China overtakes US as supplier of IT goods

After almost a decade of explosive growth in its electronics sector, China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest supplier of information technology goods, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The New York Times reports (11 December) that data in the report, to be published immediately, show that China's exports of information and communication technology - including laptop computers, mobile phones and digital cameras - increased by more than 46 percent to US$180 billion in 2004 from a year earlier, easily outstripping for the first time United States exports of US$149 billion, which grew 12 percent from 2003.

The figures compiled by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, based in Paris, also reveal that China has come close to matching the United States in the overall value of its trade in information and communications technology products. The value of China's combined exports and imports of such goods soared to US$329 billion in 2004 from US$35 billion in 1996. Over the same period, the value of American information technology trade expanded at a slower rate, to US$375 billion from US$230 billion.

The newspaper says that to some industry experts, the report is more evidence that China has made progress in its long-term plan to upgrade the capacity of its manufacturing as it strives to become a major economic power.

The most spectacular demonstration of China's ambition to become a consumer electronics heavyweight came in May this year when Lenovo, the Chinese computer maker, paid US$1.75 billion to buy IBM's personal computer unit.

Also, says the NYT., China's efforts to impose its own technology standards across a range of consumer products, including mobile phones, digital photography and wireless networks, are widely interpreted as a strategy to dominate the global market for information technology goods.

Some analysts say they believe that Chinese technology exports would have overtaken the United States much earlier without restrictions applied by Western countries to China on the transfer of so-called dual-use technologies - which can be used for both civilian and military ends - to China after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

According to the newspaper, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report could also heighten fears among some critics that China's drive to build a powerful information technology and consumer electronics sector could have far-reaching military consequences for the United States.

China's military industry works closely with information technology companies and the government's research and development sector in what some analysts have described as a "digital triangle" that supports the country's rapid military modernisation.

The report says that it is foreigners who have driven much of the growth, with heavy investment from global giants like Intel, Nokia, Motorola, Microsoft and Cisco Systems.

Figures from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce show that companies that had received overseas investment accounted for almost 90 percent of 2004 exports of high technology products.

And foreign companies are increasing their research and development in China in a bid to generate real innovation.

The newspaper says that, recently, China has unveiled a supercomputer capable of 11 trillion calculations per second, making it among the fastest anywhere. Also, Tsinghua University has produced a microprocessor that matches Intel's Pentium II.

{mospagebreaktitle=AOL co-founder calls for split of Time Warner}AOL co-founder calls for split of Time Warner

As Time Warner nears a decision on a big alliance with Google or Microsoft for its America Online unit, Stephen M. Case, the co-founder of AOL, has spoken out against the plan, aligning himself with the thinking of the financier Carl C. Icahn, who has pushed for a breakup of Time Warner.

The New York Times reports (12 December) that Mr. Case, who recently resigned as a Time Warner director, wrote in an essay in The Washington Post on Sunday that "although I played a key role in bringing AOL and Time Warner together six years ago, it's now my view that it would be best to 'undo' the merger by splitting Time Warner into several independent companies and allowing AOL to set off on its own path."

The newspaper says his comments came after a week of increasingly vituperative and personal attacks between Mr. Icahn, who directly and indirectly controls 3 percent of the company's shares, and Richard D. Parsons, Time Warner's chief executive.

Mr. Case's broadside also highlights the mountain of ill feelings that still surrounds the US$112 billion merger of AOL and Time Warner at the height of the internet bubble five years ago, and the financial and managerial debacle that played out in public in its aftermath, says the NYT.

According to the NYT., so far, the campaign against Time Warner does not pose much of a threat to the company because of its sheer size: it has a market value of US$82 billion and is owned by vast numbers of stockholders.

Mr. Icahn's attacks have prompted several big-name corporate leaders to call Mr. Parsons to express their support, including Rupert Murdoch of the News Corporation, Jeffrey R. Immelt of General Electric, Sir Howard Stringer of Sony, Kenneth I. Chenault of American Express and the financier John Utendahl.

{mospagebreaktitle=Adobe's deal for Macromedia may help fend off Microsoft}Adobe's deal for Macromedia may help fend off Microsoft

Adobe Systems and Macromedia spent more than a decade as fierce rivals in the software market. Now they are hoping that by banding together they can be better positioned to face increasingly aggressive competition from Microsoft.

The New York Times reports (12 December) early this month, Adobe completed its US$3.4 billion acquisition of Macromedia, giving it control of Flash, Macromedia's crown jewel, a software tool for developing multimedia applications for the web.

According to the newspaper, the move cements Adobe's dominant position in the market for electronic document management and helps round out its collection of software for art directors, Web designers and video producers.

The merger, announced in April, made strategic sense to analysts who had begun to question whether either company could sustain its growth as Microsoft expanded into document and multimedia software.

The NYT says that Adobe and Macromedia were among the highest fliers of the software industry in the 1990's, but both had to adjust to slower growth in the post-boom years. They even settled the last of a series of patent lawsuits and countersuits in 2002 and had begun to cooperate on critical technologies.

Within two days of closing the deal last week, Adobe rolled out three sets of software programs, called suites, that combine Adobe and Macromedia software. One is a suite for graphic designers that includes Adobe's flagship program, Illustrator; its Creative and Photoshop programs; and Flash, reports the newspaper.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft updates local search service}Microsoft updates local search service

Microsoft has expanded its Windows Live Local service, adding enhancements to its local search tools.

The Register reports (12 December) that the new service is powered by the company's Virtual Earth database, adding a new locator and directions tool. Available at https://local.live.com, Windows Live Local uses maps and images from the Virtual Earth database, creating a mapping service that includes online local search functions, directions tools and a bird's eye view of the location.

According to The Register, users will now be able to search Windows Live Local for local businesses and map the results through the service, getting directions to the particular business or viewing its location on an aerial map. The original Virtual Earth service, launched by Microsoft in July, allows users to switch between maps and photos, and includes software to pinpoint your location using nearby Wi-Fi networks to triangulate your position. The new Live Local service replaces Virtual Earth.

The Live service, launched in November, comprises a suite of new online tools, including Windows Live Messenger, which integrates e-mail, instant messaging, file-sharing, photo-sharing and VoIP.

The Register says that Live Local includes new 45-degree views of certain US cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Las Vegas. The new viewpoint was gathered by taking images from low-flying planes, and then using road and satellite maps to create panoramic images.

{mospagebreaktitle=Arizona town will go wall-to-wall wireless}Arizona town will go wall-to-wall wireless

In the US., Tempe, the Phoenix suburb that is home to Arizona State University, is due to have wireless internet available for all of its 160,000 residents in February, becoming the first city of its size in the United States to have Wi-Fi throughout.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (11 December ) that Tempe officials hope that by making high-speed internet as accessible as water or electricity across its 40 square miles, it will attract more technology and biotech companies -- and the young, upwardly mobile employees they bring.

The AP report says that an increasing number of the US's cities are looking at using internet access as an economic development tool. Few cities have gotten as far as installing systems, ''but most cities are realising that it may be something that they want to do,'' said Cheryl Leanza, legislative counsel for the National League of Cities.

Philadelphia is developing a citywide high-speed system with EarthLink. Unlike Philly or Tempe, New Orleans is building a free system, though the network speed will be limited, reports AP.

According to AP., the Tempe network is being installed by NeoReach Wireless. Roughly 400 antenna boxes mounted on light poles throughout the city will be used to stitch together the network, to which NeoReach will sell access, primarily through other providers.

The network uses a so-called ''mesh'' setup, meaning it passes wireless signals from pole to pole and automatically reroutes transmissions if one of the transmitters breaks down.

AP reports that speeds will vary depending on the number of users logged into the same access point. The network is strong enough only to be picked up outdoors or through one wall, meaning those who want service in their businesses or homes will need a box that serves as a signal booster and router.

The city of Tempe gave the company access to its light poles in exchange for use of the network in transmitting data to and from city offices and vehicles, said Karrie Rockwell, a spokeswoman for NeoReach.

According to AP., two hours of free access each day also will be available for internet users on the Arizona State campus or the nearby Mill Avenue retail district, where the network began a year ago as a pilot project and has proven popular.

NeoReach will directly sell service to outdoor users for US$3.95 per hour or US$29.95 per month. The resellers of NeoReach access have not yet announced pricing, but Rockwell said it will be cheaper than DSL or cable internet access.

AP says that in the US at least 14 states have passed laws limiting municipal internet service, and other states are expected to consider similar limits. Arizona does not have such a law.

{mospagebreaktitle=Man apologises after fake Wikipedia post}Man apologises after fake Wikipedia post

A man who posted false information on an online encyclopedia linking a prominent journalist to the Kennedy assassinations says he was playing a trick on a co-worker.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (11 December) that Brian Chase, 38, ended up resigning from his job and apologising to John Seigenthaler Sr., the former publisher of the Tennessean newspaper and founding editorial director of USA Today.

Chase said he didn't know the free internet encyclopedia called Wikipedia was used as a serious reference tool.

According to AP., the biography he posted, which has since been replaced, falsely stated that Seigenthaler was linked to the Kennedy assassinations and had lived in the Soviet Union from 1971 to 1984.

The entry motivated Seigenthaler to write an op-ed piece for USA Today blasting Wikipedia's credibility. He described himself as a close friend of Robert Kennedy and said he had worked with President Kennedy.

Seigenthaler said he doesn't plan to pursue legal action against Chase.