Microsoft venture adds to Blackberry woes

Microsoft has won backing from major cellular networks for a new generation of phones designed to transform mobile e-mail from executive accessory to standard issue for the corporate rank-and-file.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (13 February) that the partnerships, with operators including Vodafone and Cingular, to be announced today at a mobile industry gathering in Spain, could spell more trouble for the embattled Blackberry and other niche e-mail technologies, analysts say.

The AP report says that, unlike the Blackberry and its peers, phones running Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile operating system can receive e-mails ''pushed'' directly from servers that handle a company's messaging -- without the need for a separate mobile server or additional license payments.

As costs fall, Microsoft is betting companies will extend mobile e-mail beyond top management to millions more of their employees.

AP says that on the opening day of the 3GSM phone show, Hewlett-Packard and three other handset makers are expected to launch the first Windows smartphones equipped with the new e-mail technology out of the box. HP's new iPAQ HW6900 Mobile Messenger also offers Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

According to the AP report, Vodafone Group is to sell the phones under its own brand, in a joint marketing deal, targeting companies that already run Microsoft's Exchange software on their servers. Exchange is the collaborative glue behind Microsoft's popular Outlook application, which manages appointments and electronic address books in addition to e-mail.

Together with Cingular Wireless, Orange and T-Mobile, Vodafone will also deliver phone software upgrades to subscribers who are already running the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system on their smart phones, reports AP in the NYT.

AP says that Microsoft laid the groundwork for its e-mail offensive with an October update to Exchange -- which led the server software market last year with 48 percent of global sales, according to technology research firm Gartner.

Some observers have been predicting that the new technology will hurt Blackberry's maker, Canada-based Research In Motion Ltd ( RIM).

Strand Consult predicts that ''Microsoft will most probably overtake RIM as the leading mobile e-mail provider.''

{mospagebreaktitle=MySpace new online star}MySpace new online star

The Associated Press, in a New York Times report (13 February) says that the internet has a rising star whose name isn't Google.

Just over 2 years old, US-based site MySpace now has 2 1/2 times the traffic of Google, and it quickly eclipsed Friendster as the top social-networking site where users build larger and larger circles of friends, says AP.

According to AP., MySpace learned from predecessors and figured out the right tools to package. And when its founders noticed heavy usage among musicians and fans, MySpace embraced that community with custom features.

College students, meanwhile, can rate their professors and find classmates or alumni. Others play games, view classified ads, send online party invitations or rate the brave on how ''hot'' they are.

AP says that the free, ad-supported site has gotten so popular among teens -- a quarter of its users are registered as minors -- that parents, schools and law enforcement officials have taken notice, warning of sexual predators and other dangers.

Big media noticed, too. Last year, News Corp., the media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch, bought MySpace's owner for US$580 million in cash, AP reports.

AP reports that the US-heavy site now wants to expand internationally and on wireless devices, and it is adding such features as video-sharing to become more like a web portal.

{mospagebreaktitle=Yahoo grapples with online rights}Yahoo grapples with online rights

In advance of what could be harsh Congressional questioning this week in the US., Yahoo plans to issue a statement today outlining its belief in openness and freedom of speech '” even when it is forced to violate those beliefs by laws in China.

The New York Times reports (13 February) that Yahoo and three other technology companies are to testify Wednesday before a House human rights subcommittee about their business dealings in China.

"We are deeply concerned by efforts of governments to restrict and control open access to information and communication," an advance copy of the statement said. "We also firmly believe the continued presence and engagement of companies like Yahoo is a powerful force in promoting openness and reform," reports the newspaper.

The NYT says that, in addition to pledging to work with industry, government and other groups to develop policies for doing business in restrictive countries, Yahoo, which censors the results on the Chinese version of its search engine to meet government demands, also said it would strive to make those restrictions apparent to users.

Yahoo's general counsel will join executives from Google, Microsoft and Cisco before the House subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations on Wednesday.

The newspaper says that all four companies have come under fire for their dealings in China '” from agreeing to censor their search or blogging tools to providing hardware that makes government surveillance of internet users easier.

The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders revealed last Wednesday that a Chinese division of Yahoo had provided information to authorities that contributed to the conviction in 2003 of Li Zhi, a former civil servant who had criticised local officials online. Mr. Li is serving eight years in prison.

{mospagebreaktitle=Ericsson's new line of base stations}Ericsson's new line of base stations

Telecom equipment maker Ericsson said on Monday it had launched a new generation of higher capacity base stations.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (13 February) that Ericsson said the new RBS 3000 base stations will allow operators to provide a range of services such as high-speed mobile broadband at low cost. The base stations have 50-150 percent greater capacity and cut power consumption.

The firm also said it had launched a new, multi-access base station for both GSM and WCDMA access which also boosts capacity and cuts costs, reports Reuters.

{mospagebreaktitle=Gaming industry forms trade group}Gaming industry forms trade group

In the wake of a high-profile lawsuit against video game giant Electronic Arts, an alliance of the interactive entertainment industry's leading recruitment firms has announced the formation of trade group Professional Electronic Entertainment Recruiters (PEER).

Reuters reports in The New York Times (13 February) that the trade association's goal is to establish and maintain ethical work standards and optimum recruiting services for game industry developers, publishers and related industry companies.

The organisation said last week that with an aging work force of video game creators, the game industry is going through growing pains similar to what Hollywood once experienced. Today there are more programmers, artists and producers in their 30s, 40s and 50s, many with families, who are looking for better pay, fewer work hours and improved benefits. PEER focuses on representing these experienced game makers.

Reuters says that, at the same time, video game publishers are spending more money on bigger games and trying to meet tight deadlines to satisfy shareholders and earn bigger profits. The result has been a tumultuous tug-of-war that led to a class-action suit filed against Electronic Arts last year that said the video game giant was requiring its employees to work overtime without compensation.

PEER is made up of eight charter members: Digital Artist Management, Entertainment Technology Source, Exclaim Recruiting Agency, GameRecruiter.com, International Search Partners, Mary-Margaret.com, Premier Search and Prime Candidate.

{mospagebreaktitle=Video game awards show to debut in 2007}Video game awards show to debut in 2007

In the US., the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science has unveiled a new annual television event, a co-venture with Dick Clark Prods. designed to showcase the year's best video games and the creative teams that made them possible.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (13 February) that the announcement came last week during the nonprofit organisation's DICE 2006 Summit in Las Vegas.

``The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Presents: The Year in Games'' is set to debut in first-quarter 2007, according to Reuters.

{mospagebreaktitle=Egyptian mobile phone provider's drive into emerging markets}Egyptian mobile phone provider's drive into emerging markets

Egypt's Orascom Telecom invested in the first mobile phone provider in Iraq and is now making a drive into emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East.

The New York Times reports (13 February) that Naguib Sawiris, chief executive of Orascom Telecom, scans the world for opportunities to expand his telecommunications empire, and that he tends to find them in places others fear to tread.

The newspaper says, take, for instance, Orascom's US$160 million investment in Iraqna, the first mobile phone provider in Iraq. Iraqna operates in the volatile central provinces of Baghdad, Anbar and Diyala. Its employees have been kidnapped and its outlets have been attacked, pushing the company's annual security costs to US$30 million.

But, says the NYT.,for two years after it introduced the service, Iraqna has 1.5 million subscribers, or 41 percent of the current Iraqi market. In the first nine months of 2005, the company generated US$249 million in revenue.

According to the newspaper, Iraqna is just one example of a drive by Orascom into emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East. The company has a subscriber base of 30 million people in Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tunisia and Zimbabwe, among other countries. Those countries represent a market of 460 million people, but on average only 11.5 percent of them have mobile phones.

The report adds that in 2005, the company more than doubled its subscriber base, and it is on target to reach 50 million subscribers by the end of 2006. Orascom's net income was US$298 million in 2004, up 184 percent from 2003. Income in the first half of 2005 was us$296 million, up 49 percent from the same period a year earlier.