Sci-Tech Today

App Stores: Microsoft, Google Follow Apple

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:06:43 -0500

When Apple opened its iTunes App Store in July, the idea of a mass-market Web site that sells downloadable games, tools, and other applications for cell phones was a rarity. Handset owners could buy apps from their carriers or the occasional niche site. But these days, the app store concept is becoming commonplace. The question is, does the world need a warren of wireless app stores?

In the coming six months, at least four would-be rivals of Apple will probably open their own online bazaars where developers of all stripes will sell downloadable software applications to make cell phones more fun and useful. Google has already announced its plans, while Microsoft, Symbian, and T-Mobile USA are in the likely-to camp.

The appeal of an app store is undeniable. Since the App Store debut, users of Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch have downloaded more than 60 million applications, sampling the more than 3,000 games, calendars, and fitness applications on offer for as much as $10 a pop, though some are available at no charge. Sales averaged $1 million a day in the first month.

Microsoft's Skymarket Is Coming

Microsoft and other owners of competing operating systems want to ensure Apple's popularity doesn't take a toll on their own market share. "People are chasing the iPhone," says Van Baker, an analyst at consultancy Gartner. Microsoft's plans to launch a store were laid bare by job descriptions posted Sept. 2 on job board computerjobs.com. The mobile applications marketplace, to be called Skymarket, may launch in tandem with the next version of Microsoft's cell-phone software, Windows Mobile 7, expected in 2009.

While he wouldn't confirm or deny plans for Skymarket, Scott Rockfeld, group product manager for Microsoft's mobile communications business, says the company ultimately wants to provide a resource, akin to CBS's CNET, which...

Bill and Jerry Chat as Confusing Windows Blitz Begins

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:17:17 -0500

Microsoft's Seinfeld campaign launched Thursday night. The $300 million campaign starring the well-known comedian Jerry Seinfeld, however, didn't say anything about Windows.

The ad shows Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates picking out a new pair of shoes at a discount store. Seinfeld notices him and helps Gates test several pairs of shoes before finally selecting the perfect fit.

What does buying shoes have to do with Windows? Microsoft is calling it an effort to reconnect with consumers around the globe.

Future commercials will highlight how Windows has become part and parcel of the lives of consumers everywhere on PCs, online and through mobile devices. The first ads seek to start a conversation about the Windows brand using Seinfeld's offbeat humor, Microsoft said.

A New Chapter in Windows History

"Windows is entering a new chapter in our history," said Bill Veghte, a Microsoft senior vice president, said in a feature article Microsoft published to explain the campaign. "We're renewing our commitment to consumers and working with our partners to deliver quality and value on the PC, across devices, and across the Web."

According to Brad Brooks, corporate vice president for Windows consumer product marketing, the effort stems largely from the fact that Microsoft's brand and products, and the way people use technology in general, are vastly different now than they were even a decade ago. Microsoft's historic relationship with consumers has become insufficient in this new world, he said, and that's a situation that has led the company to fundamentally rebuild the customer experience.

"When you think of more than a billion people using Windows across the globe, each person with a unique set of circumstances, and then factor in three Windows platforms and what they can do, it's hard to even comprehend the number of unique scenarios Windows can potentially address," Brooks said. "So how can...

Samsung May Buy SanDisk, Consolidate Flash Market

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:52:40 -0500

A major consolidation of the flash-memory market may be in the works. Samsung, the world's largest memory manufacturer, says it may make an offer for SanDisk, which makes flash-memory chips. SanDisk is valued at $3.2 billion.

The flash-memory space has been under extreme pressure with prices falling. The deal would allow Samsung to eliminate its costs to license SanDisk technology.

"We are looking at various opportunities regarding SanDisk, but nothing has been decided yet," Samsung spokesperson James Chung said in response to rumors.

Samsung also identified an acquisition of SanDisk as a possibility in a regulatory filing. SanDisk shares spiked up 24 percent on Friday.

Defeat for Toshiba

If the purchase goes forward, it could be a major strategic defeat for Samsung competitor Toshiba, analysts said. Toshiba is planning to double its flash-chip production in a partnership with SanDisk, so Samsung's acquisition could squeeze Toshiba, which trails Samsung.

"Samsung buying SanDisk would mean big damage for Toshiba," Yoshihisa Toyosaki, the head of technology analyst firm J-Star, told Reuters.

Samsung pays SanDisk more than $350 million a year in licensing fees and is reportedly looking to reduce that cost through the acquisition.

Antitrust Scrutiny

"Although SanDisk and Toshiba are partners, there are doubts as to whether SanDisk will continue to invest" in the joint venture, James Song, an analyst at Daewoo Securities, told Reuters. "So in the medium- to long-term, Samsung would be able to gain more control over the flash market."

In addition, Samsung would take advantage of SanDisk's marketing presence to build its reputation in flash memory. "Toshiba is trying to take business and market share away from Samsung. Samsung could suppress this by taking control of SanDisk and gaining access to its basic patents," Toyosaki said.

But such a move could face strict antitrust scrutiny. C.W. Chung, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, said it's not clear that the...

Chrome Hints Google Aims To Become 'Big Brother'

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:11:33 -0500

What's behind Google's release of its new Chrome browser? While the software boasts some impressive technology, does Google seriously mean to reopen the browser wars, even against its open-source partner Mozilla?

On the one hand, observers say, Chrome is an assault on Microsoft, but not in the obvious, browser-war sense. On the other hand, a number of revelations about how Google is using the browser raise substantial privacy concerns.

Indeed, they say, Chrome reveals just how vast Google's ambitions are -- and they go well beyond roughing up Microsoft.

Google vs Microsoft

For starters, Chrome is a "direct attack on Microsoft," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, in an e-mail message. Even the name is a dig. "Microsoft Chrome Effects was the most ambitious attempt to transform the Windows front end, and it failed largely due to internal politics and an untimely disagreement with Intel," Enderle said.

Chrome isn't about unseating Internet Explorer but a stab at Microsoft's fundamental life force -- Windows itself. "Chrome is intended to render Windows irrelevant by taking over the windowing system and allowing it to be platform-independent, breaking the dependency over time on legacy Windows applications," Enderle said.

A PC World article pointed out how Chrome is missing numerous features that users take for granted -- a drop-down menu bar, plug-ins and extensions, a powerful history search. But Chrome isn't about users, Enderle said. It's meant to be a "better front end for applications, not Web browsing," he said. "Chrome is a feint at IE but a flanking move on Windows."

Google vs the World?

The computer world is powerfully dominated by Microsoft. To fundamentally change that equation means, in Google CEO Eric Schmidt's estimation, not a power-sharing arrangement but the decimation of the empire. In the language of geopolitics, Microsoft is the Soviet Union. The question is...

iPhone Gets EA's Spore Origins, More Mobile Titles

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:53:04 -0500

If you can't manage to occupy yourself Web surfing, e-mailing or listening to tunes on your iPhone, EA Mobile has just announced a raft of games for the iPod touch and the iPhone. Phone games have become a real phenomenon as more and more mobile devices have enough screen real estate and processing power to become a viable game platform. The EA announcement Friday focused on the release of Spore Origins for the Apple mobile market, but the company also released details of nine other upcoming mobile game titles.

Mobile Spore Origins

It's not the full-blown evolutionary strategy game you'll find on the PC and Mac, but EA's Spore Origins gives iPhone users a taste of "survival of the fittest" by incorporating two modes of play in the mobile version. In evolution mode, players create, edit, tweak and customize their creatures and explore strange worlds. In survival mode, players are prey and predator, advancing through 35 levels of eat-or-be-eaten action.

According to EA Mobile, the game incorporates the motion-sensing capabilities of the iPhone, so gamers can navigate creatures by tilting and moving the handset (as if talking aloud on a wireless headset didn't make you look odd enough). No word on whether the mobile version incorporates any of the more sexually explicit features of the main Spore game.

In a statement released by the company, Travis Boatman, vice president of worldwide studios at EA Mobile, said, "We're really excited to bring Spore Origins to the iPhone and iPod touch. By leveraging the unique capabilities of these devices, players can customize their own creatures and shape their destiny in an exciting evolutionary journey."

In contrast, EA's full-blown Spore allows for nearly total customization of the worlds and creatures that inhabit them, providing ample opportunity to tweak environment and evolutionary features. Supposedly...

Online TV Viewing Approaches the Mainstream

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:53:38 -0500

Nearly 20 percent of American households are tuning into TV over the Internet. That's twice the number from 2006, according to new research from The Conference Board Consumer Research Center and market-research firm TNS. The most popular destinations for online broadcasts? The official TV channel home page and YouTube.com.

The growing movement toward watching TV online is attributable, in part, to schedule-bucking viewers who want to watch the shows they want to watch when they want to watch them. Other reasons for the rise in online TV viewing include portability and the ability to skip commercials.

"Most consumers are pressed for time and require flexibility in their daily schedules and TV viewing habits," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "Being able to watch broadcasts on their own time and at their convenience are clearly reasons why we are seeing a greater number turning to the Internet. And, it is the reason why we would expect to see this trend continue."

Content on Demand Is King

News, drama, sitcom/comedy, reality shows and sports are the top five types of shows viewed online. User-generated content followed close behind.

Specifically, 43 percent of online TV viewers tune into the news, 39 percent watch drama shows, 34 percent view sitcom/comedy shows, 23 percent watch reality shows, 16 percent view sports, and 15 percent view user-generated content. Previews, additional content from favorite shows, soap operas and advertisements are also gaining the attention of online TV viewers.

Despite citing portability as a reason for watching TV online, almost 90 percent of viewers said they watch online broadcasts at home. About 15 percent said they watch Internet broadcasts in the office, and six percent watch from other locations, including the library or a friend's house.

"The shift from appointment TV to content on demand is well under...

Dell Is Considering Selling Its Factories

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:25:40 -0500

Dell is tightening its belt by another notch. As part of its continuing effort to cut costs and increase its competitiveness, the computer maker is reportedly considering selling its factories.

An article in Friday's Wall Street Journal reported that, according to unnamed sources, Dell has been approaching contract computer manufacturers in recent months "with offers to sell its plants." One source told the newspaper that the Round Rock, Texas-based company expects to sell most, if not all, of its factories "within the next 18 months."

Unsold factories would simply close, and Dell would get its computers made by contract manufacturers. The Journal report noted that ex-Dell factories could be first in line for contracts to continue making machines for Dell -- an obvious sweetener to any possible deal.

Shares Drop 18 Percent

For more than a year, Dell has been trying to find ways to reduce its expenses and expand its distribution. The reported move toward additional cost-cutting comes as Dell struggles to regain its financial footing and competitive position. Last week, it reported quarterly profits that led to shares dropping more than 18 percent.

The move to close its factories is an indication of how seriously this cost-cutting has become, as Dell once prided itself on highly efficient, build-on-demand PC manufacturing tailored to customer requirements. In ads and publicity, Dell touted that a customer's computer was built after the order had been placed -- often within hours of the order. This just-in-time approach minimized any unsold inventory.

And, by not having to deal with retail channels, Dell also was able to maximize channel efficiency. But, for laptops and other computer products, a number of customers prefer to buy in a brick-and-mortar store, where they can see the product, talk to a real person, and return it if there is a problem. As a...

Comcast Challenges FCC's Authority To Order Neutrality

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:59:18 -0500

Comcast fired back at the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday in its long-running duel with the agency. The cable-TV and Internet service provider filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.

The filing is the result of a FCC hearing last month in which Comcast was sanctioned for throttling back the broadband speed of customers using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing application. The FCC ordered Comcast to provide plans for equitably managing its bandwidth and to make its network-management policies public.

Comcast's View

Comcast had already agreed to the FCC's demands and rapidly put into place a management program that capped home Internet users -- regardless of the application used -- at 250GB per month. The cap was widely reported in media outlets, bill inserts to Comcast customers, and banner announcements on Comcast's Web site.

The suit is not about the nature of the commission's sanction, but whether the FCC has the authority to make such a ruling.

"We filed this appeal in order to protect our legal rights and to challenge the basis on which the commission found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of preexisting legally enforceable standards or rules," Comcast said. "We continue to recognize that the commission has jurisdiction over Internet service providers and may regulate them in appropriate circumstances and in accordance with appropriate procedures. However, we are compelled to appeal because we strongly believe that, in this particular case, the commission's action was legally inappropriate and its findings were not justified by the record."

The FCC's Position

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has said the agency could not have a specific guideline in place regarding network management before the Comcast hearing, since the commission wants to keep the Internet as unregulated as possible. The FCC also believes, according to Martin, that the existing Broadband Policy Statement...

NASA Moves Space Shuttle Atlantis to Launch Pad

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:26:51 -0500

NASA moved shuttle Atlantis to the launch pad on Thursday for a flight next month to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Atlantis is supposed to blast off on NASA's final visit to Hubble on Oct. 8, but it is expected to be delayed a couple of days because of work lost to Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna. A technical problem with the hookup between the shuttle and its external fuel tank also stalled operations.

Fay dumped an extraordinary amount of rain on the area two weeks ago and shut down Kennedy Space Center for three days. Hanna threatened to do the same but, for now, was expected to remain far offshore and pose little if any threat.

More severe tropical weather is headed across the Atlantic. NASA is hoping that Ike, already a fierce hurricane, and Tropical Storm Josephine bypass Cape Canaveral so there are no further delays to launch preparations.

Atlantis' three-mile (5-kilometer) trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad took much of the morning and afternoon.

Seven astronauts will fly to Hubble to install new equipment that hopefully will prolong the telescope's working life and yield better results. The mission was canceled following the 2003 Columbia disaster because of safety concerns, but reinstated by a new NASA regime.

Before Atlantis can lift off, another shuttle must be on the other launch pad, ready to fly to the rescue in case Atlantis suffers irreparable damage during launch. The Endeavour is being readied as the emergency vehicle.

Unlike shuttles bound for the international space station, Atlantis' crew will have nowhere to seek shelter while awaiting rescue. That is why NASA must be ready to move fast with Endeavour.

Large Hadron Collider Experiment Gets Ready

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:27:27 -0500

The biggest machine and international scientific experiment ever built [is about to be] switched on. Called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), it is a giant $10B "atom smasher" that has been constructed at the European center for nuclear research (CERN) in Geneva.

It consists of an underground circular tunnel 27 kilometers in circumference, which is about the size of the Circle Line on the London Underground. At various points along the tunnel, four massive instruments have been positioned to act as sub-atomic microscopes for analyzing the extremely high-energy collisions that will occur between two opposing beams of protons, the atomic nuclei of hydrogen atoms. The aim of the experiment is to understand the fundamental forces of nature and the sub-atomic particles that compose all matter in the universe.

Why Is It Causing Such Excitement?

Although we have built "atom smashers" before, this one is different in terms of how much energy will be involved. Two beams of protons will be spun in opposite directions within the underground tunnel and will attain speeds just a fraction shy of the speed of light, meaning that they will make about 11,000 laps of the circuit every second.

When they are accelerated in this way to collide head-on with each other, the resulting impact between the two proton beams will generate about seven times the energy of the LHC's nearest rival machine, the Tevatron atom smasher in Batavia, Illinois. The LHC scientists hope to get up to energy levels of 14 teraelectron volts (TeV) and so in the process create conditions that last occurred less than a billionth of a second after the Big Bang, when the universe was created some 13.7 billion years ago.

What's the Point of All This?

In order to understand what things are made of, and the forces that hold them together, it is necessary...