A regularly updated column of IT related briefs
Videosite teams with movie group to thwart piracy
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Video Website Guba announced on July 20 that it had formed an unprecedented alliance with a leading US film industry association to block illicit trading of movies and television programs. The San Francisco-based Website began using software that gives each copyrighted video a "unique fingerprint" and then scans the Website for illegal offerings, according to Guba.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in Los Angeles said that it worked with Guba to include thousands of movies and television programs in the filtering software, dubbed Johnny. "Johnny can identify a video, even if that video has been modified, cropped, reformatted, re-encoded or reposted," said Guba's founder and chief executive officer Thomas McInerney. Guba plans to offer Johnny to other online video-sharing services and the Usenet online electronic bulletin board routinely used for file swapping, McInerney said.
Motorola to install Yahoo link on mobiles
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Motorola will pre-install Yahoo's Internet search facility, e-mail, and address book on its new mobile telephones from the first half of next year, the companies announced on July 20.
The multi-year deal would make 'Yahoo Go for Mobile' a standard feature on tens of millions of handheld devices Motorola markets in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, according to the companies. Illinois-based Motorola is the world's second largest mobile telephone maker. Motorola and Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo forged an alliance last year to bring Internet services to handheld devices.
Intel shakes up management in wake of layoffs, weak earnings
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - US computer chipmaker Intel announced a management shake-up on July 20 on the heels of a lackluster earnings report and the laying off of 1,000 managers at its facilities worldwide. "As part of the thorough analysis of Intel begun in April, we have examined the focus and structure of our top management level, including our use of 'two-in-a-box' co-managers," Intel president Paul Otellini said in a release.
Telecom FDI streaming into Nigeria
LAGOS - Nigeria's telecom sector is drawing increasing interest from foreign investors, according to the minister of communications. Minister Cornelius Adebayo told an industry conference in Lagos this week that the influx of foreign direct investment over the years had spurred an expansion of telecom services in Nigeria from a teledensity of 0.4 percent in 1999 to 18.3 percent this year.
The Lagos newspaper This Day said that the annual growth rate in teledensity - the number of telephones per 100 people - had grown to 535 percent and increased the nation's total line count to some 23 million.
Profits soar for Lithuanian telecoms firm Teo LT
VILNIUS - The biggest Lithuanian fixed-line telephone operator Teo LT said on July 20 that first-half net profit surged by 74.9 percent to 65 million litas ($23.7 million) compared with the same period a year ago. Sales from January to June totaled 362 million litas compared with 360.9 million litas in the same period of 2005.
The company attributed the rise in profits mainly to growth in Internet services. The Finnish-Swedish company TeliaSonera owns 60 percent of Teo LT and the government holds a 7.93 percent stake, with the remaining shares listed publicly.
Egyptians free last two bloggers after eight weeks detention
EGYPT - Mohammed Al Sharkawy and Karim Al Shaer, two bloggers who were arrested during a demonstration outside the Cairo press union on July 20, were freed this week. They had been held in Tora prison, where they were often harassed by fellow inmates. One inmate attacked Shaer with a knife, slightly injuring one of his arms and Sharkawy received a death threat from a member of the security forces while in prison, they claimed.
Vietnam may get its first sex education Website
HANOI - Vietnam may soon get its first sex education Website for people too scared to talk openly about reproductive health, a topic widely considered taboo in the communist country. The Website would feature information, images, and a question-and-answer forum aiming to combat ignorance and gender stereotyping now driving up teenage abortion and HIV/Aids rates, said the institute behind the plan.
Dr. Khuat Thu Hong, deputy director of the private Institute for Social Development Studies in Hanoi, said on July 20 that the institute hoped to launch the service by December, pending approval by the communist government, with the aim of encouraging safe sex. The question-and-answer forum would give people information not covered in school curricula, she said.
Microsoft profits drop as Internet income flags
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - US computer software titan Microsoft Corp. reported on July 20 that its fiscal fourth-quarter profits fell 24 percent, partly as income flagged in its Internet and home and entertainment operations. Microsoft said that net profits for the quarter ended June 30 declined 24 percent to $2.83 billion from $3.70 billion a year ago. But revenues spiked to a record $11.80 billion, marking a 16 percent gain over the same quarter in 2005, Microsoft said. Wall Street had forecast revenues of $11.63 billion.
"Our upcoming launches of Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Exchange Server 2007, and other key products position us to continue to deliver strong revenue growth in the fiscal year 2007," Microsoft chief financial officer Chris Liddell said in a statement.
France wins EU green light to regulate texting prices
BRUSSELS - The European Commission has granted French telecoms authorities the right to regulate the wholesale price of mobile phone text messages, an EU first, according to a document published on July 20. If France acts on the EU green light, it will be the first European country to fix the wholesale price of text messages - the prices that operators charge each other to carry text messages on their networks.
Cable and Wireless makes move for Bermuda's KeyTech
LONDON - Cable and Wireless (C&W) said on July 20 that it had made a formal proposal to buy KeyTech, the holding company of the leading telecommunications group in Bermuda. C&W said that its cash proposal valued each KeyTech share at 17 Bermudian dollars, valuing the business at 205 million Bermudian dollars (US$205 million).
Google profits, revenues rocket
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, USA - Internet giant Google reported on July 20 that its second-quarter earnings more than doubled as online advertising revenues rocketed. The Internet search leader said that its net profit for the April-June period came to $721 million, compared to $343 million in the same quarter of 2005. Revenue surged 78 percent to $2.46 billion in the quarter as Google entrenched its dominance of Internet searches and the online advertisers that they attract.
The search titan said that in the quarter to June, revenues from Google-owned sites surged 94 percent to $1.43 billion. Sales from Google's partner sites generated through its popular "AdSense" program rose 58 percent to $997 million.
Flash memory has 'great potential'
SUNNYVALE, CA, USA - Just one day after admitting that the company earned $18 million less than first reported, M-Systems released survey results on July 19 that show a growing market. The flash memory maker said that the survey of 1,000 American computer users showed that the market for USB Flash drives is evolving and expanding. Harris Interactive conducted the poll for M-Systems and found that 30 percent of the respondents owned flash drives already and that an additional 13 percent were planning on buying one soon.
"These conclusions support our assertions about the coming second wave of [USB flash drive] market growth, which is being driven, in part, by the U3 platform and other product differentiators," company vice-president of marketing and business development in the retail and enterprise division, Daniel Schreiber, said in a statement. M-Systems has lately been mired in an internal stock-options grant probe, and as a result earnings were adjusted down by more than $18 million.
Intel profit dives 57%
SANTA CLARA, CA, USA - Intel Corp. on July 19 reported a 57-percent dive in its quarterly net earnings to $885 million on weaker demand for its computer chips. But at $0.15, earnings per share for the world's largest chipmaker in the three months to June beat Wall Street forecasts by $0.02. And the company said that with the effects of share-based compensation stripped out, its quarterly net earnings would have come to $1.1 billion or $0.19 per share. "In 2006 we are delivering the strongest product lineup in the industry, with many of these new products shipping ahead of schedule," Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said.
Ireland banning drivers using handheld mobile phones
DUBLIN - Irish motorists are to be banned from using handheld mobile phones under new road safety laws to take effect from July 21, Transport Minister Martin Cullen said on July 19. The transport ministry said that it will be an offense to hold a mobile phone while driving and "matters such as whether or not the phone was being used or switched on at the time are not relevant." "The definition prohibits the practice of cradling a mobile phone in the nook of the neck and shoulder. 'Bluetooth' and other hands-free devices do not come within the scope of the prohibition."
China's online population hits 123mn
BEIJING - China's Internet population jumped to 123 million at the end of June, consolidating the nation's status as the world's number two after the United States, the government said on July 19. The figure was up 19.4 percent compared with the end of June 2005, government think tank Chinese Internet Network Information Center said in a report posted on its Website. The report said that 77 million Chinese had access to broadband at the end of June.
US home prices available on Yahoo after Zillow Website deal
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - US home prices are now available through the Internet search engine Yahoo, as a result of an alliance with the online real estate information company Zillow, the companies said on July 19. By searching for "home values" at Yahoo.com or through Yahoo Real Estate, users will be able to take a shortcut to US home price estimates, trends, and comparisons as well as mapping and satellite views of specific properties, according to Zillow. Seattle-based Zillow launched its Website in February and, as of July 18, claimed to have a database providing prices, sales records, and tax information on nearly 67 million US homes.
Hong Kong scouts hunt pirates
HONG KONG - Hong Kong has unveiled its latest weapon in the fight against illegal online file sharers - the humble Boy Scout and his counterpart the Girl Guide. The young do-gooders will be asked to turn online policeman and trawl Internet chat sites for anyone uploading copyrighted material onto the Web and then turn them in to authorities. The plan is part of the so-called "Youth Ambassadors Against Internet Piracy Scheme" launched by the Customs and Excise department to crack down on a scourge that the record and movie industries say is losing them billions of dollars.
The government said in a statement that it hoped to enlist 200,000 youngsters. They will be primarily aimed at battling file shares that use the popular BitTorrent network
KDDI to develop cellphone software with Toshiba, Qulacomm
TOKYO - Japan's number two telecom operator KDDI said on July 19 that it will jointly develop cellphone software with Toshiba Corp., Sanyo Electric Co.. and Qualcomm Inc. in hopes of slashing hefty development costs. In its latest joint development deal, KDDI Corp. plans to expand its existing partnerships with the three companies to offer integrated software providing advanced online features, a KDDI spokesman said. "This will be a joint platform, built with the strengths of each company."
Cellphones featuring the integrated software are due out in stores next year and are expected to be cheaper than current models although the spokesman declined to comment on exact costs. The cost of developing a cellphone is estimated at 10 billion to 20 billion yen ($85 million to $170 million), straining manufacturers' budgets as they try to keep up with new features and technological advances.
British are Europe's biggest Internet shopping addicts
LONDON - Britons are Europe's biggest Internet shoppers, spending €9.79 billion ($12.24 billion) online last year, according to research published on July 19 by market analysts Mintel. They said that the sector had enjoyed "phenomenal" growth of 51 percent since 2004. Europe as a whole spent €40.2 billion online; however, Internet spending still makes up only 2 percent of total European retail sales, Mintel said. Germany, last year's leader, came second behind Britain.
Microsoft sues 'pirating' companies
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Microsoft filed 26 federal lawsuits against companies suspected of dealing in pirated copies of its lucrative Windows and Office computer software, a release said on July 18. Microsoft gathered evidence against software sellers and installers through an investigation that involved "secret shoppers" posing as customers, according to the Redmond, Washington, software powerhouse.
The lawsuits were filed in the US states of Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, and South Carolina, Microsoft said. The move was part of a Genuine Software Initiative that included automatically checking the legitimacy of Microsoft software on people's computers as a condition of getting program updates. The Business Software Alliance reportedly estimated that 21 percent of all software in the United States is pirated.
Aid agency's computer game highlights African transport problems
LONDON - An international development agency launched an online game on July 18 to highlight the tough transport challenges faced by health workers delivering medical supplies to remote African villages. Players of the Transaid Challenge have to tackle hazardous terrain and avoid potholes, abandoned cars, and overloaded trucks along the way, making as many deliveries as possible before damaging their vehicle beyond repair or running out of fuel.
"The game is fun to play and very addictive but it does have a serious message," said Caroline Beaumont, Transaid's head of marketing. "Every time a player completes a delivery over the difficult and dangerous terrain, this represents people reached with essential medical care which they would otherwise have had no way of getting."
Nortel, Microsoft form 'strategic alliance' to grow Internet talk
OTTAWA - Nortel and Microsoft Corp. announced a new partnership on July 18 to sell new combined technologies to facilitate e-mail, instant messaging, telephone calls, and more via the Internet. Their alliance will "accelerate the availability of unified communications," Nortel, the Canadian telecom equipment giant, said in a statement. Further, the two technology heavyweights will transition traditional business phone hardware systems into software based on a Microsoft platform and Nortel software products to provide "advanced telephony functionality."
Intel unveils speedy computer chip
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Intel pulled back the curtain on July 18 on a long-anticipated speedy, power-saving dual-core Itanium computer chip designed for businesses. The Itanium 2, which had been codenamed Montecito during production, provided twice the performance as its predecessor while using 20 percent less energy, according to Pat Gelsinger, senior vice-president of the Santa Clara, California, chipmaker's enterprise group. The dual-core chip was the first of its kind to contain nearly 2 billion transistors, Gelsinger said.
Major computer hardware companies such as Hewlett Packard, NEC, and Fujitsu were building machines around Itanium chips and the processors supported "the broadest range of operating systems ever," according to Gelsinger. "Seed chips" provided to corporations late last year cut processing time for data-intensive, complex computer applications from weeks to days, Intel reported.
Police seize motorcyclist after Internet speed boast
ZAGREB - A Croatian motorcyclist who posted on the Internet footage of a breakneck ride risks a large fine and possible confiscation of his machine, police said on July 18. The 28-year-old man installed a camera on his Yamaha 600 and filmed his wild drive through several villages in the region of Hrvatsko Zagorje, near Zagreb, a police spokesman said. He put links to the compromising 11-minute footage, in which the speedometer and other details of the motorcycle and the road were clearly seen, on a local municipality Internet site.
Groups urge US passage of online free speech law
WASHINGTON - Fourteen human rights groups urged Congress on July 18 to pass legislation aimed at preventing US technology companies from cooperating with China or other countries in stifling online free speech. The groups, including Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, issued a joint statement supporting the Global Online Freedom Act of 2006 sponsored by representative Christopher Smith.
The bill could impose fine or criminal penalties on companies that cooperate with governments in a crackdown on online freedom of expression. The legislation, pending in a House committee, was introduced after news that China had pressured Yahoo to turn over names of political dissidents who send sensitive information over e-mail. Yahoo denied helping Beijing. Additionally, backers of the bill say that Microsoft shut down blogs in China in which Chinese users were criticizing their government, and persuaded Google to censor its search engine results.
IBM profits beat Wall St. forecast by a penny
NEW YORK, NY, USA - Technology giant IBM said on July 18 that its quarterly profit rose 10.5 percent as improved results from software operations offset lower revenues following the sale of its personal computer unit. The Armonk, New York-based company, said that its net profit amounted to $2.02 billion in the second quarter. IBM said that earnings per share came in at $1.30, up 14 percent from the same period in the prior year. Wall Street analysts had forecast EPS of $1.29. Despite the profit gain, overall revenues dropped by 2 percent to $21.89 billion during the quarter.
Dutch cable TV group Casema bought for €2.1bn
THE HAGUE - Carlyle Group, Providence Equity Partners, and GMT Communications Partners announced on July 18 that they had signed a deal to sell Dutch cable company Casema to private equity groups Cinven and Warburg Pincus in a deal worth €2.1 billion ($2.6 billion). Casema is the third-biggest cable operator in the Netherlands, with 1.3 million television subscribers, 400,000 broadband Internet and 136,000 telephony subscribers. It specializes in so-called triple-play services combining television, telephone, and Internet subscriptions over cable.
Yahoo touts new look and investors' tools
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Yahoo, continuing its shift toward online social networking, unveiled new financial tools for investors on July 17 and invited users worldwide to submit videos inspired by the Website's new look. The Internet search engine said that it expected to finish the re-design of its www.yahoo.com homepage this month.
The announcements came as Internet titans such as Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google battle for online devotees whose visits translate into advertising revenue for the US firms. Yahoo was particularly keen to capitalize on the popularity of social networking Websites such as MySpace and YouTube.
Sudanese firm wins bid for Mauritania mobile phone network
NOUAKCHOTT - Mauritania has granted an operating licence for a third GSM mobile phone network to Sudatel of Sudan, the Mauritanian regulating authority said on July 17. Sudatel, which is backed by two powerful Gulf partners from Sudan and Qatar, won the license with a bid of around €79 million ($99 million) against a €27 million offer by the French operator France Telecom, the regulator said.
Mauritania opened up to other operators after the current GSM licence holders, MATTEL of Tunisia and Mauritel of Morocco, which also operates a fixed line network, failed to satisfy soaring demand. Networks are often jammed and some parts of the country are still not covered.
Motorola enhances network in UAE
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Motorola announced on July 17 a network expansion and optimization contract with Emirates Telecommunications Corporation's Etisalat. According to the release, it will enhance and expand the operator's wireless network in the Northern Emirates in order to increase Etisalat's subscriber capacity and enable the operator to offer high-speed data and voice services via Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology.
Atos Origin warns British IT contracts to hit 2006 results
PARIS - French IT group Atos Origin warned on July 18 that problems in the British market would weigh on its full-year results, sending its shares into a tailspin on the Paris stock market. In mid-morning trading, shares in Atos showed a loss of 17.69 percent to €36.47 in a slightly weaker market. In a trading update issued on July 18, the group said that its sales in the first half of the year had fallen 1.1 percent to €2.696 billion ($3.379 billion) compared with the equivalent period of last year. It also announced delays to new business in the British market owing to several loss-making contracts and warned that sales growth and profit margins would be lower than expected.
Atos said that growth of sales on a comparable asset base, known as organic growth, would be 3 percent this year and that its operating margin would be 1.5 percentage points lower than forecast.
'Matsushita to produce flat-panel TVs in Russia and Brazil'
TOKYO - Japanese electronics giant Matsushita will produce flat-panel TV sets in Russia and Brazil this year to meet growing demand there, a report said on July 16. The major business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun also said that Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., famous for its Panasonic brand, will substantially strengthen its sales network for such TVs in India. In September Matsushita will start producing liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs in Russia, making it the first Japanese firm to make flat-panel TVs there, the daily said.
It added that output was targeted at 50,000 LCD TVs with sales estimated at 120,000 units in Russia for the year to March 2007, including imports from Japan. In Brazil, Matsushita will start producing plasma TVs by the end of this month, the daily said.
Microsoft software to improve India's cricket umpires
NEW DELHI - India's cricket chiefs are negotiating with Microsoft for new software aimed at raising umpiring standards in the country, an official said on July 16. The software giant will be entrusted with the task of developing a program to evaluate the performance of umpires in every domestic match, Indian cricket board vice-president Lalit Modi said. "We zeroed in on Microsoft after looking at several technological solutions," said Modi. "The deal is not finalized yet, but we are in the final stages of negotiations."
Officials have been stung by criticism from the International Cricket Council (ICC) that Indian umpires were not up to international standards. No Indian has figured in the ICC's elite panel of umpires that supervises Test cricket around the world since former captain Srinivas Venkataraghvan retired in 2003.
Fujitsu-Siemens wants 40-hour week in German factories
BERLIN - Europe's biggest computer maker, Fujitsu-Siemens, wants to go back to the 40-hour work week in its two German factories to save on production costs, the July 17 edition of Die Welt newspaper reported. "If we respect the 35-hour week, we will not be able to maintain our factories at Augsburg and Soemmerda. We have to go back to 40 hours," Fujitsu-Siemens boss Bernd Bischoff is quoted as telling the newspaper. The company employs about 2,000 workers in Augsburg, in southern Germany, and 400 in Soemmerda, in the east.
Bischoff said that the move was made necessary by the cost of buying back and restructuring Siemens Business Services and the difficult business climate in the first quarter of the year.
Google dodges child-care site suit
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Google of being an Internet search monopoly that choked off traffic to a child-care Website by assigning it a zero ranking, court documents showed on July 14. US District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel tossed out claims that Google unfairly discriminated against KinderStart.com and stifled its free speech rights by giving it the lowest ranking in searches. Fogel ruled that Google was entitled to express its subjective opinion in page rankings based on the formula that the search engine claimed it used to make the determinations.
KinderStart, a Website containing child-care information of potential interest to parents or teachers, had its ranking on Google dropped to zero in March of last year, according to a company lawyer. The company said that this implied that Google was "blocking" online traffic to the site, which has been online for almost six years.
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