A regularly updated column of IT related briefs
I.T. Briefs FRI
Microsoft mum on 'iPod killer' reports
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Software colossus Microsoft remained tight-lipped on July 6 regarding media reports that it intended to unleash its own version of Apple Computer's popular iPod MP3 player. Unofficial word that the Redmond, Washington, company was gearing up to market a hand-held digital music and movie player in time for the Christmas shopping season set the Internet abuzz with talk of an "iPod killer." The Microsoft device would do what the iPod can't: allow users to wirelessly download music, according to executives quoted.
"The stories you are seeing are based on speculation and rumors and, as such, we didn't participate," Microsoft said in a two-sentence release. "We don't have anything to announce at this time."
Eutelsat satellite arrives at launch site
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - Eutelsat's latest telecommunications satellite arrived on July 6 at the site in Kazakhstan where it will be readied for launch early next month. The Hot Bird 8 will be the largest satellite ever put into orbit by Paris-based Eutelsat and will be carried into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrom on the night of August 4.
Hot Bird 8 weighs in at nearly 5 tons and is equipped with 64 Ku-band transponders for television and radio broadcasts. It will be placed in orbit at 13 degrees east and provide coverage of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
ADB lends $40mn for mobile development in Afghanistan
MANILA - Afghanistan's leading mobile telephone network has secured a $40 million loan from the Asian Development Bank, along with guarantees of up to $15 million, the Philippines-based lender said on July 7. The loan to Roshan, a company owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, Monaco Telecom International and MCT Corp would help it achieve "near-country wide coverage on an accelerated basis," an ADB statement said.
"Afghanistan continues to suffer from a critical lack of communications infrastructure and cellular phones are seen as the only viable method of providing country-wide communications services," it added.
Spain arrests 42 in pedophilia crackdown
MADRID - Spanish police said on July 5 that they had dismantled an Internet pedophilia ring and arrested 42 men accused of distributing, publishing, and exchanging of child pornography. The police said in a statement that a seven-month-long investigation, dubbed "Voyeur," had led to the arrest of the 42 and further inquiries into 120 others for corruption of minors and possession of child pornography.
They were first alerted to the ring, which operated mainly in Spain by a 17-year-old girl who said that nude photos of her taken when she was 13 were circulating online. The police are using a software program, called "Hispalis," which has enabled them to track down the names and addresses of Web surfers who log in on child pornography sites using their personal computers.
Apple debuts new computer for students, teachers
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Apple Computer on July 5 introduced a Macintosh model designed to fit the needs of educators and students in "today's digital classrooms." The iMac for education will replace the student-oriented eMac model the Cupertino, California-based computer maker began phasing out late last year.
The iMac has the entire computer built into a two-inch-thick display screen to adapt to "the space-saving needs of both the classroom and the dorm room," the company said in a release. Its features include a 17-inch-wide screen, an Intel Core Duo processor, a built-in iSight video camera, and iLife 2006 software for making blogs, podcasts, and Websites. The computer was priced at $899.
Fine for Microsoft 'more or less inevitable'
BERLIN - Microsoft will almost inevitably have a fine slapped on it by EU regulators for failing to comply with a 2004 antitrust ruling by the European Commission, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said on July 6. "I can't imagine another way," Kroes said when quizzed about the issue during a visit to Berlin.
The EU competition watchdog is scheduled to issue its verdict soon, with competition experts meeting on July 10 to decide the size of the daily fine to be slapped on Microsoft. Kroes declined to name a figure, but observers in Brussels estimate that it could amount to €2 million ($2.5 million) a day.
Yahoo China to face legal action over music copyright
LONDON - Music industry body IFPI said on July 4 that it would pursue Yahoo China under Chinese law to stop the group infringing record companies' intellectual property rights. John Kennedy, chairman and president of the IFPI, said in a brief statement: "Yahoo China has been blatantly infringing our members rights."
According to IFPI, Yahoo China has an mp3 Website that offers "copyrighted songs for download from its service without any permission from the record companies." The IFPI is a global recording industry group that represents over 1,400 music companies across the world.
Taipei plans big on wireless Internet phones
TAIWAN - Taipei city expects to have 200,000 people using wireless Internet phones by the end of this year, providing a much cheaper alternative to the traditional mobile, officials said on July 5. "This is the world's first Internet phone system using the whole city, rather than a spot, as a wireless operation environment," said Daniel Wongg, spokesman for the Taipei Computer Association.
Before the end of August, hundreds of elementary and high schools will be installed with the Internet telephony system and 400,000 schoolchildren, parents, and teachers will be encouraged to use the new system under the so-called "Taipei Easy Call" initiative. Ten companies are jointly promoting the initiative.
Bangladesh mobile firm signs up 3mn in six months
DHAKA - The number of subscribers of Bangladesh's leading mobile phone firm jumped by a record 55 percent in the first six months of the year to hit 8.5 million, the company said on July 5. GrameenPhone, a unit of Norwegian telecom company Telenor, said that it added 3 million subscribers since January.
Launched in 1997 GrameenPhone took over six years to sign up its first 1 million subscribers but since late 2003 its customer base has leapt. GrameenPhone now has more than 60 percent of the country's 14-million-plus mobile phone users. Its network coverage has been extended to nearly 90 percent of Bangladesh's 140 million population.
EU members back new fines for Microsoft
BRUSSELS - European regulators have given their backing to the European Commission to slap huge new fines on Microsoft for failing to comply with a 2004 antitrust ruling, sources said on July 4. The fines, which could go as high as €2 million ($2.56 million) a day, will be backdated to December 15, and could therefore reach as much as €400 million.
The commission in 2004 ruled that Microsoft had broken EU law by using a quasi-monopoly in personal computer operating systems to thwart rivals. It fined the software group a record €497 million and ordered the company to sell a version of its Windows operating system without its Media Player software and to divulge information about Windows needed by makers of rival products. Although Microsoft has paid the fine, it has fought tooth-and-nail over the information that it is supposed to divulge to competitors.
All 50 US states join Website listing convicted sex offenders
WASHINGTON - US authorities said on July 3 that all 50 states have joined a national Website that lists addresses and other details of convicted sex offenders. The states of South Dakota and Oregon were added last week to the registry, which "provides real-time access to public sex offender data nationwide with a single Internet search," the Department of Justice said in a statement. The online database includes more than 500,000 convicted sex offenders who are required to register their address with local authorities.
The site includes physical descriptions of registered sex offenders, lists the crimes they have committed, the type of car that they drive and their home address. Some civil liberties groups have expressed concerns that the Website could spark vigilante attacks and have called for users to register when gaining access to the data base.
Nokia wins contract from Saudi's Mobily
ESPOO, Finland - Nokia won a third-generation network deal with Saudi Arabia's Mobily, which is part of the Etihad Etisalat company. The Finnish group said that it will be providing its 3G network technology including high-speed packet access that will improve Mobily's connectivity and cut telecommunications costs at the same time.
Consumer electronics popularity drives up chip sales
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - A boom in consumer electronics prompted a nearly 10 percent worldwide increase in computer chip sales in May as compared to the same month last year, a trade association said on July 3. Sales of semiconductors in May hit $19.7 billion, a 9.4 percent rise from the $18.1 billion worth of chips sold in May 2005, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in Silicon Valley.
Mobile telephones and other consumer electronics were the "principal contributors" to semiconductor sales, according to the SIA.
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