| NewsFactor Network http://www.newsfactor.com Tech News by NewsFactor Network (http://www.newsfactor.com). en-us Copyright © 2009 NewsFactor Network, Inc. editorial@newsfactor.com webmaster@newsfactor.com Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:54:23 -0500 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:54:23 -0500 NewsFactor Network News NewsFactor Network http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 5 http://images.newsfactor.com/images/rss-logo-newsfactor-white.gif NewsFactor Network http://www.newsfactor.com Palm Announces webOS and Palm Pre Smartphone Palm came out ready to fight in the war of smartphones, not only with a new mobile platform but a new smartphone. The company on Thursday announced the Palm Pre, a smartphone that will be available exclusively from Sprint and compete with Apple's iPhone 3G and Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm.
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The release of the webOS mobile platform wasn't a surprise, as speculation about it was rampant. Palm made the announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In an official blog post, Palm President and CEO Ed Colligan said the new platform will be the basis for more innovation in the next decade.
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Details of the new Pre are unknown, including how much it will cost and when it will be available, other than in the first half of the year in the U.S.
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<subhead>Spotlight on Palm</subhead>
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The new Palm Pre will have EVDO, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth stereo, 8GB of storage, and a fast processor. It will have a thin, curvy touchscreen; a three-megapixel camera with flash; a removable battery; and USB 2 connectivity. If the touchscreen fails, there's a vertical slider QWERTY keyboard.
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Inside the phone are notification bars that alert the user of text messages and calendar appointments. The phone also uses Palm Synergy to bring Outlook, Google and Facebook together on one calendar.
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Analysts have said in recent months that Palm needed to come out strong to stay afloat, especially during hard financial times at the company. The company has the daunting task of recapturing consumers' imagination, according to Michael Gartenberg, vice president of mobile strategy at Jupitermedia.
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"I think Palm did what they needed to do --the spotlight was on them," Gartenberg said. "There was no major news coming out of Apple and Microsoft, and they really had the stage all to themselves."
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<subhead>Getting it Right</subhead>
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Now that Palm has... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63954 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63954 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:18:05 -0500 Imation Showcases Portable Media Player at CES Florida-based Imation used the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to launch a touchscreen portable media player called the TouchMP, as well as some other audio accessories.
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Memorex, the brand behind Imation's products, developed the 8GB TouchMP so that consumers could share photos and videos with friends. The TouchMP connects consumers to video and audio with portability, according to the company.
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The TouchMP features a 2.8-inch color display and touchscreen LCD with 320x240-pixel resolution that supports full-screen photo views and album art to go with a user's playlists.
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"A custom user interface makes it easy to navigate and quickly enjoy media files no matter what type of content you are playing," said Jessica Walton, Memorex global brand director at Imation.
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Video is played in Windows Media Video, MPEG-4, Audio Video Interleave, and MP4 formats, and audio is played in MP3, Windows Media Audio, and Waveframe Audio formats. Photos are in JPEG formats.
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When, and How Much?
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Software included with the TouchMP allows people to use other types of audio and video files, and a rechargeable battery lasts up to 50 hours with audio and three hours of video playback. Imation engineers also had readers in mind and added support for Audible audio books.
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Retailers will have the TouchMPs on their shelves in March and are putting a $99 price tag on the device.
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"The TouchMP has been very well received," said Jamie Ernst of Imation. "The design, full features and performance and the $99 price point were very appealing."
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iPod Accessories
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Imation also showed off its entire line of iPod-compatible accessories.
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Memorex showed attendees its new Memorex MI9490 Hi-Fi CD Sound System for the iPhone and iPod, which comes with 30 watts of sound, according to the company. The dock comes with a CD player, digital FM radio, and a remote. The product is... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63953 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63953 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:19:14 -0500 CEA Predicts Healthy Gadget Market in 2009 The 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show is in full swing, and manufacturers are unveiling their latest innovations despite the down economy. What's more, consumer-electronics makers are expecting to sell plenty of them.
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Indeed, in what marks refreshing news amid doom-and-gloom headlines, the industry forecast looks healthy. Specifically, the consumer-electronics industry is projected to generate $171 billion in U.S. shipment revenues in 2009. That's according to the Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA) semiannual industry forecast.
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Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO, announced the forecast Thursday in his opening remarks at CES.
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"The CE industry is resilient but not immune from the business cycle. In a tough economy, our products offer high value for entertainment and an entry point for entrepreneurs creating new businesses," Shapiro said. "Innovation will kick-start the economy. The 2009 International CES is a cause for optimism with some 20,000 new products and 300 new exhibitors."
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Digital TVs Keep Selling
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The CEA isn't just prophesying positive numbers to put a smile on the face of its members. The industry's statistics prove it held its own last year, despite credit crunches, slowdowns and recessions. In fact, the CEA's estimate of final shipment revenues for 2008 showed the industry reached a new high of $172 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent over 2007.
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In 2009, overall, CEA projects that domestic-shipment revenues will essentially remain flat at $171 billion, a decrease of 0.6 percent over 2008. But "flat" is welcome news in an economy in which many other industries are seeing major losses.
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Digital-TV displays are expected to be the primary driver in the consumer-electronics sector. Digital TVs make up 15 percent of total industry shipment dollars. Digital TVs, of course, are getting a boost from the nation's transition to digital broadcasting. Digital-TV sales are expected to approach 35 million in 2009, an increase of nearly six percent over... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63952 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63952 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:20:11 -0500 Ballmer Releases Windows 7 Beta -- with Problems Now that the premature leak of Microsoft's Windows 7 beta is over, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made the operating system officially available Wednesday -- but the release has a hitch. Ballmer announced at the Consumer Electronics Show that Microsoft was making the beta available immediately to MSDN, TechNet and TechBeta subscribers and to the rest of the world on Friday.
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"Windows has become the language that over a billion people speak at every country and culture around the world," Ballmer said during his CES keynote speech. "I believe Windows will remain at the center of people's technology solar system."
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Vista, the company's most recent operating system, has received a lot of negative feedback since its release and has been the target of many of Apple's commercials poking fun at the OS. Microsoft is serious about Windows 7 and Ballmer said the company is on track to deliver the best version of Windows ever.
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"We are putting in all the right ingredients -- simplicity, reliability and speed -- and working hard to get it right and get it ready," Ballmer told the audience.
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<subhead>Keys Don't Work</subhead>
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But did Ballmer forget to add product keys to those ingredients? Just one day after Microsoft released the beta there were problems. Users are reporting no problems with the download, but say they are receiving errors with product keys.
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"We can confirm that we are having trouble distributing Windows 7 beta product keys right now," Microsoft posted on its Web site. "Since Windows has a grace period built in before a product key is required, please don't hesitate to download and use the beta without the product key. We will post information here as soon as this is solved."
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Windows 7 beta includes a cleaner interface, according to the company, which will allow customers to click through faster in order... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63951 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63951 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:26:54 -0500 Cisco Goes Social with New Eos Platform In a product release that could signal a new phase in the evolution of social networking, Cisco announced Wednesday the availability of a hosted social-networking platform designed specifically for the media and entertainment industries.
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Called Eos -- short for Entertainment Operating System -- the platform was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Cisco says Eos is a powerful platform "that integrates social networking, content management, and site administration features into a single operating environment."
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'Communities of Content'
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Warner Music Group is one of the first entertainment companies to use the new platform for its artists Laura Izibor and Sean Paul.
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Aside from the ability to offer hosted social networking at a fraction of the cost of building your own platform, Cisco is touting the ability to more effectively create "communities of content" for online audiences and fans, allowing content companies to focus on their content, rather than building and maintaining a platform.
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Eos, according to Cisco, enables companies to create community-driven entertainment, to enable interaction with content and fans, to blend professionally created and user-generated content, and to personalize content to match users' interests. Site functionality can be defined via flexible, modular software, offering customization driven by particular brands.
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Content can be stored in a central library and then utilized across a variety of communities, and the media library can be managed from a single set of controls. Additionally, targeting based on user behavior can increase revenue potential, according to Cisco, and related content can be customized for experiences on different sites.
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Content Is the Key 'Social Object'
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Features include blogs, posting files, creating customizable profiles, commenting on user-generated and professionally produced content, generating or contributing to a discussion, and connecting with others interested in the same content. Content can be tagged by whether it has been seen by other people who like... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63950 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63950 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:29:05 -0500 Yahoo Outlines Plans To Bring Internet to TV Sets Yahoo is making a bid for Internet television. The company's Connected TV group unveiled the next generation of technology and services for Internet-connected televisions, along with a slew of partnerships that promise consumers plenty of options.
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The first fruits of Yahoo's partnerships with leading consumer electronics manufacturers, which include Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics, and Vizio, is a widget-based user experience that delivers Web content to TVs. The products that tap into Yahoo's Connected TV technology will be available in the spring.
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"Yahoo has combined key attributes of the Internet, including openness, community and personalization, with the power of television," said Patrick Barry, vice president of Yahoo's Connected TV division. "By creating this revolutionary new Internet experience and combining our technology with the global distribution of major consumer electronics partners, we enable consumers to access the relevant information and content to enhance their television-watching experience."
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Best of Both Worlds
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The manufacturers will make high-definition televisions that tap into the Yahoo Widget Engine. The engine helps consumers find and view online media that matches their interests.
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Meanwhile, interactive applications Yahoo is calling TV Widgets will sit at the bottom of the screen, virtually opening the door to Internet services and online media. The widgets allow consumers to access videos from YouTube, do social networking on MySpace, buy and sell on eBay, send messages through Twitter, and use Yahoo's Flickr photo-sharing Web site.
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According to Allen Weiner, a research vice president at Gartner, consumers are increasingly looking for a richer TV experience, including the ability to integrate personalized Internet content and interactive experiences.
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"Those companies who succeed as leading TV 2.0 portals will be those well positioned to make the connected TV a reality through strong global partnerships, innovative technology, and expertise in creating open platforms," Weiner said. "Developers will have the tools to bring the best of the... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63949 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63949 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:07:57 -0500 Pocket-Size Sony VAIO PC Targets Women and Fashion Sony is attempting to reinvent the mini-notebook with the introduction of a sleek and stylish machine that is small enough to easily slip into a jacket pocket or purse. Weighing just 1.4 lbs, the new VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC is roughly the size of a business envelope and as thin as a typical cell phone.
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Though 10-inch displays are quickly becoming the norm on many of today's mini-notebook PCs, the ultrawide screen on Sony's new device measures just eight inches diagonally. However, the screen delivers a resolution of 1600x768 pixels and images are displayed in brilliant detail with Sony's Xbrite-Eco LCD technology. The screen is big enough to view Web pages with no side-to-side scrolling required.
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Targeting Women
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The device's QWERTY keyboard is even smaller than the units typically installed on mini-notebooks, which are about 92 percent of standard laptop size. To make up the difference, Sony has expressly tailored the spacing between keys to help reduce typing mistakes.
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Sony says its revamped keyboard is perfect for long fingernails, which is a good indication that the company is aiming the device at women in particular. "Designed for the fashionista in all of us, it's the ideal companion," said Sony Electronics Senior Vice President Mike Abary.
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To further enhance the machine's trend-setting appeal, it will ship in an array of colors, including garnet red, emerald green, and onyx black. Matching accessories are also available, including a color-coordinated mouse.
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To maintain the device's svelte profile, Sony has replaced the standard notebook touchpad with a pointer stick. The Bluetooth-enabled mouse should help reduce the tedium of solely using the pointer stick.
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Under The Hood
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The VAIO Lifestyle PC sports a 1.33-GHz Intel Atom processor with 512KB L2 cache; 2GB of 533-MHz DDR2 SDRAM; an Intel graphics media accelerator; a graphics memory capacity of 760MB;... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63925 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63925 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:25:20 -0500 Apple Updates Productivity Suite with iWork '09 On Wednesday, Apple introduced the latest version of its office productivity suite, iWork '09. Introduced at Macworld, the upgrade offers a variety of new features that Apple hopes will make further inroads into the business world.
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who is not at the show, said in a statement that the company "continues to demonstrate that innovation is possible in office productivity software," and making presentations, documents and spreadsheets "doesn't need to be complicated."
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iWork.com Beta
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As part of the iWork '09 release, Apple introduced a public beta of iWork.com for sharing documents online. The site is free during the beta phase and allows other users to write comments on posted documents and download the documents in either iWork, Microsoft Office, or PDF formats.
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Each of the tools in iWork have new features. The presentation tool, Keynote, can automatically animate the position, scale, rotation and opacity of any image, graphic or text on consecutive slides. Apple calls it Magic Move. There are also a variety of other effects that work between slides, including text transitions and the ability to animate an object that goes off one slide and onto another.
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Apple is also extending features to its other product lines so that the Keynote Remote application, sold separately, now allows a user to look at slides or presenter notes, or to control the presentation, from an iPhone or iPod touch.
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Changes in the Pages application include the ability to see menus, format bar, and page navigator only when needed. Support for MathType 6 makes it easier to deal with equations, and support for EndNote X2 enables additions and editing of bibliographic references. There are also 40 new templates for posters, stationery and other uses.
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'A Big Thing'
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Numbers '09 improves formula writing with more than 250 built-in functions, and there are more chart options, such as mixed... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63924 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63924 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:22:15 -0500 Microsoft Wins Verizon Mobile Search Contract In a loss for Google, Verizon Wireless on Wednesday selected Microsoft to provide portal, local and Internet search as well as mobile advertising services. The five-year agreement will begin in the first half of the year, with Microsoft Live Search available on new Verizon Wireless feature phones and smartphones.
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said mobile search and mobile advertising offer tremendous opportunities for innovation and growth. As he sees it, Microsoft is in a unique position to deliver a fully integrated, voice-enabled solution for Verizon's customers.
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"We are confident that our advanced mobile-search and mobile-advertising technologies will help consumers get the most out of their mobile computing experiences and help advertisers reach consumers who are on the go more effectively," Ballmer said.
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What This Means for Customers
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Verizon has its eye on the rapid adoption of a variety of data services and substantial changes in the way wireless customers use their devices. Verizon said both factors are driving the need for new ways to organize and deliver the content customers want.
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With Microsoft's Live Search capabilities integrated onto its handsets, Verizon said its customers will have easier access to context-relevant search results. Some devices will also make way for voice-enabled search and location-aware searches that yield maps, directions, traffic information, movie theaters and show times, gas prices, and weather. Verizon said customers will get news and entertainment content such as downloadable full-track songs, videos and games.
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Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will manage search and display advertising on Verizon Wireless' Mobile Web service, creating a one-stop integrated way for advertisers to reach mobile consumers. Verizon customers will be able to access Microsoft Live Search from a device's home screen, by downloading an application, or through Verizon's service.
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Verizon's Search Bet
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Wireless data now represents more than 25 percent of Verizon Wireless' revenue. Getting wireless... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63923 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63923 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:19:13 -0500 Baidu Web Site Apologizes for Pornography Charge China's most popular search engine Baidu apologized Wednesday for hosting links to pornographic content after it was criticized by the government, saying it was sorry for the negative impact on society.
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The Chinese government blocks access to many Web sites it considers subversive or too political, and Internet companies regularly self-censor to keep from running afoul of the authorities.
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Baidu and Google were among 19 Web sites criticized Monday for carrying vulgar or pornographic content, as seven government agencies launched a one-month campaign to clean up China's Internet content.
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The two companies had failed to take "efficient" measures after receiving notices from the country's Internet watchdog, the government said.
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"Besides deleting the obscene content and links concerned, we have improved our regulatory system," Baidu said in a notice on its Web site. "We apologize to the netizens at large for the negative impacts we brought upon the society."
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Google could not immediately be reached for comment. A note in Chinese on its Google China blog late Tuesday said it fixed links that contained "vulgar content." It was trying to limit bad content without reducing the effectiveness of its search engine, it said.
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China has the world's largest population of Internet users with more than 250 million.
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Popular Chinese Web portal Sohu, and Tencent, the company that owns China's most popular instant messaging system, QQ, as well as an Internet portal, apologized separately late Tuesday.
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While distributing pornography is punishable under China's law and banned in the country, with foreign pornographic Web sites blocked, distribution of "vulgar" materials is not so clearly defined.
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Wang Qiang, a staff member of the Beijing Internet management office, which is responsible for punishing violators, told the China Daily newspaper Wednesday they were working on punishment schemes for the more vague charge of spreading vulgar images. http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63912 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63912 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:12:50 -0500 China Issues 3G Mobile Phone Licenses China assigned third-generation mobile phone licenses Wednesday to three carriers in a long-awaited step that is expected to prompt $41 billion in spending on new equipment.
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Licenses were granted to China Mobile Ltd., China Unicom Ltd. and China Telecom Corp., the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said. Third-generation, or 3G, technology supports Web surfing, wireless video and other services and the start of service is expected to spur new revenue growth.
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China has 650 million mobile phone accounts, according to industry minister Li Zhiyong.
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Companies have not said when commercial service will begin.
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The awarding of licenses was delayed while China's government developed its own technology to compete with two global 3G standards.
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The Chinese-developed standard, TD-SCDMA, was assigned to China Mobile, the world's biggest phone carrier by subscribers, the ministry said. That appeared to be an effort to make sure the new system has the financial and technical backing to succeed.
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The two global standards, WCDMA and CDMA-2000, were assigned to China Unicom and China Telecom, respectively, the ministry said.
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Chinese carriers are expected to spend 280 billion yuan ($41 billion) on new equipment, Li said in December.
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Such sales will be important to global suppliers Motorola Inc., Alcatel-Lucent SA, Nokia-Siemens Networks and Ericsson AB as demand elsewhere slumps. But they face competition from fledgling Chinese producers. http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63907 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63907 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:17:55 -0500 Macworld Fizzles with No Jobs or Apple Surprises Apple Inc. announced plans to drop copy protection from songs sold over the Internet and debuted a slim, big-screen laptop, but with no dramatic products or master pitchman Steve Jobs, the company's final Macworld performance disappointed Wall Street.
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Apple shares slid by as much as 2.3 percent, lagging the Nasdaq's 1.5 percent gain and reflecting frustration over the lack of news from the trade conference that had introduced the iPhone to the world.
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Investors remain hopeful the firm, expected to focus on marketing this year rather than shuffling out groundbreaking products in the midst of a global economic downturn, will in coming months unveil new desktop products or modifications to its best-selling iPhone.
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"There were some innovative products, but no true blockbusters," said Robert Francello, head of equity trading for the Apex Capital hedge fund in San Francisco. "People were bullish going into it, and now they're kind of taking money off the table."
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Apple said its iTunes music store, the world's biggest digital music retailer with sales of 6 billion songs since 2003, will offer its 10 million-song library free of digital rights management -- or copy-protection -- by the end of the quarter, for between 69 cents and $1.29 apiece.
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Songs will also be available straight to iPhones over the air, instead of through a computer.
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The agreement, struck with labels including Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony Corp's Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI, brings iTunes in line with rival sites such as Amazon.com and Napster and will heighten competition in an already-tough marketplace, analysts say.
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Copy protection was designed to prevent fans from illegally sharing digital downloads, but it also prevents or slows legitimate buyers from moving their own songs between devices.
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The widened price range -- a departure from Apple's rigid 99 cent-a-song system -- could wind up boosting revenue for the major... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63903 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63903 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:22:24 -0500 Data-Storage Product Roundup <subhead>
Virtualization Management
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Platform VM Orchestrator (VMO) 4 accelerates delivery of virtual computer environments while optimizing enterprise operations. The solution optimizes resource utilization, availability and power consumption via a self-service portal that supports delegated administration and lets end-users request/ control their VM usage. A multihost dynamic resource-management engine promotes resource utilization across the virtual environment to remove bottlenecks and server silos according to configurable policies. -- Platform Computing
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Access Points
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The Scalance W784 line of IP30-rated wireless LAN access points offers IEEE 802.11b/g/a open standards and a QoS feature that prioritizes critical client traffic. Offering enhanced security features, the APs support WPA2 specification and AES for 128-bit encryption, along with MAC address filtering. The units also support both standard and industrial PCF protocol, offering predictable response times and fast roaming times of less than 50 ms. The W784 has one radio and may be operated in Ethernet client mode. Housed in aluminum, the access points can be wall- or panel-mounted. -- Siemens Energy & Automation
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In-Ceiling Enclosures
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Constructed from lightweight aluminum, PANZONE in-ceiling enclosures feature an integrated cable slack manager and a robust door design with gas-assist cylinders to support a working load rating up to 50 pounds. A two-tier mounting bracket accommodates 2RU of network equipment up to 17.5" deep and an additional 3RU up to 13.5" deep. An integral horizontal slack manager keeps patch cords from blocking side ventilation pathways and standardizes patch cord lengths. The enclosures are available in active and passive versions to accommodate a full range of equipment with secure and accessible network connections. -- Panduit
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Network Monitor
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With replay speeds reaching 10 Gbps, the NinjaProbe appliance allows network administrators to replay events, enabling recreation of real network scenarios to identify the cause and effect of alarm conditions, load and test networking and security equipment, and actively study user experiences. The solution... http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63895 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63895 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:31:02 -0500 |
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