NewsFactor Network

Is Waze Worth a Billion Dollar Bidding War?

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:47:26 -0500

There's a bidding war going on over a crowd-sourced map application provider. Or so the rumor mill says. Credible sources are pointing to a competition between Google and Facebook for Waze.

Businessweek is driving part of the clamor with its headline, "Google Said to Consider Buying Waze Presaging Bidding War." Three Businessweek reporters teamed on the story, which suggests the company could fetch more than $1 billion.

A bit about Waze: It's a fast-growing community-based traffic and navigation app. Drivers use it to share real-time traffic and road info with the goal of saving gas, money and time during daily commutes.

Keeping It Away from Apple

Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, told us Waze would become an asset to any of the major mapping competitors.

"Ironically, Google probably needs it least of all the would-be acquirers," Sterling said. "However, it's probably thinking of bidding to keep Waze away from Facebook or Apple."

Apple needs mapping technology and has been the subject of rumors over mapping technology acquisitions. Apple took heat for a less-than-Apple-like experience with its initial Maps product and even saw some executive shakeup when then-iOS chief Scott Forstall reportedly refused to sign an official apology letter to customers for the poor navigation and quality.

What About Waze?

Waze could not immediately be reached for comment, nor could Google or Facebook. But Waze is making waves on its own. The company earlier this week won a 2013 Webby Award for Best Connected Product.

Here's how it works: After typing in a destination address, users just drive with the app open on their phone to passively contribute traffic and other road data, but they can also take a more active role by sharing road reports on accidents, police traps, or any other hazards along the way, helping to give other users in the area a...

Iranian Hackers Reported Targeting U.S. Energy Systems

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:47:52 -0500

For all the talk about China and the Syrian Electronic Army, it seems there's another threat to U.S. cyber interests: Iran. Iranian-based hackers have ramped up a cyber campaign against U.S. corporations, especially energy companies, according to news reports.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Iranian hackers were able to gain access to control-system software that could allow them to manipulate oil or gas pipelines. The paper quoted one former official who said the hackers got "far enough to worry people."

Gerry Cauley, chief executive of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., a non-profit agency that oversees and ensures the reliability of bulk power systems in the region, told the Reuters Cybersecurity Summit that computer viruses have been found in the power grid that could be used to deliver malicious software to damage plants.

Hard to Patch

Tom Cross, director of security research at Lancope, told us industrial control systems such as those used to control oil and gas pipelines are more interconnected with public networks like the Internet than most people realize.

"It is also difficult to fix security flaws with these systems because they aren't designed to be patched and restarted frequently. In the era of state-sponsored computer attack activity, it is not surprising to hear reports of these systems being targeted," he said.

"It is extremely important that operators of industrial control networks monitor those networks with systems that can identify anomalous activity that might be associated with an attack. Because of the relatively homogenous nature of network activity on many control systems networks, anomaly detection can be a powerful tool in an environment where other kinds of security approaches fall flat."

Running Out of Time

LogRhythm CTO Chris Petersen told us he is not surprised by the attacks. That's because cybersecurity experts have been warning of such threats for years. In fact,...

Paging R2-D2 to the Hospital ICU

Sat, 25 May 2013 09:33:13 -0500

Examining patients, clad in white and sporting a stethoscope, the doctor is in. As always, questions and banter mix. Except this doctor is, well, a robot.

In a suburb outside Sacramento, Mercy San Juan Medical Center is home to a new family of robots. Doctors can make remote visits to patients via PCs or iPads running the robots.

The latest hospital robots, dubbed RP-VITA, come from Roomba vacuum cleaner maker iRobot and InTouch Health. Like R2-D2 in Star Wars, they can roam about on their own, guided by sensors and software that maps locations to avoid collisions. Doctors can also navigate them around ICUs and other facilities.

RP-VITA stands more than 5 feet tall and has what looks like a large tablet computer for a head. Doctors can appear on the screen much like a video chat and use front-facing lenses to zero in on patients.

California hospitals are leading the way at putting them in play in what is shaping up to be a new era of hospital robotics in an increasingly connected digital world.

Doctors and patients are fans of the robots. What's not to like when a specialist can examine and talk with a patient by robot within minutes of arrival at the hospital in an emergency?

Robots are changing the medical industry and hospitals forever, in what many say is a technology overhaul that addresses shortages of staff and improvements in the level of service for patients, especially for hospitals farther from experts.

"This is changing the landscape of medicine and leveling the playing field of treatment" says Alan Shatzel, a neurologist and the medical director at Mercy Telehealth Network.

Swapping Old Tech for New

Doctors tethered to pagers -- yes, they still use them -- for 24-hour on-call shifts can now do that entirely on robots. What this means is that a doctor can...

Google Buys Company that Makes Wind-Power Drones

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:14:41 -0500

The company that started in 1995 with a small search engine called BackRub and is now one of the world's leading tech giants is branching out into a technology few people spend much time thinking about, though it could one day have huge implications: harvesting energy from the sky through floating drones packing wind turbines.

Google is in the process of acquiring the start-up Makani Power, based in Alameda, Calif.,which was founded in 2006 by Corwin Hardham, Don Montague and Saul Griffith. Initial funding came from Google as part of its Renewable Energy is Cheaper Than Coal program, which Google started in 2007 but gave up on in 2011, while continuing to advocate for greener power in other ways.

Accelerated Work

Makani announced the Google deal on its Web site Thursday, shortly after the story broke via Bloomberg News. The amount of the deal was not disclosed as of Thursday afternoon.

"This formalizes a long and productive relationship between our two companies and will provide Makani with the resources to accelerate our work to make wind energy cost-competitive with fossil fuels," the company told Web visitors. "The timing couldn't be better, as we completed the first ever autonomous all-modes flight with our Wing 7 prototype last week."

Makani hopes the power generated from its flying turbines will eventually travel down tethers and contribute to the nation's electric grid without any greenhouse gas emission byproducts.

The unmanned aircraft hover between 800 and 1,950 feet, where the wind is stronger and more consistent, according to Makani, and the company is developng a 600-kilowatt airborne wind turbine (AWT) which it says will produce power more cheaply than conventional wind or solar sources. The work has been supported by the federal government.

"Makani could not have reached this point without the support of the US Department of Energy's...

Kim Dotcom Claims Patent for Two-Factor Authentication

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:26:46 -0500

Two-factor authentication has become a popular way to heighten log-on security, used by many Internet companies and financial institutions. Now, controversial Megaupload Web site owner Kim Dotcom says he owns the patent for the process.

In a tweet on Thursday, Dotcom wrote that "Google, Facebook, Twitter, Citibank, etc., offer Two-Step-Authentication. Massive IP infringement by U.S. companies. My innovation. My patent."

About a half-hour after the "massive IP infringement" message, Dotcom tweeted: "Google, Facebook, Twitter, I ask you for help. We are all in the same DMCA boat. Use my patent for free. But please help funding my defense." None of the named companies have commented on his tweets. DMCA refers to the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which Megaupload has been accused of violating.

Eighteen Cars

Dotcom's legal issues stem from his arrest by U.S. federal agencies in January at his New Zealand mansion for illegally serving copyright-protected material through his Megaupload Web site. Eighteen luxury cars and what were reportedly millions of dollars in artwork and electronics were seized by authorities. When arrested, police said, he was inside one of six safe rooms in the mansion, holding a weapon that appeared to be a sawed-off shotgun.

He contends that the legal costs of fighting copyright infringement charges will be more than $50 million. A hearing is set for late summer on a request from U.S. authorities for his extradition. In early March, the New Zealand Court of Appeal ruled that the U.S. did not have to show all of its evidence against Dotcom in order to obtain his extradition, but could simply present a summary.

The patent Dotcom referred to, US6078908, was filed in 1998 and published in June 2000. Entitled "Method for authorizing in data transmission systems," it lists the inventor as Kim Schmitz, the original name of the German native, who...

Newest HP PCs Aim for Flexibility, Mobility

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:53:08 -0500

Hewlett-Packard is hoping its latest all-in-one PC innovations will make its competitors envious. The new HP Envy Rove20 is the company's first mobile all-in-one PC, complete with a built in battery and touch technology.

HP also announced new consumer notebooks, all-in-one PCs and printers that promise consumers more flexibility in how they access and share information. In two words, it's all about mobility and flexibility in a modern world of work.

"Customers are looking for mobility and flexibility in their computing devices to give families new ways to bring generations together," said Ron Coughlin, senior vice president and general manager of Consumer PCs and Consumer Solutions at HP. Coughlin went on to say that HP is evolving to meet customers' needs with its latest offerings.

Inspiring a New Market

The HP Envy Rove20 transforms from an upright to a horizontal machine that works for tabletop entertainment. Multi-touch technology allows multiple users to interact with games, including Electronic Arts' Monopoly, Fingertapps JigsWar Puzzle and Fingertapps Musical Instruments, at the same time.

Users can also view multimedia content on the 20-inch, 1,600x900 IPS LED panel. That translates to wide viewing angles. The device also boasts built-in Beats Audio and a fourth-generation Intel Core processor, Intel HD graphics and 10-point touch. The HP Envy Rove20 will be available in July, with pricing not yet announced.

"HP is going after or trying to inspire a new market for large, touch-enabled systems," Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, told us. "The target markets include family gaming and entertainment, and other group experiences such as business presentations that would profit from a bigger format. HP isn't the first vendor to try this -- Dell launched its XPS18 early this year."

Catering to Mobile Consumers

To that end, HP also announced the Pavilion 20 TouchSmart All-in-One PC and the HP Pavilion 23 TouchSmart...

Twitter Fights Off Hackers With New Authentication Process

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:27:03 -0500

Twitter has been a weak link in one too many high-profile hack attacks. Now, the micro-blogging service is finally doing something about it. Twitter is beefing up its security with a voluntary, opt-in two-step authentication system in hopes of putting an end to much of the drama.

"Every day, a growing number of people log in to Twitter. Usually these login attempts come from the genuine account owners, but we occasionally hear from people whose accounts have been compromised by email phishing schemes or a breach of password data elsewhere on the web," says Jim O'Leary of the product security team at Twitter. "Today we're introducing a new security feature to better protect your Twitter account: login verification."

O'Leary stressed that even with this new security option turned on, it's still important for Twitter users to select a strong password and follow the rest of the micro-blogging service's advice for keeping accounts secure.

A Painful Process?

Twitter is responding to recent attacks against news agencies by the Syrian Electronic Army, a "hacktivist" group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Financial Times was the latest victim. Twelve posts entitled "Hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army" appeared on the FT's tech blog between 12:38 p.m. and 12:42 p.m. London time last Friday, May 17th, with the company's Twitter accounts also disrupted, the Financial Times said. The Guardian, a UK news site, as well as the Associated Press and others have also been attacked.

"With login verification enabled, your existing applications will continue to work without disruption," O'Leary said. "If you need to sign in to your Twitter account on other devices or apps, visit your applications page to generate a temporary password to log in and authorize that application."

O'Leary goes on to describe the login verification as a two-form factor authentication. Here's how it works:...

Viva Movil! Buy a Phone from J.Lo

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:17:52 -0500

Latina pop sensation and entrepreneur Jennifer Lopez is trying to do something her ex-boyfriend P. Diddy couldn't -- launch a successful Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). She is teaming with Verizon Wireless on a new 4G LTE network and wireless service dubbed Viva Movil by Jennifer Lopez.

Verizon and Lopez announced the new venture at the CTIA Wireless Conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon. Lopez built the brand in partnership with Brightstar Corp. and Moorehead Communications.

The retail stores aren't targeting Latin America. Stores will open in U.S areas with high Latino populations, though, like Miami, New York and Los Angeles, in the weeks ahead. J.Lo will begin with a strong lineup, including the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S IV and BlackBerry devices. Retail stores -- and a Facebook app featuring the star -- will be bilingual.

"As modern Latinos we do things differently, including how we shop for mobile devices," Lopez said in a CTIA press conference announcing the partnership. "Latinos love social networks and we're super active online."

No Rock-Star Guarantees

Roger Entner, a wireless analyst at Recon Analytics, told us succeeding with an MVNO is a tough business proposition.

"Even being a rock star doesn't ensure certain success. But she has picked good business partners in Verizon and Brightstar and in Moorehead Communications -- and she put money behind it," Entner said, noting Lopez's equity stake in the project. "She won't be able to change the pricing structure."

That means whether consumers go to a Verizon store or a Viva Movil store, success comes down to service. Whether or not consumers will flock to J.Lo's stores simply because she's "Jenny from the 'hood," Entner said, remains to be seen.

Will J.Lo's Risk Pay Off?

Many companies have launched MVNOs. Most have failed. Some have succeeded. Entner points to Tracphone, the leading prepaid...

Samsung Sells 10 Million Galaxy S IVs -- Four Every Second

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:35:24 -0500

Samsung's new Galaxy S IV smartphone is off to a strong start. On Thursday, the South Korean manufacturer announced that global sales for the device have exceeded 10 million units in one month, making it the best selling Android device yet. The company noted that the S IV, which went on sale in late April, is now selling at a rate of four units per second.

By comparison, the Galaxy S III took 50 days after its 2012 launch to hit 10 million, which made it the fastest selling Android phone at the time. The S II needed five months and the Galaxy S seven months to achieve the same milestone. One catch: the sales figures announced Thursday are to retailers and wireless operators, not directly to consumers, meaning that it's not yet clear how many are left unsold in inventory.

Also by comparison, Apple's iPhone 5 sold more than 5 million units in its first weekend of sales, to consumers.

Color Versions

Samsung said it will be offering color versions of the S IV, which currently is only available in black and white. Blue and red versions will be available by this summer, purple and brown in the fall. The S IV is currently being sold in 100 countries, which the company will be increasing to 154.

Some analysts have suggested that the current pace of sales for the S IV is the right one for Samsung, since component shortages may affect supply if demand increases much more. The launch of HTC's One was recently hampered by supply issues caused by a lack of sufficient component availability.

IDC's Ramon Llamas said that the numbers "were not unexpected." He described 10 million as "a good milestone for them," for which the company should be congratulated, but noted that it's "more important to see how they...

How a 3D Printer Helped a Child Breathe Again

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:38:07 -0500

In a medical first, doctors used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day.

It's the latest advance from the booming field of regenerative medicine, making body parts in the lab.

In the case of Kaiba (KEYE'-buh) Gionfriddo, doctors didn't have a moment to spare. Because of a birth defect, the little Ohio boy's airway kept collapsing, causing his breathing to stop and often his heart, too. Doctors in Michigan had been researching artificial airway splints but had not implanted one in a patient yet.

In a single day, they "printed out" 100 tiny tubes, using computer-guided lasers to stack and fuse thin layers of plastic instead of paper and ink to form various shapes and sizes. The next day, with special permission from the Food and Drug Administration, they implanted one of these tubes in Kaiba, the first time this has been done.

Suddenly, a baby that doctors had said would probably not leave the hospital alive could breathe normally for the first time. He was 3 months old when the operation was done last year and is nearly 19 months old now. He is about to have his tracheotomy tube removed; it was placed when he was a couple months old and needed a breathing machine. And he has not had a single breathing crisis since coming home a year ago.

"He's a pretty healthy kid right now," said Dr. Glenn Green, a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where the operation was done. It's described in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Independent experts praised the work and the potential for 3-D printing to create more body parts to solve...

Hewlett-Packard's Profits Fall But Outlook, Stock Rise

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:36:35 -0500

Hewlett-Packard is still scrambling to meet the growing demand for more versatile and less expensive mobile devices as a slump in its personal computer sales deepens, but the company's cost-cutting measures and focus on more profitable areas of technology appear to be easing the pain.

The conflicting signs of further deterioration and potential recovery emerged in Hewlett-Packard Co.'s latest quarterly report released Wednesday.

Even as HP's revenue declined at the fastest rate yet in a nearly two-year slump, the company delivered fiscal second-quarter earnings that topped the estimates of both its own management and the analysts who influence investor perceptions.

"The results were better than feared," said Edward Jones analyst Bill Kreher.

HP provided Wall Street with another encouraging sign by predicting its earnings for the current quarter will top analyst projections. The Palo Alto, Calif., company also raised its earnings forecast for the full year, another sign that management is confident that HP's profits won't fall as dramatically as many investors feared while the PC market crumbles.

"You can feel the turnaround taking hold at HP," CEO Meg Whitman told analysts during a Wednesday conference call.

Investors evidently saw enough progress to believe HP is finally heading in the right direction. The company's stock soared $2.84, or more than 13 percent, to $24.07 in extended trading. If the shares move similarly in Thursday's regular session, it would be the biggest one-day percentage gain in HP's stock in more than four years. Even so, HP's stock would remain nearly 50 percent below where it stood just three years ago.

Since then, consumers and corporate customers have been gravitating toward smartphones and tablet computers equipped with touch screens and voice recognition technology. As these mobile devices add more features and grow increasingly powerful, their prices are falling, too, making them even more attractive compared with the laptop...

Social Media Make Customer Service a Spectator Sport

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:37:47 -0500

It was the customer service disaster heard around the Internet. An Arizona restaurateur, fed up after years of negative online reviews and an embarrassing appearance on a reality television show, posted a social media rant laced with salty language and angry, uppercase letters that quickly went viral last week, to the delight of people who love a good Internet meltdown.

"I AM NOT STUPID ALL OF YOU ARE," read the posting on the Facebook wall of Amy's Baking Co. in suburban Phoenix. "YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW GOOD FOOD."

It was, to put it kindly, not a best business practice. Add to that an appearance earlier this month on the Fox reality TV show "Kitchen Nightmares" -- where celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay gave up on trying to save the restaurant after he was insulted -- and you have a recipe for disaster.

"That's probably the worst thing that can happen," said Sujan Patel, founder and CEO of Single Grain, a digital marketing agency in San Francisco.

In the evolving world of online marketing, where the power of word of mouth has been wildly amplified by the whims and first impressions of anonymous reviewers posting on dozens of social media Web sites, online comments, both good and bad, and the reactions they trigger from managers, can make all the difference between higher revenues and empty storefronts.

Hotels, restaurants and other businesses that depend on good customer service reviews have all grappled in recent years with how to respond to online feedback on sites such as Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp, Facebook and Instagram, where comments can often be more vitriol than in-person reviews because of the anonymous shield many social media Web sites provide.

No matter how ugly the reviews get, businesses need to be willing to admit mistakes and offer discounts to lure unhappy customers back, digital marketing...

Lenovo Sales Soar Amid PC Industry Slump

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:35:10 -0500

Computer maker Lenovo Group said Thursday its latest quarterly profit rose 90 percent as sales of smartphones and mobile computing technology expanded.

Lenovo said it earned $127 million, or 1.22 cents per share, in the three months ending March 31. Revenue rose 4 percent over a year earlier to $7.8 billion.

Lenovo ranks a close second behind Hewlett-Packard Co. as the biggest maker of personal computer makers but growth in that market has slowed as consumers shift to mobile Web surfing on smartphones and tablets.

Lenovo said sales of desktop and laptop PCs both declined 2 percent to $2.4 billion and $4.2 billion, respectively, but still made up a combined 83 percent of its business.

Sales of smartphones and other mobile Internet and "digital home" products rose 74 percent to $736 million, accounting for 9 percent of revenue.

"We will focus our investments on the fast-growing tablet, smartphone and enterprise hardware areas, while working to enhance the profitability of our core PC business," said chairman Yang Yuanqing.

For its full fiscal year ending March 31, Lenovo's profit rose 34 percent to $635 million on a 15 percent rise in sales to a record $34 billion.

Lenovo, with headquarters in Beijing and in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, entered the wireless Internet market in 2010. It has launched smartphones and Web-linked tablet computers to compete with Apple Inc. and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Corp.

The company said quarterly sales in North America, traditionally a weak area for Lenovo, rose 13 percent over a year earlier to $1.2 billion, accounting for 15 percent of the global total. It said its market share rose 1.8 percentage points to 9.3 percent.

In its home China market, quarterly sales rose 8 percent to $3.1 billion and revenue for mobile Internet products rose 74 percent.

Docs with Data: Money Drives Electronic Medical Records

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:33:03 -0500

More than half of doctors' offices and 80% of hospitals that provide Medicare or Medicaid will have electronic health records by the end of the year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday.

"We have reached a tipping point in adoption of electronic health records," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and they "are critical to modernizing our health care system."

The announcement comes as a key part of the 2010 health care law: Doctors with data can better track errors and prevent future problems. The government can track organizations for quality, as the law requires. Electronic records allow each of a patient's doctors to see what tests have been performed and what medications have been administered, which could stop duplicated prescriptions and procedures and bad drug interactions.

About 17% of physicians used electronic records in 2008, but now 50% "have demonstrated meaningful use and received an incentive payment," according to HHS. About 9% of hospitals had electronic records in 2008, but HHS found that 80% have now demonstrated use.

The federal government gave health providers grants to buy technology as part of the Recovery Act in 2009 but also required that they show "meaningful use" to get incentive payments. They are now in the stage in which they must show they can store data and track it, report quality measures and begin to engage patients electronically, among other things.

"In four years, they've made more progress than in the previous 20 years," said Farzad Mostashari, national coordinator for health information technology at HHS.

Incentive money has encouraged use of the records, he said.

But providers also understood that to move away from fee-for-service payment programs and toward team-based health care, they needed to be able to share information easily.

Medicare also began charging penalties for people readmitted to hospitals for certain conditions, such as heart attacks...

Google Adds Conversational Search to Chrome

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:16:37 -0500

If you like chatting with Siri, sending voice texts while driving or telling your Xbox when to pause or rewind a DVD, you're going to enjoy the upgrade to Google's Chrome browser. The new system, which was previewed at Google's I/O developer's conference on May 15 and went live Wednesday, allows users to search for topics conversationally, by asking questions rather than stating keywords, much like Apple's Siri personal assistant for the iPhone.

Google also announced a stable update for its Android mobile operating system which allows entering topics in the omnibox, or address bar, instead of only in the search window on Google. The Android update also allows the toolbar to disappear while you scan results.

In addition, Google is giving Apple's Siri a run for her money by introducing voice search for the iOS version of Chrome, available "soon," that will allow voice searches on that browser for iPhones and iPads. (Siri will be available for iPads with the iOS 6 update.)

The Future Is Now

The update for the Chrome browser is another step toward the kind of interaction with machines seen in science fiction, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek, in which humans have conversations with computers and keyboards and mice are essentially obsolete.

The feature is available for version 27 of Chrome, which can be downloaded from Google.com or upgraded from an older version, provided your operating system is compatible.

Searches are activated by clicking a red microphone icon on the search page and speaking. At the I/O keynote, as seen on YouTube, Google's Johanna Wright demonstrated that Chrome not only understood her query and provided pictures of the Santa Cruz, Calif., boardwalk at her request, with a polite verbal response, but understood in a follow-up question "how far is it from here?" that she was...