Prize in Indian talent search is a year on Bill Gates's team

Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, announced a contest Friday to identify promising software students in India, offering as top prize an internship with his technical team for a year.

The New York Times reports (10 December) the contest comes amid another in India: the race between low-cost, open-source software and proprietary software, like Microsoft's Windows. The open-source movement, which promotes the Linux operating system, is finding increasing favor over proprietary systems among users and software developers in India.

Addressing 5,000 developers gathered, Mr. Gates said the nationwide talent hunt, called "Code4Bill," would offer the winner an opportunity to study Microsoft's product development and innovations.

Mr. Gates said the contest would show the high quality of work being done in India. "Some of the best commercial work is happening right here," he said to cheers from the gathered crowd.

According to the NYT., Mr. Gates is something of a celebrity in India, where technology outsourcing has provided well-paid jobs and changed the fortunes of thousands of middle-class Indians. But companies like Microsoft worry that many developers are joining the open-source movement.

Since Mr. Gates last visited India in 2002, Linux has found increasing favor not just among local governments like those in neighboring Maharashtra state, but also at the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai and at Hindustan Lever, the country's biggest consumer products company, also based in Mumbai. India, with its one billion people, is a potentially huge market, but it needs inexpensive computers and software.

Supporters of open-source software say Microsoft has made large donations of its software to Indian government offices to "hook" them on its products. But at the Palace Grounds, most of the young developers gathered to see Mr. Gates were clearly in awe of him.

The newspaper said that on his current visit, Mr. Gates has left no doubt of India's importance in Microsoft's business plans. He announced a US$1.7 billion investment in India over the next four years. About half of that would go to Microsoft's research and development centre in Hyderabad in southern India, its biggest outside its headquarters in the US.

The investment will also help intensify Microsoft's research to create low-cost computing systems.

The Code4Bill contest will begin in January and last eight months. Twenty finalists will receive internships with Microsoft India before a final winner is selected to join Mr. Gates's own team.

{mospagebreaktitle=Gartner looks to 2005 world chip sales of US$235bn}Gartner looks to 2005 world chip sales of US$235bn

Market watcher Gartner reports that US$235 billion will have been spent on semiconductors this year, up 6.9 per cent on 2004's total.

The Register reports (11 December) that the 2005 figure marks the first time the industry has sold more chips than it did in 2000, a record-breaking year.

Gartner's forecast is somewhat higher than the US$228 billion the US' Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) predicted last month, but lower than fellow market researcher iSuppli's bullish US$237.3 billion.

According to The Register, like iSuppli, Gartner has Intel, Samsung and Texas Instruments down as the world's top three chip makers, with market shares of 15.0, 7.6 and 4.4 per cent, respectively. Tenth-placed AMD - up a rung on the position it took in the 2004 chip companies' ladder - has 2.4 per cent of the market, with sales up 13.7 per cent year on year. Intel's rose 14.3 per cent, Gartner said.

{mospagebreaktitle=World's poorest don't want '$100 Laptop': Intel}World's poorest don't want '$100 Laptop': Intel

Potential computer users in the developing world will not want a basic US$100 hand-cranked laptop due to be rolled out to millions, chip-maker Intel chairman Craig Barrett said on Friday.

Reuters reports (9 December) that schoolchildren in Brazil, Thailand, Egypt and Nigeria will begin receiving the first few million textbook style computers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) media lab run by Nicholas Negroponte from early 2006.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has welcomed the development of the small, hand-cranked lime-green devices, which can set up their own wireless networks and are intended to bring computer access to areas that lack reliable electricity.

According to Reuters, Negroponte said at their launch in November the new machines would be sold to governments for schoolchildren at US$100 a device but the general public would have to pay around US$200 -- still much cheaper than the machines using Intel's chips.

But Barrett said similar schemes in the past elsewhere in the world had failed and users would not be satisfied with the new machine's limited range of programs.

Reuters reports that Barrett said Intel was committed to delivering IT access to the developing world -- and is helping Sri Lanka Telecom set up south Asia's first long-range WIMAX wireless network -- but would not produce a cut-price product like MIT's computer.

He said Intel was also expanding an IT teacher training scheme it says has already reached three million schoolteachers worldwide to Sri Lanka, and praised local projects aimed at producing computer literacy. Some 90 percent of Sri Lankans were literate but only 10 percent computer literate, he said.

{mospagebreaktitle=Click fraud suit changes hand}Click fraud suit changes hand

Click Defense, a web analytics firm that intiated proceedings against Google in June, alleging that the search engine was failing to stop click fraud, is to be replaced as lead plaintiff in the suit by web hosting firm Advanced Internet Technology (AIT).

The Register reports (9 December) that Click Defense's said it was withdrawing as a representative plaintiff "in order to concentrate our efforts in helping our clients develop their claims of click fraud. We remain a member of the class and our click fraud claims against Google will still be litigated when and if the class is certified."

The suit, which is seeking class action status, alleges that Google's failure has cost users of its AdSense scheme at least US$5m.

According to The Register, the AdSense system allows advertisers to display targeted ads on websites in return for the payment of a fee to Google each time an internet user clicks on one of their ads. Google then repays part of the fee to the web page owner. This is different to Google's AdWords service, which allows advertisers to sponsor particular search terms so that, whenever that term is searched in Google, the advertiser's link will appear next to the search results.

The Register says, however, the AdSense scheme is open to abuse by website owners who, keen to boost the fees repaid to them by Google, try to ensure that the third party adverts displayed on their site are clicked as often as possible. As a result, the search engine's AdSense program policy states:

'Any method that artificially generates clicks is strictly prohibited. These prohibited methods include but are not limited to: repeated manual clicks, incentives to click, using robots, automated clicking tools, or other deceptive software. Please note that clicking on your own ads for any reason is prohibited, to avoid potential inflation of advertiser costs'.

The Register reports that this was not enough for Click Defense, which in June filed suit, alleging that Google refused to take steps to prevent click fraud, even though the company was well aware of the practice. But the firm has now withdrawn as representative plaintiff, handing the job over to AIT.

According to AIT it has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fraudulent clicks even though Google has the capability to detect fraud.

{mospagebreaktitle=Napster launches in Germany}Napster launches in Germany

Napster has opened its 1.5 million-song catalogue to music downloaders in Germany, the company has said.

The Register reports (9 December) that the tracks are available to buy on a one-off basis for €0.99 a song, and Napster is offering its usual unlimited-download rental service for €9.95, or €14.95 with the opportunity to transfer songs to digital music players.

Germany is the fourth country Napster has set up shop. Since its 2003 US debut as the legal Napster 2.0, the company has launched in the UK and Canada (April and May 2004, respectively).

According to The Register, that leaves Napster some way behind its nearest rival, Apple's iTunes Music Store, which has branches in 21 countries, including all the territories Napster is operating in.

{mospagebreaktitle=Intel readies rootkit- rooting hardware}Intel readies rootkit- rooting hardware

Intel has begun developing rootkit-detection technology with a view to preventing malicious code from modifying the host system's memory.

The Register reports (9 December) that according to an IT Observer report, the system will monitor the OS and other software that could be covertly modified by a rootkit to hide its presence and any security holes it has created. The monitor is implemented in hardware and checks for unnecessary changes made to memory containing system and application code.

Non-running rootkit code will continue to be the responsibility of anti-virus software, Intel said, with the hardware system present to prevent the activated code from damaging the host.

The Register says that, according to the report, Intel's researchers hope to implement the technology in commercially available silicon in the 2008-2009 timeframe. By then Intel should have shipped its 'LaGrande' security system, which is geared to encrypting information held in keyboard and graphics buffers, and to isolating blocks of memory to prevent processes snooping on each other.

{mospagebreaktitle=Siemens to carve up services arm}Siemens to carve up services arm

Siemens is expected to break up its IT services division after failing to offload the business as a job lot, according to a 9 December report in The Register.

The Register says that the German industrial giant has been touting the Siemens Business Services business all year, even as it has slashed costs and jobs at the unit.

According to The Register, The Financial Times reports that the company is ready to sell the product related services business to Fujitsu Siemens Computers. Siemens owns 50 percent of the computer firm, says The Register.

The move would leave the rest of the unit focused on consulting and outsourcing, which may be more attractive to a trade buyer, says The Register.

{mospagebreaktitle=Sony still primed for Spring 2006 PS3 debut}Sony still primed for Spring 2006 PS3 debut

Sony has re-iterated its plan to ship the PlayStation 3 by Spring 2006. The announcement follows Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst's prediction that the console won't debut until next Autumn.

The Register reports (9 December) that Sony told the Reuters news agency that the company is gearing up for a Spring launch, but that doesn't necessarily refute Probst's belief. All previous PlayStation launches have kicked off in Japan, with US and European roll-outs not taking place until many months later.

According to The Register, Sony may well be planning to offer PS3 in Japan in Q1/Q2 2006, with the US roll-out - which is what Probst may have in mind - not taking place until Q3 2006, just ahead of the Holiday spending spree.

The Sony-backed Blu-ray Disc next-generation optical format is also due to be formally launched next Spring, and the PS3 is widely seen as the system that will drive the adoption of Blu-ray. The Register says that with so much riding on Blu-ray's success - all the supporting companies' reputations, not the least of it - the format's backers will be urging Sony to get PS3 into consumers' hands as quickly as possible.

The Register says that, equally, an Autumn 2006 launch will leave the PS3 an entire year behind Microsoft's Xbox 360, a situation Sony's Computer Entertainment division may not be keen on either.

{mospagebreaktitle=Settlement rejected in BlackBerry case}Settlement rejected in BlackBerry case

The patent holding company NTP has rejected an offer by Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry e-mail device, to settle their patent dispute and the two sides are not currently negotiating, NTP's co-founder, Don Stout, said Friday.

The New York Times reports (10 December) that Mr. Stout said Research In Motion had made an "unacceptable" written offer Thursday to settle their patent infringement case, a lawsuit that could shut down the popular BlackBerry e-mail service in the United States.

Mr. Stout, who is also a patent lawyer, said he wanted to curb false speculation that the two sides were in talks and close to a deal.

The newspaper says that NTP successfully sued R.I.M. for patent infringement in 2002. It won an injunction the following year to halt sales of the BlackBerry device and service in the United States. The injunction was stayed pending the appeal process, which has largely been exhausted.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft launches Xbox 360 console in Japan}Microsoft launches Xbox 360 console in Japan

Microsoft is counting on the online gaming capability and high-definition graphics of its Xbox 360 console to win a new following in Japan, a key market in its quest to unseat Sony as the dominant game console maker, a senior executive said on Friday.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (9 December) that Microsoft, which launched the Xbox 360 in Japan this week, has struggled hard to gain ground in that market against home-grown rivals Nintendo and Sony, whose PlayStation 2 console is the global best seller.

Microsoft, which was a distant third in Japan with its first Xbox, held a launch party for hard-core gamers in Tokyo's Shibuya, a trendy shopping and entertainment center.

Microsoft is selling only the premium Xbox 360 package in Japan. It is priced at 37,900 yen and includes a removable hard drive that lets owners play games written for the first Xbox.

According to Reuters, The world's biggest software maker sold fewer than 500,000 of its original Xbox consoles in Japan, where Sony is estimated to have 80 percent share.

Microsoft is expected to easily surpass that number with its follow-on console, which will have the market all to itself for several months while Sony and Nintendo ready their next-generation PlayStation 3 and Revolution consoles for launch next year.

mospagebreaktitle=US market: Sprint to Offer full-length,movie downloads}Sprint to Offer full-length,movie downloads

In the US., telco Sprint Nextel is expected to announce immediately that it has begun selling a service which allows users of its mobile video phones to watch full-length movies, television shows, concerts and comedy specials.

Provided by vendor MSpot, the service offers unlimited shows and movies for a monthly flat fee of US$6.95, on top of regular service charges.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (9 December) that the announcement comes as Sprint and other wireless phone services are looking to video content like TV programs, music and sports to boost revenue.

They also are spending billions of dollars building up their networks for mobile video and speedy Internet service so they can grow revenue despite cheaper calling plans and a shrinking pool of first-time wireless phone subscribers.

The initial lineup includes films that are far from anyone's first-run list.

Reuters says that among them are ``One-Eyed Jacks,'' the Marlon Brando-Karl Malden Western, as well as ``Angel and the Badman'' with John Wayne. Other titles include ``Night of the Living Dead'' and the most recent -- ``Short Circuit'' from 1986.

Sprint plans to debut seven new films a week.

According to Reuters, Apple Computer also is exploring longer video content. The company last week said it would offer iPod downloads of full-length NBC-owned television shows, including recent ones such as ``The Office'' and ``Law & Order,'' as well as older shows like ``Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' and ``Knight Rider.''

{mospagebreaktitle=Yahoo acquires social network Del.icio.us}Yahoo acquires social network Del.icio.us

In its latest acquisition of a social networking service, internet powerhouse Yahoo on Friday devoured del.icio.us., a startup that enables people to more easily compile and share their favorite content on the web.

The Associated Press reports that the company didn't disclose how much it paid for New York-based del.icio.us because the purchase price wasn't large enough to have a significant impact on its finances.

Del.icio.us will continue to run its own web site, which allows users to create a personal account so they can create a page devoted to their favorite online articles, music and reviews. The material can be shared with others simply by sending along the Web link. The content also can be identified with labels, or ''tags,'' to make it simpler to find.

According to AP., more than 300,000 users have signed up for the service since del.icio.us' inception two years ago, founder Joshua Schachter said in a Friday phone interview. Schachter intends to work at Yahoo's headquarters, but del.icio.us's other eight employees will be scattered around the country.

During the past year, Yahoo has been adding more tools that promote sharing among friends and family as it battles for web traffic with its biggest rivals -- Google, Microsoft's MSN and Time Warner's AOL. All of them are trying to widen their internet audiences so they can make more money from steadily increasing volume of online advertising.

Reuters says that Yahoo's other recent social networking acquisitions include a popular photo-tagging service, Flickr, and an event-planning service, Upcoming.org.