.

Existing voice roaming rules already allow regional competitors to use the big carriers' networks to handle phone calls outside their own service territories. That enables Leap Wireless, for instance, to offer nationwide calling service. It pays other carriers for access to their systems when customers make calls outside Leap's service area.

But smaller wireless providers say they need to be able to be able to do that with data, too, as subscribers increasingly use smartphones not just to make phone calls but to send pictures, watch online video and access bandwidth-hungry mobile applications.

"Consumers ... expect to use their mobile phones throughout the nation for voice calls or data — like email or mobile apps," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat.

Parul Desai, policy counsel for the consumer watchdog group Consumers Union, said the new rules should help lower prices by giving consumers more choices for nationwide data services.

Steven Berry, president and chief executive of the Rural Cellular Association, added that the rules should make it easier for rural carriers to grow by ensuring that they can get the nationwide data roaming agreements they need to attract customers and funding for their networks.

"In this day and age, consumer expectations are that their devices work anytime, anyplace, anywhere," Berry said. "What consumer would buy a phone that only works in one small regional area?"

The FCC's three Democrats voted to adopt the data-roaming rules over the opposition of the agency's two Republicans. Republican Robert McDowell said he believes the agency lacks the legal authority to impose such requirements on the wireless industry.

AT&T and Verizon warned that they will have less incentive to invest in their high-speed wireless networks if they have to share them with competitors at regulated rates. In a statement, Verizon said the rules represent "a new level of unwarranted government intervention."

But Sprint Nextel Corp., the nation's third largest wireless carrier, and Leap Wireless, parent of the smaller Cricket phone service, welcomed the rules.

HP: Former executive boosted secrets then bolted (AP)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 04:37 PM PDT

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Apr 7, 7:37 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Hewlett-Packard Co. has filed a lawsuit against a former executive over allegations he took trade secrets with him when he went to work for rival Oracle Corp.

The case against Adrian Jones, who was a senior vice president in HP's server, storage and networking division in Asia, shows the growing rancor between the Silicon Valley technology titans. HP's and Oracle's decades-long partnership is being strained by growing competition between the companies.

HP said Jones resigned Feb. 16, before he was about to be fired for allegedly violating HP's standards. He is accused in the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday, of failing to disclose a "close personal relationship" with a subordinate, and of submitting thousands of dollars in expenses for visiting the subordinate that didn't have a legitimate business purpose.

HP says Jones of downloaded hundreds of files and thousands of emails detailing HP's secrets before he quit.

The company, based in Palo Alto, said the lawsuit "seeks to prevent Jones from using the theft of confidential HP documents to place HP in an unfair competitive disadvantage."

A phone number for Jones could not immediately be located.

The HP-Oracle rivalry kicked off with Oracle's $7.3 billion acquisition last year of Sun Microsystems, a server computer seller that competes with HP.

It ratcheted up with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's ridiculing of HP's board in the fall for firing his friend and HP CEO Mark Hurd over inaccurate expense reports. It continued with Oracle targeting Hurd's replacement, Leo Apotheker, in a separate court case involving the theft of trade secrets and his former employer, SAP AG.

What Will the Smartphone Market Look Like in 2015? (Mashable)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 04:00 PM PDT

Ben Parr Ben Parr – Thu Apr 7, 7:00 pm ET

Google and Apple are currently in a heated battle for control of the world's smartphone market, but which mobile OS will reign supreme down the road?

That's the question research and analyst firm Gartner is trying to answer. Its most recent prediction is turning some heads, though: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 will overtake Apple iOS market share by 2015. Not only that, but Gartner believes that Android will control nearly 50% of the mobile smartphone market within two years.

In its most recent predictions report, Gartner claims that Android will jump from 38.5% market share this year to 49.2% in 2012. That's more than double its 22.7% market share in 2010. Needless to say, it's a shocking conclusion.

Just as mind-boggling is the conclusion that iOS will actually peak in market share this year at 19.4%, then drop to 18.9% next year and 17.2% by 2015. Windows Phone, on the other hand, will grow from 5.6% this year to 10.8% next year and eventually reach 19.5% in 2015, according to the research firm's estimates. BlackBerry is destined for a slow decline, dropping from 13.4% this year to 11.1% in 2015.

A Window into the Future

Of course, these are just estimates from one research firm in a very chaotic market. Case-in-point: seven months ago, Gartner predicted that Symbian would be the top OS in 2014 with 30.2% market share, Windows Phone 7 would just have 3.9% of the market in 2014, and Apple would only have 14.9%. Of course, these predictions came before Microsoft and Nokia struck their Windows Phone 7 deal, essentially dooming Symbian.

Some of the firm's assumptions are tough to swallow as well. As Asymco points out, Gartner assumes Apple is interesting maintaining margins over increasing market share and RIM will migrate from BlackBerry OS to QNX by 2012.

Apple though is testing cheaper phones and seems to have learned from its mistakes competing with Microsoft during the Mac vs. PC years. RIM only acquired QNX Software last year. We believe it will take more time for RIM to fully integrate QNX software into its devices. 2012 is too aggressive.

Still, Gartner's analysis provides an interesting window into the future of mobile. Android is showing no signs of slowing down, and it's too early to tell how the Nokia-Microsoft partnership will play out. And there's always the chance of another acquisition, merger or partnership that shakes up the industry.

Which mobile OS do you think will dominate the market in 2015? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Videos We All Love to Hate on YouTube (PC World)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 06:00 PM PDT

David Daw and Albert Filice David Daw And Albert Filice – Thu Apr 7, 9:00 pm ET

favorite online video or a few perennial favorites that they enjoy watching over and over again, but isn't it almost as much fun to hate one? The music video by that band you detest, the comedy skit that isn't funny, and if somebody sends you that awful viral video one more time...

Join us as we revisit some of the most hated videos in the history of YouTube. If you have a "favorite to hate" that we missed, let us know in the Comments below.

Never Gonna Give You Up

By now, pretty much everybody on Earth has been Rick Rolled--exposed at least once to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video against their will. If you've somehow avoided getting tricked into looking at it so far, consider yourself lucky. Everyone from news anchors to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been victimized. Oddly enough, the Rick Roll videos rarely pile up large numbers of Dislike votes--but any list of hated YouTube videos seems incomplete without "Never Gonna Give You Up."

Here it is:

With its impressive total of more than 31 million views, this video has garnered about 3400 Dislikes and 38,000 Likes on YouTube. And of course, like other hugely successful YouTube efforts, the video has become a magnet for ads. So now the ads AND Rick can drive everyone crazy.

Evolution of Dance

When it was uploaded in April of 2006, Judson Laipply's quick dance medley quickly rocketed to the number one spot among most-viewed videos on YouTube, and it has continued to post high numbers ever since (the current total sits at almost 170 million views). But along with popularity came a backlash: Evolution of Dance is also the 10th most disliked video on YouTube. Laipply seems not to have let the negativity slow him down, however. In 2009, he posted a sequel to the "Evolution of Dance"--and he proudly advertises the video on his homepage.

"Evolution of Dance" has racked up 63,417 Dislike votes on YouTube, but that figure is dwarfed by the impressive 726,745 Likes it has received. Not too shabby a showing for a video that has collected more than 168 million views.

Chocolate Rain

From the nonsense lyrics to the low-quality video to the voice that just should not be coming out of the body of that singer, "Chocolate Rain" is one of the most surreal videos on YouTube. That supreme weirdness explains both the popularity of the video (and of its creator Tay Zonday) and the widespread backlash against it. Ultimately, you're unlikely to mistake "Chocolate Rain" for a good song, but of all the hated videos cited here, it may be the most fun.

So far, "Chocolate Rain" has accumulated 70,605 Dislikes and 314,748 Likes, from a total viewership of more than 64 million hits.

Bad Romance

No matter what she's doing, from wearing food to the Grammys to introducing a line of *ahem* unique gadgets for Polaroid at the Consumer Electronic Show, Lady Gaga elicits strong reactions. Some people love her, and some people love to hate her. Her YouTube videos follow the same pattern: This video for her hit single "Bad Romance" has collected millions of hits, but it's also the 5th most disliked video on YouTube. In case you've been hibernating and have never seen it, here it is (warning, like all Lady Gaga videos, it contains some disturbing moments):

"Bad Romance" amassed a large number of Likes--391,062, to be exact--to go along with 83,592 Dislikes. With more than 364 million hits, though, you have to expect some criticism.

Numa Numa

Numa Numa is a great example of the law of diminishing returns. The first time you saw this guy freaking out to a weird techno-song on his Webcam, it was pretty entertaining. The fifth or sixth time, it was still worth a chuckle. But around the 40th time somebody sent you the video, it started to lose its luster. Like many other Internet memes, the Numa Numa guy spawned a lot of imitators, but none of them have had the irritating staying power of the original.

With 19,820 Dislikes and 225,894 Likes, this is one of the less virulently disliked videos in our list. It managed to accumulate more than 40 million views, too, which is impressive, though nothing compared to certain much more hated videos. Stay tuned for...

Baby Featuring Ludacris

Oh, Justin Bieber... If anyone illustrates the double-edged sword that is popularity on YouTube, it's JBiebs. Gauged purely by the number of times a disgruntled viewer has pressed the Dislike button for a particular video, he is gold. Not only is Bieber's video for the song "Baby" the second most-hated song on YouTube, but he shows up on the top 10 list of most disliked videos FIVE. SEPARATE. TIMES. Here's "Baby Featuring Ludacris":

The amazing 1,214,024 Dislikes and 601,664 Likes for "Baby" become less surprising when you read comments like "Just came for my daily Dislike." However with over 500 million views, Bieber can lay claim to the most viewed video on YouTube.

In fact, until a few weeks ago Bieber, still sporting his weirdly pasted-to-his-forehead-and-blow-dried hair, reigned as the dominator of the Dislike button, but then came...

Friday

The video that the Internet loves to hate right now is young Rebecca Black's "Friday." In the six weeks since it was posted on YouTube, Ms. Black's video has rocketed to the top spot as the site's most disliked video, blowing past Justin Bieber's efforts in the process. Clearly influenced by some similarly terrible pop hits already up on YouTube, the video has since inspired quite a few parodies and covers. Still, at the end of the day, "Friday" sits proudly on the throne as the single worst video on YouTube (until the next bad one comes along).

Racking up an astonishing 1,673,978 Dislikes as against a relatively scanty 211,672 Likes, this truly is the most disliked video on the Internet today.

In contrast, Stephen Colbert's recent duet of "Friday" with Jimmy Fallon of the Late Show and the show's house band The Roots is pretty good. The performance was initiated when Colbert lost a bet with Fallon (all for a good cause). Check it out:

Want to know more about some of the stars of these hated videos? Read: A Decade of Internet Superstars: Where Are They Now?

Expedia plans to split into 2 companies (Reuters)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 04:12 PM PDT

By Karen Jacobs Karen Jacobs – Thu Apr 7, 7:12 pm ET

ATLANTA (Reuters) – Expedia Inc, the largest online travel agency, said it plans to split into two publicly traded companies through a proposed spin-off of its TripAdvisor business, and its shares shot up 13 percent in after-hours trading.

Analysts said the plan could help unlock value for the high-growth TripAdvisor travel site business as Expedia invests in product enhancements that would bolster its competitive positioning.

"While Expedia still makes the majority of the profits of the two companies, the TripAdvisor advertising-based model seems to be the future of the industry," Morningstar analyst Warren Miller said by email. "I expect the move should allow TripAdvisor to flourish a little more outside of the Expedia brand."

Expedia, whose chairman is media billionaire Barry Diller, joins a host of companies that have set plans to split and spin off units this year, including diversified manufacturer ITT Corp and food company Sara Lee Corp.

The separation "allows the two businesses to be pure plays and to operate with the proper amount of focus to grow respectively," Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi told Reuters on Thursday.

He said no big changes were expected from a management perspective, and added there were no plans to sell TripAdvisor.

TAX-FREE DEAL

Under the separation, the new TripAdvisor would include operations of the current TripAdvisor Media Group travel advisory business that includes 18 popular travel brands, and Expedia Inc would continue to comprise transaction brands such as Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire and carrentals.com.

The transaction, intended to be tax free, is expected to take the form of a spin-off of TripAdvisor stock to Expedia shareholders or a reclassification of Expedia shares, with holders receiving a proportionate amount of TripAdvisor stock, Expedia said.

Frederick Moran, an Internet analyst with Benchmark, said Expedia shares have trailed rival Priceline.com in performance because of weaker-than-expected earnings growth as it looks to reinvest in its business.

Expedia's stock was down about 10 percent so far this year before the Thursday announcement, while Priceline.com has gained 27 percent. Orbitz Worldwide, which is in a distribution dispute with AMR Corp's American Airlines, is down about 39 percent this year.

Moran said Expedia's 2011 forecast was below expectations and called for essentially no growth in earnings because of needed investments in technology in the face of higher competition.

"Priceline has shown tremendous growth over in Europe and Asia and Expedia has fallen behind them in that regard," Moran said. "So Expedia not only wants to protect their leading market share in the U.S. but also wants to globalize in order to compete and investment is required to do so."

Moran added: "Unlocking TripAdvisor into its own enterprise clearly could help the recognition of hidden shareholder value at a time when the stock has obviously underperformed."

Yet debt-rating agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor's warned they may cut certain Expedia ratings. S&P said it believed the separation of TripAdvisor could "reduce Expedia's growth rate, EBITDA margin and discretionary cash flow generation."

Expedia said the proposed spin-off of TripAdvisor is expected to be completed in the third quarter, and said the plan is subject to shareholder and final board approval.

Shares of Expedia were up 13.6 percent at $25.45 in extended trading after the bell from their $22.40 close on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Karen Jacobs, with additional reporting by Kyle Peterson in Phoenix, editing by Matthew Lewis, Bernard Orr, Gary Hill)

Did a Glass Shortage Slow the Arrival of the RIM BlackBerry Playbook Tablet? (PC World)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 05:45 PM PDT

Lisa Greim Lisa Greim – Thu Apr 7, 8:45 pm ET

The end of the wait for RIM's eagerly awaited BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is coming April 19 but could the tablet have arrived sooner? Perhaps. If so, you might blame Apple, which created a touchscreen glass shortage with its iPad 2 manufacturing.

Trade magazine Digitimes reports that the reason that the launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook is later this month is partly because Apple tied up the supply of touchscreen panels from various Asian suppliers.

According to Digitimes, "Sources from touch screen panel makers also pointed out that PlayBook shipments were postponed for about a month from the original schedule due to a delay in software testing as well as shortage of touch panels because Apple already booked up most of the available capacity."

The hot new iPad 2 is selling faster than expected, and faster than the first-generation iPad. Digitimes estimates that 12 million units will ship in the second quarter.

The iPad 2's impact extends beyond other tablets to the whole laptop category, in which sales growth stopped dead in early 2011.

The PlayBook will run the new PlayBook Tablet OS, which is based on the QNX operating system RIM purchased. The PlayBook was first announced in late September 2010.

There definitely is interest. The RIM video for the PlayBook has more than 2.5 million views on YouTube. Take a look (audio has been disabled due to copyright restrictions):

Get updates from locals all over the globe with AlertMap for Android (Appolicious)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 06:30 PM PDT

Facebook looks to strengthen media partnership (AP)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 03:49 PM PDT

By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press Julie Watson, Associated Press – Thu Apr 7, 6:49 pm ET

SAN DIEGO – Facebook is looking to strengthen its relationship with the news media and has already helped boost traffic to news websites, a top executive told journalists Thursday.

Facebook's "like" buttons have become ubiquitous since they launched a year ago. News sites, blogs and other media outlets sometimes use the less enthusiastic "recommend," but the effect is the same — people share stories with their friends on Facebook, and those friends click on the links to read the stories. The company credits those links for a fourfold increase in referrals to news sites.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said such engagement can help an industry that is looking for more ways to boost online traffic and revenue. She said Facebook wants to help by providing the technological tools to share content.

"In a world where people are spending so much time on Facebook ... we want news to be a big part of that," Sandberg told the American Society of News Editors at its annual convention in San Diego.

She said she uses Facebook for two things — connecting with family and friends and getting her daily news.

Facebook recently unveiled a Facebook page for journalists who want to use social media as a tool in their reporting and source building around the globe. The company also plans to host workshops to teach journalists how to take advantage of the social networks.

Sandberg said NPR has used social networks to tell readers what's happening in real time. Journalists can also use it in their search for people to be interviewed for news stories, by sending out requests asking if anyone has information on an event or developing news story.

In a separate announcement earlier Thursday, Facebook said it wants to help others build startups more easily and efficiently by sharing the technology behind the servers that power its massive online social network. In turn, it hopes to benefit from others' innovations, too.

___

Online:

http://www.facebook.com/media

http://www.facebook.com/journalist

A new look at the Droid X2 (Digital Trends)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 04:41 PM PDT

Molly McHugh Molly Mchugh – Thu Apr 7, 7:41 pm ET

Motorola Droid X2Android Central has gotten its hands on some new images of the upcoming Motorola Droid X2. The photo quality isn't anything to get excited about, and they don't reveal anything new since the supposedly leaked pictures we got a look at in February.  The device will allegedly launch during the second quarter, and that's about all we know. There are varying reports about its specs but just for the sake of Droid love, here are the latest:

  • Android 2.2.2 (Froyo)
  • HDMI output, Micro USB port
  • 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with dual LED flash
Otherwise, the device is nearly identical to the original Droid X. Its specs (from what we've heard thus far) are pretty similar as well, which might get you wondering what exactly is new and different about the Droid X2. There's no hint as to whether it will run on Verizon's 4G LTE network, but it seems fairly safe to assume it will. For anything else, we'll keep our ear to ground on new details and of course, keep waiting for the phone's official announcement in the Motorola lineup. Until then, enjoy.

Droid X2 a

Droid X2 b

Google Rolls Out Checkin Deals for Latitude Nationwide (Mashable)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 02:32 PM PDT

Ben Parr Ben Parr – Thu Apr 7, 5:32 pm ET

Google Latitude, the search giant's location-sharing mobile app, is launching checkin offers nationwide, giving users the ability to unlock discounts with a handful of launch partners.

Much like Foursquare and Facebook, Latitude now reveals different offers if a user checks in to locations hosting a Latitude deal. However, Google adds a twist to the traditional checkin offer with its "status" system. Offers such as 20% off at American Eagle Outfitters can only be unlocked with statuses such as Regular, VIP or Guru, although these titles are customizable by Google's partners. They are acquired by checking in to a specific place multiple times.

Google's initial list of partners includes Arby's, Macy's, RadioShack, Finish Line, Famous Footwear, Great Clips, Naturalizer, Tasti D-Lite, Quiznos, Wireless Zone, Cellairis, PostNet and American Eagle Outfitters. Quiznos is offering customers a free sub when they buy one of equal or greater value (and the title of "Champion of Taste"), while Finish Line is giving a $10 discount on purchases over $50. Most Latitude deals offer similar discounts.

Google only added checkins to Latitude recently, and the iPhone app only got checkins two weeks ago, so today's announcement is rather aggressive. Google clearly understands that it's way behind in the local deals space. It's the same reason why Google tried (and failed) to acquire Groupon and why it's building its own Groupon competitor.

Google's new Latitude offers are available for Google Maps for Android (which includes Latitude) and for Latitude for iPhone, although its iOS app doesn't include status level achievements yet.

What do you think of Google Latitude's nationwide deals? Is it a smart move by Google, or is it late to the party?

Webroot Mobile Security tops Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 01:30 PM PDT

FCC Kicks off Review of Cell Signal Boosters (PC World)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 06:10 PM PDT

Stephen Lawson Stephen Lawson – Thu Apr 7, 9:10 pm ET

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission may regulate cellular signal boosters, which are designed to solve voice and data coverage gaps by picking up signals from carrier base stations and amplifying them in homes or vehicles.

On Thursday, the FCC started seeking comments on signal boosters and interference problems that they are accused of causing. As the first step in the process, which may result in a new set of regulations aimed specifically at these types of devices, the agency will hold a 45-day period for public comment. That will be followed by a 30-day period for replies to those comments.

Third-party vendors have been selling devices to boost U.S. cellular carriers' networks for several years.

One vendor, Wilson Electronics, has been pushing for regulation of the devices, saying that some products cause interference but Wilson has developed features to prevent it. CTIA: The Wireless Association, the main industry group for mobile operators, questions whether these methods are adequate. The group says there appear to have been cases of interference even from signal boosters that have the safety features.

Signal boosters typically have two radios: One receives and transmits signals with the cellular network, and the other acts like a small base station inside the building or vehicle where the user needs a stronger signal. Because they communicate with the carrier's network and a standard cellphone, signal boosters use the very frequencies that the service provider has licensed.

Using a carrier's own channels can cause interference, signal booster vendors and mobile operators agree. But they haven't agreed on ways to prevent that interference, and vendors continue selling the devices without specific rules. The FCC's request for comments "seeks to create appropriate incentives for carriers and manufacturers to collaboratively develop robust signal boosters that do no[t] harm wireless networks," the FCC wrote in its introduction to the document.

Boosters can help to fill in gaps in coverage that exist despite 99.6 percent of U.S. residents being covered by mobile voice service, the FCC said. Boosters can help consumers make emergency calls and keep public safety workers connected, but badly designed devices that interfere can prevent those same benefits, it said.

The FCC document lists several proposed requirements for signal boosters.

They should comply with power limits, automatically shut down if they cause harmful interference or go out of compliance with the FCC's technical rules, and in the case of boosters for vehicles, shut down when they get close enough to a cell tower that they are not needed. The paper also lists proposals to require clear information in labels and marketing about the legal use of the devices, and a requirement to coordinate frequency selection and power levels with the carriers operating nearby.

There are two major ways that a signal booster can harm a cellular network, according to Wilson, one of four entities that petitioned the FCC for new rules. If it is too close to any cell tower, it can interfere and degrade service, said Laine Matthews, director of business development. If the indoor and outdoor antennas of the booster are too close to each other, they can create oscillation, which can actually force nearby carrier base stations to shut down, Matthews said. This effect is similar to loud feedback caused by a microphone being too close to a speaker, he said.

Wilson claims its products come with mechanisms to detect and prevent both problems by powering down or turning themselves off. Some of its older gear lacks these, but Wilson immediately replaces them for free when they are reported, Matthews said. Wilson's position is that other boosters may not have these features, but all should be required to have them.

"Over time, we've learned more and more about what is required in a booster," Matthews said.

CTIA isn't so sure that improvements to boosters have solved the problem.

"We've seen it get worse and worse," said Brian Josef, assistant vice president for regulatory affairs. The group has heard reports from some of its carrier members that even boosters with some of the mitigation features have caused interference problems. It remains to be seen whether a set of regulations can be crafted that will prevent those problems, Josef said.

Both sides in the debate have some legitimate points, but it's important to get some solid figures from an independent source on the extent of the problem, said analyst Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates. He is concerned that the FCC's comments process will only draw out the parties' opposing views. Both sides have vested interests at stake, he said.

While the booster vendors want to sell more products, "Carriers don't want to admit that there's a coverage problem," Gold said. And where the problem really exists, carriers want to persuade customers to solve it with devices supplied by the carrier, such as femtocells.

Femtocells, which typically do a better job than signal boosters because they use wired broadband connections rather than a cell tower to connect back to the carrier, may go a long way toward giving subscribers stronger signals, Gold said.

In addition, it's important to keep the scale of the issue in perspective, Gold added. Signal boosters are not selling in the hundreds of millions, he said. "I think this fades away in a while," Gold said.

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

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Pandora Subpoenaed in Mobile-App Sharing Probe (NewsFactor)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 02:36 PM PDT

Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Barry Levine, newsfactor.com – Thu Apr 7, 5:36 pm ET

A federal grand jury in New Jersey, probing whether mobile applications are illegally sharing user information with advertisers, has subpoenaed online music provider Pandora, which has filed for an initial public offering with the Security and Exchange Commission. The subpoena information was added this week to its application as potential risk factors for investors.

Pandora has said it believes it's not the only one on the grand jury's subpoena list. In a statement, the company said it believes the grand jury "was convened to investigate the information-sharing processes of certain popular applications that run on the Apple and Android mobile platforms."

Not 'A Specific Target'

Pandora said it has been informed that it's not "a specific target of the investigation," and that "similar subpoenas" have been issued throughout the industry to publishers of other smartphone apps. It said it expects to incur legal costs answering the subpoena.

It's known that Pandora, as well as other providers of mobile apps, provide information to advertisers to better target ads. For Pandora, this information includes gender, zip code, music-listening habits, and other demographic data that help determine if a user gets, for example, an ad for ski equipment or travel deals to tropical climates.

Although the practice of supplying such information isn't uncommon, it's coming under fire as violating users' privacy. Several private lawsuits against companies allege that privacy has been violated. One class-action suit by a Los Angeles resident, for example, is against Apple, Pandora and other companies.

Google, among others, recently agreed to obtain users' permission before supplying personal information, as part of its settlement with the Federal Trade Commission after a privacy controversy relating to its Buzz social network.

'A Little Orwellian'

According to The Wall Street Journal, the federal investigation is looking into whether users were fully and legally informed about the type of data collected and shared about them.

The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act requires that a user must receive proper notice and provide authorization for information to be collected and distributed. Violations of unfair and deceptive trade practices, as determined by the FTC, could also be involved.

In an investigation conducted and reported by the Journal in December, 56 of 101 tested apps sent advertisers the unique device identifier of the mobile device. Forty-seven sent the user's location; five the user's age, gender or other personal details; and 45 didn't post privacy policies on their sites or in their apps.

According to Veracode, an application security-testing firm, data that is separately anonymous can readily be combined to identify a person. In a posting on the company blog, senior researcher Tyler Shields recently wrote that matching a current location with gender, age and geolocated IP address can provide "significant insight into a person's life."

When that data is combined, he wrote, "it's pretty easy to determine who someone is, what they do for a living, who they associate with, and any number of other traits about them." He added that it "feels a little Orwellian to me."

Viacom and Time Warner Cable duel over iPad (AFP)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 08:17 PM PDT

– 1 hr 7 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – US media colossus Viacom and cable television titan Time Warner Cable have taken their fight over a show-streaming iPad application to court.

The battle centers on whether an existing contract between the companies allows Time Warner to stream Viacom content to hot new entertainment screens -- iPad tablet computers.

Viacom contends that Time Warner should pay more for the privilege, while the second-largest US cable company counters that a deal already in place allows it to let people watch shows using a software application tailored for iPads.

Time Warner asked a federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday for a declaratory judgment backing its position.

"We have steadfastly maintained that we have the rights to allow our customers to view this programming in their homes, over our cable systems, without artificial limits on the screens they can use to do so, and we are asking the court to confirm our view," Time Warner Cable general counsel Marc Lawrence-Apfelbaum said in a release.

Viacom responded with a lawsuit charging that streaming shows to iPads or other Internet-linked tablet computers was essentially unlicensed distribution of copyrighted material and that the cable company should pay.

Time Warner Cable is "asking the court to declare their brazen acts lawful" and refuses to discuss the matter, Viacom said in a release.

A TWCableTV application for viewing cable shows on iPads has been downloaded more than 360,000 times since it was released on March 15, according to the attorney.

The software makes 43 Time Warner channels viewable on iPads, with access determined by cable customers' subscriptions.

Microsoft Pushes Exclusive Bing iPad Search App (NewsFactor)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 02:08 PM PDT

Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com Jennifer Leclaire, newsfactor.com – Thu Apr 7, 5:08 pm ET

Not even Microsoft can ignore the 800-pound tablet in the room. The software giant has released a Bing search app for the iPad, hoping Apple fans will turn to the decision engine over a market-dominating Google for mobile searches.

Bing for iPad is a free download that works to deliver an experience that goes beyond traditional search. The app is optimized to take advantage of the iPad's touchscreen and lets users browse news, movies, Bing home-page images, local business listings, and other content with a finger swipe.

"Apple, Microsoft and Google compete and coexist at various levels. The search-engine division of Microsoft wants to make as much revenue as it can," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. "You'd have to deny reality if you didn't consider (Apple's)iOS an addressable platform. Microsoft clearly doesn't want Google to get all the search revenues off of Apple's tablet success. Microsoft would like earn some of that revenue through Bing."

Under the Hood

The market will decide if Bing for iPad is a worthy alternative to Google. Microsoft is offering some exclusive features for the iPad app, like Trends, to woo users. As its name suggests, Trends lets users explore the latest trends on Bing by using the iPad's touchscreen interface to see what people are currently searching for. Users can tap on any trend to learn more about what's happening and why it's getting so much attention.

Bing for iPad continues Bing's overall focus on entertainment by offering up the latest info on movies. Users can also watch trailers, find nearby theaters, see the latest show times, or buy tickets on the go.

Not to be outdone by Google, Bing is also pushing maps on its iPad app. Bing is offering multiple map views, including road, aerial and bird's-eye. Users can find businesses and other destinations, save them to the iPad's address book or calendar, get turn-by-turn directions, and search real-time transit info. Meanwhile, MSN Weather powers weather alerts and a 10-day forecast for up to five cities at a glance.

Zachary Gutt, lead program manager at Bing, noted some of the ways Bing for iPad works to make searching faster. "With Bing's Voice Search, just say what you're searching for and Bing will find it. Bing's autosuggest feature helps you refine your search by providing suggestions based on your recent searches and related searches done by other people," Gutt said. "And when searching for a popular topic, Bing provides the most relevant answer up top, complete with quick links to help you complete your task faster."

Battling Google Together?

By offering exclusive features on Bing for iPad, Microsoft is showing favor to Apple over Google's Android. And Apple is embracing the opportunity to set itself apart from Android-based tablets, even if it's in a small way. So while Apple and Microsoft continue to compete on the mobile operating system front, this deal shows solidarity toward a common foe in Google.

"This is far from the first time Microsoft has worked with Apple. Microsoft's entire office suite originated on the Mac and Microsoft continues to create Office for the Mac," Greengart said. "So these companies have long both competed and worked together as partners. At one point, Microsoft made a huge investment in Apple which actually helped keep Apple going."

Cerberus, Centerbrige eyeing Citi consumer unit: report (Reuters)

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 06:22 PM PDT

– 2 hrs 57 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cerberus Capital Management LP (CBS.UL) and Centerbridge Capital Partners are among the bidders for Citigroup Inc's (C.N) U.S. consumer-lending unit, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

Reuters reported in March that Citigroup was looking to sell the business without taking losses and was offering partial financing to bidders.

Reuters also reported then that bidders included a handful of groups consisting of more than 10 private equity firms including Warburg Pincus LLC (WP.UL) and KKR & Co (KKR.N) in one group and Blackstone Group (BX.N) and Carlyle Group (CYL.UL) in another.

Bloomberg said on Thursday that the group that included Warburg Pincus withdrew from the process, according to one person.

Cerberus and Citi declined to comment. Officials at Centerbridge, Warburg Pincus and KKR could not be reached immediately.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller and Ernest Scheyder; editing by Carol Bishopric)
at 9:34 PM

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