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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Netflix raises rates, irks subscribers (AP) : Technet

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Netflix raises rates, irks subscribers (AP) : Technet

Netflix raises rates, irks subscribers (AP)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 09:04 PM PDT

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke, Ap Technology Writer – 39 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – Netflix has provoked the ire of some of its 23 million subscribers by raising its prices by as much as 60 percent for those who want to rent DVDs by mail and watch video on the Internet.

The company is separating the two options so that subscribers who want both will have to buy separate plans totaling at least $16 per month. Netflix Inc. had been bundling both options in a single package, available for as low as $10 per month.

New subscribers will have to pay the new prices immediately. The changes take effect Sept. 1 for Netflix's current customers.

Netflix isn't changing the $8 monthly price for an Internet streaming-only option, which the company began offering late last year. But instead of charging $2 more for a plan that also offers one DVD at a time by mail, the company will charge $8 for a comparable DVD-only plan. That brings the total to $16.

Those who want to rent up to two DVDs at a time with streaming will pay $20 per month, or 33 percent more. Those wanting three DVDs at a time with streaming will pay $24 per month, or 20 percent more.

When Netflix unveiled the streaming-only option, it also raised the rates for its most popular DVD rental plans by $1 to $3 per month. Those plans included unlimited online streaming too, as had been the case since Netflix began sending video over high-speed Internet connections in 2007. That means longtime subscribers who want both entertainment options will get their second price increase in eight months.

The higher prices could slow Netflix's growth as some customers cancel their plans in protest and potential new subscribers balk at the rates.

Subscribers rankled by the latest price increase vented their outrage in comments on Netflix's blog as well as its Facebook page, where there were nearly 17,000 comments, mostly negative, by late Tuesday.

Many of the posters were vowing to leave Netflix to try out rivals such as Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Hulu.com, which is currently looking for a buyer. Some of the critical remarks likened Netflix to greedy oil and cable companies, while others blasted it for betraying loyal customers who had been recommending the service to their friends and neighbors long before it became a household staple.

Investors, however, seemed to welcome the higher prices in stride. Netflix's stock rose 53 cents to close Tuesday at $291.27.

Netflix's market value has increased by seven-fold and created about $13 billion in shareholder wealth during the past two years, largely because its total subscribers have more than doubled during the same stretch. As of March, Netflix had 22.8 million subscribers in the U.S. — about 34,000 more than the number of households subscribing to Comcast Corp.'s cable-TV service.

The company's willingness to risk alienating subscribers signals that it needs to bring in more money to cover its rising costs.

Netflix's earnings would likely be squeezed if it continued to cover the overhead for buying and shipping the discs while also spending heavily to license more video for its streaming library. In the first three months of this year, Netflix spent $192 million on streaming rights after pouring $406 million into the library last year.

Jessie Becker, Netflix's vice president of marketing, wrote Tuesday on Netflix's blog that charging just $2 more for a bundled plan "neither makes great financial sense nor satisfies people who just want DVDs."

On the flip side, Netflix customers who haven't embraced Internet streaming will be getting a price break. They can now subscribe to a DVD-only plan for just $8 per month for one DVD at a time, a 20 percent reduction from the current package that included streaming.

Netflix, which is based in Los Gatos, has never said how many subscribers get the streaming-only options, but most households prefer getting both because each has its advantages.

Internet streaming provides more immediate gratification and the convenience of getting video on mobile devices, but the selections typically don't include the latest theatrical releases. That's where DVD rentals come handy. Netflix cut deals with several movie studios last year to delay sending out some DVD releases for their first 28 days on sale in return for better deals on Internet streaming rights. Far more titles are available on DVD than through streaming though.

Although it's preparing to deliver DVDs through the mail for many more years, Netflix sees Internet streaming as its main lure for new subscribers, as Internet connections become even faster and an array of mobile devices make it easier to watch video on the go. The company is only selling streaming packages in Canada, where it expanded last year, and in Latin America, where it will enter 43 countries by the end of this year.

EA to pay $750M for PopCap Games (AP)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 05:36 PM PDT

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – Tue Jul 12, 8:36 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Electronic Arts Inc. said Tuesday that it will buy PopCap Games for at least $750 million in a bid to snag a larger piece of the rapidly growing market for games on cell phones and social networks.

The video game publisher also said that its fiscal first-quarter results will be better than it anticipated but issued a second-quarter forecast below analyst estimates, saying expenses from the purchase will weigh down its results for the July-September period. Its shares fell more than 3 percent in extended trading.

Redwood City-based EA will pay PopCap $650 million in cash and $100 million in common shares. PopCap, which makes the popular "Bejeweled" series and "Plants vs. Zombies" games, will get up to $550 million more if it reaches certain financial milestones. EA plans to offer PopCap employees $50 million more during the next four years in order to entice them to stay, too. The deal is expected to be completed in August.

If all the payouts are made, the acquisition would be EA's largest to date.

PopCap will be latest addition to EA's digital business, which includes games on Facebook, the iPhone and other gadgets, as well as downloadable add-on content for games sold on discs. EA is building up this side of its business as consumers increasingly play games on smartphones, tablet computers and Facebook, and grow less interested in expensive, packaged video games.

EA CEO John Riccitiello said in an interview that about a quarter of video games are now played on mobile devices and social networks — a figure he expects to climb to 50 percent in the next five years.

"PopCap is a leader on all of those platforms," Riccitiello said.

PopCap CEO David Roberts said the company had been mulling a public offering of its stock, and was also approached by multiple companies interested in buying it.

"It was kind of intense for us," he said. "At the end of the day, EA prevailed."

EA's other recent purchases in the digital space include PlayFish, a maker of social network games, for which it paid $275 million in 2009 and Chillingo, the publisher — but not creator — of "Angry Birds" and other mobile games, for about $20 million last October. Until now, the largest of these types of deals was Jamdat Mobile Inc., which EA bought for $684 million in 2006.

The announcement was not much of a surprise, as rumors circulated last month that EA was in talks to buy the company. The technology blog TechCrunch, citing multiple unnamed sources, reported in late June that EA was in the process of buying PopCap for more than $1 billion.

Seattle-based PopCap was founded in 2000 and began offering downloadable PC games that people could try before buying in 2001, the first of which was "Bejeweled Deluxe." The company went on to release dozens of games for all sorts of platforms, including consoles like Sony Corp.'s PlayStation3, cell phones, Apple Inc.'s iPad and Facebook. Today, PopCap has 500 employees, and it doesn't expect any staff changes due to the acquisition. Both companies said the PopCap brand name will live on under EA's ownership.

ThinkEquity LLC analyst Atul Bagga said he feels positive about the deal, and that the price seems fair.

"I'd say it's a pretty good deal for EA and for PopCap too," he said.

Also Tuesday, EA, citing preliminary results, said it now expects fiscal first-quarter revenue of $975 million to $1 billion and an adjusted loss of 37 cents to 40 cents per share — better than it had previously predicted. Riccitiello said the change was due to lighter expenses during the quarter.

And the company forecast an adjusted second-quarter loss of 5 cents to 15 cents per share, which Riccitiello attributed to expenses related to the PopCap purchase, as well as increased marketing costs. Analysts had been expecting a profit of 12 cents per share.

EA shares declined 79 cents to $23.27 in extended trading. The stock finished regular trading down 22 cents at $24.17.

FCC seeks to crack down on phone bill mystery fees (AP)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 11:48 AM PDT

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Tue Jul 12, 2:48 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are proposing new rules to make it easier for consumers to detect and challenge mystery fees on their phone bills.

The Federal Communications Commission voted Tuesday to seek public comments on the proposed rules, which are intended to crack down on the practice of "cramming." Cramming is the illegal placement of unauthorized fees on a consumer's phone bill — either by the phone company or an outside party.

These fraudulent charges are usually buried inside phone bills and generally appear under generic descriptions such as minute use fee, activation, member fee, voice mail or Web hosting. Often just a few dollars, they can be easy to overlook.

The FCC vote came a day before a Senate hearing on the issue.

The proposed FCC rules would require landline phone companies to place third-party charges in a separate section of phone bills and to notify consumers whether they offer the option of blocking such charges. The notification must be given when consumers sign up for service, and must appear online and on their bills.

The proposed rules also would require both landline and wireless carriers to notify consumers that they can file complaints about cramming with the FCC. Phone companies must provide the agency's contact information.

In addition, the FCC will consider whether to require landline phone companies to offer services that block third-party fees and whether to prohibit them from charging for such services. It also will consider whether to require landline phone companies to automatically block third-party fees from consumer bills altogether.

The agency will consider whether to extend cramming rules that apply to landline companies to wireless carriers and Internet calling services as well.

The commission estimates that as many as 15 million to 20 million American households have mystery fees on their monthly landline phone bills every year. Cramming is also an emerging problem for wireless customers, the agency said.

Tuesday's vote is part of a broader effort by the FCC to combat mystery fees.

Last year, the agency reached a record settlement with Verizon Wireless over $1.99-a-megabyte data access fees that appeared on the bills of customers who didn't have data plans but accidentally initiated data or Internet sessions by pressing a button on their phones. Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $25 million to the government and at least $52.8 million in customer refunds under the settlement.

Amazon vs California: Who will come out on top? (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 06:10 PM PDT

5 best alternative keyboard apps for Android (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 05:59 PM PDT

StumbleUpon Launches New iPad App With "Social Bar" (Mashable)

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 05:00 PM PDT

Sarah Kessler Sarah Kessler – Mon Jul 11, 8:00 pm ET

Web discovery tool StumbleUpon launched a revamped iPad app on Tuesday features the service's first "social bar." The new bar creates a section on each "Stumbled" page that highlights a user who also liked the page. If someone who you follow on StumbleUpon liked the page, his or her avatar might show up there. If not, now might be the point when StumbleUpon introduces you to someone new who you'd like to follow. You can click through to his or her StumbleUpon profile to see whether this is the case.

[More from Mashable: iOS Device Users Are Buying 61% More Apps Than a Year Ago]

"We do a good job of connecting people algorithmically who might never meet in the real world," says StumbleUpon VP of Business Development Marc Leibowitz. But, he says, the company has received a lot of feedback from users who also want to see what their friends are liking. The new feature is a response to that feedback, and one that could expand to include more than one featured "liker" or extend to other StumbleUpon platforms.

[More from Mashable: Apple Patent Could Bring New Type of File Sharing to iPhone & iPad]

Though the only new functionality, the social bar is just one small tweak in a completely revamped user interface for the app. Photo thumbnails for your interests and the people who you are following have replaced a "recommended for you" list. Quick links to photos, videos and news have replaced a long sidebar of categories. And you can now swipe to stumble instead of hitting the button, which is not an easy feat considering the data involved in the personal recommendation process.

It makes sense that StumbleUpon is investing in its mobile apps -- like most web companies, mobile is its fastest growing area.

The company launched its first iPad App, which was also its first mobile product, back in April 2010. Shortly later, it launched iPhone and Android apps.

Today stumbles on the three platforms combined are growing about 35% month over month and account for about 10% of the stumbles that StumbleUpon's more than 15 million users make every month.

Leibowitz hints that the company might also be looking for mobile stumblers on new platforms in the future.

"It's not inconceivable that we would do this with other tablet devices," he says.

Graphic courtesy StumbleUpon

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Google mines Internet for "what you love" (AFP)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 08:36 PM PDT

– 1 hr 7 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Google rolled out a tool that mines the Internet for blogs, pictures, videos, and more based on the answer to the question "What do you love?"

A website launched at wdyl.com on Tuesday has a query box for answers to that question and a blue button icon adorned with a white heart.

Searches return a collage of options including finding what you love nearby, exploring it in 3D graphics, calling someone about it, and seeing related patents, trends or news.

The tool was built to showcase Google creations for digging into what the Internet has to offer about topics.

"Type in something that you love -- polar bears, space travel, pickup trucks, Lady Gaga, early Foghat -- whatever strikes your fancy," Google creative lab vice president Andy Berndt said in a blog post.

"No matter what it is, we'll give you back something that will let you get even more into what you love," he promised.

EU court sees responsibilities of online retailers (AP)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 07:20 PM PDT

– 2 hrs 23 mins ago

BRUSSELS – Online retailers like eBay Inc. can be held responsible for the infringement of trademarks by goods they sell, Europe's top court said Tuesday.

National courts can order online retailers to stop trademark infringement and prevent similar incidents in the future, the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said.

The ECJ's clarification of EU laws came in response to questions referred to the court by the High Court in London in 2009. The U.K. court was seeking the ECJ's opinion in a case brought by French cosmetics company L'Oreal SA against eBay, which is based in San Jose, Calif.

L'Oreal complained that some of its products that were not deemed for sale in Europe were being offered on eBay and that the retailer was not making enough of an effort to prevent such sales.

While the ECJ said it was up to national courts to decide whether there was an infringement and order it to be stopped, it said that companies promoting the sale of goods online can be held responsible for what goes on on their websites.

"When the operator has played an active role' of that kind, it cannot rely on the exemption from liability which EU law confers, under certain conditions, on online service providers such as operators of internet marketplaces," the court said.

However, the court sided with eBay on one count, saying that online shopping sites are not using trademarks if they allow customers to display brand signs on their websites.

The ECJ's clarification could act as a reference in similar cases that have been brought against eBay by other companies complaining about counterfeits and trademark infringement.

But eBay Europe's senior director for government relations said Stefan Krawczyk that the judgment "provides some clarity on certain issues, and ensures that all brands can be traded online in Europe."

Skype on Facebook the End of Online Privacy as We Know It (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 08:27 PM PDT

Whitney Levon Whitney Levon – 1 hr 16 mins ago
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COMMENTARY | Facebook unveiled its latest offering to users Wednesday: the ability to make video calls to friends on the social networking site, according to the Washington Post. Skype, the video calling service, has teamed up with Facebook in what could be considered one of the greatest technological partnerships in recent years. The tech industry is buzzing about this news, but is video chat on the site a good thing?

Facebook already allows users to contact people from their friends list for an online chat. Many people use this function regularly, but how many times have you forgotten that your status was "online" when you were contacted by someone you really didn't want to talk to? You may have said a few things out of politeness so no one would think you were being rude, but you still had the privacy of them not knowing what you were doing at that particular moment. No one would ever have to know that you were sitting on the couch in your underwear. With video chat, you are literally inviting that person into your home to talk to you, letting them see you at your most vulnerable state.

The key difference between regular users of Skype and those who will use the application on Facebook is that regular users typically communicate with people they know: parents, spouses, and friends. Facebook will allow even the most casual acquaintance to contact you, giving them a glimpse into your personal life that you may not be prepared for.

We use the site for the exact opposite reason. We are able to have short conversations with people while multitasking. A one-sentence comment is all we need to get our point across. Many people we communicate with on Facebook have no interaction with us in real life. A video, face-to-face chat shatters that relationship, allowing relative strangers to know us better than we ever intended.

We have to think about kids who use Facebook too. Online predators are already experts at finding children through chat rooms and online games. Giving strangers a window into your child's home and life is one of the scariest propositions out there. You would never greet a stranger at the door and allow them into your child's room to play, yet that is exactly what could happen with Skype via Facebook.

Facebook is a marketing tool as much as it is a social networking site. People's personal information is a commodity that is bought and sold. Interactions with apps on the site are used by marketing companies to gear ads toward users. It isn't hard to imagine Facebook compiling data on who you Skype with the most or when you Skype. Letting a huge corporation have intimate knowledge of your personal conversations is never a good idea; letting one whose business it is to sell your information is just dangerous.

The pairing of Facebook and Skype will undoubtedly be beneficial for both companies. Facebook has entered into this agreement to stay competitive with Google, which already offers a video chat feature on its networking site. Skype is guaranteed to gain new users, since Facebook has over 750 million members, according to USA Today. The question remains: With all of the concerns swirling around the new app, will Facebook users have anything to gain by compromising their privacy?

Sources:

Haylee Tsukuyama " Facebook announces video calling " The Washington Post

John Swartz " Facebook says membership has grown to 750 million " USA Today

One third of iPhone owners believe they already have 4G service (Digital Trends)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 08:01 PM PDT

Mike Flacy Mike Flacy – 1 hr 42 mins ago

In the latest study completed by Retrevo, 34 percent of iPhone owners are under the impression that the iPhone 4 and older Apple models are compatible with 4G service. It's possible this confusion is attributed to the name of the iPhone 4. In addition, 24 percent of Blackberry owners are of the same mindset despite a lack of a 4G alternative from RIM. 29 percent of Android owners also thought they had a 4G smartphone already, a possibility that's likely true due to the quicker roll-out of 4G-compatible models like the Motorola Atrix 4G or the HTC Sensation 4G.

Forty percent of iPhone owners are planning on buying the next model, rumored to be announced in September, even if it doesn't provide 4G service. Another 21 percent of the same demographic would consider purchasing the new phone, thus the lack of 4G service doesn't appear to drastically cut into Apple's core audience. Blackberry owners are likely to leave RIM for Apple as over 40 percent of the respondents are seriously considering the next iPhone. Android users are more loyal as only one in five are looking into switching to the new iPhone.

Consumers also appear to be confused about 4G service and don't understand the performance gains. Despite moving from 2 -3 Mbps on 3G to 10Mbps or more on 4G service, twenty-two percent of smartphone owners don't think 4G performance is worth the cost. Another 30 percent believe that the cost of the 4G data plans are too expensive and 19 percent didn't understand 4G enough to make a purchase decision.

It's clear that cellular companies need to improve the level of education on 4G service. Congresswoman Anna Eshoo in California's 14th district introduced a bill last month called the "Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act". This piece of legislation is targeted at companies like AT&T and Verizon to push clarification on what speeds are actually being provided to the consumer.

Skype Partnership with Facebook Could Compromise Chat Site's Autonomy (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 08:27 PM PDT

Danielle Dauenhauer Danielle Dauenhauer – 1 hr 16 mins ago
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COMMENTARY | I heard an announcement from Facebook CEO Matt Zuckerberg that made me giddy with excitement: Facebook has partnered with Skype to provide video calling through your Facebook profile. So now, instead of the paltry nine contacts I have on my Skype page, there are 500-odd friends I can video message any time they're online. No more do I have to set appointment times to chat with my friends outside of the area code; I can hop on my Facebook (which, let's face it, is running pretty much any time my computer is on) and instantly request a face-to-face if they're online. And the simplicity of the whole thing isn't going to be the only thing getting Facebook users to hit the "like" button.

After spending about five minutes getting myself and a friend in London updated and able to video chat, I got to thinking, "As easy as it is to make this connection, why would anyone use the Skype website anymore?" The only person on my Skype list who's not my Facebook friend is my dad; everyone else I call on Skype can now be called through Facebook.

For starters, there are still plenty of landlines out there that don't have Facebook; for international calls to moms and dads, Skype (sans Facebook) is still a great option. Skype also offers group video chat through its website while Facebook currently only offers group chat via text. Add to this Skype's announcement about a week ago that it would now offer video chat capability on select Android phones, and non-Facebook Skype applications are still looking pretty viable.

Regardless of where it's being accessed, though, this seems like a great venture for Skype and a tactically clutch move for Facebook. With more and more people chatting via Apple's FaceTime and Google's video chat option, it was crucial for Facebook to plant its flag in the video chat domain before consumer loyalty was forged elsewhere. Beefed up communication options should also prove key in retaining Facebook's 750-plus million users as Google looks to soon break off a piece of the social networking market. As for Skype's customers, the ones who prefer to chat through Skype now have integrated Facebook features such as the ability to "like" and comment on Facebook statuses directly through Skype. The features feel functional rather than gimmicky and provide a seamless incorporation of the two connectors of the social sphere.

Enough discussion; my friends in Australia are getting up and I want to see who's online and ready to hear about my new hot neighbor.

Reasons to Worry about Facebook's Skype Partnership (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 08:27 PM PDT

Kristin Watt Kristin Watt – 1 hr 16 mins ago
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COMMENTARY | Facebook has yet another gadget in its repertoire of tools. Microsoft, which purchased the popular video chat system Skype in May, has now partnered with the influential social networking site Facebook. Instead of just chatting with your Facebook friends, you will now be able to video chat, for free, with them. This is just the first integration that Microsoft has planned for Skype and just another in a line of partnerships between Microsoft and Facebook. Microsoft saw the need to branch out as Google continued to grow in market share for searching and innovation.

I have some concerns with this new chat feature.

This is a good idea for Microsoft and Facebook, but it may be questionable for Facebook users. Most people I know don't use the chat function and would be even less likely to use a video chat function. Most people I know are on Facebook to see what people they know are up to or to play games. While this is a neat new idea, I question how much it will actually be used. I'm not even sure how many people have the tools (webcam, memory, disk space, etc.) to be able to use it.

Many of Facebook's biggest problems stem from privacy issues, and this would be yet another. Although you can turn the video chat feature off, which will also turn off regular chat, you have to do it manually. Instead of making it an opt-in feature, Facebook made it an opt-out. Also there is the problem of spammers being able to access the video chat feature just as they do the regular chat feature. The biggest concern for me is if Facebook will have some block in place to prevent video conversations from being recorded.

This also will inevitably lead to questions concerning children. As children begin to use the social networking site more and more, will there be any safeguards in place to prevent individuals from friend requesting children and video chatting? There could even be problems with children Skyping to each other. Both are especially true if either party decides to record the conversation with or without the other individual's knowledge. This would bring up a whole slew of legal problems not just for the individuals involved but also for Facebook, Skype and Microsoft.

There are many cases where easy video chatting will be helpful and beneficial, but there are reasons to question its use.

Philadelphia newspapers plan to sell subsidized Android tablets (Appolicious)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 03:30 PM PDT

Minnesota Wi-Fi hacker gets 18 years in prison for terrorizing neighbors (Digital Trends)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 08:35 PM PDT

Jeff Hughes Jeff Hughes – 1 hr 8 mins ago

Apple-gavel-antitrust-governement-lawsMinnesota hacker Barry Ardolf was sentenced to an 18-year term in a federal prison this Tuesday. Ardolf had terrorized a neighboring family for two years through a carefully planned campaign involving a hijacked Wi-Fi network to harass, frame and embarrass the next-door neighbors in every facet of their lives.

Ardolf's obsessive passive-aggression was apparently ignited in late 2008 when his neighbors, Matt and Bethany Kostolnik, filed a police report against him. The Kostolniks had a 4-year old son who wandered over to their next-door-neighbors property shortly after moving into the Minnesota suburb of Blaine. Ardolf, 46 and a father of two, had reportedly picked the boy up carried him back to the couple and then kissed the child on the lips. Ardolf was offended when the cops were called and vowed his revenge like every good villain.

The man, a Medtronic computer technician, downloaded a Wi-Fi hacking program to tear into his neighbors WEP encryption. Ardolf created a fake Myspace page as well as several fake emails for Matt Kostolnik. The hacker then posted child porn on the Myspace page and emailed the same child porn to co-workers at Kostolnik's law office.

To top it all off, the Blaine hacker sent death threats to Vice President Joe Biden and other politicians from Kostolnik's Yahoo account. This granted Kostolnik a visit from the secret service who had traced the emails back to his IP address. One of the emails told Biden, "I swear to God I'm going to kill you!"

Ardolf's mischief was detected when a frustrated Kostolnik told bosses he had no clue as to what was going on. The law office hired a firm to poke around the Wi-Fi network and install a packet sniffer to figure it all out. Eventually Ardolf's name and Comcast account were found which gave the FBI a reason to obtain a search warrant for Ardolf's house. They found massive evidence that led to the Blaine hacker being slapped with charges for identity theft, making threats against Biden, possession of child pornography as well as distribution of kiddie-porn.

The FBI also found evidence that Ardolf had staged a similar attack against in a family in Brooklyn Park for parking their cars in front of his house. Ardolf's charges will tag him with lifetime-sex-offender registration requirements and after his release he'll be supervised for 20 years. According to the Pioneer Press, he'll also be restricted when working with computers by his parole officers. The man may have been a nightmare to live next to, but is the 18 years in prison a bit overkill?

Mila Kunis says yes to Marine YouTube date request (AP)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 06:59 PM PDT

By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen, Ap Entertainment Writer – 2 hrs 44 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Marine Sgt. Scott Moore has a big date coming up when he returns from military service in Afghanistan.

The data systems technician gained fame — and apparently a date with actress Mila Kunis — when he posted a video on YouTube last week inviting the "Black Swan" star to accompany him to the Marine Corps Ball in Greenville, N.C., in November. The annual event marks the founding of the Marines in 1775.

Kunis learned of the video during a recent interview with her "Friends With Benefits" co-star, Justin Timberlake, who urged her to fulfill her patriotic duties. Kunis agreed to the date, saying, "I'll go."

Her publicist, Melissa Raubvogel, had no comment Tuesday.

Moore said Tuesday that he made the video after a fellow Marine bet he wouldn't.

Standing on a base in Afghanistan and wearing his uniform and black sunglasses, he says on the 19-second video: "Hey Mila. It's Sergeant Moore, but you can call me Scott. I just wanted to take a moment out of my day to invite you to the Marine Corps Ball on November 18th in Greenville, N.C., with yours truly. So take a second, think about it and get back to me."

He said that though he has not communicated directly with the actress, "I have heard back from her people."

"I'm very excited about the opportunity to share the experience with Ms. Kunis and would like to thank her for accepting my offer," he said.

The corps' anniversary ball is one of the most important events on a Marine's calendar, according to spokeswoman Capt. Kendra Hardesty. Balls are held at bases and less formal celebrations by units in the field to mark the Nov. 10, 1775, founding of the branch.

Balls at garrisons are formal affairs, following a ceremony established in 1952. At each ball, the Marine Corps commandant's birthday message is read, along with a 1921 order issued by Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune summarizing the tradition and mission of the corps.

After that, a cake-cutting ceremony is held in which the first piece is presented to the guest of honor, and then to the oldest Marine present, who in turn passes it to the youngest Marine present.

"This ball will be special not only because of Mila, but also because we will have recently returned from our deployment to Afghanistan," Moore said. He also served in Iraq in 2009.

Kunis won't be the first celebrity to attend a Marine birthday ball. Other Hollywood stars who've attended over the years include action film actor Chuck Norris and R. Lee Ermey, a retired Marine whose most famous role was an intense drill instructor in the film "Full Metal Jacket."

___

Associated Press reporter Tom Breen in Raleigh, N.C.

China Telecom plans to launch iPhone near year-end: sources (Reuters)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 07:52 PM PDT

– 1 hr 51 mins ago

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China Telecom Corp Ltd plans to offer Apple Inc's popular iPhone in China by close to the end of 2011, sources said, making it the second operator to do so in the world's largest mobile phone market.

The move will help China Telecom, the smallest of the country's three telecom operators, cement more 3G users in a competitive market in which handset subsidies offered by carriers are squeezing margins.

China Telecom's shares extended earlier gains to rise as much as 3.4 percent to an intraday high of HK$4.85, outperforming the Hang Seng Index's 0.96 percent gain.

China, which has 896 million mobile phone users -- bigger than the entire population of Europe, has three telecommunications operators -- China Mobile Ltd, China Unicom and China Telecom.

So far, China Unicom is the only operator to sell iPhones after signing a three-year agreement with Apple in 2009, although it is not based on a revenue-sharing scheme, unlike some other operators in other countries.

"The reason telecom operators are fighting for the iPhone business is because everybody is trying to grab as many 3G users as possible," said Jane Wang, an analyst at UK-based research firm Ovum. "The only way to keep costs down is to build up such a user base."

In May, China Telecom Chairman Wang Xiaochu told a news conference that the carrier had contacted Apple to launch the iPhone based on CDMA (code division multiple access) technology.

"It's expected to happen this year. China Telecom already has the required technology and it all hinges on the content of the agreement. As we all know, it's not easy to negotiate with Apple," a source close to the company, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters on Wednesday.

China Telecom was expected to introduce the iPhone in November, said another source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

China Telecom, which operates the country's largest fixed-line network and is a relative newcomer to China's mobile market, with 105.7 million mobile phone users as of May.

Deutsche Bank, in its latest report, maintained a buy rating for the stock with a target price of HK$5.70.

(Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom; Editing by Chris Lewis)

Microsoft Warns End Is Really Coming for XP (NewsFactor)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 04:18 PM PDT

Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Barry Levine, newsfactor.com – Tue Jul 12, 7:18 pm ET

When we last left the venerable Windows XP operating system, it was being abandoned by its parent company even as its many fans cheered it to keep on keepin' on. Now, Microsoft is undertaking a more aggressive campaign to move XP-ers to Windows 7.

Stephen Rose, community manager for Windows, posted a column on the Windows blog on Monday, entitled "With only 1000 days left of extended support, don't you think it's time to retire Windows XP?" After noting that XP "had an amazing run," he pointed out that security patches and hotfixes for all versions of the OS will no longer be available as of April of 2014.

'Lowest Common Denominator'

Rose also said that "many third party software providers are not planning to extend support for their applications running on Windows XP." Put this all together, he said, and it means "more complexity, security risks," and additional management costs to IT departments that still support XP.

This could represent a large number of IT departments, as well as individual users. According to Net Applications, XP is still the OS used on 51 percent of all the PCs on the planet, and some analysts have estimated that XP might represent 60 percent of enterprise PCs.

In addition to removing all security updates, Microsoft has also taken other measures, such as designing its Internet Explorer 9 browser so that it runs on Vista and Windows 7, but not XP. In an unusual twist, new versions of competing browsers, such as Firefox, are continuing to support XP.

Officially, Microsoft has said that it decided not to support XP in IE9 because it will be utilizing graphics acceleration that is not possible under XP. A Microsoft executive has been quoted by news media as saying that supporting XP would have meant "optimizing for the lowest common denominator."

'Can't Force XP Users'

Microsoft's urgency in convincing IT departments and individuals to abandon "the lowest common denominator" otherwise known as XP is driven by the availability of its most recent OS, Windows 7, which is currently on about 27 percent of PCs, as well as the expected launch of Windows 8 next year.

In his blog posting, Rose noted that Windows 7 has been adopted by a wide range of companies, including Boeing, Dell, Samsung, and BMW, among others. But time is running out, he cautioned. Rose cited a recent report by the industry research firm Gartner, which stated that "'more than 50 percent of organizations that do not start deploying Windows 7 by early 2012 will not complete their deployment before Windows XP support ends, and will incur increased support costs."

Laura DiDio, an analyst with Information Technology Intelligence Corp., said that enterprise IT departments "are concerned with the most pressing problems, and, as long as XP is working, they're happy." Some of those, she said, will wait until 2014, or possibly until Windows 8 is out next year, to upgrade.

Microsoft "can't force XP users to move to a new OS before they're ready," she said.

Analysis: Doubt creeps in to tech valuations at Sun Valley (Reuters)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 09:32 AM PDT

By Sarah McBride and Yinka Adegoke Sarah Mcbride And Yinka Adegoke – Tue Jul 12, 12:32 pm ET

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) – When people worry about valuations, Eric Schmidt likes to remind them about Google Inc. The Internet search provider made its stock debut in 2004 at $85 a share, a price tag many at the time thought outlandish.

Seven years on, that number has swelled to north of $500 and Google is the fourth-largest U.S. technology company as measured by market capitalization-- right behind Apple, IBM and Microsoft.

"Everyone said it was an unbelievably high valuation," the company's former CEO and now executive chairman told reporters on the sidelines of the annual Allen & Co summit in Sun Valley, Idaho. "We underpriced!" he joked.

Trouble is, not every company headed to market this year or next -- Groupon, Zynga, Facebook among them -- may become a Google. And recent high-profile debuts have spooked investors by dipping below their IPO prices.

Chinese social network Renren debuted in May at $14 and is now trading around $10. Online music service Pandora, which debuted last month at $16, traded below its IPO price for several days before rebounding.

Some have no qualms calling the current situation a bubble, among them WPP Plc CEO Martin Sorrell. "Internet valuations are crazy," he told Reuters in Sun Valley.

IAC Chairman Barry Diller, known for a willingness to buck conventional wisdom, also described technology stocks as "wildly overpriced."

While underlying businesses at many of the companies, including Facebook, were solid, Sorrell still had doubts about the high prices they command. Investors expect Facebook to have a valuation of around $100 billion by the time it holds an initial public offering early next year.

Investor nervousness is mounting as U.S. economic growth begins to sputter. Early 2011 optimism -- nearly 80 percent more was raised on U.S. equity markets in the first half than in 2010's first six months -- has given way to warnings of a second-half slowdown in the pipeline.

In the tech sector, such fears are particularly relevant given the dot-com crash of 2000, when the likes of theglobe.com, VA Linux and Marketwatch.com rose six- or seven-fold on their debuts, whipped into a frenzy by day traders. Many of those so-called bubble babies quickly burned through their proceeds and subsequently vanished, leaving investors holding the bill.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is now on the lookout for "bubble-era" IPO practices -- such as pricing too low. A combination of first-day trading spikes and razor-thin yields on debt may foster an environment where Wall Street can take advantage of investor demand, SEC enforcement chief Robert Khuzami said last month.

LinkedIn Corp's 109 percent first-day surge even invited some criticism that its investment bankers might not have priced it high enough.

OVER-EXTRAPOLATING

Others have expressed concern about private-company transactions on the secondary market -- created to allow employees of unlisted firms to trade their stock. But Google's Schmidt said analysts were extrapolating overall company valuations from sales of small slivers on secondary markets, which he called "mathematically incorrect."

Recent trades on those unregulated secondary markets, for instance, have accorded Facebook -- undoubtedly one of the most keenly awaited tech sector IPOs -- a valuation of as much as $70 billion -- scores of times its estimated annual revenue.

"If I have one concern, it is probably that secondary markets will end up needing some sort of oversight or regulation if something goes wrong with such lofty valuations," said Jim Robinson, a partner at RRE Ventures.

Former Ning.com CEO Gina Bianchini said high prices were due to scarcity issues rather than irrational investor behavior.

"The IPO market has ballooned because there has been such strong demand from very small floats for social media companies" such as recently listed LinkedIn, she said.

Overall, many industry executives say the bubble is a figment of Nervous Nelly imaginations.

"You're looking at companies with strong fundamentals not only blazing a trail and serving a market need but also generating cash flows," said Steven Boal, CEO of 13-year-old Coupons.com, which recently raised $200 million, valuing the business at more than $1 billion.

"To me, that's the anti-bubble."

(Reporting by Sarah McBride and Yinka Adegoke, editing by Edwin Chan and Matthew Lewis)
at 9:55 PM

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