Apple offers hi-fi system to use iPod in home

Apple Computer has furthered its push into home entertainment with the introduction of a high-fidelity stereo system for the iPod music player, as well as a new version of the Mac Mini computer with features for managing digital music and video.

The New York Times reports (1 March) that the announcements, which come as Microsoft pushes its own approach to digital home entertainment based on its Windows Media Center technology, shows Apple's increasing focus on consumer electronics.

According to the newspaper, in recent quarters, sales of Apple's iPod devices and iTunes music downloads have overtaken the company's sales of Mac computers, rising to 60 percent of sales last quarter from 40 percent a year earlier. Just last week, the online Apple iTunes music store sold the billionth song since the service was introduced three years ago. To date, Apple has sold more than 42 million iPods.

The NYT reportys that Apple's iPod Hi-Fi, an all-in-one speaker system housed in a case roughly the size of a shoebox, is priced at US$349 and available in stores this week. The docking device, though not being promoted as portable, can run off six D batteries or AC power, and comes with a remote control.

Mr. Jobs said the device offered better home stereo quality than more expensive systems already on the market.

{mospagebreaktitle=Apple's new Mac Mini with Intel chip}Apple's new Mac Mini with Intel chip

Apple Computer this week introduced both a new Mac mini powered by an Intel chip the company said was nearly five times faster than the previous version and a new iPod home stereo box.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (28 February) that Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said the new Mac mini with a single core Intel chip was as much as three times faster than the previous version. He also said the Mac mini with an even more powerful dual core Intel chip was nearly five times as fast as the previous version.

Jobs said the single core Mac mini sells for US$599 while the machine with the dual core chip retails for US$799. Both models as well as the iPod Hi-Fi selling for US$349 are available today, Jobs said.

Reuters says the new products come as Apple is moving its entire lineup of Macintosh notebook and desktop PCs and servers to Intel microprocessors by the end of 2006.

At the Macworld conference in January, Jobs unveiled the MacBook Pro notebook and the iMac all-in-one desktop PC, both of which use Intel's chips and related elements.

{mospagebreaktitle=Sony Ericsson to use Google Search and Blogger}Sony Ericsson to use Google Search and Blogger

Sony Ericsson has said it is linking up with Google to incorporate the company's web search and blog features into its mobile phones.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (28 February) that phones will be able to launch a separate Google web search option using a single keystroke without the need to open a new Web page.

Users will also be able to post blogs through a pre-loaded application linked to the Google-owned Blogger site.

A blog, short for Web log, is an online journal people use to express opinions, post pictures and share experiences.

Reuters reports that Sony Ericsson said the new services would be launched in the second quarter of the year and be available on the K610 UMTS phone and the newly launched K800 and K790.

{mospagebreaktitle=Intel to use new micro-architecture in 2006}Intel to use new micro-architecture in 2006

Intel said on Tuesday it would implement an Israeli-designed new micro-architecture in all segments of the computer market around the world beginning in the second half of 2006.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (28 February) that Intel said the 64-bit microprocessor at the heart of the new architecture was code-named ``Merom'' and would be implemented in desktop computers, laptops and servers, to be made with Intel's 65 nanometre chip-making technology.

It also noted that its dual-core Conroe processor for desktop computers and the Woodcrest processor for servers are based on Intel's new micro-architecture and were developed at Intel's two main development centers in Israel, where the Centrino mobile processor was designed.

Reuters says that the announcements, part of a strategy to shift its focus on power efficiency and away from raw speed amid stiff competition from its smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), come as Intel on Tuesday broke ground on a US$4 billion chip plant in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat.

Intel is investing US$3.5 billion in the plant, the largest investment ever by a foreign industrial firm in the country. That will be augmented by US$525 million of government funding.

The Reuters report says that Intel is one of Israel's largest exporters, with US$1.19 billion in 2005, after US$1.16 billion in 2004.

Intel's exports, which peaked at US$2.02 billion in 2002, account for 14 percent of those from Israel's electronics and information sectors. The U.S. chip giant is also one of Israel's largest employers, with 6,700 people on its books.

Reuters says that the new plant, named FAB 28, will be Intel's second 45 nanometre factory in the world. The first is being built in Arizona in the southwest United States. It is expected to come on line in late 2007.

Intel, which has operated in Israel for more than 30 years, will also carry out a US$600 million upgrade of its existing plant and receive government tax incentives for doing so.

Intel said it was making a US$1 million donation for an IT training center in the Gaza Strip, Reuiters reports.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft touts PC-like portable "Origami" device}Microsoft touts PC-like portable "Origami" device

A new portable media device that allows users to listen to music, play video games, browse the internet and jot hand-written notes is the initial vision of a product in development by Microsoft Corp. and its partners, the software giant said on Monday.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (28 February) that Microsoft acknowledged that an early version of its new hand-held PC-like device was featured in a video on the web site for marketing firm Digital Kitchen. Microsoft said the video seen on Digital Kitchen's web site is a year old and represents the company's initial exploration into this form factor, including possible uses and scenarios''.

While some media reports flagged the product as a possible rival to Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL.O) iPod digital music player or Sony Corp.'s (6758.T) PlayStation Portable game device, ``Origami'' seemed to incorporate more functions and appeared to be much larger than those gadgets.

The company declined to disclose details about the device, including when it might be available for sale, but it said there would be announcements over the coming weeks.

The device appeared to be a tablet PC, a notebook-shaped computer that allows users to write with a digital pen to input text on handwriting recognition software. It was about the size of a oversized post-card.

The video showed young people using the ``Origami'' device to sketch pictures, use a map with global positioning satellite technology, listen to digital music and play ``Halo,'' a popular Microsoft video game.

It was not immediately clear whether the product would be a Microsoft-branded device or if the software giant would simply provide software and services. Microsoft would not reveal the identity of its partners on the project.

Microsoft started to generate buzz about the device when the Web site www.origamiproject.com registered to the company touted an unknown product with cryptic messages like ``do you know me?'' and ``do you know what I can do?''

The Web site promised to disclose more information on Thursday, but Microsoft said there will be no announcement this week about ``Origami,'' Reuters reports.

{mospagebreaktitle=Looking to the future in advertising}Looking to the future in advertising

As Google ventures deeper into the mainstream areas of media and advertising, many of the reigning powers there are watching with a mixture of fascination and fear, comments The New York Times in a 1 March article looking at the advertising industry.

Reports the NYT: "Is Madison Avenue about to get Googled?" the trade publication Adweek asked recently, after Google decided to buy a company that sells radio advertising and made forays into areas like video distribution.

According to the NYT., on the Champs-Élysées, however, moves are afoot to forestall any such Googling. Last week, the Publicis Groupe, the advertising heavyweight based in Paris, opened Denuo (Latin for "anew"), with about 15 marketing futurists to spot new media and marketing technologies on behalf of clients, investors and, not least, Publicis itself.

Leading the futurists is Rishad Tobaccowala, a top executive in the media-buying division of Publicis who has led several of its digital advertising ventures and who will be based in Chicago. Among Denuo's other futurists are specialists on advertising through mobile phones and video games, as well as through viral marketing '” spreading buzz by word of mouth and the internet.

The newspaper says that Denuo's role at Publicis will be to try to spot the killer digital advertising applications of the future, an area in which Mr. Tobaccowala has a wealth of experience. A dozen years ago, he worked on one of the first online advertising projects. General Motors' Oldsmobile brand, which was living on borrowed time, sponsored a celebrity chat series on America Online, "Oldsmobile Celebrity Circle," with guests like Samuel L. Jackson.

The report says that Mr. Tobaccowala took a brash and frontal approach to the Google threat. Rather than overwhelming the ad industry, he said, Google may find its business model ill suited to advertising for its new business areas, like distributing printed content and video over the internet.

{mospagebreaktitle=Comments push down Google share price}Comments push down Google share price

Google's share price tumbled more than 7 percent after the chief financial officer told investors that the company saw few further advances in a technology that had allowed a substantial increase in its advertising revenue.

The New York Times reports (1 March) that, moving to reassure investors, Google later issued a statement that appeared to contradict the executive's remarks.

The newspaper says that, initially, the shares fell nearly US$52, or 13 percent, after the comments by the finance executive, George Reyes, at a New York conference held by Merrill Lynch. They rebounded somewhat to close at US$362.62, down US$27.76.

Google's stock had shot up from an initial public offering price of US$85 in August 2004, reaching a closing high early this year of US$471.63.

The NYT says that since late January, when the company reported modestly disappointing earnings, its shares have been volatile. Investors were also shaken by negative reviews of its entry into the online video market.

{mospagebreaktitle=US: subpoenas to 2nd news organisation}US: subpoenas to 2nd news organisation

In the US, a second financial news organisation was subpoenaed for records in an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, whose chairman has now suspended the subpoenas.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times reports (1 March) that the web site TheStreet.com and its co-founder and major shareholder, James Cramer, got subpoenas about two weeks ago.

Two columnists for Dow Jones online publications, Herb Greenberg of MarketWatch and Carol S. Remond of Dow Jones Newswires, also got subpoenas recently, seeking information about coversations they had with traders and analysts, the AP reports.

{mospagebreaktitle=Napster hampered by Microsoft, player glitches}Napster hampered by Microsoft, player glitches

Technical glitches by Microsoft and the digital music device makers have hampered Napster's ability to close the gap with Apple's iTunes, the dominant online music service, Napster's chief executive said this week.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (1 March): ``There is no question that their execution has been less than brilliant over the last 12 months,'' Napster Chairman and Chief Executive Chris Gorog said at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York.

Microsoft, he noted, had to grapple with the complexities of dealing with a number of different services and device makers.

Reuters says that Gorog, whose company has one of the best known names in the business but has failed to put a dent in Apple Computer's 80 percent market share, argued that eventually the ''Microsoft ecosystem'' and its Windows Media format will prevail, with new devices on the way from firms like Samsung and Sony.

Napster has faced persistent speculation that it may be bought by a larger rival, a device manufacturer or a telecom company, but Gorog insisted there was no sale in the works despite numerous approaches, says Reuters.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft updates web search offering}Microsoft updates web search offering

Microsoft has just unveiled several new online technologies, including early versions of an internet classified service and a local search function that provides extremely detailed pictures of local streets.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (28 February) that Microsoft also said it plans to begin testing a desktop e-mail product designed to work with the company's online e-mail accounts, similar to Microsoft Outlook Express.

According to AP., the spate of online efforts are part of the software maker's broader goal of improving its internet-based offerings, to better compete with rivals such as Google and Yahoo.

AP says that the new search function, dubbed ''street view,'' aims to give people a driver's view of downtown Seattle and San Francisco, using pictures detailed enough to make out cars and people. Available in test form, it's similar to Amazon.com's A9 search engine, which provides detailed street-level views of certain cities.

Microsoft had previously announced plans to start the US online classified service, called Windows Live Expo, in the hopes of competing with the likes of Craigslist.

According to AP., the test version launched Tuesday distinguishes itself from competitors by giving people the option to narrowly define who sees their listings. For example, sellers could make their goods available only to people who work at their company, based on e-mail addresses. Or they could limit their offerings only to people on their instant messenger ''buddy list.''

{mospagebreaktitle=Online piracy crackdown nets three guilty pleas}Online piracy crackdown nets three guilty pleas

Three members of an online music piracy operation pleaded guilty in federal court in the US on Tuesday in response to a government crackdown, the US Justice Department said.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (28 February) that members of the group Apocalypse Crew pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the department said, and each faces up to five years in prison and a fine of US$250,000.

Derek Borchardt, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Matthew Howard, 24, of Longmont, Colorado; and Aaron Jones, 31, of Hillsboro, Oregon, each obtained digital ``pre-release'' copies of songs and albums before their US commercial release, the government said. The music was then distributed globally through file-sharing networks.

Reuters says that the supply of pre-release music was often provided by music industry insiders, employees of music magazine publishers, or workers at compact disc manufacturing plants and retailers, the Justice Department said.

The material was sent to secure computer servers and then distributed globally, ``filtering down to peer-to-peer and other public file sharing networks accessible to anyone with internet access and potentially appearing for sale around the world''.