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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Netflix stock falls as talks on Starz deal unravel (AP) : Technet

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Netflix stock falls as talks on Starz deal unravel (AP) : Technet

Netflix stock falls as talks on Starz deal unravel (AP)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 05:39 PM PDT

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE and RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Technology Writers Michael Liedtke And Ryan Nakashima, Ap Technology Writers – Thu Sep 1, 8:39 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Netflix's negotiations to keep a key piece of its Internet video library have collapsed, dealing a major blow to the largest U.S. video subscription service as it raises the prices for most of its 25 million customers. The setback triggered a nearly 9 percent drop in Netflix Inc.'s stock price.

Starz Entertainment delivered the bad news Thursday in a terse statement announcing that it won't renew a contract that allows Netflix to show a lineup of recently released movies and TV shows over high-speed Internet connections.

That means Starz content will be removed from Netflix's streaming service starting in March. Starz' library includes movies from Walt Disney Co.'s assorted studios and, until recently, Sony Corp.

The talks fell apart after the two sides disagreed over the value of the Starz content and how it should be sold to Netflix subscribers, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The people asked not to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

The content from Starz' cable TV channel played an instrumental role in increasing usage of Netflix's Internet service and helped Netflix add nearly 17 million subscribers since the deal was signed in October 2008.

That growth probably wouldn't have happened without the boost that the Starz deal gave to Netflix streaming, said Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tony Wible.

"What created (Netflix's success in streaming) is frankly, initially getting Starz, getting that content, which got you more subscribers, which allowed you to buy more content," Wible said. "The virtuous cycle that has made Netflix what it is could work against it. If you lose content, you lose subscribers; ... it could be a downward spiral from here."

Netflix had been expected to work out a new contract with Starz, although at a much higher price than the estimated $30 million a year that it had been paying under the current agreement. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acknowledged earlier this year that the company might have to pay as much as $250 million a year to retain the Starz rights when the current contract expires in February.

But those hopes were dashed, if not blown up completely, with Thursday's bombshell dropped by Starz CEO Chris Albrecht.

The timing of the announcement was seen a way to kick Netflix in the shins at a particularly vulnerable time. It came on the first day of a new Netflix pricing system that will hit U.S. subscribers with price increase of as much as 60 percent if they want to continue to get DVD rentals through the mail along with unlimited streaming of Internet video. The new pricing system has incensed a large group of Netflix subscribers who have threatened to cancel their accounts, a backlash that could intensify if it looks like Netflix's streaming library is becoming less attractive.

Albrecht said Starz had decided against a renewal "to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content."

The contract renewal talks broke down when Netflix refused to meet demands that could have driven up the annual licensing rights to $300 million or more, according to one person familiar with the negotiations.

A major sticking point arose when Starz insisted its content be corralled on a higher-price tier, another person said. Instead of making their content available to any Netflix subscriber paying just $8 per month, Starz executives wanted viewership limited to people paying at least $16 per month for a package that bundles DVD rentals with Internet video.

That stipulation was seen as a way to preserve Starz' relationship with cable and satellite TV distributors, who include Starz in channel packages that cost far more than the $8 monthly fee for Netflix streaming. Albrecht said Starz, part of Liberty Media Corp., is in an "excellent position" to make more money from other sources besides Netflix.

Netflix tried to downplay the possible loss of the Starz relationship. The company, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., said it would spend the $250 million that Hastings had earmarked for the Starz renewal to buy audience-pleasing content from other distributors. Hastings has left no doubt that he intends to invest heavily in Netflix's Internet video library because he wants more subscribers to use that option. That would allow Netflix to cut postage and other costs to mail DVD rentals to its customers.

As it is, Starz has become less important to Netflix as the service expanded its streaming rights. In June, Sony also stopped allowing its movies, which include "Easy A" and "Grown Ups," to part of Starz streaming in June. Those factors have reduced Starz's share of Netflix streaming viewership in the U.S. to 8 percent, according to Netflix.

The rising cost for Internet streaming rights is one of the reasons that Netflix raised its prices for people who want to rent DVDs through the mail and stream video. The changes don't affect customers who subscribe to the streaming-only plan.

Starz's decision to end the talks with Netflix underscores the escalating tensions with pay-TV services that view Netflix's popularity as a competitive threat. Time Warner Inc.'s HBO has consistently refused to license its shows for Netflix streaming, and Showtime recently has declined to make some of its top series, including "Dexter" and "Californication" available to the service.

Morningstar analyst Michael Corty said he thinks Netflix can salvage the Starz deal, given there is still six months before the current contract expires. To do that, Netflix will likely have to pay even more than it intended because Starz appears to have more negotiating leverage, Corty said.

Although Albrecht's statement made it sound as if there is little chance of a new deal, Netflix left the door open.

"We have tremendous respect for the Starz creative team, and we look forward to someday licensing some of their original or licensed content," Netflix said in a statement.

The falling out with Starz added to the worries of Netflix investors already fretting about the higher prices driving away subscribers. Netflix's stock plunged $19.97 to $213.30 in extended trading Thursday, after the announcement by Starz.

___

Nakashima reported from Los Angeles.

"Grossly excessive" award axed in Oracle-SAP case (AP)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 04:13 PM PDT

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Sep 1, 7:13 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge on Thursday threw out a "grossly excessive" $1.3 billion verdict that Oracle won against SAP in a landmark intellectual property case, possibly setting the stage for another circus-like showdown between the two technology companies.

The decision was a surprising twist in a 4-year-old case that's been filled with them. There will be a new trial if Oracle Corp. formally rejects a lower $272 million award, which it has indicated it will do.

While Thursday's ruling was a victory for SAP AG, a German maker of business software, it's not necessarily as much of a setback for Oracle, which stands to humiliate SAP again even if it can't secure the higher award.

If the second trial is anything like last year's, expect more high-wire theatrics from Oracle's outspoken CEO, Larry Ellison, who has pilloried SAP for its amateurish theft of software and customer-support documents from password-protected Oracle websites. SAP has admitted that a now-shuttered subsidiary, TomorrowNow, committed the offense.

Oracle is the leading maker of database software, which helps companies organize their information. Its aggressive expansion into business applications has forced Oracle into a faceoff with SAP, the leader in that space.

Oracle argued that the stolen information helped SAP steal customers by offering similar services at cheaper prices. SAP argued that TomorrowNow wasn't that great at stealing customers with the information anyway and should have to pay only $40 million for accounts that SAP did manage to lure away.

The jury ultimately awarded Oracle more than 30 times that amount after a three-week trial last November. It was one of the largest verdicts in a case involving software-related theft and showed how severely jurors were willing to punish corporations for intellectual-property theft from rivals.

Although the amount was less than what Oracle asked for, it was far more than what SAP had budgeted. SAP had set aside $160 million to pay anticipated damages and had already spent $120 million of that in payments to Oracle's lawyers. The punishment amounted to more than half of SAP's total profit in the prior year.

Thursday's decision by Judge Phyllis Hamilton in in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., is a major victory for SAP. She said the size of the penalty was "contrary to the weight of the evidence, and was grossly excessive."

Oracle can now choose whether to accept the lower award of $272 million or proceed with a new trial before a different jury. The $272 million amount was based on an earlier estimate from an Oracle expert on what profit Oracle lost and SAP gained.

Whatever happens, Oracle has already scored repeated public relations wins because of the case.

The case gave Ellison a platform to taunt another foe, former SAP CEO Leo Apotheker, who is now CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. Oracle is increasingly battling HP in the market for computer servers, straining a decades-long technology partnership.

Oracle, which is based in Redwood Shores, Calif., tried to summon Apotheker to testify at the trial, and the company pushed the image of a "Where's Waldo?"-type manhunt involving private investigators and a vanished executive. Apotheker wasn't spotted within the jurisdiction of the Oakland court in time, and he didn't appear.

HP, based in Palo Alto, continually skirted questions about Apotheker's whereabouts at the time, presumably because there was little to be gained in allowing him to testify. HP accused Oracle of harassing its new executive and said Oracle had ample time to question Apotheker in an earlier deposition.

SAP said it was very gratified with Thursday's decision.

"We believed the jury's verdict was wrong and are pleased at the significant reduction in damages," the company said in a statement. "We hope the court's action will help drive this matter to a final resolution."

Oracle said it plans to fight for the full amount it was awarded.

"There was voluminous evidence regarding the massive scope of the theft, clear involvement of SAP management in the misconduct and the tremendous value of the (intellectual property) stolen," Oracle said. "We believe the jury got it right and we intend to pursue the full measure of damages that we believe are owed to Oracle."

Oracle's stock fell 23 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close Thursday at $27.84. SAP's stock fell 75 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $53.76.

Mobile shopping: More buzz than buy so far (AP)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 07:00 AM PDT

By ELLEN GIBSON, AP Retail Writer Ellen Gibson, Ap Retail Writer – Thu Sep 1, 10:00 am ET

NEW YORK – When it comes to mobile shopping, so far there's more buzz than buy.

As the number of people who use iPhones and other smartphones grows, companies selling everything from hardware to high fashion are touting all the new applications they're rolling out that enable shoppers to do anything from check a store's inventory while in the dressing room to order prescriptions.

Retailers are betting that selling their wares on a device that people carry around all day can encourage Americans to spend money during an economic downturn in which they're making fewer impulse buys in their bricks-and-mortar stores. But so far, consumers mostly are using their phones to look up locations and compare prices and stopping short of tapping the "buy" button. Why? In part because they find it hard to shop on the tiny screens and they don't quite think it's safe to input their credit card information into their phone.

To be sure, mobile purchases are growing faster than online sales, which are increasing at around 10 percent a year. But mobile commerce is expected to account for $6 billion, or just 2 percent of overall e-commerce sales this year, according to Forrester Research. By 2016, that figure could rise to $31 billion __ still a sliver of electronic sales.

"The transactions aren't anywhere close to a big number," says Siva Kumar, whose company, TheFind, offers mobile price-checking applications. "But the first stage of any revolution is that people start using the new tool."

The use of smartphones is indeed growing. There are 82 million smartphones in circulation today in the U.S. — one in every three people 13 and older owns one — and that figure is expected to double by 2015. And smartphone users are increasingly using mobile applications: The average user spends 81 minutes a day using mobile apps, more time than is spent Web browsing on a computer or other device, according to mobile analytics firm Flurry.

But smartphone users are spending most of their time playing games, checking social networks, taking video, accessing maps and getting sports scores, according to digital research firm comScore. Shopping, meanwhile, ranks at No. 13, with less than 7 percent of mobile users accessing online retail stores through their phones.

Retailers are partly to blame for shoppers' apathy. Less than a third of retailers polled by the National Retail Federation in May said they have a fully implemented mobile strategy, which might include an application available for download by iPhone, Droid and Blackberry users. It's far less pleasurable to hunt down a new pair of boots when it requires zooming in and out of a site that's not oriented to the mobile screen, shoppers say.

For instance, Sara Margulis, who runs an online wedding gift registry in Sonoma County, Calif., uses her iPhone to buy books and diapers on Amazon, but sticks to her home computer for the majority of her electronic purchases in part because she likes the larger screen.

"If I know what I want, and it's on Amazon, I'll do it on my phone," she says. "But not if it requires a lot of research."

Another big impediment is the payment process. Typing billing information into a phone can be tedious and time-consuming, and many shoppers aren't convinced that mobile sites are safe. In one Forrester poll, 44 percent of shoppers said they would use the mobile Web to make purchases if the payment services were more secure.

Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester analyst, says mobile payments are generally safe and this is a "perception issue" stemming from fear of the unknown. Overall, she says, it will take some time for Americans to fully embrace mobile shopping — just as they did with online shopping. After all, people were playing games of Solitaire on their computers before they were willing to shop on web sites.

"You have to walk before you run," she says. "You have to do things that are easy that don't require you to give up your money first."

A few retailers are far ahead in mobile shopping. Although she hasn't tested a lot of sites on her iPhone because her AT&T cellphone plan caps the amount of data she can use each month, Nancy Pelaia, who works at a Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pa., said she likes shopping on the app from QVC, which is more cutting edge than many other retailers' mobile apps. It syncs up with the sales-pitch TV network, showing shoppers the item currently being sold on-air. Additionally, users' payment info is stored, so they need only enter a four-digit passcode to complete the purchase.

A "I usually have my phone sitting right there, and they make it very easy," Pelaia says.

The most successful mobile shopping sites are eBay and Amazon, which together account for four out of every five mobile shopping transactions. Ebay reported nearly $2 billion in mobile sales last year — more than tripling its 2009 total __ and it expects to reach $4 billion this year. And last July, Amazon capped off a 12-month period of mobile sales exceeding $1 billion.

Both companies were early to invest in mobile, but just as importantly, they've been able to smooth the checkout process by accepting PayPal or storing payment information in users' accounts. They've also worked to make searching simpler. With Amazon's price-checking app, for instance, you can speak the name of an item and it will show the lowest price in its marketplace. And with Ebay, customers can receive a notification when they've been outbid or the bidding is ending for a particular item.

"You can be in a meeting and you can bid then and there," said eBay's spokeswoman Katherine Chui.

Their strategies seem to be working. In July, Amazon capped off a 12-month period of mobile sales exceeding $1 billion. And Ebay, which said its iPhone app has been downloaded 18 million times, reported nearly $2 billion in mobile sales last year — more than tripling its 2009 total — and it expects to reach $4 billion this year.

A But other companies say even if consumers aren't overwhelmingly using their apps to make purchases on their phones, the devices still are driving in-store purchases. Target, Best Buy, American Eagle Outfitters and others are boosting sales with a third-party mobile application called Shopkick that gives customers special offers anytime they step into their stores. And inside Home Depot, a shopper can launch the store's app and get more information about a lawn mower or other item without having to ask a salesperson.

Hal Lawton, Home Depot's president of online, says "that gives us opportunities to keep shoppers in our stores longer" even if the impact on the bottom line is hard to quantify.

Toyota’s all-electric racer sets new record at Nürburgring (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 06:04 PM PDT

Just Show Me: How to set the default browser on your Mac (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 12:42 PM PDT

Airbnb Launches New Service Offering Monthly Rentals, Sublets (Mashable)

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 07:59 PM PDT

Charlie White Charlie White – Wed Aug 31, 10:59 pm ET

Airbnb, the "marketplace for spaces" that lets people rent their property just like it's a hotel room, has now extended that concept to also include monthly rentals and sublets. As the company moves into this new category, it aims to make it just as easy to book a monthly stay or a sublet as it is to rent a hotel room. One advantage for those who are looking to host or rent property for a month or longer with Airbnb is the convenience of being able to search more than 20,000 properties around the world and filter choices by location or price.

[More from Mashable: Google Kills "Slide" in Favor of Google+]

Airbnb emphasizes the convenience of being able to book long-term accommodations "sight-unseen," giving its customers the ability to avoid scoping out multiple apartments, condos or houses in person.

In addition, the company touts the convenience of paying rent with a credit card, and adds that many users will like trying out a neighborhood by living in it for a month or two before they commit to buying a house or signing a long-term lease.

[More from Mashable: Inviting Your Friends to Google+ Just Got a Lot Easier [INVITES]]

Airbnb mentions the added convenience for vacation property owners -- instead of closing up that beach house for eight or nine months out of the year, now they'll have a more efficient way of renting the property to those who will sublet it on a monthly basis.

The company wants to ease the minds of nervous hosts who still vividly remember the Airbnb scandal that took place this July, where one of its hosts had her apartment ransacked by thieves. Now, as a remedy Airbnb offers a $50,000 insurance guarantee that protects hosts from property damage caused by Airbnb guests.

Let us know in the comments if you think this is a good direction for the company, or should it just stick with shorter-duration rentals that are more like hotel room nights?

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Baidu launches mobile apps platform Baidu Yi (Reuters)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 08:01 PM PDT

– 1 hr 36 mins ago

BEIJING (Reuters) – China's top search engine Baidu Inc on Friday launched its new mobile application system, Baidu Yi, it said in a statement.

The platform, based on Google's Android mobile operating system, will include applications such as maps and an online store.

Baidu, which runs China's largest search engine with an over 80 percent market share, has been aggressively diversifying into e-commerce, online video and online travel to bolster growth and increase competitiveness.

An array of Chinese Internet firms and telco gear makers have launched self-developed smartphones in order to gain a foothold in a market still dominated by feature phones.

Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce firm, launched a smartphone running its own mobile operating system in late July that will feature cloud-based applications and Internet search.

Huawei Technologies similarly launched its cloud computing smartphones in August.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Writing by Kazunori Takada; Editing by Jason Subler)

Starz to pull content from Netflix as talks fail (Reuters)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 05:28 PM PDT

By Lisa Richwine and Yinka Adegoke Lisa Richwine And Yinka Adegoke – Thu Sep 1, 8:28 pm ET

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Starz Entertainment will pull all of its movies and television shows from Netflix Inc's streaming service early next year, depriving Netflix customers from online viewing of new releases out of two major Hollywood studios.

Pay-TV operator Starz, controlled by John Malone's Liberty Media, said on Thursday it had ended talks to renew a deal that expires February 28. After that date, Starz will stop providing its content, which includes exclusive rights to first-run Sony Corp and Walt Disney Co movies, for streaming on Netflix.

Shares of Netflix were down 8.7 percent at $213 in after-hours trade, from a close on the Nasdaq of $233.27.

Netflix was offering to pay somewhere in the $200 million to $300 million range annually for rights to stream Starz content, a source familiar with the negotiations said. Starz balked at that offer, the source said.

Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings said in June it "wouldn't be shocking" to pay up to $200 million, a figure some analysts had predicted.

The original online streaming rights are believed to have been agreed for around $30 million a year four years ago, people familiar with the deal have said.

Starz, in a statement, called its decision to end talks with Netflix "a result of our strategy to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging" of its content.

The news came the same day that an unpopular Netflix price hike of as much as $6 per month took effect. The breakdown with Starz was a surprise because investors had expected the parties to reach a deal, said Brett Harriss, an analyst with Gabelli & Co.

"Netflix just effectively raised prices by 60 percent, and a big chunk of their content walked away," Harriss said.

Thursday's announcement could open up the possibility that Starz might now court another online streaming provider, such as Amazon.com Inc or Google Inc's Youtube.

Starz was not immediately available for further comment.

Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said the company was "confident we can take the money we had earmarked for Starz renewal next year and spend it with other content providers to maintain or even improve the Netflix experience."

Netflix said Starz movies and shows account for just 8 percent of U.S. subscribers' viewing, and the company had projected that to fall to 5-6 percent by the first quarter of 2012, right when the deal dies.

Starz is the exclusive distributor of first-run Sony and Disney movies on pay-TV in the United States under an agreement that allows it to distribute the programing wholesale on multiple platforms, including online streaming.

But Netflix -- which has grown faster than partners expected -- triggered a deal clause in the first quarter when it announced it now has more than 22.8 million subscribers in the United States, of which nearly two-thirds were streaming videos, sources told Reuters in June.

Under terms of the original contract, the trigger allowed Sony to ask Starz for better financial terms, the sources had said.

Sony's content already was removed from the Netflix streaming service while negotiations were underway. Disney movies were accessible.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine, editing by Robert MacMillan, Matthew Lewis and Carol Bishopric)

BlackBerry PlayBook gets $150 discount at Best Buy (Digital Trends)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 07:51 PM PDT

Trevor Mogg Trevor Mogg – 1 hr 46 mins ago

Blackberry PlaybookLast month Best Buy appeared to be complaining that its stockrooms were full of unsold Hewlett-Packard TouchPads. A few days later HP announced it was ending tablet and smartphone production. The price of the TouchPad was then slashed to virtually nothing, resulting in the devices flying off the shelves in a matter of hours.

Could it be that all the space taken up the TouchPads has now been filled with similarly slow-selling BlackBerry PlayBooks? The reason we're suggesting this is because on Thursday Best Buy knocked $150 off the cost of the 64GB version in a sale, bringing it down to $550 from a hefty $700. It's not clear how long the sale will last.

The 16GB and 32GB versions have been discounted too, by $50, giving them price tags of $450 and $550 respectively. But that's a little confusing, isn't it? The 32GB PlayBook is now at the same price as the 64GB device – $550. It's hard to believe there's anyone out there who might say, "I really do not want that much memory in my tablet. I'll take the 32GB version."

Research In Motion's PlayBook has had something of a rough ride since its launch in April this year. Reviews have been mixed, while just a month after appearing on shelves, almost 1,000 of the tablets had to be recalled due to unspecified faulty hardware issues.

The Canadian company has also been having a hard time persuading networks to carry the device. Just last month Sprint announced that it was scrapping plans to bring the 4G PlayBook to its network. It is currently with no major US carriers.

RIM will be hoping the sale price will shift a few more of the devices. And Best Buy will certainly be happy to have some more stockroom space available.

Seesmic’s enterprise update leads Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 02:30 PM PDT

Facebook and Google add Like, +1 buttons to Chrome (Digital Trends)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 08:37 PM PDT

Mike Flacy Mike Flacy – 1 hr 1 min ago

fb-like-vs-plus-1

Without a mention last month, Facebook released a plugin in early July to provide a built-in graphical button and pop-up menu functions for sharing a page on Facebook. After adding the plugin, users can click the thumbs up button and a pop-up window appears which loads the Facebook Like button widget. Users can also right click on any webpage to bring up a menu for liking, recommending or sharing the content. There isn't an option for Facebook's Send button though, a function that allows users to send content to any email address as well as people on the Facebook friend's list. A user doesn't need to be logged into Facebook to get the button to work and there's minimal setup to get started.

chrome-web-likeGoogle also launched a plugin for a built-in +1 button. The button is installed in the top right hand corner of the browser, right next to the Facebook Like button is both plugins are installed. In order to use the button, the user needs to log into a Google account. After logging in, only a single click is needed to +1 a page. Google did not announce the plugin on the official blog and it's surprising that +1 functionality hasn't been seen in the continually updated versions of Chrome. While over 14,000 people have installed the +1 button (compared to around 500 for that Facebook Like button), building +1 into Chrome would reach millions of Chrome users upon the next update of the browser.

Google has made it clear that the +1 button isn't being used to track user behavior when surfing the Internet. While Google retains some information about visitors for maintenance and debugging, there's no categorization based on the personal details of the profile like name, age or gender. In addition, the information is deleted approximately two weeks after a user visits a site.

Sony tablets face tough sell on price, hardware (Reuters)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 06:14 PM PDT

By Isabel Reynolds and Liana B. Baker Isabel Reynolds And Liana B. Baker – Thu Sep 1, 9:14 pm ET

TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sony's new tablet computers failed to excite gadget reviewers and analysts who criticized the pricing and quality of the devices, underscoring the battle Sony faces regaining its consumer electronics crown.

Sony Corp is already late to the game with its first tablet, which hits stores this month, more than a year and a half after Apple Inc launched the blockbuster iPad and almost a year since Samsung Electronics Co Ltd came out with the GalaxyTab. Samsung's Galaxy occupies the No.2 slot in tablets that Sony is targeting.

Reviewers and analysts highlighted a high price and features that suggested Sony would remain an also-ran rather than a leader in the tablet market. Two versions of Sony's main tablet cost $499 and $599, the same price as two lower-end Apple iPad models.

"Consumers want tablets, but they are not prepared to pay the same amount they'd pay for an iPad for something that's not an iPad," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "Despite the brand and different design, with its pricing so close to the iPad, it will be challenging for Sony."

Once a symbol of Japan's high-tech might, the maker of the Walkman and PlayStation gaming console is struggling under the weight of its money-losing TV division and badly needs the boost of a hit product.

"Sony really must be in the tablet market and must succeed," said Mito Securities electronics analyst Keita Wakabayashi.

Worldwide tablet shipments are forecast to more than triple this year to 60 million tablets and then rise to 275.3 million units by 2015, according to a report this month from research firm IHS iSuppli.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES

Sony's new tablets run on Google Inc's Android software, like the GalaxyTab and many other tablets from Acer Inc, Asustek Computer Inc and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.

It is trying to distinguish its tablets from other Android players with features such as having one model function as a universal remote, while another folds like a clamshell and offers access to some first generation PlayStation games.

Backed by a disco beat during an event in Berlin to unveil the devices on Wednesday, Sony CEO Howard Stringer brushed off concerns the company waited too long to get into the tablet market.

"We want to prove it's not who makes it first that counts but who makes it better," Stringer said.

Based on the initial reception, Sony has failed in that regard.

Tech reviewers credited Sony for coming up with a unique curvy design for the S tablet, which resembles a folded-back magazine and makes it easier to hold with one hand, but the quality of the hardware was questioned.

A review on the Gizmodo tech blog called the tablet "extremely plasticky" and said its screen scratched more easily than other tablets.

Sony vowed in January to become the world's No. 2 tablet maker -- behind Apple -- by 2012 and Sony executives stuck to that ambitious claim ahead of the tablet launch.

But research firm Forrester put out a blog post saying Sony's pricing "raises a red flag."

At a low-key Japanese launch of the tablets in Tokyo on Thursday, Sony hinted it could be flexible on pricing.

"We'll see and study how the market will react and we'll take any necessary action," said Hideyuki Furumi, deputy president of the Sony division in charge of the new tablets.

"But then again, we don't want to do competition simply on prices, because we have a lot of differentiation points," he added, saying the entertainment features would be expanded over time.

One expert who has played with the single-screen "Sony Tablet: S" also was doubtful it could compete with rivals that sell high-end tablets at the same price.

Tim Stevens, editor-in-chief of the Engadget tech blog, said the tablet's hardware was underwhelming and its feel and design trailed the iPad 2 and the Galaxy Tab.

"I honestly don't think this is going to be the tablet that really catapults Sony into the lead on the Android front, which is where it needs to be if it wants to be No. 2 in the tablet market," Stevens said.

Some tech bloggers anticipate Amazon will more likely prove a competitor to Apple, with a tablet that has not been officially announced but is expected in the next few weeks.

CROWDED MARKET

Sony joins a slew of technology companies hoping to win a share in a market where many have stumbled in pursuit of Apple.

Hewlett Packard's Co decision to drop its Touchpad tablet only weeks after it came out shows how easy it is to fail. Sales soared only after HP slashed the price to $99 from $399 and $499, prompting the company to announce a further "final run" of the tablets to meet demand.

Sony said the S tablet is unique because of a universal remote inside the computer that can be used to control stereos, cable television boxes and TV sets.

The wifi-only device has a 9.4 inch screen, weighs 1.33 lbs and has front and rear cameras.

A 16 gigabyte version of the tablet will cost $499 in the United States, while the 32 GB version will retail for $599. In Europe, the S will cost 479 euros. It can be pre-ordered on Wednesday and will be in stores in September.

Sony's second tablet, the P, comes with 4 GB of memory and looks like a clutch purse. It has two 5.5-inch screens that can be folded together and weighs less than a pound.

The tablet also offers 4G cellular service. In Europe, the P will cost 599 euros and be out in November. Sony said it would be in stores in the United States later this year, but did not provide a date or price.

Sony's tablets tap its entertainment library by offering music and movies services, which should give it an edge over rivals, according to Stringer.

"Apple makes an iPad, but does it make a movie?" Stringer said.

Sony shares rose 2 percent in a firmer Tokyo market on Thursday after the tablets were unveiled. U.S. listed shares closed almost 0.3 percent down at $21.95 after opening higher.

(Additional reporting by Nicola Leske and; Christoph Steitz in BERLIN; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Jetpack Joyride leads iPhone Games of the Week (Appolicious)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 02:00 PM PDT

With a Few Mobile Apps Popular, the Rest Are Just Noise (NewsFactor)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 02:48 PM PDT

Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com – Thu Sep 1, 5:48 pm ET

Mobile apps on Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace have shown impressive growth in the past 10 months and recently passed 30,000 offerings. "Big deal," wrote one commenter on a technology news site. "Apple has what, half a million?"

Not quite. Apple's App Store boasts more than 425,000 offerings as the "ultimate source for mobile apps." The half-million mark is likely not far off, and unless it eventually draws a sensible line, one million apps in the not-too-distant future is possible.

Floodgates Are Open

A NewsFactor reader pointed out that a web site devoted to Android apps, AndroLib, has tracked 312,179 apps in Google's Android Market, of which 84.5 percent were practical applications and 15.5 percent were games. The Ovi Store for Nokia phones had 83,579 apps at the beginning of the year, and the App World for BlackBerrys had 37,176, according to a report by Distimo, while the webOS App Catalog for Pre phones had just 7,062.

Technology is all about high numbers: The more RAM, storage space, megapixels or megabits per second, the better. So of course six-figure app counts are impressive.

But all this data made me wonder: Is an enormous wealth of available apps really a good thing, or are consumers better off with a more limited selection? If you were buying a new car or TV and had tens of thousands of new models to choose from, could you really be sure you were getting the product that is right for you?

So I did some research on my iPad, looking for apps to learn Spanish and found 602 relevant apps for iPhones and 286 for the iPad, and they can be sorted by release date, relevance or user reviews. Then I got spiritual and looked up apps related to the Bible. There are 1,170 for the iPad and 2,706 for the iPhone. A "sports scores" search turned up 1,907 possibilities, though narrowing it down to Yankees scores produced a more manageable nine.

Apple's App Genius can help with suggestions based on your history, as can Hello Chair's paid app, Explor (formerly Appsaurus). But unless you have hours to spend wading through hundreds of apps and narrowing your search to the most popular suggestions, you will most likely buy one of the first few dozen apps that comes up in a search, just as most people probably don't get past the first few pages of Google search results.

So if the category of app you are looking for has 600 matches and you pick one of maybe 50 you've viewed, what good did it do you for the App Store to have those other 550?

"At a point I believe we passed some time ago, the number of available apps stops being beneficial and simply becomes a nuisance," said analyst Charles King of Pund-IT. He noted that a recent study by Nielsen Smartphone Analytics found that the top 50 most popular apps -- including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube -- on the Android Market made up 60 percent of the time that surveyed Android phone owners used apps.

"From a market/competition vantage point, that means that apps can be a sweet deal for top-end developers but a thicket of anonymity for most everyone else," he said. "The bigger the forest becomes, the harder it is to discern individual trees."

'The More The Merrier'

Raphi Salem of New York-based Salem Global, a search-engine-optimization firm, noted that the reason the number of apps is growing so steadily is that major retailers, banks, news organizations, and other companies are increasingly getting into the game by building apps to take smartphone users to their sites to buy products, pay bills, or manage their accounts.

"For Apple or Microsoft, their business is to make the platform more available, so if you are looking for an app to fold your laundry for you, you can find it," Salem said. "I don't think there is a problem with clutter because the cream rises to the top. The more the merrier for Apple, and the more the merrier for the consumer."

But with smartphone adoption on the rise -- a Pew Internet survey last week found the U.S. market has grown 53 percent to 78.5 million subscribers in the past year, and more than 40 percent of U.S. consumers 15 and older have one -- the app market on all platforms is sure to skyrocket even more.

That could create some problems with your favorite apps as their developers, who know that differentiation is key, go where the money is.

"We are quickly reaching a point where consumers are likely to feel inundated by the sheer volume of available apps," said Jeff Burstein, a Dallas-based developer whose latest project is IQ4U, a wait and reservation management system. "To that, factor in an inevitable future that will see apps that are no longer supported by their developers and those that have been abandoned long ago. Given this scenario, it is easy to see a time when an OS may tout that they have a lower number of supported apps than their competition."

Elvis estate taps finance firm to sue Arista (Reuters)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 03:27 PM PDT

By Terry Baynes Terry Baynes – Thu Sep 1, 6:27 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Elvis Presley's estate is turning to a litigation-finance firm to sue Arista Music in Germany for unpaid royalties from ringtones, downloads and apps that feature the icon's hit songs.

UK-based Calunius Capital, the exclusive adviser to a $60 million litigation fund, is backing a lawsuit against Arista Music, formerly RCA Records. The lawsuit alleges that Arista exploited Presley in a 1973 buyout agreement that left the King with only a small share of the revenue from his sound recordings, according to a press release from Elvis Presley Enterprises.

If the estate prevails or the case settles, Calunius Capital will share in the proceeds. Typically, a firm's returns range from 20 percent to 35 percent of any recovered proceeds or two to 2-1/2 times the amount invested, according to Christian Stuerwald of Calunius Capital. If the estate loses, the fund covers the costs, which in Germany include the winning side's attorney's fees.

Plaintiffs are increasingly turning to litigation finance firms, mostly because of high litigation costs. The model is especially attractive for lawsuits in foreign countries where the risks are hard to assess, Stuerwald said.

Elvis Presley Enterprises turned to Calunius Capital because the cost of bringing suit in Germany is high and Calunius has experience with complex suits in that country, said estate spokeswoman Alicia Dean.

Under the 1973 agreement, initiated by RCA and Presley's manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker, RCA purchased the rights to Presley's back catalog of more than 1,000 recordings for $5.4 million, to be split evenly between Presley and Parker, the suit alleges.

As a result of the contract, Presley received an annual payment of around $10 for the worldwide rights to each song - "conspicuously disproportionate" to the revenue RCA made from the master recordings, according to the suit.

Sony Music Entertainment, the parent company of Arista Music, declined to comment on the litigation.

Leslie Perrin, the chairman of Calunius, said the German Elvis suit was a carefully chosen investment. Elvis was stationed in Germany as a soldier in the Army, and the country is "Elvis crazy," responsible for 10 percent of the world's Elvis sales, Perrin said.

In addition, amendments to German law have extended the term of copyright protection to 50 years from 25 after the artist's death, prolonging the estate's claim to royalties. The suit seeks more than $9 million in unpaid royalties dating back to 2002, in addition to a share of future revenue until 2023 when the copyright expires, according to Perrin.

Under German copyright law, German courts also have the power to undo a disproportionate deal and substitute more equitable terms. The suit seeks "equitable remuneration" for the Elvis estate.

The Elvis case is the first of Calunius' 20 lawsuit investments to be made public. In most cases, the opposing party is not even aware of Calunius' involvement, Perrin said.

Elvis Presley Enterprises is represented by Boehmert & Boehmert in Berlin.

(Reporting by Terry Baynes; Editing by Eileen Daspin and Steve Orlofsky)

Suspects plead not guilty in lost iPhone 4 prototype case (Digital Trends)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 07:36 PM PDT

Trevor Mogg Trevor Mogg – 2 hrs 1 min ago

Last year tech blog Gizmodo turned up with an iPhone 4 prototype in its possession. It was subsequently accused of receiving stolen goods. Last month, San Mateo County district attorney Steven Wagstaffe, having reviewed all the evidence, decided that no crime had been committed by Gizmodo.

Brian Hogan and Sage Wallower haven't been quite so lucky. They've been accused of selling the iPhone 4 prototype to Gizmodo for $5,000. On Thursday the pair pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor theft charges.

A report by The Examiner says prosecutors allege that 22-year-old Hogan came across the phone in a bar in Redwood, near San Francisco, in March last year. It is believed to have been left by an Apple employee who'd been testing the device prior to its release.

Prosecutors are accusing Hogan and his friend, 28-year-old Wallower, of then selling it on to Gizmodo. Both guys face a misappropriation of lost property charge. Wallower is also charged with being in possession of stolen property.

According to district attorney Steven Wagstaffe, Hogan and Wallower should have tried to return the prototype to Apple instead of selling it.

The Examiner reports that Jeffrey Bornstein, acting as Hogan's attorney, released a statement in August saying that Hogan was "extremely remorseful."

"Although we do not believe that charges of any kind should have been filed, Brian fully accepts responsibility for his actions," Bornstein said in the statement.

The judge set a pretrial conference date for October 11, with the trial date set for November 28.

The news comes just days after it emerged that another Apple employee left another prototype in another bar. Although the phone's GPS signal led investigators to an address in San Francisco's Bernal Heights district, they still couldn't find the device. It's thought that it could be the much-anticipated iPhone 5, likely to be launched in the coming weeks.

Woman sues Microsoft over mobile location tracking (AP)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 01:40 PM PDT

– Thu Sep 1, 4:40 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Microsoft Corp. is being sued by a Michigan woman who alleges the world's largest software maker illegally tracks people whose mobile devices run its Windows Phone 7 operating software.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle by Rebecca Cousineau. She notes that Microsoft tells users they can turn off location tracking, which is a feature in the camera application on phones running Windows Phone 7. But she claims the software keeps tracking users' locations even after they turn off the feature.

The suit seeks class action status. Cousineau is seeking an order stopping Microsoft from gathering location data after users opt out of doing so, and unspecified damages.

A spokeswoman for Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft declined a request for comment.

IBM to buy Algorithmics for $387 million (Reuters)

Posted: 01 Sep 2011 05:19 AM PDT

By Soham Chatterjee and Paul Sandle Soham Chatterjee And Paul Sandle – Thu Sep 1, 8:19 am ET

(Reuters) – U.S. IT company IBM is buying Toronto-based risk analytics software firm Algorithmics for $387 million in cash to enhance its financial services capabilities.

IBM said the deal, expected to close before the end of October, expands its business analytics capabilities by helping clients manage financial risk.

Laurence Trigwell, IBM's head of business analytics for financial services, said there was significant demand from banks, financial markets and insurance firms for analytical insight, both to improve performance and comply with increased regulation.

"We see risk analytics as a critical component of that analytical insight, driven by market factors and events over the last 10 years since Basel II (banking regulations) and over the last three or four since the financial crisis," he told Reuters in an interview.

"(Alogrithmics') heritage in helping banks produce risk models is incredibly important to help respond to regulatory pressures."

Algorithmics' risk analytics software, content and advisory services are used by banking, investment and insurance businesses to help assess risk, address regulatory requirements and make more insightful business decisions.

In five years, IBM has spent more than $14 billion on 25 acquisitions focused on analytics to help its customers deal with exponentially growing amounts of unstructured data from sources such as social media, biometrics and criminal databases.

On Wednesday, IBM said it was buying British security analytics software firm i2 for an undisclosed sum. Jefferies advised i2 on the sale.

IBM expects revenue from business analytics to reach $16 billion, according to its 2015 "roadmap," and it has doubled the number of consultants working in the field to 8,000 over the last two years.

It is not alone in identifying unstructured data as a major opportunity. Hewlett-Packard made it central to a radical reorganization when it agreed to buy British search specialist Autonomy last month.

Trigwell declined to comment on future areas of investment, but he said IBM was "committed to continuing to define the business analytics market."

About 900 Algorithmics employees will join IBM's software group upon closing of the deal.

Algorithmics, which generated revenue of $163.7 million in 2010, is a member of Fitch Group, majority-owned by Paris-based Fimalac, a holding company based in Paris.

(Editing by Dan Lalor and Will Waterman)
at 9:50 PM

1 comment:

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