Nokia E75 Power Smartphone Features.

Nokia E51 is a solid yet stylishly compact handset with a standard alphanumeric keypad, while the E71 and the more affordable E63, have a large square screen and qwerty keyboard.



With the new E75, Nokia has borrowed a little from each of them while adding some new twists to the mobile mix. Foremost is the new Nokia Messaging service, which delivers BlackBerry-style email.

This works across a refreshingly broad range of email services from web-based email such as Google and Windows Live Hotmail, plus ISPs including BigPond, OptusNet, iiNet and Internode. Nokia has streamlined the set-up process for all these so that there's minimal pain - you need only enter your email address and password.

Adding an account from your company's exchange server or a different ISP is more complex but the result is the same - instant delivery of messages to your mobile phone as soon as they hit the mail server.

The email software itself is much improved over Nokia's previous efforts, although there's no single integrated view of emails - each account gets its own inbox. And while you can have as many as 10 of these, the E75's home screen shows only two of those: the ones designated as your primary and secondary accounts.

Dealing with message attachments sent via email is a bit hit-and-miss. PDF files and Excel spreadsheets were easily viewed but some Word documents came through with odd formatting - such as every word in bold-face red type - while others were almost illegible, even though they used Microsoft's long-standing DOC format.

Downloading a free update to the E75's QuickOffice software enabled viewing of Word documents in the Office 2007 format but didn't resolve the other issues. We'd suggest testing the E75 with your own office software and the most commonly emailed documents before you sign on the dotted line.

Another unique trait of the E75 is that it sports both alphanumeric and qwerty keyboards. Hold it vertically and it's just like any candy-bar phone, although the 1.5cm profile and 140g weight belie the sheer heft of the robust stainless-steel chassis.

Swing the E75 into a horizontal position and a full qwerty keypad slides out, while the 6cm display, navigation button and shortcut menus all automatically reorient into landscape mode.

The keys are flat, large and well spaced but perhaps too much so - bashing out emails on the compact and slightly cambered keyboard of the E71 or BlackBerry Bold proved much faster.

The web browser can not match Apple's iPhone.

The rest of the E75's features lean towards being par for a high-end smartphone: high-speed 3G and Next G (it's also compatible with 3's dual-network Mega 3 service), Wi-Fi and an inbuilt GPS receiver. Creature comforts for downtime include a capable music player with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, support for Nokia's N-Gage mobile games and an FM radio.

The battery has to be charged daily.

Article credit stuff.co.nz

Palm Pre Connects With iTunes Software & Store.

NEW YORK - Palm says that its much-awaited new smart phone, the Pre, can connect to Apple's iTunes software and download music and photos just as if it were an iPod or iPhone.



The feature might be unique for a device not made by Apple, though third-party software is available that lets some digital music players masquerade as iPods in iTunes.

Palm's new phone goes on sale in America on June 6, with Sprint Nextel as the exclusive launch carrier. It will be US$200 with a two-year contract and a rebate, competing with Apple's iPhone in the market for high-end smart phones.

Jon Rubinstein, Palm's executive chairman and former Apple executive, said he didn't worry about objections from his former employer.

"We're trying to make customers happy," he said at The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, California, where he offered a demonstration. "It's a great feature."

An Apple spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Also Thursday, the chief executive of Verizon Wireless, Lowell McAdam, said his company will carry the Pre within six months, although a Sprint Nextel spokesman said Sprint will be the exclusive carrier until at least the end of the year.

Palm's Rubinstein declined to comment.

Article credit New Zealand Herald

Tech World Plummet Affects Silicon Valley.

LOS GATOS, California - The $1.6 million Bugatti crouches in the showroom, flanked by Lamborghinis, Bentleys and a Rolls-Royce, all polished to a shimmer. The nearby potted plants, however, are dusty and wilting. With super-luxury car sales here just half of what they used to be, they had to cut something.

"We wash our own windows now, take care of the plants ourselves," says Ryan Dohogne, general manager of Silicon Valley Auto Group. Although they haven't laid anyone off, yet, Dohogne said they're saving everywhere they can.

Eight kilometres away, former indoor plant specialist Michael A. Jones is having what he calls "a humbling experience" at a non-profit food pantry, choosing dented cans of corn and tuna, a crunched box of Rice Krispies and some soon-to-expire milk to supplement his food stamps.

Jones used to gross US$12,000 a month as an indoor horticulturist for high tech companies, restaurants and car dealerships, although not Silicon Valley Auto Group. Then "everyone cut back all at once and we had to shut down," he said. "It happened fast."

Very fast. In fact, nowhere in the US has the bust arrived more abruptly.

The Associated Press Economic Stress Index, a month-by-month analysis of foreclosure, bankruptcy and unemployment rates in more than 3,000 US counties, shows that last year, as the national economy tanked, high tech economic centres from California's Silicon Valley to North Carolina's Research Triangle were apparently "recession-proof" with increasing jobs and stable housing prices.

Then everything changed. When previously invested funds petered out, there was no new capital. Bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment in high tech regions spiked, and are now at some of the highest levels in the country.
For example:

- Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley, saw bankruptcies soar 59 per cent in the past 12 months, and projections are that they're still climbing;

- North Carolina's unemployment has doubled since early 2008 to a record 10.7 per cent, with close to 200,000 jobs lost in the state, 20 per cent of those in Research Triangle, a high tech hot spot near Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel

To read full article click nzherald.co.nz

Nokia To Launch Online Software Ovi Store.

NOKIA has started rolling out its much-anticipated online software and content store, Ovi Store, as it aims to follow the success of Apple's App Store.

Nokia said it had started moving Ovi Store to production servers, preparing for the global commercial launch, and the store was opened to users of a few of its phone models in Australia and Singapore yesterday.

Nokia has promised to open the store globally this week.

The Apple App Store has proved extremely popular, with one billion applications downloaded in less than a year. Rivals including Vodafone, Nokia and Microsoft now want a piece of the pie.

However, analysts say firms will likely struggle to match the success of Apple's store when creating their own stores, hampered by technical issues, a lack of applications and increased competition.

"Nokia's Ovi store is a step in the right direction but Apple is still the king of the hill when it comes to selling applications," said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight.

To read full article click news.com.au

Wolfram Alpha Is Good Mainly For Scientific Use.

Wolfram Alpha is a genius piece of software, but won't make sense out of everything.

The launched and hyped Wolfram Alpha is the brainchild of the American-based, Eton and Oxford-educated Dr Stephen Wolfram, a boy-genius physicist who got his PhD by the time he was 20 and who is the founder of the computational engine Mathematica.

It was described in The Independent on Sunday as "the biggest internet revolution for a generation".

In contrast with the internet trawling Google, Wolfram Alpha has aggregated and curated huge amounts of data from offline scientific sources. It's what Harvard University law professor Jonathan Zittrain calls a "computable almanac", designed to juxtapose data in myriad ways. Wolfram Alpha is a computational engine.

It does not have much value for non-scientific users.

10 Million DNI Electronic Identity Cards For Spain Residents.

The cards have been issued to citizens by the National Police and give recepients access to a range of services directly from home, besides offering the latest technology, security and confidentiality.

The new cards allow Spaniards to do their tax returns, see their employment history, get an electronic doctors prescription, and check their driving licence points, and all from home without any queuing. A simple USB adaptor connects the card to their home computer.

Experts from other countries are now studying the Spanish example of the DNIe, that has made Spain a world pioneer in terms of the number of citizens with electronic signature.

The system has cost 341 million €.

Its Wind Turbines Now For Samsung Heavy

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., the world's second-largest shipyard, plans to make wind turbines in a market estimated at US$74 billion by 2020 to counter a slump in vessel orders.


Wind turbine generator

The technology to make the key component for power turbines is similar to the one used for ship propellers, Samsung Heavy said. Wind power may account for 12 percent of global energy consumption in 2020, it said.

The company, which reported 10.7 trillion won of sales last year, received a letter of intent from Cielo Wind Power LP of the U.S. to provide three 2.5-megawatt wind turbines. The first will be delivered in 2010 and the remaining two the next year, Samsung Heavy said.

GPS System May Black-out By 2010

THE US Government has warned that the worldwide network of satellites that makes up the Global Positioning System could fail by next year, affecting millions of people around the globe.

Many depend on the satellite navigation network to beam precise directions from A to B into users' cars or on their mobile phones.

But mismanagement and a lack of investment means the 20-year-old system could lead consumers into nothing but trouble.

The first replacement satellite was supposed to be launched into space in 2007, but won't be ready until November – nearly three years too late.

And it is unclear whether the satellites in orbit will be able to keep the system running until their replacements arrive.

The satnav system could begin to fail as early as next year, according to a US Government Accountability Office study.

One in three motorists is already being sent the wrong way by satnav.

This failure could open the door to systems funded by other countries, such as Europe's Galileo network

To read full article click news.com.au

China To U.S. Military - We Are Not Hackers

There is no way hackers - including those from China - can access top-secret data by penetrating the firewalls of military or government networks, an acclaimed Internet scientist said yesterday.

Professor Fang Binxing, former director of the national computer network emergency response team, said there is no scientific basis to blame either China's military or the government for hacking other nations' networks because most of them are "out of reach".

The foreign media, quoting insiders in overseas intelligence services, have recently claimed that hackers, who appeared to be based in China, had repeatedly infiltrated military networks and government computers in more than 100 countries.

"Networks containing sensitive intelligence are impenetrable, because normally the militaries isolate their networks completely from the public domain to prevent hacking," said the specialist on Internet security who is also an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

"If there have been cases of key intelligence being stolen, I believe there would have been undercover agents within the organizations facilitating the theft you cannot simply do it with computer technology," he added.

Fang Xingdong, a Beijing-based Internet technology expert, said China has become a staging post for hackers worldwide, who use the country's network security vulnerability to launch attacks on other countries.

"Hackers often use computers based in China as their 'springboard'. That makes it confusing even for the US military," he told China Daily.

According to an Internet security report released on April 15 by Symantec, the California-based anti-virus software maker, about 71 percent of the computers hacked in the Asia-Pacific region are based in China, which has a cyber population of 300 million.

At the same time, 38 percent of hacking attempts worldwide originate in the US, compared with 13 percent in China, the report said.

"The US military is picking on China because it wants to make its claims appear more plausible," Fang Binxing said.

The Wall Street Journal quoted US intelligence sources as saying in late March that hackers based in China had stolen data from the Pentagon's US$300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project, and also infiltrated the US state power grid.

The Journal quoted former US officials as saying the attacks seemed to have originated in China, although it noted it was difficult to be absolutely sure.

Canadian-based researchers have also claimed that a cyber spy network based mainly in China hacked into classified documents from government and private organizations in 103 countries, including the computers of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan exiles.

To read full article click chinanews

Single DVD That Will Store 2000 Movies

SCIENTISTS have unveiled new DVD technology that stores data in five dimensions, making it possible to pack more than 2000 movies onto a single disc.



A team of researchers at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, have used nanotechnology to boost the storage potential nearly 10,000-fold compared to standard DVDs, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.

"We were able to show how nanostructured material can be incorporated onto a disc in order to increase data capacity, without increasing the physical size of the disc,'' said Min Gu, who led the team.

Discs currently have three spatial dimensions. By using gold nanorods Gu and colleagues were able to add two additional dimensions, one based on the colour spectrum, and the other on polarisation.

To read full article click news.com.au

Pre Palm To Be Released In US In June

NEW YORK - Sprint Nextel plans to start selling Palm's much anticipated new smart phone, the Pre, on June 6 for $200.

The device could give Palm a much-needed boost in sales and help Sprint stop the defection of subscribers to other wireless carriers.

The price - which requires a new two-year service and data plan and a $100 mail-in rebate - and the launch date are both close to what industry watchers were expecting.

The Pre, which looks like an iPhone but sports a slide-out keyboard in addition to a touch screen, is seen as Palm's chance of reversing a long slide and taking on newer smart phones like the iPhone and BlackBerry.

In its fiscal third quarter, which ended in late February, Sunnyvale, California-based Palm reported its loss widened as sales of its phones fell 42 per cent year over year to 482,000.

Meanwhile, Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint lost 1.25 million of its valuable contracted subscribers in the first three months of the year, even worse than the drop of 1.1 million in the fourth quarter.

Article by AP

Music Download Programmer Sued By Record Companies In Spain.

MADRID - Record companies went to court yesterday claiming $17.58 million from a Spaniard they claim profited from computer programs he designed to allow free music downloads from the internet.

The Promusicae association of Spanish record firms and branches of international companies Emi, Sony, Universal and Warner are suing Pablo Soto 30, for what they allege is unfair competition.

Soto designed three popular file-sharing programs for internet users to download music for free. He admits he earned a living from the programs but denies committing any offense.

Spanish courts have repeatedly ruled that free music downloading is not illegal if it is not for commercial use. People in Spain cover the alleged losses made by music companies and artists by paying a special tax on CDs, pen drives and mobile phones.

Article by Ap

Intel’s Appeal Against EU’s Fine Uphill Battle.

SANTA CLARA - Intel's top lawyer says that fighting the European Union's record $1.45 billion antitrust fine will be an "uphill battle."

Bruce Sewell, general counsel for the world's No. 1 computer microprocessor maker, said at the company's annual shareholder meeting that Intel expects European courts to show deference to the EU's decision.

Even so, he said Intel plans to appeal last week's ruling.

It punishes Intel for allegedly selling some of its chips below the cost of making them, and paying retailers and computer makers not to use chips from rival Advanced Micro Devices. Intel has denied the charges.

Sewell said: "We have our work cut out for us, but I'm hopeful we can overturn this."

Article by Ap

Erase Raw Street-Level Images-Google told

A data protection official for Germany said that Google had yet to meet a key request that photos gathered for its panoramic mapping service be erased after they are sent to the United States for processing.

Johannes Caspar, the head of the Hamburg regional office for data protection, said that although Google made a 13-page response to other requests, the US company didn't make a guarantee on deleting the raw images after the faces, license plates and other information are scrambled or otherwise rendered unrecognisable.

"We consider this to be highly problematic," Caspar said in a telephone interview.

Google's Street View mapping service offers detailed street-level images. Since launching in 2007, it has expanded to more than 100 cities worldwide but has faced privacy complaints from many individuals and institutions that have been photographed. Complaints have emanated from Greece, the Pentagon, a small English village, Japan and now from Germany.

Caspar's said he expected his office would meet with Google to discuss the matter before deciding on any further action.

To read full article click NZHerald

Google Language Translation Added To Gmail

The New Zealand Herald reported that the internet search giant Google today announced their intention to combine two of their most used products in an attempt to do their bit to bring the world together.

'Message Translation' combines the popular Google Translate service, which can convert text and web pages from and to any of 41 languages, with Gmail, the company's webmail service which boasts more than 113 million users worldwide.

Allowing users to conduct conversations with each exchange translated into the relevant language is hoped to enable international communication for Gmail users, and is just one of the many weird and wonderful Gmail plugins available to try out through the experimental "Gmail labs" service.

Google has already launched services including the option to dissuade drunk emailing by making users answer a maths puzzle before they can send an email, and another to hold messages for a short period before sending so that users can change their mind should they have sent something they may later regret, as well as a variety of others designed to make the service customisable.

Enabling global conversations of this kind has been on the agenda of the search giant over the last few months, after the company also made available a translation function for comments on blogs for users logged into Google Friend Connect.

The 'Message Translate' service has been made available worldwide

First China-Assembled Airbus A320 Test Flight Successful

TIANJIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- After four hours' flight, the first China-assembled Airbus A320 aircraft landed smoothly at Tianjin Binhai International Airport at 2:56 p.m. Monday, a symbol of successful test flight.


Image credit:chinaview.cn

The aircraft will be delivered to Dragon Aviation Leasing in June from the Airbus Delivery Center in Tianjin and will be operated by Sichuan Airlines.

Hitachi Unveils 4,500W/kg lithium-ion cell For Eco-Friendly Cars

Tokyo, May 19, 2009 --- Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT / TSE:6501,hereinafter Hitachi) today announced that Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi Vehicle Energy, Ltd. which develops and manufactures lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications, such as hybrid electric vehicles, have developed a lithium-ion battery having the world's highest power density of 4,500W/kg, 1.7 times the output of the company's mass-produced, automotive lithium-ion batteries. Sampling of the new battery by domestic and overseas car manufacturers will start in the fall.



To reduce internal resistance, the battery employs a new manganese cathode and an original Hitachi battery structure, in such as thinner electrodes, power collection method and effective configurations to achieve the world's highest output.

In recent years, lithium-ion batteries have been used for many consumer product applications, including mobile telephones, notebook PCs and digital cameras. For the same energy density, a lithium-ion battery has about half the volume and weight of a nickel hydrogen battery, and about one-third the volume and weight of a lead battery. This makes the lithium-ion battery a small, light, high-energy-density secondary battery that is attracting attention for its applicability to hybrid and electric vehicles.

In 2000, the Hitachi Group used its extensive technological and manufacturing capabilities in fields ranging from materials to battery control systems, to develop and mass-produce the world's first safe, high-performance, long-operating-life lithium-ion battery for automotive applications.

A second-generation lithium-ion battery with an power density of 2,600 W/kg that currently is being delivered for automotive and railway applications, is the world's only mass-produced lithium-ion battery for on-board applications. Up to this point, a total of some 600,000 cells have been delivered, mainly to car manufacturers and railway companies.

Moreover, development of a third-generation lithium-ion battery having an even higher power density (3,000 W/kg) has already been completed, and will go into mass-production in 2010, with deliveries scheduled to begin the same year.

To read full article click hitachi.com

Power And Enhance Your Netbook By Getting A Stand.

Century, a Japanese gadget innovator is offering a Netbook Stand, the CNBS-WT/ODD. The stand is comprised of a netbook cooler and a DVD burner. The cooling fan is built on the left side and is raised up for best effect. The Stand has space under its lid for an extra 2.5-inch SATA hard drive or solid state drive. To connect, a netbook is placed on top of the stand and connected via a USB cable, the fan is then powered up and the DVD drive is ready for use. The Netbook Stand has two extra USB sockets.



The stand weighs 524gms, thus ideally it would be better to keep it for use at home or in the office to provide a netbook with more punch.

The stand works only with Windows XP or Vista and not with Linux, the system used in many netbooks.

Century’s Netbook Stand is on sale for approximately US$ 100

To read full article click century.co.jp

Japan's 1st Google cell phone Unveiled By NTT DoCoMo

Japan’s top mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc rolled out its new summer lineup of mobile phone handsets on Tuesday, introducing Japan’s first mobile phone to use popular Internet search engine Google Inc’s free Android operating system.



Smaller rival Softbank Mobile Corp the same day unveiled an equally eclectic lineup of mobile phone handsets for the summer season, including one able to recharge using solar energy and another designed by Giorgio Armani.

The two mobile phone carries, both based in Tokyo, took the wraps off their latest mobile phone handsets as they continue their efforts to attract customers with appealing, multifunctional handsets at a time when sales of mobile phone handsets are sluggish amid the nation’s economic slowdown.

In unveiling his company’s summer lineup, DoCoMo President Ryuji Yamada said his firm is striving to offer ‘‘appealing’’ mobile phones and stop slackening consumption in its mobile phone handsets.

‘‘Our new handsets have various new features that are aimed to make functions more user-friendly and applicable to our users’ lifestyles,’’ Yamada said.

To read full article click japantoday

Apples iPod Nano Overheating Cases Reported.

On Friday, May 15, the Japanese Ministry of Industry called for attention from iPod users as they reported the 18th case of an iPod nano gadget overheating.

In this last case, sparks flew off while an iPod nano MA004J/A was being recharged. Part of the music player's button was damaged but there were no injuries.

iPod nano is a product of Apple Inc. of the United States.

To get full article click newsonjapan

Got A Weird Name? Facebook May Purge You.

Alicia Istanbul woke up one recent Wednesday to find herself locked out of the Facebook account she opened in 2007, one Facebook suddenly deemed fake.

The stay-at-home mom was cut off not only from her 330 friends, including many she had no other way of contacting, but also from the pages she had set up for the jewelry design business she runs from her Atlanta-area home.

Although Istanbul understands why Facebook insists on having real people behind real names for every account, she wonders why the online hangout didn't simply ask before acting.

To read full article click yahootech

Technology To Monitor Vulnerable Persons.

A project in the south of France is applying digital technology to give freedom to hospital patients and the vulnerable.

Project Gerhome, run by the French centre for construction research (CSTB), fits out houses with sensors monitoring almost all the activity that goes on inside the walls.

The wealth of data being gathered could mean, for instance, that the sensors can work out whether residents are eating normally.

From electricity consumption, movement, to chair and bed occupation, the aim is to determine a resident's "normal" behaviour.

"Based on the activity of the equipment we can realise what is the real activity of the person, in the sense of the daily activity," said Alain Anfosso, from CSTB Gerhome.

"The interest of this analysis of sensors is to understand if the activity is normal," he said.

The system can detect the slight changes in natural rhythms that can give doctors and carers early warning of possible trouble ahead.

"Some kinds of evolutions such as sleeping periods, for instance, can be a sign of
some kind of weakness," he said.

He added that many factors were taken into account, including changing sleep patterns and meals varying with each season.

Software used to analyse raw data can tell if someone is in trouble, if they can bend or stretch normally, or if they are changing their usual routine.

To read full story click BBC

Spotify To Get Mobile And Get To U.S.

Online music service Spotify is hoping to launch a mobile version and expand to the US by the end of the year.

The streaming service, which lets fans listen to more than three million tracks legally and for free, has gained more than a million users in the UK. Spotify was
created in Sweden and is available in the UK, Norway, Finland, France and Spain.



Speaking about the plan to go mobile, Spotify founder Daniel Ek said: "We want to be everywhere. We won't only do one device."

But fans would have to pay to put Spotify in their pockets, he revealed.

The web-based service is currently free to users who accept adverts between their songs. A subscription option, which costs £9.99 a month in the UK, banishes the ads.

Read full story on BBCNews

Video Games Sales Plummet

Market analysts have failed in their prediction once again. Most analysts had predicted that the video game industry is recession proof and will not be affected by the current down turn, but statistics indicate that in the US only, video game sales in April 2009 were $1 billion, 17 percent lower than in April 2008, according to NPD, the market research firm.

Software sales fell 23 percent, while sales of hardware (consoles and hand-held players) dropped 8 percent. Hardware sales would have fared much worse had it not been for the release of Nintendo’s new DSi hand-held device.

The 17% drop recorded in April’09 is significant since Easter week-end, which turns out historically to be a big weekend for video game sales fell in April this year, but did not provide a boost to April’09 sales. NPD insist that the drop is not as bad as it appears since April’09 is being compared to April’08, a month which recorded a gain of 50% from the April’07 figure.

Human Error Caused Google Search Fault

The problems experienced by Google's search service users last Saturday was caused by human error, as was disclosed by Marissa Mayer, vice president, search products and user experience, on the Official Google Blog.

For a short period on Saturday, all search results were flagged as potentially harmful.


Image:BBC News


"We will carefully investigate this incident and put more robust file checks in place to prevent it from happening again," Ms Mayer wrote.

Saya The Robot Takes On Teaching Now.

In Tokyo, a humanoid robot named "Saya" took a fifth grade class in Kudan Elementary School as a demonstration on May 7, 2009.

Saya the teacher doesn't mind it the students tease, poke or pinch her or if they play in class.


Credit:Sankei


Saya, a life-like female started her career as a robot receptionist and was then re-programmed to teach.

Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi of Tokyo University of Science, who built Saya, told Reuters "we are not looking at making something that will take over from teachers, but rather our main reason for building this robot is to use new technology to teach children about technology".

But Saya may be able to help in schools where there is a shortage of teachers, he added. Saya can speak different languages and make facial expressions of happiness, surprise, anger, disgust and fear with motors inside her face.

Vizio Zooms Past Sony In Flat Panel TV sales in U.S.

Vizio Inc., a California based company, manufacturers of high quality HDTV’s and monitors to amazing sound products and accessories such as cables, mounts, and remotes, has elbowed out Sony Corporation to grab second place in the North American flat panel TV market last quarter, as reported by a U.S. research firm Display Search.

The report put the rankings as follows for Samsung, Vizio & Sony respectively (Qtr 1'2009 - 18.2%, 17.9%, 13.2%) and (Qtr 4'2008 - 20.4%, 12.3%, 14.2%)

Vizio recorded similar increase in the liquid crystal display TV, from 12.8% to 18.9%.

Vizio has strong alignment with mass merchant and warehouse club retailers. They stepped up production of flat panel televisions in Taiwan, for sale to discount chains, when Sony and Samsung curbed shipments to prevent excessive discount sales from eroding their profit margins. Some of Vizio’s distributors are Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s Wholesale, Sears, Circuit City, Dell and Target stores.

In 2008, they launched Full High Definition 1080p Plasma flat panel televisions and the first true consumer High Definition 32” plasma display at breakthrough price points. They also solved the solution of offering 120Hz Smooth Motion technology processing in LCD panels to the consumer electronics market that exceed the expectations of consumers and industry analysts alike at prices unmatched by competitors. They also offer wireless surround sound solutions with Dolby Digital 5.1 technology, and partnerships with SRS Labs (California) to create home theater audio within its products.

Vizio Inc. offers a one-year limited warranty on products, followed by a 4 year added repair/replacement service together with power surge, remote control cover and onsite repair service. It also offers lifetime telephone technical support. This long term support confirms Vizio’s commitment to their "Where Vision Meets Value," slogan.

Intel Receives Record Smack From The European Commission

First it was a 497m euros fine on Microsoft for abuse of dominant market position, now its 1.06bn euros against Intel for anti-competitive practice.

The EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said that Intel influenced the market by offering rebates but with conditions that there was no fair chance for competitors to get in the market, thus curtailing competition and consumers ended up paying too much at the end of the day. Intel took advantage of their dominant position having a more than 70% share of the market. She also stated that rebates with certain conditions are not allowed and that the judgment is meant to convey the message that fair competition means that your are not blocking market or innovation.

The Commission found that between 2002 and 2007, Intel had paid manufacturers and a retailer to favor its chips over those of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

The Commission said that Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and NEC had been given hidden rebates if they only used Intel chips. It also found that Media Saturn, which owns Europe's biggest consumer electronics retailer Media Market, had been given money so that it would only sell computers containing Intel chips.

Intel is facing antitrust infringement decisions against it in Japan, Korea, and the EU, while the US authorities are investigating Intel as well.

Intel has announced that it will appeal against the verdict.

Emue Card by Visa is a Leap Towards Combating Credit Card Fraud.

image credit bbc news

In two of my previous articles Transacting Online? Watch Out For Peeping Toms and Cyber Security-Is There Real Danger Looming, I wrote about the dangers of transacting online. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the U.S.A. according to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). The danger is so real, yet the requirement to transact online so crucial, thus we are left with no alternative but to fight cyber-crime.

For on the till transactions, where the card user is present with their credit card at the service provision point, credit cards are equipped with the chip and the user enters the secret pin number and a signature, these three together with the hologram provide some security.

For away from the till transactions (internet, phone or mail order), all that is required to transact at present is the 16-digit code, the credit card expiry date and the three digit security code number at the back of the card. If any person captures this information online by hacking or by nicking the actual card or cards details, the card owner may suffer loss if the card is not block immediately.
To reduce instances of card-not-present (CNP) crime, Visa is testing a credit card dubbed Emue with a built-in display.

The Emue Card generates and displays a unique four digit code each time it is used. The generation of the four digit code is activated by entering a secret pin number.
The card is currently being tried out by 500 employees of Deloitte with the aim of assessing the technology by the end of the year. After the trial period, the card needs to be globally compatible: that means creating embossed characters for mechanical swipes, a magnetic strip for systems that require a signature, the fixed three digit security code and now the unique four figure code. The global credit card infrastructure will certainly require an update to accommodate the extra features. This development will enhance the security of CNP transactions.

To read the whole article click BBC News

Dell Computers Discount Coupons and Discount Deals

Save some money on your next Dell computer purchase by using Dell Computer discount coupons. Follow the instructions in each Dell Coupon post and make big savings.

Some of the deals which have no Dell discount Coupons have instant savings deals. Click through the supplied product link and the discount will automatically appear when you reach your shopping cart on the Dell website.

Dell Computers are manufacturers of worldwide reputable brands which include XPS, Inspiron and Studio desktop PC’s and laptops, New Adamo and Latitude laptops brands, Studio XPS desktop PC’s and Dell Printers and Inks.

To get your Coupon in the USA click Dell USA Discount Coupons;

To get your coupons in the UK click Dell UK Discount Coupons

Garmin Nuvi 855 GPS Navigation System Model 0100071530 is High-Tech

Minimize road network surprises with with Garmin nüvi 855 GPS System. This GPS has voice-activated navigation, it guides user to the proper lane and gives junction and road signs display. It also comes with wide screen display, has preloaded maps and ability to add maps. It is also sunlight readable, gives driving direction photos, 3D maps & 3D building views.

Under emergency locator voice prompt ‘where am I’ or a tap, it gives details of position, closest hospitals, police stations, fuel stations, nearest address and intersection. It is also FM traffic compatible,

Besides it does not fall short of entertainment and other extras tools, including MP3 player, audio book player, JPEG picture viewer, FM transmitter, custom POI’s, touch screen, currency converters, Garmin Games, Garmin security lock and world travel clock.

To get the whole range of features and specifications click ABT.com

Transacting Online? Watch Out For Peeping Toms

Here is an extract from a report filed by CyberInsecure.com on 5th May 2009.

Security researchers have managed to infiltrate the Torpig botnet, a feat that allowed them to gain important new insights into one of the world’s most notorious zombie networks by collecting an astounding 70 GB worth of data stolen in just 10 days.

During that time, Torpig bots stole more than 8,300 credentials used to login to 410 different financial institutions, according to the research team from the University of California at Santa Barbara. More than 21 percent of the accounts belonged to PayPal users. Overall, a total of almost 298,000 unique credentials were intercepted from more than 52,000 infected machines.

Get the full report on CyberInsecure.com

If the mentioned report is anything to go by, drastic action needs to be taken to salvage these convenient facilities that we enjoy everyday.

Precautionary measures need to be put in place by individuals, service providers and by the agencies charged with the responsibility of dealing with cyber crime.

To find some tips on how you can safeguard yourself click Cyber Security Tips

Cyber Security-Is there real danger looming?

Credit BBC News

Our lives and daily activities revolve around computers and the Internet these days. We use computers to communicate through emails and other computer based audio & video conferencing facilities. Our telephone systems, both fixed and cellphones are supported by computer systems. The entertainment industry both video and audio entertainment, the transport industry, navigation functions are also run using computer systems. Shopping is what it is today due to online stores and the use of credit cards. Most of our banking activities and transactions can be done online. Medical data and equipment are supported by the very computer systems. A lot of our information is stored in computers either in our homes, offices or elsewhere, and Cyber Security involves protecting that information by preventing, detecting, and responding to attacks on these very systems.

The risks facing this very essential support system range from viruses erasing an entire system, hackers accessing ones system and altering files, or altering files remotely through other work-stations. There is also the danger of leakage of sensitive information like security information, bank account access codes and credit-card information.

In February 2009, President Obama ordered a cyber security audit and review of the online security of government IT system be conducted to check for vulnerabilities

Mr. John Brennan, assistant to the president for counter-terrorism and homeland security said

"The president is confident that we can protect our nation's critical cyber infrastructure while at the same time adhering to the rule of law and safeguarding privacy rights and civil liberties."

Rick Howard, director of intelligence at managed security services firm iDefense, welcomed the move by Obama.

"Cyber warfare is now a real threat," he added. "Russian hackers, individually and grouped into cartels, are good at attacking an opposing government’s infrastructure in campaigns of annoyance and frustration."

Going by the frequency of reports on cyber Insecurity featured daily in various Medias, the threat appears to be increasing by the day. History will testify that the tempo of alerts and warnings preceding any attack tends to rise to a crescendo just before the attack is launched. Unless an offensive crackdown on the individuals and cartels involved in cyber crimes is launched, then we should brace up for the worst. A few of the reports appearing in the news on 5th April are sited below: -

CyberInsecure.com
A report by CyberInsecure.com released on 5th May 2009, revealed that Torpig Botnet Hijacking, a zombie network revealed 70GB of stolen credit cards and passwords, all these stolen in ten days only. The information included more than 8,300 credentials used to log in to 410 different financial institutions, according to the research team from the University of California at Santa Barbara. More than 21 percent of the accounts belonged to PayPal users. Overall, a total of almost 298,000 unique credentials were intercepted from more than 52,000 infected machines.

One of the secrets behind the unusually large haul is Torpig’s ability to siphon credentials from a large number of computer programs. After wrapping its tentacles around Mozilla Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook, Skype, ICQ, and 26 other applications, Torpig constantly monitors every keystroke entered into them. Every 20 minutes, the malware automatically uploads new data to servers controlled by the authors. Because the software runs at such a low level, it is able to intercept passwords before they may be encrypted by secure sockets layer or other programs. To read the whole story click Cyberinsecure.

FedaralComputerWeek
Malicious cyber activity has grown more prevalent and sophisticated during the past year and threats come from organized crime groups, terrorist organizations and foreign governments, according to a senior FBI official.

The increase in activity and sophistication poses a criminal and national security threat and has raised concerns from the government, the private sector and the country's overseas partners, Shawn Henry, an assistant director of the FBI who runs its Cyber Division, told reporters today. Henry said the current threats involve denying access to networks, compromising or changing data to affect its integrity and the theft of data. To read the whole story click FCW.

BBC News/Technology
Twelve million computers have been hijacked by cyber-criminals and detected by security vendor McAfee since January’09, the firm has said. It reports there has been a 50% increase in the number of detected so-called "zombie" computers since 2008. The true number of newly hijacked PCs is likely to be higher than those detected by McAfee alone. The figures come as a report from Deloitte said a global approach to cyber-security was needed.

"Doing nothing is not an option," said Deloitte's Greg Pellegrino. Everything that depended on cyberspace face unprecedented risks, said Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT). "This issue is moving so quickly, and with so much at stake economically and in terms of safety and security for people, we don't have 100 years to figure this out," explained Mr Pellegrino, who is a global public sector industry leader at DTT.

McAfee also revealed that the United States now hosted the world's largest percentage of infected computers at 18% with China a not too distant second with just over 13%. To read the whole story click BBC News

Other cyber crime related reports carried by the BBC News are listed below: -

29 Apr 09 | Technology US cyber-security 'embarrassing'
05 May 09 | Technology US needs 'digital warfare force'
21 Apr 09 | Technology Call to rally against cyber crime
09 Apr 09 | Technology Spies 'infiltrate US power grid'
09 Dec 08 | Business Downturn 'boosting cyber-crime'
16 Apr 09 | Spam 'produces 17m tons of CO2'
In the BBC News report, Mr Pellegrino, the global public sector industry leader at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) warned "Not only do we have to take action; we don't have enough time,"

Hollywood vs 'DVD Copying' Tecnology

Hollywood has locked horns with the technology industry over who will control digital entertainment and how it is watched.

The six big film studios say a program called RealDVD violates copyright.
This week a San Francisco court could decide if DVD users can make personal backups the way people do with audio.

"The consumer should have the same fair use rights to copy DVDs just as they have for the last decade with music," said Bill Hankes of RealDVD.

RealDVD, which is made by RealNetworks, allows DVD owners to make digital copies of their discs onto a computer or laptop hard drive for their own personal use without having to pay extra.

Downloadable versions of many movies are available online, and some studios let users make a digital copy of a movie onto a computer by paying more for an "expanded edition" of a DVD.

Many believe this means the consumer is being made to pay twice.
Kevin Hunt who writes the Electronic Jungle column for the Baltimore Sun said: "For 11 years, since the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) made it illegal to bypass any digital rights management protection system, the movie and music industries have fought a war ostensibly against piracy.

"In reality, it has been a war against the consumer, designed to make people pay more than once for the same song or album or movie."

To read full story click BBC News

Plantronics Voyager Pro is the Best

Credit: Plantronics
The Plantronics Voyager Pro Bluetooth Headset is the best in the market so far. It is designed to reduce wind effect and other noice during calls, thus it offers very clear sound reception even in noisy sorroundings.

For music lovers, the audio quality is exceptional and with the sterio plug in, the lyrics receptions is bound to be first class.
Besides call quality, noice cancellation, sterio sound and comfort, this headset has a long battery life.

To learn more about the Plantronics Voyager Pro click Plantronics

CrimeMapping.com Analysis

CrimeMapping is one good creation from The Omega Group. The map page of their website CrimeMapping.com maps out crime activities within locations where the concerned law enforcement agencies have subscribed to this services. The site gives information on the date and time of crime, the description of the crime and the location of the crime, it also gives an option of address feed upon which it calculates distance in miles between the crime scene and the address fed.

One suggestion though, if Omega would make all historical crime data on their database available on request on their website as an option, the crime-data trend-analysis would assist persons making decisions on where to settle down.
Also if they were to furthe break down their definition of sex crimes, as personally I would not be much concerned about prostitution crimes as I would be about rape crimes in my neighbourhood.

The website and the crime alert service offers a great service to the community.