Cisco agrees to acquire tv set-top box maker

Cisco Systems, the internet equipment provider, has said it has reached a deal to buy Scientific-Atlanta, a maker of television set-top boxes, for US$6.9 billion.

The New York Timses reports (18 November) that the news highlights a desire by networking equipment makers to take advantage of the growing convergence of internet technology, telecommunications and entertainment.

Cisco will pay US$43 per share for each share of Scientific-Atlanta, a 3.7 percent premium over than the stock's closing price on Thursday, the companies said in a statement. Cisco will use cash and debt to finance the transaction. Scientific Atlanta's US$1.6 billion cash balance means Cisco will end up spending US$5.3 billion.

The newspaper says that in the last month, Scientific-Atlanta's stock has surged 26 percent on speculation that the company would be bought. Those gains have pushed the company's market capitalisation to US$6.4 billion.

Cisco said the deal had been approved by the boards of both companies, but it still faces a review by antitrust regulators, and shareholders of Scientific-Atlanta must vote on it.

According to the NYT.,with the deal, Cisco will, for the first time, be able to sell digital television equipment that provides high-definition programming; shows and movies on demand; and an array of interactive services. Scientific-Atlanta, the second-largest provider of these set-top boxes, and Motorola, the largest, have effectively held a duopoly in this market.

The newspaper reports that both Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola have long supplied set-top boxes to cable operators like Comcast and Time Warner Cable. The boxes, though long viewed as stodgy decoders of encrypted television signals, have become far more sophisticated in recent years.

The NYT says that Cisco is envisioning a future that includes home entertainment systems built around a set-top box that communicates with not only the television, but also with audio equipment and a range of appliances. Cisco also sees potential growth in services that store television programming on giant servers for delivery to consumers on demand.

{mospagebreaktitle=Technology summit wraps up in Tunisia}Technology summit wraps up in Tunisia

A crucial summit on expanding internet access around the world ended Friday with a firm promise to narrow the digital divide -- but little in government funding to make it happen.

The Associated Press reports (18 November) that the World Summit on the Information Society originally was conceived to raise consciousness about the divide between the haves and have-nots, and to raise money for projects to link up the global village, particularly Africa and Asia and South America.

But instead, it was overshadowed by a lingering resentment about who should oversee the domain names and technical issues that allow people from Pakistan to Peru surf web sites for information, news and consumer goods, reports AP.

According to the AP report, negotiators from more than 100 countries had agreed on the eve of the meeting to leave the United States in charge of the internet's addressing system, averting a US-EU showdown at this week's UN technology summit. But resentment over perceived US control persisted, and participants left with few concrete pledges of financial help.

Participants said more than 200 new initiatives were unveiled at the summit, but no exact dollar amount, said T. Kelly, head of the strategy and policy unit for the Geneva-based ITU.

The AP/NYT report says that some of the initiatives announced at the summit include programs to set up centres to teach information technology with the idea of having them, in turn, teach it to more students, in a bid increase countries' homegrown talent; a low-cost mobile phone to expand the number of cell phone users worldwide; and a USUS$100 (euro85) laptop announced by John Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab, which aims to ship 1 million units by the end of next year and sold to governments at cost for distribution to school children and teachers.

{mospagebreaktitle=India concern to design IBM chips}India concern to design IBM chips

IBM announced an agreement Thursday establishing an Indian outsourcing company, HCL Technologies, as the first design center outside IBM's own walls for its Power Architecture chips.

The New York Times reports (18 November) the deal highlighted India's growing role in the design of high-end chips. The country is better known as a hub for outsourcing of software development and comparatively low-end back-office work.

According to the newspaper, the agreement is also in line with IBM's plan to adopt a more open strategy in its microprocessor business by setting up design centers around the world to help customers in areas like wireless technologies, consumer devices and networking by developing customized chips.

At Power Architecture design centers, IBM's chips are tailored for products as diverse as Xbox game consoles, high-definition TV's and pacemakers.

The newspaper says that traditionally, microprocessors like IBM's Power chips were optimised by shrinking the size of transistors and fitting more into each chip to increase processing speed.

But with newer, tightly packed microprocessors consuming more and more power, optimisation in performance comes from adapting microprocessors to different uses.

The NYT says that IBM has its own Power Architecture design centers in Bangalore, and also in Israel, China, Japan, Switzerland and Germany besides the United States.

The newspaper says that IBM's agreement comes in the wake of estimates that India's semiconductor design industry is growing, albeit from a small base. The industry will triple by 2010, to about US$1.72 billion from US$624 million currently, according to a recent research company forecast.

{mospagebreaktitle=Apple's iTunes 'owns' UK digital music market}Apple's iTunes 'owns' UK digital music market

Apple's iTunes Music Store has a larger share of the UK digital music download market than the rest of its competitors put together, recently published figures from London-based researcher Xtn Data reveal.

The Register reports (18 November) that Xtn's research, based on a late September survey of more than 1,000 British consumers who buy music online and offline, puts ITMS' UK market share at 54 per cent. Its nearest rival, Napster, has just ten per cent of the market. British company Wippit, one of the longest running providers of legal music downloads in the UK, comes in at number three, with an eight per cent market share.

Rounding out the top five are MyCokeMusic, with a six per cent share, and MSN, on five per cent. The Microsoft operation is just ahead of CD Wow, which has four per cent of the users who buy music downloads in the UK, according to Xtn's survey.

The Register says that Virigin Digital and HMV have thus far failed to make much of a mark on the market. The two music retail giants, who in September both revived their lacklustre download services with bright, new versions, have three per cent and one per cent of the UK market, respectively.

According to the publication, the two other High Street retailers operating in the space, Tesco and Woolworths, both of whom entered the UK download market in the autumn of 2004, have only managed to take two per cent of the market each since then.

All the other players together account for 11 per cent of the market, Xtn's numbers show.

{mospagebreaktitle=Exploit code targets unpatched Windows flaw}Exploit code targets unpatched Windows flaw

Hackers have developed proof-of-concept code that attempts to take advantage of an unpatched Windows vulnerability to crash systems, Microsoft has warned. Fortunately the risk of attack is low.

The Register reports (18 November) that the experimental code shows it's possible to knock over machines running Windows XP SP1 and Windows 2000 SP4 in certain configurations by taking advantage of flaws in Windows memory allocation functions. This vulnerability manifests itself when a malformed request is made to the UPnP service in the data section of a call to the GetDeviceList function. In handling this request, memory consumption on vulnerable Windows boxes increase to the point where the system becomes unresponsive. Repeated requests can therefore be used to mount denial of service attacks.

The publication says that attacks on Windows XP SP1 would rely on having user authentication, reducing the scope for mischief by remote hackers. Microsoft users running Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 are not affected by the vulnerability. Win 2000 shops are most at risk but providing systems are properly firewalled then attacks should fail.

{mospagebreaktitle=Panasonic preps Blu-ray, DVD, CD chip}Panasonic preps Blu-ray, DVD, CD chip

Panasonic will next month begin sampling what it claims is the first optical drive control chipset capable of writing to any recordable or re-writeable disc format. Well, all except HD DVD, that is.

The Register reports (18 November) that Panasonic's chipset comprises a chip to handle the analogue mechanics - the servo and laser control, for example - and a second to do the appropriate digital signal processing.

Among the latter's duties are format support, for which Panasonic lists BD-ROM, BD-R/RE, DVD±R/RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-ROM, CD-R/RW and CD-ROM.

The publication says that the chipset uses both the Partial Response (PR) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) error-correction techniques to minimise the effect of the noise in a fast-moving optical pick-up system, Panasonic said.

The chipset, which will be offered in ATAPI and Serial ATA versions, will be made available as engineering samples in December, with mass-production commencing in January 2006, Panasonic said.

{mospagebreaktitle=Industry body to certify adware}Industry body to certify adware

An industry group formed to promote trust between consumers and websites will begin certifying adware programs starting next year, the organisation has announced.

The Register reports (18 November) that the group, TRUSTe, will put programs that meet certain criteria - such as only installing themselves after users accept an explicit agreement and allowing easy removal of the program - on a whitelist of so-called Trusted Download Programs. Sponsors of the organisation, such as Yahoo!, AOL, Computer Associates, CNET Networks and Verizon, plan to use the tool to make business decisions, TRUSTe said in its statement.

According to The Register, adware providers have widely skirted legal boundaries in the past, and trampled over the rights of many PC users by installing a variety of advertising software and spyware without adequate notification to the consumer. Such tactics net the industry a large windfall, with some analysts estimating that each PC installation nets the adware firm US$3 a year for a total annual revenue of US$2billion in 2004.

The Register says that such tactics have faced stiff criticism from consumers and digital rights activists. Media giant Sony BMG is the latest company to come under fire for installing software with inadequate notification. Security researchers found that the company's copy protection used tactics commonly found in the rootkits used by online attackers and did not call out the function of the program before installation.

The Trusted Download Program will better inform users about adware, says The register, adding that the program requires that current PC users that have adware on their systems be asked to agree again to have a Trusted Download Program installed on their machines. The program will launch in a beta format early next year. Microsoft and the policy think tank Center for Democracy and Technology provided guidance on the program, according to TRUSTe.

{mospagebreaktitle=US: now, high-tech work going abroad}US: now, high-tech work going abroad

In the US., millions of low-technology jobs, from textile production to corporate call centres, have migrated to Asian countries like India and China in recent years.

Now, however, says The New York Times (17 November),high technology is increasingly coming up for grabs, and no company illustrates the speed at which corporate America can replace high-priced American talent with cheaper foreign brainpower than Conexant Systems.

The newspaper says that Conexant, of California, maker of the intricate microchip brains behind internet access for home computers and satellite-connecting set-top boxes for televisions, has gone on a hiring binge for research engineers in India, a move that it says will eventually cut its overall costs by 50 percent.

Dwight Decker, Conexant's chief executive, said that half the semiconductor design and other high-tech engineering work is now done at Conexant India, the division in Hyderabad.

According to the NYT., the operation there employs 700 engineers, nearly as many as headquarters does. That is up from 10 percent of such work last year, and Mr. Decker says that figure will jump to 65 percent by the end of 2006, leaving just one-third of the work to be done by the engineers in the United States.

"We are placing a very large bet on our ability to shift a significant part of our development to Asia," Mr. Decker said.

The newspaper says that Conexant's step is enormous, proportionate to its middling size. Giants like General Electric and 3M routinely assign high-tech research to laboratories they own in India and China. And the sprinkling of such work among their global systems is increasing. But most of their research remains in the United States.

{mospagebreaktitle=LG Elec may double plasma panel capacity by 2007}LG Elec may double plasma panel capacity by 2007

LG Electronics, the world's number two maker of plasma display panels (PDP), said on Sunday it might add another production line in 2007, almost doubling existing capacity.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (20 November) that the proposal came just a day after it revealed a plan to raise its production capability by 50 percent next year.

LG Electronics, also South Korea's top home appliance maker, expects the global PDP market to more than treble by 2010 to 25 million units.

Reuers says that, in a filing to the Korea Exchange, LG said it would build a new PDP production line with capacity of 180,000 units per month in the second half of 2006, boosting total capacity to 550,000 units per month.

Sunday's statement outlined continued aggressive expansion, says Reuters.

``We are considering another investment in 2007,'' LG said in a press statement. ``If the investment is made, we will be able to process 730,000 units per month, on top of the 550,000 units of per month capacity we will have by 2006.''

Reuters reports that with the investment plan, LG said it aimed to become the world's biggest PDP maker next year. It competes with South Korea's Samsung, the world's top PDP maker, and third-ranked Matsushita Electric Industrial of Japan, as well as Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display.

 
{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft aims to trump Sony with Xbox 360 debut}Microsoft aims to trump Sony with Xbox 360 debut

Microsoft hopes to gain an advantage over rivals Sony and Nintendo by being first to launch a next-generation video game console when its Xbox 360 debuts 22 November.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (18 November) that while the strategy is not fail-proof, it is essential for Microsoft, which would risk being eclipsed by market leader Sony if the Japanese rival beat it to stores with its upcoming PlayStation 3 gaming system, analysts said.

The current-generation PlayStation 2 owns the US$10 billion US video game market and has outsold the Xbox by more than 2 to 1, with more than 30 million units purchased to date, according to market researchers NPD Group.

Reuters reports that Peter Moore, head of worldwide marketing and publishing for the Xbox 360, said Microsoft's goal is to get the Xbox 360 into living rooms around the world this holiday season and build momentum by Christmas 2006. Sony and smaller console maker Nintendo plan to launch their systems by then.

The original Xbox went from nowhere to second place in the United States after its November 2001 launch, and Microsoft was able to absorb more than US$4 billion in operating losses in the process.

Reuters reports that in the US$25 billion global video game market, the Xbox runs virtually neck-and-neck with Nintendo's GameCube but is dwarfed by PS2's 70 percent market share, according to KBC Securities.

{mospagebreaktitle=Ex - Microsoft worker sentenced for theft}Ex - Microsoft worker sentenced for theft

A federal judge sentenced a former Microsoft employee on Friday to four years in prison for illegally selling millions of dollars of company software.

The Associaed Press reports in The New York Times (18 November) that Finn W. Contini, 37, pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and four counts of money laundering.

He admitted ordering 2,700 pieces of software worth about US$7 million through Microsoft's internal ordering program, which he then sold for a personal profit of US$2.3 million.

Prosecutors argued that Contini recruited others to take part in the scheme.

{mospagebreaktitle=House passes tv digital speed-up plan}House passes tv digital speed-up plan

In the US., the House on Friday backed a plan to require television broadcasters to switch to all-digital transmissions by December 2008, three months earlier than they would have to under provisions of a Senate bill.

The Associated Press reports in the New York Times (18 November) that House lawmakers also voted to set aside US$830 million to help millions of Americans with older, analog TV sets pay for converter boxes so they'll continue to get service in the digital era.

The House deadline for broadcasters to end their traditional analog transmissions is 31 Dec., 2008. The so-called ''hard date'' was included in a sweeping budget bill.

The Senate measure calls for a hard date of 7 April, 2009 -- after the March Madness college basketball playoffs. The converter box subsidy is significantly larger -- US$3 billion.

The AP/NYT report says that about 21 million US households rely on free, over-the-air TV, so they'll need the converter box to keep receiving their television service after the switch to all-digital. Cable and satellite customers would not be affected.

{mospagebreaktitle=Shadowcrew six plead guilty to credit card fraud}Shadowcrew six plead guilty to credit card fraud

A further six people linked to the trade in stolen personal information and credit card details via the notorious Shadowcrew web site pleaded guilty on Thursday in the United States.

The Register reports (18 November) that the six are among 28 people charged last year following an undercover investigation, codenamed Operation Firewall, mounted by the US Secret Service against Shadowcrew.com, a members-only underground web site that became an online marketplace for credit card fraudsters and counterfeit identification document forgers.

According to The Register, the group of six pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud in New Jersey on Thursday in exchange for the state dropping other charges pending against them. Wired reports they were named as: Andrew Mantovani, 23, and Brandon Monchamp, 22, of Arizona; Kim Taylor, 47, and Omar Dhanani, 22, of California; Jeremy Stephens, 31, of North Carolina; and Jeremy Zielinski, 22, of Florida. In total, 12 people have now pleaded guilty to Shadowcrew-related charges.

The Register says that Shadowcrew members allegedly trafficked in at least 1.7m stolen credit card numbers and caused total losses in excess of US$4m. Victims of this carding activity included banks and credit card companies, who bore the brunt of losses, as well as consumers whose identities and credit histories were damaged by identity theft.