A regularly updated column of IT related briefs.
Paper-thin battery to attach to clothes
TOKYO - Japan's NEC has developed a thin, foldable battery to be used in cards and clothing, leading to new possibilities such as people walking through ticket gates with fare passes in their pockets. The 0.3-millimeter (0.012-inch) thick battery can support tens of thousands of signal transmissions on a single charge and can be recharged in less than 30 seconds, NEC said.
The battery "will be used extensively in the future to power all kinds" of gadgets ranging from electronic paper to tags that trace retail goods in real-time, it said. It is "bringing us closer to a ubiquitous networked society by allowing access to the network anytime, anywhere", an NEC statement said. It will open the way for small wearable computers, such as ticket cards that can be attached to a person's clothes, it said.
Nokia opens flagship store in Moscow
HELSINKI - Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, on December 8 opened its first flagship store in Moscow, with 17 others set to follow in the world's shopping capitals in the next two years, the company said.
Nokia hopes to sell more handsets by offering specialized services in the new stores. The Finnish company acknowledged that as mobile phone technology becomes increasingly advanced and complex, consumers risk falling behind on the latest developments. Flagship stores are expected to open in New York, London and Paris, among other cities. Nokia has a 33 percent share of the world's mobile phone market.
Intel to invest $230mn in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR - Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, said on December 8 that the company will invest $230 million in Malaysia as part of a three-year expansion plan. The project, which will see the creation of a development center and an additional assembly and test site in Kulim in northern Kedah state, will be spread out over two to three years, with commercial production scheduled for mid-2007, Intel chairman Craig Barrett said.
Intel Malaysia, Intel's largest operational site outside the United States, currently has 10,000 employees in Kulim as well as northern Penang state and the capital Kuala Lumpur. Intel has spent some $3 billion in Malaysia over the past 33 years.
Moody's downgrades struggling Sony
TOKYO - Moody's Investors Service on December 8 downgraded its ratings of Sony, warning that the struggling Japanese electronics giant might need more time to recover from its sales slump. The rating agency lowered its long-term ratings of Sony Corp., Sony Capital Corp. and Sony Global Treasury Services to "A2" from "A1", with a stable outlook.
"Price declines of consumer electronics products - Sony's core business - have been so fast that the division recorded successive operating losses in the fiscal years to March 2004 and March 2005," Moody's said. It said that the television business, which was Sony's "cash cow" in the past, "is now suffering from heavy losses because of the delay in developing its own flat panel displays". The company has been hit by fierce competition in key markets such as televisions that has driven down prices for plasma and liquid crystal screens.
Mad rush for new EU Internet addresses
BRUSSELS - The European Union claimed success on December 7 after tens of thousands of trademark owners and public institutions rushed to register ".eu" Internet addresses as the first phase of the bloc's domain indicator was launched. The registration began at 11:00 a.m. (1000 GMT), and in the first 15 minutes more than 40,000 requests were received, roughly 40 per second, said the European Registry of Internet Domain Names (Eurid), a nonprofit organization appointed by the European Commission to manage requests.
The most requested domain name was sex.eu, while tickets.eu and hotel.eu were also sought after by entrepreneurs looking for an eye-catching address on the Internet. Under this first phase of the registration process those with product brands or trademarks and public institutions have a two-month "sunrise period" in which to register their names. In the two months that follow, applications from companies, non-brand names or even art works will be accepted. Individuals will have to wait until the second quarter of 2006 before trying to get access to their own veritable European piece of the Internet.
Telenor satellite broadband operational
ROCKVILLE, MD, USA - Telenor Satellite Services global broadband is up and running across much of the world, the company reported on December 7. The company's Broadband Global Area Network Service is provided in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, with the Americas scheduled to come online in the second quarter of 2006.
The service includes simultaneous voice and broadband data capabilities at rates up to 256 kilobits per second and is the result of a five-year collaboration between Telenor and satellite operator Inmarsat.
Samsung files patent suit against rival
SEOUL - South Korea's Samsung SDI said on December 7 that it had filed a lawsuit in the United States against Japanese consumer electronics giant Matsushita Electric for patent violation. The legal action came after negotiations failed to resolve a dispute between Samsung SDI and Matsushita over plasma display panel (PDP) technologies. The South Korean company accused the Japanese company of infringing on nine of its PDP technology patents.
South Korea fines Microsoft $32mn
SEOUL - South Korean regulators ruled on December 7 that US software giant Microsoft has abused its market dominance and violated fair trade rules, fining the firm 33 billion won ($32 million). Microsoft, which denies any wrongdoing, was also ordered to remove parts of bundled software from its Windows operating system, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said.
Microsoft has insisted that users of its Windows XP platform have the option to use the instant messenger system as installed or not. However, the FTC said that the US company had violated rules on fair competition and ordered Microsoft to separate its instant messenger and Media Server programs from its Windows operating system. Microsoft has spent billions dollars to settle a string of disputes brought by major rivals including IBM and Sun Microsystems in the United States, South Korea and the European Union.
Russian IT technician convicted for piracy
MOSCOW - In a legal first, a Russian court has convicted a computer engineer for causing damages to US firms Microsoft and Autodesk by installing pirated software on clients' computers, the Izvestia newspaper said on December 6.
The court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Pavel Sakhno, director of Servis, to a year in jail and fined him the equivalent of $860 for causing the US firms damages worth nearly $9,500 by installing pirated software on clients' computers, the daily said. "For the first time a specialist who installed pirated software has been convicted," Izvestia said. "Until now, the courts had convicted only those who produced or sold" pirated software.
China's jailed Yahoo dissident in high-security prison
BEIJING - A Chinese dissident is doing forced labor alongside hardened criminals in a high-security jail while serving a 10-year sentence for e-mailing political information out of China, a rights group said on December 6. Shi Tao, who was jailed for "illegally divulging state secrets abroad" on evidence provided by Yahoo! Inc, is being forced to work without pay in a jewelry factory attached to Chishan prison in central Hunan province, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said.
Chinese Internet police traced the e-mail to Shi's Hong Kong Yahoo account after the Internet company handed over e-mail account information. Yahoo has defended itself, saying that it was only complying with local laws, which is an integral part of its doing business in China.
Samsung chases Mideast wireless market
RIYADH - Samsung unveiled its latest entrant in the Saudi mobile phone sector this week as it continued its aggressive pursuit of market share in the Middle East.
Samsung's marketing manager in the kingdom, Abdel Rahman Alamoudi, said that the introduction of the SGH-D600 phone was one of 20 models that the company planned to offer in the Middle East in the coming weeks. "The Middle East is one of the chief growth markets for Samsung," said Alamoudi, adding that Samsung was interested in the high-end market segment.
Alcatel to upgrade Saudi ADSL ports
PARIS - France's Alcatel has secured a $24 million contract to provide equipment upgrades for digital ADSL service in Saudi Arabia. The deal calls for 180,000 ports belonging to Saudi Telecom, the largest ADSL provider in the Kingdom, to be equipped with Alcatel's IP DSLAM technology within the next 12 months. Alcatel said in a statement on December 5 that Saudi Arabia and the Middle East in general are key markets in the global growth of broadband services.
Thomson to buy Japanese video expert
PARIS - French electronics group Thomson said that it planned to buy 33 percent of Japanese video editing specialist Canopus for €91.3 million ($107.2 million) and launch on December 6 a public offer for the remaining shares in the group, which is headquartered in Kobe and is a leading manufacturer of high-definition video editing technology.
"The acquisition fits with Thomson's objectives to broaden its media and entertainment client base," the French firm said in a statement, adding that Canopus would strengthen the position of Grass Valley, its existing video and film unit.
I.T. Briefs
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