Agency weighs single - letter web addresses

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (29 November) that, although internet domain names may be getting longer or more complex as web sites creatively squeeze into the crowded ''.com'' address space, most single-letter names like ''a.com'' and ''b.com'' remain unused. That may soon change as the internet's key oversight agency considers lifting restrictions on the simplest of names.

AP says in the NYT report that, in response to requests by companies seeking to extend their brands, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will chart a course for single-letter web addresses as early as this weekend, when the ICANN board meets in Vancouver, British Columbia. Those names could start to appear next year.

But the transition won't be easy -- and it could lead to six-figure sales of this new online real estate, akin to opening New York's Central Park to development, says AP.

According to the report, names are normally released on a first-come, first-served basis for US$10 or less, a policy that favors those who have written programs to automatically and frequently check for a name's availability. Auctioning names to the highest bidder is one possibility.

ICANN also must decide whether companies need to seek such names individually if they want them across all suffixes, including ''.com,'' ''.info'' and ''.biz.''

AP says that single-letter names under ''.com,'' ''.net'' and ''.org'' were set aside in 1993 as engineers grew concerned about their ability to meet the expected explosion in demand for domain names. They weren't sure then whether a single database of names could hold millions -- more than 40 million in the case of ''.com'' today.

Six single-letter names already claimed at the time -- ''q.com,'' ''x.com, ''z.com,'' ''i.net,'' ''q.net,'' and ''x.org'' -- were allowed to keep their names for the time being.

{mospagebreaktitle=Texas Instruments offers new phone chip for Asia}Texas Instruments offers new phone chip for Asia
 
Top mobile phone chip maker Texas Instruments has introduced a high-speed wireless chip for use by a wider set of mobile handset makers, especially in advanced Asian markets.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (29 November) that the chip is based on W-CDMA, a technology that can support features such as mobile video and Web and is gaining ground in Europe and parts of Asia. It pits TI against rivals such as Qualcomm and Freescale Semiconductor.

TI developed the chip with Japan's top mobile carrier, NTT DoCoMo. Analysts expect the association with DoCoMo to help TI win business with DoCoMo's suppliers.

According to Reuters, the move into standard W-CDMA chips by TI -- currently leader in the W-CDMA chip market with custom-designed products -- could help reduce the price of advanced phones based on W-CDMA, also known as third-generation (3G) technology.

The chip has a dual role of controlling wireless communication and driving multimedia functions such as still and video camera recording and video chat, resulting in substantial cost cuts for handset makers, TI said.

Reuters says that TI's new product, known as the OMAPV2230, represents a move beyond the custom W-CDMA chips TI makes for its major customers including Ericsson and global No. 1 phone maker Nokia, analysts said.

{mospagebreaktitle=Nokia launches updated enterprise smartphone 9300}Nokia launches updated enterprise smartphone 9300

The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia has launched an updated version of its 9300 series enterprise smartphone, the 9300i, which supports wireless internet access, the Finnish firm said.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (29 November) that the phone is due out in the first quarter of next year, Nokia said in a statement that gave no pricing details.

{mospagebreaktitle=Japan arrest for posting fake story to internet}Japan arrest for posting fake story to internet

Police in Japan arrested a former computer programmer Monday for allegedly publishing a fabricated news article on a fake Yahoo Japan news Web site saying China had invaded the Japanese island of Okinawa.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (28 November) that Metropolitan Police arrested Takahiro Yamamoto, 30, on suspicion of violating patent laws, said a police spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing departmental policy.

The office said Yamamoto allegedly accredited the fake article to Kyodo News Agency and published it on an Internet site that he had designed to look like Yahoo Japan's news site.

AP reports that the story was written in Japanese with a dateline ''America, Oct. 18 Kyodo'' followed by a headline saying ''Chinese Military Invades Okinawa,'' the police said.

Police had confiscated Yamamoto's personal computer and analysed the data stored in it.

Kyodo said both it and Yahoo had filed complaints to police in October.

AP says that the web site was accessed 66,000 times until it was taken down on 19 October, Kyodo said, quoting police.

{mospagebreaktitle=Music players and game consoles topping lists}Music players and game consoles topping lists

Two of the most-coveted consumer electronics items this holiday season are the Apple iPod music player and the Xbox 360 game console from Microsoft, according to retailers and industry analysts.

The New York Times reports (29 November) that that represents a major shift in buying intentions this year.

In 2004, portable MP3 music players did not even make the annual top 10 list of desired gifts compiled by the Consumer Electronics Association. And video game machines were in ninth place.

The newspaper says that this year, though, those categories occupy the first and third positions on the list, based on a telephone survey of 1,000 randomly selected adults. Digital cameras are second on the most-desired list this season.

The shift for music players is tied, in large part, to Apple's success. Apple, which holds more than 70 percent of the MP3 market, has defined the category, said Dan Miller, vice president of the Cnet.com online shopping service.

According to the NYT.,during the first nine months of this year, US$2.3 billion worth of MP3 players were sold. An additional US$700 million in sales is expected in the final quarter. Three times the number of players will be sold this year as last, according to Sean Wargo, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association.

{mospagebreaktitle=Justices agree to consider EBay appeal in patent case}Justices agree to consider EBay appeal in patent case

In the US., the Supreme Court accepted an appeal by eBay in a closely watched patent case on Monday and agreed to revisit the rules under which courts grant injunctions against a company found to be infringing another's patent.

The New York Times reports (29 November) that a federal court jury found in 2003 that eBay, the online auction house, was violating three patents owned by MercExchange. The jury assessed more than US$25 million in damages.

But Judge Jerome B. Friedman of Federal Disrict Court, noting that MercExchange "exists solely to license its patents or sue to enforce its patents, and not to develop or commercialise them," refused to issue an injunction that would have barred eBay from continuing to use the patented methods in its Web operations.

The NYT says that the disputed patents enable the processing of transactions for the web site's fixed-price purchasing feature.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a specialised court that hears all appeals in patent cases, overturned the district court's decision this year and ruled that MercExchange was entitled to the injunction it sought, reports the newspaper.

{mospagebreaktitle=Deadline passes for internet phone service}Deadline passes for internet phone service

In the US., companies that provide internet-based phone service may find themselves disconnected from new customers after missing a government deadline to provide reliable emergency 911 service.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (29 November) that the Federal Communications Commission gave the companies 120 days to comply with its order requiring enhanced 911, or E911, in all their markets. The deadline to show the government where E911 is available was Monday.

The AP/NYT report says that companies and the FCC were tightlipped, refusing to disclose details of compliance reports. It was widely expected that no company would meet the deadline. The VON Coalition, an industry group, estimated that about two-thirds of internet phone users would have enhanced 911 by the deadline.

House and Senate lawmakers had urged FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to be more flexible, giving the companies more time and more tools to speed deployment, but no announcement of an extension was issued Monday by the FCC.

{mospagebreaktitle=TiVo to let subscribers choose ads}TiVo to let subscribers choose ads

In the US., TiVo will soon offer subscribers a way to customise some of the ads they receive -- and offer advertisers a way to make sure they're targeting consumers who want what they're pitching.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (29 November) that the new service won't conflict with ads seen (or fast-forwarded) in live or on-demand viewing or the ``showcases'' of longform advertising that appear in a menu, often purchased by automakers or movie studios.

Instead, this new feature will work in much the same way TiVo subscribers create ``WishLists'' to find programs. But instead of Jimmy Stewart movies or TV shows about baseball, TiVo users would register a profile with the company based on their interests. Then, in a section of the TiVo menu system, they will find ads -- short- and longform -- based on their interests.

Reuters says that someone in the market for a new car would find ads for cars that someone who isn't would never see, for instance.

TiVo is getting help from several ad agencies, reports Reuters.