NewsFactor Network

Verizon's Decision a Setback for Google's Android Plans

Thu, 15 May 2008 13:43:17 -0500

Verizon Wireless' decision to join Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile as members of a Linux-based mobile initiative appears to have dealt a setback to Google's ambitions for its Android mobile platform. A Verizon spokesperson told the Chicago Tribune that the company joined the rival LiMo Foundation because "of LiMo's approach to providing a truly open OS that isn't simply an extension of a for-profit company's business model."

The stakes are indisputably high. According to ABI Research, 20 percent of mid- to high-end mobile phones will be running some form of the Linux operating system by 2013.

A Threat To Carriers

The success that Google has enjoyed to date is based on the relative openness of Internet browsers, and now Google wants to bring that same format to mobile devices, said IDC Senior Analyst Chris Hazelton.

"Google is interested in pushing the Web onto mobile devices and, in doing so, increase the number of Internet users, and thus increase the number of Google users worldwide," Hazelton explained. "The trouble is that Google's mobile strategy poses a threat to the offerings of Verizon and the other wireless carriers."

When mobile subscribers go to the Google search engine, Google does not share any of the click-though ad revenues with the wireless carriers unless a sharing agreement is already in place, Hazelton observed. "What the carriers really want is the ability to partner with other search-engine companies that offer 'white label' search offerings that will enable them to share in that revenue," he said.

Other industry observers find it somewhat ironic that Google has been challenging Verizon's commitment to open standards when its own Android platform falls short of being totally transparent.

"The closed nature of Google's development effort has limited the ability for both parties to have meaningful information exchange," noted Andrew Shikiar, director of...

Nintendo Loses $21 Million Patent-Infringement Lawsuit

Thu, 15 May 2008 13:43:36 -0500

Nintendo of America was hit with a judgment for $21 million in a patent-infringement case brought by a company that claims to be a small Texas game developer. A U.S. District Court jury found that Nintendo's designs for its Wii, WaveBird and GameCube controllers infringed on patents held by Anascape Ltd.

A Nintendo spokesman said the company will appeal the decision and expects the award to be "significantly" reduced, the Associated Press reported.

Anascape also sued over the motion-sensing technology that has made the Wii such a hit, enabling "active games" such as tennis and boxing, but the jury found no infringement on that technology.

The company also sued Microsoft for infringements on game-controller patents, but Redmond settled on May 1, just before trial. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

Twelve Patents Violated

The jury found that Nintendo violated 12 Anascape patents filed in 2000. The patents had names like "Remote Controller with Analog Button," "3D Controller With Vibration," and "Game Controller with Analog Pressure Sensor."

Many game fans were outraged by the verdict. On GamesAreFun.com, Brandon Carlson wrote, "Patent-infringement lawsuits are commonplace in the gaming industry. When one company makes it big and hits the jackpot, there's plenty of people lined up to take a stab at making some quick settlement cash."

Patent Troll?

Engadget writer Thomas Ricker called Anascape a "patent troll" -- a company that buys up intellectual property for the sole purpose of extracting licensing fees or suing big companies. Indeed, the company does not have a Web site at Anascape.com, and a Google search of the company's name turned up only references to its suits against Nintendo and Microsoft.

Alexander Sliwinksi at the Joystiq blog chimed in: "Remember, kids, if you want to stick it to some big corporation in the future and cash in, just make patents for everything imaginable."

Sky-high jury verdicts...

Icahn Sets Sights on Yahoo Board Takeover

Thu, 15 May 2008 13:43:59 -0500

In a sternly worded letter, billionaire investor Carl Icahn is doing what Microsoft only threatened to do: wage a proxy war with Yahoo. On Thursday, Icahn sent the letter to Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock explaining that angry Yahoo shareholders have implored him to displace Yahoo's board with 10 new directors at the company's July 3 meeting. The objective is to restart acquisition talks between Microsoft and Yahoo.

"It is clear to me that the board of directors of Yahoo has acted irrationally and lost the faith of shareholders and Microsoft. It is quite obvious that Microsoft's bid of $33 per share is a superior alternative to Yahoo's prospects on a stand-alone basis," Icahn wrote. "I am perplexed by the board's actions. It is irresponsible to hide behind management's more-than-overly-optimistic financial forecasts."

Icahn Suggests New Yahoo Board

Icahn went on to call "unconscionable" Yahoo's decision not to allow its shareholders to choose an offer that represented a 72 percent premium over Yahoo's closing price of $19.18 the day before Microsoft's unsolicited acquisition bid. Icahn and many of Yahoo's shareholders strongly believe a merger of Yahoo and Microsoft would form a dynamic company that could compete with Google.

In the last 10 days, Icahn revealed, he has purchased approximately 59 million Yahoo shares and share-equivalents. He has also formed a 10-person slate that will stand for election against the current board. And he has sought antitrust clearance from the Federal Trade Commission to acquire up to approximately $2.5 billion worth of Yahoo stock.

The suggested board members include Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $8.1 billion in cash and stock in 1999. Adam Dell, Dell founder Michael Dell's brother, and Frank Biondi Jr., the former CEO of Viacom, are also on the list.

"While it is my understanding that you do not...

EU Concerned About Google's Street View Images

Thu, 15 May 2008 10:28:28 -0500

If you've wondered whether those Google photos of your street could compromise your privacy, you're not alone. On Thursday, the European Union's data-protection agency raised concerns about the ground-level, 360-degree views that Google's Street View offers.

European Union Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx told news media that "making pictures everywhere is certainly going to create some problems." He works with national authorities in Europe to establish policies for data protection and privacy, and added that he thinks Google will take the EU's concerns into account in future versions, perhaps limiting the kinds of images available online.

Blurring Faces

If Google does compromise, it won't be the first time it has modified its attempts to photograph the Earth to accommodate a government agency. In March, it was asked by the U.S. Defense Department to remove some images of U.S. military bases.

Google's Street View service, first introduced last year, is not yet available outside the U.S., so the EU's concerns are preventive. The images are obtained from specially equipped vehicles that capture panoramic images of streets.

In addition to the Europeans and the U.S. military, privacy advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have asked for a little less information. According to news reports, Google will comply with some of those requests, such as beginning this week to blur faces according to a facial-recognition algorithm. New York City will be the first to get this anonymity, and then it will be expanded to the other 40 cities in Street View.

Not Yet Perfect

The rollout of the blur machine will take a few months. This is fortunate, since Google spokesperson Larry Yu has noted that the algorithm is not yet at the level of perfection Google expects when it is deliberately smudging photos of daily life.

The software tends to go overboard, so to speak, and blurs too...

Microsoft Is First to Sell 10 Million Game Consoles

Thu, 15 May 2008 09:47:44 -0500

On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that its Xbox 360 video-game and entertainment system has sold more than 10 million units in the U.S., making it the first current-generation gaming console to break that mark. The U.S. installed base contributes to global sales of more than 19 million.

"This year will be the largest in the history of the video-game industry, with Xbox 360 leading the charge in the U.S. and abroad," said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the interactive entertainment business at Microsoft. "History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle. We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry."

Xbox Live's Impact

Microsoft's announcement comes on the heels of one of the biggest entertainment launches in history, Grand Theft Auto IV, on April 29. Microsoft said gamers eager to experience GTA IV online helped boost Xbox Live global members to more than 12 million this month. Xbox Live members have doubled in only one year's time.

"Reaching an installed base of 10 million consoles in the U.S. is a significant achievement and an essential milestone on the road to market leadership," said Billy Pidgeon, research manager at IDC. "Perhaps more important is the Xbox 360 worldwide online base -- 12 million Xbox Live gamers is the largest community in the connected console-games sector, which represents the greatest growth opportunity in the console market and where Microsoft has been the leader for two generations."

Beyond hitting the 10 million mark first, the Xbox 360 also leads with the industry's highest software rate, more than any other console this generation. Xbox 360 is home to more than 16 platinum titles that have sold one million units or more, including hits such as Halo 3, Madden NFL 07, Madden NFL 08, and Gears...

Comcast Buys Plaxo Social-Networking Site

Thu, 15 May 2008 08:49:36 -0500

Cable company Comcast is becoming more sociable with Wednesday's announcement that it will buy social-networking site Plaxo. Terms were not disclosed, although there are reports that the price could be up to $175 million, based on performance targets over the next few years.

"Comcast has an exciting vision to bring the social-media experience to mainstream consumers," Plaxo said as its site announced the acquisition. The announcement said Plaxo will remain an independent operation in Silicon Valley, and will be part of Comcast Interactive Media (CIM).

'Next-Generation Social Network'

The 50-employee Plaxo also said it will continue to develop its networked address book service, as well as its "next-generation social network," called Pulse. Pulse allows users to connect based on shared interests, as indicated by what they say about themselves or about the photos, video and music they share.

The two companies have been working together over the last year on such initiatives as providing Plaxo's address-book service for Comcast's upcoming SmartZone communications center, and Plaxo has been hosting the address-book accounts for Comcast Webmail users. SmartZone is an e-mail and voice-mail service for the 14 million Comcast high-speed Net subscribers and four million digital-phone subscribers.

By working with Comcast, Plaxo said, it has doubled its network. It is also working with Comcast to socially enable Comcast's portal site at Comcast.net, and CIM's interactive entertainment properties, Fancast and Fandango, as well as its video-publishing company, thePlatform.

The companies said they share a common vision of how social media could become a natural part of the lives of regular people, not just early adopters. These social activities would include being able to securely upload family photos in the Pulse service and make them viewable by anyone in the family via computer, mobile device, even a TV.

Sharing with Friends

Comcast, the number-one cable-TV company in the U.S., has increasingly...

Steve Jobs Keynote Boosts Expectations for 3G iPhone

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:41:36 -0500

Apple's announcement Tuesday that CEO Steve Jobs will keynote the company's Worldwide Developers Conference is fueling speculation that Apple will announce a 3G version of the iPhone. Jobs will speak on Monday, June 9, at 10 a.m. The conference runs June 9-13 in San Francisco.

The timing is certainly right. Rumors have been circulating for most of the year that Apple would release a 3G iPhone in the second half of the year. Those rumors have been stoked by reports that Apple is winding down inventory of the current version. Both the U.S. and British versions of the online Apple Store list the iPhone as currently unavailable.

And sales representatives at Apple retail stores across the country reported the iPhone out of stock. "The iPhone is sold out companywide," a sales representative at the Apple Store in Braintree, Mass., told Computerworld.

iPhone 2.0

"On its own, this means nothing, but we all know that there could never be a major product announcement without Jobs on the stage," Charlie Sorrel wrote on Wired's news site, predicting Jobs would unveil a "proper update to the MacBook Pro line" as well.

The rumor mill has suggested that the price of the new iPhone could be substantially less than the current version's $399 cost.

While the possibility of a 3G iPhone announcement is pure speculation at this point, what is known is that Apple will release version 2.0 of the iPhone software, the final version of the iPhone software developers kit and the App Store, where developers can publish and users can wirelessly download third-party applications.

"I do expect to see a lot of developer focus on the platform and if it weren't for the problems with the lines last time, I'd be certain there would be lines for the phones again this time," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst...

EDS Catapults HP Right Behind IBM in IT Services

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:41:57 -0500

Analysts are still assessing Hewlett-Packard's announcement Tuesday that it will acquire Electronic Data Systems for $13.9 billion. Together, HP and EDS will be a tech-services behemoth with 210,000 employees worldwide in 80 countries and revenues of more than $38 billion. That figure more than doubles HP's service revenues.

HP's plans are simple: To establish a new business group. That group will be called EDS -- An HP Company. EDS Chairman, President and CEO Ronald Rittenmeyer will lead the group.

"The combination of HP and EDS will create a leading force in global IT services," said Mark Hurd, HP's president and CEO. "Together, we will be a stronger business partner, delivering customers the broadest, most competitive portfolio of products and services in the industry."

Gaining Ground on Big Blue

With this acquisition, HP moves to the number-two position behind IBM in providing IT services to the world's largest corporations.�That catapults HP in front of Accenture and puts it into a strong position to sell solutions to its largest accounts.

Any time you can go into the market and become the No. 1 or No. 2 player is a good move, according to Murray Beach, managing director of TM Capital and chairman of M&A International. Of course, he continued, the deal that would have really given IBM heartburn would have been an HP-Accenture tie-up, but the EDS deal gives HP a nice jump in government and financial services.

"IT outsourcing is also at the heart of the data center, and this is a critical arena for HP.�Becoming significantly more competitive with IBM in this area will [also challenge] IBM's server and data-center position," Beach said. "This is a nice strategic move from this angle. Their new government strength is an area that HP can exploit against IBM, as they should be one of the largest government-services players...

Sprint CEO Calls for Shareholders' Patience in Turnaround

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:10:56 -0500

Dan Hesse, chief executive officer at Sprint Nextel Corp. for less than five months, faced tough questions Tuesday about the company's continued trouble keeping wireless subscribers.

Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint, the nation's third-largest wireless provider, lost about a million customers in 2007 and reported Monday that it lost 1.07 million more in the first quarter of 2008 alone.

"Over the last year, AT&T and Verizon have really been eating our lunch, particularly in terms of high-value customers," investor Carlos Roberts of McLean, Va., told Hesse at the company's annual shareholder meeting. Roberts asked Hesse what he was doing about that problem.

Hesse, hired in December after the company's board ousted former CEO Gary Forsee, told Roberts and other shareholders that Sprint Nextel is taking the appropriate steps to regain momentum on subscriber numbers.

But he cautioned that shareholders shouldn't expect significant improvement in the company's finances until the end of 2008.

"Improving our performance will take time," he said.

Chairman James Hance Jr. placed the blame where many already have -- on Sprint's struggle to integrate Nextel Communications Inc.'s network and corporate culture with its own after it bought Nextel in 2005.

"Over the course of merging Sprint and Nextel, we lost our focus on how we attract, serve and retain our customers," Hance said. "As a result, we lost ground to our competitors. Too many good customers have walked out the door unhappy with us."

Hesse said the company will focus on retaining high-quality customers through improved customer service and special offers for existing customers. For example, it plans to roll out a device like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, called the Instinct, in June and sell it initially only to existing customers.

Sprint also continues to weed out subscribers who have trouble paying their bills and don't spend much on lucrative data services such as Internet surfing or video.

"In...

Wireless Patient Devices at Risk from Internet Use

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:11:48 -0500

Losing the audio feed during "Monday Night Football" may seem like a crisis for some sports fan, but it's nothing compared to losing the signal that monitors a critically ill hospital patient.

The technical glitches share a potential source: the proposed use of unoccupied TV airwaves for high-speed Internet service across the country.

While television networks and wireless microphone users have been fighting the idea, the medical community is also sounding the alarm over possible interference from unlicensed portable gizmos operating in a nearby spectrum. The spectrum's valuable wireless real estate has attracted technology companies and consumer advocates who say it shouldn't remain vacant.

Hospitals and medical device makers say using empty channels for unlicensed uses is a matter of life and death, not just a source of static for entertainment outlets. It could disrupt the monitoring of patients' heart rates, blood oxygen levels and other vital signs at medical facilities.

"If they stop functioning for a period of time, you don't know the patient's physiological condition. This is patient care at its most basic level," says Dale Woodin, executive director of the American Society of Healthcare Engineering, an arm of the American Hospital Association.

Medical device maker GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Co., has also weighed in, asking the Federal Communications Commission to proceed carefully in its decision to permit broadband use through those idle channels, commonly known as "white spaces."

In an FCC filing last week, the company requested stricter standards to protect wireless patient-monitoring equipment, such as heart, blood pressure and respiration devices, from being overwhelmed by other equipment operating in nearby channels.

The FCC is conducting tests to find an efficient and interference-free way to use the spectrum for broadband, but several trial devices have either broken down or failed. A spokesman said some additional lab tests may be needed, but...

Craigslist Countersues eBay for Trademark Violations

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:22:33 -0500

Online classifieds giant Craigslist countersued its minority owner, eBay Inc., alleging the online auctioneer is violating federal and state antitrust laws.

The legal spat, which began last month, pits two of the Internet's most popular Web sites against one another.

It lays bare eBay's long-standing desire for a majority stake in Craigslist and Craigslist's continued resistance to eBay's advances.

Craigslist claims eBay attempted to quash competition by using privileges and information gleaned from its 28 percent stake in Craigslist to benefit its own classifieds site Kijiji, which launched last year in the U.S.

According to Craigslist's complaint, filed Tuesday in state Superior Court in San Francisco, eBay internally calls Kijiji the "Craigslist killer."

San Jose, California-based eBay said the allegations are unfounded and unsubstantiated. It claims Craigslist is trying to divert attention from eBay's lawsuit, filed in April, which alleges that Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster engaged in a series of "clandestine transactions" intended to dilute eBay's stake unfairly.

EBay is the sixth most popular Web site in the U.S., according to comScore Inc.'s count of unique visitors, while Craigslist ranks 25th.

The latest complaint outlines a fractious four years since eBay purchased its stake in Craigslist from an unnamed former shareholder who solicited outside bids. The terms of the deal were never disclosed.

At the time, the companies agreed that if eBay tried to compete against Craigslist, eBay would lose rights to Craigslist's management and information. Craigslist says eBay triggered that provision when it launched Kijiji.

And when eBay named a representative to Craigslist's board who was a Kijiji insider, that violated the federal Clayton Antitrust Act and California law prohibiting participation on the board of a competitor, Craigslist claims.

EBay also asked for confidential Craigslist information -- such as launch dates for new sites and site traffic statistics -- as it planned to launch...

Troubled Hitachi Expects Hard Drives To Lead Recovery

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:27:57 -0500

Hitachi posted a quarterly loss Tuesday on slow television sales and a tax write-down but said it would rebound to a profit this year on a recovery in hard drives, pushing its shares up almost 6 percent.

Hitachi, the biggest Japanese industrial electronics company, aims to outrun a stronger yen and price drops this year by focusing resources on high-capacity hard drives and plasma television sales in China.

But Hitachi said losses would continue this year in its plasma TVs, with an executive skirting questions about when the business would turn into the black.

"We certainly hope that the business would turn profitable next business year," Toyoaki Nakamura, senior vice president, told a news conference.

For the financial year to next March, Hitachi expects a net profit of yen40 billion, or $386 million. That would compare with a net loss of yen58.13 billion the previous year but would miss the average estimate of a yen64.5 billion profit from 10 analysts surveyed by Reuters.

On an operating basis, Hitachi said it expected profit to rise 10 percent to yen380 billion this year.

After the announcement, shares of Hitachi held earlier gains and closed up 5.9 percent at yen719.

"A 10 percent rise -- if they can achieve this -- it's not bad at all," said Tomomi Yamashita, a fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management. "There was some talk that they'd be much more conservative."

Hitachi, whose empire includes booming infrastructure-related operations, slumping electronics and cutting-edge research centers, has promised to trim or turn around subsidiaries operating at a loss.

Seeing weakening demand from the United States, it had huge appraisal losses and a tax write-down in the period from January through March, which caused it to post a quarterly net loss of yen57.6 billion, compared with a yen44 billion profit a year earlier.

The company, one of the largest makers of...

Three in 10 People Get All or Most Calls on Cell Phones

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:23:56 -0500

For nearly three in 10 households, don't even bother trying to call them on a landline phone. They either only have a cell phone or seldom if ever take calls on their traditional phone.

The federal figures, released Wednesday, showed that reliance on cells is continuing to rise at the expense of wired telephones. In the second half of last year, 16 percent of households only had cell phones, while 13 percent also had landlines but got all or nearly all their calls on their cells.

The number of wireless-only households grew by 2 percent since the first half of last year. Underscoring the rapid growth, in early 2004 just 5 percent had only cell phones.

Households with cell phones who rarely if ever use their landlines grew by 1 percent since the first half of last year.

Such families often either have their landline hooked exclusively to a computer or rely so heavily on their cells that they ignore landline calls because they are probably from telephone solicitors, said Stephen Blumberg, senior scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an author of the report.

The trends have an important impact on polling organizations, which rely chiefly on calls to random landline phone numbers. Calling cell phone users can be more costly for pollsters, in part because federal law forbids unsolicited calls to cell phones made by computerized dialing systems used heavily by pollsters.

Studies have shown that so far, people who have only cell phones don't give significantly different answers to questions than those who use landlines. Pollsters, though, are under growing pressure to survey the growing number of cell phone users and some already do so.

Also affected are the telephone industry and emergency service providers, who can find it harder to locate people calling from a cell phone.

The survey also found...