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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

San Francisco lawmakers approve Twitter tax break (AP) : Technet

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San Francisco lawmakers approve Twitter tax break (AP) : Technet

San Francisco lawmakers approve Twitter tax break (AP)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 04:57 PM PDT

By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Marcus Wohlsen, Associated Press – Tue Apr 5, 7:57 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – City lawmakers approved a tax break Tuesday to keep Twitter Inc. from fleeing San Francisco.

The measure that passed with an 8-3 vote by the Board of Supervisors exempts Twitter from a payroll tax on new hires if the micro-blogging service moves to the blighted Mid-Market area.

The exemption applies to any business in the neighborhood, but city officials called Twitter the big fish that could spur economic growth.

"We finally have a chance to put into place a policy that will bring economic development and jobs," said Supervisor Jane Kim, who represents the area. "This ordinance offers hope to revitalize a long neglected part of our city."

Twitter is already outgrowing its current San Francisco headquarters, and the company is poised to expand from a few hundred to a few thousand workers.

Mayor Ed Lee, a backer of the tax break, previously said Twitter had committed to signing a six-year lease in the neighborhood pending the tax break.

Critics, including the city's largest employees union, have called the plan an ill-conceived corporate giveaway that will lead other companies to issue ultimatums demanding similar treatment.

"I worry that we set the wrong precedent," said Supervisor John Avalos, who voted against the measure.

The debate comes at a time when the city's high tech startup scene teems with energy not seen since before the first Internet bubble burst in 2000.

Unlike other California cities, which tax businesses based on how much money they bring in, San Francisco taxes companies with payrolls higher than $250,000 a flat 1.5 percent rate on compensation employees receive.

In 2004, regulators added language to the city tax code clarifying that the payroll tax also applied to stock options. For hot tech startups such as Twitter that are likely eyeing an initial public offering of stock, a tax on options for employees could mean a huge one-time bill that businesses worry could wipe out much of the capital they raise.

The high profile of the Twitter tax deal has led other companies to question why they shouldn't receive similar incentives. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, a member of the board's progressive wing, opposes the Twitter deal and has proposed a two-year moratorium on payroll taxes on stock options for all city companies.

The legislation passed Tuesday will require Twitter and other larger companies in the area to enter into agreements with the city outlining actions the businesses will take to benefit the surrounding community.

The agreements are intended to assuage concerns of low-income residents worried that an influx of businesses could raise rents and price them out of the neighborhood, as happened in other parts of the city during the first dot-com boom.

"We ... want some assurance that the people will not be displaced," said neighborhood resident Jesus Perez, 31, who attended the meeting to show his opposition. "All the property is going to start climbing up."

Under city rules, the full board will vote again on the measure as early as next week before it goes to the desk of the mayor, who is expected to sign it into law.

Cisco's CEO vows 'bold changes' as investors worry (AP)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 05:50 PM PDT

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson, Ap Technology Writer – Tue Apr 5, 8:50 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Cisco Systems Inc. CEO John Chambers is calling his company's recent missteps "unacceptable" and is vowing to take "bold steps" to narrow Cisco's focus.

A memo to employees that Cisco posted on its corporate blog Tuesday suggests that major changes are coming for the world's biggest maker of computer-networking gear, but it was short on specifics.

Cisco shares rose 16 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $17.22. The stock had fallen 38 percent since its 52-week high of $27.74 on April 30 of last year.

The company is under pressure after posting three worrisome quarterly reports that raised fears about its heavy reliance on weakened state and local governments and its overall place in a shifting networking market. Analysts say it's losing ground in some key markets.

Chambers, who has been Cisco's CEO since 1995, called Cisco's strategy "sound" but criticized its execution.

"We have been slow to make decisions, we have had surprises where we should not, and we have lost the accountability that has been a hallmark of our ability to execute consistently for our customers and our shareholders," he said. "That is unacceptable. And it is exactly what we will attack."

Cisco, which is based in San Jose, has branched out beyond its core business of selling routers and switches that form the backbone of the Internet. It has moved into related areas such as cable set-top boxes and digital cameras that have made the company more visible to consumers.

But the $40 billion-a-year company is facing stronger competition from rivals in its core business, and is facing questions about whether it's spread too thin — a question that frequently comes up for highly acquisitive technology companies.

Analyst Rohit Chopra with Wedbush Securities said Chambers' comments indicate that Cisco is willing to take "a necessary first step in order to reinvigorate growth."

As for restructuring moves, Cisco may wind up exiting parts of its consumer business while boosting investment in areas such as security and application delivery, Chopra wrote in a note to clients.

Since Cisco's relationship with Hewlett-Packard Co. is likely "permanently impaired" — the two longtime partners are now competing in both servers and networking equipment — Cisco should cozy up more with IBM Corp. and Accenture PLC, which are experiencing strong demand for technology services that help Cisco sell its products, Chopra said.

"We think a combination of organizational restructuring, divestures, and targeted acquisitions along with efforts to improve collaboration in the partner ecosystem can allow Cisco to regain its leadership and growth positioning but we anticipate that the process will likely take several quarters before the company's current trajectory is significantly altered," Chopra wrote.

In his memo, Chambers said Cisco will focus on 5 key areas: routing, switching and services; collaboration; data center "virtualization" — which refers to building servers that can handle multiple operating systems and applications at once, instead of just one at a time — and so-called "cloud" computing; architectures; and video.

"We will take bold steps and we will make tough decisions," Chambers said. "With change comes disruption, and you will see this necessary and healthy disruption as we make meaningful decisions in a timely, targeted and measureable way."

Judge overturns $625.5M patent suit against Apple (AP)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 12:48 PM PDT

– Tue Apr 5, 3:48 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has overturned a federal jury's order that Apple Inc. pay $625.5 million in damages for violating patents held by a Mirror Worlds LLC, a small technology company.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis in Tyler, Texas, which was disclosed in a Monday court filing, dismisses one of the largest-ever patent infringement verdicts.

In his ruling Monday, the judge said that "Mirror Worlds may have painted an appealing picture for the jury, but failed to lay a solid foundation sufficient to support important elements it was required to establish under the law."

In October, a federal jury in Tyler determined that Apple infringed on three of Mirror Worlds' patents, which cover several features on Apple's Mac computers, iPhones and iPods. The technologies at issue include Cover Flow, which lets users flip through album covers and other content as if through a stack of cards; Time Machine, which performs automatic backups; and Spotlight, which is software for searching computer hard drives.

The jury awarded Mirror Worlds $208.5 million for each patent violation.

Cupertino-based Apple had asked the U.S. District Court to wait to enforce the jury award, saying there were still issues that needed to be addressed. Among other things, Apple objected to the way the damages were calculated.

Mirror Worlds, which was founded by Yale University computer science professor David Gelernter to bring his ideas to market, initially sued Apple in 2008.

A lawyer representing Mirror Worlds had no comment. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Online Vending Machine Dispenses Snacks at Your Behest (Mashable)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 04:22 PM PDT

Jennifer Van Grove Jennifer Van Grove – Tue Apr 5, 7:22 pm ET

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Snack&Munch

Quick Pitch: Snack&Munch is a snack delivery service for your office, college, or anywhere else.

Genius Idea: An online vending machine for monthly snack delivery.

/> Sure, your office break room is likely outfitted with a run-of-the-mill vending machine, but those machines are far from reliable. They often run out of your favorite snacks just when you want them most, and they'll sometimes eat up your change and not spit out your snack.

Perhaps Snack&Munch can better satisfy your office snack cravings. The newly launched startup, founded by brothers Farooq and Ammar Yousuf, serves as an online vending machine and lets users build a custom 24-piece snack pack they can have delivered to any home or office address in the United States.

Snacks are of the common vending machine variety, though there are more than 250 options spanning seven categories: breakfast, candy, cookies, chips and crackers, gum and mints, nuts, and international. Snack packs cost $24 per pack, and shipping is free. Users also have the option of setting up a monthly plan for reoccurring deliveries and will receive a $1 off discount should they choose to do so.

Obviously, Snack&Munch won't be an immediate solution to your afternoon snack attack, but it could be a more reliable option if you're prone to candy and/or chips cravings.

And if you're asking yourself, "Wouldn't it just be cheaper to stop by Costco and pick up snacks at wholesale prices?" the answer is yes. But as most of us who order delivery food know, there's something to be said (and a price to be paid) for the convenience of having items delivered to your doorstep. We suspect the "lazy tax" applied to Snack&Munch goodies will be far from unappetizing for most.

Check it out, and let us know what you think in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Phillie Casablanca

Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Verizon customers exposed in massive U.S. data breach (Reuters)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 06:52 PM PDT

– 2 hrs 46 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Customers of Verizon Communications had their email addresses exposed in a massive online data breach last week, according to an email to customers obtained by Reuters.

In what could be one of the biggest such attacks in U.S. history, a computer hacker penetrated the online marketer Epsilon, which controls the customer email databases for a broad swath of companies.

Customers of about 50 companies, from banks to retailers and hotels, had their names or email addresses exposed in the attack.

Verizon, the largest U.S. mobile telephone carrier, informed customers on Tuesday that it was part of the Epsilon data breach.

"Epsilon has assured us that the information exposed was limited to email addresses, and that no other information about you or your account was exposed," Verizon said in an email to a customer sent on Tuesday evening.

The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Maria Aspan in New York and Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Tech Support Goes Social (PC World)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 06:10 PM PDT

Jeff Bertolucci Jeff Bertolucci – Tue Apr 5, 9:10 pm ET

traditional support channels such as online chat and phone support.

For consumers with a faulty Internet connection or a balky DVD drive, a quick question posted on a vendor's Facebook page, or perhaps a brief Twitter rant, may draw an immediate (and potentially helpful) response from a company determined to protect its online reputation.

The fact that online communities are extremely popular with Americans is not lost on tech companies. (About 83 percent of U.S. adults actively participate in social media, according to an October 2010 report by Forrester Research.) So the companies are going to where their customers are, setting up marketing and support pages on Facebook, monitoring Twitter feeds to pacify irate customers, and posting self-help videos on YouTube.

My own experience with social support has been positive. After waiting for weeks for AT&T to fix my DSL service, I decided to tweet my problem. I posted a few barbed comments on Twitter, including one that read: "I really, really, really have grown to hate AT&T DSL." Hours after that vitriolic tweet, an AT&T representative contacted me via Twitter, and arranged for a call from AT&T's support staff, which phoned the same day to schedule an on-site repair.

That's not to say, however, that every disgruntled consumer who gripes about a faulty product on Facebook or Twitter will suddenly receive superb service from a previously neglectful vendor. "I believe support through social media is still in the early, experimental stages," writes IDC software support analyst Elaina Stergiades via e-mail to PCWorld.

And while many tech firms today do assist social media users with simple requests--they might tweet a link to online clip art for a Microsoft Office presentation, for instance, or pass along a toll-free tech support number to an irate consumer with a busted laptop--they're likely to refer more-complex issues to a support line or service center.

Social PC Repair

PC manufacturing giants Dell and Hewlett-Packard have a strong presence on social media sites. Dell's support page on Facebook contains setup guides, technical manuals, drivers, and downloads, as well as a help request form. Its @DellCares support team on Twitter has attracted nearly 7400 followers and offers proactive help to customers.

Dell may have the showiest social-support center in all of tech. Its Social Media Listening Command Center at Dell headquarters in Round Rock, Texas features dramatic lighting and a wall of flat-screen monitors--a futuristic effect not unlike a hip nightclub or a Hollywood movie set. Inside the Command Center, support staff track more than 25,000 Dell-related posts from major social sites, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs (via Google Alerts).

The Command Center's primary task is to monitor and respond to Dell customers online, a 24/7 mission that comprises customer support and brand protection. By soothing angry users and solving their tech issues promptly, Dell hopes to prevent negative news and misinformation from going viral across the Web. The results thus far are positive: Some two-thirds of Dell customers contacted by the company's social-media outreach program say that the experience was positive, according to the company.

"Customers were thrilled and elated that Dell was reaching out to them," says Manish Mehta, Dell's vice president for social media and community. "It changed their perception of the company."

Mehta says his company sees social media conversations as an "early warning system for issues that arise around our products." Because social media sites are commonly used by tech-savvy "early adopters," problems with Dell products are likely to show up there first, Mehta believes.

HP is also active on social media sites, but it tends to focus on redirecting visitors to HP-branded product and support sites, which receive 4 million customers a month. The company's Facebook page, though not as helpful as Dell's, has links to HP support forums. Facebook users can post questions, which HP automatically routes to its own sites. On Twitter, the company's "social media ambassadors," such as @HPsupport, respond to customer queries. HP has more than 100 support ambassadors who are company employees, and others are volunteers, the company says.

"We have some ambassadors who are heavily monitoring Twitter, because often times Twitter is the place where customers are doing a shout-out," says Lois Townsend, HP's manager of social Web support. "They're stomping their feet saying, 'Hey, I'm upset about something.'"

Townsend believes that social support is here to stay, and that it has become an important entry point into her company's traditional support programs. "Obviously, Twitter's 140-character limit doesn't allow for a lot of rich dialogue," she says. "So we try to use [Twitter] as a way to find customers and reach out to them. And then we escort them to the most appropriate place to get the best answer to their questions."

Risks of Being Social

This social approach doesn't always translate into good technical support, however, as HP customer Shona Anderson discovered earlier this year. An educator and author who lives two hours north of Toronto in Ontario, Anderson experienced a series of problems with her HP netbook, including a battery that wouldn't fit in the case and an erratic screen that sometimes became an unreadable "blur of pixels." HP fixed the battery problem; but when Anderson shipped her netbook to HP to fix the display, things went sour.

"They told me there was nothing wrong with it," but the screen problems persisted, she says. "At that point, I was a little frustrated." On March 21, Anderson went on Twitter and wrote: "HP sucks...my netbook is not working again." She then asked a Twitter-based HP support ambassador for assistance. "Their response two hours later was, 'Have you tried our 1-800 customer help number?' Well, that wasn't really what I was hoping for," she says.

The end result: A lost customer for HP. "I will never buy from them again. At this point, I'm so frustrated, I would love to tell them to take my netbook back," adds Anderson.

Anderson's dissatisfaction with HP suggests that a slick social media strategy won't compensate for defects in a company's support infrastructure. (In recent years, HP has repeatedly fared poorly in PCWorld's annual Reliability and Service survey.)

"User expectations for immediate response can be very high, and if a support provider doesn't have adequate staffing to ensure this (a very expensive proposition), it could risk angering frustrated customers," IDC's Stergiades writes.

Other tech companies take a more cautious approach to managing their social-site presence. Apple, which routinely earns high marks for support in our yearly Reliability and Service survey, keeps a relatively low profile on Facebook and Twitter, choosing instead to offer support primarily through such conventional channels as phone, e-mail, chat, online forums, and retail stores, Stergiades says. (Apple didn't respond to numerous interview requests for this article.)

troubleshooting tips and other advice to their fellow users. Twitter, on the other hand, "is much more of a listening piece," says Chris Baccus, executive director of digital and social media at AT&T. "We are out there watching the comments, watching what's happening about mentions with our brand."

AT&T currently assists about 4000 customers a month via social media platforms, which include Facebook, Twitter, and numerous blogs. "We've been seeing a gradual increase each month, and some months are a little busier than others, depending on what's going on in the marketplace," says Molly DeMaagd, AT&T's director of social media.

Companies recognize social media's power to make or break their reputation. "Twitter is an early-warning system," says Dan Anderson, T-Mobile's social media manager. "As a cell phone company, if there's a network issue, we'll hear about it right away."

Sprint reads its reviews, too. "Absolutely, we monitor comments on social sites. We don't catch them all--but we do our best. I would say we are most active in monitoring Twitter, Facebook, and the Sprint Community [forums]," says Sprint spokesperson Rich Pesce.

"In many ways, I think [social media] is a new form of the focus group," T-Mobile's Anderson adds. "Instead of having to bring people into a room and ask them questions, your customers are proactively telling you what they think. And you get that feedback right away."

T-Mobile, which AT&T recently agreed to buy for $39 billion, claims to reach 140 million people every month through the cumulative reach of its social media programs. "It's larger than our customer base," says Anderson. "It shows the viral nature of social. We love it because it's not only a way to communicate with our existing customer base, but there's a sales potential as well."

'Like' Me, Even If You Don't

Close to 1.4 million Facebook members "like" AT&T's Product/Service page. But peruse the discussion forums there, and soon you'll discover that many visitors aren't exactly adoring fans of the telecommunications giant.

AT&T's Facebook board lists more than 1700 user-generated topics ranging from the inoffensive ("LTE") to flame-thrower material ("Horrible Customer Service"). The company responds to all customer queries and complaints, no matter how incendiary. "We'll answer questions or clarify questions for either posts that we make or posts that our customers and fans make on the page," says Baccus. "If there is a question out there, we're addressing it in a rapid, intelligent, and personal way."

But execution is everything, and a poorly constructed "personal" reply may backfire. In March, Patty Manning Lennon of Danbury, Connecticut was fed up with the slow speed of her AT&T DSL service and with the failure of the company's technical support staff to correct the problem. She decided to bid AT&T a fiery adieu online. Here's a snippit from Lennon's snarky farewell post on AT&T's Facebook board:

"It will explain why I'm leaving you now," her post read. "So many have already left and more will follow. If you don't care about your customers, it will show. I'm taking my internet, phone and iPhone service with me. Farewell!"

Lennon, a life coach and entrepreneur who runs the Mom Gets a Life Website, posted a similar goodbye on Twitter. AT&T responded in both instances, albeit differently. Its Twitter reply came from an actual AT&T customer service rep, who asked to discuss the matter privately via Twitter's direct-message tool. The Facebook response, however, didn't come from a particular person and seemed less sincere to Lennon. It read: "Hey Patty! Thanks for posting on our wall. So sorry to hear that you are leaving us... anything we can do to assist you today? We are here to help."

AT&T's Twitter response persuaded Lennon to give the company a second chance to win her back. "You actually have to connect with people in a way that feels humanizing," she says. In other words, a company that botches its social media message isn't going to persuade its customers to remain loyal.

"There's a certain personal connection you get, even though it's online, when a company reaches out to you and personally addresses your issue," says T-Mobile's Anderson. "It leaves you with a better impression of the company."

And when it doesn't, the opposite is true.

Looking Forward

So what does the future hold for social support? It's here to stay, but it won't replace conventional support tools. For instance, Dell says that the goal of its Social Media Command Center isn't to replace traditional support methods, but rather "to be there for customers" who want to contact the company via social networks.

"I think [social media] is a companion," says AT&T's Baccus. "And the reason why is that some people want the personal communication of the human voice."

For many tech companies--including HP--Facebook and Twitter are simply new front doors to route customers to traditional support operations. Other businesses, like AT&T, proactively interact with their customers online, attempting to bypass a creaky support infrastructure--like the dreaded phone tree--to solve users' problems faster.

Within a few years, social support teams will likely merge with standard support operations, a combination that could improve customers support overall.

"Right now, our [social media] team is separate from the call centers," says AT&T's DeMaagd. "But one of the things we're going to look at is integrating it more with the call centers."

The question is whether tech companies will have enough staff to handle the growing number of social media users. As IDC's Stergiades points out, an army of social-media watchers may prove to be a very expensive undertaking for a tech company focused on the bottom line.

Cell carriers to roll out "mobile wallets" in Utah (AP)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 05:35 PM PDT

By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Brian Skoloff, Associated Press – Tue Apr 5, 8:35 pm ET

SALT LAKE CITY – A joint venture between three of the nation's four largest cell phone carriers will soon offer the United States' first commercially available mobile fare payment program to a public transportation system.

Isis, a mobile commerce joint venture between AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, announced Tuesday it will roll out the pilot program in Salt Lake City in 2012, offering an alternative to credit and debit cards for Utah Transit Authority fare payments.

The program is also set to work for point-of-sale purchases at retailers in the area.

"This is the evolution of moving off of plastic," Isis CEO Michael Abbott said in an interview Tuesday. "This is the future of payments."

Abbott said the idea is to eventually make Salt Lake City, and other cities across the country, places where consumers don't need to carry their wallets anymore, communities where your cell phone is as good as cash or credit.

The idea sounds simple: Hop a train, swipe your phone, payment made. Grocery shopping? No cash? No problem.

"Salt Lake City: The Place You Can Leave Your Wallet At Home," exclaims a company news release.

Not so fast, say industry watchers.

"This is simply a silly claim on the part of these vendors," said Charles Golvin, a principal analyst with Forrester Research, Inc.

The chips needed to make the so-called Near Field Communications wireless technology work aren't yet available in most cell phones. Many carriers will be rolling them out next year, but it will take time to get them in the hands of consumers. And while the Utah Transit Authority is already equipped with the necessary technology to read the phones, retailers will also have to begin upgrading their systems.

"There are some out there already but not the majority and it won't be the majority for quite some time," Golvin said. "This is almost certainly going to be like most technology adoption, a slow and steady build over a long period of time."

However, the fact that three of the four largest wireless carriers are now supporting the program means it should gain momentum in the coming years.

"They have their own incentives now to see profit and improve their business through NFC, and that means they will most likely demand that many of their suppliers include that function in the phones they sell," Golvin said.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., has said most new BlackBerrys will have NFC chips by later this year. Google Inc.'s Nexus S already has one, and the company's latest Android software for that and other phones has NFC support. Nokia Corp., the world's largest maker of phones, has committed to putting NFC chips in all its next-generation smart phones.

There's also speculation the new iPhone model due this summer will have an NFC chip, though Apple isn't commenting.

Abbott acknowledged the move will take time to catch on, but said the industry is serious about making mobile payments the future of purchasing transactions.

"This isn't a science fair. This is three carriers across multiple platforms," he said. "It's a transition. It's an evolution.

"If you look back 10 years ago and wanted to get a phone with a camera, you might be able to find one. Today, you can't buy a phone without a camera," he added, noting NFC technology will also soon be standard.

AT&T's Mark Siegel said the companies expect the program to eventually expand nationwide, much like how text messaging became wildly popular once cell phone companies began allowing messaging between different carriers.

"So what happened after that is text messaging exploded and really started to grow," Siegel said. "That's kind of similar to what's happening now with Isis."

The industry has been talking about including NFC technology in phones for years, largely to do just what Isis is proposing, turn them into "electronic wallets." But beyond a few trials, not much has come to fruition except in places like Japan where a similar technology is in place and most cell phones are equipped with the needed chips.

It works like this: A consumer attaches a specific account to their cell phone — a credit card or a checking account, for instance — and simply swipes it for purchases or to board trains or buses and the charge is automatically pushed through and paid.

Still, Golvin said it will be a long transition on the path to persuading people they simply don't need to carry their wallets anymore.

"Consumer behavior changes slowly," he said, noting it took "decades" for debit and credit card use to overtake cash and checks. "It will certainly be a slow build, but they have to start somewhere."

Why the HTC EVO 3D's MHL Technology Matters (PC World)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 02:15 PM PDT

Ginny Mies Ginny Mies – Tue Apr 5, 5:15 pm ET

HTC EVO 3D: the dual-core processor, Sprint 4G data speeds, and of course, the 3D display and camera. But there's another spec that puts the EVO 3D ahead of the pack: the MHL port. I met with the president of the MHL Consortium, Tim Wong, at CTIA in March and got a rundown of the technology and a glimpse into the future of how smartphones will interact with HDTVs.

The MHL specification, which stands for Mobile High Definition Link, is a 1080p HD video and digital audio interface for connecting smartphones and other portable devices (tablets, cameras, etc.) to HDTVs. So what's the big deal? It simultaneously provides power to your phone--something that HDMI cables don't do. It remains to be seen how power-hungry a dual-core, 4G phone with a 3D display will be, but given how quickly smartphones with lesser specs seem to lose power, charging is always appreciated.

The specification also allows any TV remote to control your phone's interface, apps and content. Basically, you can hook your phone up to any HDTV, by any manufacturer, and have complete access to it on the big screen.

This also means MHL phones will only have one port and require one cable needed for charging and hooking up to a TV. Other HDMI-enabled phones, like the HTC EVO 4G for example, have two ports: the microUSB port (for charging and hooking up to your PC) and the HDMI port. A single port allows smartphones to be slimmer and sleeker in build.

You can also use your standard USB connector with the port. When connected, your phone will automatically recognize whether it is hooked up to an MHL port or a USB port and will switch accordingly.

Wong was unsure whether Sprint would package an MHL cable with the EVO 3D or sell it separately in stores. He expects the cables to be cheaper than HDMI cables (which are generally sold separately) because they are much thinner and cost less to make.

The HTC EVO 3D is the first phone announced in the US to support the MHL 1.0; the Galaxy S II is the only other phone announced to have an MHL port. The HTC View 4G, coming to Sprint, will be the first tablet to boast an MHL port. And expect more MHL-enabled devices this year: Wong said that there were at least 12 devices in queue, including TVs, smartphones and tablets.

Tax break keeps Twitter in San Francisco (AFP)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 08:34 PM PDT

– 1 hr 1 min ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – San Francisco leaders have given preliminary approval to legislation that would keep fast-growing Twitter in the city with the lure of a payroll tax break.

The bill squarely aimed at keeping the hip microblogging service from moving out of town was portrayed as a way to revitalize a pair of chronically downtrodden neighborhoods in the heart of San Francisco.

Companies in what are referred to locally as the Mid Market Street and Tenderloin areas would not have to pay any payroll tax on new hires for the first six years.

Twitter is undergoing a major growth spurt, with new hires coming on board weekly.

Twitter had talked of moving to another northern California city with no payroll tax, but promised it would settle into a vacant Market Street building if the measure was approved.

City officials hope Twitter will spark an economic revival in the area by attracting other companies.

"There is great synergy between Twitter and the arts organizations and small retail businesses who are looking to expand in the area," San Francisco mayor Ed Lee said in a release.

"This six-year payroll tax exclusion for new jobs created on Central Market Street and in the Tenderloin Area will create new jobs, generate revenue for the City and has the potential to create a new innovation cluster on Central Market."

San Francisco board of supervisors must vote a second time on the bill before Lee can sign it into law. The second vote is expected to take place next week.

Review: Robertson's return triumphant on new CD (AP)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 01:10 PM PDT

By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press Scott Bauer, Associated Press – Tue Apr 5, 4:10 pm ET

Robbie Robertson, "How to Become Clairvoyant" (429 Records)

Robbie Robertson returns after a more than a decade break between solo albums with the triumphant "How to Become Clairvoyant," a reflective and moving collaboration with Eric Clapton.

Robertson, the lead songwriter and guitarist for The Band before leaving the group in 1976, has been far from prolific in his solo career. "Clairvoyant" is just his fifth solo release since 1987, but it's worth the wait.

While his two most recent solo records explored his Mohawk ancestry, "Clairvoyant" delves into his musical past.

"Straight Down the Line" starts the record off with a kick as Robertson, in his whispery growl of a voice, tells the story of advice he got from an old blues man years ago on the chitlin' circuit. "When the Night Was Young," the perfect follow and perhaps the record's best track, reflects on Robertson's youthful idealism.

Robertson was urged on to make the record by Clapton, who co-wrote three of the songs and performs on seven including the haunting duet "Fear of Falling." Robertson also gets help from Steve Winwood, Tom Morello, Robert Randolph and Trent Reznor.

While it's a group effort, "Clairvoyant" is most certainly Robertson's record.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: "This Is Where I Get Off" addresses Robertson's departure from The Band in the most direct way he's ever put on tape. "Walking out on the boys/ Was never the plan/ We just drifted off course/ Couldn't strike up the band."

Airborne Toxic Event Priming Fans for Album Release With Series of Acoustic Videos (Mashable)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 02:14 PM PDT

Brenna Ehrlich Brenna Ehrlich – Tue Apr 5, 5:14 pm ET

Artists can keep their fans waiting for a new release, building up the anticipation by releasing singles to music blogs or album streams to subscription services. Or they could make like The Airborne Toxic Event, who is currently releasing a series of stripped-down, single-shot videos for every song on their album.

The L.A. rock band is releasing Monday the video for "Changing," their first single off of their new album, All at Once, due out April 26. The video is part of a weekly series that the band calls the "Bombastic" (the official video for "Changing" has already premiered).

All at Once is the band's second album; the first, self-titled disc came out in 2008. The first album and the band's performances in general were well-received by publications such as the Boston Herald and the Los Angeles Times, although notably shunned by the ever-critical Pitchfork. Still, the band didn't take the blog's words like a load of lead to the heart, instead penning an open letter to Pitchfork.

Yes, The Airborne Toxic Event is resolutely a band that sticks to its proverbial guns. For instance, the band doesn't see the "Bombastic" series as a marketing shill, but an art all its own. (This is an attitude they share with yesterday's Music Monday artist, Lovett.) The video above features dance troop Strikers All-Stars, for example, adding a rhythmic mood to the barebones vid.

Still, we can't help but take away a lesson from the "Bombastic" series (they're on video number eight, by the way): If you're an artist in today's tech-heavy world, you have more opportunities to reach out to your fans and share content with them than ever before. Sure, John in WhoKnowsWhere, Illinois, might not be able to make it out to your show, but he can check out that video you upload to YouTube.

We're happy to see bands like The Airborne Toxic Event taking advantage of this medium to bring their music to an even wider net of fans and potential fans.

The band stopped by the office recently to chat a little bit about the video series and the web in general. Check out the video below, as well as the rest of the "Bombastic" series, and let us know what you think in the comments. (Pardon the shakiness of the video, I need to procure one of those iPhone tripods, obviously.)

Survey says most developers cite Android fragmentation as problematic (Appolicious)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 12:54 PM PDT

Boost Introduces First CDMA Android Smartphone (PC Magazine)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 11:03 AM PDT

Sascha Segan - PC Magazine Sascha Segan - Pc Magazine – Tue Apr 5, 2:03 pm ET

The difference between Sprint's two prepaid brands, Boost and Virgin Mobile, just got a little more confusing with the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Prevail, a midrange CDMA Android smartphone for Boost.

The Prevail is a bit like a stripped-down version of one of Samsung's popular Galaxy S smartphones. Like the Galaxy S line, it's a sleek black plastic slab running Android 2.2. But all the specs are knocked down a notch: there's a 3.2-inch, 320-by-480 screen, a 2-megapixel camera, and a 2GB MicroSD card for storage. Boost didn't reveal the processor speed.

The lower specs let Sprint sell the phone for less: $179.99 prepaid, with Boost's $50 unlimited plan on Sprint's 3G network. Even better, for every six months a customer pays on time, Boost reduces the monthly fee by $5 until it's only $35.

This is a great deal, and very competitive with devices like the LG Optimus M and LG Optimus C on MetroPCS and Cricket's $40-50/month unlimited plans. But color me a little confused.

Sprint's two prepaid brands, Boost and Virgin, differ in tone but they also used to differ in technology. Boost ran iDen phones with the Nextel push-to-talk system; Virgin ran CDMA phones on Sprint's nationwide network. Boost then started getting CDMA phones, but Virgin got some smartphones, which appeared to shift their focus into Boost being a more talk/text-centric versus Virgin being a more data-heavy brand.

The Prevail further confuses things. It looks like a good entry-level smartphone on an affordable plan with nationwide coverage. But it's a phone that I'd naturally associate with Virgin, on Boost. So what do Virgin and Boost now mean? That sounds like a pointless philosophical question, but it seriously impacts their marketing.

We'll have a full review of the Samsung Galaxy Prevail soon.

Icahn, Dish, others vie for bankrupt Blockbuster (Reuters)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 04:21 PM PDT

By Dena Aubin Dena Aubin – Tue Apr 5, 7:21 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Blockbuster Inc's future was at stake on Tuesday as billionaire investor Carl Icahn squared off against Dish Network Corp and one other suitor at a bankruptcy auction to decide the movie rental chain's next owner.

The showdown prompted Icahn, the activist investor and an owner of a large amount of Blockbuster senior debt, to show up in person at the auction in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan, taking a front row seat in a packed courtroom.

A $308.1 million bid from Cobalt Video, a group of hedge funds headed by Monarch Alternative Capital LP, was the highest bid before the auction was moved to an attorney's office not open to the press late in the afternoon.

Icahn had bid $310.6 million, but his bid included less money than Monarch's for notes rolled up into a bankruptcy loan and was thus considered a lower bid.

A fourth bidder, South Korea's SK Telecom Co, dropped out when Blockbuster rejected its offer as inadequate. A fifth prospective suitor, liquidators Gordon Brothers Group and Hilco Merchant Resources, decided not to take part.

Bidding was expected to continue into Tuesday night.

Blockbuster, which once had a market value topping $5 billion, filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors last September after years of foundering under intense competition from mail-order and digital rivals such as Netflix Inc.

The Dallas-based company put itself up for sale in February after a reorganization plan fell apart.

Whoever wins control could decide to keep Blockbuster in business, or liquidate the company and close the 1,700 stores that Blockbuster will have left. It is closing 700 stores of its 2,400 stores, so those are not part of the auction.

Sale proceeds would go toward the bankruptcy estate.

The Icahn group includes liquidator Great American Corp and others. Once Blockbuster's largest shareholder, Icahn had led a hedge fund group that proposed a reorganization plan to give them control in exchange for their debt.

Meanwhile, Dish Chief Executive Charlie Ergen might find Blockbuster's online content appealing as he could use as a base for an online product to deliver movies.

SK dropped out of the bidding after Blockbuster rejected an argument by David Feldman, a lawyer for SK, that the company's distribution agreements with the Fox, Sony and Universal movie studios would add value and help Blockbuster stay in business.

Feldman said at the auction he would be "reserving rights" on behalf of his client following the rejection.

The Monarch-led group had submitted a $290 million "stalking horse" bid in February that set a floor for bids at an auction.

The case is In re: Blockbuster Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-14997.

(Reporting by Dena Aubin in New York; additional reporting by Tom Hals; writing by Martha Graybow and Jonathan Stempel; editing by Lisa Von Ahn, John Wallace, Andre Grenon and David Gregorio)

Remains of the Day: The iPad is on fire (Macworld)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 04:30 PM PDT

Dan Moren Dan Moren – Tue Apr 5, 7:30 pm ET

The iPad 2 is selling so quick, you can't even get a paper mock-up. Elsewhere, Asus and Toyota get smacked down for bad decisions in marketing, and Apple makes a move to cut down on conflict. It's the remainders for Tuesday, April 5, 2011—peace out!

iPad 2 sold out in the afterlife as Chinese pray for the dead (Reuters)

Much as we here in the U.S. may complain about how tough it is to find an iPad 2, in Malaysia folks are even having trouble finding replica paper versions of Apple's latest tablet. They've apparently become the latest thing in burnt offerings for the dead, intended to provide them with luxury items in the afterlife. And here I was hoping I'd actually be able to escape technology in the next world.

Best Buy pulls iPad-trashing banner for Android tablet from website (9 to 5 Mac)

Apparently, Best Buy has pulled an in-store banner for Asus's forthcoming Eee Pad Transformer tablet that took a shot at the iPad. The ad pictured the Transformer, which features a dockable keyboard and extra battery, next to an iPad clumsily duct-taped to a keyboard, along with the tagline "Like that. But better." To be fair, the ad's original copy—"Like that. But more expensive, uglier, and with fewer apps."—wouldn't fit.

Apple Asks Toyota To Take Cydia Theme Down (MacStories)

Speaking of bad advertising choices, Toyota has apparently removed a replacement interface skin for jailbroken iPhones that it had released via the Cydia store. The skin, which was intended advertise Toyota's new 2011 Scion tC, was reportedly removed at Apple's behest, though we think Cupertino might have been less insulted that Toyota tacitly condoned jailbreaking than the fact that the skin is abominably tacky.

Apple, Intel-Backed Rules on Conflict Minerals Stall Exports (Bloomberg)

Apple and Intel have started enforcing new rules that would see the halt of mineral sales from African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo in the hopes of preventing the proceeds from being used to fund conflict in the region. It's perhaps a small step, but hopefully a worthy one—at least more so than complaining about jailbroken apps.

Product News:

EyeTV 1.2.3 - Version 1.2.3 of Elgato's TV streaming app has added AirPlay support, allowing it to send live and recorded TV from your iOS device to an Apple TV, and fixed audio transitions when changing channels. $5.

Little Bookmark Box 1.5 - The latest update to the Mac bookmarking tool by PointWorks adds integration with Spotlight, colored labels, and a resizable window width. Available via the Mac App Store or PointWorks's site. $10.

MoneyWorks 6 - Cognito Software has revved its MoneyWorks cross-platform accounting software to version 6, including a redesigned Navigator and Dashboard, auto-fill, sticky notes, and native PDF generation, among others. Prices range from $99 to $1999 depending on functionality.

Burn the Rope 1.3 - Big Blue Bubble has updated both the free lite version and $2 paid version of its popular Burn the Rope game to version 1.3, adding a Puzzle of the Day feature and a number of bug fixes.

New Servers Feature Intel's 10-core Xeon E7 Processors (PC World)

Posted: 05 Apr 2011 02:40 PM PDT

Agam Shah Agam Shah – Tue Apr 5, 5:40 pm ET

Top manufacturers including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Cray have announced new high-end servers sporting Intel's 10-core Xeon E7 series of chips, which were announced on Tuesday.

The new servers are designed to run high-end enterprise applications including databases, as well as scientific applications, the companies said. The servers are faster, provide up to double the memory capacity and include improved RAS (reliability, availability and serviceability) features for high server availability.

Intel said the Xeon E7 chips are up to 40 percent faster than their predecessors, the Xeon 7500 chips, which were eight-core processors launched last year. With 10 cores, the E7 chips include more cores than any other Intel processor. The E7 chips will also come in six- and eight-core variants, and operate at clock speeds between 1.73GHz and 2.4GHz.

The addition of more cores to E7 chips will bring more processing power to servers, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64. E7 chips also bring scalability to servers with the ability to include more memory, which can total 2TB in servers.

Intel has also adopted some RAS and error-correction features that chip makers like IBM throw into high-end chips, Brookwood said. For example, Intel is providing simultaneous self-correction of up to two memory (DRAM) errors. These features are typically found on Itanium or RISC (reduced instruction set computing) chips, and are important for mission-critical servers.

"[Intel] wants to be able to compete at that feature and availability level," Brookwood said.

Dell announced three PowerEdge servers with Xeon E7 chips, which deliver up to a 49 percent improvement in performance-per-watt compared to their predecessor, said Brian Payne, executive director of Dell's PowerEdge server line.

Dell's four-socket PowerEdge R910 4U rack server, when configured with a 10-core Intel Xeon E7-4780 CPU running at 2.4GHz, can provide up to 38 percent improvement in Oracle application server and database performance over a previous-generation, eight-core Intel Xeon X7560 processor running at 2.26GHz, the company claimed.

The entry-level price for a PowerEdge R910 server is around US$9,000, a Dell spokesman said.

Dell also announced that E7 chips would be offered with the PowerEdge M910 blade and PowerEdge R810 rack servers.

HP updated four servers in its ProLiant G7 line to include Xeon E7 chips. The ProLiant BL680c and ProLiant DL580 will include the Xeon E7-4800 family of chips, while the ProLiant BL620c and ProLiant DL980 servers will be based on the Intel Xeon E7-2800 and E7-4800 series processors.

The servers deliver up to a 40 percent increase in performance compared to their predecessors, the company said. HP also highlighted new technologies such as the scalable memory buffer that expands memory to improve application performance. Separate, buffered memory chips can temporarily store data alongside the main memory, which could result in faster execution of in-memory applications. The feature could net power savings of up to 155 watts per 256GB of memory, HP said.

The new servers will be available in May 2011, except for the DL980, which will be available in June. Prices for the servers will start at $6,000, the company said.

IBM announced new System x3850 X5, x3690 X5, and BladeCenter HX5 servers, which provide up to 40 percent CPU performance improvement from the previous processor generation, the company said. An IBM spokesman said further information and pricing on the new servers would be released at a later date.

Cray announced that its CX1000-S would now include E7 processors. The configuration will include up to 128 cores and is designed to run high-performance computing applications, the company said. The server is priced under $100,000.

The E7 chips in the future will be pitted against the upcoming 16-core server chips code-named Interlagos from Advanced Micro Devices, Insight 64's Brookwood said. The Interlagos chips, based on the new Bulldozer architecture, will offer faster performance and energy saving features. AMD has said that the Interlagos chips will ship in the third quarter.
at 9:53 PM

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