Monday, March 31, 2008
Computer criminal
Most of the really effective steps that a computer user can take to avoid being a victim of computer crime make the user's computer less convenient to use. Each user must balance for themselves how much security is enough, especially when faced with daily inconvenience of high-level security measures vs. the rare occurrence of attacks. However, in my personal opinion, we must be aware that a determined and creative criminal can defeat nearly any security measure, so complete security is not possible. What are your opinions?
Learn how DNA might offer a glimpse of future health concerns
This news is about using the DNA information to find out what health issues one might face later in life
Seemingly it’s so easy to send one’s sample (DNA) to company which service predisposition to a host of ailments
Home kits are very simple. (You can see it in the video clip)
I’m astonished that there are a dozen companies in spite of infant industry.
Look… brief news (adjust time 2:37~5:57)
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/studentnews/03/27/transcript.fri/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
In my opinion, most important thing is a matter of the privacy, protecting private information from misuse.
Its need to establish ethical value in treating genome decodes.
Seemingly it’s so easy to send one’s sample (DNA) to company which service predisposition to a host of ailments
Home kits are very simple. (You can see it in the video clip)
I’m astonished that there are a dozen companies in spite of infant industry.
Look… brief news (adjust time 2:37~5:57)
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/studentnews/03/27/transcript.fri/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
In my opinion, most important thing is a matter of the privacy, protecting private information from misuse.
Its need to establish ethical value in treating genome decodes.
Google brings offline access to Docs and Apps
http://smallbusiness.itworld.com/4394/google-docs-apps-offline-080331/page_1.html
Google is rolling out a much-awaited feature for its hosted applications: the ability for people to use them even when they aren't connected to the Internet.
The first application to get this offline access will be the word processor, said Ken Norton, Google Docs product manager. "The design goal is to create a seamless experience, with or without an Internet connection," he said.
Over the next three weeks or so, Google will turn on the feature for all word processor users, giving them the ability to view and edit documents while offline. During the same time period, Google Docs' spreadsheet will gain offline ability for viewing, but not editing, documents.
Google Docs' third component, an application to make slide presentations, will remain for now without offline access. However, Google has plans to extend the offline access to it and to other hosted services in the Google Apps suite, of which Docs is part. Apps also includes Gmail, Calendar, Talk and others.
"Offline access of [hosted] apps is the next step in making the Web as a whole a lot more reliable," Norton said.
Expectation for offline access in Docs and Apps had been building since Google introduced its Gears open-source technology in May of last year. Until now, Google had only built Gears offline functionality for its Reader RSS feed manager.
By allowing Docs and Apps users to work offline, Google is addressing one of the biggest objections to Web-hosted applications. So far, offline access has required that users export their Docs files to third-party file formats, like Microsoft Office.
Gears is a browser plug-in that can store files and data locally, as well as run JavaScript applications without a server connection. It's this architecture that will allow Docs users to work on their word processing documents if their Internet connection drops or if they're somewhere without one, such as an airplane.
To access their Docs files offline, users need only install the Gears plug-in and type in the regular Google Docs URL: docs.google.com.
Work done offline will be automatically synchronized with the Google Docs servers when users connect to the Internet.
As an open-source technology, Gears can be used by developers outside of Google.
The offline access will be turned on "in batches" over the coming weeks in consumer Docs accounts and in the administrator consoles of Apps.
Gears is currently supported in Internet Explorer 6 and above and Firefox 1.5 and above for Windows XP and Vista, according to Google. Firefox 1.5 and above is also supported on Mac OS X 10.2 and above and Linux. Gears also runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 and above in Internet Explorer 4.01 and above.
Google is rolling out a much-awaited feature for its hosted applications: the ability for people to use them even when they aren't connected to the Internet.
The first application to get this offline access will be the word processor, said Ken Norton, Google Docs product manager. "The design goal is to create a seamless experience, with or without an Internet connection," he said.
Over the next three weeks or so, Google will turn on the feature for all word processor users, giving them the ability to view and edit documents while offline. During the same time period, Google Docs' spreadsheet will gain offline ability for viewing, but not editing, documents.
Google Docs' third component, an application to make slide presentations, will remain for now without offline access. However, Google has plans to extend the offline access to it and to other hosted services in the Google Apps suite, of which Docs is part. Apps also includes Gmail, Calendar, Talk and others.
"Offline access of [hosted] apps is the next step in making the Web as a whole a lot more reliable," Norton said.
Expectation for offline access in Docs and Apps had been building since Google introduced its Gears open-source technology in May of last year. Until now, Google had only built Gears offline functionality for its Reader RSS feed manager.
By allowing Docs and Apps users to work offline, Google is addressing one of the biggest objections to Web-hosted applications. So far, offline access has required that users export their Docs files to third-party file formats, like Microsoft Office.
Gears is a browser plug-in that can store files and data locally, as well as run JavaScript applications without a server connection. It's this architecture that will allow Docs users to work on their word processing documents if their Internet connection drops or if they're somewhere without one, such as an airplane.
To access their Docs files offline, users need only install the Gears plug-in and type in the regular Google Docs URL: docs.google.com.
Work done offline will be automatically synchronized with the Google Docs servers when users connect to the Internet.
As an open-source technology, Gears can be used by developers outside of Google.
The offline access will be turned on "in batches" over the coming weeks in consumer Docs accounts and in the administrator consoles of Apps.
Gears is currently supported in Internet Explorer 6 and above and Firefox 1.5 and above for Windows XP and Vista, according to Google. Firefox 1.5 and above is also supported on Mac OS X 10.2 and above and Linux. Gears also runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 and above in Internet Explorer 4.01 and above.
Smartphones will soon turn computing on its head
March 31, 2008 12:52 PM PDT
Smartphones will soon turn computing on its head
http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9906697-37.html?tag=nefd.lede
There's almost as many people buying smartphones as there are people buying laptops, and that trend is about to turn the computing industry on its head.
"We do see that gravitational pull of the single-use device being played out in the market," said Nigel Clifford, CEO of Symbian, during the opening presentations of Smartphone Summit here at CTIA 2008. "This is not just about multiple devices, it's about knocking aside some other forms of communication." ..................
http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9906697-37.html?tag=nefd.lede
Smartphones will soon turn computing on its head
http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9906697-37.html?tag=nefd.lede
There's almost as many people buying smartphones as there are people buying laptops, and that trend is about to turn the computing industry on its head.
"We do see that gravitational pull of the single-use device being played out in the market," said Nigel Clifford, CEO of Symbian, during the opening presentations of Smartphone Summit here at CTIA 2008. "This is not just about multiple devices, it's about knocking aside some other forms of communication." ..................
http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9906697-37.html?tag=nefd.lede
Power Glove
An another diverting device created by Nintendo 20 years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYBzKFm-rd0
I believe Nintendo was the real pioneer of this industry.
These gadgets including 'power pad' which I previously posted an article about it is never behind the times compare to the state-of-the-art Wii controllers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYBzKFm-rd0
I believe Nintendo was the real pioneer of this industry.
These gadgets including 'power pad' which I previously posted an article about it is never behind the times compare to the state-of-the-art Wii controllers.
By Chris Kanaracus, IDG News Service
Since it has re-branded many of its security products and services as Secure Advantage, HP has seen strong growth in its security business
IT industry giant HP is experiencing marked growth of its security business less than one year after re-launching a number of its products and services under its Secure Advantage brand, company executives claim.
Sales of the integrated offerings brought together under the Secure Advantage umbrella, which include integrated network and data security tools and compliance management applications, are ramping up quickly, and HP has doubled the size of its security services business among enterprise customers in the last six months, said leaders of the company initiative.
Marketing its collection of security assets under a common brand and theme of top-down IT risk management is paying dividends for the industry giant and allowing to compete more aggressively for deals across the market with vendors like Symantec and McAfee and services and consulting giants like IBM, according to Chris Whitener, chief strategist of Secure Advantage at HP.
"We're seeing demand both from companies that have already bought-into risk management as an operational requirement, and those who are only beginning to approach security in that manner and who are trying to cross the divide," Whitener said. "Many companies are still in that latter camp and don't know how to move from risk management as a concept into a process, or even how to calculate their own risks."
The reality that many enterprise IT shops are still approaching different areas of security and regulatory compliance on an individual basis -- and that the strategy isn't working -- is what has helped HP appreciate measurable growth across the Secure Advantage business, the executive said.
Concerns over rapidly emerging technologies like virtualization and services-oriented architecture, along with increasing requirements around data security and compliance, are also pushing most large customers to grapple with risk management, benefiting providers like HP who can offer the broadest array of related products and services, he said.
Looking out into 2008, HP is betting on several key areas, including encryption key management, virtualization security, and compliance automation services to continue to drive new expansion of its business.
With both encryption and virtualization, Whitener said, HP enjoys an advantage over the many point product vendors it competes against, based on this ability to support the technologies from the hardware level all the way through to operational support and management, the executive contends.
"For something like encryption, the problem isn't finding a way to implement the technology, because so many products have it already built-in, but companies are struggling to stitch all these systems together, and we can offer a single point of integration and management," Whitener said. "It's almost the same thing with virtualization, where a lot of the complexity can be eliminated when you look at what we can do all the way up from the hardware level."
The dramatic growth in security services since the launch of the Secure Advantage brand in June 2007 is reflective of similar trends as enterprises seek a smaller set of vendors and integrated technologies that can help simplify their operational and management headaches, he said.
Despite the fact that industry watchers have been predicting for several years that customers would seek to embrace risk management while streamlining their security operations, the trend is finally taking root among enterprise customers as the range of external forces, from malware attacks to regulatory measures, continues to widen, said Gary Lefkowitz, director of marketing and operations for Secure Advantage at HP.
"We're seeing verticals, including the retail and energy sectors, begin to emulate what has gone on over the last several years in the financial services space, driven largely by compliance but also by the fact that these large businesses are simply drowning in all the projects and technologies they need to employ," Lefkowitz said. "It's an overused term, but customers really are looking for solutions in this area nowadays, and that's why we're seeing the pick-up of these integrated packages of products and services."
Industry watchers said that HP is likely making inroads with its risk management strategy but also said that the company still has some work to do in terms of adding more pieces to its overall portfolio.
Companies like HP and IBM must offer a high-level of security skill to win many of the larger IT management and outsourcing deals that they bid on, and they will continue to build-out their holdings to do so, said Andrew Jaquith, analyst with Yankee Group.
"The general trend is that if you are a large systems integrator or diversified technology company, and HP and IBM are likely the two best examples, you have to have a security story. It's not appropriate anymore to bolt it on after the fact, and if you're selling a large package of products, customers expect that these services are part of that," Jaquith said. "I don't think that HP has done enough yet to earn a strong reputation as a risk management company, and I'm not sure that's what really they want to be, but that kind of a reputation has to be earned, not just stated, and I'd say the same for IBM."
Jaquith said that HP and IBM have both added important pieces necessary to appeal to customers around security and risk management, such as their rival acquisitions in the code vulnerability scanning space, but the analyst believes that the IT bellwethers need more time to polish their offerings.
"Both have important products as part of their portfolios that they can lay a claim to, but these are not always the companies that people first think about with security," he said. "Investments such as those they've made in code testing could help them stake a bigger claim to risk management, but they must also continue to press forward, and none of this will happen overnight." Matt Hines is a senior writer at InfoWorld
By Matt HinesMarch 28, 2008
IT industry giant HP is experiencing marked growth of its security business less than one year after re-launching a number of its products and services under its Secure Advantage brand, company executives claim.
Sales of the integrated offerings brought together under the Secure Advantage umbrella, which include integrated network and data security tools and compliance management applications, are ramping up quickly, and HP has doubled the size of its security services business among enterprise customers in the last six months, said leaders of the company initiative.
Marketing its collection of security assets under a common brand and theme of top-down IT risk management is paying dividends for the industry giant and allowing to compete more aggressively for deals across the market with vendors like Symantec and McAfee and services and consulting giants like IBM, according to Chris Whitener, chief strategist of Secure Advantage at HP.
"We're seeing demand both from companies that have already bought-into risk management as an operational requirement, and those who are only beginning to approach security in that manner and who are trying to cross the divide," Whitener said. "Many companies are still in that latter camp and don't know how to move from risk management as a concept into a process, or even how to calculate their own risks."
The reality that many enterprise IT shops are still approaching different areas of security and regulatory compliance on an individual basis -- and that the strategy isn't working -- is what has helped HP appreciate measurable growth across the Secure Advantage business, the executive said.
Concerns over rapidly emerging technologies like virtualization and services-oriented architecture, along with increasing requirements around data security and compliance, are also pushing most large customers to grapple with risk management, benefiting providers like HP who can offer the broadest array of related products and services, he said.
Looking out into 2008, HP is betting on several key areas, including encryption key management, virtualization security, and compliance automation services to continue to drive new expansion of its business.
With both encryption and virtualization, Whitener said, HP enjoys an advantage over the many point product vendors it competes against, based on this ability to support the technologies from the hardware level all the way through to operational support and management, the executive contends.
"For something like encryption, the problem isn't finding a way to implement the technology, because so many products have it already built-in, but companies are struggling to stitch all these systems together, and we can offer a single point of integration and management," Whitener said. "It's almost the same thing with virtualization, where a lot of the complexity can be eliminated when you look at what we can do all the way up from the hardware level."
The dramatic growth in security services since the launch of the Secure Advantage brand in June 2007 is reflective of similar trends as enterprises seek a smaller set of vendors and integrated technologies that can help simplify their operational and management headaches, he said.
Despite the fact that industry watchers have been predicting for several years that customers would seek to embrace risk management while streamlining their security operations, the trend is finally taking root among enterprise customers as the range of external forces, from malware attacks to regulatory measures, continues to widen, said Gary Lefkowitz, director of marketing and operations for Secure Advantage at HP.
"We're seeing verticals, including the retail and energy sectors, begin to emulate what has gone on over the last several years in the financial services space, driven largely by compliance but also by the fact that these large businesses are simply drowning in all the projects and technologies they need to employ," Lefkowitz said. "It's an overused term, but customers really are looking for solutions in this area nowadays, and that's why we're seeing the pick-up of these integrated packages of products and services."
Industry watchers said that HP is likely making inroads with its risk management strategy but also said that the company still has some work to do in terms of adding more pieces to its overall portfolio.
Companies like HP and IBM must offer a high-level of security skill to win many of the larger IT management and outsourcing deals that they bid on, and they will continue to build-out their holdings to do so, said Andrew Jaquith, analyst with Yankee Group.
"The general trend is that if you are a large systems integrator or diversified technology company, and HP and IBM are likely the two best examples, you have to have a security story. It's not appropriate anymore to bolt it on after the fact, and if you're selling a large package of products, customers expect that these services are part of that," Jaquith said. "I don't think that HP has done enough yet to earn a strong reputation as a risk management company, and I'm not sure that's what really they want to be, but that kind of a reputation has to be earned, not just stated, and I'd say the same for IBM."
Jaquith said that HP and IBM have both added important pieces necessary to appeal to customers around security and risk management, such as their rival acquisitions in the code vulnerability scanning space, but the analyst believes that the IT bellwethers need more time to polish their offerings.
"Both have important products as part of their portfolios that they can lay a claim to, but these are not always the companies that people first think about with security," he said. "Investments such as those they've made in code testing could help them stake a bigger claim to risk management, but they must also continue to press forward, and none of this will happen overnight." Matt Hines is a senior writer at InfoWorld
By Matt HinesMarch 28, 2008
Could worry over Oracle earnings mean deals for customers?
Oracle recently fell short of earnings expectations and its stock price has dropped -- factors that could help potential clients at the bargaining table
head of a consulting firm that helps Oracle customers cut licensing deals with the enterprise software giant said Friday that fallout around Oracle's recent earnings announcement could help clients out at the bargaining table
"If Oracle is posting fantastic numbers and growth, they tend to play hardball," said Ed Ramirez, president of Software Licensing Consultants, a San Ramon, California, firm. "If earnings are weak, perception is weak, that's good for end-users and customers."
Oracle said Wednesday that its third-quarter revenues were up 21 percent to $5.3 billion compared to the same quarter last year. On the surface, the numbers looked strong, especially in light of the widespread malaise in the U.S. economy, but Oracle still fell slightly short of analysts' estimates, and its stock dropped in subsequent days this week .
But Eliot Arlo Colon, president and chief operating officer of Miro Consulting, an Oracle license consulting firm in Fords, New Jersey, didn't go quite as far as Ramirez. "It provides notice to clients that there's a weakness with Oracle," he said. "It gets them excited that maybe there's a possibility for a bigger discount. I don't know if that will play to getting huge concessions from them. It's still a case-by-case basis."
For its part, Oracle downplayed the results and said investors could expect a stronger fourth quarter. During a conference call Wednesday, the company president, Charles Phillips, said "a lot of people have annual buying cycles around our Q4. Customers think they're going to get a better deal if they wait until Q4."
But will they? The answer isn't clear-cut, according to Ramirez and Colon.
For example, while there might be a rush of discounting at the end of the fiscal year, it's difficult to predict how much, Ramirez said: "Everything is triggered by sales people not hitting their quota. In turn, their management doesn't hit their number. That is what triggers it -- it's not necessarily that Oracle as a corporation says, 'We need to do this.' It's a trickle-up effect."
Ramirez, who worked as an area sales manager at Oracle, added that the company can make concessions to customers beyond discounts, such as on various terms and conditions.
Colon offered a different caution, saying that there's far more competition for discounts during such rush periods.
"It's becoming more public that Oracle only has so much bandwidth to process larger deals at the end of the year. The message coming from Oracle field reps now is, 'Don't wait until the end of May, because I won't be able to get you the aggressive discounts.'"
"Once one big deal closes, a sales team may have hit their number and [other customers] get kicked to the second tier," he added. It might be wiser, he said, to "be the first in line, have a good story, and play to the weakness of Oracle, which is that they have so many people waiting until the end of the year."
Nailing down a huge influx of complicated licensing deals can be overwhelming, even for a company the size of Oracle, Colon said. "For the first time this year, I was seeing six-figure deals missing the quarter because there wasn't enough time. That never happened in the past."
However, Oracle's sales representatives on the whole have been hard bargainers recently, Ramirez said.
"With all the acquisitions [Oracle has made] a lot of times they realize, 'Where is the customer going to go? What are their options? Before, there was a lot more competition. That's the attitude. 'Where are you going to go? We've got you.'"
Colon agreed that Oracle's buying spree has changed the landscape, but from a different perspective. His firm is now seeing clients order nothing for several months, but then buying up a slew of products at once.
"I've never seen that take off as much as it has in the last six months," Colon said. "The positioning from Oracle from all these acquisitions is, 'Now is the time to bundle and get all these things together.'"
On the flip side, customers are being emboldened, he said. "I'm seeing people asking for higher discounts and an overall lower price because they're dealing with one vendor."
writeNLBot();
By Chris Kanaracus, IDG News ServiceMarch 28, 2008
head of a consulting firm that helps Oracle customers cut licensing deals with the enterprise software giant said Friday that fallout around Oracle's recent earnings announcement could help clients out at the bargaining table
"If Oracle is posting fantastic numbers and growth, they tend to play hardball," said Ed Ramirez, president of Software Licensing Consultants, a San Ramon, California, firm. "If earnings are weak, perception is weak, that's good for end-users and customers."
Oracle said Wednesday that its third-quarter revenues were up 21 percent to $5.3 billion compared to the same quarter last year. On the surface, the numbers looked strong, especially in light of the widespread malaise in the U.S. economy, but Oracle still fell slightly short of analysts' estimates, and its stock dropped in subsequent days this week .
But Eliot Arlo Colon, president and chief operating officer of Miro Consulting, an Oracle license consulting firm in Fords, New Jersey, didn't go quite as far as Ramirez. "It provides notice to clients that there's a weakness with Oracle," he said. "It gets them excited that maybe there's a possibility for a bigger discount. I don't know if that will play to getting huge concessions from them. It's still a case-by-case basis."
For its part, Oracle downplayed the results and said investors could expect a stronger fourth quarter. During a conference call Wednesday, the company president, Charles Phillips, said "a lot of people have annual buying cycles around our Q4. Customers think they're going to get a better deal if they wait until Q4."
But will they? The answer isn't clear-cut, according to Ramirez and Colon.
For example, while there might be a rush of discounting at the end of the fiscal year, it's difficult to predict how much, Ramirez said: "Everything is triggered by sales people not hitting their quota. In turn, their management doesn't hit their number. That is what triggers it -- it's not necessarily that Oracle as a corporation says, 'We need to do this.' It's a trickle-up effect."
Ramirez, who worked as an area sales manager at Oracle, added that the company can make concessions to customers beyond discounts, such as on various terms and conditions.
Colon offered a different caution, saying that there's far more competition for discounts during such rush periods.
"It's becoming more public that Oracle only has so much bandwidth to process larger deals at the end of the year. The message coming from Oracle field reps now is, 'Don't wait until the end of May, because I won't be able to get you the aggressive discounts.'"
"Once one big deal closes, a sales team may have hit their number and [other customers] get kicked to the second tier," he added. It might be wiser, he said, to "be the first in line, have a good story, and play to the weakness of Oracle, which is that they have so many people waiting until the end of the year."
Nailing down a huge influx of complicated licensing deals can be overwhelming, even for a company the size of Oracle, Colon said. "For the first time this year, I was seeing six-figure deals missing the quarter because there wasn't enough time. That never happened in the past."
However, Oracle's sales representatives on the whole have been hard bargainers recently, Ramirez said.
"With all the acquisitions [Oracle has made] a lot of times they realize, 'Where is the customer going to go? What are their options? Before, there was a lot more competition. That's the attitude. 'Where are you going to go? We've got you.'"
Colon agreed that Oracle's buying spree has changed the landscape, but from a different perspective. His firm is now seeing clients order nothing for several months, but then buying up a slew of products at once.
"I've never seen that take off as much as it has in the last six months," Colon said. "The positioning from Oracle from all these acquisitions is, 'Now is the time to bundle and get all these things together.'"
On the flip side, customers are being emboldened, he said. "I'm seeing people asking for higher discounts and an overall lower price because they're dealing with one vendor."
writeNLBot();
By Chris Kanaracus, IDG News ServiceMarch 28, 2008
AT&T launching mobile TV service, but who will watch?
http://techland.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/03/28/att-launching-mobile-tv-service-but-who-will-watch/
AT&T is going to launch mobile TV service on May. When introducing new product or service, the company should consider many aspects like people’s life style. The Analyst predicted that it is not going to work because many Americans do not use public transportation like subways where they could watch mobile TV in commuting. I wonder if the marketer of AT&T benchmarked Korea case which is not successful. Somehow I feel we Korea are advanced country in terms of new technology such as mobile TV.
AT&T is going to launch mobile TV service on May. When introducing new product or service, the company should consider many aspects like people’s life style. The Analyst predicted that it is not going to work because many Americans do not use public transportation like subways where they could watch mobile TV in commuting. I wonder if the marketer of AT&T benchmarked Korea case which is not successful. Somehow I feel we Korea are advanced country in terms of new technology such as mobile TV.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
New Apple product will give your workouts that magic touch
This article is related to our term project subject~
AppleInsider, Google's medical records program ,,,,
http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9904956-36.html
Are you disappointed that your iPhone still hasn't made you sexier in the eyes of potential mates? Hey, don't give up yet. AppleInsider has unearthed a series of patent filings that seem to indicate the company is working on a new "digital lifestyle" product to help track and manage a fitness routine.
In a move that could rival Google's upcoming health initiatives, the Apple screenshots show that health information could also be shared with a user's authorized physicians.
AppleInsider, Google's medical records program ,,,,
http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9904956-36.html
Are you disappointed that your iPhone still hasn't made you sexier in the eyes of potential mates? Hey, don't give up yet. AppleInsider has unearthed a series of patent filings that seem to indicate the company is working on a new "digital lifestyle" product to help track and manage a fitness routine.
In a move that could rival Google's upcoming health initiatives, the Apple screenshots show that health information could also be shared with a user's authorized physicians.
Study sees Microsoft brand in sharp decline
http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2421/microsoft-brand-in-decline-080328/
Microsoft's brand power has been in sharp decline over the past four years, an indication the company is losing credibility and mindshare with U.S. business users, according to a recent study by market research firm CoreBrand.According to the CoreBrand Power 100 2007 study, which polled about 12,000 U.S. business decision-makers, Microsoft dropped from number 12 in the ranking of the most powerful U.S. company brands in 2004 to number 59 last year. In 1996, the company ranked number 1 in brand power among 1,200 top companies in about 50 industries, said James Gregory, CEO of CoreBrand.CoreBrand measures brand power using four criteria. It first rates the familiarity of a company's brand. Once a company has a certain level of familiarity, they are ranked according to three "attributes of favorability": overall reputation, perception of management and investment potential, Gregory said. While Microsoft's brand is still eminently recognizable, the company is declining in all three favorable attributes, he said.Gregory said that a decline in and of itself is not indicative that a company is losing its mindshare or reputation among customers. However, what's significant in Microsoft's case is that the decline has been consistent over a number of years, and has plunged dramatically in a brief time."When you see something decline with increasing velocity, it's a concern," he said.Among its peers in the category of Computers, Peripherals and Computer Software, Microsoft is second to IBM in brand power, with Toshiba a close third, Gregory said. If Microsoft's downward trend continues, Toshiba could pass it in brand power next year, he said.Gregory could only speculate as to why Microsoft's reputation has been declining, since his firm does not ask people that specific question. He said the "underwhelming" response to Windows Vista might be one reason, and Apple's clever "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" advertising campaign -- which paints Windows in an unfavorable light -- may be another.IBM suffered a "much faster and more severe" decline in brand power in the early 1990s, Gregory said, and it took them 10 years to rebuild the brand's reputation. To stage a similar turnaround, Microsoft must have a clearer vision of the direction in which the company is headed and put forth leaders that people can trust to articulate that vision, he said.Microsoft, which has been diversifying its business beyond packaged software in the past several years, has struggled to articulate how the many facets of its business -- software, entertainment and online among them -- show a cohesive business plan. The company has been trying to clarify at least one of those strategies -- its online advertising business -- with new services and a bid to purchase Yahoo. However, Gregory suggested it may take more than that to raise the perception of its brand.
Microsoft's brand power has been in sharp decline over the past four years, an indication the company is losing credibility and mindshare with U.S. business users, according to a recent study by market research firm CoreBrand.According to the CoreBrand Power 100 2007 study, which polled about 12,000 U.S. business decision-makers, Microsoft dropped from number 12 in the ranking of the most powerful U.S. company brands in 2004 to number 59 last year. In 1996, the company ranked number 1 in brand power among 1,200 top companies in about 50 industries, said James Gregory, CEO of CoreBrand.CoreBrand measures brand power using four criteria. It first rates the familiarity of a company's brand. Once a company has a certain level of familiarity, they are ranked according to three "attributes of favorability": overall reputation, perception of management and investment potential, Gregory said. While Microsoft's brand is still eminently recognizable, the company is declining in all three favorable attributes, he said.Gregory said that a decline in and of itself is not indicative that a company is losing its mindshare or reputation among customers. However, what's significant in Microsoft's case is that the decline has been consistent over a number of years, and has plunged dramatically in a brief time."When you see something decline with increasing velocity, it's a concern," he said.Among its peers in the category of Computers, Peripherals and Computer Software, Microsoft is second to IBM in brand power, with Toshiba a close third, Gregory said. If Microsoft's downward trend continues, Toshiba could pass it in brand power next year, he said.Gregory could only speculate as to why Microsoft's reputation has been declining, since his firm does not ask people that specific question. He said the "underwhelming" response to Windows Vista might be one reason, and Apple's clever "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" advertising campaign -- which paints Windows in an unfavorable light -- may be another.IBM suffered a "much faster and more severe" decline in brand power in the early 1990s, Gregory said, and it took them 10 years to rebuild the brand's reputation. To stage a similar turnaround, Microsoft must have a clearer vision of the direction in which the company is headed and put forth leaders that people can trust to articulate that vision, he said.Microsoft, which has been diversifying its business beyond packaged software in the past several years, has struggled to articulate how the many facets of its business -- software, entertainment and online among them -- show a cohesive business plan. The company has been trying to clarify at least one of those strategies -- its online advertising business -- with new services and a bid to purchase Yahoo. However, Gregory suggested it may take more than that to raise the perception of its brand.
Downsizing: don’t forget the IT
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6a1c07c-f1e0-11dc-9b45-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=4dce8136-4a24-11da-b8b1-0000779e2340.html?nclick_check=1
Sukgu's Comment - As external and internal envriroments surrounding corporatations are drastically changing, in many occasions, companies are forced to execute downsizing in a certain underperforming part or to the overall organization. However, most companies who are performing downsizing ingnore the proper process for IT equipments and data security. Improper process of disposal of IT equipments can cause security issue of data. According to the articel, it is recommended not to donate and sell companies' old equipments to charities or employees. This is because of tax and data security issue. Anyhow, It is believed that we need to focus more on data security and proper disposal process as well as proper prcess of using IT equipments and data.
Sukgu's Comment - As external and internal envriroments surrounding corporatations are drastically changing, in many occasions, companies are forced to execute downsizing in a certain underperforming part or to the overall organization. However, most companies who are performing downsizing ingnore the proper process for IT equipments and data security. Improper process of disposal of IT equipments can cause security issue of data. According to the articel, it is recommended not to donate and sell companies' old equipments to charities or employees. This is because of tax and data security issue. Anyhow, It is believed that we need to focus more on data security and proper disposal process as well as proper prcess of using IT equipments and data.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Data trail for video at YouTube
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/27/business/youtube.php
An interesting article about YouTube's newly added feature, YouTube Insight.
Thanks to the new program, video creators will be able to see when and where viewers are watching their videos. Besides basic analytical information of videos such as the number of views and the viewers' ratings of the video that YouTube has provided so far, YouTube Insight will add more appeal not only for casual video creators. For example, the article introduces that "a movie studio might run several versions of a trailer to see what is catching on where, and if a humorous spot is catching fire in Texas, might start running that trailer as a TV ad in the state.''
An interesting article about YouTube's newly added feature, YouTube Insight.
Thanks to the new program, video creators will be able to see when and where viewers are watching their videos. Besides basic analytical information of videos such as the number of views and the viewers' ratings of the video that YouTube has provided so far, YouTube Insight will add more appeal not only for casual video creators. For example, the article introduces that "a movie studio might run several versions of a trailer to see what is catching on where, and if a humorous spot is catching fire in Texas, might start running that trailer as a TV ad in the state.''
Nintendo Power Pad
Not a cutting edge IT story but below Taehee's post reminds me of 'Nintendo Power Pad' which was the kind of special game controller of the 8-bit video game console 'NES'.
The marvel is that this device came into the market 20 years ago !!!
Please click the below link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahto3-ATv4Q
This game was very good when my friends visited my home and I needed to entertain them.
I have had this controller and some games, unfortunately I cannot locate it in my house any more. :(
Although I am playing PC games and PS2 video games now, I still long for the good old days :)
The marvel is that this device came into the market 20 years ago !!!
Please click the below link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahto3-ATv4Q
This game was very good when my friends visited my home and I needed to entertain them.
I have had this controller and some games, unfortunately I cannot locate it in my house any more. :(
Although I am playing PC games and PS2 video games now, I still long for the good old days :)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Waste Management sues SAP over 'complete failure'
http://www.news.com/Waste-Management-sues-SAP-over-complete-failure/2100-1014_3-6235776.html?tag=cd.lede
Waste Management sues SAP over 'complete failure'
By Reuters
Published: March 27, 2008 7:30 AM PDT
Waste Management says it spent more than $100 million on a computer system that was supposed to help it save money, but instead turned out to be a "complete failure."
Waste Management spokeswoman Lynn Brown said Wednesday that her company is suing SAP, the German-based company that sold it the system, seeking all its expenses plus punitive damages.
The No. 1 U.S. trash hauler, which reported $309 million in fourth-quarter net income, has yet to determine whether it will take a charge for its investment in the failed system.
http://www.news.com/Waste-Management-sues-SAP-over-complete-failure/2100-1014_3-6235776.html?tag=cd.lede
Waste Management sues SAP over 'complete failure'
By Reuters
Published: March 27, 2008 7:30 AM PDT
Waste Management says it spent more than $100 million on a computer system that was supposed to help it save money, but instead turned out to be a "complete failure."
Waste Management spokeswoman Lynn Brown said Wednesday that her company is suing SAP, the German-based company that sold it the system, seeking all its expenses plus punitive damages.
The No. 1 U.S. trash hauler, which reported $309 million in fourth-quarter net income, has yet to determine whether it will take a charge for its investment in the failed system.
http://www.news.com/Waste-Management-sues-SAP-over-complete-failure/2100-1014_3-6235776.html?tag=cd.lede
Flexible Touch Screen Developed
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2008/03/133_20079.html
By Cho Jin-seo Staff ReporterGovernmental researchers have developed a flexible touch-sensor system that can be used in mobile gadgets. The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) said Tuesday that it is selling the sensor technologies to Misung Polytech, a cellphone parts company in Bucheon, for 32.5 billion won. It is the second largest intellectual property sale from a governmental research institute in Korea, since Electronic and Telecommunications Research Institute's (ETRI) sale of its CDMA mobile phone technology to U.S. tech company Qualcomm. ETRI has received over 300 billion won in royalties from Qualcomm since 1992. KRISS and Misung Polytech signed the contract on Tuesday at the firm's office in Bucheon, Kyeonggi Province. KRISS receives 4 billion as a signing fee, and the rest will be paid over the next 20 years. In addition, it will take 3 percent of revenue made from the sale of the touch sensors. The contract includes exclusive rights to use 12 patents. ``The micro mouse and touch-screen can be applied to any input systems for mobile devices, such as phones, mini PCs, car navigation systems, household appliances and cars,'' said Kim Jong-ho, the leader of the project. ``They use a flexible tactile sensor system composed of multiple sensors, so they can process three-dimensional inputs. They can be made into any size and any depth.''Most personal computers use the mouse as a pointing device, which uses either mechanical or optical sensors. Touch-screens used in laptops and teller machines are also used as a two-dimensional pointing system. But the KRISS system can interpret signals in three dimensions, because it can measure how hard the force is being applied to a sensor, the institute said. The new technology is also adequate for touch screens for mobile phones because the grid of tiny sensors is printed on a transparent plastic film and does not obscure the vision. As the film is flexible, it can be applied to round objects. Various types of touch-sensitive screens were developed in the 1960s and 1970s. Apple last year introduced the technology to its iPhone, and many other phone makers have followed the trend since. Misung Polytech is a mid-sized maker of mobile phone keypads and touch screens. The company had 62.8 billion in sales in 2006. The company's stock price fell by a daily limit of 15 percent on Tuesday, after rising by almost 70 percent over the past month. indizio@koreatimes.co.kr
By Cho Jin-seo Staff ReporterGovernmental researchers have developed a flexible touch-sensor system that can be used in mobile gadgets. The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) said Tuesday that it is selling the sensor technologies to Misung Polytech, a cellphone parts company in Bucheon, for 32.5 billion won. It is the second largest intellectual property sale from a governmental research institute in Korea, since Electronic and Telecommunications Research Institute's (ETRI) sale of its CDMA mobile phone technology to U.S. tech company Qualcomm. ETRI has received over 300 billion won in royalties from Qualcomm since 1992. KRISS and Misung Polytech signed the contract on Tuesday at the firm's office in Bucheon, Kyeonggi Province. KRISS receives 4 billion as a signing fee, and the rest will be paid over the next 20 years. In addition, it will take 3 percent of revenue made from the sale of the touch sensors. The contract includes exclusive rights to use 12 patents. ``The micro mouse and touch-screen can be applied to any input systems for mobile devices, such as phones, mini PCs, car navigation systems, household appliances and cars,'' said Kim Jong-ho, the leader of the project. ``They use a flexible tactile sensor system composed of multiple sensors, so they can process three-dimensional inputs. They can be made into any size and any depth.''Most personal computers use the mouse as a pointing device, which uses either mechanical or optical sensors. Touch-screens used in laptops and teller machines are also used as a two-dimensional pointing system. But the KRISS system can interpret signals in three dimensions, because it can measure how hard the force is being applied to a sensor, the institute said. The new technology is also adequate for touch screens for mobile phones because the grid of tiny sensors is printed on a transparent plastic film and does not obscure the vision. As the film is flexible, it can be applied to round objects. Various types of touch-sensitive screens were developed in the 1960s and 1970s. Apple last year introduced the technology to its iPhone, and many other phone makers have followed the trend since. Misung Polytech is a mid-sized maker of mobile phone keypads and touch screens. The company had 62.8 billion in sales in 2006. The company's stock price fell by a daily limit of 15 percent on Tuesday, after rising by almost 70 percent over the past month. indizio@koreatimes.co.kr
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Amazon.com adds web services to its offerings
Amazon's unique business on online book and media sales expands into web data services.
CNN.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Critics thought it was over the top when Amazon.com Inc. expanded from books into music in 1998. When the Web retailer let competitors start selling things alongside its own inventory in 2000, they said Amazon had gone nuts.
In both cases, Amazon proved them wrong. Media sales now total in the billions each quarter, and third-party merchandise, more profitable for Amazon than its own wares, makes up nearly a third of everything sold through the site.
Now, Amazon is making an even greater stretch -- selling storage, computing power and other behind-the-scenes data center services.
The venture, which Amazon expects will grow into a significant business segment, could help keep the company strong if retailers get hit by an economic downturn.
More broadly, Amazon Web Services, as the business is called, could improve chances for a new generation of Web startups by slashing how much they spend up front on costly infrastructure.
MileMeter Inc., a Dallas-based startup that plans to sell auto insurance by the mile, started out running its own server in a data center. Recently, it moved most of its applications onto virtual computers in Amazon Web Services' Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).
EC2 lets its customers quickly start up a virtual computer in the "cloud" -- industry slang for data centers around the world -- then use it as a Web server or for crunching data and shut it down just as fast.
"I don't need to have a systems administrator or a network administrator," said Chief Executive Chris Gay. "I don't have to worry about hardware becoming irrelevant."
Gay said he also uses Amazon's online payments service and is evaluating its data storage and simple database services. During the first dot-com boom, he said, "It was a badge of strength to have as much as possible in house.
"Now, unless that is your core business ... it's a liability."
Adam Selipsky, vice president of product management and developer relations for Amazon Web Services, said Amazon wants entrepreneurs to focus on their ideas, not on hardware leases and crashing servers.
"We want to let developers innovate and make money," he said.
Amazon is certainly not the only player. James Staten, an analyst at Forrester Research, said Akamai Technologies Inc., Enki and Terremark each offer at least a portion of the Web services Amazon is selling. IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. offer pricier versions aimed at big businesses, while Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are thought to be working on services similar to Amazon's.
.........
============================================
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/biztech/02/01/amazon.web.services.ap/index.html
CNN.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Critics thought it was over the top when Amazon.com Inc. expanded from books into music in 1998. When the Web retailer let competitors start selling things alongside its own inventory in 2000, they said Amazon had gone nuts.
In both cases, Amazon proved them wrong. Media sales now total in the billions each quarter, and third-party merchandise, more profitable for Amazon than its own wares, makes up nearly a third of everything sold through the site.
Now, Amazon is making an even greater stretch -- selling storage, computing power and other behind-the-scenes data center services.
The venture, which Amazon expects will grow into a significant business segment, could help keep the company strong if retailers get hit by an economic downturn.
More broadly, Amazon Web Services, as the business is called, could improve chances for a new generation of Web startups by slashing how much they spend up front on costly infrastructure.
MileMeter Inc., a Dallas-based startup that plans to sell auto insurance by the mile, started out running its own server in a data center. Recently, it moved most of its applications onto virtual computers in Amazon Web Services' Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).
EC2 lets its customers quickly start up a virtual computer in the "cloud" -- industry slang for data centers around the world -- then use it as a Web server or for crunching data and shut it down just as fast.
"I don't need to have a systems administrator or a network administrator," said Chief Executive Chris Gay. "I don't have to worry about hardware becoming irrelevant."
Gay said he also uses Amazon's online payments service and is evaluating its data storage and simple database services. During the first dot-com boom, he said, "It was a badge of strength to have as much as possible in house.
"Now, unless that is your core business ... it's a liability."
Adam Selipsky, vice president of product management and developer relations for Amazon Web Services, said Amazon wants entrepreneurs to focus on their ideas, not on hardware leases and crashing servers.
"We want to let developers innovate and make money," he said.
Amazon is certainly not the only player. James Staten, an analyst at Forrester Research, said Akamai Technologies Inc., Enki and Terremark each offer at least a portion of the Web services Amazon is selling. IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. offer pricier versions aimed at big businesses, while Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are thought to be working on services similar to Amazon's.
.........
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http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/biztech/02/01/amazon.web.services.ap/index.html
LG CNS Sets Up IPTV for Hospital Beds
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/123_21260.html
It seems to be product that create new value connecting industry with IT.
'U-bed IPTV service' that LG CNS is preceded service model to base foreign countries medical treatment market attack as well as domestic medical treatment market expect .
However, have not better go so far as possible to the hospital even if hospital service improves individually. ^^
It seems to be product that create new value connecting industry with IT.
'U-bed IPTV service' that LG CNS is preceded service model to base foreign countries medical treatment market attack as well as domestic medical treatment market expect .
However, have not better go so far as possible to the hospital even if hospital service improves individually. ^^
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Where can we buy Nintendo Wii Fit?
Wii Fit? When I heard it from my wife at first...I didn't know what it was.
She wished to purchase it for healthy body.
So, I searched it and found it was Nintendo Wii's new H/W product.
But, In Korea, It is not on sale officially.
Just can buy it through overseas on-line purchasing site.
Hopefully, after official sale in Korea, we could buy it at cheaper price, when concerned about Nintendo DS Lite was like that.
Sales of Wi-Fi phones take off
http://wireless.itworld.com/4264/wi-fi-phone-sales-080326/page_1.html
es of Wi-Fi phones increased by more than 60 percent last year, according to Infonetics Research, as vendors have done more to support wireless IP (Internet Protocol) telephony.
document.write('');
Last year vendors sold 682,000 Wi-Fi phones worldwide, compared to 358,000 in 2006. There are several explanations for the increase.
"IP telephony has matured, and wireless LANs have also matured. Companies started to build wireless LANs to put data on them, but now they are looking for other applications," said Richard Webb, directing analyst, WiMax, Wi-Fi, and Mobile Devices, at Infonetics Research.
Vendors such as Cisco Systems and Aruba Wireless Networks have also added features to network hardware to make wireless IP telephony a much easier proposition compared to a couple of years ago. Interoperability tests have also helped, according to Webb.
The sales increase is impressive, according to Webb. But the Wi-Fi phone market is only a couple of years old and even if the market shows high growth rate it is compared to low volumes.
The Wi-Fi phone market is dominated by Cisco and Polycom, which both had 33 percent of the market during the fourth quarter of last year. Cisco especially has seen a high growth.
"In the beginning of the year Cisco was behind Polycom, but over time it caught up, thanks to its enterprise sales muscle," said Webb.
Over time mobile phones with support for Wi-Fi will take over, but there will still be a market for Wi-Fi phones, according to Webb.
"Not all companies want to give employees a mobile phone," said Webb.
es of Wi-Fi phones increased by more than 60 percent last year, according to Infonetics Research, as vendors have done more to support wireless IP (Internet Protocol) telephony.
document.write('');
Last year vendors sold 682,000 Wi-Fi phones worldwide, compared to 358,000 in 2006. There are several explanations for the increase.
"IP telephony has matured, and wireless LANs have also matured. Companies started to build wireless LANs to put data on them, but now they are looking for other applications," said Richard Webb, directing analyst, WiMax, Wi-Fi, and Mobile Devices, at Infonetics Research.
Vendors such as Cisco Systems and Aruba Wireless Networks have also added features to network hardware to make wireless IP telephony a much easier proposition compared to a couple of years ago. Interoperability tests have also helped, according to Webb.
The sales increase is impressive, according to Webb. But the Wi-Fi phone market is only a couple of years old and even if the market shows high growth rate it is compared to low volumes.
The Wi-Fi phone market is dominated by Cisco and Polycom, which both had 33 percent of the market during the fourth quarter of last year. Cisco especially has seen a high growth.
"In the beginning of the year Cisco was behind Polycom, but over time it caught up, thanks to its enterprise sales muscle," said Webb.
Over time mobile phones with support for Wi-Fi will take over, but there will still be a market for Wi-Fi phones, according to Webb.
"Not all companies want to give employees a mobile phone," said Webb.
Now more internet users in China than in the US
Analysts say: Now more internet users in China than in the US
(heise online, 25.03.2008 10:33) According to market analysts BDA, China now has 228.5 million internet users, while there are 217.1 million users in the US.
China now has more internet users than the US, say the analysts of Chinese consulting firm BDA. According to a news report, the analysts based their prognosis on figures provided by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) in January and assumed that markets grew at the same rates as they did in 2007. Based on the figures, they believe that the 210 million Chinese internet users estimated at the end of 2007 have now increased to 228.5 millions, while the US currently has 217.1 millions. However, the BDA analysts say the United States still outstrips China in the value of internet content, advertising and e-commerce. According to their calculations, in China in 2007 online advertising turnover was 1.3 billion dollars, which corresponds to 5 percent of the total advertising market. In the US, it was 21.4 billion or 10 percent in the same period. As more and more consumers can be reached via the internet, analysts said they believe that e-commerce will be the next industry to boom in China.
(heise online, 25.03.2008 10:33) According to market analysts BDA, China now has 228.5 million internet users, while there are 217.1 million users in the US.
China now has more internet users than the US, say the analysts of Chinese consulting firm BDA. According to a news report, the analysts based their prognosis on figures provided by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) in January and assumed that markets grew at the same rates as they did in 2007. Based on the figures, they believe that the 210 million Chinese internet users estimated at the end of 2007 have now increased to 228.5 millions, while the US currently has 217.1 millions. However, the BDA analysts say the United States still outstrips China in the value of internet content, advertising and e-commerce. According to their calculations, in China in 2007 online advertising turnover was 1.3 billion dollars, which corresponds to 5 percent of the total advertising market. In the US, it was 21.4 billion or 10 percent in the same period. As more and more consumers can be reached via the internet, analysts said they believe that e-commerce will be the next industry to boom in China.
Yahoo Is Joining an Alliance That Has Google as Leader
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/technology/26open.html?ref=technology By MIGUEL HELFT
Published: March 26, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo said Tuesday that it would joining an alliance to be led by Google, its principal rival, that will try to make it easier for programmers to write software that can run on the pages of many social networks and other Web sites.
Google announced on Tuesday that it would give up control of the alliance and turn it over to a nonprofit foundation. Google, Yahoo and MySpace, another member of the group, will be among founding members of the group, the OpenSocial Foundation.
The addition of Yahoo broadens the potential reach of the foundation. The group is working on standards that will let developers create programs that can run on any social network or Web site that embraces them. Such programs might, for example, allow users to let friends know the music or movies they enjoy.
The creation of the OpenSocial alliance last fall was widely seen as a response by Google and others to the growing power of Facebook, which has persuaded thousands of outside developers to build applications for its site. Those applications have helped bolster Facebook’s popularity.
The creators of many of the most popular Facebook applications have since said they plan to adapt their programs to be compatible with OpenSocial.
Although Google is not a major force in social networking, its rivalry with Facebook appears to be intensifying. Facebook, for instance, has signed an advertising partnership with Microsoft and has recruited several prominent programmers and executives from Google, including Sheryl Sandberg, who became Facebook’s chief operating officer.
A Facebook spokeswoman, Brandee Barker, said it would not be part of OpenSocial. “Facebook is not joining this foundation, but the company remains focused on advancing Facebook Platform to benefit the developer community and help users communicate and share information more efficiently,” Ms. Barker said.
Yahoo considered joining the alliance for months, according to a person with direct knowledge of its plans. But Yahoo executives worried that Google might exert too much control over the evolution of the alliance and over any intellectual property it created, that person said.
In a conference call with reporters, Google and Yahoo executives dismissed the idea that the decision to put OpenSocial in the hands of a foundation was a response to Yahoo’s concerns.
Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, said the foundation represented “more an evolution of where OpenSocial is heading” than a response to concerns raised by any one member. And Wade Chambers, vice president for platforms at Yahoo, praised Google’s stewardship of the standard so far.
The foundation, to be created within 90 days, will “ensure the neutrality and longevity of OpenSocial as an open, community-governed specification for building social applications across the Web,” the companies said.
Yahoo gave no details on when or how it would adopt the OpenSocial standards. So far, only MySpace and Orkut, Google’s social network, have introduced OpenSocial, Mr. Kraus said.
Published: March 26, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo said Tuesday that it would joining an alliance to be led by Google, its principal rival, that will try to make it easier for programmers to write software that can run on the pages of many social networks and other Web sites.
Google announced on Tuesday that it would give up control of the alliance and turn it over to a nonprofit foundation. Google, Yahoo and MySpace, another member of the group, will be among founding members of the group, the OpenSocial Foundation.
The addition of Yahoo broadens the potential reach of the foundation. The group is working on standards that will let developers create programs that can run on any social network or Web site that embraces them. Such programs might, for example, allow users to let friends know the music or movies they enjoy.
The creation of the OpenSocial alliance last fall was widely seen as a response by Google and others to the growing power of Facebook, which has persuaded thousands of outside developers to build applications for its site. Those applications have helped bolster Facebook’s popularity.
The creators of many of the most popular Facebook applications have since said they plan to adapt their programs to be compatible with OpenSocial.
Although Google is not a major force in social networking, its rivalry with Facebook appears to be intensifying. Facebook, for instance, has signed an advertising partnership with Microsoft and has recruited several prominent programmers and executives from Google, including Sheryl Sandberg, who became Facebook’s chief operating officer.
A Facebook spokeswoman, Brandee Barker, said it would not be part of OpenSocial. “Facebook is not joining this foundation, but the company remains focused on advancing Facebook Platform to benefit the developer community and help users communicate and share information more efficiently,” Ms. Barker said.
Yahoo considered joining the alliance for months, according to a person with direct knowledge of its plans. But Yahoo executives worried that Google might exert too much control over the evolution of the alliance and over any intellectual property it created, that person said.
In a conference call with reporters, Google and Yahoo executives dismissed the idea that the decision to put OpenSocial in the hands of a foundation was a response to Yahoo’s concerns.
Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, said the foundation represented “more an evolution of where OpenSocial is heading” than a response to concerns raised by any one member. And Wade Chambers, vice president for platforms at Yahoo, praised Google’s stewardship of the standard so far.
The foundation, to be created within 90 days, will “ensure the neutrality and longevity of OpenSocial as an open, community-governed specification for building social applications across the Web,” the companies said.
Yahoo gave no details on when or how it would adopt the OpenSocial standards. So far, only MySpace and Orkut, Google’s social network, have introduced OpenSocial, Mr. Kraus said.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Google founders: $1 salaries, $13B in stock
Giant stakes enrich Brin and Page, but value of their shares decline by billions as company stock falls.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Google Inc. co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page each took home their customary $1 annual salary again in 2007, while a steep decline in the company's stock price chopped more than $8.5 billion from each of their massive holdings of Google shares, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.
Brin, 34, the company's president of technology, and Page, 35, president of products, took the hits to their multibillion-dollar fortunes as shares of the Internet search leader plunged over the past five months on disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and fears the company can't sustain its torrid growth.
CEO Eric Schmidt also received his customary $1 salary in 2007, the Mountain View-based company said in its proxy statement filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Schmidt also received $480,561 in 2007, including $478,662 in expenses incurred by Google mostly for Schmidt's personal security. His total compensation was down 14% from 2006, when his personal security costs were higher.
Schmidt's stockpile of 9.5 million shares of Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) stock - down from the 10.7 million shares he owned at the same time last year - has also taken a hit because of the stock price drop. The stock horde is now worth about $4.3 billion, about $3 billion less than at the stock's peak of $747.24 in November.
As of Feb. 15, according to Tuesday's regulatory filing, Brin owned 28.6 million shares of Google, while Page owned 29.1 million, about as much as they held last year. Their stock is "Class B" common stock, which in Google's case means they carry greater voting power than ordinary shares.
At the stock's November peak, Brin and Page each held more than $21 billion worth. Now that the stock is trading below $500 - it lost $9.78, or 2%, to close at $450.78 on Tuesday - Brin and Page each now hold around $13 billion worth.
Each founder received a bonus of $1,723, for a total of $1,724. Brin got the same amount last year. Page's figure was higher in 2006 because Google paid $37,000 in personal travel expenses for him.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Google Inc. co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page each took home their customary $1 annual salary again in 2007, while a steep decline in the company's stock price chopped more than $8.5 billion from each of their massive holdings of Google shares, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.
Brin, 34, the company's president of technology, and Page, 35, president of products, took the hits to their multibillion-dollar fortunes as shares of the Internet search leader plunged over the past five months on disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and fears the company can't sustain its torrid growth.
CEO Eric Schmidt also received his customary $1 salary in 2007, the Mountain View-based company said in its proxy statement filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Schmidt also received $480,561 in 2007, including $478,662 in expenses incurred by Google mostly for Schmidt's personal security. His total compensation was down 14% from 2006, when his personal security costs were higher.
Schmidt's stockpile of 9.5 million shares of Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) stock - down from the 10.7 million shares he owned at the same time last year - has also taken a hit because of the stock price drop. The stock horde is now worth about $4.3 billion, about $3 billion less than at the stock's peak of $747.24 in November.
As of Feb. 15, according to Tuesday's regulatory filing, Brin owned 28.6 million shares of Google, while Page owned 29.1 million, about as much as they held last year. Their stock is "Class B" common stock, which in Google's case means they carry greater voting power than ordinary shares.
At the stock's November peak, Brin and Page each held more than $21 billion worth. Now that the stock is trading below $500 - it lost $9.78, or 2%, to close at $450.78 on Tuesday - Brin and Page each now hold around $13 billion worth.
Each founder received a bonus of $1,723, for a total of $1,724. Brin got the same amount last year. Page's figure was higher in 2006 because Google paid $37,000 in personal travel expenses for him.
Yahoo, Google, MySpace form nonprofit OpenSocial Foundation
http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9902585-36.html?tag=nefd.lede
March 25, 2008 7:12 AM PDT
Yahoo, Google, MySpace form nonprofit OpenSocial Foundation
Posted by Caroline McCarthy 3 comments
This post was expanded at 10:49 a.m. PDT to add comment from the OpenSocial Foundation conference call.
It's like the Justice League of social media: Google, Yahoo, and News Corp.'s MySpace.com announced on Tuesday that they have formed the OpenSocial Foundation, a nonprofit group to support the OpenSocial initiative that Google kick-started last year to promote a universal standard for developer applications on social-networking sites.
The OpenSocial Foundation is expected to be formed within 90 days, with more OpenSocial partners from across the Web on board in addition to the three responsible for the announcement....
http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9902585-36.html?tag=nefd.lede
March 25, 2008 7:12 AM PDT
Yahoo, Google, MySpace form nonprofit OpenSocial Foundation
Posted by Caroline McCarthy 3 comments
This post was expanded at 10:49 a.m. PDT to add comment from the OpenSocial Foundation conference call.
It's like the Justice League of social media: Google, Yahoo, and News Corp.'s MySpace.com announced on Tuesday that they have formed the OpenSocial Foundation, a nonprofit group to support the OpenSocial initiative that Google kick-started last year to promote a universal standard for developer applications on social-networking sites.
The OpenSocial Foundation is expected to be formed within 90 days, with more OpenSocial partners from across the Web on board in addition to the three responsible for the announcement....
http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9902585-36.html?tag=nefd.lede
Google Offers New Plan for the Airwaves
By REUTERS, The New York Times
Published: March 24, 2008
Google, the Internet search engine company, released plans on Monday for a new generation of wireless devices to operate on soon-to-be-vacant television airwaves and sought to ease fears that this might interfere with TV broadcasts or wireless microphones.
In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Google outlined plans for low-power devices that use local wireless airwaves to access the “white space” between television channels. A Google executive called the plan “Wi-Fi 2.0 or Wi-Fi on steroids.”
“The airwaves can provide huge economic and social gains if used more efficiently,” Google said in the comments.
Rick Whitt, Google’s Washington telecom and media counsel, said this class of Wi-Fi devices could eventually offer data transmission speeds of billions of bits a second — far faster than the millions of bits a second available on most current broadband networks. Consumers could watch movies on wireless devices and do other things that are currently difficult on slower networks.
The white-space airwaves could become available in February 2009, when TV broadcasters switch from analog to digital signals. Mr. Whitt said he expected devices using white-space spectrum could be available by the end of 2009.
Shares of Google surged $27.36, to $460.91 amid a sharp rise in the stock market.
Google sees the white-space spectrum as a natural place to operate a new class of phones and wireless devices based on Android, Google’s software that a variety of major equipment makers plan to use to build Internet-ready phones.
The company also said that, in general, it stands to benefit whenever consumers have easier access to the Internet. Google’s primary business is selling online ads as people perform Web searches.
The filing came less than two weeks after Bill Gates, a founder of Google’s rival, Microsoft, urged the agency to free up the white-space spectrum so it could be used to expand access of wireless broadband.
Google and Microsoft are part of a coalition of technology companies that has been lobbying the F.C.C. to allow unlicensed use of white-space spectrum.
The group also includes Dell, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and the North American unit of Philips Electronics. The idea is opposed by broadcasters and makers of wireless microphones, who fear the devices would cause interference.
The FCC is testing equipment to see if the white-space spectrum can be used without interfering with television broadcasts.
In a compromise intended to mollify some interest groups opposed to expanding use of white-space spectrum, Google proposed a “safe harbor” on channels 36-38 of the freed-up analog TV spectrum for exclusive use by wireless microphones, along with medical telemetry and radio astronomy devices. In effect, no white-space devices could use these channels.
Google said “spectrum-sensing technologies” could be used that would automatically check to see whether a channel was open before using it, thereby avoiding interference with other devices. It said such technology was already being used by the military.
A proposal being studied by the F.C.C. would create two categories of users for the airwaves: one for low-power, personal, portable devices, and a second group for fixed commercial operations.
Published: March 24, 2008
Google, the Internet search engine company, released plans on Monday for a new generation of wireless devices to operate on soon-to-be-vacant television airwaves and sought to ease fears that this might interfere with TV broadcasts or wireless microphones.
In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Google outlined plans for low-power devices that use local wireless airwaves to access the “white space” between television channels. A Google executive called the plan “Wi-Fi 2.0 or Wi-Fi on steroids.”
“The airwaves can provide huge economic and social gains if used more efficiently,” Google said in the comments.
Rick Whitt, Google’s Washington telecom and media counsel, said this class of Wi-Fi devices could eventually offer data transmission speeds of billions of bits a second — far faster than the millions of bits a second available on most current broadband networks. Consumers could watch movies on wireless devices and do other things that are currently difficult on slower networks.
The white-space airwaves could become available in February 2009, when TV broadcasters switch from analog to digital signals. Mr. Whitt said he expected devices using white-space spectrum could be available by the end of 2009.
Shares of Google surged $27.36, to $460.91 amid a sharp rise in the stock market.
Google sees the white-space spectrum as a natural place to operate a new class of phones and wireless devices based on Android, Google’s software that a variety of major equipment makers plan to use to build Internet-ready phones.
The company also said that, in general, it stands to benefit whenever consumers have easier access to the Internet. Google’s primary business is selling online ads as people perform Web searches.
The filing came less than two weeks after Bill Gates, a founder of Google’s rival, Microsoft, urged the agency to free up the white-space spectrum so it could be used to expand access of wireless broadband.
Google and Microsoft are part of a coalition of technology companies that has been lobbying the F.C.C. to allow unlicensed use of white-space spectrum.
The group also includes Dell, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and the North American unit of Philips Electronics. The idea is opposed by broadcasters and makers of wireless microphones, who fear the devices would cause interference.
The FCC is testing equipment to see if the white-space spectrum can be used without interfering with television broadcasts.
In a compromise intended to mollify some interest groups opposed to expanding use of white-space spectrum, Google proposed a “safe harbor” on channels 36-38 of the freed-up analog TV spectrum for exclusive use by wireless microphones, along with medical telemetry and radio astronomy devices. In effect, no white-space devices could use these channels.
Google said “spectrum-sensing technologies” could be used that would automatically check to see whether a channel was open before using it, thereby avoiding interference with other devices. It said such technology was already being used by the military.
A proposal being studied by the F.C.C. would create two categories of users for the airwaves: one for low-power, personal, portable devices, and a second group for fixed commercial operations.
Monday, March 24, 2008
http://www.searchenginelowdown.com/2003/10/ibms-webfountain-search-engine-to.html
October 15, 2003
IBM's WebFountain search engine to monitor trends Great coverage of IBM's WebFountain search technology can be found over at IT-Director.com. "IBM is realising the fruits of its three-year research project to create such a text analytics system. WebFountain runs on an IBM supercomputer and monitors everything on the World Wide Web. WebFountain contains over a petabyte of storage with over 3 billion pages indexed, 2 billion pages stored and the ability to mine 20 million pages a day. Web Fountain is not about building a better search engine; it is about identifying patterns, trends and relationships that can be used by businesses to transform the way they work. WebFountain can spot trends in public opinion and popular culture as they emerge and watch them catch hold around the world. WebFountain can be used as a surrogate for public opinion, providing instant, comprehensive virtual market research in the place of newspapers, Web page research or a professional report."
Sukgu's Comment - This is quite an old article. However, while I read the textbook of Strategic Management that I'm taking as KMBA course, I found out the introduction of this engine as a tool for external scanning that is the starting point for the corporations to formulate their strategy. This is a kind of synergy for me because I can apply what I learn from the different subject to MIS issue. Anyhow it's pretty interesting to see that IT supports almost every functions of business, even in strategy that is percieved as high level functions of business.
October 15, 2003
IBM's WebFountain search engine to monitor trends Great coverage of IBM's WebFountain search technology can be found over at IT-Director.com. "IBM is realising the fruits of its three-year research project to create such a text analytics system. WebFountain runs on an IBM supercomputer and monitors everything on the World Wide Web. WebFountain contains over a petabyte of storage with over 3 billion pages indexed, 2 billion pages stored and the ability to mine 20 million pages a day. Web Fountain is not about building a better search engine; it is about identifying patterns, trends and relationships that can be used by businesses to transform the way they work. WebFountain can spot trends in public opinion and popular culture as they emerge and watch them catch hold around the world. WebFountain can be used as a surrogate for public opinion, providing instant, comprehensive virtual market research in the place of newspapers, Web page research or a professional report."
Sukgu's Comment - This is quite an old article. However, while I read the textbook of Strategic Management that I'm taking as KMBA course, I found out the introduction of this engine as a tool for external scanning that is the starting point for the corporations to formulate their strategy. This is a kind of synergy for me because I can apply what I learn from the different subject to MIS issue. Anyhow it's pretty interesting to see that IT supports almost every functions of business, even in strategy that is percieved as high level functions of business.
IT helps efficiently international trade.
Today, new transportation and communications technologies allow even the smallest firms to build partnerships with foreign producers to tap overseas expertise, cost-savings, and markets. The scarce resource in this new environment is the ability to locate foreign partners quickly and to manage complex business relationships across cultural and linguistic boundaries. The Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley are creating social structures that enable even the smallest producers to locate and maintain mutually beneficial collaborations across long distances. After finishing this course, K-MBA, let’s do small business using IT knowledge which we’ve been learning in the class! ^^
Battle for Hybrid Cars to Heat Up Next Year
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/03/123_21222.html
Fuel-efficient and environment-friendly hybrid cars are expected to be more readily available for Korean drivers next year. Toyota(Prius, Camry Hybrid), Honda(Civic Hybrid) on the Korean market last year and will release a smaller hybrid car by 2009. After Toyota's announcement, Hyundai Motor said it will mass-produce hybrid cars in Korea next year. Huyndai has produced the hybrid versions its compact "Click" and "Verna" models and Kia's "Pride" have been provided to government agencies. Hyundai plans to release a hybrid model of its "Avante" ― sold as "Elantra'' worldwide ― next year. This will be its first mass-produced hybrid.
Then the motor company will expand its hybrid lineup to include sedans such as the "Sonata" by 2010. Kia Motors is also researching a hybrid version of the "Mohave" a large sport utility vehicle (SUV), and "Lotze" a mid-size car. Kia plans to market the hybrid vehicles by 2010.
Hybrid cars use a rechargeable energy storage system to enhance fuel efficiency. These vehicles reuse energy spent while braking. The system converts the kinetic energy of the car into electrical energy and stores it in a battery. By the way, this battery produces in LG chemistry. LG Chem said in a statement that it would supply lithium-ion polymer batteries to the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, which will begin mass-production of hybrid motor vehicles from 2009.
Fuel-efficient and environment-friendly hybrid cars are expected to be more readily available for Korean drivers next year. Toyota(Prius, Camry Hybrid), Honda(Civic Hybrid) on the Korean market last year and will release a smaller hybrid car by 2009. After Toyota's announcement, Hyundai Motor said it will mass-produce hybrid cars in Korea next year. Huyndai has produced the hybrid versions its compact "Click" and "Verna" models and Kia's "Pride" have been provided to government agencies. Hyundai plans to release a hybrid model of its "Avante" ― sold as "Elantra'' worldwide ― next year. This will be its first mass-produced hybrid.
Then the motor company will expand its hybrid lineup to include sedans such as the "Sonata" by 2010. Kia Motors is also researching a hybrid version of the "Mohave" a large sport utility vehicle (SUV), and "Lotze" a mid-size car. Kia plans to market the hybrid vehicles by 2010.
Hybrid cars use a rechargeable energy storage system to enhance fuel efficiency. These vehicles reuse energy spent while braking. The system converts the kinetic energy of the car into electrical energy and stores it in a battery. By the way, this battery produces in LG chemistry. LG Chem said in a statement that it would supply lithium-ion polymer batteries to the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, which will begin mass-production of hybrid motor vehicles from 2009.
The worst computer viruses of all time
We've heard the term, 'computer virus' over 20 years. When I bought my first 80286 AT desktop on 1991, definitely Michelangelo, Jerusalem and Dark Avenger viruses were notorious and they were critial to data in PC. In that time, it was general copying games and utility programs among individuals then and those facilitated spread of computer viruses.
In other hands, in 2005, I downloaded some file from P2P program and one file contained very critical computer virus, which was identified as Win-Trojan/KillFiles.606208 later.
When I executed the file, drive C: was almost vanished. 30Gb of data was gone and only 320Mb of data remained. I tried to recover data by data recovery programs and ask for assistances to data restoration service company but they had never seen such a completely spoiled drive C: and data were forever gone. I've retained the file till now for someday, you should be careful not to stimulate my nerves as I have the powerful virus!! lol (Practically every PC vaccine is able to scan this virus now and even I cannot download it from my email service as the website automatically scans the files when the users try to download attached files.
Well, I spent a lot of times to normalize my PC and that has been a lesson to me so far.
Ok, let's return to the main subject. Here are computer viruses classified as the worse ones.
Look over below if you are familiar with them.
Brain, 1986
It all started here: Brain was the first "real" virus ever discovered, back in 1986. Brain didn't really hurt your PC, but it launched the malware industry with a bang and gave bad ideas to over 100,000 virus creators for the next 2 decades.
Michelangelo, 1991
The worst MS-DOS virus ever, Michelangelo attacked the boot sector of your hard drive and any floppy drive inserted into the computer, which caused the virus to spread rapidly. After spreading quietly for months, the virus "activated" on March 6, and promptly started destroying data on tens of thousands of computers.
Melissa, 1999
Technically a worm, Melissa (named after a stripper) collapsed entire email systems by causing computers to send mountains of messages to each other. The author of the virus was eventually caught and sentenced to 20 months in prison.
ILOVEYOU, 2000
This was notable for being one of the first viruses to trick users into opening a file, which in this case claimed to be a love letter sent to the recipient. In reality, the file was a VBS script that sent mountains of junk mail and deleted thousands of files. The results were terribly devastating- one estimate holds that 10 percent of all computers were affected, to a cost of $5.5 billion. It remains perhaps the worst worm of all time.
Code Red, 2001
An early "blended threat" attack, Code Red targeted Web servers instead of user machines, defacing websites and later launching denial-of-service attacks on a host of IP addresses, including those of the White House.
Nimda, 2001
Built on Code Red's attack system of finding multiple avenues into machines (email, websites, network connections, and others), Nimda infected both Web servers and user machines. It found paths into computers so effectively that, 22 minutes after it was released, it became the Internet's most widespread virus at the time.
Klez, 2001
An email virus, Klez pioneered spoofing the "From" field in email messages it sent, making it impossible to tell if Bill Gates did or did not really send you that information about getting free money.
Slammer, 2003
Another fast spreader, this worm infected about 75,000 systems in just 10 minutes, slowing the Internet to a crawl (much like Code Red) and shutting down thousands of websites.
MyDoom, 2004
Notable as the fastest-spreading email virus of all time, MyDoom infected computers so they would, in turn, send even more junk mail. In a strange twist, MyDoom was also used to attack the website of SCO Group, a very unpopular company that was suing other companies over its code being used in Linux distributions.
Storm, 2007
The worst recent virus, Storm spread via email spam with a fake attachment and ultimately infected up to 10 million computers, causing them to join its zombie botnet.
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/87095
In other hands, in 2005, I downloaded some file from P2P program and one file contained very critical computer virus, which was identified as Win-Trojan/KillFiles.606208 later.
When I executed the file, drive C: was almost vanished. 30Gb of data was gone and only 320Mb of data remained. I tried to recover data by data recovery programs and ask for assistances to data restoration service company but they had never seen such a completely spoiled drive C: and data were forever gone. I've retained the file till now for someday, you should be careful not to stimulate my nerves as I have the powerful virus!! lol (Practically every PC vaccine is able to scan this virus now and even I cannot download it from my email service as the website automatically scans the files when the users try to download attached files.
Well, I spent a lot of times to normalize my PC and that has been a lesson to me so far.
Ok, let's return to the main subject. Here are computer viruses classified as the worse ones.
Look over below if you are familiar with them.
Brain, 1986
It all started here: Brain was the first "real" virus ever discovered, back in 1986. Brain didn't really hurt your PC, but it launched the malware industry with a bang and gave bad ideas to over 100,000 virus creators for the next 2 decades.
Michelangelo, 1991
The worst MS-DOS virus ever, Michelangelo attacked the boot sector of your hard drive and any floppy drive inserted into the computer, which caused the virus to spread rapidly. After spreading quietly for months, the virus "activated" on March 6, and promptly started destroying data on tens of thousands of computers.
Melissa, 1999
Technically a worm, Melissa (named after a stripper) collapsed entire email systems by causing computers to send mountains of messages to each other. The author of the virus was eventually caught and sentenced to 20 months in prison.
ILOVEYOU, 2000
This was notable for being one of the first viruses to trick users into opening a file, which in this case claimed to be a love letter sent to the recipient. In reality, the file was a VBS script that sent mountains of junk mail and deleted thousands of files. The results were terribly devastating- one estimate holds that 10 percent of all computers were affected, to a cost of $5.5 billion. It remains perhaps the worst worm of all time.
Code Red, 2001
An early "blended threat" attack, Code Red targeted Web servers instead of user machines, defacing websites and later launching denial-of-service attacks on a host of IP addresses, including those of the White House.
Nimda, 2001
Built on Code Red's attack system of finding multiple avenues into machines (email, websites, network connections, and others), Nimda infected both Web servers and user machines. It found paths into computers so effectively that, 22 minutes after it was released, it became the Internet's most widespread virus at the time.
Klez, 2001
An email virus, Klez pioneered spoofing the "From" field in email messages it sent, making it impossible to tell if Bill Gates did or did not really send you that information about getting free money.
Slammer, 2003
Another fast spreader, this worm infected about 75,000 systems in just 10 minutes, slowing the Internet to a crawl (much like Code Red) and shutting down thousands of websites.
MyDoom, 2004
Notable as the fastest-spreading email virus of all time, MyDoom infected computers so they would, in turn, send even more junk mail. In a strange twist, MyDoom was also used to attack the website of SCO Group, a very unpopular company that was suing other companies over its code being used in Linux distributions.
Storm, 2007
The worst recent virus, Storm spread via email spam with a fake attachment and ultimately infected up to 10 million computers, causing them to join its zombie botnet.
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/87095
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Dreaming of the Google phone
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9899447-1.html?tag=cnetfd.mt
Dreaming of the Google phone
Mar 20 2008. Kent German.
So far, we've only seen prototypes of a cell phone running Google's Android platform, but InfoWorld has some gossip on what the first real device might be. According to a source "close to the situation", HTC may become the first company to manufacture an Android device. Yet it also appears that Samsung, which also is a member of the Open Handset Alliance, is not far behind.
Details are slim but the source reported the following specs. The HTC device will be called the "Dream" and will be about 5 inches long by 3 inches wide. What's more, it will feature an alphabetic keyboard that will either slide or swivel out from under the display. There isn't much more to tell at the moment, but the above details match rumors that Forbes reported last year. We apologize that we can't offer any photos of the Dream but we can give you a look at an Android prototype that we examined last month at the GSMA World Congress. See the video for more details.
Posted in: Phones
Tags: Google Android, HTC Dream, cell phones
Dreaming of the Google phone
Mar 20 2008. Kent German.
So far, we've only seen prototypes of a cell phone running Google's Android platform, but InfoWorld has some gossip on what the first real device might be. According to a source "close to the situation", HTC may become the first company to manufacture an Android device. Yet it also appears that Samsung, which also is a member of the Open Handset Alliance, is not far behind.
Details are slim but the source reported the following specs. The HTC device will be called the "Dream" and will be about 5 inches long by 3 inches wide. What's more, it will feature an alphabetic keyboard that will either slide or swivel out from under the display. There isn't much more to tell at the moment, but the above details match rumors that Forbes reported last year. We apologize that we can't offer any photos of the Dream but we can give you a look at an Android prototype that we examined last month at the GSMA World Congress. See the video for more details.
Posted in: Phones
Tags: Google Android, HTC Dream, cell phones
Sony charges $50 to remove laptop bloatware
http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1290/sony-removes-bloatware-080321/
Sony is offering to remove some of the trial software it crams onto the hard disks of new laptops -- for a fee.
Buyers of the configure-to-order versions of its Vaio TZ2000 and Vaio TZ2500 laptops can opt to have Sony remove the some of its own applications, in addition to trial software and games.
The "Fresh Start" option, billed as a software optimization, costs US$49.99, and is only available to customers choosing to pay an additional $100 to upgrade the operating system to Windows Vista Business from the Windows Vista Home Premium edition offered as standard.
PC manufacturers are often paid by software publishers to include such trial versions on the computers they ship. Bloatware, as it is often called, poses problems for businesses because it reduces system performance and available hard disk space, makes it harder to maintain a consistent software image across PCs from different sources and may introduce additional security vulnerabilities or -- in the case of games -- unwanted distractions for workers.
Dell was one of the first PC manufacturers to offer to remove bloatware. Last July it introduced Vostro, a range of PCs for small businesses designed to be simpler to manage. Everex followed suit a week later, saying it would eliminate bloatware from a $300 desktop machine for consumers.
Customers opting for Sony's Fresh Start will miss out on software including Microsoft Works SE 9.0 bundled with a 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office, Sony's Vaio Creation Suite Photo Software bundled with a 30-day trial version of Corel Paint Shop Pro; the Click to Disc video editor; WinDVD, and a free edition of QuickBooks Simple Start that can only track 20 customers.
Sony justifies the $49.99 fee by saying it covers removal of the unwanted software before shipment -- although selecting the option appears to have no consequences on the estimated shipping date.
Although Sony has other laptops with configure-to-order options, including the FZ, SZ, AR and CR ranges, none of those are available with Fresh Start.
Sony is offering to remove some of the trial software it crams onto the hard disks of new laptops -- for a fee.
Buyers of the configure-to-order versions of its Vaio TZ2000 and Vaio TZ2500 laptops can opt to have Sony remove the some of its own applications, in addition to trial software and games.
The "Fresh Start" option, billed as a software optimization, costs US$49.99, and is only available to customers choosing to pay an additional $100 to upgrade the operating system to Windows Vista Business from the Windows Vista Home Premium edition offered as standard.
PC manufacturers are often paid by software publishers to include such trial versions on the computers they ship. Bloatware, as it is often called, poses problems for businesses because it reduces system performance and available hard disk space, makes it harder to maintain a consistent software image across PCs from different sources and may introduce additional security vulnerabilities or -- in the case of games -- unwanted distractions for workers.
Dell was one of the first PC manufacturers to offer to remove bloatware. Last July it introduced Vostro, a range of PCs for small businesses designed to be simpler to manage. Everex followed suit a week later, saying it would eliminate bloatware from a $300 desktop machine for consumers.
Customers opting for Sony's Fresh Start will miss out on software including Microsoft Works SE 9.0 bundled with a 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office, Sony's Vaio Creation Suite Photo Software bundled with a 30-day trial version of Corel Paint Shop Pro; the Click to Disc video editor; WinDVD, and a free edition of QuickBooks Simple Start that can only track 20 customers.
Sony justifies the $49.99 fee by saying it covers removal of the unwanted software before shipment -- although selecting the option appears to have no consequences on the estimated shipping date.
Although Sony has other laptops with configure-to-order options, including the FZ, SZ, AR and CR ranges, none of those are available with Fresh Start.
IT going green: Thin clients cut costs and strengthen security
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ce58c0a8-f1e0-11dc-9b45-0000779fd2ac.html
Everything needs to be green these days. No exceptions for IT either. This article tells about saving energy or electricity by using thin-client. “A thin client is a network computing device that depends primarily on the central server for processing activities. In most cases, a user's applications are run on the central server and the thin-client processes only keyboard and mouse movements and receives updated video images. “This kind of retro trend is being evoked by IT venders like IBM, HP. In the past, thin-client or network PC was introduced as transit product before end user computing. I wonder if this retro trend will appeal IT users especially power users in enterprise level. They are already familiar with powerful user tools including application that need much hard disk drive to operate and save in their local disks than ever. Personally I see this trend is one of IT venders’ strategies to expand their stance in hardware scope as well as application re-development business opportunities for SI companies.
Everything needs to be green these days. No exceptions for IT either. This article tells about saving energy or electricity by using thin-client. “A thin client is a network computing device that depends primarily on the central server for processing activities. In most cases, a user's applications are run on the central server and the thin-client processes only keyboard and mouse movements and receives updated video images. “This kind of retro trend is being evoked by IT venders like IBM, HP. In the past, thin-client or network PC was introduced as transit product before end user computing. I wonder if this retro trend will appeal IT users especially power users in enterprise level. They are already familiar with powerful user tools including application that need much hard disk drive to operate and save in their local disks than ever. Personally I see this trend is one of IT venders’ strategies to expand their stance in hardware scope as well as application re-development business opportunities for SI companies.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Don't study IT if you want to be a CIO.
Sukgu's comments - I think this is an intereting opinion to insist not to study IT if you want to be a CIO. In many cases I agree with this idea with the reason that managers taking resposibilities of IT functions in companies are required to be knowledgable at business processes and fundamentals. It's because they have to design the IT based processes that are just the reflections of business processes. However, there have been criticisms that too many top management only have business administration backgrounds in Korea. That has had an impact on many young people to take business related degree, rather than technology related degree. This will hurt the Korea's potential for growth in the future.
Anyhow, I still agree with this idea in some aspects. However, IT knowledge and skills should be basic qualifications for any IT specialists.
http://knowledge.computing.co.uk/2007/09/dont-study-it-i.html
Thursday, 13 September 2007
Don't study IT if you want to be a CIO
A contact suggested to me recently there is no point studying technology at university any more. He said it's because firms no longer demand programmers and developers, they require business-focused graduates that can become future chief information officers (CIOs).
More and more companies are realising they can pick up IT services for cheaper overseas, which means more and more IT work is being offshored.
Where does this leave graduates with a surfeit of technology skills? Increasingly, lower down the management food chain.
Computing has written at length about the need for UK educators and business leaders to work more closely together to provide more relevant technology courses.
The answer - as my contact suggests - might be more simple. Stop studying IT courses; at least those focused on web development and programming that can be provided at lower cost from other parts of the world.
A basic knowledge of IT will see you right, something which most technology graduates in today's IT literate society will have already developed.
Focus, instead, on business. Technology management, after all, needs you to understand business and financial processes: return on investment; change management; risk management; even green strategies.
Thinking of getting in to IT and what to get ahead? Then don't study the bits and bytes - concentrate on the pounds and the pence.
Posted at 05:36 PM in green, outsourcing, skills, strategy Permalink
Anyhow, I still agree with this idea in some aspects. However, IT knowledge and skills should be basic qualifications for any IT specialists.
http://knowledge.computing.co.uk/2007/09/dont-study-it-i.html
Thursday, 13 September 2007
Don't study IT if you want to be a CIO
A contact suggested to me recently there is no point studying technology at university any more. He said it's because firms no longer demand programmers and developers, they require business-focused graduates that can become future chief information officers (CIOs).
More and more companies are realising they can pick up IT services for cheaper overseas, which means more and more IT work is being offshored.
Where does this leave graduates with a surfeit of technology skills? Increasingly, lower down the management food chain.
Computing has written at length about the need for UK educators and business leaders to work more closely together to provide more relevant technology courses.
The answer - as my contact suggests - might be more simple. Stop studying IT courses; at least those focused on web development and programming that can be provided at lower cost from other parts of the world.
A basic knowledge of IT will see you right, something which most technology graduates in today's IT literate society will have already developed.
Focus, instead, on business. Technology management, after all, needs you to understand business and financial processes: return on investment; change management; risk management; even green strategies.
Thinking of getting in to IT and what to get ahead? Then don't study the bits and bytes - concentrate on the pounds and the pence.
Posted at 05:36 PM in green, outsourcing, skills, strategy Permalink
Thursday, March 20, 2008
MID vs UMPC
MID : Mobile Internet Device(Intel's another Platform)
UMPC : Ultra Mobile PC
Reading articles and videos~
I think... at no distant date The PDA will be adjudged to die.
articles
1. Korea vs. China & Taiwan in MID
http://english.etnews.co.kr/news/detail.html?id=200803210001
2. Intel MID ," Connecting Mobile phone World and PC World "
http://aving.net/kr/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=77487&C_Code=08&SP_Num=0
videos
1. http://aving.net/kr/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=77179&C_Code=01&SP_Num=137
2. http://www.aving.net/kr/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=76120&C_Code=01&SP_Num=137
word comment : MID
모바일인터넷디바이스(MID:Mobile Internet Device)는 언제 어디서나 인터넷을 사용할 수 있는 휴대형 인터넷 장치. 종전의 UMPC보다 작고 휴대폰이나 스마트폰보다는 크지만 PC에서 쓰던 응용소프트웨어와 성능을 그대로 구현할 수 있다는 게 장점이다. 화면크기는 4.5인치 정도고 운용체계(OS)는 리눅스나 윈도XP 등이 사용된다. 지난달 WMC2008에서 대만 벤큐가 선보인 시제품이 대표적이다.
UMPC : Ultra Mobile PC
Reading articles and videos~
I think... at no distant date The PDA will be adjudged to die.
articles
1. Korea vs. China & Taiwan in MID
http://english.etnews.co.kr/news/detail.html?id=200803210001
2. Intel MID ," Connecting Mobile phone World and PC World "
http://aving.net/kr/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=77487&C_Code=08&SP_Num=0
videos
1. http://aving.net/kr/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=77179&C_Code=01&SP_Num=137
2. http://www.aving.net/kr/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=76120&C_Code=01&SP_Num=137
word comment : MID
모바일인터넷디바이스(MID:Mobile Internet Device)는 언제 어디서나 인터넷을 사용할 수 있는 휴대형 인터넷 장치. 종전의 UMPC보다 작고 휴대폰이나 스마트폰보다는 크지만 PC에서 쓰던 응용소프트웨어와 성능을 그대로 구현할 수 있다는 게 장점이다. 화면크기는 4.5인치 정도고 운용체계(OS)는 리눅스나 윈도XP 등이 사용된다. 지난달 WMC2008에서 대만 벤큐가 선보인 시제품이 대표적이다.
Nike, Apple bring iPod to gym near you
BEAVERTON, Oregon (AP) -- Nike and Apple are making the iPod compatible with gym equipment.
Soon iPod users will be able to hook it up to equipment at gyms and health clubs to track workouts.
The companies announced Tuesday that they are working with gym equipment manufacturers and health clubs to allow members to plug their iPod Nano into cardio equipment to track workouts, set goals and upload the information to a Nike Web site.
The new technology is expected to hit gyms this summer.
It's another major partnership for Nike Inc. and Apple Inc., which created Nike+ technology more than a year ago.
The wireless system allows some Nike shoes embedded with a sensor to communicate with Apple's iPod Nano.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/03/04/ipod.nike.ap/index.html
Soon iPod users will be able to hook it up to equipment at gyms and health clubs to track workouts.
The companies announced Tuesday that they are working with gym equipment manufacturers and health clubs to allow members to plug their iPod Nano into cardio equipment to track workouts, set goals and upload the information to a Nike Web site.
The new technology is expected to hit gyms this summer.
It's another major partnership for Nike Inc. and Apple Inc., which created Nike+ technology more than a year ago.
The wireless system allows some Nike shoes embedded with a sensor to communicate with Apple's iPod Nano.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/03/04/ipod.nike.ap/index.html
Is Internet friend or foe to children?
Children spend so much time online and sometimes parents don't like it because they waste too much time playing games with it. And many parents protect children from inappropriate internet sites in the same way they protect children from unsuitable television programs.
However, some Internet filters can block most inappropriate sites and placing the computer in a location which parents will pass by often is probably the most effective way to monitor what children are viewing.
Once safety considerations are properly addressed, the Internet can impact home education in many positive ways. How do you think? :)
However, some Internet filters can block most inappropriate sites and placing the computer in a location which parents will pass by often is probably the most effective way to monitor what children are viewing.
Once safety considerations are properly addressed, the Internet can impact home education in many positive ways. How do you think? :)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Microsoft releases feature-complete Hyper-V code
http://www.itworld.com/Comp/2291/microsoft-releases-hyper-v-code-080319/
Microsoft has finished most of the major work on its Hyper-V virtualization technology and expects it will be available for Windows Server 2008 on schedule in August, the company said Wednesday.
A feature-complete release candidate of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V is now available online. Hyper-V is Microsoft's long-promised hypervisor technology for Windows Server 2008, formerly code-named Viridian.
The ability to use virtual machine technology to run multiple operating systems on a physical server, is widely seen as a disruptive technology and is becoming increasingly important as companies seek to cut costs and consolidate hardware in their data centers and IT environments. Microsoft had originally intended to release Hyper-V as part of the original release of Windows Server 2008, but the technology was delayed until six months after the server's release last month because Microsoft opted to pull out some originally planned features.
Microsoft has added support for more guest OSes in the release candidate, which now has the ability to host Windows Server 2003 Service Pack (SP) 2, Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. Microsoft also has expanded host server support to include the 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter editions.
Support for 64-bit OSes is critical for Hyper-V, as customers and partners think its availability for Windows Server 2008 will be a factor in moving from 32-bit versions of Windows to 64-bit versions. Microsoft is urging customers to move off of 32-bit Windows and has even made some of its software, such as Exchange Server 2007, available in 64-bit only versions, a trend that is expected to continue.
Now that Hyper-V's release is imminent, third parties also are coming out in support of the technology. A product from a company called Surgient in particular could be useful to developers that need to test applications with limited back-end server resources.
The Surgient Lab Management Platform will support Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 once it is available, Surgient said Wednesday. The product is a virtual test environment that allows developers to test applications on a host of virtualized machines so they don't tie up live production servers.
Microsoft has finished most of the major work on its Hyper-V virtualization technology and expects it will be available for Windows Server 2008 on schedule in August, the company said Wednesday.
A feature-complete release candidate of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V is now available online. Hyper-V is Microsoft's long-promised hypervisor technology for Windows Server 2008, formerly code-named Viridian.
The ability to use virtual machine technology to run multiple operating systems on a physical server, is widely seen as a disruptive technology and is becoming increasingly important as companies seek to cut costs and consolidate hardware in their data centers and IT environments. Microsoft had originally intended to release Hyper-V as part of the original release of Windows Server 2008, but the technology was delayed until six months after the server's release last month because Microsoft opted to pull out some originally planned features.
Microsoft has added support for more guest OSes in the release candidate, which now has the ability to host Windows Server 2003 Service Pack (SP) 2, Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. Microsoft also has expanded host server support to include the 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter editions.
Support for 64-bit OSes is critical for Hyper-V, as customers and partners think its availability for Windows Server 2008 will be a factor in moving from 32-bit versions of Windows to 64-bit versions. Microsoft is urging customers to move off of 32-bit Windows and has even made some of its software, such as Exchange Server 2007, available in 64-bit only versions, a trend that is expected to continue.
Now that Hyper-V's release is imminent, third parties also are coming out in support of the technology. A product from a company called Surgient in particular could be useful to developers that need to test applications with limited back-end server resources.
The Surgient Lab Management Platform will support Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 once it is available, Surgient said Wednesday. The product is a virtual test environment that allows developers to test applications on a host of virtualized machines so they don't tie up live production servers.
Facebook 'cheater' won't be expelled from college
There are so many online study groups in social networking site.
A Canadian university ruled against expelling a first-year engineering student accused of cheating through an online study group on Facebook.
Is it a academic misconduct or not? Why?
Facebook.com(http://www.facebook.com/) is a social networking service which is going to be the most popular SNS today.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/19/facebook.cheating.ap/index.html
A Canadian university ruled against expelling a first-year engineering student accused of cheating through an online study group on Facebook.
Is it a academic misconduct or not? Why?
Facebook.com(http://www.facebook.com/) is a social networking service which is going to be the most popular SNS today.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/19/facebook.cheating.ap/index.html
VON: WiMax will take flight with Intel's new mobile platform
http://wireless.itworld.com/4263/intel-wimax-080318/page_1.html
More than one-third of the ultramobile PCs coming later this year on Intel's Atom Centrino platform will offer a combination of WiMax and Wi-Fi, the head of the company's Ultra Mobility Group said Tuesday.
Intel has been pushing WiMax aggressively, saying the standards-based wireless broadband technology will proliferate just as Wi-Fi did, though the system remains an upstart against more established cellular technologies, namely the forthcoming LTE (Long-Term Evolution) standard. But of the 35 third-party designs for Atom Centrino devices due to hit the market in the second quarter, 37 percent will include WiMax, said Intel Senior Vice President Arun Chandrasekhar. Fourteen percent will have only Wi-Fi and 49 percent will include a combination of Wi-Fi and HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access), a 3G (third-generation) cellular system.
During his keynote address Tuesday at the Von.x conference in San Jose, California, Chandrasekhar also showed off mock-up devices based on a future mobile chipset called Moorestown, looking toward a future when social networking will drive Internet use on the go.
Two of the devices, which he produced from his pockets during the speech, were similar to a typical smart phone but about twice as wide. That form factor fits the entire width of a typical Web page, making browsing more convenient, said Chandrasekhar, who leads Intel's Ultra Mobility Group. Another one, code-named Magic, was a triple-folding device that opened one way to display a screen and keyboard, and another way as a media player with controls on the outside. Because it's about the size of a men's deodorant stick, Chandrasekhar called it the "speed stick."
In a video about the design concepts, Intel showed one being used for social networking, with a map at one end of the wide screen, pictures of friends at the other, and a messaging interface in between. Another video showed a user playing different songs at either end of the screen and mixing them as a disc jockey would.
All of the designs were just possible interpretations of what OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) may do with Moorestown. Also at the event, Intel displayed three larger devices based on the Menlow chip package, recently renamed Atom Centrino, which will show up in products on the market in the second quarter.
The tiny Atom chip at the heart of the Atom Centrino package was built from the ground up to meet the size and power consumption requirements of MIDs (mobile Internet devices), designed to be portable but not pocket-sized. Moorestown will be the next step down in size, with 10 times less power consumption at idle than Atom Centrino, Chandrasekhar said. Both will be built with a 45-nanometer manufacturing process. After 2010, Intel will use a 32nm process to build future generations with higher levels of integration.
Social networking is the engine that will drive demand for the mobile platforms, according to Chandrasekhar. That technology has surpassed pornography as the biggest bandwidth-consuming application on the Internet, he said. Worldwide, consumers spend 3 billion minutes per day on social networking, but most of that is on PCs over fixed broadband connections. People want to be able to do it wherever they are, he said.
"That's the next chase," Chandrasekhar said. "This race has started, and there's a tremendous amount to be done here." Intel expects to lead in speed, maintaining two times the performance of competing chip platforms, he said.
Intel dove into the handheld market earlier in the decade with its Xscale processors, based on ARM technology, but built Atom from the ground up using the Intel architecture. Compatibility between handhelds and PCs is critical to a good mobile Web experience because the Internet was built primarily on and for PCs, Chandrasekhar said. To develop software for cell phones today, developers have to write versions for dozens of platforms. By contrast, PC developers can write software once for all models of PC, he said. Although Intel envisions many Atom Centrino and Moorestown devices to be based on Linux, the Intel chip architecture will help to bring that kind of consistency to the mobile world, Chandrasekhar said.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Some tips before leaving Vista for XP
Leaving Vista for Windows XP
Published: March 13, 2008 (NYT)
Q. I recently bought a small laptop for travel but it only came with Windows Vista, which I find troublesome. I love the laptop for its size and would like to keep it, but can I remove Vista and install Windows XP instead?
A. Windows Vista comes installed on most new machine these days, but there are ways to “downgrade” the operating system to the older Windows XP. Before you take the backwards leap, however, there are a couple of things to consider.
Microsoft is rolling out a major update to Vista this month. Vista Service Pack 1 — a collection of bug fixes and enhancements to the operating system — may take care of many issues like frequent browser crashes, driver incompatibilities and other performance problems. You may want to install SP1 when it becomes available for your system (if it isn’t already) to see if it helps with your Vista frustration. Details about the upgrade can be found at www.winsupersite.com/faq/vista_sp1.asp.
But if you just don’t like Vista, there are some options to explore before Microsoft stops selling Windows XP at the end of June. Before you get too far, however, check with your laptop’s manufacturer to make sure Windows XP drivers are available for components like the hard drive and video card, so the hardware will work with the XP system software. Some computer makers offer Windows XP as an installed option, so you might try asking the manufacturer about an exchange or an operating-system swap. Some Vista Business and Ultimate laptops actually come with a downgrade disc to Windows XP Professional, or the manufacturer has a program in place to deal with the downgrade. If none of these options are available and you’ve checked to make sure there are XP drivers for your laptop’s hardware, Amazon, Staples and other stores still offer Windows XP for sale. If you aren’t comfortable extracting data like e-mail, contacts, documents and other personal files from the Vista system before you replace it with Windows XP, you may want to have a computer-repair shop handle the whole job for you.
-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/technology/personaltech/13askk-001.html?em&ex=1206072000&en=5f7499d342d4f0f9&ei=5087%0A
Published: March 13, 2008 (NYT)
Q. I recently bought a small laptop for travel but it only came with Windows Vista, which I find troublesome. I love the laptop for its size and would like to keep it, but can I remove Vista and install Windows XP instead?
A. Windows Vista comes installed on most new machine these days, but there are ways to “downgrade” the operating system to the older Windows XP. Before you take the backwards leap, however, there are a couple of things to consider.
Microsoft is rolling out a major update to Vista this month. Vista Service Pack 1 — a collection of bug fixes and enhancements to the operating system — may take care of many issues like frequent browser crashes, driver incompatibilities and other performance problems. You may want to install SP1 when it becomes available for your system (if it isn’t already) to see if it helps with your Vista frustration. Details about the upgrade can be found at www.winsupersite.com/faq/vista_sp1.asp.
But if you just don’t like Vista, there are some options to explore before Microsoft stops selling Windows XP at the end of June. Before you get too far, however, check with your laptop’s manufacturer to make sure Windows XP drivers are available for components like the hard drive and video card, so the hardware will work with the XP system software. Some computer makers offer Windows XP as an installed option, so you might try asking the manufacturer about an exchange or an operating-system swap. Some Vista Business and Ultimate laptops actually come with a downgrade disc to Windows XP Professional, or the manufacturer has a program in place to deal with the downgrade. If none of these options are available and you’ve checked to make sure there are XP drivers for your laptop’s hardware, Amazon, Staples and other stores still offer Windows XP for sale. If you aren’t comfortable extracting data like e-mail, contacts, documents and other personal files from the Vista system before you replace it with Windows XP, you may want to have a computer-repair shop handle the whole job for you.
-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/technology/personaltech/13askk-001.html?em&ex=1206072000&en=5f7499d342d4f0f9&ei=5087%0A
AhnLab Announces 7 Security Issues for 2008
AhnLab, Korea's largest information security company, announced the seven security issues for 2008 on January 3rd. According to AhnLab, ▶ vaccine detection-avoiding techniques such as virtualization techniques will become more sophisticated ▶ web hacking attacks will increase ▶ cyber black markets will grow ▶ spyware will adopt more malicious code ▶ global vulnerability attacks will increase ▶ malicious codes attacks against USB will increase, and ▶ malicious codes will spread through UCC, SNS, and other web 2.0 services in 2008.
(1) Sophisticated Vaccine Detection-avoiding Techniques such as Virtualization
TechniqueMalicious code will adopt various techniques in order not to be detected by security programs. One of these techniques would be called the virtualization technique (which adds a layer to the existing physical layer structure to make logical structure more consistent and convenient). A malicious code with the virtualization technique will be able to incapacitate some functions of the security product. Although no malicious code with the virtualization technique adopted has been reported, a root kit which demonstrated the concept was released in 2005. In 2005, detection was not difficult and the kit did not accurately function well so it did not do any harm. However, in 2008, malicious code with a virtualization technique are very likely to be introduced.
(2) More Web Hacking Attacks
More attacks against web vulnerabilities and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are expected this year. Because many websites were developed without consideration for security, they are exposed to attacks. Spread of malicious code and spyware to websites are expected to continue this year. More DDoS attacks are expected to do financial damage.
(3) Growth of Cyber Black Market
The cyber black market where virtual assets can be traded with cash is expected to grow. In the cyber black market, personal information, credit card information, and online game account information are traded. Malicious code are also known to be traded and phishing and DDoS attacks ordered in the cyber black market. A growth of the cyber black market is expected to result in a wide spread of malicious code and more hacking attacks. It is expected local attacks against certain targets will increase more than attacks targeted towards the general public for financial damage.
(4) Malicious Codes in Spyware
Not many spyware attacked OS or global vulnerabilities or hid its presence using the root kit. However, it is expected that more spyware will use malicious code which can attack vulnerabilities, incapacitate security programs, hide its presence, and attack files in order to seek more financial damage.
(5) More Global Vulnerability Attacks
Most attacks target MS OS or global vulnerabilities, but such attacks are decreasing. On the contrary, global attacks targeting PDF, Apple MAC OS X, ActiveX, multiplayer, image viewer, and messenger users are increasing. This trend is expected to continue in 2008.
(6) Spread of Malicious Codes through USB
The trend of malicious code spreading through portable devices (USB or portable HDD) is expected to continue this year. In particular, the introduction of a security USB may result in a malicious code which can steal important information from portable devices.
(7) Spread of Malicious Codes through UCC, SNS and Other Web 2.0 Services
UCC is becoming a channel to spread malicious code and spyware. Some spyware programs have been reported to disguise themselves as multimedia players and induce users to install them. Some of them are even actually installed on the user's PC.
This trend is expected to continue in 2008. With spread of the SNS, the SNS will become a target of more malicious code. In 2006, a malicious code was reported which adds a user who views a profile at MySpace to the buddy list of the profile. It is also expected that blogs will have more links to download malicious code.
"Malicious code and spyware programs are becoming more and more sophisticated and increasingly spread through various channels", says Director Joh Shi-haeing of AhnLab Security Institute. "In the long term, we will face more threats in mobile Internet, mobile platform, and other IT environments. Both security solution providers and users should make more efforts to more efficiently handle these threats" Director Joh adds.
By Tae-Jung Kim(ZDNet Korea)January 17th, 2008
Microsoft, Yahoo in breakthrough meeting
Senior management from both companies gather to discuss the software giant's buyout offer.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. met with Yahoo Inc. to discuss the software maker's unsolicited takeover bid earlier this week, a breakthrough that could be the first step toward a friendly deal between the two rivals.
The meeting occurred Monday near Yahoo's Sunnyvale headquarters, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke Friday on the condition of not being identified because the preliminary talks haven't been formally disclosed.
No investments bankers attended Monday's meeting, nor was there any discussion about whether Microsoft is willing to raise its offer, initially valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share. Yahoo's board already has rejected that bid, arguing the company's Internet franchise is worth more.
Although it's unclear whether Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and his Yahoo counterpart, Jerry Yang, attended Monday's meeting, senior management from both companies were on hand.
The gathering, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, gave Microsoft its first chance to sell Yahoo on the rationale for the proposed marriage since the software maker unveiled its plans six weeks ago.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. met with Yahoo Inc. to discuss the software maker's unsolicited takeover bid earlier this week, a breakthrough that could be the first step toward a friendly deal between the two rivals.
The meeting occurred Monday near Yahoo's Sunnyvale headquarters, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke Friday on the condition of not being identified because the preliminary talks haven't been formally disclosed.
No investments bankers attended Monday's meeting, nor was there any discussion about whether Microsoft is willing to raise its offer, initially valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share. Yahoo's board already has rejected that bid, arguing the company's Internet franchise is worth more.
Although it's unclear whether Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and his Yahoo counterpart, Jerry Yang, attended Monday's meeting, senior management from both companies were on hand.
The gathering, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, gave Microsoft its first chance to sell Yahoo on the rationale for the proposed marriage since the software maker unveiled its plans six weeks ago.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Second Life seeks real-life identities
I have been interested in virtual life and I found this article on the Financial Times at http://blogs.ft.com/techblog/2007/08/second-life-seehtml/. -Yoon-Joo LEE-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 29, 2007
by Chris Nuttall
Second Life seeks real-life identities
Second Life, the virtual world where users can create new personalities, is to insist its members identify themselves in real life if they want full access to the service.
Linden Lab, Second Life’s creator, today unveiled an identity verification system for residents.
The company said users identifying themselves would be voluntary, but necessary if they wanted to access restricted regions in the metaverse where explicit sexual or excessively violent content was available.
The service is in its beta testing phase and uses Aristotle’s Integrity technology. The process of providing information such as digits from a Social Security number, driving licence or passport takes place in the “My Accounts” section and should take less than two minutes. Data will not be stored by Linden Lab or Aristotle.
When real-world rules have been introduced in the past, Second Life residents have protested that their experience has been diluted. Linden Lab’s latest move has received a similar reception in comments on its blog post about Integrity.
“Sorry folks. RL [Real Life] and SL [Second Life] need to be separate. Move your servers to some other country that doesn’t require such levels of scrutiny,” says one.
Robin Harper, head of community development, described the move as “an important and necessary step in the development of Second Life.”
"Anonymity has long been both a benefit and a challenge for online communities: a benefit because it offers opportunities to reinvent yourself; a challenge when it comes to the creation of trusting relationships. With the option to verify aspects of their real life identity, such as age and name, Second Life Residents can begin to build trust and safety systems inside the virtual world and their virtual community."
Of course, Linden Lab may be responding to some of the pressure it has been coming under of late. It banned gambling last month after FBI agents had visited in-world casinos and earlier banned material related to child pornography after the Dutch public prosecutor threatened legal action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 29, 2007
by Chris Nuttall
Second Life seeks real-life identities
Second Life, the virtual world where users can create new personalities, is to insist its members identify themselves in real life if they want full access to the service.
Linden Lab, Second Life’s creator, today unveiled an identity verification system for residents.
The company said users identifying themselves would be voluntary, but necessary if they wanted to access restricted regions in the metaverse where explicit sexual or excessively violent content was available.
The service is in its beta testing phase and uses Aristotle’s Integrity technology. The process of providing information such as digits from a Social Security number, driving licence or passport takes place in the “My Accounts” section and should take less than two minutes. Data will not be stored by Linden Lab or Aristotle.
When real-world rules have been introduced in the past, Second Life residents have protested that their experience has been diluted. Linden Lab’s latest move has received a similar reception in comments on its blog post about Integrity.
“Sorry folks. RL [Real Life] and SL [Second Life] need to be separate. Move your servers to some other country that doesn’t require such levels of scrutiny,” says one.
Robin Harper, head of community development, described the move as “an important and necessary step in the development of Second Life.”
"Anonymity has long been both a benefit and a challenge for online communities: a benefit because it offers opportunities to reinvent yourself; a challenge when it comes to the creation of trusting relationships. With the option to verify aspects of their real life identity, such as age and name, Second Life Residents can begin to build trust and safety systems inside the virtual world and their virtual community."
Of course, Linden Lab may be responding to some of the pressure it has been coming under of late. It banned gambling last month after FBI agents had visited in-world casinos and earlier banned material related to child pornography after the Dutch public prosecutor threatened legal action.
Nokia on heaven's door
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8b23f7bc-f0a0-11dc-ba7c-0000779fd2ac.html
Mobile phone will be the market dominante for the wireless internet market?
This article shows a potential scenario of the market evolvement.
Downloading Christina Aguilera videos to your mobile phone is so, like, old. For Nokia, a Mumbai car pooling service powered by text messaging may be a far more telling glimpse of the future.
Mobile phone users are increasingly using their phones to surf the net and send e-mail, rather than just make calls. Improvements in screen sizes and interfaces are prompting a big increase in data usage in developed markets. Yet in the developed world, telecoms operators, rightly, see phone maker Nokia's move into services such as music downloads and maps as a threat.
However, there may be a greater opportunity for the Finnish phone maker in the developing world. In many areas fixed infrastructure is lacking - there is less than one land line available for every hundred Bangladeshis. So for huge numbers of people the first experience of the internet is likely to be through a mobile phone. This suggests a significant market for basic services such as e-mail, as well as one for localised information services, such as finding fellow commuters, or checking fish prices at nearby markets
Mobile phone will be the market dominante for the wireless internet market?
This article shows a potential scenario of the market evolvement.
Downloading Christina Aguilera videos to your mobile phone is so, like, old. For Nokia, a Mumbai car pooling service powered by text messaging may be a far more telling glimpse of the future.
Mobile phone users are increasingly using their phones to surf the net and send e-mail, rather than just make calls. Improvements in screen sizes and interfaces are prompting a big increase in data usage in developed markets. Yet in the developed world, telecoms operators, rightly, see phone maker Nokia's move into services such as music downloads and maps as a threat.
However, there may be a greater opportunity for the Finnish phone maker in the developing world. In many areas fixed infrastructure is lacking - there is less than one land line available for every hundred Bangladeshis. So for huge numbers of people the first experience of the internet is likely to be through a mobile phone. This suggests a significant market for basic services such as e-mail, as well as one for localised information services, such as finding fellow commuters, or checking fish prices at nearby markets
GPS Phone to Help Golfers
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2008/03/129_20663.html
KTF said that it will help golfers aim their tee-shots better with its phones equipped with a virtual golf caddy program. The option allows its users to measure the distance from the tee box to their current positions or from their current positions to the cup. For this, the phones carry the geographic information of some 250 golf courses in Korea and receive real-time data from satellites, the company said.
If professional golfer uses GPS phone, being unlawfulness or lawfulness?
KTF said that it will help golfers aim their tee-shots better with its phones equipped with a virtual golf caddy program. The option allows its users to measure the distance from the tee box to their current positions or from their current positions to the cup. For this, the phones carry the geographic information of some 250 golf courses in Korea and receive real-time data from satellites, the company said.
If professional golfer uses GPS phone, being unlawfulness or lawfulness?
Have You Ever Done Document Approval Through Your Cell Phone?
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=030000&biid=2005041262308
Have You Ever Done Document Approval Through Your Cell Phone?
Without going inside one’s company, it is possible to check e-mail through accessing the Internet from a cellular phone. Also, one can cope with accumulated documents, which require approval, outside the office.
Mobile phones are serving as personal computers (PCs), thanks to mobile communication service companies providing businessmen with various services.
Checking E-mail-
In the most typical example, one can take advantage of services that allow checking e-mail by phone.
If one uses “Phone Mail Service,” which has been recently offered by KTF, a local mobile communication service company, one can confirm the contents of an e-mail and added images through the short message service (SMS) of mobile phones. While one is working outside, if an e-mail arrives in one’s mailbox, it is conveyed thorough one’s cell phone. This system is even more convenient than a previous system, in which one had to gain access to the wireless Internet to check e-mail.
In addition, one is able to check the title of e-mails, who sent the e-mail, and the contents of the e-mail within the a preview total number of 1,000 letters, and images. KTF currently provides “Phone Mail 1,500,” a rate plan in which subscribers can receive up to 20 phone mails a day and 6,000 a month by paying a monthly fee of 1,500 won.
“Biz Mail” service, offered by SK Telecom, can be used through accessing “Nate.” There are two services available: ‘Internet Mail’ and “My Own Quick Mail” in this service plan. If one uses the former, one can check web mail that an individual uses, and in the latter, one can check e-mail that is used in one’s company. The monthly fee is 900 won.
LG Telecom offers a service in which one can confirm a total of 16 representative web mails, including Daum, MSN, and Yahoo, through one’s mobile phone. This service’s remarkable point is one can manage the service after integrating up to 16 mail accounts into a single program.
The Mobile Phone as a PC-
LG Telecom offers its “Mobile Office” service for corporation customers. With using this service, one can deal with business needs such as document approval by wirelessly accessing one’s company network. Also, one can check e-mail and notice boards, perform daily schedule management, perform task management, update address lists, and send mail. With this service, one no longer needs to carry a laptop.
One can even utilize MSN Messenger through one’s cellular phone. If one subscribes to this service of KTF, when one needs to rapidly deliver something during a meeting, or when talking over the phone is not possible due to the noise, it is convenient. One can utilize unlimited messenger service by paying a monthly fee of 3,000 won. However, one has to pay a separate data fee, which applies when downloading the messenger.
The Others-
“Mobile DM” service, offered by SK Telecom, is convenient for those who are salespeople, such as insurance agents or automobile salespeople. If they send such games as Tetris or Gostop to their special customers as a present, whenever they play the game, the salesperson’s name shows up on the cell phone. While an information fee in regard to mobile contents is paid by the salesperson, the customers just pay a connection fee when downloading the games.
Likewise, “M-Quick” service, offered by SK Telecom, is convenient for quick service companies. This service provides consumers with order contents and delivery information of products by connecting companies’ management PCs with a mobile phone wireless Internet link in real time.
APRIL 11, 2005 23:34by Suk-Min Hong ( smhong@donga.com)
Have You Ever Done Document Approval Through Your Cell Phone?
Without going inside one’s company, it is possible to check e-mail through accessing the Internet from a cellular phone. Also, one can cope with accumulated documents, which require approval, outside the office.
Mobile phones are serving as personal computers (PCs), thanks to mobile communication service companies providing businessmen with various services.
Checking E-mail-
In the most typical example, one can take advantage of services that allow checking e-mail by phone.
If one uses “Phone Mail Service,” which has been recently offered by KTF, a local mobile communication service company, one can confirm the contents of an e-mail and added images through the short message service (SMS) of mobile phones. While one is working outside, if an e-mail arrives in one’s mailbox, it is conveyed thorough one’s cell phone. This system is even more convenient than a previous system, in which one had to gain access to the wireless Internet to check e-mail.
In addition, one is able to check the title of e-mails, who sent the e-mail, and the contents of the e-mail within the a preview total number of 1,000 letters, and images. KTF currently provides “Phone Mail 1,500,” a rate plan in which subscribers can receive up to 20 phone mails a day and 6,000 a month by paying a monthly fee of 1,500 won.
“Biz Mail” service, offered by SK Telecom, can be used through accessing “Nate.” There are two services available: ‘Internet Mail’ and “My Own Quick Mail” in this service plan. If one uses the former, one can check web mail that an individual uses, and in the latter, one can check e-mail that is used in one’s company. The monthly fee is 900 won.
LG Telecom offers a service in which one can confirm a total of 16 representative web mails, including Daum, MSN, and Yahoo, through one’s mobile phone. This service’s remarkable point is one can manage the service after integrating up to 16 mail accounts into a single program.
The Mobile Phone as a PC-
LG Telecom offers its “Mobile Office” service for corporation customers. With using this service, one can deal with business needs such as document approval by wirelessly accessing one’s company network. Also, one can check e-mail and notice boards, perform daily schedule management, perform task management, update address lists, and send mail. With this service, one no longer needs to carry a laptop.
One can even utilize MSN Messenger through one’s cellular phone. If one subscribes to this service of KTF, when one needs to rapidly deliver something during a meeting, or when talking over the phone is not possible due to the noise, it is convenient. One can utilize unlimited messenger service by paying a monthly fee of 3,000 won. However, one has to pay a separate data fee, which applies when downloading the messenger.
The Others-
“Mobile DM” service, offered by SK Telecom, is convenient for those who are salespeople, such as insurance agents or automobile salespeople. If they send such games as Tetris or Gostop to their special customers as a present, whenever they play the game, the salesperson’s name shows up on the cell phone. While an information fee in regard to mobile contents is paid by the salesperson, the customers just pay a connection fee when downloading the games.
Likewise, “M-Quick” service, offered by SK Telecom, is convenient for quick service companies. This service provides consumers with order contents and delivery information of products by connecting companies’ management PCs with a mobile phone wireless Internet link in real time.
APRIL 11, 2005 23:34by Suk-Min Hong ( smhong@donga.com)
Nokia to Double Presence in Korea
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2008/03/133_20853.html
Phone World’s Giant Capitalizes on Both Sales and Manufacturing
By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Nokia is the world's superpower mobile phone brand, but it has been a nonentity in South Korea. The handsets are not sold here for various reasons.
The situation may improve for the Finnish brand this year. The three mobile service operators ― SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom ― have said they are working on plans to sell foreign-made phones such as Nokia, Sony-Ericsson and the Apple iPhone as early as this year. The government's regulations on mobile phones, which have acted as a non-tariff barrier to foreign manufacturers, are likely to be eased as well.
Nokia and its Korean counterparts have not confirmed this.
``We have always said that we are open to exploring opportunities in Korea if and when there is acceptance from Korean telecom operators of Open Mobile Architecture,'' Louise Ingram, communications manager of Nokia's Asia-Pacific region, said in an e-mail to The Korea Times.
There are ongoing negotiations on the sale of Nokia's multimedia phones, multiple sources say. A high-ranking official of one of the firms said that SK Telecom and KTF are playing a tug-of-war with the company about the modification of smart-phone models, especially the popular S60 series, to fit South Korea's regulatory and technological standards. And the Korean firms have recently become less fussy and more active in the negotiations, he said.
``Nokia can provide WCDMA phones at unmatched prices thanks to its history of making such phones and its global logistics network. It is an attractive option for Korean mobile service firms who are again engaged in a marketing war with the launch of the WCDMA service,'' the source said on condition of anonymity.
The reason that Nokia is receiving fresh attention in Korea after years of being ignored is the introduction of the so-called third-generation mobile platform, or WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access), last year.
South Korea is one of the few countries that use the mobile communication platform called CDMA, while the rest of the world uses GSM platform. Along with regulatory issues, the decision to take the CDMA side has differentiated South Korea from other big markets, which has benefited Korean phone makers in competition with GSM-focused makers such as Nokia at the expense of consumers.
Since WCDMA is an universal platform and the Finnish brand owns many core technologies there and can produce good phones at lower prices compared to other makers, it has a good shot at beating out Korean makers once it is given a level ground to compete on, the source said.
Another opportunity for the company is the government's plan to open the mobile phone market to new players other than the three existing carriers.
According to the plan, new firms can sell mobile phones that operate on the networks of either of the three firms for a fee. Foreign phone makers may consider using the chance to set up their own sales channel in Korea because they have been obstructed by mobile operators' power here and have been discriminated against, said Kim Hoi-taek, an analyst at Infides, a consulting firm in Seoul.
Many believe that once it is unleashed from the government's regulations, Nokia can prevail here as it has been in other nations. It has been the No. 1 mobile device manufacturer since 1998. Last year, it held 40 percent of the global mobile phone market, which was bigger than the sum of the shares of Samsung, Motorola and Sony-Ericsson. Moreover, the gap between Nokia and others is continuing to expand.
Even more astounding than its sales volume is the phone maker's ability to create profit. While the operating margin at Samsung, Sony-Ericsson and LG are around 10 percent of their sales, Nokia raised its margin to 24 percent of sales in the fourth quarter of 2007.
The firm attributes such stellar performance to various aspects such as brand, wide product portfolio, large production scale, efficient global production and distribution and technology leadership. It has also received a good reputation from pundits for its commitment to openness and open platforms.
Manufacturing Prowess
Ironically, South Korea has been of assistance to Nokia's success. The company operates a phone manufacturing subsidiary named Nokia TMC in Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, which is one of its major global manufacturing bases.
This year, the plant aims to produce 41 million phones, about half of what Samsung Electronics makes in its Korean factories.
``We actually have a large presence in Korea with one of our key factory facilities located in Masan,'' said Ingram, the Nokia public relations official.
``Today, Nokia TMC is the largest mobile phone manufacturing facility in South Korea while being one of Nokia's largest manufacturing centers worldwide. Together with our other manufacturing facilities located in Asia such as in India and China, our factory in Korea helps provide Nokia products for worldwide sales, so Korea is a very important center of manufacturing excellence for Nokia,'' she said.
Phone World’s Giant Capitalizes on Both Sales and Manufacturing
By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Nokia is the world's superpower mobile phone brand, but it has been a nonentity in South Korea. The handsets are not sold here for various reasons.
The situation may improve for the Finnish brand this year. The three mobile service operators ― SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom ― have said they are working on plans to sell foreign-made phones such as Nokia, Sony-Ericsson and the Apple iPhone as early as this year. The government's regulations on mobile phones, which have acted as a non-tariff barrier to foreign manufacturers, are likely to be eased as well.
Nokia and its Korean counterparts have not confirmed this.
``We have always said that we are open to exploring opportunities in Korea if and when there is acceptance from Korean telecom operators of Open Mobile Architecture,'' Louise Ingram, communications manager of Nokia's Asia-Pacific region, said in an e-mail to The Korea Times.
There are ongoing negotiations on the sale of Nokia's multimedia phones, multiple sources say. A high-ranking official of one of the firms said that SK Telecom and KTF are playing a tug-of-war with the company about the modification of smart-phone models, especially the popular S60 series, to fit South Korea's regulatory and technological standards. And the Korean firms have recently become less fussy and more active in the negotiations, he said.
``Nokia can provide WCDMA phones at unmatched prices thanks to its history of making such phones and its global logistics network. It is an attractive option for Korean mobile service firms who are again engaged in a marketing war with the launch of the WCDMA service,'' the source said on condition of anonymity.
The reason that Nokia is receiving fresh attention in Korea after years of being ignored is the introduction of the so-called third-generation mobile platform, or WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access), last year.
South Korea is one of the few countries that use the mobile communication platform called CDMA, while the rest of the world uses GSM platform. Along with regulatory issues, the decision to take the CDMA side has differentiated South Korea from other big markets, which has benefited Korean phone makers in competition with GSM-focused makers such as Nokia at the expense of consumers.
Since WCDMA is an universal platform and the Finnish brand owns many core technologies there and can produce good phones at lower prices compared to other makers, it has a good shot at beating out Korean makers once it is given a level ground to compete on, the source said.
Another opportunity for the company is the government's plan to open the mobile phone market to new players other than the three existing carriers.
According to the plan, new firms can sell mobile phones that operate on the networks of either of the three firms for a fee. Foreign phone makers may consider using the chance to set up their own sales channel in Korea because they have been obstructed by mobile operators' power here and have been discriminated against, said Kim Hoi-taek, an analyst at Infides, a consulting firm in Seoul.
Many believe that once it is unleashed from the government's regulations, Nokia can prevail here as it has been in other nations. It has been the No. 1 mobile device manufacturer since 1998. Last year, it held 40 percent of the global mobile phone market, which was bigger than the sum of the shares of Samsung, Motorola and Sony-Ericsson. Moreover, the gap between Nokia and others is continuing to expand.
Even more astounding than its sales volume is the phone maker's ability to create profit. While the operating margin at Samsung, Sony-Ericsson and LG are around 10 percent of their sales, Nokia raised its margin to 24 percent of sales in the fourth quarter of 2007.
The firm attributes such stellar performance to various aspects such as brand, wide product portfolio, large production scale, efficient global production and distribution and technology leadership. It has also received a good reputation from pundits for its commitment to openness and open platforms.
Manufacturing Prowess
Ironically, South Korea has been of assistance to Nokia's success. The company operates a phone manufacturing subsidiary named Nokia TMC in Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, which is one of its major global manufacturing bases.
This year, the plant aims to produce 41 million phones, about half of what Samsung Electronics makes in its Korean factories.
``We actually have a large presence in Korea with one of our key factory facilities located in Masan,'' said Ingram, the Nokia public relations official.
``Today, Nokia TMC is the largest mobile phone manufacturing facility in South Korea while being one of Nokia's largest manufacturing centers worldwide. Together with our other manufacturing facilities located in Asia such as in India and China, our factory in Korea helps provide Nokia products for worldwide sales, so Korea is a very important center of manufacturing excellence for Nokia,'' she said.
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