SEC spearheads new memory chip market
This year will mark the opening of an era when NAND flash chips, a type of flash memory chip, will begin to be used as the auxiliary memory of computers. The 256 gigabyte solid state drive (256 GB SSD) that Samsung Electronics unveiled on Monday will usher in the era. Thus far, hard disk drives have been the standard as the auxiliary memory of computers, but large capacity SSD has the potential to bring about a paradigm shift in the IT product market. Among other shortfalls, HDD is noisy, and vulnerable to shocks, and consumes a lot of energy; but it has been widely used as the main auxiliary memory of computers because it boasts large storage capacity. SSD is lighter and consumers less energy than HDD, and thus is highly regarded as a next-generation memory device, with one drawback being its limited storage capacity. SEC developed the SSD for the first time in March 2006, and a 128 GB SSD early this year, before developing the 256 GB SSD, which effectively doubled the storage capacity of its predecessor in a matter of only four months.The outlook for the SSD market is very bright. According to I-Supply, a semiconductor market survey firm, the global SSD market will see a nine-fold increase in value from $300 million this year to $2.7 billion next year. The market is expected to expand by an annual average of 124 percent toward 2012. The development of the large capacity SSD is surely welcome news, but the problem is its hefty price. The SSD being produced with current technology is nearly 10 times as expensive as an HDD, and thus cannot generate adequate demand for mass production. However, it did not take a long time before large-sized mobile phones advanced to become cutting-edge gadgets. Likewise, if SEC steps up efforts to develop better technology, our dream of reducing PC sizes will become a reality. We have high expectations for heightened efforts by SEC.
※ Copyrights ⓒ The Financial News. All rights reserved. This article may not be published, rewritten or redistributed.
http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSOD&mid=sec&sid1=108&oid=014&aid=0001980631
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Mobile subscribers really do want more choice
What is the mobile subscribers want in true feeling? Choice!
According to a consumer survey published last Wednesday by IBM' s Institute for Business Value, 80% consumers say that they prefer the supplier who gives a more choice in the application and the service available on their mobile device.
The market for Mobile Internet services will reach 80 billion dollars by 2011 and the number of mobile Internet users will reach 1 billon by 2011. The possibility of ISP (Internet service Providers) surviving in this large scale market depends on plenty of application program available.
ISP (AT& T or Comcast) may keep their customers from accessing Facebook or Skype. They can provide open access also. As the internet goes mobile, last November Verizon Wireless announced it will experiment open access. So open network companies such as Google see a huge opportunity. Google develop an new open operating system platform for mobile phones called Android.
The mobile operators should offer more freedom of selection to customer and not charge a premium.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9950016-7.html
According to a consumer survey published last Wednesday by IBM' s Institute for Business Value, 80% consumers say that they prefer the supplier who gives a more choice in the application and the service available on their mobile device.
The market for Mobile Internet services will reach 80 billion dollars by 2011 and the number of mobile Internet users will reach 1 billon by 2011. The possibility of ISP (Internet service Providers) surviving in this large scale market depends on plenty of application program available.
ISP (AT& T or Comcast) may keep their customers from accessing Facebook or Skype. They can provide open access also. As the internet goes mobile, last November Verizon Wireless announced it will experiment open access. So open network companies such as Google see a huge opportunity. Google develop an new open operating system platform for mobile phones called Android.
The mobile operators should offer more freedom of selection to customer and not charge a premium.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9950016-7.html
Google Finally Bows to Privacy Advocates
Do you think that your privacy is protected well on the Internet?
Google Maps Street View Gripes service could invade people’s privacy because it takes pictures of street views including the faces of walking people without prior consent and offers the pictures to anyone connecting the service.
People may think that they receive mental suffering and decrease of their asset worth. They request their faces be blurred and an image of their house be removed from the service. Some people sue Google claiming Street Views violated their privacy and devalued their property. In response to a lengthy privacy backlash Google announced it will blur all faces in its service in the third week of May.
A new technology should not violate privacy laws.
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006970.html
Google Maps Street View Gripes service could invade people’s privacy because it takes pictures of street views including the faces of walking people without prior consent and offers the pictures to anyone connecting the service.
People may think that they receive mental suffering and decrease of their asset worth. They request their faces be blurred and an image of their house be removed from the service. Some people sue Google claiming Street Views violated their privacy and devalued their property. In response to a lengthy privacy backlash Google announced it will blur all faces in its service in the third week of May.
A new technology should not violate privacy laws.
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006970.html
Rape Victims Turn to Internet for Counseling
Do you have ever turned to internet for counseling?
Online counseling is not only affirmative but also negative.
Young generation is doing practically everything online. Telling the story of oneself may become additional damage to younger victims of sexual crime.
Younger victims have a hard time talking about rape - even to their best friends. There are several other teens and young adults who are turning to YouTube, MySpace and Facebook to talk about their assaults.
E-therapy is just as good as face to face counseling and better than doing nothing for certain issues.
Anonymous and less judgemental online therapy attracts Teen Victims. There are some problems that people trying to help the victims are well-intentioned but they are unqualified and have no training.
An article as below is the introduction of several rape victims.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/MindMoodNews/Story?id=4873144&page=1
Online counseling is not only affirmative but also negative.
Young generation is doing practically everything online. Telling the story of oneself may become additional damage to younger victims of sexual crime.
Younger victims have a hard time talking about rape - even to their best friends. There are several other teens and young adults who are turning to YouTube, MySpace and Facebook to talk about their assaults.
E-therapy is just as good as face to face counseling and better than doing nothing for certain issues.
Anonymous and less judgemental online therapy attracts Teen Victims. There are some problems that people trying to help the victims are well-intentioned but they are unqualified and have no training.
An article as below is the introduction of several rape victims.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/MindMoodNews/Story?id=4873144&page=1
Six Reasons to Start Considering WiMax Today
http://wireless.itworld.com/4263/why-to-consider-wimax-080519/page_1.html
Sukgu's comment - Technologically, strenthening mobility sounds nice. However, personally, I don't like this kind of mobile development because it strenthens the binding companies workforce. I have experience of disadvantage of mobility. In summer vacation, when I spent time with my family in the ocean, I got call from my company for the sudden emergency work. I should work by sacrificing the vacation. I just wanted to destroy my mobile phone at that time.
It's a Wi-Fi world, but Wi-Fi has its own set of problems. Now, mobile WiMax may provide corporations with another, better way of networking the mobile workforce.
Sukgu's comment - Technologically, strenthening mobility sounds nice. However, personally, I don't like this kind of mobile development because it strenthens the binding companies workforce. I have experience of disadvantage of mobility. In summer vacation, when I spent time with my family in the ocean, I got call from my company for the sudden emergency work. I should work by sacrificing the vacation. I just wanted to destroy my mobile phone at that time.
It's a Wi-Fi world, but Wi-Fi has its own set of problems. Now, mobile WiMax may provide corporations with another, better way of networking the mobile workforce.
Dell reports strong first-quarter earnings
http://www.itworld.com/Tech/5050/dell-reports-strong-earnings-080529/
Sukgu's comment - In the past time people preferred desktop for the usage in the home because laptop's performance was much below than desktop. However, thanks to the development of technology there is no such gap between desktop and laptop. That's why many people try to buy laptop thesedays even for people who don't have much needs for portability. One more thing I would like to add is that the key success factors for computer manufactureres have changed from the technology to cost. I'm waiting for the time that I can buy the laptop with decent features at the cost of KRW 200,000.
Dell on Thursday reported strong earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2009, with laptop revenue growth offsetting a drop in desktop revenue.
Sukgu's comment - In the past time people preferred desktop for the usage in the home because laptop's performance was much below than desktop. However, thanks to the development of technology there is no such gap between desktop and laptop. That's why many people try to buy laptop thesedays even for people who don't have much needs for portability. One more thing I would like to add is that the key success factors for computer manufactureres have changed from the technology to cost. I'm waiting for the time that I can buy the laptop with decent features at the cost of KRW 200,000.
Dell on Thursday reported strong earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2009, with laptop revenue growth offsetting a drop in desktop revenue.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
HP's Rosy Outlook May Not Be Enough to Ease Worries
http://www.cio-today.com/news/HP--Rosy-Outlook--But-Worries-Remain/story.xhtml?story_id=13100C3LGVTX
Sukgu's comment - This article reminds me of IBM's succeful transition from computer manufacturers to solution providers. Many IT companies (actually almost all companies in every industries) are facing with the issue of change, grow, and diversify because the surrounding environment doesn't allow them to do nothing. For the survival, every company is required to change in any way. However, it's always not easy and risky to to something that we have no experience. Thus, many companies use M&A as the way to jump into the new field. But, failure rate of M&A is much higher than success rate.
Among other challenges, HP will likely have to make substantial layoffs from a combined work force of 210,000 employees while trying to blend two different corporate cultures after the EDS deal closes late this year. HP is counting on EDS to boost the demand for its services and computers among major companies and government agencies.
Sukgu's comment - This article reminds me of IBM's succeful transition from computer manufacturers to solution providers. Many IT companies (actually almost all companies in every industries) are facing with the issue of change, grow, and diversify because the surrounding environment doesn't allow them to do nothing. For the survival, every company is required to change in any way. However, it's always not easy and risky to to something that we have no experience. Thus, many companies use M&A as the way to jump into the new field. But, failure rate of M&A is much higher than success rate.
Among other challenges, HP will likely have to make substantial layoffs from a combined work force of 210,000 employees while trying to blend two different corporate cultures after the EDS deal closes late this year. HP is counting on EDS to boost the demand for its services and computers among major companies and government agencies.
The New Push for the Paperless Office
http://www.cio-today.com/news/The-New-Push-To-Get-Rid-of-Paper/story.xhtml?story_id=13100BOFIKVI
Sukgu's comment - I think the reasons many people in the office still use papers a lot are that it is more easy to read and understand and that many higher managers still prefer to be reported through papers rather than electronic files. My company is making the material that is used to produce paper. Thus, we don't have strict rules to reduce our consumption of papers. Even in some cases, especially in sales division, they boost to consume papers more. The consumption of paper is not only the issue of economies but also the issue of environment. We have to change our way of working.
Another way to reduce paper is to restrict the number of printers per employee. Boosting the employee-to-printer ratio to about 8 to 1 slows paper consumption by making printing that much less convenient. "CIOs are realizing how much waste is generated by their printers and copiers and fax machines," says Craig Le Clair of Forrester Research.
Judge Says Dell Misled Customers with False Advertising
http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=13100C7XGPQ4&page=2
Sukgu's comment - As a student and a pratitioner in the business field, there is no clear guideline to separate what is wrong and what is good. In many cases, common good is the criteria to determine above issue. However, sometimes what I have to do is making money, and that is the measurement criteria. I remember the telling from the strategy management class. That is "People in the Business Administration dream about monopoly, while economists dream about perfect competition." Then, what could be the last line that is tolerable.
According to the judge, Dell ads offered promotions like free flat-panel monitors, additional memory, rebates, instant discounts and financing with no interest or no payments for a period to "well qualified" or "best qualified" customers. However, as few as 7 percent of New York applicants qualified for some promotions.
Sukgu's comment - As a student and a pratitioner in the business field, there is no clear guideline to separate what is wrong and what is good. In many cases, common good is the criteria to determine above issue. However, sometimes what I have to do is making money, and that is the measurement criteria. I remember the telling from the strategy management class. That is "People in the Business Administration dream about monopoly, while economists dream about perfect competition." Then, what could be the last line that is tolerable.
According to the judge, Dell ads offered promotions like free flat-panel monitors, additional memory, rebates, instant discounts and financing with no interest or no payments for a period to "well qualified" or "best qualified" customers. However, as few as 7 percent of New York applicants qualified for some promotions.
Microsoft and Apple Cozy Up for Office 2008 for Mac
http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=131007L3XAM1
Sugu's comment - Apple and MS have not been getting along well. I think it's because MS has always tried to have monopoly and Apple has put importance in originality. However, improvement in their relationship is in progress for the win-win results.
The Apple version of Office does not come with Outlook, the excellent e-mail client for Windows, but rather substitutes Entourage. I like Entourage, which also can sync with local ISPs or corporate Exchange e-mail systems. People either love Entourage or hate it; the latter crowd ends up with Apple's native e-mail client or something like Thunderbird.
Sugu's comment - Apple and MS have not been getting along well. I think it's because MS has always tried to have monopoly and Apple has put importance in originality. However, improvement in their relationship is in progress for the win-win results.
The Apple version of Office does not come with Outlook, the excellent e-mail client for Windows, but rather substitutes Entourage. I like Entourage, which also can sync with local ISPs or corporate Exchange e-mail systems. People either love Entourage or hate it; the latter crowd ends up with Apple's native e-mail client or something like Thunderbird.
AFLS (Analogue Format Loss Syndrome)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/28/technology/ptpogue29.php
Analog obsolescence? There may be help
By David Pogue, International Herald Tribune
May 29, 2008
Millions of baby boomers today live in fear of being diagnosed with AFLS. or Analog Format Loss Syndrome, the depressing realization that all your old photo prints, cassette tapes and vinyl records risk being lost to the dustbin of obsolete analog equipment.
But with just a few changes to your lifestyle, you can avoid becoming another AFLS statistic.
Where there's a problem, there's an entrepreneur to exploit it. Three new AFLS remedies have just hit the market: a photo converter from Hammacher Schlemmer, a cassette-tape converter from Ion and an LP-converting turntable, also from Ion. All three purport to simplify turning the relics of your analog life into shiny new digital files. But not all of them improve on existing conversion technology.
Analog obsolescence? There may be help
By David Pogue, International Herald Tribune
May 29, 2008
Millions of baby boomers today live in fear of being diagnosed with AFLS. or Analog Format Loss Syndrome, the depressing realization that all your old photo prints, cassette tapes and vinyl records risk being lost to the dustbin of obsolete analog equipment.
But with just a few changes to your lifestyle, you can avoid becoming another AFLS statistic.
Where there's a problem, there's an entrepreneur to exploit it. Three new AFLS remedies have just hit the market: a photo converter from Hammacher Schlemmer, a cassette-tape converter from Ion and an LP-converting turntable, also from Ion. All three purport to simplify turning the relics of your analog life into shiny new digital files. But not all of them improve on existing conversion technology.
Yahoo CEO Yang: Company Is Not 'Under Siege'
http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=13100EML864N
Sukgu's comment - Although there have been some successful dot.com companies, many portal companies still look to have troubles in their business. Even Yahoo, ne of most famous potal companies, worrys about their destination. As adverisement is one of important profit source in the portal companies, maintaining good popularity can be the most important factor to draw many advertisement contracts. Also, I think serching web site should invent more profitability model to maintain their sustainability.
Jerry Yang let out a single harsh snort at the first mention of Icahn's name during his appearance, but did not comment on his efforts. Instead, Yang defended his handling of the failed Microsoft talks, saying he was committed to building value for long-term shareholders even at the expense of short-term gains.
Sukgu's comment - Although there have been some successful dot.com companies, many portal companies still look to have troubles in their business. Even Yahoo, ne of most famous potal companies, worrys about their destination. As adverisement is one of important profit source in the portal companies, maintaining good popularity can be the most important factor to draw many advertisement contracts. Also, I think serching web site should invent more profitability model to maintain their sustainability.
Jerry Yang let out a single harsh snort at the first mention of Icahn's name during his appearance, but did not comment on his efforts. Instead, Yang defended his handling of the failed Microsoft talks, saying he was committed to building value for long-term shareholders even at the expense of short-term gains.
Kim Beom Soo's new choice : Buru.com
Mr. Kim is so famous for venture entrepreneur of Korea as founder of HanGame and former CEO of NHN.
Now he left the his company, NHN and he did found new investment company IWIL LAB in Bundang that had invested Buru.com ( http://www.buru.com/).
He said that he wanted to launch and success new 10 company during his life to his company’s employee while he left NHN at the farewell party.
Buru.com (www.buru.com) is that users can collect web contents into collections and easily share them in buru.com.
When looking at a glance this site, it seems to be similar with another blog site but it is different somewhat for use to use this site’s function.
I hope to hear success story from newspaper that he can success in this new business.
Now he left the his company, NHN and he did found new investment company IWIL LAB in Bundang that had invested Buru.com ( http://www.buru.com/).
He said that he wanted to launch and success new 10 company during his life to his company’s employee while he left NHN at the farewell party.
Buru.com (www.buru.com) is that users can collect web contents into collections and easily share them in buru.com.
When looking at a glance this site, it seems to be similar with another blog site but it is different somewhat for use to use this site’s function.
I hope to hear success story from newspaper that he can success in this new business.
This is the article about his new business.
Open Architeture : Studio Wikitecture
This is so interesting movie clips for understanding collective intelligent power as web 2.0 movie clip that professor morin showed at the class.
(from http://www.wethinkthebook.net/book/home.aspx, Charles Leadbeater)
Using this collective intelligence, some people think this concept, open architecture called wikitecture.
This is the blog of wikitecture's frontier group. Enjoy the innovative new concept of wikism or wikinomics.
http://studiowikitecture.wordpress.com/
Improving Architecture and City Planning by Harnessing the Ideas behind ............................. Mass Collaboration, Social Networking, Wikis, Folksonomies, Open Source, Prosumers, Networked Intelligence, Crowd Sourcing, Crowd Wisdom, Smart Mobs, Peer Production, Lightweight Collaboration, Emergent Intelligence, Social Production, Self-Organized Communities, Collective Genius, Loose Networks of Peers, Collaborative Infrastructures, Open platforms, Wiki Workplace, Open Innovation, Horizontal Networks, Collective Intelligence, Global Innovation Networks, Swarm Intelligence, Decentralized Collaboration, Participatory Culture, Web 2.0...and the like.
(from http://www.wethinkthebook.net/book/home.aspx, Charles Leadbeater)
Using this collective intelligence, some people think this concept, open architecture called wikitecture.
This is the blog of wikitecture's frontier group. Enjoy the innovative new concept of wikism or wikinomics.
http://studiowikitecture.wordpress.com/
Improving Architecture and City Planning by Harnessing the Ideas behind ............................. Mass Collaboration, Social Networking, Wikis, Folksonomies, Open Source, Prosumers, Networked Intelligence, Crowd Sourcing, Crowd Wisdom, Smart Mobs, Peer Production, Lightweight Collaboration, Emergent Intelligence, Social Production, Self-Organized Communities, Collective Genius, Loose Networks of Peers, Collaborative Infrastructures, Open platforms, Wiki Workplace, Open Innovation, Horizontal Networks, Collective Intelligence, Global Innovation Networks, Swarm Intelligence, Decentralized Collaboration, Participatory Culture, Web 2.0...and the like.
Microsoft vs. Google
Technology has its feuds, too--some of them to the death. The most recent example is Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD. Below is the one of questions among 14 classic tech rivalries. Which do you think the winner? Here are details of MS and Google.
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What's So Great About Microsoft?
In just 30 years, Microsoft has produced an array of successful products--notably, the Windows operating systems--that not only dominate, but in some cases define how the world does business. Microsoft has shown that it knows how to create and sell software better than any other company in history. So far. But as businesses gradually switch to open-source and Web-hosted services, Microsoft could see that dominance wither. The company's inability to win large audiences for its online products and services, plus the steady growth in popularity of Macs and Linux-based PCs, may not bode well. Microsoft sometimes seems to be its own worst enemy, too. Many people in the target audience for Windows Vista are convinced that running Windows XP on their existing PCs is just fine for now. Desperate to sell new versions of Office every couple of years, Microsoft develops innovations like ribbon menus and XML file formats--but lots of users say, "Thanks, but no thanks."
What's So Great About Google?
In less than ten years, Google has grown from an upstart search engine running out of a Silicon Valley garage into a $23 billion information technology powerhouse. Along the way, Google has broadened its portfolio of products and services by introducing game-changing technology to an existing market (Pagerank, Gmail) or by acquiring other promising companies and their products (Blogger, Writely). Unfortunately its march toward world dominance causes unease among privacy experts. Sound familiar? Though its approach isn't quite the same as Microsoft's lethal "embrace, extend, extinguish" modus operandi, Google has certainly managed to grab significant market share in some areas, while generating revenue along the way. But can it actually beat Microsoft in its strongest suites?
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,146068-page,8-c,technology/article.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What's So Great About Microsoft?
In just 30 years, Microsoft has produced an array of successful products--notably, the Windows operating systems--that not only dominate, but in some cases define how the world does business. Microsoft has shown that it knows how to create and sell software better than any other company in history. So far. But as businesses gradually switch to open-source and Web-hosted services, Microsoft could see that dominance wither. The company's inability to win large audiences for its online products and services, plus the steady growth in popularity of Macs and Linux-based PCs, may not bode well. Microsoft sometimes seems to be its own worst enemy, too. Many people in the target audience for Windows Vista are convinced that running Windows XP on their existing PCs is just fine for now. Desperate to sell new versions of Office every couple of years, Microsoft develops innovations like ribbon menus and XML file formats--but lots of users say, "Thanks, but no thanks."
What's So Great About Google?
In less than ten years, Google has grown from an upstart search engine running out of a Silicon Valley garage into a $23 billion information technology powerhouse. Along the way, Google has broadened its portfolio of products and services by introducing game-changing technology to an existing market (Pagerank, Gmail) or by acquiring other promising companies and their products (Blogger, Writely). Unfortunately its march toward world dominance causes unease among privacy experts. Sound familiar? Though its approach isn't quite the same as Microsoft's lethal "embrace, extend, extinguish" modus operandi, Google has certainly managed to grab significant market share in some areas, while generating revenue along the way. But can it actually beat Microsoft in its strongest suites?
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,146068-page,8-c,technology/article.html
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Verizon Wireless)
We will use Black Berry in several months.
Many experts are expecting that Black Berry will not success in Korea because Korean users prefer SMS to e-mail by thier cellphones.
What do you think?
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Verizon Wireless)
Just as Sprint has been long overdue for the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330, so has Verizon Wireless. However, the time has come for the carrier, and we're happy to say it was worth the wait. With its full QWERTY keyboard and well-rounded feature set, the BlackBerry Curve 8330 is a nice compromise between the RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 and the RIM BlackBerry 8830 World Edition. The smartphone also has integrated GPS, Bluetooth, and a 2-megapixel camera. We are slightly miffed that Verizon has once again stripped out any support for its V Cast multimedia services, especially since Sprint's Curve offers such capabilities. However, in the grand scheme of things, this is a minor issue. The Curve delivers where it counts--voice and messaging--and all with a great design to boot, so we give it a big thumbs up. The RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 for Verizon Wireless is available now for as low as $149.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts. [More...]
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Personal View
By Peter Whitehead, Digital Business editor
Published: May 12 2008 11:08 | Last updated: May 12 2008 11:08
Digital Business is offering IT industry experts the chance to air their views on a range of vital topics.
For this new Personal View Online series, we have commissioned six articles on each subject. These will be published during successive three-week periods (on Mondays and Thursdays).
If you have strong views on the subect and would like to write a response, which we might publish, send it in an e-mail to digitalbusiness@ft.com.
Our first subject is utility computing, hosted services, software-as-a-service, on-demand computing, the cloud – call it what you will. The first article is published here; the second, looking more closely at the balance between utility and individuality, appears here on Thursday.
A summary of highlights from the series of articles will also appear in the first available print edition.
Our second topic is IT in Financial Services, with articles appearing in the three weeks from June 2, to be followed by Web 2.0 Strategies for Business, starting on June 23.
Peter Whitehead, Digital Business editor
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Published: May 12 2008 11:08 | Last updated: May 12 2008 11:08
Digital Business is offering IT industry experts the chance to air their views on a range of vital topics.
For this new Personal View Online series, we have commissioned six articles on each subject. These will be published during successive three-week periods (on Mondays and Thursdays).
If you have strong views on the subect and would like to write a response, which we might publish, send it in an e-mail to digitalbusiness@ft.com.
Our first subject is utility computing, hosted services, software-as-a-service, on-demand computing, the cloud – call it what you will. The first article is published here; the second, looking more closely at the balance between utility and individuality, appears here on Thursday.
A summary of highlights from the series of articles will also appear in the first available print edition.
Our second topic is IT in Financial Services, with articles appearing in the three weeks from June 2, to be followed by Web 2.0 Strategies for Business, starting on June 23.
Peter Whitehead, Digital Business editor
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Utililty computing: The shift to software as a service has already happened
In 2008, the popular trend website, trendwatching.com, outlined a number of observations about changing consumer habits. Two in particular resonated – the rise of a concept called “transumerism” and the observation that consumers are moving rapidly towards becoming “trysumers”.
Transumerism is where people are driven by experiences rather than objects and try at all costs to avoid the hassles of permanent ownership. Trysumers are described as “transient, experienced consumers who are becoming more daring in how and what they consume, thanks to a wide range of societal and technological changes”.
While these two trends were originally outlined in terms of response to mass consumer goods, there is a strong link forming between how people consume mass market goods and technology offerings such as Google, Facebook, iTunes, and how, in a business context, these same people are moving away from a fixed, on-premise and “owned” IT infrastructure to a model of software as a service. The current (and future) generation expects IT simply to work – to be available 24/7 and to deliver what they expect – both at home and at work.
This is not a future-focused prediction – it’s happening now in businesses across the world. If we look at the history of IT as we know it, there have been three major shifts – firstly with mainframe computing, which then moved towards the PC and client server era and now, we’re very much in the throes of the software as a service era.
Large companies, however, are not instantly going to be able to walk away from previous investments and an entrenched IT department. Any changes in how people consume IT don’t just suddenly happen – they can take a number of years. But software as a service is already here and has been for years, so in essence the theory behind Nicholas Carr’s “Big Switch” idea has already become reality.
The shift away from “owned” IT was first noticeable in the SME sector, which no longer needed or could justify funding large IT departments to make their businesses work. SMEs were the first to realise that by using web-delivered applications, they could focus on their business and deliver on their core strengths, rather than worrying about whether a clunky old server they had purchased would just work the way it was meant to. There is also a high cost reduction involved for small businesses through not requiring a dedicated IT department, or specialist on hand, in the event of technical problems with the server.
Proof points on how this is working – and how it is rapidly building steam – are all around us. My former company, Salesforce.com, has more than 30,000 customers in the UK alone. At Velocix, we host and deliver large digital assets such as video, software and games over the web. For a new media company to set up and manage back-end systems capable of delivering rich media to its customers takes a big investment both in physical spend and in time resources. Being able to buy such a service on a subscription basis frees up resources to focus on the core business activities.
As larger organisations see how nimble and flexible those using utility computing can be, we will definitely see this era grow and develop. Large enterprises will require their IT departments to change focus from being “maintainers” to helping them plan and implement smaller projects using “pay as you need” services.
There will not be a sudden shift and in terms of software being delivered as a service we are most definitely already there, but what we will see is the growth and maturity of this computing era.
Transumerism is where people are driven by experiences rather than objects and try at all costs to avoid the hassles of permanent ownership. Trysumers are described as “transient, experienced consumers who are becoming more daring in how and what they consume, thanks to a wide range of societal and technological changes”.
While these two trends were originally outlined in terms of response to mass consumer goods, there is a strong link forming between how people consume mass market goods and technology offerings such as Google, Facebook, iTunes, and how, in a business context, these same people are moving away from a fixed, on-premise and “owned” IT infrastructure to a model of software as a service. The current (and future) generation expects IT simply to work – to be available 24/7 and to deliver what they expect – both at home and at work.
This is not a future-focused prediction – it’s happening now in businesses across the world. If we look at the history of IT as we know it, there have been three major shifts – firstly with mainframe computing, which then moved towards the PC and client server era and now, we’re very much in the throes of the software as a service era.
Large companies, however, are not instantly going to be able to walk away from previous investments and an entrenched IT department. Any changes in how people consume IT don’t just suddenly happen – they can take a number of years. But software as a service is already here and has been for years, so in essence the theory behind Nicholas Carr’s “Big Switch” idea has already become reality.
The shift away from “owned” IT was first noticeable in the SME sector, which no longer needed or could justify funding large IT departments to make their businesses work. SMEs were the first to realise that by using web-delivered applications, they could focus on their business and deliver on their core strengths, rather than worrying about whether a clunky old server they had purchased would just work the way it was meant to. There is also a high cost reduction involved for small businesses through not requiring a dedicated IT department, or specialist on hand, in the event of technical problems with the server.
Proof points on how this is working – and how it is rapidly building steam – are all around us. My former company, Salesforce.com, has more than 30,000 customers in the UK alone. At Velocix, we host and deliver large digital assets such as video, software and games over the web. For a new media company to set up and manage back-end systems capable of delivering rich media to its customers takes a big investment both in physical spend and in time resources. Being able to buy such a service on a subscription basis frees up resources to focus on the core business activities.
As larger organisations see how nimble and flexible those using utility computing can be, we will definitely see this era grow and develop. Large enterprises will require their IT departments to change focus from being “maintainers” to helping them plan and implement smaller projects using “pay as you need” services.
There will not be a sudden shift and in terms of software being delivered as a service we are most definitely already there, but what we will see is the growth and maturity of this computing era.
RFID/USN standard council established
http://www.koreaitdaily.com/ddaily/
The first intra-governmental RFID/USN RFID/ USN standard conference was held with high-ranking government officials from 15 governmental organizations involved in 17 major businesses and 20 experts from the private sector participating in. The standard council is expected to discuss main issues regarding RFID/USN standardization applied to the 17 RFID/USN main businesses including standards on frequency and information projection, requirement for those who use services, guidelines required to set up RFID/USN system and etc. At the first intra-governmental RFID/USN standard conference held on the 26th, participants discussed future directions of RFID/USN related policies and decided operation regulations for RFID/USN intra-governmental standard council.
The first intra-governmental RFID/USN RFID/ USN standard conference was held with high-ranking government officials from 15 governmental organizations involved in 17 major businesses and 20 experts from the private sector participating in. The standard council is expected to discuss main issues regarding RFID/USN standardization applied to the 17 RFID/USN main businesses including standards on frequency and information projection, requirement for those who use services, guidelines required to set up RFID/USN system and etc. At the first intra-governmental RFID/USN standard conference held on the 26th, participants discussed future directions of RFID/USN related policies and decided operation regulations for RFID/USN intra-governmental standard council.
New MP3 Revolutionizes Way You Listen to Music
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2008/05/129_24597.html
If you are a serious guitar-master wannabe and you want to focus on the tune of Brian May's guitar and don't want to hear Freddie Mercury's voice and Roger Tailor drumming in Queen songs, then this may be what you have been looking for. Korean computer engineers are introducing a new digital music format that has separate controls on the sound volume for each musical instrument, such as guitar, drum, base and voice -- an ideal tool for music lovers of different tastes as well as karaoke fans.The new format, which has a file extension format of MT9 and a commercial title of Music 2.0, is poised to replace the popular MP3 file format as the de facto standard of the digital music source, its inventors say.The MT9 technology was first conceived by Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and is being shaped into commercial use by venture company Audizen. It was selected as a candidate item for the new digital music standard at a regular meeting of Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), the international body of the digital music and video industry, held in France late April. ``We made presentations to the participants and they were all surprised to see it. They immediately voted to make it a candidate for the digital music standard,'' said Ham Seung-chul, chief of Audizen. He is expecting it will be formerly selected as an international standard in the MPEG forum's next meeting to be held in Germany June. The distinctive feature of MT9 format is that it has a six-channel audio equalizer, with each channel dedicated to voice, chorus, piano, guitar, base and drum. For example, if a user turns off the voice channel, it becomes a karaoke player. Or one can turn off all the instruments and concentrate on the voice of the main singer as if he or she is singing a cappella. Ham says that the music industry should change its attitude to the market as music is becoming a digital service, rather than a physical product. MT9 is the ideal fit for the next generation of music business because it can be used for multiple services and products, such as iPhones, PCs, mobile phones and karaoke bars, he says.Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are both interested in equipping their mobile phones with an MT9 player and their first commercial products are likely to debut early next year, he said. If selected as an international format, the MT9 technology can earn big for both Audizen and ETRI, a governmental research institute. ETRI said that it holds three international and six domestic patents for the technology and is planning to file two more this year. The MT9 files are served in an album package. Audizen is currently selling a limited choice of albums at 2,000 won to 3,000 won on its Web site. More albums are being recorded in the format and even very old albums, such as Queen's or Deulgookhwa's, can be made into MT9 files if they have a digitally re-mastered music source, Ham said. Unlike other digital formats exclusively used by big companies such as SK Telecom, Audizen allows users to copy the MT9 files, making it a more attractive format. ``It's like having a CD or cassette tape. Once you buy it, you can lend it to your friends. We don't want to be too fussy about DRM (digital right management),'' he said.
If you are a serious guitar-master wannabe and you want to focus on the tune of Brian May's guitar and don't want to hear Freddie Mercury's voice and Roger Tailor drumming in Queen songs, then this may be what you have been looking for. Korean computer engineers are introducing a new digital music format that has separate controls on the sound volume for each musical instrument, such as guitar, drum, base and voice -- an ideal tool for music lovers of different tastes as well as karaoke fans.The new format, which has a file extension format of MT9 and a commercial title of Music 2.0, is poised to replace the popular MP3 file format as the de facto standard of the digital music source, its inventors say.The MT9 technology was first conceived by Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and is being shaped into commercial use by venture company Audizen. It was selected as a candidate item for the new digital music standard at a regular meeting of Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), the international body of the digital music and video industry, held in France late April. ``We made presentations to the participants and they were all surprised to see it. They immediately voted to make it a candidate for the digital music standard,'' said Ham Seung-chul, chief of Audizen. He is expecting it will be formerly selected as an international standard in the MPEG forum's next meeting to be held in Germany June. The distinctive feature of MT9 format is that it has a six-channel audio equalizer, with each channel dedicated to voice, chorus, piano, guitar, base and drum. For example, if a user turns off the voice channel, it becomes a karaoke player. Or one can turn off all the instruments and concentrate on the voice of the main singer as if he or she is singing a cappella. Ham says that the music industry should change its attitude to the market as music is becoming a digital service, rather than a physical product. MT9 is the ideal fit for the next generation of music business because it can be used for multiple services and products, such as iPhones, PCs, mobile phones and karaoke bars, he says.Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are both interested in equipping their mobile phones with an MT9 player and their first commercial products are likely to debut early next year, he said. If selected as an international format, the MT9 technology can earn big for both Audizen and ETRI, a governmental research institute. ETRI said that it holds three international and six domestic patents for the technology and is planning to file two more this year. The MT9 files are served in an album package. Audizen is currently selling a limited choice of albums at 2,000 won to 3,000 won on its Web site. More albums are being recorded in the format and even very old albums, such as Queen's or Deulgookhwa's, can be made into MT9 files if they have a digitally re-mastered music source, Ham said. Unlike other digital formats exclusively used by big companies such as SK Telecom, Audizen allows users to copy the MT9 files, making it a more attractive format. ``It's like having a CD or cassette tape. Once you buy it, you can lend it to your friends. We don't want to be too fussy about DRM (digital right management),'' he said.
Google highlights OpenSocial, Gears at I/O event
http://utilitycomputing.itworld.com/4594/google-highlights-opensocial-gears-080528/page_1.html
Google has upgraded its OpenSocial platform with a new REST (representational state transfer) API for applications that need to tap back-end servers for data and functionality.
This capability had been eagerly awaited by developers creating OpenSocial applications, particularly because having the REST API (application programming interface) is considered key for mobile applications.
Version 0.8 of OpenSocial also enhances the platform's JavaScript API, Google announced Wednesday at its I/O developer conference.
"This represents the next evolution of the OpenSocial API, which was scoped, specified and built via an open process run by the community," wrote Google product manager Dan Peterson in the OpenSocial blog.
OpenSocial is a project that provides a set of basic APIs so developers don't have to fully re-write an application to have it run on each social-networking site. The JavaScript API modifications are detailed in version 0.8's release notes.
In a related I/O announcement, Google said that MySpace is adopting its Gears technology for storing data from Web applications locally in a browser for offline access.
Specifically, MySpace will use Gears in the e-mail service it provides to its social-networking site members. To date, this is the largest implementation of Gears outside of Google and the first time MySpace has made available functionality for its users to search and sort mail.
According to MySpace, its members send an average of 170 million mail messages every day using the site's mail system. Through its local storage capability, Gears will allow them to search and sort their mail rather than having to manually scroll through their messages.
In addition, Google announced that popular blog-publishing service WordPress is also using Gears to let its users manage their blogs offline, and that Gears now also supports Apple's Safari browser and version 3 of the Firefox browser.
Also at I/O on Wednesday, the company released an API and a browser plug-in for its Google Earth mapping application. "[Developers] can now use the Earth as their canvas and apply their creative vision to a geographically rich, 3D environment, leveraging the same technologies we use in the desktop Google Earth client. For consumers, this means that they will soon see Google Earth in many more places around the Web -- perhaps even their favorite Web site," Google said in a statement.
Google has upgraded its OpenSocial platform with a new REST (representational state transfer) API for applications that need to tap back-end servers for data and functionality.
This capability had been eagerly awaited by developers creating OpenSocial applications, particularly because having the REST API (application programming interface) is considered key for mobile applications.
Version 0.8 of OpenSocial also enhances the platform's JavaScript API, Google announced Wednesday at its I/O developer conference.
"This represents the next evolution of the OpenSocial API, which was scoped, specified and built via an open process run by the community," wrote Google product manager Dan Peterson in the OpenSocial blog.
OpenSocial is a project that provides a set of basic APIs so developers don't have to fully re-write an application to have it run on each social-networking site. The JavaScript API modifications are detailed in version 0.8's release notes.
In a related I/O announcement, Google said that MySpace is adopting its Gears technology for storing data from Web applications locally in a browser for offline access.
Specifically, MySpace will use Gears in the e-mail service it provides to its social-networking site members. To date, this is the largest implementation of Gears outside of Google and the first time MySpace has made available functionality for its users to search and sort mail.
According to MySpace, its members send an average of 170 million mail messages every day using the site's mail system. Through its local storage capability, Gears will allow them to search and sort their mail rather than having to manually scroll through their messages.
In addition, Google announced that popular blog-publishing service WordPress is also using Gears to let its users manage their blogs offline, and that Gears now also supports Apple's Safari browser and version 3 of the Firefox browser.
Also at I/O on Wednesday, the company released an API and a browser plug-in for its Google Earth mapping application. "[Developers] can now use the Earth as their canvas and apply their creative vision to a geographically rich, 3D environment, leveraging the same technologies we use in the desktop Google Earth client. For consumers, this means that they will soon see Google Earth in many more places around the Web -- perhaps even their favorite Web site," Google said in a statement.
Chinese premier debuts on Facebook
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao now has a profile on one of the Web's most popular social networking sites. The page lists his interests as Chinese literature and the most American of pastimes, baseball. But it's not clear who set up the profile...
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http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/28/china.facebook/index.html
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http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/28/china.facebook/index.html
Korea's Internet Usage Rate Surpasses 80%
The article says most of Korean use internet.
Then what about other people.. 20% of people ??
I thinkg old people, very poor people can be alienated in this fields, when we think internet ethics, it would be better to consider this part,too.
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=79966&code=Ne5&category=5
Then what about other people.. 20% of people ??
I thinkg old people, very poor people can be alienated in this fields, when we think internet ethics, it would be better to consider this part,too.
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=79966&code=Ne5&category=5
New MP3 Revolutionizes Way You Listen to Music
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are both interested in equipping their mobile phones with an MT9 player and their first commercial products are likely to debut early next year. MT9 technology can earn big for both Audizen and ETRI, a governmental research institute. The new format, which has a file extension format of MT9 and a commercial title of Music 2.0, is poised to replace the popular MP3 file format as the de facto standard of the digital music source.
Where did MP3 come from?
The article says, While many people thinks MP3 come from United State by the iPod and Napster,the first one was developed in Korea TEN years ago by a venture company.
frankly speaking, I have a tendency to regard "developing and inventing" as more serious than "selling and Marketing" since I am a technician . Today I keep in mind that while developing innovative thing is important , others like desing,marketing.. can be the core.
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=80714&code=Ne5&category=5
frankly speaking, I have a tendency to regard "developing and inventing" as more serious than "selling and Marketing" since I am a technician . Today I keep in mind that while developing innovative thing is important , others like desing,marketing.. can be the core.
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=80714&code=Ne5&category=5
Touch Sensor Screens Becoming the Norm
As introduced in article, when new technology turn up, many people thinks " will be useful? will pelple like using this? will people get used to it leaving old custome? " Touch sensor screens are also. New technology which looks like unusual and strange canl be spread fast over common pleples' imagination.
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=80428&code=Ne5&category=5
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=80428&code=Ne5&category=5
Why M&A in SW industry?
Source: http://www.etnews.co.kr/news/detail.html?id=200805200023
제목: 규모의 경제를 키우자/1.영세한 국내 SW 산업구조
(Title: Economies of scale in SW industry / 1. Small domestic SW industry environment)
This article tells intersting research information that "As the size of the SW companies increases, the operational income rate increases." - Accenture
Average OI rate : 24%
OI rate of companies with revenue between $1B to $2B : 12%
OI rate of companies with revenue between $0.5B to $1B : 16%
OI rate of companies with revenue between $0.1B to $0.5B : 9%
OI rate of companies with revenue between $10M to $0.1B : -14%
제목: 규모의 경제를 키우자/1.영세한 국내 SW 산업구조
(Title: Economies of scale in SW industry / 1. Small domestic SW industry environment)
This article tells intersting research information that "As the size of the SW companies increases, the operational income rate increases." - Accenture
Average OI rate : 24%
OI rate of companies with revenue between $1B to $2B : 12%
OI rate of companies with revenue between $0.5B to $1B : 16%
OI rate of companies with revenue between $0.1B to $0.5B : 9%
OI rate of companies with revenue between $10M to $0.1B : -14%
Solution consolidation in IT industry
Hewlett-Packard said it will acquire computer services firm EDS for $25 per share, or $13.9 billion on May, 13. This intention seems to be very smililar to IBM's acquision of PWC.
Recent M&A in IT industry shows that HW vendors expands its service coverage into IT/Business Consulting service and Software including applications as well as HW.
I think this is because the market(customer) wants solution vendor to provide as many as solutions possible so that this could reduce implementation cost and maintenance cost.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9942681-7.html
I wonder which company would be the next target for HP or IBM?
- SAP, Oracle etc.....
Recent M&A in IT industry shows that HW vendors expands its service coverage into IT/Business Consulting service and Software including applications as well as HW.
I think this is because the market(customer) wants solution vendor to provide as many as solutions possible so that this could reduce implementation cost and maintenance cost.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9942681-7.html
I wonder which company would be the next target for HP or IBM?
- SAP, Oracle etc.....
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Can anything beat the iPod?
The MP3 player market is one where logic is thrown out the window and as long as the player is manufactured by Apple, it'll perform quite well. Although there have been a number of solid alternatives, none have gained ground. And by the look of things, the Zune is up next on the chopping block.
According to GameStop, it will stop selling the Zune in its stores due to insufficient demand from customers. And although it may not matter to, oh, 99 percent of you, the fact that GameStop is ditching the Zune tells you that Microsoft's media player is on its way out.
"We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," said a GameStop spokesperson. "It (also) did not fit with our product mix."
GameStop's decision to remove the Zune from its store shelves reflects an increasingly prominent notion among retailers that suggests that only the iPod is a viable product regardless of the fact that Microsoft has sold more than 2 million Zunes and its other competitors have fought valiantly.
So what's the deal? Is it really true that iPods are the only MP3 players that matter? You better believe it.
Sadly, it doesn't look like there's any real chance for any other player besides the iPod to do well in the current environment. Apple commands such a large portion of the market with its current stable of products, there's no reason to suggest any company can break in and change the way things have been done for so long.
And perhaps that's the biggest issue we're facing. Today's MP3 player market is so lopsided, most companies are basically copying the best features from each other in an attempt to take the No. 2 spot, while Apple laughs all the way to the bank.
From the very beginning, Apple understood what no other company did: people want a product that works well, but also offers the end-to-end solution that won't require them to fire up too many programs to get songs onto their devices. And although some of its competitors don't want to admit it, Apple was the first, and to be honest the only real, end-to-end solution for all consumers.
Going forward, there's no debating the fact that Apple will lead the charge, but I'm not so sure it'll stay on top forever. Who knows if something totally new will come along and supplant it as the leader in the portable audio market much like the Walkman did. If you ask me, it could happen sooner than you think.
But until then, we're stuck with a market that's utterly dominated by the iPod and products like the Zune have little chance of survival regardless of their merit as a fine device.
The competition should pack it in and try to do something new. If it doesn't, we'll be stuck with boring updates to the same devices while doing all we can to satiate our burning desire for a revolutionary device. If it's out there now, I'd surely like to see it.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9951459-7.html
According to GameStop, it will stop selling the Zune in its stores due to insufficient demand from customers. And although it may not matter to, oh, 99 percent of you, the fact that GameStop is ditching the Zune tells you that Microsoft's media player is on its way out.
"We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," said a GameStop spokesperson. "It (also) did not fit with our product mix."
GameStop's decision to remove the Zune from its store shelves reflects an increasingly prominent notion among retailers that suggests that only the iPod is a viable product regardless of the fact that Microsoft has sold more than 2 million Zunes and its other competitors have fought valiantly.
So what's the deal? Is it really true that iPods are the only MP3 players that matter? You better believe it.
Sadly, it doesn't look like there's any real chance for any other player besides the iPod to do well in the current environment. Apple commands such a large portion of the market with its current stable of products, there's no reason to suggest any company can break in and change the way things have been done for so long.
And perhaps that's the biggest issue we're facing. Today's MP3 player market is so lopsided, most companies are basically copying the best features from each other in an attempt to take the No. 2 spot, while Apple laughs all the way to the bank.
From the very beginning, Apple understood what no other company did: people want a product that works well, but also offers the end-to-end solution that won't require them to fire up too many programs to get songs onto their devices. And although some of its competitors don't want to admit it, Apple was the first, and to be honest the only real, end-to-end solution for all consumers.
Going forward, there's no debating the fact that Apple will lead the charge, but I'm not so sure it'll stay on top forever. Who knows if something totally new will come along and supplant it as the leader in the portable audio market much like the Walkman did. If you ask me, it could happen sooner than you think.
But until then, we're stuck with a market that's utterly dominated by the iPod and products like the Zune have little chance of survival regardless of their merit as a fine device.
The competition should pack it in and try to do something new. If it doesn't, we'll be stuck with boring updates to the same devices while doing all we can to satiate our burning desire for a revolutionary device. If it's out there now, I'd surely like to see it.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9951459-7.html
7 cool Bluetooth gadgets
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0805/gallery.bluetooth_gadgets.fortune/index.html
Bluetooth revolutionized electronics 10 years ago with its wireless technology that enables devices to communicate with each other. Here's a look at some of the latest Bluetooth-enabled devices.
1 of 7
1. PARTY speakers from Parrot (Black Edition) Price: Available this summer for $140
This portable, wireless speaker system lets you listen to music - beamed - from your phone or PC. It's also got a built-in technology called Near Field Communications (NFC), which allows users to pair it with a mobile device by simply tapping the two together. Unfortunately, there's just one NFC phone currently on the market, and it's only available overseas.
Correction: An earlier version of this gallery listed the wrong price for the PARTY speakers.
By Michal Lev-Ram, writer-reporter
Bluetooth revolutionized electronics 10 years ago with its wireless technology that enables devices to communicate with each other. Here's a look at some of the latest Bluetooth-enabled devices.
1 of 7
1. PARTY speakers from Parrot (Black Edition) Price: Available this summer for $140
This portable, wireless speaker system lets you listen to music - beamed - from your phone or PC. It's also got a built-in technology called Near Field Communications (NFC), which allows users to pair it with a mobile device by simply tapping the two together. Unfortunately, there's just one NFC phone currently on the market, and it's only available overseas.
Correction: An earlier version of this gallery listed the wrong price for the PARTY speakers.
By Michal Lev-Ram, writer-reporter
How to detect viruses.
Today, I would like to talk about how to detect viruses.
The recommended method of detecting and cleaning the computer from any computer viruses or other malware is an antivirus protection program. Alternatively, a user can look at various aspects of the computer and detect possible signs indicating a virus is on the computer. While this method can be used to determine some viruses, it cannot clean or determine the exact virus you may or may not have and is not recommended.
The recommended method of detecting and cleaning the computer from any computer viruses or other malware is an antivirus protection program. Alternatively, a user can look at various aspects of the computer and detect possible signs indicating a virus is on the computer. While this method can be used to determine some viruses, it cannot clean or determine the exact virus you may or may not have and is not recommended.
How is IT transforming Korea?
How is IT transforming Korea?
In Korea, the digital camera is called as Dica, for short. Until five years ago, Dica was single. All it really cared about was upgrading itself constantly by adapting everything it could possibly do to improve its image quality and its zooming ability. Four years ago, Dica went out on a first date with a camcorder and grabbed full attention from the publicity. A year later, it changed its partner to an MP3 player, but it was soon found itself together with a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP). The second generation digital cameras and cellular phones are thinking of moving in together, calling themselves DicaPhone, meaning Digital Camera Phone.So, how are the digital camera and its changing partners changing Korea? Koreans have become more familiar with the visual media than printed media over the last five years. Studies show that people today are more in favor of being entertained by images and video than reading. The National Statistical Office analyzed that the workers in the city area are spending 34.9% on entertainment. On the other hand, the expense rate on books and magazines stopped at 5.1%. Now that Koreas' full attention is given to visual media, digital cameras have turned into a ubiquitous item. This was proven by 88.9% increase in production of digital electronics including cameras.With digital cameras everywhere, everybody can now be a field reporter. We call these people "citizen reporters". "Dog poo" girl is a good example of this. A couple of years ago, a woman was taking the subway with her puppy and the puppy happened to relieve itself on the subway seat. The woman left it as it was and got out of the subway. The anonymous citizen reporter took photos of it with a digital camera phones and put it online. Thousands of comments were made and soon enough, an anonymous citizen's report became the hottest news around. Within a few weeks, a new law was made to forbid pets on the subway. Photography is no longer a simple hobby, it gives people the power to change the law and change the society.Dicas and DicaPhones are now the pets that people can carry around everywhere. On the street, in restaurants, and in coffee shops, at least one or two people are taking their own self portraits using their digital cameras or digital camera phones. When Sky and Samsung made a cellular phone with a camera lens that could turn 360 degrees, its users were able to take a look at themselves on the phone screen as they took a self portrait. New phones come with the lenses both on the front and back. Even digital cameras like the Nikon S4 have a 360 degreeturning lens to aid Selca, the Korean way of saying "self portrait camera". All sorts of pictures are uploaded to blogs, mini-homepages, websites, and portals for different purposes.Since these photos are open for everyone to see online, a magic wand that gives a little touch to a photo is needed. Here, the fairy is Photoshop. People who are taking the most advantage from Photoshop are celebrities. Before, a model had to cover a facial imperfection through make-up only. Now, a little touch through Photoshop can erase the freckles, brighten skin tone, and reduces wrinkles. Digital cameras have transformed a typical person to someone who can make difference in community and beautified uglies to pretties.If Digital Single-lens Reflex Cameras (DSLR) were a hot issue last year, Premium Convergence Digital Cameras that are added with various features to the compact digital cameras are the new rising stars this year. DSLR's picture quality is better than that of compact cameras, but its gigantic size and the costly price has made buyers hesitate before parting with their money.Moreover, buyers want to be able to occasionally use the video feature on compact digital cameras that DSLR don't have as function. Samsung Techwin, Canon, Nikon, and Sony this year have improved the compact digital cameras' picture quality to DSLR standard with unique design and special features to compete in the market. Since the demand of digital cameras was the highest in the year 2000 with its highest record in sales, companies are targeting those who purchased cameras in 2000 to buy new ones this year.These brand new digital cameras with upgraded features are not as pricy as the last year. Samsung Techwin is currently the number one compact digital camera selling company. In second place is Canon Korea followed by Sony Korea. Nikon, Fuji Film, and Olympus are highly competing each other to bit the record. Samsung Techwin was the first company to produce the cameras with MP3 and PMP functions. The concept of convergence this year is not only adding more features to the previous version, but it also completed its added fuction. Some products are coming with the touch screen LCD, while Kodak, Nikon, and Sony promoted digital cameras with wireless lan that connects to the PC without any cables. The latest model from Sony even allows the wireless transfer of data from one camera to another as long as they are from the same brand.A strengthened convergence function has increased the LCD size and memory capacity. The new LCD screen enlarged its size from 2 inch screen to 3 and 3.5 inch screen. The internal memory was previously 10 MB, but it is now up to 512 MB. Those who change their cameras in 2008 with the newest model I7 from Samsung Techwin will be able to travel overseas with no travel guides. This slim camera contains 4500 travel information of 30 countries in 512MB internal memory.Sony Cybershot G1 2008 users will be able to share joy with the pictures. With the Wi-Fi, four sony cameras can transfer data to each other. On top of 3.5 inch LCD screen and 2 GB internal memory, MP3 player and photo album searching feature are added to provide the joy of watching and listening. Nikon Coolpix P5000 will be good for those who travel or hike often. Its users will be able to take high quality photos with 10 megapixel 1/1.8-inch CCD without having to worry about taking blurry photos due to mild vibration. Lens shift VR and ISO 64-1600 reduces the vibration to take a stable picture.Best Shot Selector (BSS) function identifies and saves the sharpest image automatically from ten sequential shots, and Face-priority AF will satisfy those who loves to take self portrait photos. Digital cameras and their changing partners have a multitude of functions. Sometimes they act as social activists. At other times they are reporters. They even can be considered as plastic surgeons. Modern digital cameras and digital camera phones' all-inone entertainment systems are the future. These rather than dogs (especially those that go to the toilet on subways) are rapidly becoming man's best friend. CGE
In Korea, the digital camera is called as Dica, for short. Until five years ago, Dica was single. All it really cared about was upgrading itself constantly by adapting everything it could possibly do to improve its image quality and its zooming ability. Four years ago, Dica went out on a first date with a camcorder and grabbed full attention from the publicity. A year later, it changed its partner to an MP3 player, but it was soon found itself together with a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP). The second generation digital cameras and cellular phones are thinking of moving in together, calling themselves DicaPhone, meaning Digital Camera Phone.So, how are the digital camera and its changing partners changing Korea? Koreans have become more familiar with the visual media than printed media over the last five years. Studies show that people today are more in favor of being entertained by images and video than reading. The National Statistical Office analyzed that the workers in the city area are spending 34.9% on entertainment. On the other hand, the expense rate on books and magazines stopped at 5.1%. Now that Koreas' full attention is given to visual media, digital cameras have turned into a ubiquitous item. This was proven by 88.9% increase in production of digital electronics including cameras.With digital cameras everywhere, everybody can now be a field reporter. We call these people "citizen reporters". "Dog poo" girl is a good example of this. A couple of years ago, a woman was taking the subway with her puppy and the puppy happened to relieve itself on the subway seat. The woman left it as it was and got out of the subway. The anonymous citizen reporter took photos of it with a digital camera phones and put it online. Thousands of comments were made and soon enough, an anonymous citizen's report became the hottest news around. Within a few weeks, a new law was made to forbid pets on the subway. Photography is no longer a simple hobby, it gives people the power to change the law and change the society.Dicas and DicaPhones are now the pets that people can carry around everywhere. On the street, in restaurants, and in coffee shops, at least one or two people are taking their own self portraits using their digital cameras or digital camera phones. When Sky and Samsung made a cellular phone with a camera lens that could turn 360 degrees, its users were able to take a look at themselves on the phone screen as they took a self portrait. New phones come with the lenses both on the front and back. Even digital cameras like the Nikon S4 have a 360 degreeturning lens to aid Selca, the Korean way of saying "self portrait camera". All sorts of pictures are uploaded to blogs, mini-homepages, websites, and portals for different purposes.Since these photos are open for everyone to see online, a magic wand that gives a little touch to a photo is needed. Here, the fairy is Photoshop. People who are taking the most advantage from Photoshop are celebrities. Before, a model had to cover a facial imperfection through make-up only. Now, a little touch through Photoshop can erase the freckles, brighten skin tone, and reduces wrinkles. Digital cameras have transformed a typical person to someone who can make difference in community and beautified uglies to pretties.If Digital Single-lens Reflex Cameras (DSLR) were a hot issue last year, Premium Convergence Digital Cameras that are added with various features to the compact digital cameras are the new rising stars this year. DSLR's picture quality is better than that of compact cameras, but its gigantic size and the costly price has made buyers hesitate before parting with their money.Moreover, buyers want to be able to occasionally use the video feature on compact digital cameras that DSLR don't have as function. Samsung Techwin, Canon, Nikon, and Sony this year have improved the compact digital cameras' picture quality to DSLR standard with unique design and special features to compete in the market. Since the demand of digital cameras was the highest in the year 2000 with its highest record in sales, companies are targeting those who purchased cameras in 2000 to buy new ones this year.These brand new digital cameras with upgraded features are not as pricy as the last year. Samsung Techwin is currently the number one compact digital camera selling company. In second place is Canon Korea followed by Sony Korea. Nikon, Fuji Film, and Olympus are highly competing each other to bit the record. Samsung Techwin was the first company to produce the cameras with MP3 and PMP functions. The concept of convergence this year is not only adding more features to the previous version, but it also completed its added fuction. Some products are coming with the touch screen LCD, while Kodak, Nikon, and Sony promoted digital cameras with wireless lan that connects to the PC without any cables. The latest model from Sony even allows the wireless transfer of data from one camera to another as long as they are from the same brand.A strengthened convergence function has increased the LCD size and memory capacity. The new LCD screen enlarged its size from 2 inch screen to 3 and 3.5 inch screen. The internal memory was previously 10 MB, but it is now up to 512 MB. Those who change their cameras in 2008 with the newest model I7 from Samsung Techwin will be able to travel overseas with no travel guides. This slim camera contains 4500 travel information of 30 countries in 512MB internal memory.Sony Cybershot G1 2008 users will be able to share joy with the pictures. With the Wi-Fi, four sony cameras can transfer data to each other. On top of 3.5 inch LCD screen and 2 GB internal memory, MP3 player and photo album searching feature are added to provide the joy of watching and listening. Nikon Coolpix P5000 will be good for those who travel or hike often. Its users will be able to take high quality photos with 10 megapixel 1/1.8-inch CCD without having to worry about taking blurry photos due to mild vibration. Lens shift VR and ISO 64-1600 reduces the vibration to take a stable picture.Best Shot Selector (BSS) function identifies and saves the sharpest image automatically from ten sequential shots, and Face-priority AF will satisfy those who loves to take self portrait photos. Digital cameras and their changing partners have a multitude of functions. Sometimes they act as social activists. At other times they are reporters. They even can be considered as plastic surgeons. Modern digital cameras and digital camera phones' all-inone entertainment systems are the future. These rather than dogs (especially those that go to the toilet on subways) are rapidly becoming man's best friend. CGE
How Information Technology is Transforming Korea - Part 2
How Information Technology is Transforming Korea - Part 2
by Chun Go-euntoclair@ittimes.co.kr This Korean old saying comes from the agricultural days of Korea: "A dog's life beats a human's." As they looked at a dog playing in the field, farmers came to think that their dogs were faring better than them. But guess whose life beats a dog's these days? Mobile phones'. Unlike dogs, mobile phones don't have to try so hard to be loved or stay by their owner's side. All they have to do is sit and look pretty.In 1996, when mobile phones were first introduced to Koreans, they were the size of refrigerator and very expensive. This was eight years after Samsung invented a 700g mobile phone, SH100, for the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Koreans probably never would have imagined that one day they would be hearing a phone ring from their jean pocket in a public bathroom.The mobile phone, indeed, is the only object in the world that is guaranteed to accompany a person through all their daily activities. From bathroom to subway, and from bed stand in the morning to bed stand at night, mobile phones are asked to escort their owners and they do so without a fuss. The invention of mobile phones and their content development are changing the culture and lifestyle of Koreans. 1,200,000 new mobile phone subscribers were inducted in the beginning of 2007; 86% of the entire population now uses mobile phones.Subscribers who are younger than 10 and older than 60 increased twice as much in three years, and development of 3G and USIM technologies are boosting the telecommunication market. With this trend, experts predict that 100% of the population will soon be using mobile communication in Korea.According to telecommunication companies, the mobile communication subscriber rate was going up slowly from 35,000,000 in 2004. The number increased a bit in 2005 setting the record as 38,340,000, and 40,200,000 in the year 2006. But in the beginning of this year the number increased by 1,200,000 and set a new record on the mobile phone supply rate. From 2001 to April 2007, the entire population only grew by 1,000,000, but the mobile communication subscriber rate increased by 12,400,000. Part of this comes from subscribers who subscribe to multiple phones for different purposes.Subscribers who open 3 to 4 lines are actually increasing. Some of them open a line for their foreign friends since foreigners face many restrictions to opening a phone in Korea. More subscribers who use double lines are expected to increase based on the mobiles' various functions and service qualities.It is no longer prestigious to own a mobile phone as it once was in the nineties. Although brand new phones with the newest embedded technology are still pricy, the price of the standard mobile phone is reduced down to an affordable rate with a subsidy and marketing plan. The various payment plans are customizing subscriber demand as well. As a result, mobile phones serve Koreans as a portable pet. Koreans are no longer bored to wait in line or ride transportation.How many people are looking down at their cell phones in the subway these days? How many people on the street walk on as they talk on the phone? How many people are playing games on their phone while waiting in line at the hospital for an exam? The numbers are increasing everyday. Phones with different content and functions, therefore, are constantly petted and checked on. Those who love music buy the phone that has mp3 features while TV lovers prefer the phone with DMB features.Game lovers will look for a phone that is slim, and the older generation will look for the phones that are accommodating. Three years ago, most public transportation riders slept, read a book, or sat still until they reached their destination. Now, most of the population is accompanied by the mobile phones in their daily trips, because their faithful portable pet has plenty features to entertain them. Users can also log onto the internet wherever they are and download cartoons, games, music, and educational content. Students no longer have to shuffle through vocabulary notebooks while they are using public transportation. They can download electures for an affordable price and watch the content and learn. Another thing that is also popular amongst young subscribers is text message services.With KTF, for instance, 500 text messages are given a month for an additional charge of eight dollars.Because of these, the subway now has a fast mobile phone charger that people can use for a quick charge. It costs less than a dollar to do so, yet most prepare an extra battery to be continuously entertained.The expansion of the mobile phone is changing the culture of Korea. For Koreans who valued the word respect the most, the mobile phone was nothing but a disgraceful object when it first came out. Thus, in the nineties when the phone first came out, those cell phone users who had a ring at work or during a meeting had to either kill the ring or answer the phone with a crouching body and mouth-covering hand. But now that a decade has passed it is completely natural for the users to either answer the phone or reply by text message during the meeting, whether it is formal or informal. The phone rings are heard even in public bathrooms and the phones are answered with no hesitation.What about text messages? Isn't it more polite to have real time communication over the phone and make a proper greeting before getting to the point? But the culture has surely closed its eye to text messaging, making it acceptable to drop a line or two to anybody in the user's circle. Instead of making a phone call to let a friend know you will be ten minutes late, quickly sending a text message will help you to be less rude.Let's go back a little bit; how did we make an appointment to meet someone when we didn't have mobile phones? It was not too long ago when people had to set the time and location to meet up together. As some of the old movies show, it was common for older generations to wait a decent amount of time at the promised location, sometimes because they arrived too early and other times because of the appointee's delay. The older generations' patience is no longer something that the younger generation practices. People these days make a phone call to each other before departure and make sure that they are still on schedule.The modernists not only sleep and eat with the phone; mobile phone tags along with them anywhere they go like a name tag. The mobile is like a transformer. Not only does it function to allow real time communication, but it works as transportation card, TV, mp3 player, game console, and school nowadays. Certain websites like Cyworld allow making payments via mobile phone. The United New Democratic Party recently took mobile voting to choose one presidential candidate to represent the party at the upcoming election. Who would've imagined voting for presidential candidates on the phone?Who would've imagined using an ebanking system on the phone several years ago? The mobile phone is 86% of the populations' pet, secretary, entertainer, and banker and having a great impact both in Korean's daily life and traditional culture.
by Chun Go-euntoclair@ittimes.co.kr This Korean old saying comes from the agricultural days of Korea: "A dog's life beats a human's." As they looked at a dog playing in the field, farmers came to think that their dogs were faring better than them. But guess whose life beats a dog's these days? Mobile phones'. Unlike dogs, mobile phones don't have to try so hard to be loved or stay by their owner's side. All they have to do is sit and look pretty.In 1996, when mobile phones were first introduced to Koreans, they were the size of refrigerator and very expensive. This was eight years after Samsung invented a 700g mobile phone, SH100, for the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Koreans probably never would have imagined that one day they would be hearing a phone ring from their jean pocket in a public bathroom.The mobile phone, indeed, is the only object in the world that is guaranteed to accompany a person through all their daily activities. From bathroom to subway, and from bed stand in the morning to bed stand at night, mobile phones are asked to escort their owners and they do so without a fuss. The invention of mobile phones and their content development are changing the culture and lifestyle of Koreans. 1,200,000 new mobile phone subscribers were inducted in the beginning of 2007; 86% of the entire population now uses mobile phones.Subscribers who are younger than 10 and older than 60 increased twice as much in three years, and development of 3G and USIM technologies are boosting the telecommunication market. With this trend, experts predict that 100% of the population will soon be using mobile communication in Korea.According to telecommunication companies, the mobile communication subscriber rate was going up slowly from 35,000,000 in 2004. The number increased a bit in 2005 setting the record as 38,340,000, and 40,200,000 in the year 2006. But in the beginning of this year the number increased by 1,200,000 and set a new record on the mobile phone supply rate. From 2001 to April 2007, the entire population only grew by 1,000,000, but the mobile communication subscriber rate increased by 12,400,000. Part of this comes from subscribers who subscribe to multiple phones for different purposes.Subscribers who open 3 to 4 lines are actually increasing. Some of them open a line for their foreign friends since foreigners face many restrictions to opening a phone in Korea. More subscribers who use double lines are expected to increase based on the mobiles' various functions and service qualities.It is no longer prestigious to own a mobile phone as it once was in the nineties. Although brand new phones with the newest embedded technology are still pricy, the price of the standard mobile phone is reduced down to an affordable rate with a subsidy and marketing plan. The various payment plans are customizing subscriber demand as well. As a result, mobile phones serve Koreans as a portable pet. Koreans are no longer bored to wait in line or ride transportation.How many people are looking down at their cell phones in the subway these days? How many people on the street walk on as they talk on the phone? How many people are playing games on their phone while waiting in line at the hospital for an exam? The numbers are increasing everyday. Phones with different content and functions, therefore, are constantly petted and checked on. Those who love music buy the phone that has mp3 features while TV lovers prefer the phone with DMB features.Game lovers will look for a phone that is slim, and the older generation will look for the phones that are accommodating. Three years ago, most public transportation riders slept, read a book, or sat still until they reached their destination. Now, most of the population is accompanied by the mobile phones in their daily trips, because their faithful portable pet has plenty features to entertain them. Users can also log onto the internet wherever they are and download cartoons, games, music, and educational content. Students no longer have to shuffle through vocabulary notebooks while they are using public transportation. They can download electures for an affordable price and watch the content and learn. Another thing that is also popular amongst young subscribers is text message services.With KTF, for instance, 500 text messages are given a month for an additional charge of eight dollars.Because of these, the subway now has a fast mobile phone charger that people can use for a quick charge. It costs less than a dollar to do so, yet most prepare an extra battery to be continuously entertained.The expansion of the mobile phone is changing the culture of Korea. For Koreans who valued the word respect the most, the mobile phone was nothing but a disgraceful object when it first came out. Thus, in the nineties when the phone first came out, those cell phone users who had a ring at work or during a meeting had to either kill the ring or answer the phone with a crouching body and mouth-covering hand. But now that a decade has passed it is completely natural for the users to either answer the phone or reply by text message during the meeting, whether it is formal or informal. The phone rings are heard even in public bathrooms and the phones are answered with no hesitation.What about text messages? Isn't it more polite to have real time communication over the phone and make a proper greeting before getting to the point? But the culture has surely closed its eye to text messaging, making it acceptable to drop a line or two to anybody in the user's circle. Instead of making a phone call to let a friend know you will be ten minutes late, quickly sending a text message will help you to be less rude.Let's go back a little bit; how did we make an appointment to meet someone when we didn't have mobile phones? It was not too long ago when people had to set the time and location to meet up together. As some of the old movies show, it was common for older generations to wait a decent amount of time at the promised location, sometimes because they arrived too early and other times because of the appointee's delay. The older generations' patience is no longer something that the younger generation practices. People these days make a phone call to each other before departure and make sure that they are still on schedule.The modernists not only sleep and eat with the phone; mobile phone tags along with them anywhere they go like a name tag. The mobile is like a transformer. Not only does it function to allow real time communication, but it works as transportation card, TV, mp3 player, game console, and school nowadays. Certain websites like Cyworld allow making payments via mobile phone. The United New Democratic Party recently took mobile voting to choose one presidential candidate to represent the party at the upcoming election. Who would've imagined voting for presidential candidates on the phone?Who would've imagined using an ebanking system on the phone several years ago? The mobile phone is 86% of the populations' pet, secretary, entertainer, and banker and having a great impact both in Korean's daily life and traditional culture.
How Information Technology is transforming Korea
Korean myths speak of the tokebi, an ugly little creature with a magical club that does everything. By striking the club against the ground and singing its spell, the tokebi can make anything happen.Children in the old days who heard of the story often sang its spell in the play ground, "Give me give me gold, Dook-Tak! Give me give me silver, Dook Tak!" The song is no longer heard by children at the play grounds and the story is rarely passed down orally in a family. Koreans no longer envies the tokebi's club, because the internet serves as the modern day of tokebi club. By striking their finger tips against the keyboard and making some typing noises, anyone with access to the internet can make anything they desire to pops out onto the screen.Sometimes the internet resolves the user's curiosity, and the other times they help the users to evade reality and live through another avatar character's life. Any place and any food can be studied without direct experience.From children to adults say, "ask Naver," when they are challenged in knowledge. Jisik-In, meaning Knowledge Person section especially in Naver is allowed for users to ask any kind of questions to get responds from whoever knows the answer. Users rate the information given by the Jisik-in with the stars. As of the end of June 2007, the emperor of the domestic Internet portal business was announced as Naver.Naver takes up 70% of the market in terms of the ratio of search engine inflow which is directly related with sales turnover, and based on this, NHN, the mother company of Naver, has grown into a huge business with market capitalization of 8 trillion won (US$8.66 billion).NHN made a sales turnover of 57.34 billion won (US$62.1 million) and a sales profit of 22.96 billion won (US$24.87 million) last year. Considering that the sales profit of Daum Communications, which is second-ranking, is 10.2 billion won (US$11.0 million), the power of Naver in the Internet portal business is unimaginable.Since Naver occupies Search, an access channel to information, Naver has acquired a nickname, Naver Republic. Naver has been playing its role as the most Korean internet user's tokebi club since its inception.High speed internet service was commercialized in 1998 and since then, 4.56 billion people (74.8%) of the entire population in Korea are using the internet. South Korea has a massive high-speed broadband spread, with a nationwide adoption rate of around 90 percent. The internet service adoption rate for each family is average of 90.8 % all throughout the states and the diffusion rate of Seoul and Kyonggi province reaches over 100%. Director Hyung Tae-gun of the Communications Commission said, "The internet usage areas are also expanding from e-mail and searching information to ebanking and electronic commerce. The high speed internet's impact to the society and its economy is expected to increase due to fast promotion of ubiquitous life in Korea. It is time for us to increase the quality of the internet."Interesting transformation is being made at online auction. Piece of drawing that cost over $1000 are selling way more in the internet auction than in off line. Although public bidding's bidding rate dropped down and the bidding price fell suddenly, online bidding on art works has tremendously increased.The website www.porart.com sold 197 paintings that worth more than $1000 from November 13 to December 13 in 2007. On November 28, 141 paintings with high value were sold in K Auction website. Other websites like Seoul Auction and D Auction sold over hundred paintings as well that are high priced. While the off-line auctions and galleries are struggling in business, the era of 100,000 dollars painting online auction has begun.December 12, 2007, the artists Kim Jong-ha's painting in 1981 "The Fantasy of Forest" made a successful bid at $ 110,000 and set a new history in internet auction. The amount of money that has to be put online to participate in the online auction also set its highest record this in 2007. 620,000 dollars from November 14 increased to 2.30 million dollars as of December 28. The development of portal art is guaranteeing the buyers to assist them with re-selling on internet auction any time the buyer wishes to sell the art piece.The 100% refund through reauctions online is promised within 3 years and the price will stay the same for three years. On the other hand, the bidding price is expected to drop fast if it is continued to sell 30% of imitations and loses the online auctions' credibility.But the problem begins as the younger generations in Korea is addicted to internet. Korea is known as one of the safest place on earth due to nationwide gun prohibition as well as highly limited access to hardcore drugs.Young people in the past never had to suffer from any kind of addiction until internet games were introduced in their lives. It is not drug overdoses that terrifies the Korean parents and threats the lives of Koreans, but the death related to online gaming overdose.A young South Korean man was recently found dead at an internet caf? in the city of Taegu after reportedly playing the game Starcraft for 50 hours straight.Multi-player gaming in South Korea is extremely popular thanks to its fast and widespread broadband network. Games are televised and professional players called Progamers are respected as well as paid, like sports stars. Pro-gamers there attract huge sums in sponsorship and can make more than $100,000 a year.This was something that the young generations never expected when the online games were first introduced in Korea a few decades ago. Now is a time when gameloving children look up to Pro-gamers and attempt to make a career for themselves by playing games.More than 15 million people, or 30% of the population are registered for online gamming in South Korea and the young people play the game so diligently and to the point of obsession and sickness. As a result, Korean government recently builds the boot camp called the Jump Up Internet Rescue School. It is the first school in the world to be built especially for Net addicts.Any Korean teenagers who find it difficult to drag themselves from the computer in order to consume a meal or fulfill their tasks are now facing the prospect of 12 days assault courses and intensive therapy sessions in Mokcheon, South Korea.The school offers a degree of military style physical exercise alongside horse riding, pottery creation, music skills, and various therapy workshops. Korea already has 140 internet addiction counseling centers and 100 treatment programs in hospitals around the country.The tokebi's magic club is only good when it is used to bring out what the owner truly needs. But when it is overly used, the magic club will be as threatening as Pandora's Box. Maybe that was why the Korean ancestors gave the club to the ugliest creatures that are fierce enough to keep clubs away from the man kind as they created and passed down the story.
Google's 'Analytics Evangelist' Explains Why Websites 'Suck'
Google's 'Analytics Evangelist' Explains Why Websites 'Suck'
Kaushik: Despite Mounds of Data, Marketers Don't Understand Consumers
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By Mya Frazier Published: May 21, 2008 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Avinash Kaushik thinks one of the reasons why so many websites "suck" today is because of the hippo -- as in the "highest paid person's opinion." And, yes, you're likely a hippo -- a successful advertising executive, CMO or brand manager, pulling in a six-figure income, often found pontificating about what does and doesn't work online. You use tried-and-true metrics such as unique visitors and click-through rates to decide on the best design for your landing page or what content is best suited on your product site. 'Least closest'Yet, despite your mounds of data, Mr. Kaushik thinks you are the "least closest to the customer." It was a blunt indictment, considering Mr. Kaushik offered it during a talk before roughly 200, well, hippos -- marketing executives from Procter & Gamble, Victoria's Secret, Coca-Cola and Timberland -- at an invite-only client conference held by Resource Interactive, a Columbus-based digital agency. Mr. Kaushik is the "analytics evangelist" at Google, a new post created after his one-year consulting gig with the search giant expired. (Mr. Kaushik was previously director of research and analytics at Intuit, the personal-finance software company, and he is also the author of "Web Analytics: An Hour a Day" and web analytics blog Occam's Razor.) Mr. Kaushik employed the word "sucks" frequently when he talked about the traditional metrics used for measuring online marketing. And as far as online marketing goes, it sucks too. He likened it to a "faith-based initiative." Getting the 'why'The point of Mr. Kaushik's candor is that he wants marketers to start thinking more about the "why." To get at that, he espoused the use of more online surveys of site visitors to find "segments of discontent." He advised marketers to create conversations with consumers using a simple, short and free online survey created by Iperceptions.com, an online research firm. The survey asks: Who is coming to your website? Why are they there? How are you doing? What do you need to fix? The surveys "get customers involved in fixing things," he said. What analytics meansAfter his talk, Mr. Kaushik described the day-to-day duties of his job at Google as "giving a lot of talks" to teach people how to make better websites and spreading the word about Google's seven "analytic tools," mainly Google Analytics and Ad Optimizer. He noted that anyone from a mom-and-pop business to a Fortune 500 brand can use these tools. "Google is giving the same tools that, only prior to Google, you had to get at a big advertising agency or digital firm for free." When asked to explain in more depth what Google Analytics -- and his role as an analytics evangelist -- means for digital and traditional advertising agencies, Mr. Kaushik said: "We want to be the company that really lives the spirit of accountable advertising."
Kaushik: Despite Mounds of Data, Marketers Don't Understand Consumers
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By Mya Frazier Published: May 21, 2008 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Avinash Kaushik thinks one of the reasons why so many websites "suck" today is because of the hippo -- as in the "highest paid person's opinion." And, yes, you're likely a hippo -- a successful advertising executive, CMO or brand manager, pulling in a six-figure income, often found pontificating about what does and doesn't work online. You use tried-and-true metrics such as unique visitors and click-through rates to decide on the best design for your landing page or what content is best suited on your product site. 'Least closest'Yet, despite your mounds of data, Mr. Kaushik thinks you are the "least closest to the customer." It was a blunt indictment, considering Mr. Kaushik offered it during a talk before roughly 200, well, hippos -- marketing executives from Procter & Gamble, Victoria's Secret, Coca-Cola and Timberland -- at an invite-only client conference held by Resource Interactive, a Columbus-based digital agency. Mr. Kaushik is the "analytics evangelist" at Google, a new post created after his one-year consulting gig with the search giant expired. (Mr. Kaushik was previously director of research and analytics at Intuit, the personal-finance software company, and he is also the author of "Web Analytics: An Hour a Day" and web analytics blog Occam's Razor.) Mr. Kaushik employed the word "sucks" frequently when he talked about the traditional metrics used for measuring online marketing. And as far as online marketing goes, it sucks too. He likened it to a "faith-based initiative." Getting the 'why'The point of Mr. Kaushik's candor is that he wants marketers to start thinking more about the "why." To get at that, he espoused the use of more online surveys of site visitors to find "segments of discontent." He advised marketers to create conversations with consumers using a simple, short and free online survey created by Iperceptions.com, an online research firm. The survey asks: Who is coming to your website? Why are they there? How are you doing? What do you need to fix? The surveys "get customers involved in fixing things," he said. What analytics meansAfter his talk, Mr. Kaushik described the day-to-day duties of his job at Google as "giving a lot of talks" to teach people how to make better websites and spreading the word about Google's seven "analytic tools," mainly Google Analytics and Ad Optimizer. He noted that anyone from a mom-and-pop business to a Fortune 500 brand can use these tools. "Google is giving the same tools that, only prior to Google, you had to get at a big advertising agency or digital firm for free." When asked to explain in more depth what Google Analytics -- and his role as an analytics evangelist -- means for digital and traditional advertising agencies, Mr. Kaushik said: "We want to be the company that really lives the spirit of accountable advertising."
Is Korea ready for smartphones?
American adults these days are obsessed with the BlackBerry, checking their e-mails and returning messages with a whir of thumb movement. Although the BlackBerry is used by people in over 120 countries who number 14 million subscribers, it has failed to catch on in high-tech Korea, where smartphones have had little appeal until now.Even Samsung Electronics’ smartphone, the BlackJack, sold more than 2 million units in North America in 2006. But sales in the Korean market reached slightly more than 30,000 units during the same period. But things could take a new turn as SK Telecom, which has 22 million subscribers, is planning to introduce the BlackBerry here in the second half of this year.
In a countermove, Samsung Electronics announced that it is releasing the BlackJack II later this month, while Taiwan-based HTC is expected to introduce its Touch Dual smart phone later this year.Compared with mobile phones, smartphones have more functions like scheduling, sending and receiving e-mails and accessing the Internet. The conventional mobile phone is used for text messaging and voice communication. “Smartphones are called ‘a palm-sized personal computer,’ as they have a Qwerty-type keypad and access to Windows,” said Yoon Jong-jin, a high-level official at SK Telecom. Laptop computers have the weaknesses of being big and running through battery power quickly. Smartphones, on the other hand, are not only convenient to carry but use very little power. SK Telecom is planning to target salesmen and construction workers, initially. The newest BlackBerry design is expected to be much slimmer. “Korean consumers felt burdened by something larger than a mobile phone,” said Lee Young-soo, a researcher at LG Economic Research Institute. “However, things are changing and larger phones, like LG’s Touch phone, are gaining popularity here.” The BlackBerry, developed by the Canadian company RIM, is expected to reach Korea some time in August. Although the model hasn’t been decided yet, market insiders consider the 8707g model the most likely candidate. This model employs a Qwerty keypad system and has a 320 by 240 pixel color screen. It has a tracking wheel that controls the system from the right-hand side of the screen. The wheel is thumb-operated. It has a Bluetooth communication system allowing wireless access to the Internet, the use of e-mail, a digital camera and a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting system.The BlackJack II, also uses a Qwerty keypad but it has a bigger screen, 2.4 inches, and a jog wheel, which operates more like a mouse, on the front and not on the side.The Samsung smartphone operates on a Windows Mobile 6.0 system and has a 2 mega pixel digital camera with a MicroSD memory slot. It also employs the Bluetooth system. HTC’s Touch Dual is expected to launch in the third quarter of this year and employ a touch system allowing the user to operate or access any function by simply touching the screen, very much like Apple’s iPhone or Samsung Electronics’ Haptic mobile phone. Unlike the BlackBerry or BlackJack, the Touch Dual uses a slide system. By sliding the screen up, a keypad appears, allowing users unfamiliar with the touch system to use a more conventional method. It uses the Windows Mobile 6.0 system and also has a 2 mega pixel digital camera like the BlackJack II and has a MicroSD memory slot.By Kim Chang-woo JoongAng Ilbo/ Lee Ho-jeong JoongAng Ilbo [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]
In a countermove, Samsung Electronics announced that it is releasing the BlackJack II later this month, while Taiwan-based HTC is expected to introduce its Touch Dual smart phone later this year.Compared with mobile phones, smartphones have more functions like scheduling, sending and receiving e-mails and accessing the Internet. The conventional mobile phone is used for text messaging and voice communication. “Smartphones are called ‘a palm-sized personal computer,’ as they have a Qwerty-type keypad and access to Windows,” said Yoon Jong-jin, a high-level official at SK Telecom. Laptop computers have the weaknesses of being big and running through battery power quickly. Smartphones, on the other hand, are not only convenient to carry but use very little power. SK Telecom is planning to target salesmen and construction workers, initially. The newest BlackBerry design is expected to be much slimmer. “Korean consumers felt burdened by something larger than a mobile phone,” said Lee Young-soo, a researcher at LG Economic Research Institute. “However, things are changing and larger phones, like LG’s Touch phone, are gaining popularity here.” The BlackBerry, developed by the Canadian company RIM, is expected to reach Korea some time in August. Although the model hasn’t been decided yet, market insiders consider the 8707g model the most likely candidate. This model employs a Qwerty keypad system and has a 320 by 240 pixel color screen. It has a tracking wheel that controls the system from the right-hand side of the screen. The wheel is thumb-operated. It has a Bluetooth communication system allowing wireless access to the Internet, the use of e-mail, a digital camera and a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting system.The BlackJack II, also uses a Qwerty keypad but it has a bigger screen, 2.4 inches, and a jog wheel, which operates more like a mouse, on the front and not on the side.The Samsung smartphone operates on a Windows Mobile 6.0 system and has a 2 mega pixel digital camera with a MicroSD memory slot. It also employs the Bluetooth system. HTC’s Touch Dual is expected to launch in the third quarter of this year and employ a touch system allowing the user to operate or access any function by simply touching the screen, very much like Apple’s iPhone or Samsung Electronics’ Haptic mobile phone. Unlike the BlackBerry or BlackJack, the Touch Dual uses a slide system. By sliding the screen up, a keypad appears, allowing users unfamiliar with the touch system to use a more conventional method. It uses the Windows Mobile 6.0 system and also has a 2 mega pixel digital camera like the BlackJack II and has a MicroSD memory slot.By Kim Chang-woo JoongAng Ilbo/ Lee Ho-jeong JoongAng Ilbo [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]
Google Earth for the body
IBM has published this interesting application in their pressroom. This type of application with a graphical representation of the patients' body migt turn out as a very useful interface to EPR's not only for physicans. Especially interesting would be to give patients access to their own avatar and use this system in a Personal Health Record application.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND 26 Sep 2007: IBM researchers today unveiled a prototype visualization software that allows doctors to interact with medical data the same way they interact with their patients: by looking at the human body.Created at IBM's Zurich Research Lab, the technology uses an avatar -- a 3D representation of the human body -- to allow doctors to visualize patient medical records in an entirely new way. Called the Anatomic and Symbolic Mapper Engine (ASME), this innovative visualization method allows a doctor to click with the computer mouse on a particular part of the avatar "body" to trigger a search ofmedical records to retrieve relevant information."It's like Google Earth for the body," said IBM Researcher Andre Elisseeff, who leads the healthcare projects at IBM's Zurich lab. "In hopes of speeding the move toward electronic healthcare records, we've tried to make information easily accessible for healthcare providers by combining medical data with visual representation, making it as simple as possible to interact with data that can improve patient care."
http://deltadigital.blogspot.com/
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND 26 Sep 2007: IBM researchers today unveiled a prototype visualization software that allows doctors to interact with medical data the same way they interact with their patients: by looking at the human body.Created at IBM's Zurich Research Lab, the technology uses an avatar -- a 3D representation of the human body -- to allow doctors to visualize patient medical records in an entirely new way. Called the Anatomic and Symbolic Mapper Engine (ASME), this innovative visualization method allows a doctor to click with the computer mouse on a particular part of the avatar "body" to trigger a search ofmedical records to retrieve relevant information."It's like Google Earth for the body," said IBM Researcher Andre Elisseeff, who leads the healthcare projects at IBM's Zurich lab. "In hopes of speeding the move toward electronic healthcare records, we've tried to make information easily accessible for healthcare providers by combining medical data with visual representation, making it as simple as possible to interact with data that can improve patient care."
http://deltadigital.blogspot.com/
Mobile Era Moves Forward with Content Convergence and Live Connection
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world’s leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today held the fifth annual Samsung Mobile Solution Forum at the Westin Taipei Hotel, highlighting the theme of Content Convergence and Live Connection. More than 1,000 industry professionals including Samsung business partners and customers from handset, PDA and original design manufacturers in Taiwan attended the event which highlighted major mobile trends and shared insight on future mobile technologies. New products displayed included the world’s fastest, 2.5-inch, 256 Gigabyte (GB) multi-level cell (MLC) based solid state drive (SSD), a unique single-chip mobile TV system-on-chip (SoC) integrating a channel decoder with radio frequency compliant to major geographical broadcast standards, and a low-power 800MHz mobile application processor. Samsung’s advanced high-performance mobile solutions are specially geared toward small-form-factor, high-capacity, low-power, and content intensive mobile applications that transcend regional usage boundaries. Samsung’s newest MLC-based SSD, the world’s fastest, 2.5-inch, 256GB MLC-based SSD using a SATA II interface, represents a bold step in the shift to notebooks with significantly improved performance and larger storage capacities. Samsung’s single-chip RF SoC for mobile TV fully supports the industry’s demand for live networking on a global scale and the company’s advanced low-power 800MHz application processor offers the industry’s lowest power consumption level for extended battery life.At this years’ Samsung Mobile Solution Forum, Samsung stressed the high growth potential of technologies that readily exchange content and add to the inter-usability of diverse data content through an increasing variety of mobile applications that include ‘Internet everywhere’ third generation telecommunications. This trend toward Content Convergence and Live Connection will take Internet users a step beyond from standalone use of user-created content (UCC), and/or multimedia content to the sharing of diverse multimedia content through real time ‘live’ connections on advanced mobile devices
http://www.zdnet.co.kr/etc/eyeon/digital/0,39036960,39169200,00.htm
http://www.zdnet.co.kr/etc/eyeon/digital/0,39036960,39169200,00.htm
Wal-Mart launches global IT system
Wal-Mart launches global IT system
By Jonathan Birchall in New York
Published: May 26 2008 19:32 Last updated: May 26 2008 19:32
Wal-Mart has begun rolling out a global information technology system in a break with its traditional reliance on the home-grown IT that underpinned its rapid expansion in the US.
The world’s largest retailer selected Germany’s SAP software over competition from Oracle last October. It has stepped up hiring in its IT department, with an accompanying increase in corporate costs, as it starts to implement the changes.
Tom Schoewe, chief financial officer, said the “efficiency of the home grown system has not kept pace with the corporation’s growth”.
“It is going to be expensive to implement, but it will be far more efficient once we’re up and running and . . . it is scalable. As you continue to see us grow, enter new countries, it’s something that can accommodate that better than our home-grown solution.”
Rising IT costs contributed to a 20 per cent increase in Wal-Mart’s corporate expenses in the first quarter of this year, the company said without naming the total amount, adding that, without the expenditure on “transformation” projects, corporate expenses would have increased by 3 per cent.
Mr Schoewe said this month that the additional expenses “will continue to be a headwind for the rest of this fiscal year and for several years to come”.
The first phase of the global roll-out is expected to be completed in the next two years, with a second and third phase completed in three to five years.
The shift to an external software package represents a significant shift for Wal-Mart, whose IT department historically spearheaded the development of technologies that have in the past transformed its business. These include developing its “Retail Link” system in 1991, which give suppliers access to current sales and inventory data on their products on the company’s shelves.
Wal-Mart will continue to develop its own IT solutions, including RFID wireless tagging solutions, and hopes to create a global e-commerce platform that would both unify the systems used by existing online operations in the US and Europe and be replicable in new markets.
Tesco, Wal-Mart’s UK rival, relies on Oracle’s software for a global software system that was most recently deployed to support its US Fresh & Easy chain.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
By Jonathan Birchall in New York
Published: May 26 2008 19:32 Last updated: May 26 2008 19:32
Wal-Mart has begun rolling out a global information technology system in a break with its traditional reliance on the home-grown IT that underpinned its rapid expansion in the US.
The world’s largest retailer selected Germany’s SAP software over competition from Oracle last October. It has stepped up hiring in its IT department, with an accompanying increase in corporate costs, as it starts to implement the changes.
Tom Schoewe, chief financial officer, said the “efficiency of the home grown system has not kept pace with the corporation’s growth”.
“It is going to be expensive to implement, but it will be far more efficient once we’re up and running and . . . it is scalable. As you continue to see us grow, enter new countries, it’s something that can accommodate that better than our home-grown solution.”
Rising IT costs contributed to a 20 per cent increase in Wal-Mart’s corporate expenses in the first quarter of this year, the company said without naming the total amount, adding that, without the expenditure on “transformation” projects, corporate expenses would have increased by 3 per cent.
Mr Schoewe said this month that the additional expenses “will continue to be a headwind for the rest of this fiscal year and for several years to come”.
The first phase of the global roll-out is expected to be completed in the next two years, with a second and third phase completed in three to five years.
The shift to an external software package represents a significant shift for Wal-Mart, whose IT department historically spearheaded the development of technologies that have in the past transformed its business. These include developing its “Retail Link” system in 1991, which give suppliers access to current sales and inventory data on their products on the company’s shelves.
Wal-Mart will continue to develop its own IT solutions, including RFID wireless tagging solutions, and hopes to create a global e-commerce platform that would both unify the systems used by existing online operations in the US and Europe and be replicable in new markets.
Tesco, Wal-Mart’s UK rival, relies on Oracle’s software for a global software system that was most recently deployed to support its US Fresh & Easy chain.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/34542b3c-2b4c-11dd-a7fc-000077b07658.html
By Jonathan Birchall in New York
Published: May 26 2008 19:32 Last updated: May 26 2008 19:32
Wal-Mart has begun rolling out a global information technology system in a break with its traditional reliance on the home-grown IT that underpinned its rapid expansion in the US.
The world’s largest retailer selected Germany’s SAP software over competition from Oracle last October. It has stepped up hiring in its IT department, with an accompanying increase in corporate costs, as it starts to implement the changes.
Tom Schoewe, chief financial officer, said the “efficiency of the home grown system has not kept pace with the corporation’s growth”.
“It is going to be expensive to implement, but it will be far more efficient once we’re up and running and . . . it is scalable. As you continue to see us grow, enter new countries, it’s something that can accommodate that better than our home-grown solution.”
Rising IT costs contributed to a 20 per cent increase in Wal-Mart’s corporate expenses in the first quarter of this year, the company said without naming the total amount, adding that, without the expenditure on “transformation” projects, corporate expenses would have increased by 3 per cent.
Mr Schoewe said this month that the additional expenses “will continue to be a headwind for the rest of this fiscal year and for several years to come”.
The first phase of the global roll-out is expected to be completed in the next two years, with a second and third phase completed in three to five years.
The shift to an external software package represents a significant shift for Wal-Mart, whose IT department historically spearheaded the development of technologies that have in the past transformed its business. These include developing its “Retail Link” system in 1991, which give suppliers access to current sales and inventory data on their products on the company’s shelves.
Wal-Mart will continue to develop its own IT solutions, including RFID wireless tagging solutions, and hopes to create a global e-commerce platform that would both unify the systems used by existing online operations in the US and Europe and be replicable in new markets.
Tesco, Wal-Mart’s UK rival, relies on Oracle’s software for a global software system that was most recently deployed to support its US Fresh & Easy chain.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
By Jonathan Birchall in New York
Published: May 26 2008 19:32 Last updated: May 26 2008 19:32
Wal-Mart has begun rolling out a global information technology system in a break with its traditional reliance on the home-grown IT that underpinned its rapid expansion in the US.
The world’s largest retailer selected Germany’s SAP software over competition from Oracle last October. It has stepped up hiring in its IT department, with an accompanying increase in corporate costs, as it starts to implement the changes.
Tom Schoewe, chief financial officer, said the “efficiency of the home grown system has not kept pace with the corporation’s growth”.
“It is going to be expensive to implement, but it will be far more efficient once we’re up and running and . . . it is scalable. As you continue to see us grow, enter new countries, it’s something that can accommodate that better than our home-grown solution.”
Rising IT costs contributed to a 20 per cent increase in Wal-Mart’s corporate expenses in the first quarter of this year, the company said without naming the total amount, adding that, without the expenditure on “transformation” projects, corporate expenses would have increased by 3 per cent.
Mr Schoewe said this month that the additional expenses “will continue to be a headwind for the rest of this fiscal year and for several years to come”.
The first phase of the global roll-out is expected to be completed in the next two years, with a second and third phase completed in three to five years.
The shift to an external software package represents a significant shift for Wal-Mart, whose IT department historically spearheaded the development of technologies that have in the past transformed its business. These include developing its “Retail Link” system in 1991, which give suppliers access to current sales and inventory data on their products on the company’s shelves.
Wal-Mart will continue to develop its own IT solutions, including RFID wireless tagging solutions, and hopes to create a global e-commerce platform that would both unify the systems used by existing online operations in the US and Europe and be replicable in new markets.
Tesco, Wal-Mart’s UK rival, relies on Oracle’s software for a global software system that was most recently deployed to support its US Fresh & Easy chain.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/34542b3c-2b4c-11dd-a7fc-000077b07658.html
Technological gadgets give tombstones a makeover
It's no longer trendy to have cookie-cutter grave markers.
Tombstones are taking on new shapes and acquiring technological gadgets.
"The new thing out right now in all the trade magazines is a solar-powered device that affixes to the stone showing a digital memory photo album or videos of a person's life," said Mitch Minnis, president of Minnis Chapel Inc. of St. John. "We have yet to see them out here. But they are hits on the East and West Coast."
Past trends
Such elaborate displays weren't always the case.
Wander into almost any Kansas cemetery and the tombstones tell stories of how generations of families viewed life and death.
Kansans in the mid-19th century often had headstones with warning messages encouraging visitors to the graveside to get their religious act together, said Albert Hamscher, Kenneth S. Davis professor of history at Kansas State University.
By the late 19th century, stones' messages were more hopeful, he said.
There were promises of "reunions in the great by and by," and epitaphs with sayings like "She's in heaven and in the hands of Jesus."
By the beginning of the 20th century, Kansas cemeteries started to take on grand designs, becoming a source of community pride. People landscaped, planted trees and put in benches to encourage passers-by to stop.
During the 1930s and 1940s, commercially made tombstones with basic information about the person buried underneath became popular because they were less costly than handmade stones.
By the 1950s, the trend had shifted into making cemeteries resemble golf courses. Memorial parks with walkways and identical bronze markers on each grave were common, as were flat tombstones lying close to the ground.
By the mid-20th century, people became uncomfortable with death, Hamscher said.
"The vocabulary changed from people 'died' to 'they passed away,' " he said."... Morticians changed into undertakers and then funeral home directors. The least intrusive element in these cemeteries is the dead themselves. You don't even know they are there."
As families left rural communities, cemeteries often either fell into ruin or became private enterprises emphasizing convenience for the maintenance staff who cared for them.
But the style of Kansas cemeteries may be shifting again.
Recent trends
More than two dozen memorial companies are in Kansas, and business is good.
Visit their Web sites and you'll see how dramatically things have changed.
" (Stones) can be as grand as Mount Rushmore; as awe-inspiring as the Lincoln memorial or the Oklahoma City National Memorial," claims SI Memorial Co., of Parsons.
There are custom laser etchings, porcelain photographs, epitaphs, emblems, vases and bronze statues.
Memorial stones can be curved-top, flat-top, stand-cuts or customized. They can be any color -- gray, black, red, pink, brown, green.
"Over the last three years, people are going toward more personalization," said Mike Forbes, regional manager for SI memorials.
The most popular stones are black granite imported from India, Africa and China, with laser etchings using photographs or compilations of photographs that had meaning in a person's life.
Video kiosks with solar-powered batteries sell for $2,500.
"They can have a bronze case with a lock," Forbes said. "A family member brings a key out and there is a video message from the person the stone is for."
Stones can cost $100 for a flat marker and $1,000 or more for the larger upright stones.
"The uprights have made a resurgence," Forbes said. "Cemetery regulations have gone from those flat-marker gardens that were easy to maintain to wanting to give families a choice. And a lot of people prefer uprights because they are easy to find and have more surface area to personalize."
In the past year, Forbes worked on a memorial stone for a client who wanted to be cremated and have the remnants used in the stone. Forbes created a diamond-shaped box where the remains could be placed, along with cat toys that were meaningful to his client.
In Junction City, there is a stone with hologram of a man winking at passers-by.
In Wichita, there is a stone incorporating a Frank Lloyd Wright-type design.
In rural cemeteries across Kansas there are stones with images of combines laser-etched onto the surface, and those that display golf clubs or photos of the dearly departed.
"Tombstones show the nature of culture," K-State's Hamscher said. "The emphasis now is on people as they were and what they did."
He suggests the newest trends may be a product of aging baby boomers. Even in death, individuality takes on new meaning.
"Those from the 'Me Generation' are not going to settle for memorial parks and stones made from machines in the 1930s with their name and two wedding rings engraved," he said.
Tombstones are taking on new shapes and acquiring technological gadgets.
"The new thing out right now in all the trade magazines is a solar-powered device that affixes to the stone showing a digital memory photo album or videos of a person's life," said Mitch Minnis, president of Minnis Chapel Inc. of St. John. "We have yet to see them out here. But they are hits on the East and West Coast."
Past trends
Such elaborate displays weren't always the case.
Wander into almost any Kansas cemetery and the tombstones tell stories of how generations of families viewed life and death.
Kansans in the mid-19th century often had headstones with warning messages encouraging visitors to the graveside to get their religious act together, said Albert Hamscher, Kenneth S. Davis professor of history at Kansas State University.
By the late 19th century, stones' messages were more hopeful, he said.
There were promises of "reunions in the great by and by," and epitaphs with sayings like "She's in heaven and in the hands of Jesus."
By the beginning of the 20th century, Kansas cemeteries started to take on grand designs, becoming a source of community pride. People landscaped, planted trees and put in benches to encourage passers-by to stop.
During the 1930s and 1940s, commercially made tombstones with basic information about the person buried underneath became popular because they were less costly than handmade stones.
By the 1950s, the trend had shifted into making cemeteries resemble golf courses. Memorial parks with walkways and identical bronze markers on each grave were common, as were flat tombstones lying close to the ground.
By the mid-20th century, people became uncomfortable with death, Hamscher said.
"The vocabulary changed from people 'died' to 'they passed away,' " he said."... Morticians changed into undertakers and then funeral home directors. The least intrusive element in these cemeteries is the dead themselves. You don't even know they are there."
As families left rural communities, cemeteries often either fell into ruin or became private enterprises emphasizing convenience for the maintenance staff who cared for them.
But the style of Kansas cemeteries may be shifting again.
Recent trends
More than two dozen memorial companies are in Kansas, and business is good.
Visit their Web sites and you'll see how dramatically things have changed.
" (Stones) can be as grand as Mount Rushmore; as awe-inspiring as the Lincoln memorial or the Oklahoma City National Memorial," claims SI Memorial Co., of Parsons.
There are custom laser etchings, porcelain photographs, epitaphs, emblems, vases and bronze statues.
Memorial stones can be curved-top, flat-top, stand-cuts or customized. They can be any color -- gray, black, red, pink, brown, green.
"Over the last three years, people are going toward more personalization," said Mike Forbes, regional manager for SI memorials.
The most popular stones are black granite imported from India, Africa and China, with laser etchings using photographs or compilations of photographs that had meaning in a person's life.
Video kiosks with solar-powered batteries sell for $2,500.
"They can have a bronze case with a lock," Forbes said. "A family member brings a key out and there is a video message from the person the stone is for."
Stones can cost $100 for a flat marker and $1,000 or more for the larger upright stones.
"The uprights have made a resurgence," Forbes said. "Cemetery regulations have gone from those flat-marker gardens that were easy to maintain to wanting to give families a choice. And a lot of people prefer uprights because they are easy to find and have more surface area to personalize."
In the past year, Forbes worked on a memorial stone for a client who wanted to be cremated and have the remnants used in the stone. Forbes created a diamond-shaped box where the remains could be placed, along with cat toys that were meaningful to his client.
In Junction City, there is a stone with hologram of a man winking at passers-by.
In Wichita, there is a stone incorporating a Frank Lloyd Wright-type design.
In rural cemeteries across Kansas there are stones with images of combines laser-etched onto the surface, and those that display golf clubs or photos of the dearly departed.
"Tombstones show the nature of culture," K-State's Hamscher said. "The emphasis now is on people as they were and what they did."
He suggests the newest trends may be a product of aging baby boomers. Even in death, individuality takes on new meaning.
"Those from the 'Me Generation' are not going to settle for memorial parks and stones made from machines in the 1930s with their name and two wedding rings engraved," he said.
LG Electronics Watching Nokia's South Korea Plans (TechWeb)
SEOUL, May 26 - LG Electronics, the world's No.4 handset maker, is closely watching rival Nokia amid talk the top-ranked mobile phone maker may cut its prices and re-enter the South Korean market later this year.
Shares in LG Electronics tumbled more than 8 percent on Monday as investors gauged the impact of potential price cuts by Nokia. But an LG executive said the firm was generally positive about the industry this year.
"We are interested in the Korean market and investigating it, but we have not unveiled any products for that market," said Nokia spokesman Kari Tuutti, declining comment on future pricing.
LG shares ended down 3.8 percent, while Samsung Electronics, the world's No.2 handset maker, closed down 4 percent. The main Korean market fell 1.5 percent.
"We are carefully watching Nokia," Chang Ma, LG's vice president for marketing strategy, told Reuters in an interview.
Analysts were split on the impact of a Nokia move.
"Nokia's handset price cuts, if they actually happen, will certainly not be applied universally to all its models," said Lee Sung-june, an analyst at SK Securities.
"Besides, Nokia and LG's handset strategies are different in that while Nokia is more about offering cheaper models, LG is more focused on technologically advanced models."
John Park, analyst at Daishin Securities, noted that since LG had benefited from Nokia losing market share in North America, the Finnish firm's possible expansion in that market could be a factor to watch for LG.
Ma said LG was also ready to seize any opportunities arising from difficulties at third-ranked Motorola Inc and No.5 manufacturer Sony Ericsson
Motorola has been losing market share to rivals after failing to follow up its blockbuster Razr phone, and Sony Ericsson saw its profit halved in the first quarter as demand slowed for its more expensive camera and music handsets.
"We see some risks from the economic slowdown, the rise of raw material prices and the possibility of unexpected moves by competitors, but we will compensate these risk factors with our product portfolio and our marketing strength," Ma said.
LG sold a record 24.4 million phones in January-March and looks set to beat its target of 100 million phones for the year.
First-quarter operating profit margin on handsets was 15.9 percent on a parent basis, almost double the previous quarter's 8.3 percent and against 6.6 percent a year earlier.
Ma said he expected the handset division to post a "double digit" operating profit margin in the second quarter.
"The handset business remains strong in LG's overall earnings, accounting for as much as 80 percent of operating profit throughout 2008," said Daishin's Park, though he added that handset marketing costs would likely grow and eat into margins in the third and fourth quarters.
In a separate interview, the head of LG's display division said the company's plasma business had suffered from lower than expected demand this year, but hopes to improve operating profits during the rest of the year.
"We are aiming to post better second-quarter operating profit ... from the first quarter," said Simon Kang, responsible for LG's plasma business, which makes screens for LG's own televisions and for external customers. "We also expect to post better operating profit in the second half from the first."
Kang acknowledged that demand from China had been slower than initially expected due to the snowstorm early this year and the recent earthquake.
LG is expected to post 2008 net profit of 2.5 trillion won, more than double last year's 1.2 trillion won, according to Reuters Estimates. (Additional reporting by Tarmo Virki in HELSINKI and Park Jung-yun and Park Ju-min in SEOUL; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
Shares in LG Electronics tumbled more than 8 percent on Monday as investors gauged the impact of potential price cuts by Nokia. But an LG executive said the firm was generally positive about the industry this year.
"We are interested in the Korean market and investigating it, but we have not unveiled any products for that market," said Nokia spokesman Kari Tuutti, declining comment on future pricing.
LG shares ended down 3.8 percent, while Samsung Electronics, the world's No.2 handset maker, closed down 4 percent. The main Korean market fell 1.5 percent.
"We are carefully watching Nokia," Chang Ma, LG's vice president for marketing strategy, told Reuters in an interview.
Analysts were split on the impact of a Nokia move.
"Nokia's handset price cuts, if they actually happen, will certainly not be applied universally to all its models," said Lee Sung-june, an analyst at SK Securities.
"Besides, Nokia and LG's handset strategies are different in that while Nokia is more about offering cheaper models, LG is more focused on technologically advanced models."
John Park, analyst at Daishin Securities, noted that since LG had benefited from Nokia losing market share in North America, the Finnish firm's possible expansion in that market could be a factor to watch for LG.
Ma said LG was also ready to seize any opportunities arising from difficulties at third-ranked Motorola Inc and No.5 manufacturer Sony Ericsson
Motorola has been losing market share to rivals after failing to follow up its blockbuster Razr phone, and Sony Ericsson saw its profit halved in the first quarter as demand slowed for its more expensive camera and music handsets.
"We see some risks from the economic slowdown, the rise of raw material prices and the possibility of unexpected moves by competitors, but we will compensate these risk factors with our product portfolio and our marketing strength," Ma said.
LG sold a record 24.4 million phones in January-March and looks set to beat its target of 100 million phones for the year.
First-quarter operating profit margin on handsets was 15.9 percent on a parent basis, almost double the previous quarter's 8.3 percent and against 6.6 percent a year earlier.
Ma said he expected the handset division to post a "double digit" operating profit margin in the second quarter.
"The handset business remains strong in LG's overall earnings, accounting for as much as 80 percent of operating profit throughout 2008," said Daishin's Park, though he added that handset marketing costs would likely grow and eat into margins in the third and fourth quarters.
In a separate interview, the head of LG's display division said the company's plasma business had suffered from lower than expected demand this year, but hopes to improve operating profits during the rest of the year.
"We are aiming to post better second-quarter operating profit ... from the first quarter," said Simon Kang, responsible for LG's plasma business, which makes screens for LG's own televisions and for external customers. "We also expect to post better operating profit in the second half from the first."
Kang acknowledged that demand from China had been slower than initially expected due to the snowstorm early this year and the recent earthquake.
LG is expected to post 2008 net profit of 2.5 trillion won, more than double last year's 1.2 trillion won, according to Reuters Estimates. (Additional reporting by Tarmo Virki in HELSINKI and Park Jung-yun and Park Ju-min in SEOUL; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
Monday, May 26, 2008
Predicting the Apple products of 2013
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121140284684611795.html
Apple Daydreaming: Report Predicts Move Toward Home Devices
By NICK WINGFIELD, May 22, 2008, Wall Street Journal
Forrester Research is the latest to look into the crystal ball in a new report that imagines the Apple products of 2013. But rather than predict Apple jet packs or other outlandish new directions, the research firm uses the company's recent history as a guide to forecasting.
Forrester's conclusion: While much of Apple's great successes have been mobile products such as the iPod and the iPhone, the company will seek to colonize rooms throughout the home.
Apple Daydreaming: Report Predicts Move Toward Home Devices
By NICK WINGFIELD, May 22, 2008, Wall Street Journal
Forrester Research is the latest to look into the crystal ball in a new report that imagines the Apple products of 2013. But rather than predict Apple jet packs or other outlandish new directions, the research firm uses the company's recent history as a guide to forecasting.
Forrester's conclusion: While much of Apple's great successes have been mobile products such as the iPod and the iPhone, the company will seek to colonize rooms throughout the home.
one-button uploading to YouTube
Sharing videos over the Internet is now easier than ever with the launch of a new JVC camcorder GZ-MS100 which provides one-button uploading to YouTube. The new JVC Everio S Series memory camcorder, the GZ-MS100, is designed to make sharing simple for the millions of people who enjoy sharing their videos with the world over the Internet. And unlike many of the other camcorders that target Internet users, JVC’s GZ-MS100 provides an impressive array of full-fledged camcorder features that give it the versatility to do more than shoot short Internet videos.
JVC GZ-MS100 Camcorder looks strikingly similar to the popular Everio G Series camcorders, but is smaller and weighs only 0.60 lbs. including battery, because it records to an SD Card (user provided) instead of a built-in hard disk drive. The ever-increasing capacity and affordability of new SD Cards appearing on the market means that over time Everio S will be able to offer expanded recording time at a lower per minute cost.
http://www.fareastgizmos.com/digital_cameras/jvc_gzms100_camcorder_offers_onebutton_uploading_to_youtube.php
JVC GZ-MS100 Camcorder looks strikingly similar to the popular Everio G Series camcorders, but is smaller and weighs only 0.60 lbs. including battery, because it records to an SD Card (user provided) instead of a built-in hard disk drive. The ever-increasing capacity and affordability of new SD Cards appearing on the market means that over time Everio S will be able to offer expanded recording time at a lower per minute cost.
http://www.fareastgizmos.com/digital_cameras/jvc_gzms100_camcorder_offers_onebutton_uploading_to_youtube.php
Web 2.0 fails to produce cash
Many members of the Web 2.0 generation of internet companies have so far produced little in the way of revenue, despite bringing about some significant changes in online behaviour, according to some of the entrepreneurs and financiers behind the movement.
The shortage of revenue among social networks, blogs and other “social media” sites that put user-generated content and communications at their core has persisted despite more than four years of experimentation aimed at turning such sites into money-makers. Together with the US economic downturn and a shortage of initial public offerings, the failure has damped the mood in internet start-up circles.
“There is going to be a shake-out here in the next year or two” as many Web 2.0 companies disappear, said Roger Lee, a partner at Battery Ventures.
“These are challenging macro-economic conditions,” said Shawn Hardin, chief executive of Flock, a browser maker that raised $15m in venture capital last week.
Yet that has not stopped a continuing round of venture capital fundraising and acquisition activity at high valuations as investors and corporate acquirers hunt for businesses capable of rising above a crowded field.
“If you look at some of the valuations, you wonder what fantasy of revenues they’re based on,” said Mitchell Kertzman, a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Hummer Winblad.
In one sign of the continued hopes for start-ups that have yet to alight on a solid business model, several financiers expressed support for the private fundraising being undertaken by Twitter, one of Silicon Valley’s most talked-about companies. The “micro-blogging” service, whose users post messages no more than 40 characters long, has yet to find a way to make money, but its early adoption by a group of enthusiastic users is seen as a sign that it will eventually be successful.
Other recent venture capital deals have included fundraisings that have put valuations of about $500m each on Slide, a maker of “widgets”, small applications that are carried on social networks, and Ning, a social networking platform founded by Marc Andreessen, a co-founder of browser maker Netscape.
Despite the slow start to money-making by Web 2.0 companies, the trend towards more social online behaviour that it embodies is widely claimed by insiders to be of lasting significance.
“The capabilities that are coming with Web 2.0 are very profound,” said Devin Wenig, head of the markets division of Thomson Reuters. “The Valley is usually right, and it’s usually early.”
What viruses may do to a computer.
I think you may experience when you are infected with a virus. Remember that you also may be experiencing any of the below issues and not have a virus.
· Deleted files.
· Various messages in files or on programs.
· Changes volume label.
· Marks clusters as bad in the FAT.
· Randomly overwrites sectors on the hard disk.
· Create more than one partition.
· Attempts to access the hard disk drive, which can result in error messages
· Causes cross-linked files.
· Causes a "sector not found" error.
· Cause the system to run slow.
· Logical partitions created, partitions decrease in size.
· A directory may be displayed as garbage.
· Directory order may be modified so files, such as COM files, will start at the beginning of the directory.
· Cause Hardware problems such as keyboard keys not working, printer issues, modem issues etc.
· Caused keyboard keys to be remapped.
· Alter the system time / date.
· Cause system to hang or freeze randomly.
· Increase file size.
· Increase or decrease memory size.
· Randomly change file or memory size.
· Extended boot times.
· Increase disk access times.
· Cause computer to make strange noises, make music, clicking noises or beeps.
· Display pictures.
· Different types of error messages.
· Deleted files.
· Various messages in files or on programs.
· Changes volume label.
· Marks clusters as bad in the FAT.
· Randomly overwrites sectors on the hard disk.
· Create more than one partition.
· Attempts to access the hard disk drive, which can result in error messages
· Causes cross-linked files.
· Causes a "sector not found" error.
· Cause the system to run slow.
· Logical partitions created, partitions decrease in size.
· A directory may be displayed as garbage.
· Directory order may be modified so files, such as COM files, will start at the beginning of the directory.
· Cause Hardware problems such as keyboard keys not working, printer issues, modem issues etc.
· Caused keyboard keys to be remapped.
· Alter the system time / date.
· Cause system to hang or freeze randomly.
· Increase file size.
· Increase or decrease memory size.
· Randomly change file or memory size.
· Extended boot times.
· Increase disk access times.
· Cause computer to make strange noises, make music, clicking noises or beeps.
· Display pictures.
· Different types of error messages.
Web 2.0 euphoria tempered by social problems
This article tells about some issues on web 2.0 platform from the business point view. To make it shot, the writer tell us that it is difficult to turn into hard cash. The main reason of this is that users want to engage with each other rather than corporate brand in social media as represented by web 2.0. The writer also mentions that the other issues on web 2.0 are that winners in internet business are starting to emerge meaning only a few companies can succeed in this market like NAVER in Korea.
If you want to know more on this, please ckick on the following link.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f449acaa-2b47-11dd-a7fc-000077b07658.html
Faster Wireless Networks
Isn't it an amusing idea that sending descriptions rather than data itself?
Sending descriptions of data could be more efficient than sending the data itself.
The role of computer networks would appear to be fairly straightforward: to ferry data from one point to another. But a novel wireless-network protocol developed for the U.S. military breaks with this tradition by sending not the data itself but rather a description of the data. In simulations, a network using the protocol was five times more efficient than a traditional network. Within the next year, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will test the protocol in field trials at Fort A. P. Hill in Virginia....
This article is long and I condensed it. You can read the rest of articles by clicking below link.
China Orders 6 Telecoms to Merge Their Assets
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
Published: May 26, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/worldbusiness/26telecom.html?ref=technology
China has told its six telecommunications companies to merge their assets, allowing fixed-line carriers to expand into wireless services and creating three operators that will offer phone and Internet connections to 1.3 billion people.
Under the plan, the parent of China Telecom will buy a mobile phone network from the parent of China Unicom, which in turn will merge with the company that controls the China Netcom Group, the Ministry of Industry and Information said in a statement on Saturday. China will issue three third-generation wireless licenses after the overhaul is completed, it said.
The revamp will help China Telecom and Netcom expand their operations to compete against China Mobile in China, the world’s biggest wireless and Internet market by users.
China had 583.5 million mobile phone users at the end of April, exceeding the combined populations of the United States and Japan. But the $105 billion industry has room to expand because 6 out of 10 people in China still do not own mobile phones and 84 percent of the population lacks Web connections.
“Everyone has been waiting for it for over three years and now it is here,” said Kelvin Ho, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Nomura International, referring to the reorganization plan. “Creating three full-service phone companies offering both fixed and mobile services will help the fixed-line phone companies.”
The statement, jointly issued with the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission, did not give a timeframe for the plan or financial details.
China Telecom said in a statement on Sunday that it was in talks to buy Unicom’s code-division multiple access technology business, or C.D.M.A. — the technology that is used in Japan and South Korea. The companies have not agreed on a price. In a separate release, Unicom confirmed those talks and also said it was discussing a merger with Netcom.
Trading in shares of Netcom, China Unicom and China Telecom was suspended on Friday at the companies’ request after a report from the official Xinhua News Agency prompted speculation that China was poised to announce its plans for the industry. Trading will continue to be suspended in Hong Kong pending further announcements, according to the statements.
China Mobile, which has nearly 400 million customers and is the world’s largest phone company by users, fell the most in two months in Hong Kong trading. The drop wiped out $12.8 billion in market value on concern that the company would face increased competition.
China Telecom, the nation’s biggest fixed-line company, will acquire Unicom’s smaller mobile-phone network, which provides services to 43 million customers based on the C.D.M.A. technology, according to the statement. China Telecom will also get the phone assets of China Satellite Communications, the statement said.
Unicom’s C.D.M.A. network, the smaller of the company’s two wireless networks, and its subscribers are worth about 111 billion yuan ($16 billion), according to estimates by Goldman Sachs in a March report.
The China Network Communications Group, Netcom’s parent, will merge with Unicom’s parent to offer fixed-line and mobile phone services based on the global system for mobile communications technology, or G.S.M., which is the technology used in most of the world, according to the statement.
Unicom had 125.4 million G.S.M. customers as of the end of April, according to the company. Netcom, the nation’s second-largest fixed-line company, had 108.7 million phone users.
China Mobile, which counts more than two-thirds of the nation’s mobile phone users as customers, will take control of the unlisted Tietong, the statement said, confirming the Xinhua report.
Chinese regulators aim to boost competitiveness at fixed-line operators before the nation introduces 3G high-speed wireless services, which will require billions of dollars in investments for network equipment. The government has said it plans to offer 3G during the Olympic Games in August.
Published: May 26, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/worldbusiness/26telecom.html?ref=technology
China has told its six telecommunications companies to merge their assets, allowing fixed-line carriers to expand into wireless services and creating three operators that will offer phone and Internet connections to 1.3 billion people.
Under the plan, the parent of China Telecom will buy a mobile phone network from the parent of China Unicom, which in turn will merge with the company that controls the China Netcom Group, the Ministry of Industry and Information said in a statement on Saturday. China will issue three third-generation wireless licenses after the overhaul is completed, it said.
The revamp will help China Telecom and Netcom expand their operations to compete against China Mobile in China, the world’s biggest wireless and Internet market by users.
China had 583.5 million mobile phone users at the end of April, exceeding the combined populations of the United States and Japan. But the $105 billion industry has room to expand because 6 out of 10 people in China still do not own mobile phones and 84 percent of the population lacks Web connections.
“Everyone has been waiting for it for over three years and now it is here,” said Kelvin Ho, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Nomura International, referring to the reorganization plan. “Creating three full-service phone companies offering both fixed and mobile services will help the fixed-line phone companies.”
The statement, jointly issued with the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission, did not give a timeframe for the plan or financial details.
China Telecom said in a statement on Sunday that it was in talks to buy Unicom’s code-division multiple access technology business, or C.D.M.A. — the technology that is used in Japan and South Korea. The companies have not agreed on a price. In a separate release, Unicom confirmed those talks and also said it was discussing a merger with Netcom.
Trading in shares of Netcom, China Unicom and China Telecom was suspended on Friday at the companies’ request after a report from the official Xinhua News Agency prompted speculation that China was poised to announce its plans for the industry. Trading will continue to be suspended in Hong Kong pending further announcements, according to the statements.
China Mobile, which has nearly 400 million customers and is the world’s largest phone company by users, fell the most in two months in Hong Kong trading. The drop wiped out $12.8 billion in market value on concern that the company would face increased competition.
China Telecom, the nation’s biggest fixed-line company, will acquire Unicom’s smaller mobile-phone network, which provides services to 43 million customers based on the C.D.M.A. technology, according to the statement. China Telecom will also get the phone assets of China Satellite Communications, the statement said.
Unicom’s C.D.M.A. network, the smaller of the company’s two wireless networks, and its subscribers are worth about 111 billion yuan ($16 billion), according to estimates by Goldman Sachs in a March report.
The China Network Communications Group, Netcom’s parent, will merge with Unicom’s parent to offer fixed-line and mobile phone services based on the global system for mobile communications technology, or G.S.M., which is the technology used in most of the world, according to the statement.
Unicom had 125.4 million G.S.M. customers as of the end of April, according to the company. Netcom, the nation’s second-largest fixed-line company, had 108.7 million phone users.
China Mobile, which counts more than two-thirds of the nation’s mobile phone users as customers, will take control of the unlisted Tietong, the statement said, confirming the Xinhua report.
Chinese regulators aim to boost competitiveness at fixed-line operators before the nation introduces 3G high-speed wireless services, which will require billions of dollars in investments for network equipment. The government has said it plans to offer 3G during the Olympic Games in August.
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