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Monday, April 4, 2011

Texas Instruments buying National Semiconductor (AP) : Technet

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Texas Instruments buying National Semiconductor (AP) : Technet

Texas Instruments buying National Semiconductor (AP)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 04:49 PM PDT

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson, Ap Technology Writer – Mon Apr 4, 7:49 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Texas Instruments Inc. is buying National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion in a marriage of two of the world's premier makers of analog chips, which are widely used in electronics to transform signals such as sound into digital form that computers can understand.

In scooping up National Semiconductor, TI is getting a storied Silicon Valley company whose history stretches back more than 50 years and is known for its power-management chips.

The deal is the latest example of consolidation among big players in the technology world as trends such as the explosion in smartphones have shaken up the competitive landscape. Longtime foes have joined forces while friendships have frayed as the boundaries between companies' business lines have blurred.

TI has agreed to pay $25 per share. The all-cash transaction represents a 78 percent premium over National Semiconductor's stock price before the deal was announced.

TI and National Semiconductor have been long-running rivals.

TI, a leader in chips for cellphones, said swallowing National Semiconductor would be good for both companies' sales. TI's CEO Rich Templeton said the combined companies' sales team will be 10 times bigger than National Semiconductor's current sales force.

"This acquisition is about strength and growth," Templeton said in a statement. "National has an excellent development team, and its products combined with our own can offer customers an analog portfolio of unmatched depth and breadth."

Dallas-based TI noted that it makes some 30,000 types of analog chips, while National, based in Santa Clara, Calif., makes 12,000. TI said that it owned about 14 percent of the $42 billion analog market last year, while National Semiconductor owned about 3 percent.

TI said the analog business will rise to about 50 percent of the company's overall revenue when the deal closes, which TI expects will be within the next six to nine months. Last year, they made up about 43 percent of the company's $14 billion in revenue. The rest was made up of various different kinds of chips.

Ashok Kumar, an analyst with Collins Stewart, said he expects the deal will clear antitrust scrutiny because despite consolidation in the analog chip market, "the market is pretty brutal" and pricing is aggressive.

He said Texas Instruments' recent decision to exit the mobile-phone "baseband" business (chips that help phones connect to cellular networks) has put pressure on TI to find ways to replace the lost revenue. The baseband segment brought in $1.7 billion in revenue last year, and is expected to go to zero by next year. TI will continue to make "applications processors," a different kind of chip that acts as the central brain of cellphones.

Kumar called the deal "a match of mutual necessity — for National more than TI."

"National has been lost for quite some time — they didn't appear to have critical share in any market of consequence," he said. "TI is not without its own set of problems, but they can more than survive. But the issue they're facing longer-term is they're being squeezed out of the handset in the post-PC environment."

TI executives have touted the untapped opportunities for TI in the analog market as a key reason to expand in that area while shrinking parts of the wireless business.

Shares of National Semiconductor surged $10.20, or 72.5 percent, to $24.27 in extended trading, after the deal was announced. TI shares fell 65 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $33.46. In the regular session National Semiconductor shares lost 16 cents to close at $14.07, while TI lost 12 cents to $34.11.

Intel CEO 2010 pay package valued at $15.5M (AP)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 02:55 PM PDT

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay, Ap Technology Writer – Mon Apr 4, 5:55 pm ET

NEW YORK – Intel Corp. CEO Paul Otellini received a 2010 pay package worth $15.5 million, up 8 percent from 2009 as the chipmaker grew its profit and revenue thanks largely to a rebound in corporate demand.

Intel is the world's No. 1 maker of microprocessors, the "brains" of computers. The company has gotten a boost from an increase in business spending, but consumer demand for PCs has been sluggish. Besides the weak economy tightening people's wallets, smaller computing devices such as the iPad and smart phones are also competing for their dollars.

The bulk of the increase in Otellini's compensation package came from his performance-based cash bonus of $6.8 million, up 29 percent from $5.3 million in 2009, according to a proxy filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Otellini, who also serves as Intel's president, received a base salary of $1 million last year, the same as in 2009 and 2008. He also was awarded a special bonus of $30,400. Intel said it paid a bonus equivalent to three day's pay to all eligible employees for helping the company make 2010 the first year that its revenue exceeded $40 billion.

In addition, Otellini received stock awards valued at $6.2 million on the days they were granted, down 7 percent from $6.7 million in 2009, and option awards valued at $1.1 million, down 8 percent from $1.2 million a year earlier. Otellini also was awarded $382,100 in other compensation, up 32 percent from $290,400 in 2009. His 2010 perks included $364,900 in company contributions to his deferred compensation plan, and $2,500 in matching charitable contributions.

The Associated Press formula calculates an executive's total compensation during the last fiscal year by adding salary, bonuses, perks, above-market interest the company pays on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock and stock options awarded during the year. The AP formula does not count changes in the present value of pension benefits. That makes the AP total slightly different in most cases from the total reported by companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The value that a company assigned to an executive's stock and option awards for 2010 was the present value of what the company expected the awards to be worth to the executive over time. Companies use one of several formulas to calculate that value. However, the number is just an estimate, and what an executive ultimately receives will depend on the performance of the company's stock in the years after the awards are granted. Most stock compensation programs require an executive to wait a specified amount of time to receive shares or exercise options.

Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., reported 2010 net income of $11.46 billion, up sharply from 2009 earnings of $4.37 billion. Its revenue of $43.62 billion grew 24 percent from $35.13 billion a year earlier. Intel's stock edged up 3 percent over the course of the year.

The company expects to continue to grow its business this year and it is working to expand its offerings to take advantage of the soaring mobile computing market.

Its low-power chips, called Atom, are designed to compete with so-called ARM chips, which are mainstays of the mobile world and use designs from U.K.-based ARM Holdings. While Intel said in January that it expects its chips to be used in 35 different tablets and a number of smart phones, it is still behind rivals such as Qualcomm Inc. and even Apple Inc., which makes its own chips for the iPad.

Massive Email Breach Exposes Data From 50+ Major Retailers, Including Target (Mashable)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 04:54 PM PDT

Jolie O'Dell Jolie O'dell – Mon Apr 4, 7:54 pm ET

A huge security breach has exposed the names and email addresses of customers of major brands, including Target, Best Buy, Walgreen's, Capital One, and more.

While most of these companies are understandably mum on how many customers might be at risk, it's not inconceivable that millions of users' information may have been accessed by an unauthorized party.

Epsilon, a digital marketing firm that does a fair amount of email marketing, notified its clients Friday that "an unauthorized entry into Epsilon's email system" had occurred. The firm stated at the time that the compromised data "was limited to email addresses and/or customer names only. A rigorous assessment determined that no other personal identifiable information associated with those names was at risk."

By yesterday, we knew the names of a handful of affected clients. However, we are learning today that the data breach applies to some of the largest names in retail, including Target and Best Buy. Anyone who has signed up for or opted into email or other digital marketing campaigns from these companies may have had their name and email address or addresses accessed by an unknown party.

According to an email from Target, "Epsilon took immediate action to close the vulnerability and notified law enforcement."

However, Target is now notifying customers whose information was compromised that their email addresses and names may now be in unsafe hands and is asking customers to exercise care when opening and responding to email.

The entire list of companies whose customers' data has been accessed is unknown, but we'll list the ones we know about below. We'll add more names as they become available. If you received an email that your information may have been compromised due to the Epsilon breach, please do let us know in the comments section.

  • Target
  • Best Buy
  • Walgreen's
  • Capital One
  • TiVo
  • JP Morgan Chase & Co.
  • Kroger
  • US Bank
  • Citi
  • McKinsey & Company
  • Ritz-Carlton Rewards
  • Marriott Rewards
  • New York & Company
  • Brookstone
  • The College Board
  • Home Shopping Network (HSN)
  • LL Bean
  • Disney Destinations
  • Barclays Bank of Delaware
For marketing companies that handle customer data for multiple large corporations, security ought to be a top priority -- especially since these third parties are often a more attractive and "easy" target for black-hat hackers.

For now customers are advised to use common sense: Don't provide sensitive information over email, and don't respond to emails from senders you don't know.

image courtesy of iStockphoto, gremlin

Google could be target of FTC antitrust probe: report (Reuters)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 08:39 PM PDT

– 1 hr 2 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Trade Commission is considering an antitrust investigation of Google Inc's dominance of the Web search industry, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Before deciding whether to launch such an investigation, the FTC is waiting for the Justice Department to decide whether it will challenge Google's planned $700 million purchase of airline ticketing software company, ITA Software Inc, Bloomberg said, citing the people.

The FTC and the Justice Department share responsibility for investigating antitrust claims and could negotiate which agency would lead a major investigation into Google, Bloomberg said.

The Justice Department could soon announce its decision on Google's purchase of ITA, the people told the news agency.

Representatives for Google and the FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday night. A representative for the Justice Department could not be reached.

Google's dominance in search is inviting heightened regulatory scrutiny around the world.

The internet giant, which runs the world's most popular search engine, has been under investigation by the European Commission since last November.

Last week rival Microsoft Corp filed a formal complaint with European antitrust regulators, claiming that Google systematically thwarts Internet search competition..

(Reporting by Maria Aspan; Editing by Matt Driskill)

'Skype school' brings knowledge to Indian village (AFP)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 08:11 PM PDT

by Ammu Kannampilly Ammu Kannampilly – 1 hr 30 mins ago

NEW DELHI (AFP) – The electricity keeps cutting out, the Internet connection is crackly and the speakers don't always work, but Santosh Kumar knows that 20 pupils far away in eastern India are relying on him.

Once a week, Kumar uses the Skype computer programme to teach maths to children in Chamanpura, a poor village in the struggling state of Bihar, 600 miles (970 kilometres) from his two-storey house in the suburbs of New Delhi.

The free Internet service allows the class to see, via a projector, Kumar's tutorial which includes an animated tale about a greedy priest and a wily countryman to teach the students about numbers and the concept of infinity.

"The first time I did this, they were really excited by the technology, now they don't care," Kumar said. "It's normal to them."

Kumar, a successful 34-year-old engineer, grew up in Chamanpura village before battling his way to a place at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and on to a well-paid job in the Indian capital.

"It's an uphill task to bring education to villages," he said, recalling his teenage years when he would cycle eight miles to college in a nearby town.

Kumar's cousin Chandrakant Singh, also now a well-paid engineer, decided during a trip back to the village to set up a school for children aged between 6 and 12.

"I wanted to provide a world-class education to students in the remotest place on Earth," said Singh, who remembers studying at night under the dim light of a kerosene lamp.

Unfazed by the fact that Chamanpura has no mains electricity, or by the refusal of experienced teachers to travel to Bihar, Singh approached his friends for donations to fund the Chaitanya Gurukul boarding school.

He installed two power generators and organised training for 16 local teachers before hitting on the idea of using Skype to connect students with professionals across India.

"The world's greatest teachers don't want to go there, so I thought maybe we could use technology to help our students learn faster," he said.

The school opened its doors in April 2010, offering admission to 500 students, 50 of whom pay nothing, with the rest charged according to their parents' ability to afford fees.

The Skype lessons take place in the evenings after the day's regular classes and at weekends.

Kumar was on board from the beginning, adamant that he could help the students and give them more "clarity" on what they learnt in class.

"Some of them were curious, others got intimidated, I had to work with them to rid them of their fear," he said, pointing out many of them had never seen a computer before.

"Now it's like television for them, it entertains them and hopefully they learn something," he said during another power outage. "The technical problems happen often. It's extremely frustrating but we carry on."

During his maths lesson, some students appeared engrossed by the video, while others chattered inaudibly in the back rows.

But they snapped to attention during the question session, with everyone answering correctly.

"It's a very different way of teaching, it helps me remember what I learn better than if I just read it," Anmol Kumar Jaiswal, 11, told AFP via the two-way Skype link.

Pragya Parashar, a 12-year-old girl sitting behind Jaiswal nodded in agreement.

"I like these lessons, it helps me understand things better," she said shyly. "I also want to become an engineer like my teacher."

Anonymous vows payback for case against PS3 hacker (AFP)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 06:05 PM PDT

– Mon Apr 4, 9:05 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Internet vigilante group Anonymous has vowed retribution against Sony for taking legal action against hackers that cracked PlayStation 3 (PS3) defenses to change console operating software.

A message signed by Anonymous at website anonnews.org on Monday announced an "Operation Payback" campaign aimed at the Japanese consumer electronics titan because of its cases against George "GeoHot" Hotz and Alexander Egorenkov.

"Your recent legal actions against fellow internet citizens, GeoHot and Graf_Chokolo (Egorenkov) have been deemed an unforgivable offense against free speech and Internet freedom," the message read.

Anonymous argued that people who bought PS3 consoles have the right to do what they wish with them, including modify them in whatever manner they wish.

The hacker group threatened to retaliate against Sony by attacking the company's websites.

Sony went to court early this year to stop hackers that figured out how to "jailbreak" PS3 consoles to operate on software other than that originally installed by the firm.

A judge granted Sony a restraining order against Hotz, a 23-year-old New Jersey resident, and opposing sides are wrangling over the company's request to have the case heard in a federal district court in California.

Sony wants Hotz taken task for violations of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act and a Computer Fraud Abuse Act. The case against Egorenkov, who also maintains his innocence, is playing out in Germany.

Hotz has denied doing anything wrong. Sony has reportedly tried to find out whether other hackers helped Hotz or if he shared his PS3 breakthrough with others.

Android market share jumps 7 percentage points from November to February (Appolicious)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 03:17 PM PDT

10 Must-Have Downloads for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (PC World)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 06:00 PM PDT

Liane Cassavoy Liane Cassavoy – Mon Apr 4, 9:00 pm ET

Your favorite social network--whether it's Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or something else--is probably pretty capable on its own. After all, you likely spend plenty of time there already. But with the right app or add-on, your go-to social networks can become even better. Here are several apps, both desktop- and cloud-based, that will allow you to get more out of Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. They'll help you save time, share more content, and connect with new people in new ways.

(For links to all of these downloads in one convenient list, see our "10 Must-Have Downloads for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter" collection.)

Box.net Files (OpenBox Services for Facebook and LinkedIn)

Box.net's OpenBox Services for Facebook and LinkedIn, that is. These free apps turn either social network into something of a virtual thumb drive, one that's easy to share with friends. You can easily upload files or create folders. You can share single documents or entire folders with your social network contacts--and if you're signed up for both the Facebook and LinkedIn versions, you can share across social networks, too. You get 5GB of storage and the ability to upload files as big as 25MB with a free personal account; paid personal accounts with more storage start at $10 per month. Business versions, which add some searching and security features, such as the ability to assign user privileges to files, start at $15 per month.

Picnik

Facebook version of Picnik lets you access its excellent editing tools without leaving the social network. You can crop, rotate, resize, and autofix photos, among other features. You also can browse and edit all of the photos in which you've been tagged, edit friends' photos, and share the finished results on your profile page.

Websense Triton Defensio Social Web Security

Defensio Facebook app (free for personal use) is designed to keep personal Facebook profiles or pages (such as those set up for a business or other activity) safe from profanity, spam, and potentially malicious content, such as viruses and phishing scams. It's easy to use, but it's hamstrung by Facebook's limiting API, which does not allow third-party apps to remove content from a user's profile. That means every bit of dubious content and profanity--from "hell" to the f-bomb--still appears on your Facebook profile. Defensio alerts you via e-mail that suspect material has been posted; you then have to remove the offending items yourself. Websense says these limitations apply only to personal profiles, not Facebook pages. We tested only the free personal version, not the pricey professional plans. But if you're a business user looking to safeguard your company's Facebook fan page, Defensio could prove a useful companion.

Slideshare Presentations

Slideshare Presentations to your LinkedIn account makes sharing professional-looking content with them easy, too. The free app lets you upload and share a variety of materials--including PowerPoint and Keynote presentations, Word documents, PDFs, and videos--that you can use to market yourself, your business, and more.

DestroyTwitter

DestroyTwitter (free/donationware) keeps its footprint small by focusing only on Twitter. It offers plenty of customization features for helping you use Twitter the way you want to, whether that means, for example, filtering out certain users and hashtags, opting not to receive Foursquare and Gowalla location-based updates, or simply altering the app's font size.

Seesmic Desktop

Seesmic Desktop, you don't have to. This Adobe AIR-based app lets you manage Facebook and Twitter accounts, and it grants you access to an additional 50-plus services thanks to its comprehensive list of available plug-ins. The trade-off for all of that access is a slightly jumbled user interface, but that's a compromise that active social networkers may be willing to make.

Twhirl

Twhirl is owned by Seesmic, the company's two desktop apps bear little resemblance to each other. Whereas Seesmic's interface is sizable, Twhirl's is tiny. This small, free, AIR-based app looks more like an old-school IM client than a social-media management tool. But it packs in plenty of features for managing your Twitter account, as it automatically shortens posted URLs, notifies you of incoming messages, lets you search tweets, and allows you to record and share videos using Seesmic Video.

HootSuite

HootSuite. Its handling of Twitter, in particular, will appeal to professionals looking to take advantage of the microblogging site. It makes managing multiple Twitter profiles a snap, and you can easily delve into particular profiles to view direct messages and @ replies. And if your social media universe expands beyond Twitter, you'll appreciate that HootSuite also allows you to manage feeds from Facebook accounts and pages--plus FourSquare, LinkedIn, Mixi, MySpace, Ping.fm, or WordPress--through its neatly organized tabbed interface. The free version is ad-supported; paid, ad-free versions start at $6 a month.

TweetDeck

TweetDeck might be the most well known of all desktop Twitter clients, and for good reason: Almost anything that Twitter can do, TweetDeck can do better. This free Adobe AIR app delivers your Twitter feed in real time, lets you monitor Twitter trends, helps you manage conversations, and allows you to view, record, and share video clips. And its new Deck.ly service permits you to bypass Twitter's pesky 140-character limit. If all that isn't enough, TweetDeck also supports other social networks, such as Facebook, Foursquare, Google Buzz, LinkedIn, and MySpace.

Bookseat combines bookshelf with wooden chair (Digital Trends)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 05:05 PM PDT

Kelly Montgomery Kelly Montgomery – Mon Apr 4, 8:05 pm ET

Despite the popularization of the Kindle, Nook, and iPad, we know that some of you still like the feel of paper and ink under your fingertips. While there is nostalgia in paper books, and they are undoubtedly better for your eyes and showing off your reading prowess, they aren't so great when it comes to saving space. Having walls lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves is rather old-school, so why not integrate your book storage with a seating option? Designed with multi-functional modern spaces in mind, the Bookseat ($TBA) combines bookshelf storage with a curved wood chair for sitting. Whether you actually live in a small apartment or just like the looks of this wacky, creative invention, the Bookseat will be a functional conversation piece that will last at least until paper books are obsolete. While there is currently only an e-mail address to contact about pre-ordering, the chair will be locally-sourced and handcrafted at the Fishtnk Studio and workshop in Toronto, Canada. The chair will be available with a felt cushion in various colors, as well as a limited-edition leather cushion.

Formspring Gets a Twitter-Inspired Makeover (Mashable)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 04:20 PM PDT

Christina Warren Christina Warren – Mon Apr 4, 7:20 pm ET

Popular social Q&A app Formspring unveiled a brand new version of its site on Monday afternoon.

Calling the new site "one of the most significant design evolutions in Formspring's history," the company is introducing new features and enhanced UI and UX considerations along with the new coat of paint.

Formspring discusses the new design on its blog, highlighting some of the major new features and changes to the layout.

The biggest new feature is the addition of a persistent top navigation bar. As with last year's Twitter.com redesign, the top navigation bar remains at the top of the page even when a user scrolls through multiple screens of recent responses. This makes navigating to other parts of the site easy.

The layout of the site has also expanded from 760 pixels to 960 pixels. This is a size that will work well on desktops and laptops, as well as tablets like the iPad. Again, like the Twitter.com redesign, the change in width will effect users who have created custom backgrounds.

What do you think of the new design? Let us know.

Google TV coming with Ice Cream OS update? (Appolicious)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 07:17 AM PDT

Early AT&T iPhone Upgrades Will Cost $50 More (NewsFactor)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 02:10 PM PDT

Mark Long, newsfactor.com Mark Long, newsfactor.com – Mon Apr 4, 5:10 pm ET

AT&T told media outlets Monday that the carrier's iPhone prices will rise by $50 beginning this week for customers looking to upgrade or replace their Apple handsets before the expiration of their two-year contracts. The carrier attributed the increase to the rising sophistication of mobile devices, which it said means higher costs.

However, the network problems caused by AT&T's data-hungry smartphone users in high-traffic metropolitan areas such as New York and San Francisco are also undoubtedly a major factor. So it seems the only real surprise here that it took so long for AT&T to admit that the iPhone is a big drain on the carrier's data network.

"Though Android devices are equally data hogs by comparison to broadband, for example, there are far more iPhones on the AT&T network -- at least for now," said Gartner Vice President Phillip Redman. "I would expect Android to also see some increases, though the average wholesale prices of Android are lower than iPhone."

Network Problems

Indeed, AT&T is also raising prices for its other smartphones by $50 to $150, depending on whether the customer is making no commitment or agreeing to a one-year contract. All these price changes invite further criticism, industry observers say.

"It's very counterproductive for AT&T to make this type of move now -- many months prior to the close of the T-Mobile acquisition," noted Lisa Pierce, an independent wireless analyst at the Strategic Networks Group. "This type of action reinforces how much market power is held by just two providers."

AT&T's decision does show one thing, however: How loyal customers are to Apple, Pierce said. "They've done their analysis, and relatively few customers will bolt anytime soon," she explained. "Other device vendors, take note."

AT&T's smartphone price hikes also potentially point to network problems. AT&T told media outlets last week that the HSUPA capability on its new 4G phones, such as the Atrix 4G and the HTC Inspire 4G, will not be enabled until a later, which means the handsets are preset to max out at around 300 Kbps.

Still Struggling

As for why AT&T couldn't implement HSUPA on its new 4G phones at the outset, Redman said this simply could be what the phones can actually support. "But most of it goes to their transition on the network, and the network is not ready to support faster speed uploads," Redman said. "Upload support usually follows download speed increases because it is more difficult to do overall."

The storm of complaints unleashed by users promised 4G who got 3G appears to have surprised AT&T. "Usually uploads from phones are minimal and don't contain a lot of data or have high data needs [because] e-mail and web surfing are both low-end data," Redman said. "Since this device is often used attached to a computer, data demands were higher than anticipated."

In the wake of the damage that AT&T's reputation has already suffered due to data-congestion problems from Apple's iPhone, the carrier's failure to switch on 4G for its newest handsets surprised many observers. Still, Redman observed that AT&T has long struggled and still struggles to deliver high-speed data consistently on its network.

"[AT&T] has had a hard time supporting the scale and demand of these next-generation devices across its network," Redman explained. "It certainly has one of the largest wireless networks in the world, which creates these challenges, but as users rely more on wireless connections, any problems will be put under the microscope."

Tech entrepreneur Sean Parker gets engaged to singer (Reuters)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 06:40 PM PDT

– Mon Apr 4, 9:40 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Technology entrepreneur Sean Parker, a co-founder of Napster and the founding president of Facebook, has become engaged, his spokesman said on Monday.

Parker proposed to girlfriend Alexandra Lenas, a singer-songwriter, said his representative Matthew Hiltzik.

Justin Timberlake played Parker as a hard-partying ladies man in last year's Oscar nominated movie "The Social Network," about Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook.

Parker has dismissed the way he was portrayed in the film as fiction. He left Facebook in 2005 and is now a managing partner at the venture capital firm Founders Fund.

Aside from his time at Facebook, Parker is also known for co-founding Napster in 1999 when he was 19 years-old.

Napster caused anguish in the music industry by allowing free peer-to-peer file sharing of songs, and it was shut down by court order in 2001 over copyright infringement claims.

It has since been revived as a subscription music streaming service, but the company is now run by Best Buy, not Parker.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Remains of the Day: Sony, yet so far (Macworld)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 04:30 PM PDT

Dan Moren Dan Moren – Mon Apr 4, 7:30 pm ET

An unlikely source offers a hint about a future Apple device, while a venerable institution pushes back against Cupertino's subscription policy. Elsewhere, AT&T's CEO is just a little bit too cheerful—he must be up to something. The remainders for Monday, April 4, 2011 are just happy to be here.

Howard Stringer says Sony image sensors delayed for Apple's iPhone (9 to 5 Mac)

While doing an interview with The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, Sony CEO Howard Stringer apparently leaked that the company would be supplying Apple with digital camera sensors—possibly for unannounced iOS devices. "Why would I make Apple the best camera?" Stringer wondered onstage. Ooh, ooh, I know this one: because Apple will pay you a lot of money and you're still trying to figure out how to make smartphones that people will buy? Close? Am I getting warm?

FT won't give up subscriber relationship to Apple (Reuters)

The Financial Times is going against the grain on Apple's subscription policy, saying that it doesn't want to give up its relationship with subscribers. Under Apple's rules, it would control customer data for subscriptions, allowing customers to decide whether or not that information will be passed onto the content provider. The FT is currently negotiating with Cupertino over the sticking point, which will no doubt be resolved when Apple just decides to buy the Financial Times, lock, stock, and pork-belly futures.

AT&T CEO talks optimistically about T-Mobile deal (USA Today)

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson is pretty confident that his company's acquisition of rival T-Mobile is a foregone conclusion, and he's got a message for current T-Mobile subscribers: you'll be able to stay with your rate plan under AT&T. And, for an unlimited time, you'll get all the dropped calls and cruddy signal for no extra cost.

Burglary suspect killed in Apple store shootout (SFGate)

And a serious moment, as a trio of burglars tried to rob an Apple Store in San Diego County on Monday morning by smashing through the windows, grabbing what equipment they could, and jumping into a car. Unfortunately for them, they were confronted by a security guard, shots were fired, and one burglar was killed.

Product News:

VideoHunters 1.1 - The YouTube client for iPad improves stability and responsiveness in this update, as well as adding the ability to share themes via Facebook and Twitter. $2.

Simon Express and Simon Free - Dejal's server- and Website-monitoring tool are now available in the Mac App Store in both free and $60 versions, in addition to the existing versions. The free version is limited to five tests.

iCarbs 2.0 - The 2.0 update to James Hollender's app for tracking carbohydrates in food now allows users to enter their intake of food servings and store them for a year. $2.

Targeted cyber attacks to rise further: Symantec (Reuters)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 09:21 PM PDT

By Tarmo Virki, European Technology Correspondent Tarmo Virki, European Technology Correspondent – 20 mins ago

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Targeted cyber attacks will pose a growing threat to companies around the world this year after the Stuxnet worm hit Iran's nuclear program in 2010, security software maker Symantec Corp said on Tuesday.

"Last year was the year of high-profile targeted attacks. We will see so many more," said Sian John, security strategist at Symantec.

So-called targeted attacks succeed as most consumers avoid clicking on suspicious links in spam emails, but open files that seem to arrive from legitimate senders.

"They are more challenging, but the return is higher," John said.

In total, the number of measured Web-based attacks rose 93 percent in 2010 from a year ago, boosted by proliferation of shortened Internet addresses, Symantec said in its annual threat review.

"Last year, attackers posted millions of these shortened links on social networking sites to trick victims into both phishing and malware attacks, dramatically increasing the rate of successful infection," Symantec said.

Social networking sites are increasingly important platform for attackers as their popularity among consumers is rising fast.

The software company said attacks on leading mobile platforms were also set to increase after a 42 percent rise in mobile vulnerabilities last year.

"The major mobile platforms are finally becoming ubiquitous enough to garner the attention of attackers," Symantec said. "Attackers are really following the consumers here."

(Editing by Andre Grenon)

IBM: Watson Could Boost Confidence of Financial Industry (PC World)

Posted: 04 Apr 2011 01:30 PM PDT
at 9:51 PM

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