US approval for two big telecom deals

The US telecommunications industry last week took another step in its consolidation as the Justice Department approved the sale of AT&T to SBC Communications and the sale of MCI to Verizon Communications, but more hurdles must still be cleared.

According to The New York Times (28 October) the Federal Communications Commission will now meet to consider the deals, and the two Democratic commissioners have asked for assurances that rival carriers can lease space on the SBC and Verizon networks at fair prices. The purchases are also subject to approval by several state regulators.

In another move, SBC said it would adopt the AT&T name after the purchase was completed. SBC, one of the Baby Bells that was created when AT&T's national monopoly was broken up in 1984, is recognisable in the states where it operates, but less known in other parts of the country.

The NYT reports that antitrust regulators at the Justice Department made relatively few demands on SBC and Verizon despite protests from smaller phone companies that the deals would reduce competition.

SBC and AT&T agreed to give rivals access to network buildings where both companies have facilities and where they are the only companies operating. Regulators made a similar request of Verizon and MCI. But the requirements involved only a tiny fraction of the companies' facilities.

AT&T and MCI were attractive takeover targets because they were the two largest suppliers of telecommunications services to businesses.

By absorbing them, SBC and Verizon will together control 56 percent of that $135 billion market, according to Yankee Group estimates. The next largest competitor will be Qwest Communications with 7 percent, followed by BellSouth and Sprint with 6 percent each.

Qwest and other carriers have argued that this concentration of power will allow SBC and Verizon to raise prices to competitors who want to lease their networks and it will ultimately force business customers to pay more as well.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft says profit rose 24%}Microsoft says profit rose 24%

Microsoft rode a wave of global strength in the personal computer market to report growth in profit and sales in the first quarter of its 2006 fiscal year, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations.

The New Yorkl Times reports (28 Octoberr) that Microsoft, the world's largest software publisher, said that quarterly revenue was US$9.74 billion, 6 percent higher than US$9.19 billion in the quarter last year. Earnings rose 24 percent, to US$3.14 billion, or 29 cents a share, from US$2.53 billion, or 23 cents a share, a year earlier.

According to the newspaper, the results in the most recent quarter, which ended 30 September, included a charge of 2 cents a share stemming from the antitrust settlement that the company reached with a rival, RealNetworks. The year-earlier quarter included a charge of 3 cents a share as a result of an antitrust settlement with Novell Inc.

Excluding the charge, Wall Street analysts had expected the company to earn 30 cents on revenue of US$9.78 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

{mospagebreaktitle=Man accused of stealing porn site arrested}Man accused of stealing porn site arrested

A man accused of stealing a pornographic web site and making millions of dollars from it was arrested by Mexican authorities.

The Assaociateed Press rerports i The new Yoker Times (28 October) that Stephen Michael Cohen, 57, was taken into custody Thursday as he applied for a work permit and was turned over to US authorities, said a spokeswoman for the US Marshals Service, which tracks down fugitives.

AP says in the NYT report that, at a hearing in San Diego federal court, Magistrate Judge Leo Papas ordered Cohen transferred to Northern California, where a warrant was issued for his arrest.

''It's good that justice is served,'' said Gary Kremen, 41, who fought Cohen for years over the sex.com Web site.

AP says in the NYT., that the lucrative Web site primarily hosts ads for other sex-related sites. Kremen said he spent US$4.5 million in legal fees trying to regain control of it.

A federal judge in 2000 found that Cohen had hijacked the domain name by forging a letter from Kremen's company. The judge ordered Cohen to return the site and pay Kremen $US65 million.

The AP report says that Cohen failed to appear in court after the judgment was entered and the judge in 2001 issued an arrest warrant charging him with contempt of court. Since then, he had been living in Tijuana, according to court records.

The warrant orders Cohen to remain imprisoned until he returns US$25 million that the judge said was illegally transferred out of the country.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft: Windows may be pulled in Korea}Microsoft: Windows may be pulled in Korea

Microsoft on Thursday said that an investigation by Korea's antitrust watchdog could lead to the withdrawal of Windows from the country, or to delays in introducing new versions of the operating system there.

According to an Associated Press report in The New York Times (28 October), Microsoft's competitive practices have been under investigation by the Korean Fair Trade Commission, which is looking into the company's inclusion into Windows of streaming media and instant messenger technology.

The software giant has faced legal and regulatory antitrust actions worldwide because of its decisions to include various services in its operating system.

Earlier this month, Microsoft agreed to settle an antitrust lawsuit with RealNetworks by paying up to YS$761 million in cash and services.

{mospagebreaktitle=Top tech companies complain to EU about Qualcomm}Top tech companies complain to EU about Qualcomm

Six companies including Ericsson, Nokia and Texas Instruments have accused Qualcomm of stifling competition in the mobile phone chip market in a complaint filed with European regulators.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (28 October) that shares of Qualcomm fell more than 4 percent after news of the latest legal challenge against the wireless company, which dominates the market for chips used in US mobile phones. It also sells licenses and chips for the latest cell phone technologies being widely adopted in Europe.

According to Reuters, the companies allege Qualcomm had offered preferential terms on royalties of technology patents to manufacturers who also bought their chipsets -- the hardware inside a mobile phone.

One analyst said Qualcomm has survived many legal challenges since its inception 20 years ago and has had an acrimonious past with companies such as Nokia, Ericsson and Texas Instruments.

{mospagebreaktitle=Palm kicks off Euro 3G smart-phone R&D drive}Palm kicks off Euro 3G smart-phone R&D drive

Palm has opened an R&D centre in Ireland to create custom smart-phone applications for its European, Middle Eastern and African carrier customers, the company said today.

The Register reports (28 October) that the R&D facility, located in Airside Business Park in Swords, County Dublin next door to Palm's existing European Operations and Supply Chain centre, was established with the help of the Ireland Development Agency.

According to the publication, in addition to developing "mobile operator-specific services and applications", the operation will help develop "core, leading-edge technologies, such as 3G/UMTS, to help Palm accelerate the delivery of next-generation smart phones to European mobile operators", the company revealed. It will also work on product certification and quality assurance.

Palm CEO Ed Colligan dubbed the centre "a significant step up for our R&D function".

The Register says that the move is a sign that Palm needs to up its game in Europe, particularly now that Nokia is gearing up to offer an email-oriented smart phone, the E61, which while is primarily pitched at the Blackberry market, could also impact Treo sales.

{mospagebreaktitle=Phone, chip makers demand EC Qualcomm probe}Phone, chip makers demand EC Qualcomm probe

Nokia, Panasonic, NEC, Ericsson, Texas Instruments and Broadcom have accused Qualcomm of abusing European anti-trust regulations - and they have asked the European Commission to force it clean up its act.

The Register reports (28 October) that the six firms' beef centres on Qualcomm's ownership of key 3G mobile phone technology patents and how it makes that intellectual property available to others.

They allege Qualcomm has reneged on promises it made to international standards bodies when they agreed to adopt its WCDMA technology as the foundation for 3G that it would license its patented techniques on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

Instead, they say, it charged royalties "for its WCDMA essential patents that are excessive and disproportionate". The Register says that Qualcomm charges as much for its WCDMA-related patents as it does for its CDMA2000 patents "despite the fact that Qualcomm has contributed far less technology to the WCDMA 3G standard than it has to the CDMA2000 standard", they claim.

The six maintain Qualcomm's intention has been to "to exclude competing manufacturers of chipsets for mobile phones from the market and preventing others from entering," according to The Register.

{mospagebreaktitle=Dell to preload Trend Micro software on PCs}Dell to preload Trend Micro software on PCs

Japanese security software maker Trend Micro has teamed with PC maker Dell to sell internet security software to consumers, a Trend Micro executive said on Friday.

Reuters repoprts in The New York Times (28 October) that, starting this week Dell will load free 90-day trial versions of PC-cillin on PCs shipped to North American consumers.

In February, the computer maker will designate Trend Micro's PC-cillin software as ``Dell Recommended'' on its Web site catalog, said Trend Micro's president of North American operations, Lane Bess. Dell currently recommends a rival product from McAfee Inc. It puts Symantec second.

According to Reuters, the arrangement does not automatically funnel sales to Trend Micro, but could help the Japanese software company's efforts to boost its North American market share, which stands at 7 percent -- far behind Symantec and McAfee.

Dell has been selling PC-cillin with its PCs since July. Starting in February, PC-cillin will be placed at the top of list with ``Dell Recommended'' prominently stamped next to that listing.

{mospagebreaktitle=PDA shipment slide continued through Q3}PDA shipment slide continued through Q3

While the world's mobile professionals continue to buy fewer PDAs than they have in the past, the low-end of the market continues to show some strength, market watcher IDC has said.

The Register reports (28 October) that, according to IDC., worldwide PDA shipments fell 16.7 per cent between Q3 2005 and Q3 2004, with the most recently completed calendar quarter's shipments totalling just under 1.7 million units. Shipments were down 8.5 per cent on Q2 2005's total, IDC said.

Palm remained the market leader - its products accounted for 33.8 per cent of the units shipped during the period - but shipments were down 22.7 per cent year on year and 10.8 per cent on the previous quarter.

The Register says that the report showed that the market's number two, HP, managed a sequential increase in shipments of 4.4 per cent, but was down 35.4 per cent year on year. It took 23.6 per cent of the market, IDC said.

Fourth-placed Dell was down too, by 13.9 per cent year on year and 9.6 per cent sequentially. Like Palm and HP, it has primarily targeted traditional executive PDA buyers.

However, Acer, in third place, and Mio, in fifth, both saw year-on-year gains, up 421 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively, reports The Register.

{mospagebreaktitle=Anti-spyware group publishes guidelines}Anti-spyware group publishes guidelines

A coalition of anti-spyware vendors and consumer groups have just published guidelines to help consumers assess products designed to combat unwanted programs that sneak onto computers.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (29 October) that the Anti-Spyware Coalition released the guidelines for public comment and also updated a separate document that attempted to craft uniform definitions for ''spyware'' and ''adware'' in hopes of giving computer users more control over their machines.

The AP report says that, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, internet users have become more cautious online because of worries about spyware and adware, which can bombard users with pop-up ads and drain processing power to the point of rendering computers unusable.

Nearly half of adult online Americans have stopped visiting specific web sites that they fear might infect them with such unwanted programs, and a quarter have ceased to use file-sharing software, which often comes bundled with adware.

In addition, 43 percent of internet users say they've been hit with spyware, adware or both, with broadband users generally at greater risk, says the AP/NYT report.

{mospagebreaktitle=MIT and Nokia open joint research facility}MIT and Nokia open joint research facility

MIT said yesterday that it is starting a new research centre in partnership with Nokia, as part of its Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

The Register reports (28 October) that the new facility, called the Nokia Research Centre Cambridge, will focus specifically on advancing "the state of the art in mobile computing and communications", the two institutions said.

According to the report in The Register, the research assumes that small mobile devices are not going anywhere anytime soon, and that they will become increasingly integrated into a so-called ecosystem of services, information and other devices.

Researchers will be looking into new user interfaces, especially ones based on speech, low power hardware, as well as new software architectures and wireless communications technologies, says The Register.

{mospagebreaktitle=Google wants to dominate Madison Avenue}Google wants to dominate Madison Avenue

This year, Google will sell US$6.1 billion in ads, nearly double what it sold last year, according to Anthony Noto, an analyst at Goldman Sachs.

The New York Times reports (30 October) that that is more advertising than is sold by any newspaper chain, magazine publisher or television network. By next year, Mr. Noto said, he expects Google to have advertising revenue of US$9.5 billion. That would place it fourth among American media companies in total ad sales after Viacom, the News Corporation and the Walt Disney Company, but ahead of giants including NBC Universal and Time Warner.

The newspaper reports that Google is using its windfall to pay for an eclectic range of ambitious projects that have the potential to radically disrupt other industries. Among other things, it is offering to build a free wireless internet network in San Francisco, plans to scan nearly every book published and is testing a free classified advertising system it calls Google Base.

According to the NYT., more quietly, Google is also preparing to disrupt the advertising business itself, by replacing creative salesmanship with cold number-crunching.

Its premise so far is that advertising is most effective when seen only by people who are interested in what's for sale, based on what they are searching for or reading about on the web.

The NYT says that because Google's ad-buying clients pay for ads only when users click on them, they can precisely measure their effectiveness - and are willing to pay more for ads that really sell their products.

According to the newspaper, hidden behind its simple white pages, Google has already created what it says is one of the most sophisticated artificial intelligence systems ever built. In a fraction of a second, it can evaluate millions of variables about its users and advertisers, correlate them with its potential database of billions of ads and deliver the message to which each user is most likely to respond.

The report says that because of this technology, users click ads 50 percent to 100 percent more often on Google than they do on Yahoo, Mr. Noto estimates, and that is a powerful driver of Google's growth and profits.

{mospagebreaktitle=LG abandons tube tvs in Europe}LG abandons tube tvs in Europe

LG Electronics, South Korean maker of products from fridges to cell phones, said on Friday it had almost completely stopped selling tube TVs in the European market as it bets the future on thin televisions.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (28 October) that the firm is currently selling its remaining stock. In the future, it will restrict itself to the top end of the market for cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs, such as a new range of ultra-slim CRT TVs built with thinner glass tubes, LG Electronics' European chief James Kim told Reuters.

According to the Reuters/NYT report, LG's main supplier of glass tubes, LG.Philips Displays, could not immediately specify the consequences for its two remaining production sites in France and the Czech Republic, but the 50-50 joint venture LG has with Philips Electronics is preparing another restructuring because of falling demand.

{mospagebreaktitle=Sprint Nextel to launch high-speed network}Sprint Nextel to launch high-speed network

Sprint Nextel s poised for a full-scale launch of its high-speed wireless network, a service that will include the first over-the-air music download store in the United States.

The Associated Press reports (28 October) that the newly merged cell phone company was planning a series of major announcements for Monday morning.

In advance of the announcement, Sprint Nextel distributed review units of a new cell phone equipped with EV-DO, the technology with which the company's network is being upgraded to offer speedier Internet connections and other data services.

AP says in the NYT report that the Samsung handset also featured a menu icon for music that leads to a service named ''Sprint Music Store'' offering downloads from a wide array of genres for US$2.50 per song. The purchase entitles a user to download a copy of the same song to a computer as well.

The report adds that there already are a growing number of phones that can store and play music -- most notably the ROKR handset introduced last month by Motorola and Apple Computer for songs downloaded to a computer from Apple's popular iTunes store. But only a few overseas cellular operators have launched services where the music can be delivered directly to a handset over the air, says AP in the NYT report.

{mospagebreaktitle=Municipal Wirelsss hot topic in US}Municipal Wirelsss hot topic in US

In the US., municipal wireless programs have become a hotly debated subject, thanks to the recent news that Philadelphia has selected EarthLink to build and run its new network and that mighty Google has proposed to play a similar role in San Francisco.

The New York Times reports (30 October) that the general idea - one that itself is subject to much expostulation - is that broadband internet access is too expensive in the United States, which risks falling behind countries like South Korea and Japan in this area.

According to the newspaper, Wireless Philadelphia is intended to put the city on the map, both in proving its technological chops and in bridging the digital divide with poorer residents who don't tend to have high-speed internet services if they have internet service at all.

The NYT says that also illustrates the frustration that Brian L. Roberts, the chief executive of Comcast, must feel: his company has signed up more high-speed internet customers than any other and churns out buckets of cash, yet it has a sagging stock price because the market perceives that any number of unproven new businesses are going to usurp its position. Add Wireless Philadelphia - brought to you by the people who regulate aspects of his business - to the list.

Philadelphia's chief information officer and architect of Wireless Philadelphia, said that there was no animosity but certainly a chilly distance between the city and its most famous corporate citizen. For instance, Comcast officials have repeatedly disputed the contention that the private sector will foot the entire US$10 million to US$15 million bill to introduce the service and that the project will cost taxpayers nothing.