News in brief related to Information Technology.
New SMS Bible '4 ya fone'
SYDNEY - An Australian Christian group has created a version of the Bible in SMS text-speak so church-goers can spread The Word via mobile phone. The SMS Bible changes the holy book's famous first line to "In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth". Bible Society in Australia scripture director George Rodriguez said that the project was a way of bringing the book into the twenty-first century. "We've been careful to stay true to the Bible. We didn't want to alter its message in any way and we never abbreviated any names," Rodriguez said. "The response has been amazing." The text can be accessed at www.biblesociety.com.au/smsbible.
End days for Nintendo's Gamecube
TOKYO - Japanese game maker Nintendo on October 7 cut its full-year sales forecast due to sluggish sales of its Gamecube console and software in the United States. Nintendo lowered its operating profit forecast for the full year to March to 90 billion yen ($794 million) from 115 billion and its sales projection to 500 billion yen from 520 billion.
"The product lifecycle of our Gamecube is coming to an end," Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa said. The slowing sales suggest that US consumers might be holding off to buy a next-generation console, with Microsoft preparing its new Xbox 360 and Japanese rival Sony aiming to introduce its PlayStation3.
Robotic fish to cause a splash at London aquarium
LONDON - The world's first self-controlled robotic fish were due to be unveiled at the London Aquarium on October 6, officials said. The three aquatic robots that were built to look like the real thing, can swim autonomously around a specially designed tank, avoiding obstacles and reacting to the environment. "This work has many real-world applications including seabed exploration, detecting leaks in oil pipelines, mine countermeasures and improving the performance of underwater vehicles," said project leader Huosheng Hu.
Australian gamers beat Sony
SYDNEY - Australian computer games enthusiasts claimed a major victory over technology giant Sony on October 6 when the country's top court threw out a lawsuit aimed at stopping them using imported or copied games. In the culmination of a four-year legal battle the High Court rejected Sony's assertion that installation of modification chips, or "modchips", that bypass anti-copying hardware in PlayStation consoles, was a breach of copyright.
Law firm Gaden Lawyers, which represented modchip installer Eddy Stevens, said that Australian gamers currently have to pay premium prices of up to 110 Australian dollars (US$83) for games that can be bought for a fraction of the price overseas but are unusable in local machines because of regional coding.
LCD computer monitors catching tube panels
SINGAPORE - Sales of computer monitors in the Asia-Pacific region outside Japan rose 14.4 percent year-on-year to 18.4 million units worth $4.05 billion in the first six months of the year, an industry report said on October 6.
Cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor sales still exceed those of liquid crystal display (LCD) flat panel models with sales of 10.18 million units and 8.26 million respectively, industry research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) said. That situation is, however, expected to change as early as the first quarter of next year as consumers switch to the more advanced LCD screens amid falling prices, it said.
Philadelphia to become Wi-Fi city
WASHINGTON - Philadelphia is set to become America's largest municipal wireless Internet hotspot, after city officials inked a deal for a vast broadband umbrella with Internet service provider Earthlink. The 350 square kilometer (135 square mile) network is set to be up and running late next year, and will offer wireless Internet service for around $20. Philadelphia's announcement came after search engine giant Google said on October 3 that it had offered to blanket San Francisco with a free Internet access wireless network.
Dell plans €120-mn factory in Poland
WARSAW - Dell, the global leader in personal computer production, is in negotiations with Poland to build a factory costing €120 million ($150 million) in the central city of Lodz, the Office for Foreign Investment and Information (PAIiZ) said on October 5. The Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported on October 5 that Dell had agreed to build a factory in Lodz, which would create 3,000 jobs directly and another 9,000 among subcontractors to the PC producer.
Internet fraud monk nabbed in Greece
SALONIKA, Greece - Authorities in the northern Greek port of Salonika have arrested a 53-year-old monk accused of defrauding the US federal healthcare system of $11 million (€9.2 million) through the Internet, the police said on October 5. The unnamed monk, a US citizen, was arrested on October 4 at the Russian Orthodox monastery of Saint Panteleimon, at Mount Athos, one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites.
The 53-year-old was sought by Interpol over an Internet fraud case involving the sale of medical equipment to the US healthcare system through a New York-based company that he had formed in 1988, the police said. Ta Nea daily on October 5 reported that the monk, who is of Russian origin, defrauded a number of US healthcare institutions by receiving orders over the Internet for beds and wheelchairs, which he subsequently failed to deliver. He had been staying at the Russian monastery for the past five years.
EU appoints trustee to advise on Microsoft compliance
BRUSSELS - The European Commission said on October 5 that it had appointed a trustee to give technical advice about whether US software giant Microsoft was complying with one of its rulings. The commission, the EU's executive arm, fined the software group in March 2004 a record €497 million ($604 million) for abusing its dominant market position.
It called on Microsoft to market a version of its Windows operating system without bundling it to its software Media Player and to divulge information about its operating system needed by manufacturers of competing products. The EU has appointed computer scientist Neil Barrett - one of several candidates for the task proposed by Microsoft - to advise on Microsoft's compliance.
France creates terror database
PARIS - An Internet database detailing 40 years of terrorist attacks against French interests was opened on October 3 with funding from the French government. The Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), an independent think-tank, compiled the list of some 1,500 attacks that can be consulted via its Website www.frstrategie.org or a French government Website www.interieur.gouv.fr. FRS President Francois Heisbourg said that the site aimed at providing quality information on terrorism to encourage well-informed public debate. Organized in chronological order, the site contains no classified or confidential information and most of the information was drawn from newspaper reports.
Electronic giants halve plasma TV power consumption
TOKYO - Japanese electronics giants Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Hitachi Ltd. and Pioneer Corp. have jointly developed a plasma display panel that runs on half the power used by current models, a report said on October 4. Commercial release of the new panel, which is expected in two to three years, would likely escalate the rivalry between plasma and liquid crystal panel televisions, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. High power consumption has been a major disadvantage of plasma televisions against their liquid crystal display rivals, the newspaper said.
HP ready to axe French workers
PARIS - Hewlett Packard is ready to reduce 1,240 job cuts in France, the company said in a newspaper interview on October 3 following strong political pressure against the restructuring. Originally, Hewlett Packard had announced plans to cut 6,000 jobs in Europe, with 1,240 redundancies intended for France. The planned cuts in France provoked indignation among trades unions and also in political circles. Chief executive of Hewlett Packard in France, Patrick Starck told the newspaper that France was an important market for the company, its third-biggest in Europe, but that the Hewlett Packard group, being a global business, had to adjust to anticipate changes in demand.
Movie giants face-off over DVD formats
TOKYO - In a new twist to the battle over next-generation DVDs, US movie giant Paramount Home Entertainment said that it would support Sony's Blu-ray format while also making DVDs for Toshiba's rival technology. Next-generation DVDs, expected to hit the mass market later this year, are billed as offering cinematic quality images and opening up new possibilities in interactive entertainment.
Hollywood studios, who could ultimately decide the fate of the two formats, are divided in their support for Toshiba or Sony. Other supporters of Sony's Blu-ray technology include Apple Computer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Samsung Electronics. HD DVD's backers include US technology giants Microsoft and Intel, Japanese electronics group NEC, France's Thomson and Fuji Photo Film.
Prince Charles' 'love letters' sale might be off
LONDON - Online auctioneers eBay were poised to withdraw six "love letters" allegedly written by Britain's heir to the throne Prince Charles, a newspaper reported on October 1. The notes, apparently to a mystery Canadian girlfriend from Charles' youth, were on sale for 40,000 pounds Sterling ($71,000, €59,000), The Sun tabloid said.
Quoting from the letters The Sun reported that Charles allegedly complains about being unable to sneak women into his hotel room for fear of being caught by reporters. He also allegedly tells his anonymous girlfriend that he longs to spend more time with her, writing: "I wish I could come roaring across the Atlantic to make you less lonely."
Website deaths prompt call to shut suicide sites
LONDON - The deaths of two strangers, who killed themselves in what is believed to be Britain's first Internet suicide pact, has prompted calls for Websites promoting suicide to be banned, a newspaper said on September 30. An inquest this week was told that Christopher Aston, 25, from Liverpool and Maria Williams, 42, from London - who were found dead in a car from carbon monoxide fumes in London on February 23 - had made contact through a suicide Website.
Tony Cox, of the charity Parents for Prevention of Young Suicide, told The Daily Telegraph newspaper that the incident highlighted the need for greater regulation of the Internet. "We hope this is not the start of a trend. Websites that bring people like this together should be closed down."
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