NewsFactor Network

Google's Grand Plan for New Android Devices

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:38:33 -0500

Google is revising the way it rolls out new Android versions and devices, according to a new report. The move is intended to give the tech giant greater control over features and apps, and to reduce the influence of wireless carriers.

According to a story in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, Google will now give new versions of Android to as many as five manufacturers at a time, and devices using the new version will be sold directly to consumers. Previously, Google's practice was to produce "lead devices" for a new version with a single manufacturer and then roll out to other makers, with devices being sold through carriers or retail stores.

Nexus-Branded Products

Under the new scheme -- which has not yet been confirmed by Google -- Google would sell the Nexus-brand products from the manufacturers through its Web site and possibly through some retailers. Google has tried direct sales to consumers on a limited basis previously, with limited success.

The amount of involvement that wireless carriers would have in marketing and selling this wave of products is not yet clear. One might assume that phones or tablets sold directly to consumers by Google would not be subsidized by carriers, so, unless Google is ready to pick up that slack, the prices are expected to be considerably higher than what buyers have come to expect.

It would be expected the phones would be sold unlocked, so that they would work on a variety of networks. Unless a contract is packaged with the sale -- something that would seem to counter Google's strategy -- the buyer then would have to find a carrier. But, potentially, a device buyer could purchase a prepaid wireless plan, making the total ownership cost less than currently and not obligating the buyer to a contract.

The new Google strategy, according to the...

Cisco Tackles BYOD Challenge with 'Smart Solutions'

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:13:13 -0500

Cisco on Wednesday offered up findings from its "bring your own device" study and used the results as a jumping off point to announce new mobility solutions. But can Cisco carve out a niche in the nascent BYOD services space?

The Cisco IBSG Horizons Study surveyed 600 U.S. IT and business leaders to discover the benefits and complexities of allowing workers to use their own mobile devices on corporate networks. A whopping 95 percent of respondents say their organization allows employee-owned devices on the network.

The study also revealed that the average number of connected devices per knowledge worker is expected to reach 3.3 by 2014, up from an average of 2.8 in 2012. All in all, managers are balancing security and support concerns with the very real potential to reap significant cost and productivity benefits from the BYOD trend.

BYOD Meets Virtual Desktops

As Cisco sees it, BYOD is here to stay and managers are seeing the need for a more holistic approach -- an approach that is scalable and addresses mobility, security, virtualization and network policy management -- in order to keep management costs in line and realize savings.

According to Cisco IBSG, Cisco employees pay an average of $600 out-of-pocket for devices that will give them more control over their work experience. The benefits of BYOD vary based on an employee's role and work requirements. Cisco IBSG estimates that the annual benefits from BYOD range from $300 to $1,300 per employee.

While the BYOD trend gains momentum, desktop virtualization is on the rise. Sixty-eight percent of respondents agreed that a majority of knowledge worker roles are suitable for desktop virtualization and 50 percent noted that their organization is in the process of implementing a desktop virtualization strategy.

Cisco's 'Smart Solutions'

Cisco's answer to the opportunity and challenge is the Cisco Unified Workspace, which allows everything...

GM Drops Paid Facebook Ads, Will Still Use Free Pages

Tue, 15 May 2012 16:01:42 -0500

With some 900 million user accounts, Facebook would seem to be the perfect venue for advertisers. The question is, despite the amount of time people spend logged on, posting updates, chatting with friends and sharing pictures, how much does the advertising that has made Facebook a multibillion-dollar concern in a short eight years really move products?

Not enough, the nation's leading automobile manufacturer has apparently concluded. In its case, paid advertising on the world's biggest social network hasn't justified the cost.

$10 Million Campaign

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that General Motors was pulling its ads for cars on Facebook, while continuing to use free pages to publicize its products. The paid advertising had reportedly amounted to $10 million.

The decision may reflect a mindset of "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" That could be troubling on some level for the Mark Zuckerberg-founded company as it heads toward an initial public stock offering Friday that hinges on future profitability and revenue growth. The company could be valued as high as $100 billion.

"GM's move is certainly likely to give other advertisers pause, especially given the company's heft, its reputation for advertising savvy and its remarkable return from the grave," Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, told us.

"There have also been numerous similar situations in the past, where an initially hot Internet property cooled swiftly -- in some cases, by Antarctic proportions -- when exposed to close scrutiny."

One example, King said, was Second Life, the virtual world created by Linden Research in 2003 that allows users to interact through avatars.

Virtual Showrooms Didn't Pay

"At one point, the site's fast growth and its popularity among the technology elite made it a go-to venue for numerous vendors and manufacturers, many of which built virtual 'showrooms' to market and advertise their goods," King...

Researchers Use Virus To Generate Electricity

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:33:37 -0500

Viruses have gotten a bad rap for their role in colds, diseases and malware. But now the reputation of some viruses is being redeemed, as researchers in California have developed a way to use them for the creation of electricity.

The technology works by converting mechanical energy from specially engineered, harmless viruses into electricity. To date, the research team from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab has created a generator that can produce enough current to power a small LCD display.

'Viral Electronics'

The research is described in a May 13 advance online publication of the Nature Nanotechnology journal.

Scientist and associate professor Seung-Wuk Lee said in a statement that, while more research is needed, the results thus far represent "a promising first step toward the development of personal power generators, actuators for use in nano-devices, and other devices based on viral electronics."

In the test generator, a finger tap of the postage stamp-sized electrode uses the viruses to generate an electrical charge. The electrode is coated with the viruses, and the generator is the first to create electricity by using the piezoelectric properties of biological material.

The viruses self-organize on a multilayered film in the generator that measures about one square centimeter, and are then placed between two gold-plated electrodes. A wire connects the arrangement to an LCD display. When pressure is applied, about six nanoamperes of current and 400 millivolts of potential are created, equal to about 25 percent of a Triple A battery's voltage.

Piezoelectricity is the build-up of a charge in a solid, as a response to mechanical stress. Potentially, electricity from this kind of generator could be produced from a variety of everyday activities, such as shutting a door, walking, or bicycling.

Stack of 20 Layers

The piezoelectric effect, first discovered in 1880, has been found in crystals,...

AMD Doubles Power in New Chips for Next-Generation Notebooks

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:05:35 -0500

Advanced Micro Devices has launched a new A-series of accelerated processing units (APUs) designed for deployment in next-generation notebooks as well as in traditional desktop PCs. Code-named Trinity, the new series-A APUs reportedly double the performance of prior AMD offerings as well as boost processor performance by 29 percent through the addition of third-generation AMD turbo core technology.

AMD's turbo core technology shifts power between each chip's central processing unit and graphics processing unit to best match each application's specific requirements. As a result, AMD said CPU frequencies are able to rise to a maximum of 3.2 gigahertz.

AMD's new APUs also are capable of delivering up to 12 hours of battery life through CPU and GPU power enhancements, said AMD Corporate Vice President Chris Cloran.

"Our second-generation AMD A-Series APU is a major step forward in every performance and power dimension, allowing users to enjoy a stunning experience without having to give up the things that matter to them most," Cloran said.

The processing boost doesn't stop at mainstream notebooks, Cloran said.

"It carries over into affordable ultrathin form factors featuring the latest in AMD Radeon graphics," he said.

ARM No Threat This Year

Given the inundation of recent media reports about ARM-based processors expected to land in value-added notebooks after Microsoft launches its Windows RT operating system for mobile computing devices, we asked AMD about how the chipmaker's new chips stack up against the ARM-based offerings coming down the pike.

The A-Series APUs that AMD launched Tuesday are destined for deployment in notebooks from Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba and will likely be priced in the $500-$800 range by AMD's OEM partners, said AMD spokesman Phil Hughes.

"Value based notebooks come closer to the value proposition of our E-Series platform, which is designed for essential notebooks in the $250-$500 range," Hughes...

New Nokia Line Bets on Next Billion Mobile Users

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:21:53 -0500

Nokia is struggling on many fronts, but the company is performing well in emerging markets -- and it's looking to boost its chances with two new mobile phones that play on its strategy to connect the next billion consumers.

The Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 aim to attract young, urban consumers who want to experience a fast, affordable online experience. Both devices incorporate social-media aspects, like Facebook and Twitter integration. And a Nokia browser promises to consume up to 90 percent less data by compressing Web sites in the cloud.

"Today's mobile phone users want a quick Internet experience that allows them to discover great content and share it with their friends -- but without being held back by high data costs," said Mary T. McDowell, executive vice president of Mobile Phones at Nokia. She's betting consumers will look to the Nokia 110 and 112, which combine browsing, social media, apps, entertainment and long battery life.

Casual Gaming Savvy

The devices have a 1.8-inch display that Nokia characterizes as "optimized for gaming." In the months ahead, the Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 will bring free EA Games, including favorites like Tetris, Bejeweled, Need for Speed The Run, Monopoly Here & Now, and SimCity Deluxe.

The Nokia 112 features a preloaded eBuddy instant messaging service so users can tap into popular chat services from the mobile device. And both phones offer an upgraded camera that lets users customize contacts with photos, or share images via social networks and Bluetooth.

The VGA camera promises sharper, clearer pictures with support for up to 32GB of external memory, enough for more than 6,000 songs or 90,000 pictures. Consumers can tune into radio stations and share songs with friends over Bluetooth. And all this with a promised 10 hours of talk time and nearly a month of standby.

The Lumia...

Facebook Policy 'Housecleaning' Leads to Protests

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:29:03 -0500

All eyes are on all aspects of Facebook. As the social-media darling sets its sights on a historic initial public offering, though, it's doing a little housecleaning on the privacy front. And that housecleaning is making many angry.

Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer, let the world know on Friday what her team was doing to help Facebook's users better understand how it uses their data. She penned a blog post that outlined how Facebook has enhanced transparency in its data use policy.

For all Facebook's good intentions, though, its latest update has many users up in arms once again. In fact, privacy advocates organized flash mob protests against Facebook on Tuesday at locations in New York and San Francisco. Not exactly the kind of publicity a pre-IPO Facebook wants or needs, though it did not seem to affect offering share prices.

Privacy Changes Detailed

"We're adding more examples and detailed explanations to help you understand our policies. For example, we include additional tips, marked with a light bulb so you can find them easily. We've added new links to our Help Center," Egan wrote.

Facebook also created a new section explaining how it uses "cookies" and similar technologies and updated the corresponding explanations about cookies in its Help Center. Facebook went on to provide more information about how it uses data to operate the social network, to advertise, and to promote safety and security for its users.

Facebook also launched several new features in its Data Use Policy since its last update, including Activity Log. Egan described Activity Log as a new privacy tool that lets you see in one place the information you've posted to Facebook. From Activity Log, for example, you can control who can see each piece of information and decide whether it appears on your timeline.

"We...

Online Tool Helps You Estimate Social Security Benefits

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:24:46 -0500

If you're feeling nostalgic about the days when you drank Pabst Blue Ribbon beer because it was cheap, not trendy, a new online tool from the Social Security Administration will take you on a walk down memory lane.

On May 1, Social Security launched a feature on its Web site, www.socialsecurity.gov, that allows workers to view an online version of their Social Security earnings and benefits statements. The program also allows you to estimate your retirement, disability and survivors benefits.

You can use this tool to show your kids how little you made when you started working (after you've reminded them that you walked 5 miles to get to school, without an iPod or cellphone). But more important, it can help you receive all of the benefits you're due, and make smart decisions about when to claim them.

Social Security used to mail workers an annual earnings statement, but suspended those mailings last year to save money. Starting in February, Social Security resumed mailing paper statements to workers 60 and older who aren't already receiving benefits. Later this year, it will mail paper statements to workers in the year they turn 25.

Before you can review your online earnings statement, you must go to www.ssa.gov/mystatement and create an account. The program will ask you a bunch of personal questions for security reasons, so be prepared to give up the name of your first pet and answer some multiple-choice questions about your finances. Social Security contracted with credit bureau Experian to provide information for verification purposes.

Once you've established your identity, you can create an account with a user name and password. Social Security recommends reviewing it annually.

Here's what you can learn from the online earnings statement:

Whether your earnings have been reported correctly. It's a lot of fun to reminisce about the year you earned a...

Yahoo's Interim CEO Has Tough Job Ahead of Him

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:32:40 -0500

The newest chief of Yahoo, interim CEO Ross Levinsohn, has carved a career out of making deals. Now, as head honcho at the embattled Internet icon, he needs to make plenty.

Levinsohn inherits an unenviable to-do list from a conga line of recent former Yahoo CEOs. Like Scott Thompson, who was pushed out Sunday over inaccuracies on his resume, Carol Bartz, Jerry Yang and Terry Semel, Levinsohn has to unravel Yahoo's knotty issue with Chinese Internet firm Alibaba Group, of which it owns a stake.

He also needs to shore up relations with Facebook, with whom Yahoo has traded patent-infringement lawsuits. And he must figure out what to do with a quasi-successful search deal with Microsoft.

To be fair, the situation isn't entirely dire. The portal attracts about 700 million visitors a month, which helped it generate nearly $1 billion in ad sales last quarter.

But that business is under siege from Google, Facebook and an armada of start-ups vying for eyeballs and revenue. Yahoo's slice of the nearly $40 billion U.S. online ad market -- at 16% in 2009 -- was 9.5% in 2011 and could slide to 7.4% this year, according to eMarketer.

Levinsohn, who was running Yahoo's Americas business, is familiar around Internet circles. He was president of Fox Interactive Media, when News Corp. acquired Myspace, and helped Myspace land a $900 million ad deal with Google. While in control of Yahoo's U.S. sales operations, he restaffed the team and eliminated middlemen to increase yield on ads sold.

"Ross Levinsohn makes a lot of sense as CEO, because he has a lot of experience in Internet media," says Scott Kessler, analyst at S&P Capital IQ. "A lot of people are hoping he becomes the permanent CEO."

Whether the new CEO and fresh board are the fix remains an open question. Analysts will be closely...

Release of Big-Name Video Games Could Revive Sales

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:23:32 -0500

Two much-anticipated games, Max Payne 3 and Diablo III, [could] bring respite from a five-month slump in video game retail sales.

The arrival of the third-person action game and the PC-based fantasy role-playing game will be welcomed by game fans and retailers, because the release schedule of potential hits so far in 2012 has been underwhelming.

Another sign of slumping sales: Retailer GameStop reported last week that first-quarter sales fell 12.5% on a drop in store traffic due to fewer blockbuster titles.

Overall April retail sales were $630.4 million, down 32% from $930.9 million in April 2011, reports market tracker the NPD Group.

"When we see compelling content come into the market, the games are still selling as well as ever," says NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "We just saw a lot less this April as compared to last."

Other factors in the slump: growth in sales of downloadable games and add-on content, as well as a casual gamer shift to mobile and Web games. Some developers have turned design efforts to the next generation of video game consoles, even though only Nintendo's Wii U has been announced, says Geoff Keighley, host of Spike network's GameTrailers TV.

"Really, the only big game this year," he says, "has been Mass Effect 3," BioWare's science-fiction role-playing game, which has sold about 4 million copies in two months.

With Max Payne 3 ($60, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PCs, ages 17 and older), developer Rockstar Games (Grand Theft Auto) revived the police detective from two popular computer games out in 2001 and 2003. The success of the new game, coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PCs, "is critical for the video game market, not just for Rockstar," says EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich.

Since the impact of mobile games on interest in premium-price console games is hard to quantify,...

Lights Out: LightSquared Files for Bankruptcy

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:29:39 -0500

LightSquared Inc., which hoped to create an independent wireless broadband network in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday.

Regulators blocked its plan this winter because of concerns that its transmissions would interfere with GPS navigation.

LightSquared hasn't given up. Chief Financial Officer Marc Montagner said in a statement that the bankruptcy filing is intended to gain the company "breathing room" while it continues to work through its regulatory issues.

It has said that it has invested more than $4 billion in the network. LightSquared listed assets and liabilities of more than $1 billion each in the filing Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The company, which is based in Reston, Virginia, is owned by Harbinger Capital Partners, a private-equity firm that made billions betting against subprime mortgages ahead of the collapse of the housing market.

Harbinger bought SkyTerra, a provider of satellite communications services to businesses, in 2010. It then lobbied the Federal Communications Commission to allow it to use the spectrum set aside for SkyTerra for ground-based communications -- essentially, a conventional wireless broadband network, rather than a satellite-based one.

But SkyTerra's licenses were for spectrum adjacent to a band used by GPS satellites. On the ground, GPS units had no problem filtering out transmissions from SkyTerra's satellites, but regulators determined that they could be disrupted by strong, ground-based signals.

LightSquared's CEO, telecom veteran Sanjiv Ahuja, resigned in February.

The company's largest creditors are Boeing Satellite Systems Inc., owed $7.5 million, and telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent, owed $7.3 million, according to the filing.

Wireless Customer Satisfaction Evens Out

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:27:17 -0500

Improvements in customer satisfaction at Sprint Nextel Corp. and AT&T Inc. have narrowed differences among the Big 4 wireless carriers to the point that they're basically even in terms of pleasing their subscribers, according to a study released Tuesday.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index puts Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless within two points of each other on a 100-point scale of customer satisfaction.

That's the smallest spread since the survey started looking at all four companies in 2005. It's also within the margin of error at plus or minus three points.

Last year, AT&T clearly trailed the pack, while Sprint and Verizon led. That was a surprising development for Sprint, which was last as recently as four years ago. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has made improvement in customer service central to his tenure.

AT&T recovered this year, with a three-point increase to 69. It shares that score with T-Mobile USA, the No. 4 carrier by size. Verizon and Sprint are at 70 and 71, respectively.

The survey was developed by the University of Michigan, but is now run by a private company, ACSI LLC. It surveyed about 6,000 households in the first quarter for the annual report.

For the phone companies, the satisfaction index has a limited relevance to actual customer loyalty, which the companies report quarterly. For instance, T-Mobile customers are far more likely to leave the carrier than AT&T's are, even though they have the same score.

T-Mobile is the only company among the Big 4 that doesn't sell the iPhone. That probably matters to customers. The ACSI for the first time published a score for Apple Inc. as a phone manufacturer. At 83 points, it handily outranks other manufacturers measured, including Samsung Electronics Co., HTC Corp. and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.

Facebook Raises IPO Price as Offering Nears

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:28:58 -0500

Facebook on Tuesday increased the price range at which it plans to sell stock to the public, as investor enthusiasm in the offering continued to mount and boost the potential value of the world's most popular social network.

The Menlo Park, Calif. company said in a regulatory filing that it now expects to sell its stock for between $34 and $38 per share, up from its previous range of $28 to $35. At the upper limit of $38 per share, the sale would raise about $12.8 billion.

The IPO is expected to be completed late Thursday and begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Friday under the ticker symbol "FB."

The increased range is a sign of high demand from investors to own a piece of the world's most popular social network. The initial public offering is the most hotly anticipated in years and would value Facebook at more than $100 billion.

Facebook is selling 180 million of its shares in the IPO. Another 157 million shares are coming from existing stockholders, including the company's earliest investors and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Even after the IPO, Zuckerberg will remain Facebook's single largest shareholder. And he will control the company through 57 percent of its voting stock.

The IPO is expected to be the largest ever for an Internet company. It is expected to raise more than 10 times as much as the $1.67 billion raised in Google Inc.'s 2004 IPO.

At a value of $38 per share, the high end of Facebook's expected range, Facebook would generate $6.84 billion on its shares. Existing stockholders would collectively make $5.98 billion.

Facebook has more than 900 million users who log in at least once a month.

Even at the higher price range, it's going to be tough for the company's fans and everyday investors to get in on the IPO. Most...

Lenovo Blooming with New ThinkPads

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:33:06 -0500

In time for spring blooming, Lenovo is out with a fresh crop of updates to its venerable ThinkPad line. The new arrivals include the X1 Carbon laptop, which the company called the lightest 14-inch Ultrabook, as well as the addition of Intel's Ivy Bridge processors to an assortment of models.

The X1 joins a variety of Ultrabook models that are beginning to pop up from various manufacturers. Or, as Information Technology Intelligence Consulting analyst Laura DiDio put it, "this is like the Easter parade for Ultrabooks." Lenovo said that its X1 Carbon "exceeds Ultrabook specifications," specifically in its use of a carbon fiber rollcage that enhances durability but keeps the weight under 3 pounds.

3G, RapidCharge

Other highlights of the X1 include RapidCharge for a near-full battery charge within 30 minutes and Intel vPro technology to assist with management.

Senior Vice President Lu Yan said in a statement that innovative thinking extends beyond the X1 to the rest of the new ThinkPad models, which feature "a backlit keyboard, super-bright high definition display, Dolby Home Theatre and rich communications features that balance business performance with personal use."

New models in the ThinkPad X, T, W, and L Series feature Ivy Bridge third-generation quad-core processors, RapidBoot, and Lenovo Enhanced Experience 3.0. The refreshed lineup is designed to start 40 percent faster than a typical Windows 7 computer, with optimized system files, processes and hardware settings.

Several models offer 4G/LTE connectivity, USB 3.0, and an option for contract-free mobile broadband, purchased in time segments.

The X230 Ultraportable, intended for road warriors, provides 24 hours of battery, a weight under 3 pounds, and 4G. The T430s has docking and vPro, and the T530 delivers a full 15-inch HD display.

With Windows 8 coming, there has been a great deal of speculation about tablet-laptop convertibles. The ThinkPad X230t combines both with a...

Security Firm Says Apple Asking for Assessment

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:39:45 -0500

Apple's Macs have been subject to a variety of high-profile security threats in recent months. Now, according to Kaspersky Labs, Apple has asked the security firm for a vulnerability analysis.

According to the chief technology officer for Kaspersky, Apple has approached his company to analyze its platform. Nikolay Grebrennikov told reporters about this development and added that, in his opinion, the computer maker had not previously taken security issues "seriously enough." Apple has not confirmed the arrangement.

'10 Years Behind Microsoft'

As one example, Grebrennikov cited a vulnerability in Java, which was exploited by the Flashback Trojan earlier this year and which infected a reported 600,000 Macs. Apple, he said, released its Java fix several months after Oracle did.

In April, shortly after the extent of the widely distributed Flashback Trojan on Macs became known, Kaspersky Lab CEO and co-founder Eugene Kaspersky charged that Apple was "10 years behind Microsoft in security," and he predicted that Apple products would increasingly become a more inviting target for malware.

While the comments of Kaspersky executives could well be seen as self-serving, Apple appears to have gotten at least some of this message. In February, developer previews of the new OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion included a new feature called Gatekeeper. This optional setting will enable Mac owners to allow only apps that have a free, signed certificate provided to legitimate developers by Apple.

For years, Macs have enjoyed a reputation -- undeserved, according to most experts -- of being virtually impervious to malware. But, as their sales have increased, so has their appeal as a target.

Last month, security firm Sophos reported that it had conducted a study which showed that as many as 20 percent of all Macs had some form of malware -- which had actually been designed for Windows machines. In addition, the study, which surveyed 100,000...