ISO votes down China encryption system

Promoters of China's controversial wireless encryption system have this week accused backers of a rival American system of ''dirty tricks'' after the world industrial standards group rejected the Chinese system for global use.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (14 March) that China will keep promoting its WAPI standard and will use it domestically despite the decision by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

China is promoting WAPI in an effort to reduce reliance on foreign technology and give its companies a competitive edge.

AP reports that ISO members rejected WAPI in favor of the American standard known as 802.11i, the Geneva-based group said Monday.

A statement issued by ChinaBWIPS -- the official China Broadband Wireless IP standard Group -- accused backers of the American system of ''a lot of dirty tricks including deception, misinformation, confusion and reckless charging to lobby against WAPI,'' according to Xinhua.

According to AP., it didn't give details of what supporters of the US system were accused of doing.

ISO groups together the national bodies throughout the world that set standards for telecoms, electronics and other industries.

AP says that China dropped an effort last year to make WAPI its mandatory national standard after complaints by Washington that it would hamper access to the Chinese market for foreign companies.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft to offer free parental web monitoring}Microsoft to offer free parental web monitoring

Microsoft said on Monday it plans to include a free service to help parents control and monitor what their children are doing online in its upcoming Windows Live offering of Web services.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (14 March) that the monitoring of children online has become a hot-button subject due to a nationwide string of cases involving adult sexual predators using virtual-communities on the Internet like MySpace.com to meet child victims.

Windows Live is part of Microsoft's strategy to consolidate a range of web services -- e-mail, instant messaging, online PC security and blogs -- to compete with Google and Yahoo for internet advertising dollars, says Reuters.

Reuters says that Windows Live is being tested now and will launch sometime in the second half of 2006.

Microsoft plans to roll out Windows Live Family Safety Settings in the summer, which will allow parents to filter Web sites and receive reports to see what their children are doing online.The company also plans to eventually allow parents to control who communicates with their children over e-mail, instant messaging and in their blogs, according to Reuters.

According to Reuters, such software already exists as part of bundled PC security offerings from Trend Micro, Symantec and McAfee  and stand-alone products from CyberPatrol and NetNanny, owned by LookSmart.The software giant already offers a similar service under its subscription-based MSN premium, but Microsoft said customers are increasingly asking for the service to be free, reports Reuters.

{mospagebreaktitle=Murdoch: Need to embrace iPod generation}Murdoch: Need to embrace iPod generation

Newspapers need to embrace the iPod generation or risk losing out in the digital world, according to media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

The Register reports (14 March) that, addressing the newspaper industry in London last night the chairman of News Corporation argued that content was "king" in this digital age, and that it was up to newspapers to provide that content via a variety of different platforms such as the web, iPods, mobile phones or laptops.

According to the publication, although he didn't write-off newspapers completely, the future for newsprint and ink is just one channel to get content to consumers. And just as traditional news sources are under threat, he also acknowledged that the internet had shifted the balance of power for opinion-formers.

"A new generation of media consumers has risen demanding content delivered when they want it, how they want it, and very much as they want it. This new media audience - and we are talking here of tens of millions of young people around the world - is already using technology, especially the web, to inform, entertain and above all to educate themselves," Mr Murdoch said, reports The Register.

{mospagebreaktitle=World LCD tv sales overtake CRT revenues}World LCD tv sales overtake CRT revenues

Display manufacturers made more money from LCD TVs than they did from sets based on CRT technology, market watcher DisplaySearch's figures for Q4 2005 reveal, acording to a 14 March report in The Register.

The Register says, however, that the report showed that far more CRT TVs shipped during the quarter, making it the dominant telly technology by a large margin.

Q4 revenues from LCD TVs reached US$10.1 billion, up 54.3 per cent on the previous quarter's US$6.5 billion, according to DisplaySearch. CRT revenues were up sequentially, too, but only by 9.6 per cent, from US$6.9 billion to US$7.5 billion. Both technologies were boosted by pre-Christmas purchases. The two technologies accounted for 39 per cent and 29 per cent of the market in sales terms, respectively.

The Register reports that CRT's share of the market during Q4 was 78.9 per cent, down 15 per cent year on year. LCD shipments were up an impressive 137 per cent over Q4 2004, but the technology still accounted for on 14.7 per cent of world telly shipments.

{mospagebreaktitle=U.S., Google set for Court}U.S., Google set for Court

In the US., the Bush administration will renew its effort to find out what people have been looking for on Google's internet-leading search engine, continuing a legal showdown over how much of the web's vast databases should be shared with the government.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (13 March) that lawyers for the Justice Department and Google are expected to elaborate on their opposing views in a San Jose hearing scheduled before US District Court.

According to AP., it will mark the first time the Justice Department and Google have sparred in court since the government subpoenaed the company last summer in an effort to obtain a long list of search requests and Web site addresses.

The government believes the requested information will help bolster its arguments in another case in Pennsylvania, where the Bush administration hopes to revive a law designed to make it more difficult for children to see online pornography, reports AP.

However, AP reports that Google has refused to cooperate, maintaining that the government's demand threatens its users' privacy as well as its own closely guarded trade secrets.

{mospagebreaktitle=Google launches interactive map of Mars}Google launches interactive map of Mars

First there was Google Earth, then Google Moon. On Monday, Google expanded its galactic reach by launching Google Mars, a web browser-based mapping tool that gives users an up-close, interactive view of the Red Planet with the click of a mouse, reports The Assocviatede Press in The New York Times (13 March).

AP reports that the Martian maps were made from images taken by NASA's orbiting Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor.

The report says that with Google Mars users can see the planet in three different formats: The Martian elevation map is color-coded by altitude; the visible-imagery map shows the surface in black-and-white pictures; the infrared map indicates temperature, with cooler areas dark and warmer areas bright.

Users can also zoom in on any of the three maps to view geographical features such as mountains, canyons, dunes and craters. The maps also pinpoint the locations of unmanned space probes that have landed on Mars.

AP says that the up-to-date maps even include the locations of the NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which have been exploring opposite ends of the planet since 2004, said Phil Christensen, an Arizona State University planetary geologist who operates an infrared camera on the Mars Odyssey. Arizona State partnered with Google to create the maps.

The developers of Google Mars said this is the first time that members of the public can explore Mars on their own.

{mospagebreaktitle=More agencies investing in search marketing}More agencies investing in search marketing

The New York Times reports that more advertising agencies and their parent companies are stepping up online investments in what is known as search marketing or search engine marketing, an estimated US$5.1 billion category last year that has been growing far faster than traditional advertising in media like television and newspapers.

The newspaper says that the goal of the agencies and agency companies is to offer search marketing services internally rather than requiring clients to go to independent specialist agencies.

According to the NYT., search marketing is epitomised by the text ads that appear next to results from online searches; marketers buy the rights for their ads to appear on-screen when computer users type in key words. There is also search engine optimisation, which tries to determine how to elevate a client's web site in the listings when computer users look for a subject or topic.

Both practices tap into the seemingly limitless demand for finding information on the internet, says the newspaper, adding that operators of web sites that do not specialise in search are even considering adding the feature, not only to serve customers better but to also tap into the boom in search-related advertising.

The newspaper further reports that, last week, eMarketer forecast that ad revenue from search engine marketing would climb to almost US$6.5 billion this year, from US$5.1 billion in 2005, and reach more than US$10 billion by 2009.

The report says that the latest big agency to step up its search game is OgilvyOne Worldwide, part of the giant Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide division of the WPP Group. OgilvyOne is forming a unit dedicated to search marketing, NeoSearch@Ogilvy, within Neo- @Ogilvy, a global digital and direct-marketing media division that was opened last month.

NeoSearch@Ogilvy is starting with 150 employees in offices in markets that include Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and the United States. Clients include Allstate, Cisco, IBM., Novartis and Sprint Nextel.

{mospagebreaktitle=PS3 - Sony opens meeting}PS3 - Sony opens meeting

Sony has said it will allow the media and analysts to attend an annual meeting for third-party software developers of its PlayStation video game, prompting questions on whether it will give details on the launch of its next-generation console.

Reuters reports in The new York Times (14 March) that the meeting, in Tokyo on Wednesday, had been intended only for software licensees and was closed to analysts and reporters.

A Sony spokeswoman declined to give details of the meeting, to be attended by Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken Kutaragi, but analysts hope it will disclose the launch timing and price for the much-anticipated PlayStation 3 (PS3) console.

The Reuters report says that Sony said late last month it still aimed to launch PS3 this spring, but said it could be delayed if industry specifications for some of the technology were not finalised soon.

According to the report, the PS3 launch has been the subject of heavy speculation in the industry as expectations are high for the powerful machine, which will feature cutting-edge technology in its DVD player, processors and graphics.

PS3 will compete with Microsoft's Xbox 360, which went on sale last November, and Nintendo's Revolution, which is expected later this year.

{mospagebreaktitle=Outgoing EU consultancy wants to help on Microsoft}Outgoing EU consultancy wants to help on Microsoft

A consultancy retained by the European Commission in the Microsoft antitrust case believes it can help break an impasse to avoid a large fine against the firm, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (13 March) that OTR Consultants of London has helped the Commission in the Microsoft case for several years, but its contract is nearing an end because of time limits imposed under Commission procurement rules, a second source said.

Now OTR has suggested a new role for itself: it would help improve Microsoft technical documentation that the Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, says is inadequate.

Reuters says that the Commission found two years ago that Microsoft used its dominant position with the Windows operating system to damage rival makers of server software used to run printers, password sign-ins and file access for small work groups.

Microsoft has said its documentation meets professional standards.

Meanwhile, a hearing on a challenge by Microsoft to the underlying case is set for 24 April before the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.

{mospagebreaktitle=French plan would open iTunes to other devices}French plan would open iTunes to other devices

France is pushing through a law that would force Apple Computer to open its iTunes online music store and enable consumers to download songs onto devices other than the computer maker's popular iPod player.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (13 March) that under a draft law expected to be voted in parliament on Thursday, consumers would be able to legally use software that converts digital content into any format.

It would no longer be illegal to crack digital rights management -- the codes that protect music, films and other content -- if it is to enable to the conversion from one format to another, said Christian Vanneste, Rapporteur, a senior parliamentarian who helps guide law in France, according to Reuters.

Reuters also reports that record sales tumbled 8 percent in France last year while digital music sales rose fivefold.

Digital sales comprised 5.3 percent, or 259 million euros (US$309 million), of total 2005 revenue for Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, which is owned by the French group Vivendi.

{mospagebreaktitle=Red Hat OS update goes to 64 CPUs and beyond}Red Hat OS update goes to 64 CPUs and beyond

Red Hat has shipped a fresh version of its high-end Linux operating system that pushes support for large x86 systems much higher, reports The Register (14 March).

According to The Register, customers can now run Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Opteron and Xeon servers with up to 64 logical CPUs. The same processor count now applies for IBM's Power chips too. The small club of Itanium processor users already had the luxury of running Red Hat across 64-processor boxes.

The latest Red Hat update also ships with support for Intel's upcoming dual-core version of Itanium, says The register.

{mospagebreaktitle=Cost of RFID tags falling, but no mass use yet}Cost of RFID tags falling, but no mass use yet

Tiny chips touted as a wonder technology that could transform shopping and manufacturing are slowly making headway, but the cost of producing them is preventing mass usage, according to a Reuters reports in The New York Times (13 March).

Reuters reports that Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) was invented more than 50 years ago but has so far failed to live up to its promise to connect everyday things through a wireless network and make it possible, in theory, to track every item ever produced.

Computer scientists dub RFID ``The Internet of Things,'' in which anything from shampoo bottles to marathon runners can be tracked using radio tags, says Reuters, adding that criticism from some camps is that the technology can lead to an unacceptable invasion of privacy.

But the future looks rosier for RFID as costs to make the chips decline and governments take a keener interest, says Reuters.

{mospagebreaktitle=Corning ups forecasts for LCD glass market growth}Corning ups forecasts for LCD glass market growth

Corning on Monday raised its forecast for growth in the glass market for flat panel displays, saying consumers are embracing high-end thin-screen TVs at a faster clip than previously expected.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (14 March) that the company, a top maker of glass for liquid crystal displays, estimated industry volume would increase at an average annual rate of 37 percent between 2005 and 2007, up from its original estimate of 32 percent.

The company said it based its new forecast on its analysis of television sales over the past six months.

The Reuters report says that TVs using LCD glass are grabbing market share amid falling retail prices and the introduction of technologies that allow manufacturers to build larger monitors at lower cost.