NewsFactor Network

New Pogoplug 'Personal Cloud' Does Social Networking

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:46:25 -0500

On Friday, Cloud Engines released its newest version of the Pogoplug, a small "multimedia sharing device" that connects hard drives to the Internet and allows a user to access the files remotely. The company described Pogoplug as "your own personal cloud that broadcasts safely from your home."

You connect Pogoplug to your router by Ethernet, attach hard drives or USB flash drives, and then access files by logging in from anywhere through a browser. You can also securely give access to others for downloading or uploading, the company said.

Drives Can Appear Local

The shared content can be searched remotely by file type or other parameters and, with a downloadable desktop application, the drives can work as if they were local to whatever machine you happen to be on. Mobile-compatible devices include iPhone, BlackBerry and Android-based phones.

The newest Pogoplug offers multiple USB ports for as many as four external drives, a drag-and-drop interface to create slide and audio shows, and capabilities for sharing with friends on social-networking sites.

Essentially, Pogoplug is a gateway to deliver your content to yourself or others from a home or office through the Internet. Cloud Engines CEO Daniel Putterman said the company is "giving our customers the best way to access their data from anywhere in the world."

The newest incarnation of this product enables Pogoplug to sync with a Mac or PC, so content can be automatically imported from iTunes, Windows Media Player, or iPhoto. With this "set it and forget it" feature, users can access new photos, videos or music remotely.

Network-Attached Storage

The new model also allows creating a slideshow of photos, videos and music, and then sharing the show via a link. There's an address book to share e-mail addresses, and global search across multiple Pogoplugs and drives. Videos can be played back directly from Pogoplug.

Ross Rubin, director...

Google's Chrome OS Will Be Optimized for Speed

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:41:10 -0500

Google is showcasing how its Chrome OS will change the user experience when it launches before next year's holiday season. The new operating system will initially appear on netbook-style devices that will feature bigger keyboards than today's netbooks offer, the company said.

First and foremost, the Chrome OS design team is obsessed about speed, noted Group Product Manager Caesar Sengupta and Engineering Director Matt Papakipos.

"We are taking out every unnecessary process, optimizing many operations, and running everything possible in parallel," Sengupta and Papakipos said. "This means you can go from turning on the computer to surfing the web in a few seconds."

Improving the User Experience

Though Chrome OS still has a long way to go before all its specs are finalized, Google is already showing off some of the features it has in mind. To minimize the amount of screen space devoted to the Chrome OS, the system's user-interface window is expected to combine apps and standard web pages into a tab strip at the top of the screen.

Called the apps menu, the primary OS access point will provide ready access to frequently used web apps and tools featuring desktop functionality. Moreover, individual apps will open in tabs along the strip.

"Within these application tabs, most things behave the same way as they do in Chrome today," said Google spokesperson Glen Murphy.

Some secondary apps will open in small overlays that Google calls panels. Designed to handle specific functions, such as chat and music players, the panels will float on top of other open applications. Or if the user prefers, they can be docked to a bar at the bottom of the screen or placed in a sidebar. Additionally, Google may offer a split-screen mode that will enable users to view two different content selections side by side.

No Worries Data...

Office 2010 Integrates with the Web, But Weakly

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:14:51 -0500

With the public beta of Office 2010, Microsoft is offering an intriguing future for the world's most popular productivity suite. The new version features integration with web-based, lightweight versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint; a mobile version; and social-networking features bolted onto Outlook.

One long-awaited development is Office Web Apps, Microsoft's competition for Google Docs and other online office suites. While the current beta only makes Excel and PowerPoint available to consumers via Windows Live, Word and OneNote are available to businesses via SharePoint Server. By the time Office 2010 launches in mid-2010, all apps will be available online to both sectors.

But based on the current versions, a PC World reviewer said, Office Web Apps are "no match" for Google and Zoho. "For example, Excel can't create charts, Word has no support for revision mode, and the slide-creation tools in PowerPoint pale next to the wealth of choices in Zoho Show," Yardena Arar wrote.

The problem with web apps has always been how can Microsoft compete with Google's free offerings without cannibalizing sales of its flagship desktop products? "The availability of Office compatibility with the web actually supports the web-apps approach that Google is taking," Greg Sterling, principal analyst with Sterling Market Research, said in an e-mail. But the company really has no choice. "Microsoft needs to do this; it's the direction the market is going in," Sterling added.

Taking Office Mobile

The approach continues to be to make the online software an adjunct to the real desktop. "The offerings' lack of features suggests that Microsoft isn't trying to create a web-based productivity ecosystem so much as it is attempting to give customers a Microsoft option for basic editing when they don't have access to the desktop software," Arar said.

The beta also includes a version of Office for Windows Mobile devices,...

Smart Spending: Online Help for Holiday Shopping

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:05:44 -0500

Shoppers face a dizzying array of offers of help in the form of new Web sites, services and mobile phone applications as they set out for their holiday shopping this year.

To make the most of new services, experts advise employing them often and early, even before the season kicks off with Black Friday next week.

Here are four ways to track down holiday bargains and a look at whether each could work for you:

1. GET SOCIAL. Many consumers are following their favorite brands and retailers to networking Web sites like Facebook and Twitter, where the companies are posting deals not seen in stores.

"I don't think it's going to be all about the Black Friday or Cyber Monday," said Michelle Madhok, CEO and editor in chief of shopping sites Shefinds.com and Momfinds.com. "I think those deals are going to go on and on."

This year's best deals will be online, she said. It's easier for retailers to launch and retract deals online, where matching inventory with customers is less of a challenge than in stores.

- IS IT FOR YOU? If you're a regular on Twitter or Facebook, social networks are good places to start shopping. But if you're new to social networking, it may take time before you can efficiently find deals. And there are other ways to find bargains online (see No. 3).

2. GET ORGANIZED. Other new services include budget applications for mobile phones; they can help you stay within your limits even though they're intended to help coax shoppers into spending.

JPMorgan Chase's "GiftPlanner" lets users list recipients and how much they want to spend and then track their total budget. Both GiftPlanner and AOL's "Holiday Plan" are free for the iPhone, and the latter enables users to click through to sponsor Walmart.com to start shopping.

- IS IT FOR YOU? You may...

Google Will Add Text Captions To YouTube Videos

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:15:04 -0500

In a move to make YouTube's massive inventory more accessible to deaf and hearing-impaired people, Google announced plans to add automatic captioning technology to the video site. Google has combined its automatic speech-recognition technology with the existing YouTube caption system. Called auto-caps for short, the captions rely on the same voice-recognition algorithms in Google Voice to automatically generate captions for YouTube videos.

Ken Harrenstien, a Google software engineer who is deaf, said the hundreds of thousands of captioned videos on YouTube and Google Video suggest that more people are becoming aware of how useful captions can be.

"As we've explained in the past, captions not only help the deaf and hearing-impaired, but with machine translation they also enable people around the world to access video content in any of 51 languages," Harrenstien said. "Captions can also improve search and even enable users to jump to the exact parts of the videos they're looking for."

Encouraging Uploaders to Caption

In addition to automatic captions, YouTube is also launching automatic caption timing, or auto-timing, to make it significantly easier to create captions manually. With auto-timing, video uploaders no longer need to have special expertise to create captions in YouTube. Harrenstien hopes this technology encourages more members to caption their videos.

Here's how it works: Create a text file with all the words in the video, then upload the file and Google's automatic speech-recognition technology figures out when the words are spoken and creates captions for the video. As Harrenstien sees it, the process should significantly lower the barriers for video owners who want to add captions, but who don't have the time or resources to create professional caption tracks.

YouTube visitors should expect to see both new features in English by the end of the week. For the initial launch, auto-caps are only visible on a...

AT&T Fires Back at Verizon with 'X and V' Commercial

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:15:20 -0500

AT&T isn't holding back in responding to attacks from Verizon Wireless. After losing a court fight to stop Verizon from airing commercials that pointed out holes in AT&T's 3G service, AT&T is responding with its own commercial.

On Wednesday, the wireless carrier unveiled a commercial featuring actor Luke Wilson. In the commercial, Wilson gives AT&T an X for everything he said AT&T provides to subscribers, including a 3G network, the ability to surf the Internet while on the phone, and access to a phone with more than 100,000 apps.

Verizon, on the other hand, gets credit only for starting with the letter V.

Sour Taste

AT&T's move comes after its complaint in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, asking a judge for a restraining order to stop Verizon from airing the controversial ads, was denied.

The Verizon ads feature a Verizon smartphone user with access in most places throughout the U.S. as shown on a map of nationwide coverage. Verizon aimed the television and radio ads against AT&T's 3G network, which has been the source of complaints from smartphone users for some time.

Verizon stood behind its ad and said AT&T's complaint had no merit. "With more and more people buying 3G smartphones, PDAs and embedded laptops, our ads serve to inform customers where their 3G smartphone apps will work," Verizon's Nancy Stark told us.

AT&T also took its argument to the web.

"As the U.S. market leader in wireless data service, we typically don't respond to competitors' advertising," wrote the company on its web site. "However, some recent ads from Verizon are so blatantly false and misleading, that we want to set the record straight about AT&T's wireless data coverage."

AT&T goes on to tell customers that its coverage reaches 303 million people and consists of three different types of technology, including 3G, EDGE and...

AOL Offers Voluntary Resignations Instead of Layoffs

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:30:13 -0500

After announcing a spin-off from parent company Time Warner on Monday, AOL is moving to reduce its head count about one-third. AOL is looking for employees who are willing to resign from their jobs at the once-dominant Internet firm.

As part of a voluntary layoff program that will begin Dec. 4 and run through Dec. 11, AOL will accept up to 2,500 resignations. That would shave about 30 percent of its 6,900 employee base -- if the packages are healthy enough to convince employees to quit their jobs in the midst of a recession.

"We will need to do an involuntary layoff if we do not reach the target numbers through the voluntary option," said AOL spokesperson Tricia Primrose. "We believe the voluntary program gives people more choice and decision-making ability instead of waiting for the final cost recommendations and involuntary layoffs."

Trimming Fat -- or Muscle

AOL's costs will decline with the job cuts, but there is no guarantee the layoffs will translate directly to an improvement in the company's market position, according to Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.

"AOL is getting rid of what they perceive to be fat. But if you are asking people to voluntarily resign, then you are not necessarily getting rid of fat," Sterling said. "You may be losing some good people who decide it's not going to be worth it to be there."

As Sterling sees it, AOL has a lot of assets, but also a lot of challenges. The company needs to figure out its role, how it is different from Yahoo, and how it is going to compete and when. Those are the questions that AOL is must answer, Sterling said.

The layoffs aren't unexpected. When Time Warner first announced plans to spin off AOL, a company it acquired in 2000, Time Warner Chairman and...

TV on the Go Leaves a Little To Be Desired

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:10:00 -0500

You have to really love TV to spring for a portable TV like the FLO TV Personal Television I've been testing. While you can already "snack" on live and pre-recorded mobile TV offerings on some cell phones, this brand new FLO handheld is a dedicated television you might schlep in addition to a phone.

FLO's pitch is that you can use this stand-alone digital TV to keep you and the troops entertained on the go. You might watch on the bus or train to the office. You might pass FLO TV to the kids in the back seat during a lengthy trip. Heck, you might even watch it in the bathroom or prop it up on your desk at work.

Only, for now, its pickings are too slim, the quality of the TV signal is so-so and its price too high.

The device arrives from FLO TV Inc., a Qualcomm subsidiary whose initial mobile TV fare is available on certain smartphones and soon in automobiles as well. Programming comes from the likes of CBS Mobile, CNBC, CNN Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile, Fox News, MSNBC, MTV, NBC 2Go and Nickelodeon. FLO can carry up to 20 channels, but only half that number are on the Personal Television at the moment.

Some shows are simulcast the same time they're broadcast on regular TV. Others are time shifted, so you can watch the Late Show with David Letterman or The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien the day after the previous evening's broadcasts.

Prime time doesn't mean the same in mobile TV land. FLO says its usage peaks around 1 p.m., with the average daily viewer spending more than 25 minutes watching the service. The company says its largest ever audience came during Michael Jackson's memorial in July. FLO can add channels during live events such as college...

Watchmakers Seize the Moment for iPhone

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:11:18 -0500

It was not so long ago that the spread of the mobile phone sent waves of fear through the reserved world of fine watchmaking. The practicality of a portable phone that doubled as an accurate digital timekeeper made the necessity for a wristwatch vanish almost overnight.

But now, with the popularity of the iPhone and its myriad applications, the watch industry finally has been able to embrace a product that once was considered the biggest threat to its survival.

A wide range of brands, from the big names like Breitling, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, Dior and Bell & Ross to independents like Dewitt, have introduced iPhone applications in the past six months that highlight their watch lines. The applications, all free, are available from the online Apple store.

Some might argue that the efforts are just another way of marketing to timepiece aficionados, but within the industry they are seen as a way to reach a younger and more digitally savvy customer and a natural extension of the close-knit world of watch collectors that thrives online with fan forums and blogs.

After all, Apple announced in early November that it now has more than 100,000 applications available. "The high-end watch world has indeed flourished since the Internet has become so widespread," says Elizabeth Doerr, author of "12 Faces of Time," a book on independent watchmaking scheduled to be published in February by teNeues. "The independents, in particular, have greatly profited from the technology in that they can communicate more directly with aficionados and collectors."

"The apps that have thus far appeared -- and will continue to do so until the next big social marketing tool is discovered -- are an extension of the rapidly changing world of watch marketing," she adds. "Brands are looking for less costly ways of more effective and direct marketing,...

Intel Leads Big Retreat in World Markets

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:12:12 -0500

World stocks slid Thursday after analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch reportedly downgraded their recommendations on a series of U.S. technology stocks, including Intel Corp. That feeded mounting concerns that current valuations are not justified by the pace of the global economic recovery.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 74.43 points, or 1.4 percent, at 5,267.70 while Germany's DAX fell 85.43 points, or 1.5 percent, to 5,702.18. The CAC-40 in France ended 67.94 points, or 1.8 percent, lower at 3,760.22.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 149.72 points, or 1.4 percent, at 10,276.59 around midday New York time while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 19.12 points, or 1.7 percent, at 1,090.68.

Technology stocks in the U.S. were at the sharp end of Thursday's retreat in the U.S. after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded their recommendations on ten stocks, including Intel Corp., Texas Instruments Inc. and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, said David Buik, markets analyst at BGC Partners. Intel was down over 5 percent, making it the biggest faller on the Dow.

The downgrades fed into a growing feeling in the markets that stock valuations are now pricing in too rapid an economic recovery.

Stock markets have rallied strongly since March's lows as investors reined in their economic doomsday expectations to factor in a swifter than anticipated global economic rebound, but recent disappointing U.S. housing figures have dented the optimism.

Figures Thursday from the Mortgage Bankers Association showing that more than 14 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of September added to the gloom.

Mixed earnings from some of the country's leading retailers have also weighed on sentiment as household spending in the U.S. is key for recovery -- it...

Review: $100 Palm Pixi Is Stylish But Sluggish

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:13:29 -0500

Palm Inc. is fighting harder than ever to snag a chunk of the smart phone market, and just six months after releasing the stylish Pre it's back with a lighter, more petite and affordable version called the Pixi.

It's too bad such a good-looking phone is so aggravating to use.

With its trim candy bar-shaped body, full keyboard and $100 price tag (with a two-year Sprint Nextel contract and $150 in rebates), it's clear that Palm is aiming the Pixi at younger, text messaging-savvy consumers.

The Pixi is one of the most attractive phones I've seen. Its glossy black face features a crisp-though-diminutive 2.6-inch touch screen and a full keyboard that's about the size of a Pink Pearl eraser. The keys are the sticky, rubbery kind familiar to Palm fans. In between the screen and keyboard sits a small area where you make finger swipes to switch between applications.

The Pixi felt great in my hand. The sides of the device are rounded and its sides and back are a matte, rubberized plastic. At 3.3 ounces, it's a featherweight compared to the Pre, iPhone and most BlackBerry phones -- the Pre and iPhone each tip the scales at 4.8 ounces. The Pixi includes 8 gigabytes of storage for photos, music and videos.

The Pixi's display is an elfin version of its older brother's. Like the Pre, it has Palm's easy-to-navigate WebOS software, which organizes your open applications like little playing cards that stretch across the screen, waiting for you to tap on them to bring them to the foreground. (You use an upward finger flick to dismiss them.)

A notable WebOS feature has been its ability to aggregate your contacts and calendar entries from such services as Facebook and Google. The Pixi takes things a little further by letting you include your contacts from Yahoo and...

Sony Ericsson Closes Sites as HQ Moves

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:14:19 -0500

Cell phone handset maker Sony Ericsson will move its North American headquarters from North Carolina to Atlanta and close a half-dozen sites worldwide as it retrenches against what it expects will be a tighter market and cuts about 1,600 jobs globally.

The joint venture between Sweden's LM Ericsson and Japan's Sony Corp. will consolidate product development operations by closing sites in Research Triangle Park; Seattle; Miami; San Diego; Kista, Sweden; and Chennai, India, spokeswoman Stacy Doster said.

The site closures are new elements of a plan announced in April to cut a worldwide staff of 10,000 by 20 percent, Doster said. About 400 jobs have been cut since then and about 1,600 remain to meet that goal by the middle of next year, she said.

The cost-cutting follows the loss of 2,000 jobs last year.

The 8-year-old company has about 425 workers left in Research Triangle Park after shedding hundreds of jobs in the past year. Operations include customer support, sales, finance and research and development.

Doster said she did not know how many were employed at other locations the company planned to close. She also did not know how many would be added in Atlanta when that site takes over North American headquarters functions.

"There's a project team looking at what makes sense in what areas of the business," Doster said. "We've got to figure all that out across the whole organization."

Atlanta was chosen in part because of its proximity to AT&T Inc., one of the company's largest customers, Doster said. The city also is desirable as a "gateway into Latin America" because of its international connections through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, she said.

Product development would be consolidated in Sony Ericsson operations in Redwood Shores, Calif.; Lund, Sweden; Tokyo; and Beijing, Doster said.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said the headquarters relocation "will be another boost to...

FAA Glitch Causes Widespread U.S. Air Travel Delays

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:15:54 -0500

Air travelers nationwide scrambled to revise their travel plans Thursday after an FAA computer glitch caused widespread cancellations and delays for the second time in 15 months.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the problem, which lasted about five hours, was fixed around 10 a.m., but it was unclear how long flights would continue to be affected.

Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Union, said controllers were still entering flight plans manually in some locations.

Aviation officials told The Associated Press that the problem began at the computer center in the Salt Lake City area. The officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto said the problem started between 5:15 and 5:30 a.m. and affected mostly flight plans but also traffic management, such as ground stops and ground delays.

Airplane dispatchers had to send plans to controllers, who entered them into computers by hand.

"It's slowing everything down," Takemoto said.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest, has been particularly affected. Chicago and Washington, D.C., and New York metro airports also reported delays due to the glitch. The problem was exacerbating delays caused by bad weather in the Northeast. Orlando International Airport, Florida's busiest, also reported about a dozen delays due to the chain reaction around the country, and flights in Tampa, Fla., were also delayed.

Mary Rulo, an educator from Atlanta, was trying to get to Philadelphia for a conference. She said her 9 a.m. flight was delayed until 3 p.m. and AirTran was not able to help with other arrangements.

"This is really going to affect my conference schedule," she said. "It's really frustrating."

AirTran canceled at least 22 flights and dozens more flights were delayed as of 8 a.m. Delta Air Lines was also affected.

Passengers were asked to check the status of their flights...