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Friday, August 5, 2011

Google, Microsoft goes public with patent spat (AP) : Technet

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Google, Microsoft goes public with patent spat (AP) : Technet

Google, Microsoft goes public with patent spat (AP)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 02:12 PM PDT

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay, Ap Technology Writer – Fri Aug 5, 5:12 pm ET

NEW YORK – Tech heavyweights Microsoft and Google are acting like a couple of feuding starlets in a public online spat over — wait for it — patents.

It's not the first time Microsoft and Google have gone at each other's throats, nor is it likely the last.

But with Twitter and blog posts, the dispute is playing out in public in a way that wasn't possible in 2005, when lawsuits over an employee Google hired from Microsoft revealed the bitter rivalry between the two.

Now, Google is accusing Microsoft, Apple and others of launching a "hostile organized campaign" against its Android operating system, which runs smartphones that compete with iPhones, BlackBerrys and Windows-based mobile devices.

At issue are thousands of patents from Novell Inc., a maker of computer-networking software, and Nortel Networks, a Canadian telecom gear maker that is bankrupt and is selling itself off in pieces. Last month, a consortium that includes Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. prevailed over Google Inc. with a $4.5 billion cash bid for the Nortel patents.

Google lost out after a strange bidding process that included what published reports said was an offer for a billion times the mathematical constant "pi."

"Their response seems to be to whine about the process," technology analyst Rob Enderle said.

Enderle was referring to a scathing blog post by Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond, who wrote on Wednesday that Microsoft was banding with others to acquire "bogus patents" to make sure Google can't get to them.

"They want to make it harder for manufacturers to sell Android devices," Drummond wrote. "Instead of competing by building new features or devices, they are fighting through litigation."

Not so fast, says Microsoft, which brought the feud to Twitter. There, Microsoft's communications chief, Frank Shaw, posted an image of an email from Google's general counsel, Kent Walker, declining to join Microsoft in the consortium to bid for the patents.

The email was sent to Microsoft's own general counsel, Brad Smith, who also chimed in. Smith wrote to his 2,000-plus Twitter followers that "Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no."

Shaw offered a reason in another Twitter post: "Why? BECAUSE they wanted to buy something that they could use to assert against someone else."

Enderle says it's no secret that Microsoft and Google don't like each other.

Microsoft has banded with another Google rival, Facebook, to include data from the online social network in Microsoft's search engine, Bing. Google can't do that because Facebook erected barriers preventing Google's search engine from indexing all the data on its network.

And earlier this year, Microsoft complained about Google to the European Commission in its first formal antitrust complaint against a rival. Microsoft accused Google of abusing its dominance of online search and advertising.

Then there was the 2005 incident, in which, according to court documents, Microsoft's boisterous CEO, Steve Ballmer, threw a chair and vowed to "kill" Google in an obscenity-laced tirade over the online search leader's hiring of Kai-Fu Lee. Lee helped develop Microsoft's MSN Internet search technology, including desktop search software rivaling Google's. He left the company that July after Google offered him a $10 million compensation package. He has since left Google, too.

So far, the patent feud has lacked obscenities, at least in public.

But the verbal tirade continued Thursday when Drummond updated his blog post to say that Microsoft is trying to divert attention from the real issue and push a "false `gotcha!'" instead.

"Microsoft's objective has been to keep from Google and Android device-makers any patents that might be used to defend against their attacks. A joint acquisition of the Novell patents that gave all parties a license would have eliminated any protection these patents could offer to Android against attacks from Microsoft and its bidding partners," he wrote.

Enderle says Google needs to grow up, and part of that process is that "they've got to get through the whining stage."

Google had the chance and refused to participate. Now, it is calling the process unfair, Enderle said, "which is something you can do as a little company but probably not when you yourself are a multinational."

Google and Microsoft told The Associated Press that they had no comment beyond the public statements.

Video rentals top sales for first time since 2000 (AP)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 08:02 PM PDT

By RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer Ryan Nakashima, Ap Business Writer – 1 hr 17 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Americans spent more money renting home movies than buying them in the second quarter, marking only the second time that's happened in the DVD era. The big switch in consumer behavior shows the rising popularity of cheap alternatives like Netflix and Redbox and suggests people are pinching pennies in this economy.

Rental revenue rose 11 percent from a year ago to $2.06 billion, while sales of discs and digital purchases fell 15 percent to $1.93 billion in the three months through June, according to a report released Friday by The Digital Entertainment Group, an industry consortium of studios and electronics makers.

The resurgence of rentals is noticeable mainly because the DEG started including subscription plans such as Netflix's in the rental category this year, said executive director Amy Jo Smith. Still, she said consumer behavior is changing.

"It's not just from sell-through to rental. But people are looking at different ways of consuming media at home," she said.

The last time rental revenues beat purchases was in 2000, before people slowed their rentals of VHS tapes from shops like Blockbuster and began buying more DVDs — which at around $20 seemed like a bargain. The DVD first came out in 1995 and led to a revolution where people replaced their home libraries of video cassettes for the thinner, lighter discs that lasted longer. That gave a huge boost to movie studios' profits.

Now, broadband Internet access and connected devices put high-definition movies onto the big screen in people's living rooms. That has left the DVD looking quaint, and DVD sales have steadily fallen. Gains in sales of high-definition Blu-ray discs haven't made up the shortfall. Brick-and-mortar store giant Blockbuster went bankrupt before being bought by Dish Network Corp. in April.

Alternatives such as Netflix Inc.'s streaming service or $1-a-night rental kiosks such as Redbox have "taken a pretty big (bite) out of purchasing," said Tom Adams, principal analyst and director of U.S. media for IHS Screen Digest.

Adams said purchases will make a comeback around the winter holidays, however.

He expects purchases, including of movies, TV shows and video on Blu-ray discs to amount to $9.9 billion this year, versus $8.1 billion for all rentals. The rise of rentals is not slowing down, though. Adams sees rental revenue topping purchases on an annual basis in 2014 by $9.3 billion to $8.5 billion.

It's a trend that Hollywood would like to stop, because studios make more profit from direct sales of discs or digital copies than they do from rentals.

Several major studios have adopted a standard called UltraViolet, which will soon allow consumers to access digital copies of movies on distant servers known as the cloud when they buy DVDs or Blu-ray discs. The system is expected to launch this fall. Several studios hope the system will help spur digital sales, which have been growing very slowly and made up just 3 percent of the $3.99 billion of U.S. home entertainment spending in the second quarter.

Tecca TV: Ghost cars, beer-loving robots, the most awesome LEGO creation of all time and more (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 06:47 PM PDT

Post-it note war declared, rages on between French office buildings (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 06:41 PM PDT

Volunteer Matching Service Helps You Donate Your Professional Skills (Mashable)

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 04:14 PM PDT

Sarah Kessler Sarah Kessler – Thu Aug 4, 7:14 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: Catchafire

[More from Mashable: iPhone App Is a Mobile Marketplace for Local Arts & Crafts]

Quick Pitch: Catchafire matches volunteers and social good organizations for pro bono work.

Genius Idea: Carving out a niche for pro bono work instead of compiling a general volunteer database.

[More from Mashable: 3 Terrific Tools for Social & Mobile Viewing Audiences]

Catchafire founder Rachael Chong is not especially well-suited for building houses. As a physically not-large person, her hoisting power is relatively limited, and she doesn't consider herself to have any particular carpentry skills. So why, when she had valuable skills in finance and business that she was willing to share, was she tacking on shingles for Habitat for Humanity -- a cause she believed in but nonetheless frustrated her?

"People weren't looking [for volunteers with those skills]," she says. "It made me feel like I couldn't be in corporate America and give back at the same time, which isn't true."

It's not that social good organizations didn't need skills like hers -- it's that they weren't necessarily sure where to look for them. A 2009 survey(.pdf) of 300 nonprofit executives by Deloitte found that 97% of them didn't know whom within a company to approach about pro bono work. Ninety-five percent of them said they didn't know which companies to approach.

Chong started to see a solution to this problem as she assigned friends small pro bono projects for a nonprofit she joined after leaving the corporate world. With what she learned from that experience, she launched Catchafire in September.

The website matches professionals who have skills they'd like to volunteer with organizations that need work done. While established volunteer sites like idealist and volunteermatch already had vast databases (VolunteerMatch boasts listings from 79,000 nonprofit organizations), Chong wanted to take a more personal approach that the company has dubbed "eHarmony for volunteering."

Volunteers fill out profiles that detail their interests and skills, and Catchafire sends them projects that might be a good match.

Catchafire projects span a smaller niche than database-style volunteering websites. They are usually about 30-to-80 hour projects that involve professional skills, can be completed by one person in three months, and have a clear deliverable. Chong, for instance, is currently working on a fundraising plan for an organization called Youth Challenge America.

About 1,700 social good organizations and 10,000 volunteers have registered for the service. Just as Idealist charges U.S.-based organizations per volunteer posting, Catchafire makes money by charging organizations a subscription fee that varies depending on their size.

"It is not uncommon to have your time wasted when volunteering," Chong says of the decision to make Catchafire a company instead of a nonprofit. "[Paying a subscription fee] shows organizations are willing to put skin in the game to make this worthwhile."

Image courtesy of istockphoto, BirdofPrey

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.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Playboy partners with online porn company Manwin (Reuters)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 03:47 PM PDT

Microsoft: We've Cut Hotmail, Internet Spam Significantly (PC Magazine)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 10:35 AM PDT

Mark Hachman - PC Magazine Mark Hachman - Pc Magazine – Fri Aug 5, 1:35 pm ET

Microsoft claimed Friday to have cut spam within its Hotmail Webmail program by a significant amount, as much as 90 percent from its peak. But, in general, nearly 80 percent of all email is spam, its study found.

While a general trend line from a Microsoft-generated chart seems to confirm the company's findings that the average amount of spam per Hotmail inbox is about 3 percent, the amount of spam within Hotmail isn't at its lowest point. Still, the company claimed to have come a long way.

"Way back in 2006, Hotmail had a big spam problem, and we got a deservedly bad reputation for it," Dick Craddock, group program manager for Hotmail, wrote in a blog post. "Since then, we've made amazing advances, and over the last few years, we've wrestled the spammers to the ground."

Hotmail has made strides in both the amount of spam that clogs a typical Hotmail inbox, reducing it from a peak of about 30 percent of in mid-2006 to a low of almost zero in both April of 2010 and 2011. Since October 2008, the amount of Hotmail spam has generally dwindled from about 9 percent to its current point of about 3 percent. Last year, a typical Hotmail inbox contained about 5 percent of spam.

Craddock also made the rather dubious boast that Microsoft's spam-fighting techniques, known as SmartScreen, had cut the total amount of spam on the Internet by 15 percent from its peak; At present, Microsoft's estimates claim that between 75 percent and 80 percent of all email sent on the Internet is spam.

Craddock said that fighting spam is a combination of both attacking botnets – global spam levels fell a third after Microsoft and others shut down the Rustock botnet – and aggressive filtering.

Between 2006 and 2009, we dropped true SITI from 35% to under 5% with a variety of investments including connection-time filtering, content filtering, blocklist and safelist preferences, and more,' Craddock wrote. "Of course, the spammers continue to come and continue to get more and more clever. But we've not only held the spammers at bay, we've actually reduced SITI even more."

As most email users know, Hotmail is also used to deliver spam. Microsoft said that it has used techniques such as assigning particualar accounts reputation scores, throttling the number of free Hotmail accounts, content filters, as well as user-focused techniques like forcing stronger passwords and adding a "my friend's been hacked!" features.

FBI accelerates the search for missing children with 'FBI Child ID' app (Digital Trends)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 08:13 PM PDT

Mike Flacy Mike Flacy – 1 hr 5 mins ago

FBI-missing-child-app

Titled the FBI Child ID app for the iPhone, the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched their first app today to help parents speed up the process of contacting the authorities in the event that a child goes missing. The app requires a mobile device with a camera and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad 2 and iPod Touch. The moment that a child vanishes, the parent can open the app and tap a couple buttons to contact the FBI, 911 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

FBI-missing-child-app-informationParents have to document vital stats about their child including height, weight, name, nicknames, ethnicity, date of birth, home address and a variety of other important information that assist police in locating the lost child. Parents also take a photo of the child with the mobile device and send that along with the stats. The FBI plans to add support for using pictures stored on the device, thus allowing parents to use photos taken with another camera and sent to the mobile device via email or a direct transfer. The app also contains tips about the best steps that a parent can take after losing a child.

The FBI stressed that data about the child isn't stored by the organization or Apple. The only way information about the child can be viewed by the FBI is if the user of the application sends it. Beyond the iPhone, the FBI has plans to bring the application to other mobile devices including Android and BlackBerry phones. Another likely step with the application would be sending GPS data when parents transfer data to help local police forces locate the user of the app. Early criticism on the Apple App Store focuses on the lack of password protection on the app. Without password protection, it's possible that a child's data could mistakenly or maliciously be sent to the FBI resulting in a false police report.

Verizon 4G comparison: HTC ThunderBolt vs. LG Revolution vs. Samsung Droid Charge (Digital Trends)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 02:23 PM PDT

Jeffrey Van Camp Jeffrey Van Camp – Fri Aug 5, 5:23 pm ET

So you've heard of Verizon's new 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) network, and you want in. Maybe you're a Verizon customer and your contract has run out, or maybe you're planning to switch to Verizon from another carrier. Bottom line: you want a 4G smartphone and you don't know which one to pick. We're here to help.

Verizon's 4G network has been up and running for a few months and there are currently three different phones to choose from, with a fourth coming soon. The LG Revolution, HTC ThunderBolt, and Samsung Droid Charge can be found at any Verizon retail store and we recommend you try all three out. The Motorola Droid Bionic will be coming at some point in August. Before you make your decision, however, you may want to read our notes on the three phones. These impressions come from hands-on time spent with all three devices.

What is better about Verizon 4G?

I could go into detail, but I already have in our 4G guide. Check it out to learn what makes Verizon's 4G LTE network different from Sprint's 4G WiMax network and what separates both of them from the supposed 4G networks of AT&T and T-Mobile. For the sake of brevity though, Verizon's 4G is currently much faster than any other network because it uses a next-generation technology called LTE.

Downsides to all first-generation LTE phones

Fat: Being on the bleeding edge of technology means you're going to hurt a bit. Verizon's 4G LTE network is still in its infancy, as is the wireless receiving technology that is embedded into all of these phones. The components needed to connect to the network are expensive, large, and handset manufacturers haven't had much experience with them yet. As such, all three of these phones have some noticeable drawbacks when compared to some high-end 3G phones coming out. All three of these phones are a bit fatter and thicker than their 3G equivalents. They aren't huge, mind you, but they're about as fat as smartphones were two or three years ago.

Android 2.2: Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) updates are finally coming to many devices, but all three of these phones are still running Android 2.2 (Froyo) for now, and that's no fun. Gingerbread adds some nice polish to Android and seems to manage battery life better as well, among other things. Some of the features of Gingerbread can be found here and here.

Battery life: All three of these phones have been criticized for having short battery life. Most users have learned how to toggle 4G on and off to save battery or have invested in extra battery packs or simply charged their phone more often, but not one of these devices manages power as well as a competitive 3G phone.

Single-core: While many high-end 3G phones are dual-core, all of these phones are single-core, meaning you are working with about as much power as the 1GHz smartphones that came out a year ago. The Droid Bionic, we hear, may be the first dual-core 4G phone on Verizon.

With that out of the way, let̢۪s breakdown the competition.

HTC ThunderBolt

The HTC ThunderBolt was the first 4G LTE device on Verizon and is still probably the most famous and best-selling of the bunch. At one point, Verizon representatives estimated that it was outselling the iPhone 4 on the network and HTC has reported strong demand for the phone.

htc-thunderbolt-views

Price: $250 with two-year contract

Good: HTC's Sense UI is probably the best of any manufacturer and HTC's included apps are quite useful compared to the others. We also like the phone's kickstand, which makes it possible to watch movies on the phone. The ThunderBolt also has a good feel to it, and feels more solid than plastic phones like the Droid Charge. The phone has 768MB of RAM—more than the competition.

Bad: The phone had some random reboot problems, though they have been fixed. The ThunderBolt is also the thickest of the three phones, but not by much. Finally, it has the weakest battery of the bunch at 1400mAh capacity.

Samsung Droid Charge

Having seen the issues arising with the ThunderBolt, Samsung took better care to improve battery life on the Droid Charge, the second 4G LTE phone on Verizon. Read our full review of the Droid Charge to get a complete rundown on the phone.

samsung-droid-charge-views

Price: $300 with two-year contract

Good: For some reason, the Droid Charge seems to connect at even faster speeds than the ThunderBolt (and much faster than the Revolution) in our NYC testing. It also has the largest battery at 1600mAh and gets noticeably better life than the ThunderBolt. It comes with a 32GB MicroSD card preinstalled, which is huge. Finally, the Droid Charge has a great Super AMOLED screen that is brighter than either of the other two phones.

Bad: It's the most expensive of the three phones, and we don't like how slippery and plasticy the Droid Charge shell feels. Despite the preinstalled microSD card, the phone only has 2GB of internal storage. Samsung's TouchWiz interfact is certainly better than some, but we don't like the color combinations and the whole experience is a bit disjointed when compared to HTC's Sense.

LG Revolution

LG was the third entrant into the 4G LTE game and when it decided to call its phone "Revolution" it may not have been referring to the 4G. Nope. This is an Android phone that doesn't have Google services. It runs on Bing.

lg-revolution-views

Price: $200 with two-year contract

Good: The LG Revolution is, by far, our favorite phone to play with, of the three. Its screen has some kind of magical slick coating to it, and the overall construction of the phone is solid. It also has a decent battery and 16GB of internal storage. We also don't mind the look and design of LG's custom Android user interface.

Bad: We'd be keen to recommend the LG if it didn't have one crippling huge flaw: It's a Google Android phone, but it runs on Bing…yes, Bing. Much like the Samsung Fascinate, LG has taken advantage of Verizon's ties to Bing and made it the sole search provider for the phone. Not only does this feel like a bit of a slap in the face to Google (they did offer the OS for free, after all), Bing just isn't as good as Google's services. You'll have to dig around the Android Market to save yourself from Bing Maps and use all of the Google services you expect on an Android phone, but no matter what you do, we haven't found a way to remove Bing as the default search for the phone. How depressing. Aside from that, the camera is 5 megapixels, meaning its slightly less capable than the 8-megapixel cameras on the other two devices. For some reason, the Revolution seems to get slower 4G connections than the other two, at least in upper Manhattan where we tested it.

Our pick: Samsung Droid Charge

The Droid Charge is not the best looking Android phone we've seen, but we think it's the most well-rounded 4G device currently on the market. It gets good enough battery life that you shouldn't have the itching desire to return it after a week, and the screen is much brighter and more vivid than the other two devices. Samsung's TouchWiz UI isn't great, but it isn't bad either, and the camera on the phone is solid, pulling in good color and with more accurate brightness compared to other manufacturers. It is the most costly of the bunch, but the 32GB memory card helps ease the pain.

With that said, the HTC ThunderBolt is certainly a decent phone as well and, hey, if you are okay using Bing as your search engine, we highly recommend the LG Revolution. It's the cheapest phone of the bunch, and pretty decent in most every category.

The Droid Bionic is coming out in the next few weeks. We'll make sure to update this article when it arrives.

Las Vegas man accused of mass spamming on Facebook (AP)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 04:07 PM PDT

By LOUISE CHU, Associated Press Louise Chu, Associated Press – Fri Aug 5, 7:07 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – A Las Vegas man accused of sending more than 27 million spam messages to Facebook users faces federal fraud and computer tampering charges that could send him to prison for more than 40 years, according to a grand jury indictment.

Sanford Wallace, the self-proclaimed "Spam King," pleaded not guilty during an initial court appearance Thursday after being indicted July 6 on six counts of electronic mail fraud, three counts of intentional damage to a protected computer and two counts of criminal contempt.

The indictment filed in San Jose federal court said Wallace compromised about 500,000 Facebook accounts between November 2008 and March 2009 by sending massive amounts of spam through the company's servers on three separate occasions.

Wallace would collect Facebook user account information by sending "phishing" messages that tricked users of the social networking site into providing their passwords, the indictment said.

He would then use that information to log into their accounts and post spam messages on their friends' Facebook walls, the indictment said. Those who clicked on the link, thinking it came from their friend, were redirected to websites that paid Wallace for the Internet traffic.

In 2009, Palo Alto-based Facebook sued Wallace under federal anti-spam laws known as CAN-SPAM, prompting a judge to issue a temporary restraining order banning him from using the website. The indictment alleges he violated that order within a month, prompting the criminal contempt charges.

The judge in the lawsuit ultimately issued a default judgment against Wallace for $711 million, one of the largest-ever anti-spam awards, and referred him for possible criminal prosecution.

The indictment came after a two-year investigation of Wallace by the FBI, prosecutors said.

"We will continue to pursue and support both civil and criminal consequences for spammers or others who attempt to harm Facebook or the people who use our service," Chris Sonderby, Facebook's lead security and investigations counsel, said in a statement.

Wallace was released after posting $100,000 bond Thursday, and he's due back in court on Aug. 22.

"Mr. Wallace looks forward to defending himself," his lawyer, K.C. Maxwell, said Friday, declining further comment.

Wallace, 43, earned the monikers "Spam King" and "Spamford" as head of a company named Cyber Promotions that sent as many as 30 million junk e-mails per day in the 1990s.

In May 2008, social networking site MySpace won a $230 million judgment over junk messages sent to its members when a Los Angeles federal judge ruled against Wallace and his partner, Walter Rines, in another case brought under the same anti-spam laws cited in the Facebook lawsuit.

In 2006, Wallace was fined $4 million after the Federal Trade Commission accused him of running an operation that infected computers with software that caused flurries of pop-up ads, known as spyware.

If convicted on all counts in the latest criminal case, Wallace could faces more than 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine.

Huge rare earth minerals deposit springs from tiny Nebraska hamlet (Digital Trends)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 07:58 PM PDT

Jeff Hughes Jeff Hughes – 1 hr 20 mins ago

samarium via national geographicUS geeks rejoice, a tiny southeastern Nebraska hamlet may be your salvation. A report says that Elk Creek, Neb. may be home to the world's largest untapped rare earth mineral deposit. These expensive and hard to mine minerals are very important to modern gadgets, and the discovery means less dependance on foreign supplies.

Last week, preliminary test drilling results in Elk Creek by the Canadian Quantum Rare Earths Developments Corp. showed a significant chunk of rare earth minerals as well as niobium according to the Washington Times.

Niobium is a steel strengthener vital to aerospace and automotive industries. For automobile owners, niobium helps keep cars stay light and gas-efficient. The rare earth minerals are important because they are used in many TVs and laptops as well as in tablets, smartphones, laser pointers, disk drives, wind turbines and electric car batteries among other things.

Quantum's CEO Peter Dickie said, "Without these minerals, our cellphones would be 3 pounds."

The 112 people in the Nebraska village have been very excited about the boom in their economy due to this recent attention. The potential mining foray would be the first in the country in 10 years.

Rare earth minerals are actually plentiful but spread out, making it not worth the expense of setting up mining operations. What is rare is finding high concentrations worth mining. China currently has a stranglehold on supply with a huge 97% of the market, making many nations heavily dependent on them for the 17 minerals said to be rare earths. The US also gets much of their niobium from Brazil.

Studies actually show that the US has about 13 million metric tons of rare earth minerals. The problem comes from obtaining permits to mine; however, a new bill approved last month by the House Natural Resources Committee aims to ensure a steady supply in case of a normal supply chain breakdown.

 

iOS a hit on planes, but mind your manners please (Appolicious)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 03:00 PM PDT

Movirtu to open up mobile phone numbers to developing world (Digital Trends)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 01:44 PM PDT

Caleb Garling Caleb Garling – Fri Aug 5, 4:44 pm ET

While the computing manufacturers and NGOs continue searching for ways to bring connectivity to the developing world, mobile phones have had little problem penetrating the market. Cell towers and phone have made their way to some of the most remote regions of the globe. However, one of the problems is that many callers borrow phones and therefore never have a discernable identity.

Movirtu plans to change this by providing over 3 million people living in poverty in Africa and South Asia with a personal phone number—regardless of whether they own a phone. They would instead login from any phone to Cloud Phone, as the service is being titled, to make calls, gather information or even performs simple banking or transactions, essentially creating new online identities.

Movirtu made this pledge to the United Nation Development Programme's Business Call to Action (BCtA).

"By providing low-income communities with access to secure mobile accounts and identities, Movirtu is helping to bridge the divide between those that have easy access to mobile phones and those that rely on community phones or paying a borrower's premium to friends to meet their communication needs," Amanda Gardiner, BCtA Acting Program Manager, said in a press release.

By early 2013 Movirtu plans to implement their technology in over 13 markets across Africa and South Asia.

One of the great benefits will be increased mobile phone access for women. According to global mobile operator association GSMA, low-income women in these regions are up to 21 percent less likely to have mobile phone access than a man.

The benefit obviously works both ways. With more "defined" users in developing countries, businesses can begin targeting services and products to users when they access Cloud Phone.

(Photo courtesy of caribbeanfreephoto)

Netflix reaches 1 million members in Canada (Digital Trends)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 09:58 AM PDT

Geoff Duncan Geoff Duncan – Fri Aug 5, 12:58 pm ET

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings

Back in September 2010, Netflix first launched streaming video service to Canadian customers; today, the company is proudly touting that it has signed up its one millionth streaming customer in Canada, Amanda Bell James of the delightfully named (and delightfully remote) mining town of Flin Flon, on the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border.

"We're thrilled that Canadians have embraced Netflix so rapidly, and we're equally proud to have welcomed one million members in such a short period," said Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings, in a statement. "Our focus remains on building up the breadth and range of movies and TV shows to watch instantly, as well as constantly improving the experience, and we look forward to welcoming many more new members."

Netflix's streaming service in Canada operates much like the U.S. service, offering members unlimited access to an ever-shifting pool of streaming content using a variety of devices (computers, Internet TVs, game consoles, portable devices, and more), Netflix streaming service in Canada is priced at CAN$7.99 per month: slightly more expensive than the U.S. bare-bones streaming service, since the Canadian dollar is currently worth more than the U.S. dollar.

Netflix streaming service in Canada has not been without its hiccups: last March, the company admitted it had reduced the quality of video streams it sends to Canadian subscribers to help them stay under broadband usage caps.

Netflix does not offer a DVD-by-mail service in Canada, so Canadians don't have to worry about Netflix's newly-announced price hikes that will see some U.S. customers paying up to 60 percent more to have both streaming and DVD-by-mail service.

HP offers TouchPad on discount month after launch (Reuters)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 03:19 PM PDT

– Fri Aug 5, 6:19 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard Co is offering a hefty discount on its TouchPad tablet a month after it launched the WebOS-based mobile device in a booming market dominated by Apple Inc's iPad.

The company is offering an instant rebate of $100 on its website for both its 16 GB and 32 GB tablet versions, bringing their price down to $400 and $500, respectively.

This makes the TouchPad $100 cheaper than Apple's entry-level iPad.

HP has not revealed any sales figures on the tablet that launched in July along with a celebrity-studded marketing campaign. But the 9.7-inch tablet got off to a tepid start after critics assailed the TouchPad for poor battery life, slow processing speed and paucity of apps.

A HP spokesperson said the discount, which runs from August 5-7, was part of the company's regular seasonal promotions.

"We're excited to offer the promotion and deepen our commitment to deliver competitive products at competitive prices," she said in a statement.

The entry-level TouchPad is also being offered on Woot.com, a daily-deal site, at a further discount of $20.

Much of a mobile device's success is based on a robust ecosystem of apps, and HP is far behind Apple or Google's Android platform in the number of apps available.

The tablet was launched following HP's $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm and its WebOS platform last year with the hope the operating software will be incorporated into all the company's mobile devices and applications.

Shares of HP ended up 9 cents at $32.63 in a wildly volatile day on the New York Stock Exchange and other markets.

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Bernard Orr and Richard Chang)

China Denies Launching Shady RAT Cyberattacks (NewsFactor)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 02:17 PM PDT

Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com Jennifer Leclaire, newsfactor.com – Fri Aug 5, 5:17 pm ET

When McAfee's report about massive global cyberattacks hit the news media, many observers were quick to point to China as the culprit. Now China is speaking out -- and aggressively denying the claims.

The People's Daily, the state-run newspaper in China, cited Chinese officials as condemning the accusations and said they don't "hold water." "It is irresponsible to link China to Internet hackers," Chinese officials said.

The People's Daily wrote, "China has been accused by the United States, Canada and other nations of spearheading online attacks on government agencies as well as companies, although the Beijing government has always denied this."

Then Who Dunnit?

McAfee issued a report called Operation Shady RAT earlier this week, noting that hackers had penetrated U.S. government agencies, foreign governments, the United Nations, and defense contractors and tech companies. McAfee named 72 targets Shady RAT took down since July 2006.

Almost immediately, news reports emerged blaming China for the attacks. Jim Lewis, a cyber expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters, "Everything points to China. It could be the Russians, but there is more that points to China than Russia."

As Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, sees it, McAfee is extremely careful about the way it triangulates data and tracks it back to its source. With that in mind, he is placing credence in the report. If the intrusions aren't coming from China, he said, someone is doing a good job of covering their tracks and suggesting that the fault lies with the Chinese.

"It really comes down to the increasing complexity and danger of online threats and also the degree to which organizations and states are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the way that they break through security firewalls and either steal data or poke around and find items of interest and value," King said.

"I do think the sheer scope of this latest report is troublesome," he added. "No matter where the threat is coming from, the public- and private-sector agencies that have been affected need to take it very seriously."

Symantec Reviews Report

Meanwhile, Symantec published a response to McAfee in a blog post called The Truth Behind the Shady RAT. Symantec's conclusion: While this attack is indeed significant, it's one of many similar attacks taking place daily.

"Even as we speak, there are other malware groups targeting many other organizations in a similar manner in order to gain entry and pilfer secrets. While there is a need for information, there will always be those ready to supply it," Symantec's Hon Lau wrote.

"We may not always know the true motivations and identities of those behind these attacks, but we can work to exploit mistakes they make in order to get a better view of what they are doing and bring us one step closer to tracking them down."

Lee Enterprise's falling value results in 3Q loss (AP)

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 05:22 PM PDT

– Fri Aug 5, 8:22 pm ET

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Lee Enterprises Inc., publisher of the St Louis Post-Dispatch and more than 40 other daily newspapers, had a net loss of $156 million in the latest quarter because of a steep drop in its market value.

Accounting rules required Lee to make a noncash adjustment in the fiscal third quarter to show its holdings are worth less. The revisions were triggered by a sell-off in Lee's stock that is threatening to cost the publisher its listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The loss translated to $3.46 per share, based on preliminary results announced Friday for the 13 weeks ending June 26. The numbers could change because Lee still is calculating the adjustment required. Lee earned $10 million, or 22 cents per share, at the same time last year.

Lee recorded $162 million in after-tax charges, mostly for the drop in market value. Excluding that, Lee said it would have earned 21 cents in this year's quarter compared with 26 cents per share last year.

The charges reflect debt worries that have been dogging the company in recent months.

The specter of a bankruptcy filing is hanging over Lee because it hasn't been able to refinance about $1 billion in debt left over from a 2005 acquisition that included the Post-Dispatch, the largest of the company's newspapers.

The $1 billion is due to be repaid in April 2012. Lee had just $24 million in available cash as of June 26 and its main source of revenue — advertising — is falling.

The company, based in Davenport, Iowa, set out to refinance the debt in April, only to back off a month later after meeting with about 150 investors and lenders across the country. Lee CEO Mary Junck told shareholders in a May letter that she was unwilling to agree to refinancing terms that she considered unreasonable. Junck is a member of the The Associated Press' board of directors.

"We are making good progress in discussions with our lenders toward a meaningful extension of our credit agreement," Junck said Friday in a statement accompanying the company's latest results. "We have been gratified by their interest and support and look forward to a satisfactory outcome."

Her message of reassurance came two days after The Wall Street Journal reported that two of Lee's major creditors, banker Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and distressed debt specialist Monarch Alternative Capital, are supporting a refinancing plan that would enable the company to avoid a bankruptcy filing.

If it can't win the backing of most of its creditors, the Journal reported, Lee will try to gain support for a reorganization plan before it files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in hopes that the company would be able to emerge from court protection more quickly. The Journal cited unnamed people familiar with the talks. Lee spokesman Dan Hayes declined to comment Friday.

Investors have already signaled their belief that Lee is destined for a date in bankruptcy court.

At the beginning of July, the 30-day trading average of the company's stock fell below $1. That drew a notice from The New York Stock Exchange, saying it will stop listing Lee's shares unless management can get the price back above $1 by early next year. Lee's shares closed Friday at 81 cents, up 2 cents. The quarterly results came after the market closed.

Before the entire newspaper industry entered a steep advertising slide in 2006, Lee's stock was trading in the $35 to $40 range.

What happened in the latest quarter is unlikely to improve Lee's negotiating leverage. The company's revenue fell 4.6 percent from the same time last year to $187 million. If last year's results hadn't included a book publishing division that Lee has since sold, the company's revenue would have been down 4.2 percent. Even that figure is worse than the declines of 3.8 percent and 1 percent in Lee's previous two quarters.

Like other newspaper publishers, Lee has been hurt by the Great Recession, a feeble recovery and a broad shift that has driven advertising from print to less expensive alternatives on the Internet. Lee's ad revenue fell by 5.6 percent it its latest quarter. Digital advertising revenue increased 22 percent, but it's only 12 percent of the total.

As it struggles to cope with less revenue, Lee has been eliminated jobs and cutting other costs. As of June 26, Lee employed about 5,800 full-time workers, down nearly 5 percent, or about 300 workers from the previous year.
at 9:45 PM

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