Microsoft "Origami' revealed

Microsoft has just unveiled its 'Origami' project, a paperback-book sized portable computer, which is a hybrid between a laptop PC and a host of mobile devices that the world's biggest software maker hopes will create an entirely new market.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (9 March) that lighter than two pounds (0.972 kilograms) with a seven-inch (17.78-centimetre) touch-screen, the new ``ultra-mobile'' PCs (UMPCs) use microprocessors from Intel and run a modified version of Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC edition.

According to Reuters, Samsung Electronics, Taiwan's Asustek Computer and China's second largest PC-maker, the Founder Group, are expected to release the first three ultra-mobile PCs, which Microsoft had code-named 'Origami' in an elaborate marketing campaign.

South Korea's Samsung's product goes on sale in April.

Reuters says that Microsoft's track record in promoting an alternative PC has produced mixed results. The tablet PC has not yet gained broad appeal despite strong backing from founder Bill Gates, says reuters.

And, according to Reuters, no US name brand PC makers have signed on to make the new devices, which will have battery life of about three hours, but Microsoft predicted a bright future for the devices.

{mospagebreaktitle=China pushes own wireless encryption standard}China pushes own wireless encryption standard

China has revived its effort to promote its own encryption standard for wireless communications, unveiling a 22-member alliance of leading Chinese computer and telecommunications firms to encourage its use, a media report said Wednesday.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (8 March) that Beijing caused an uproar last year when it tried to compel computer and telecom companies to use its standard, known as WAPI. It dropped that in a deal with Washington last April after foreign companies complained it would hurt their access to China's markets.

AP says that it wasn't clear from the report in the official China Daily newspaper what specific measures the new government-backed alliance had adopted, or whether the effort would include any regulatory requirements to use the WAPI standard.

The alliance includes Lenovo Group, the world's No. 3 PC maker, and Huawei Technologies, a leading producer of network switching equipment, the report said.

AP says the report noted that the group's creation ''might revive the WAPI tussle between China and the United States.''

The Chinese government says WAPI, or wireless authentication and privacy infrastructure, is more secure than current wireless standards for laptop computers, mobile phones and other equipment.

According to AP, foreign companies, however, said making its use mandatory could shut them out of China, because control over the technology was limited to 11 government-selected Chinese firms.

China is the world's biggest mobile phone market, with more than 400 million customers, and the second-largest internet market after the United States, with more than 100 million people on line.

{mospagebreakltitle=Google settles suit over ad referrals}Google settles suit over ad referrals

Google has agreed to pay US$90 million to settle a lawsuit contending it overcharged thousands of advertisers who paid for bogus sales referrals generated through a ruse known as click fraud.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (9 March) that the proposed settlement, announced by the company Wednesday, would apply to all advertisers in Google's network during the last four years. Any Web site showing improper charges dating back to 2002 will be eligible for an account credit that could be used toward future ads distributed by Google.

The total value of the credits available to advertisers will be lower than US$90 million because Google has earmarked part of that amount to cover fees for lawyers. The proposed settlement still requires final court approval.

According to AP., the lawsuit, filed by Lane's Gifts and Collectibles on behalf of all Google advertisers, also named Yahoo. Yahoo said Wednesday that it intended to fight the lawsuit.

{mospagebreaktitle=Google storage plan leaked}Google storage plan leaked

Google apparently hopes to persuade computer users to entrust all their digital data with the online search engine leader, even though the company is having trouble controlling its own internal communications, according to a report by The Associated Press in The New York Times (8 March).

According to the AP report, plans for a Google service offering ''infinite'' storage capacity leaked out last week when the company inadvertently shared some information about several projects, including one named ''GDrive,'' on its Web site.

Google quickly removed the previously confidential notes, but not before some eagle-eyed web surfers had already made copies. Excerpts remain available on some Web sites.

AP says that in its internal notes, Google discusses an ambitious storage system that would keep its users' word processing files, e-mails, web history and photos on the company's own computers. Google believes the service would be enticing because the information would be unleashed from a single PC in a home or office, allowing users to access their data from any Internet-connected computer.

{mospagebreaktitle=CeBIT-EU executive urges quick decision on mobile} tv} CeBIT-EU executive urges quick decision on mobile

At CeBIT, the European Commission has urged rapid action to harmonise rules and regulations for mobile television, saying Europe cannot wait until 2012 when sufficient radio spectrum will become available.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (8 March) that EU Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a speech at the world's biggest electronics trade fair that decisions must be taken ``in the coming twelve months.''

Reuters says that Reding commented: "Actions are already well underway outside Europe. That is why we should act now to allocate at least some common European spectrum bandwidths for Mobile TV."

Mobile TV, which is digital television broadcast over airwaves and received on portable devices such as mobile phones and pocket computers, can be of economic importance as it will boost technological, industrial, and consumer-services growth.

{mospagebreaktitle=BenQ to sell phones with Google software}BenQ to sell phones with Google software

BenQ Mobile continued a product offensive on Wednesday designed to show it has shrugged off problems inherited from Siemens, the owner of the mobile phone business until last summer, according to a Reuters report in The New York Times (8 March).

Reuters says that the company showed off six new multimedia handsets, taking its number of new models this year so far to 12, and said it had done a deal to sell phones from April with preinstalled Google software for local information searches.

BenQ Mobile, a unit of Taiwanese technology group BenQ, also said at the CeBIT technology fair it would start selling handsets in April that could download software upgrades over the air, eliminating the need for customers to connect to the internet or take their phone into a shop for updates.

According to Reuters, BenQ took over the failing mobile phone business from German conglomerate Siemens last summer. It is now the world's sixth-biggest maker of mobile handsets.

BenQ Mobile, which is still based in Munich, Germany, is determined to show it can bring cutting-edge products quickly to market, in contrast to when Siemens ran the business, according to Reuters.

{mospagebreaktitle=Lenovo rethinks IBM.'s ThinkPad}Lenovo rethinks IBM.'s ThinkPad 

The New York Times reports (9 March) that when Lenovo, the upstart laptop maker, bought IBM.'s ThinkPad division last year, it promised to overhaul Big Blue's staid and expensive line of business computers. Its ThinkPad C100 is a first attempt to deliver on that promise, says the newspaper.

According to the NYT., the C100, available now in retail stores and at www.lenovo.com, is a low-cost laptop with a built-in optical drive and a 15.4-inch screen. Designed as the workhorse of the new 3000 series, this laptop starts at US$599 for a model with an Intel Celeron M processor.

The newspaper says that Lenovo has taken its design cues from IBM.'s traditional black ThinkPad line, with a few variations. For example, there is no pointing stick, the tiny red dot that once graced the center of most IBM keyboards. Instead, there is a two-button trackpad below the space bar.

{mospagebreaktitle=Lucent, Nokia plan faster mobile service}Lucent, Nokia plan faster mobile service

AT CeBIT, companies like Lucent and Nokia have announced new deals to build infrastructure and make mobile phone service faster as providers such as Virgin, T-Mobile and others strive to make TV viewing on tiny cell phones easier and cheaper.

However, The Associated Press reports in The New York Times that the underlying current of at the CeBIT tech show in Hanover, Germany, on the final day of press previews belonged to Microsoft and its marketing campaign surrounding its Project Origami.

AP reports that makers of mobile phones, and the companies that provider service to millions of users, meanwhile were touting new high-speed services that will, if their promises hold, deliver television programming from music videos to live soccer to their handsets.

{mospagebreaktitle=Samsung SDI lagging rivals in flat tv capacity Race}Samsung SDI lagging rivals in flat tv capacity race

Samsung SDI, the world's top plasma display maker, faces a difficult year as it lags rivals in the race for capacity and competition with liquid crystal display makers squeezes margins, according to a Reuiters rerport in The New York Times (9 March).

Reuters says that third-ranking Matsushita Electric Industrial of Japan will start production at its new US$1.6 billion plasma display plant next year after boosting capacity at its existing factory in July.

LG Electronics is raising its plasma display production capacity by 50 percent this year and is likely to add another line by 2007, while Samsung SDI only plans on upgrading an existing line for the time being, says Reuters.

Reuters also reports that LG Electronics is considering a new plasma display line but analysts say supply may start to loosen when that comes on line.

Plasma and liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are the competing technologies used to make sleek flat televisions that consumers increasingly favor over clunky sets using picture tubes.

{mospagebreaktitle=Online gaming subs. rise in 2005}Online gaming subs. rise in 2005

Worldwide online game subscription revenue grew 43 percent to US$2 billion in 2005, according to a video gaming market research firm.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (8 March) that online subscriptions remain a fraction of the estimated US$29 billion in overall video game sales in 2005, but DFC Intelligence expects the segment will reach US$6.8 billion in sales by 2011.

According to AP., the report showed that so-called massively multiplayer online games, such as the ''World of Warcraft,'' accounted for more than half of the subscription sales in 2005 while one-fifth came from casual games. The remainder was split among sports, strategy, first-person shooter and children's games.

AP also reported that today, the vast majority of subscriptions are generated from games played on PCs, but in five years, DFC forecasts that console-based online games will become a bigger driver, accounting for 29 percent of worldwide online subscription revenue.

{mospagebreaktitle=Cingular and Rabble to link young cellphone users}Cingular and Rabble to link young cellphone users

Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 US mobile service, is aiming to extend the increasing popularity of online communities to cellphones with Rabble, a service aimed at connecting like-minded young people, the companies have just announced.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (9 March) that Rabble, run by San Diego-based Intercasting, now has deals with the two biggest US mobile services, giving it a chance to get enough customers to create some of the buzz that networking Web sites like MySpace.com enjoy.

Rabble, which costs US$2.99 a month, lets users share everything from opinions and photographs to details about local events or places via mobile phones with other subscribers.

Reuters says that Cingular is a venture of AT&T and BellSouth. The No. 2 US mobile service is Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group.

Only about 2 percent of U.S. wireless customers currently use social networking services on their cellphones, according to Jupiter analyst Julie Ask.

{mospagebreaktitle=Micron to Acquire Lexar for US$688 million}Micron to Acquire Lexar for US$688 million

Micron Technology has just said that it would acquire a memory chip maker, Lexar Media, for about S$688 million in stock in an attempt to sell its products in retail stores.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (9 March) that Micron said acquiring Lexar would heighten its position in the market for flash memory chips, which are used to store data in cellphones, digital cameras and music players.

Lexar makes one of two major brands of flash memory sold in retail stories in the US.