Innovation leads recession!
With the US economy plunging further towards the recession, the tremors are being felt all over. The global economy is muted but the feared recession has failed to imprison the brains of the innovators.
As John Donovan, chief technology officer at Dallas-based AT&T Inc., has said “Consumer technology changes so fast that any company that tries to pause is likely to be overrun by its competitors”, the pace of the technological developments is least likely to slowdown fearing recession.
To cite examples from the beginning of the 21st century, when the world slipped into recession, Apple Inc. introduced the iPod, Microsoft Corp. presented Xbox video game console, demands for the household broadband services doubled from the year 2000 and Google Inc. was transforming as an integral part of contemporary existence.
Out of the many ‘out of the box’ innovations, the ones lined up for unveiling in 2009 include, Femtocells – a Wi-Fi for cell phones, a laptop with 3G from RadioShack Corp., Mobile app stores from Microsoft that would help you use your cell phones as portable computers.
Truly said, with lack of finances or resources, the brains do not die out. It instead craves for more sophistication. Hence the innovations!
A technique to curb pirated CDs
The days of pirated CDs and DVDs are numbered, thanks to a novel optical technique developed by researchers in Spain that can differentiate pirated works from the original. Developed by researchers at the University of Grenada, the technique makes it easy to identify whether a CD has been recorded through legitimate channels, or has been copied.
The cheap, fast and effective method relies on light diffraction on a CD surface to differentiate between original record and illegal copies, states sources at the University. As optical CDs are the most visible means of distribution of digital information worldwide, their piracy amounts to huge economic losses to legitimate manufacturers. The technique developed by scientists in Spain has also been tested in DVDs. Researchers intend to develop it for the detection of pirated CDs for state-of-the-art devices like Blue-Ray or HD-DVD and is awaiting a patent.
Yahoo’s Internet radio service to be run by CBS
Yahoo Music, once the ace music destination on the Web, is handing over the bulk of its Launchcast Internet radio operations to CBS Radio. Under a deal closely resembling that between CBS Radio and Launchast rival AOL Radio, CBS Radio is stated to be taking over all advertising-sales operations, licensing and technology decisions for the Launchcast service. This would include replacing the Launchcast desktop music player with a co-branded one provided by CBS.
CBS also added that all of its Internet radio stations available through Launchcast, including webcasts of CBS’ terrestrial radio stations were simply its Internet-only feeds. On a positive note though, the CBS player will allow Firefox browser and Mac users to access Launchcast, something that wasn’t done previously. Yahoo Music head Michael Spiegelman singled out more expensive royalty payments, under the most recent Copyright Royalty Board rate structure, as key to the decision. Yahoo, according to Spiegelman will continue to program its own music channels, and will focus on developing open platforms that allow its users to embed music in community and social applications, including its Instant Messaging product.
Fallout 3 Launch Rakes in $300 Million
Worldwide sales of the popular video game Fallout 3 have earned over $300 million in just the first week since it hit the stores, according to creator Bethesda Softworks.
The company also added that around 4.7 million units have been shipped since the game made its debut on October 28 in North America. Bethesda described the popularity of the game in almost every region of the world which had helped it to achieve “record sales” and earn more than $300 million globally.
The post-apocalyptic, role playing game can be played on the Xbox 360, Play Station 3 besides being available in the PC versions. This is one of the reasons, analysts believe, why Fallout 3 has done so well compared to previous best sellers like Halo 3. Microsoft released the much-hyped first person shooter Halo 3 last year and within the first week the game went on to earn $300 million on analyst-estimated shipments of 4.2 million units. However Halo 3 could be played only on Xbox 360 whereas in case of Fallout 3, not only can the game be played on multiple platforms but the installed user bases of those platforms have increased significantly over the year.
The European release of Fallout 3 took place on October 31 and later this year Bethesda plans to launch the game in Japan on December 4.
Atom Chip Could Cut into Intel’s Traditional Processors
Intel could witness a drop in the sale of its higher-end chips if the Atom chip is used more frequently in sub-notebooks, analysts said on Tuesday after the launch of Fujitsu’s new LifeBook U820.
Atom chips are low-priced and low-power processors that are already widely used in notebooks designed for Web surfing and other Internet-based activities like e-mailing and chatting. However with the recently-launched tablet PC from Fujitsu, the LifeBook U820, atom chips are now being used in laptops with small screens, multimedia and networking features with increasing frequency.
Except for its screen size, the mini note-book U820 comes with most of the capabilities of a traditional laptop. It is especially targeted at consumers and mobile users who are looking for touch technology. According to Kevin Wrenn, senior vice-president of PC business and operations at Fujitsu, the low cost and low power features of Atom chip proved to be major advantages over other chips when it came to deciding on the right chip for the new mini-notebook. Even upcoming laptops with screens up to 12 inches would prefer to incorporate the Atom chip, said company officials.
The fact that newer models of mini-laptops are adopting the Atom chip shows that the Atom has come of age and may offer tough competition to the more expensive chips traditionally used in laptops.
Sony Issues Recall for 100,000 Laptop Batteries
Sony has issued recalls for around 100,000 laptop batteries worldwide after reports came in of several batteries getting heated with some of them even leading to ignition and property damage.
According to a report released by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, there have been nineteen complaints of batteries overheating with at least seventeen cases of flame or fire. Even though only two individuals have as yet been injured by overheated batteries to the point of flash incineration, the Commission ordered Sony to issue recalls in the interests of consumer safety.
The bulk of the recall is expected to affect Hewlett-Packard laptops sold between December 2004 and June 2006 with a variety of models falling into the ambit. Among other notebooks to fall under the recall order are a large number of Toshiba units of the Satellite and Tecra models as well as a small number of Dell notebooks of the Latitude and Inspiron models.
This is not the first time that Sony has been forced to issue a recall of its batteries. In August 2006, Dell had issued the then largest recall of laptops in computer history as instances of batteries overheating and catching fire began to surface from across the world. Even then Sony had turned out to be the manufacturer of the faulty batteries.
Thousands of Online Account Details Swiped by Trojan
Security researchers have unearthed a major internet theft racket under which a stealthy Trojan has stolen huge amounts of important financial data since 2006.
RSA FraudAction Research Lab reported n Friday that Sinowal Trojan stole a virtual treasure trove of financial data including 300,000 bank log-ins, an equal number of credit and debit card numbers as well as related personal information. The Trojan also known by the names of Torpig and Mebroot goes back almost four years and has been employed to hack into more than 2700 financial services domain across the globe. In the last six months alone, the Trojan has compromised and stolen log-in IDs and other important information from at least 100,000 online bank accounts.
The Trojan horse uses rootkit elements to infect a PC’s master boot record, which enables it to slip past malware defenses. After being downloaded, Sinowal employs an HTML injection feature to introduce new Web pages or information fields into the infected PC’s web browser. After this, when a user tries to access one of the 2700 targeted domains, the fake site comes up and asks the user to reveal log-in details or other financial information. A majority of the users affected by the stolen data are customers of financial institutions in USA, Canada, France, UK and China.
Microsoft Unveils Windows 7, Looks Beyond Vista Brand
Microsoft launched the latest version of its Windows operating system on Tuesday with claims that it will be a slimmer and more responsive version of its popular operating system.
The new version will be branded as Windows 7 because it is the seventh in the series of operating systems which have been developed by Microsoft for PCs since the 1980s. Microsoft is sure to hope that the familiar brand name will help erase the memory of the disastrous response its Windows Vista got from customers and reviewers. However the company did not specify when Windows 7 will be available for sale to the public.
Microsoft further announced that it would soon bring out a Web-based version of its Office programs. this is most likely intended to take on competitors like Google Docs and Zoho which have introduced spreadsheets, word processors and presentation programs capable of running on a Web browser.
However Microsoft officials acknowledged that the strategy might evoke concern from market analysts on the possibility of the new products eating into the profits of the lucrative Office franchise. Investors are already worried about the Financial results of Microsoft in the most recent quarter which shows that the Windows unit reported a mere rise of 2% in revenues as opposed to as 4% decline in operating income.
EBay to Ban Sale of Ivory Items
Popular online auction portal eBay has decided to ban the sale of ivory products to help save the African and Asian elephants from being killed for their tusks which is the source of the inordinately expensive material.
The ban will go into effect in December this year and will be enforced from January 2009, announced an eBay official on Tuesday. While the company will allow sale of products with small amounts of ivory like pianos, they must have been manufactured before the year 1900. However products containing large amounts of ivory will not be allowed for sale regardless of the year of their making. Among the products expected to be banned by this policy are chess sets, ivory broaches as well as other jewellery items made of ivory.
eBay decided to take the step to ban all ivory products since it had become impossible for the company to ensure that the product for sale was in compliance with the complex regulations governing the sale of ivory products, wrote Richard Brewer-Hay in the company blog, eBay Ink.
Last year eBay had imposed a ban on cross-border sales of ivory products but sales had continued unhindered. The decision to ban all ivory products from December onwards was welcomed by the Humane Society International as well as the Humane Society of the United States which had brought into eBay’s notice as early as 2002 the sale of thousands of ivory products being conducted on its site.
Yahoo Might Cut Jobs to Save Costs
Yahoo! Inc, owner of the second-most popular search engine on the Internet, is exploring several cost saving options which might include job cuts affecting as many as a 1000 employees, reported the online edition of Bloomberg, citing people familiar to the matter.
Earlier this year, Yahoo! had rejected a takeover bid from software giant Microsoft Corp and is now reportedly taking the help of consulting form Bain & Co. to review its costs. Yahoo has been suffering from reduced revenues on its online advertising businesses as advertisers cut down on promotions in a slowing economy. This has prompted the internet company to go for substantial cost cutting measures.
While Yahoo! had 14,300 employees at the end of last year, the latest round of job cuts, would see as many as 1000 employees out of a job, revealed the source to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity since the discussions are private. The job cuts are expected to take effect from January next year. This is yet another example of how the recent financial crisis and the economic slowdown have affected even the non-financial service providers. According to Collins Stewart Plc, the online advertising industry stands to lose around $6.7 billion in business due to crashing credit markets as well as lesser spending capacity of financial and auto companies.
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