Archive for April, 2010
Jonathan Fildes
Google will have “a problem” if it does not diversify its business, the head of Yahoo has told BBC News.
Carol Bartz said that Google would have to “do a lot more than search” and suggested that it would have to “grow a company the size of Yahoo every year”.
Ms Bartz made the comments when asked if Yahoo’s sprawling network of sites and services had a defined brand image.
Yahoo is one of the largest sites in the world with an audience of more than 200m, according to analysts Nielsen.
It competes with Google in the search market, but has only 17% of the US market, compared to Google’s 65%, according to Comscore. Yahoo recently did a deal to use Microsoft’s Bing to power searches on its sites.
“Google is going to have a problem because Google is only known for search,” said Ms Bartz.
“It is only half our business; it’s 99.9% of their business. They’ve got to find other things to do.
“Google has to grow a company the size of Yahoo every year to be interesting.”
Social side
Yahoo has more than 70 websites and services, many of which are available in 20 languages around the world.
Some have criticised the firm for growing too large, not making use of acquisitions and having too many sites.
Technology blog Techcrunch has said that Yahoo is the place where “startups go to die”.
But Ms Bartz said that its broad portfolio would be its advantage in the long run.
Advert uplift helps Yahoo profit Yahoo ‘talks tough’ about searchMs Bartz also said that the firm could also hold its own against Facebook, the current poster child of the web.
She described the site, which has more than 400 million users and has stated that its ambition is to be at the heart of the “social web”, as a “frenemy”.
“They certainly are taking people’s attention and time,” she said. “But what is kind of wrong about the conversation is that social just means Facebook.
“Social is interaction. Social is commenting on news stories. It’s blogging. It’s sharing photos.
“So there are social capabilities running throughout all of our sites, including Twitter feeds and Facebook feeds.”
However, earlier, she had told a press conference that she expected that Facebook and Google would overtake Yahoo in terms of the amount of time visitors spent on the site.
Local site
Ms Bartz took over the company from founder Jerry Yang in January 2009.
Since then, she has been trying to reverse the fortunes of the firm by cutting costs and jobs, as well as changing the organisational structure of the company.
The firm recently posted quarterly profits which were almost treble what they were a year ago.
During the interview, Ms Bartz stated an ambition to bolster the firm’s mobile offerings, but said it would not follow Google by offering a mobile operating system.
The firm currently has its mobile application on around 2,000 different handsets from various manufacturers. It recently signed a deal with Samsung to extend its reach.
She also said that she wanted the firm to focus on personalised and “hyperlocal information” for users.
“It’s about what is going on in your local area,” she said.
There has been a lot of speculation in the technology press that Yahoo is about to buy Foursquare, a location-based game that allows people to earn points for visiting locations in the real world.
However, Ms Bartz would not confirm if a deal was imminent.
After Apple (NSDQ:AAPL)’s next-gen prototype iPhone was lost, purchased and dissected online, it appears the company that ought to be considered the victim is looking increasingly boorish.
The company’s carefully polished reputation is taking a beating in the days following the report that one of its engineers lost the device while performing real-life testing. Apparently, the lost phone was found and wound up on Gawker Media’s Gizmodo’s site. The question of whom Gizmodo paid for the iPhone is up in the air. But the actions that followed Gizmodo’s coverage have reflected poorly on Apple.
It’s unclear whether a crime has actually been committed.The question remains: If the property was found (not stolen), can the finder sell it, or sell access to it?
Apple’s management was clearly dismayed with the events that unfolded — pity the engineer who lost the iPhone in the first place. The company, long thought of as the creative underdog in contrast to, in the words of The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, “Commandant Gates,” is looking rather KGB-like in its quest for justice.
Reports surfaced this week that local police seized laptops, flash drives and credit card statements from the Gizmodo editor’s Fremont, Calif., home in a April 24 raid, breaking down the door to his home. Reportedly, Apple asked for a criminal investigation. That’s understandable, but the door bashing comes across as gratuitous use of force. Remember, this is an investigation about a mobile phone.
Of course, there might be other proprietary information that was tucked inside that particular device. That would explain the investigators — reportedly hired by Apple — who showed up at the doorstep of the person who originally found the prototype iPhone. Those “men in black” apparently wanted to search the finder’s premises; unsurprisingly, they were turned away.
If Apple is trying to retrieve sensitive information that was also on the device, then that would make the company more sympathetic in the public eye: It would simply be trying to get back documents or information it believes was improperly obtained.
A statement explaining how vital these trade secrets are to developing new, affordable Apple products would go a long way. But sending “enforcers” to private citizens’ homes or being complicit in entryway destruction is generating only a very large current of mistrust for the company, that will require lots of repair work by the public relations team.
SUZAN CLARKE
It’s a fact. Distracted driving kills, and talk show queen Oprah Winfrey is continuing her mission to prevent distracted driving deaths by urging drivers to make their cars “no phone zones” today.
My plea is to recognize that really it is an addiction. Look, five years ago, 10 years ago we weren’t doing this. This isn’t what we did,” Winfrey said on “GMA” today. “We used to drive in our cars and reach the destination, think about what we had to do once we got to the destination or think about our lives…just driving was enough. And I think driving still is enough.”
In a special live episode today, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will be devoted to raising awareness about the problem, and communities across the nation are expected to participate by holding live viewing events.
In 2008 a 9-year-old girl, Erica, was killed while riding her bike by a motorist on her cell phone. Erica was only 15 pedals away from her house. Winfrey said that was the story that impacted her the most.
“It was something about the 15 pedals. Because we all have been on a bicycle and we know what 15 pedals to the front door means,” Winfrey said. “To arrive home and see your daughter lying on the street dead when she was 15 pedals from the front door,[it was] devastating and recognizing that it didn’t have to happen.”
Winfrey joined forces in the effort with several public and private transportation safety groups, including the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Students Against Destructive Decisions.
“A call or text isn’t worth taking a life,” Winfrey said in a statement announcing the initiative earlier this month. “We must not allow more mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers to die before we take action against distracted driving.”
She invited motorists to observe national “No Phone Zone Day” today and to make each car “No Phone Zone.” She asked motorists to sign an online pledge asking them to drive responsibly and avoid using their cell phones behind the wheel.
More than 213,000 people had signed the pledge as of last night.
Click HERE to sign the pledge or find out more about Oprah Winfrey’s “No Phone Zone.”
Ray LaHood, U.S. transportation secretary, said he was “proud” to participate in Winfrey’s initiative.
“We know that if we can get people to put away cell phones and other electronic devices when they are behind the wheel, we can save thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of injuries every year,” LaHood said in a statement.
Every year, about 6,000 people are killed and 500,000 injured because of distracted driving.
Studies have found that drivers who use their cell phones for talking or texting have much slower response times than those who do not. They also have slower reaction times than people with blood alcohol levels of 0.08.
Studies show that people who talk and drive at the same time are four times more likely to crash. Those who text and drive are 20 times more likely to have an accident.
States Have Enacted Distracted Driving Laws
Even though six states have banned talking on a cell phone while driving, and 21 have banned texting, people can’t seem to resist taking calls and returning e-mails and texts when they’re driving.
Earlier this month, the federal government launched a pilot program combining education and enforcement.
Police officers in designated communities in New York and Connecticut set up checkpoints, and ticketed any drivers who were caught violating the law.
“It’s time for drivers to act responsibly, put their hands on the wheel and focus on the road,” LaHood said in a statement.
Drivers Know the Risks, So Why Do They Do It?
Officer Kevin Hesta of the Hartford, Conn., police department questioned the practice. Connecticut is one of the states where texting and driving is banned, and unless drivers use a hands-free device, using a cell phone behind the wheel is against the law.
“It’s just dangerous,” Hesta said earlier this month. “I’ve seen people literally hands over the steering wheel, texting like this, driving with wrists.”
Experts believe the only real way to change drivers’ behavior is to make sure they know they’ll be caught and face tough consequences.
The new program is just one of the many awareness efforts launched by governments, private corporations and advocacy groups to combat the problem.
Click HERE to find out more and the cell phone and texting laws in your state.
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month
AT&T recently ran a public service campaign focusing on the last text message that was sent or received before someone was injured or killed because of texting and driving.
In one of the television spots, the text “Where u at?” flashed on the screen while a woman said, “This is the text my daughter was reading when she drove into oncoming traffic.”
Her daughter, 18-year-old Mariah West, lost control of the car. She died.
Verizon Wireless and Allstate Insurance also have launched campaigns to discourage distracted driving.
April has been designated National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
Apple is closing its retail stores for an hour today to prepare for the launch of the 3G iPad. Customers who pre-ordered the cellular iPad for in-store pick-up already knew that sales were set to begin at 5PM, but now the Apple retail information pages show that stores will be closed from 4-5PM this afternoon.
While clearing the store to better organize the queues makes sense, it also hints that Apple believes there will be as much demand for this second iPad launch as there was for the first. This seems likely: When Apple pushed the delivery date for new iPad 3G orders back to May 7th, it seemed that the first production run had already sold out.
On the other hand, the 5PM launch seems designed to dampen expectations of lines forming outside stores. Either way, we know there will be a lot of happy new iPad owners today. We’re also guessing that poor old AT&T will get slammed, just like it did way back when the first iPhone launched.
What about you, Gadget Lab readers? Are you planning on buying a 3G iPad today? Did you already buy a Wi-Fi model because you just couldn’t wait the extra month? And if so, what size are you buying? Tell us about it in the comments.
TAMARA LUSH
As a new iPad owner, many of my iPad fantasies involved using the device for entertainment while traveling.
I could see the iPad on an airplane tray table feeding me movies, books and music. I imagined the iPad in Rome, offering me tidbits of Vatican history as I sipped espresso. Downloaded games would squash my boredom while waiting at the Miami airport. In Las Vegas, it could suggest where to eat during a convention.
But I hadn’t thought much about using the iPad as a travel-planning tool until I sat down to book a vacation to Italy. Instead of using a laptop to buy tickets, I decided to try doing it on the iPad. My goal was to find the cheapest tickets from Tampa or Orlando,
Fla., to Rome, for September, and also to look at hotel options, car rentals and a guidebook. I decided to download some apps to try, all free except for the guidebook.
I could have done my booking and searching without downloading apps, by connecting directly to travel websites using the iPad’s Internet connection. But while some websites look virtually identical on the iPad compared to a conventional computer screen, other sites don’t display as well on the iPad. Naturally, apps designed specifically for the device format better, are easier to use, and take advantage of certain features.
Unfortunately, at the time I was planning my trip, many of the big travel sites like Expedia and Travelocity had not yet developed apps
specifically for the iPad. As a substitute, I tried using iPhone apps for those sites.
The results were disappointing. Using iPhone apps for Expedia and Travelocity did not display the content at full-screen size, and magnifying it resulted in slightly fuzzy text. Navigating to screens where I could enter my destination, search for airfares and buy tickets was confusing. At one point, the Expedia app offered a phone number for assistance; when I called, I was told to book the trip through the website.
In contrast, an app for Kayak specifically created for the iPad was a joy to use, easy to view and intuitive. As with most flight-booking websites, I was immediately directed to type in airport names and dates and other basic choices. Other details that popped up in boxes on the screen included a map, hotel prices, my search history and “Hot searches from Tampa” with other trips being looked at in my area. I eventually booked a $714 one-stop round-trip to Rome on Delta.
Many hotel apps — Hilton, HotelsNearMe, HotelPal, HotelsByMe — created for the iPhone work fine on the iPad. They’re excellent for on-the-go travelers who want to book a room that night. All have a cool function that asks whether to use the current iPad location to find hotel rooms nearby; they instantly display price and whether there are vacancies on helpful maps. Future hotel reservations are also possible, and again, the interactive map features are wonderful.
Almost all the car rental apps I tried were excellent, too, even though they were apps for iPhone, not iPad. The Hertz, Budget and carrentals.com iPhone apps were are all easy to search with and user-friendly, displaying photos of cars and prices in both euros and dollars.
At the time I researched my trip, there was little content from traditional travel guidebook publishers designed for iPads. But I did look at a version of Lonely Planet’s “1000 Ultimate Experiences” created for the iPad. The “1000″ book is not a regular destination guide; rather it’s a compendium of places and things for travelers to see and do. While some online commenters have criticized it for being light on content, I found it to be a fun, gorgeous and inspiring application.
The iPad version also has advantages over a bound book, offering web links and videos. Swiping and flicking through the virtual playing card-deck of locations, I found several Italy-related activities, including a Vespa ride through Rome. Lonely Planet plans to release entire guidebooks for download on the iPad, and I hope there will be a dedicated destination guide to Italy before I leave so I can use it on my iPad, on the plane.
Online CD swapping service turned online music streaming service Lala is beginning the process of shutting down starting today. The service is no longer accepting new users, and current users won’t be able to upload new songs from their library. Web streaming and mp3 downloads will continue to be available until May 31.
Lala spent the last couple of years transforming itself into a viable streaming service, offering DRM-free mp3 downloads as well as a 10¢ per song web streaming option. Last fall, the company also struck a deal with Google to provide streaming music clips for relevant artist, song, or lyric searches. Despite its successes, Lala wasn’t yet in a position to turn a profit any time soon.
Then this past December, Apple acquired Lala without indicating its plans for the service. Several reports indicated that Apple would fold Lala into iTunes, either offering its own streaming service, or developing a cloud-based alternative to the local iTunes library. Such a service could be accessible from any web browser when away from home, and likely from Apple’s stable of mobile devices, though the company had made no announcement to offer such a service.
Lala’s website explains that users will (of course) be able to keep any downloaded songs. The full balance spent on web song purchases, along with any unused wallet or gift card balance will be transferred automatically to iTunes Store credit. Users have the option to request a refund of wallet credit only in the form of a check, as long as that request is received before May 31.
Links to Lala are still showing up in Google searches this morning, though it seems likely this may go away at the end of May as well. Apple had not responded to our request for comment as the time of publishing.
Denise Dubie
Microsoft confirmed it has canceled further development and production on its tablet project, codenamed Courier, which industry watchers speculated could help drive down costs of Apple’s popular iPad.
“At any given time, across any of our business groups, there are new ideas being investigated, tested, and incubated. It’s in Microsoft’s DNA to continually develop and incubate new technologies to foster productivity and creativity,” said Frank Shaw, corporate vice president of communications at Microsoft, in a statement. “The ‘Courier’ project is an example of this type of effort and its technologies will be evaluated for use in future Microsoft offerings.”
According to published reports from Gizmodo, Microsoft stopped production its planned double-screen tablet that had some industry watchers excited about its potential to increase competition in the tablet market. Courier, along with the HP Slate running Windows 7, the Dell Streak running Google’s Android OS and Lenovo’s IdeaPad U1, had industry watchers projecting that competitive offerings would bring down the cost of Apple’s iPad.
Expected in the second half of this year, Courier was reportedly formatted in the shape of a book with two 7-inch screens, a built-in camera and Wi-Fi, according to published reports. The device also was said to support a variety of user inputs such as touching, handwriting and drawing.
Sarah Jacobsson
The iPhone-Gate saga just gets more intriguing: According to reports from Wired and CNet, two of the major players involved in the sale of the iPhone prototype to tech blog Gizmodo have now been identified.
In an article published Thursday, Wired reportedly identified the finder of the prototype using “clues on social network sites,” and confirmed his identity with an unnamed source.
The finder, 21-year-old resident of Redwood City, California, Brian J. Hogan, received $5000 for handing the prototype over to Gizmodo. According to a statement by Hogan’s lawyer, Hogan believed the payment was for allowing Gizmodo exclusive access to the phone–and Gizmodo told him “there was nothing wrong in sharing the phone with the tech press.”
Wired also reports that people identifying themselves as Apple representatives visited Hogan’s home and asked to search the premises. A roommate refused to let them in.
Hogan has been interviewed by investigators, but has not been charged with a crime–and he is willing to cooperate with authorities, says his attorney. San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe told Wired.com Wednesday that the person who found the phone is “very definitely one of the people who is being looked at as a suspect in theft.” Wagstaffe declined to confirm whether or not Hogan was the finder.
One more thing…
In an article published Thursday, CNet reported that Hogan “had help” in finding a buyer for the phone. According to CNet, 27-year-old University of California at Berkeley student Sage Robert Wallower was the go-between for Hogan and the tech sites.
Wallower, a former Navy cryptologic technician, previously worked as a computer security officer at Securitas and possesses “top-secret clearance,” according to his LinkedIn profile (cached version; live page unavailable). Wallower told CNet in an in-person interview that he was not the person who found the phone, and that he did not see or touch it in any manner. He said he did know who found it, but he didn’t identify anyone else.
Wallower reportedly shopped the device around to technology sites on behalf of Hogan. Records indicate that Wallower and Hogan may have been students at Santa Barbara City College at the same time.
CNet also reports that at least three people were connected to the sale: Hogan, Wallower, and an as-of-yet unidentified person.
According to Hogan’s lawyer, Hogan regrets not doing more to return the phone. I’d regret it too…especially now that I’m a prime suspect in a potential grand larceny case.
Native Flash support for Android phones may only be a month away, but in the meantime, mobile browser-maker Skyfire presents a workaround in its brand-new beta app for Android phones.
Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android looks and acts like your typical souped-up WebKit browser for Android phones, with the exception of a tool that lets you stream Flash video–and soon Silverlight. WebKit doesn’t currently support either technology.
When Skyfire detects a broken embedded video on a Web page, it signals Skyfire’s servers to fetch the video and transcode it from its original format to HTML 5 video.
What’s more, Skyfire’s servers will adjust the video resolution to performance factors like your phone’s screen size and your network speed in order to provide smoother streaming. Videos certainly played without lagging or buffering interruptions in our demo with Skyfire on the Motorola Droid, and in our own tests on the Nexus One.
Skyfire’s Flash-support-by-proxy isn’t an all-in-one solution by any means. It doesn’t detect every video in a playlist, occasionally crashed a browser tab, and doesn’t address Flash games or other interactive sites–we’re still waiting for a seamless way to read Flash-based menus online.
In addition to video streaming, Skyfire also adds its twist to the Android’s WebKit browser with a a button for viewing more relevant content, like headlines, images, and Twitter updates, and a link-sharing module. There’s a browser tab-switcher, a shortcut to easily switch between desktop, Android, and iPhone mode (known as user agents,) and a drop-down menu with access to the settings, download list, text selection, and other tools. The quintessential “back” arrow and bookmarking are also present. On Android phones running on OS 2.0 or higher, Skyfire also supports multitouch pinch-zooming.
Skyfire’s brand-new browser gives WebKit an Android twist.
(Credit: Skyfire)
There are some known issues and limitations with the Skyfire beta’s video support and browser in general. It won’t currently stream back Windows Media, Silverlight (that’s next), and Quicktime video, and it intentionally won’t provide video or additional content for secure sites. On some sites, swapping browser modes (the user agent) will force close the app. The Help function was turned off when we tested the app before its official launch, and there are some interface issues with the Explore window on the Motorola Backflip while in “backflip” mode.
Although Skyfire’s browser for Android is officially labeled 2.0 (beta), it is, in fact, the company’s first offering for Google’s mobile platform. The browser’s front and backend designs are what diverge it from earlier 1.0 and 1.5 models for Windows Mobile and Symbian phones, which were coded entirely by Skyfire and built to look like a traditional desktop browser. With Android, the company layered additional features onto WebKit, much like Dolphin Browser, xScope, and others.
Skyfire CEO Jeff Glueck confirmed in an interview with CNET that we should expect to see a version of Skyfire for BlackBerry soon after OS 6.0 emerges with a new WebKit-based BlackBerry browser. We’re also keeping our eyes trained on the iPhone–after Opera’s success getting its proxy browser into the App Store, Skyfire made it no secret that they intend to follow suit, this time bringing unprecedented Flash video transcoding and streaming to an OS whose boss has emphatically declared will never carry Flash.
You can try Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android free from the Android Market and get.skyfire.com.
Privacy is overrated at Facebook
Facebook continues its march towards becoming one of the largest repositories of personal information on the planet. The huge user base of the social networking site and the amount of time that many users spend on the site is enough to make marketers salivate.
The problem for the users of Facebook around the world is that this march towards profits and sharing the huge amounts of personal information is eroding the privacy that users once had on the social network. In the early days of Facebook, even the people you were friends with were not shown to those who you didn’t approve.
Today much of the information that was stashed away behind security in the early days is out in the open for anyone to peruse. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reckons that people online today just don’t have the same expectations of privacy online anymore. There are many who disagree with that notion, including a few Senators who are in a potential position to force Facebook to change its data sharing ways with new legislation.
Wired reports that new information has surfaced that claims Zuckerberg just doesn’t care about the privacy of Facebook users. The revelation came in the form of a Tweet between the New York Times tech blogger Nick Bilton and an unnamed Facebook employee.
The Tweet read, “Off record chat w/ Facebook employee. Me: How does Zuck feel about privacy? Response: [laughter] He doesn’t believe in it.”
Some of the things that Zuckerberg has said and moves that Facebook has made certainly support the claim that Facebook doesn’t care much for privacy. The company is on a march towards monetizing the huge amount of traffic it generates and one of the things that has to fall by the wayside to make money is some of the privacy of users.
Wired reports that one of the ways Facebook user information that is shared with third-party advertisers is being used is to target ads specifically at the user. For instance, when a user goes to the Microsoft site — which is one of the third-parties that Facebook shares information with — the user will see ads specifically tailored to software and services they are interested in.
Some new Facebook features are also clearly ways for the social network to learn more about the product likes and dislikes of users. One such feature is the “Like” button that lets sites put a Facebook button on product and service pages that users can click. A click would send the information to Facebook helping to link the user to things that they like and dislike. It’s unclear what the benefit of clicking a like button would be to the user, other than publishing the like to what Facebook calls the “Open Graph.”
Facebook is opening a can of worms that marketers and other social networks are sure to follow closely. The introduction of legislation to stop information sharing with third-party sites without the express permission of users of social networks like Facebook may be the only way to turn the tide in the battle against making money and privacy online.
Tony Bradley
Microsoft announced a licensing agreement with smartphone manufacturer HTC this week. While the overt message is that Microsoft is going after Android, it seems like Microsoft may be coming to the defense of HTC and firing a warning shot across Apple’s bow.
Neither Microsoft nor HTC is sharing details regarding the specific patents being licensed or the financial terms of the arrangement, but the implication is that Microsoft feels that smartphones based on Google’s Android OS–like the Nexus One and Incredible handsets from HTC– infringe on some of its intellectual property rights.
Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft explained via e-mail “Microsoft has a decades-long record of investment in software platforms. As a result, we have built a significant patent portfolio in this field, and we have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to ensure that competitors do not free ride on our innovations. We have also consistently taken a proactive approach to licensing to resolve IP infringement by other companies, and have been talking with several device manufacturers to address our concerns relative to the Android mobile platform.”
Gutierrez also stated in a recent blog post commenting on Apple’s patent infringement lawsuits against HTC “The smartphone market is still in a nascent state; much innovation still lies ahead in this field. In all nascent technology markets, there is a period early where IP rights will be sorted out. This is particularly true in a market, such as smartphones, in which a number of different technologies previously offered on a standalone basis now converge into a single device.”
“Indeed, smartphones are a product of the ‘open innovation’ paradigm–device manufacturers do not do all of their development in-house, but add their own innovations to those of others to create a product that users want. Open innovation is only possible through the licensing of third party IP rights, which ensures that those who develop the building blocks that make a new technology possible are properly compensated for their investments in research and development. After all, technology just doesn’t appear, fully-developed, from Zeus’s head. It requires lots of hard work and resources to create,” continued Guiterrez.
I respect Gutierrez’ authority as an expert in intellectual property rights, and he makes valid points. Where it gets a little foggy for me is the fact that Microsoft and HTC have a long-standing relationship, and at face value the technology underlying the Nexus One or Incredible doesn’t seem that much different than the technology behind the Windows Mobile-based handsets from HTC such as the Touch Pro-2.
So, why now? While HTC has embraced the Android platform, it has a history with Microsoft. The reality is that HTC is almost single-handedly responsible for whatever success Windows Mobile has experienced up to now. As capable as the Windows Mobile operating system has been, HTC provided innovative customizations, and a unique experience that made it better.
Granted, Microsoft is not a friend of Google, and I have no doubt that Microsoft would aggressively pursue defending its intellectual property rights against the Android operating system. It appears to be doing so, and other Android-based smartphone manufacturers are probably either already engaged in talks with Microsoft for a similar licensing agreement, or waiting for the phone to ring to get the conversation started.
But, the pre-existing relationship between Microsoft and HTC, and the sort of overlap and redundancy apparent in many of these smartphone technology patents suggests that Microsoft is sending a message to Apple at the same time: “If you want to challenge HTC, you’re going to have to deal with Microsoft as well.” The patented technologies are probably similar, and HTC can defend its position against Apple by pointing out that it is using legally-licensed technologies from Microsoft.
I agree with Gutierrez assertion that the technologies that make up the backbone and framework of smartphones and that there is some negotiation that has to go on between the various parties to ensure intellectual property rights are respected. However, it seems like it would be beneficial for the parties involved, as well as the smartphone and mobile markets and their customers, if the various entities could work out arrangements as Microsoft and HTC have, and leave the courts and the International Trade Commission out of it.
Apple (NSDQ:AAPL) has acquired a developer of voice-activated search technology for smartphones in an apparent effort to catch up with Google (NSDQ:GOOG)’s rival Android mobile operating system.
Apple remained mum on the details of its acquisition of Siri, a San Jose, Calif.-based startup, according to a story in The New York Times.
Siri’s Website describes the company’s technology as “a virtual personal assistant” for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch. The mobile app, just released in February, uses a combination of GPS and speech-recognition technology to answer such questions as “Where is the nearest Starbucks?”, according to the Siri Website.
Siri reportedly used voice-recognition technology from Nuance in developing its application and collaborated with Citysearch, OpenTable and Taxi Magic to provide search results. The Siri application currently works on the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch and only works within the U.S.
Siri raised a total of $24 million in start-up funds from investors, including Menlo Ventures and Li Ka-Shing, a Chinese billionaire who also invested in Facebook, The New York Times story said.
Google Android, a competing mobile platform to Apple’s iPhone OS, has built-in voice search capabilities and Apple’s acquisition of Siri is widely seen as Apple’s response.
The Siri acquisition is Apple’s second this week: Tuesday Apple reportedly acquired Intrinsity, an Austin, Tex.-based semiconductor developer whose products are used in Apple’s fast-selling iPad.
Apple today announced that its Worldwide Developers Conference will begin June 7, the likely date when the company will introduce its next iPhone .
WWDC, which will be held in San Francisco at the Moscone Center, will run from June 7 to 11, according to the conference’s Web site , which went live earlier today. That is the same week in the month as 2009’s WWDC, when Apple unveiled the iPhone 3GS and announced it would go on sale starting June 19, 2009.
Ezra Gottheil, analyst with Technology Business Research, noted that Apple has revealed its new iPhone at WWDC the last two years, and has no reason to change. “It’s important, for one thing, to show [developers] what it can do,” he said.
CEO Steve Jobs pulled the wraps from the iPhone 3G at WWDC in June 2008, and set the launch for July 11.
There will be fewer surprises this year when Jobs — who is again leading major product presentations after returning from a liver transplant last year — unveils the next iPhone. Last week, the Gizmodo technology blog posted photographs and analysis of a prototype of the iPhone that Apple is expected to launch this summer.
If Apple sticks to the pattern of the last three years, it will launch the next iPhone on a Friday. Assuming the company repeats the schedule of 2009, when it revealed the iPhone 3GS on June 8 and launched it June 19, Apple could start selling this year’s model on Friday, June 18.
Not surprisingly, Apple will tout iPhone 4, the next version of its mobile operating system, at WWDC.
“This year’s WWDC offers developers in-depth sessions and hands-on working labs to learn more about iPhone OS 4,” said Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president of iPhone software, in a statement. “WWDC provides a unique opportunity for developers to work side-by-side with Apple engineers and interface designers to make their iPhone and iPad apps even better.”
The WWDC Web site lists numerous developer sessions specific to iPhone 4 , including several aimed at bringing programmers up to date on the operating system’s new features, such as multitasking, integration with the iPhone’s native calendar and use of Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform.
The conference also features several sessions devoted to Apple’s programming tools, which took on special importance after the company banned the use of cross-platform compilers to create iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad applications. Adobe, for example, has said that it will discontinue further development of the cross-platform compiler included in its Flash Professional CS5.
Apple stocked the “Internet & Web” track with several sessions specific to HTML5, the next-generation Web development language, and its support for embedded video. Apple has repeatedly said it will not allow Flash on its mobile devices, and has been pushing HTML5 as a substitute.
WWDC is priced at $1,599, a 23.5% increase over 2009’s $1,295 early-registration discount, but virtually the same as the $1,595 cost for last year’s conference after the discount expired.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld . Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer or subscribe to Gregg’s RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@ix.netcom.com .
Read more about macintosh in Computerworld’s Macintosh Knowledge Center.
Jared Newman
The high drama of Gizmodo and the iPhone prototype it acquired could be heading to the courtroom, as prosecutors try to determine who should face charges. Police raided editor Jason Chen’s home last Friday and confiscated his computers and related equipment, but prosecutors haven’t pressed charges against anyone involved, and they’re still considering whether Chen is protected by journalism shield laws.
In the meantime, there’s no shortage of speculation on what will happen to Gizmodo and the person who handed over the prototype iPhone for $5,000, but there have also been a few new details reported since the police raid, some rumored and some on the record as fact. Let’s separate fact from speculation:
Fact: Chen Got a Lawyer, and Gizmodo May Sue
Gawker, which owns Gizmodo, has hired a lawyer, First Amendment specialist Thomas Burke, who told CNet that the company may sue police for inappropriately raiding Chen’s home. Law.com reported on Thursday that veteran criminal defense attorney Thomas Nolan Jr. will represent Chen, but he wasn’t sure whether Chen is the target of the investigation or just a potential source of information.
Unconfirmed: Apple Did Some Detective Work
Wednesday’s juiciest report comes from Wired, quoting an unnamed source who says Apple representatives traced the iPhone prototype to the finder’s address and asked to search his home. The finder, reportedly a college-age man, declined. Wired’s source said the phone was an open secret among friends, and the $5,000 transaction with Gizmodo wasn’t a sale, so to speak, but a fee for exclusive access to the phone, after which Gizmodo agreed to help return it.
Unfortunately, Mr. Anonymous is the only source in Wired’s story, so take these details at face value. Wired did confirm that they were offered the phone as well, but declined when the contact subtly alluded to money.
Fact: Apple Asked the Cops to Get Involved
Gray Powell, the Apple engineer who was testing the phone in the field, along with outside counsel for Apple, told police on Wednesday or Thursday of last week that a theft occurred and they wanted it investigated. San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe confirmed this to the San Jose Business Journal. Keep in mind that Powell lost the phone on March 18, and Gizmodo’s first report didn’t surface until April 19.
Fact: Police Know Who Found the iPhone Prototype
Wagstaffe confirmed to CNet that police have identified the person who originally found the iPhone, but it’s not clear whether that person is the same one who made the transaction with Gizmodo. Wagstaffe told the San Jose Business Journal that police have not yet delved into Chen’s computers and hard drives, as they’re still mulling whether he’s protected by journalist shield laws. So however police figured out who found the phone, it wasn’t by raiding Chen’s home.
Unconfirmed: Police May Investigate Other Blogs
An unnamed law enforcement source told CNet that the investigation could expand beyond Gizmodo and the people who first possessed the iPhone. What that means, exactly, isn’t clear, but it’s possible that police could try and get information from other blogs, if they haven’t already done so. Engadget editor Josh Topolsky, whose blog was offered the iPhone after Gizmodo already agreed to acquire it, said no law enforcement officials have contacted his organization.
Jason D. O’Grady
I irked some iPhone elitists when I listed 12 ways that the Google Nexus One slayed the iPhone. But that’s so last month. New Android handsets hit the market every 1-3 months (compared to the 12 months it takes to see an updated iPhone) and there’s already a new sheriff in town.
I’ve been testing the HTC Droid Incredible for a few days and, so far anyway, it lives up to its name. The Incredible is pictured here with its “terrain” back cover bearing its uber-hot 8MP cam, microSD card slot and removable battery.
The 12 ways that I mentioned last month are still valid, plus the newly released Incredible adds few more to the list of why Android OS 2.1 is better than the iPhone.
- Adobe Flash 10.1 – While not perfect, it’s nice to have the option to view flash content. I played a bunch of fun games at AddictingGames.com (one force closed the Browser on me). I viewed the desktop version of YouTube.com on the Incredible’s Web browser (Hitler reacts, natch) and it launches a new app, HTC Flash player. The opening animation on Flash.com was ok, but stuttered a little bit on playback. Although Steve Jobs shrewdly timed Thoughts on Flash makes several valid points, more options are always better for the consumer. Apple’s lack of Flash support is all about locking you into the Apple ecosystem and its damning statements about it are both incendiary and juvenile.
- 8MP camera – It’s nothing short of amazing, save the horrible “optical joystick” shutter release. I will be posting some sample photos that I took in NYC shortly.
- Sense UI – A definite upgrade to the “stock” Android OS theme in every way. I used to prefer the vanilla Android UI, but the enhanced version of Sense that ships on the Incredible is growing on me fast.
- Two words: Verizon Wireless (enough said)
- The microSD slot isn’t blocked by the battery (and 32GB cards are now available)
What’s troubling is that the builds of iPhone OS 4.0 released to developers indicate that Apple have only addressed two of my 12 reasons why Android is better than iPhone OS (#6 multi-tasking and #7 combined inbox).
All isn’t perfect in Incredible-ville though. I’m having some difficulty installing Google Voice on my Incredible (I’m told it’s an issue with my handset) and it doesn’t have the super-sexy Mobile Hotspot app like the Pre+ which is literally a killer app – especially for iPad owners.
Apple needs to address all 12 reasons in iPhone 4.0 just to catch up with Android 2.1. If it’s going to take the lead the next iPhone some new and unique features that blow us away. While video chat has promise, I’m not sure if one unique feature will trump the 10 that the iPhone is missing.
Steve Jobs on Thursday fired back at Adobe, denying that Apple eschewed Flash on the iPad to protect its App Store, and instead accusing Adobe of living in the past and not innovating to keep up with the mobile Web.
“Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven – they say we want to protect our App Store – but in reality it is based on technology issues,” Jobs wrote in a note posted to the Apple Web site.
Apple’s recently released iPad tablet does not support Adobe’s Flash technology, meaning that Flash-based videos (like those on Hulu.com) accessed in the iPad’s Web browser will not play. Companies like YouTube and Netflix have gotten around this issue by developing apps that play on the iPad, prompting Adobe to accuse Apple of ignoring Flash so it could make a few extra dollars via App Store purchases.
Jobs denied this, and said that “iPhone, iPod, and iPad users aren’t missing much video” because online video is “also available in a more modern format, H. 264,” which works on Apple products.
Jobs highlighted six specific reasons Apple takes issue with Adobe Flash.
Openness
Jobs said that Adobe products are 100 percent proprietary because they are only available from Adobe. “By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system,” he wrote. He acknowledged that Apple also has “many proprietary products, too” but said that Apple believes all Web standards should be open. “Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript – all open standards,” Jobs said. He also touted the openness of WebKit, the open-source HTML5 rendering engine used in Safari.
Full Web
Adobe argued that devices with Flash do not provide a user with access to the “full Web,” since 75 percent of video online is Flash-based. Jobs pointed to a variety of App store apps from YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, Facebook, and various media outlets, which proves that “users aren’t missing much video,” he said. He acknowledged that users cannot access Flash-based games, but said there are 50,000 games and entertainment options in the App Store that are just as good.
Reliability, Security, and Performance
Jobs did not mince words here, and said plainly that Apple does not “want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods, and iPads by adding Flash.” He said that Flash is the “number one reason Macs crash” and despite working with Adobe on the problems, they have continued for several years. In addition, Jobs wrote, Adobe has not demonstrated a workable version of Flash on a mobile device. “We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it,” Jobs said.
Battery Life
To lengthen battery life, mobile devices should decode the video in hardware because software eats up too much power, Jobs said. Flash decodes in the software, whereas many chips in modern mobile devices use the H.264 decoder, Jobs wrote. “Although Flash has recently added support for H.264, the video on almost all Flash Web sites currently requires an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips and must be run in software,” he said. Decoding in the software can reduce battery life up to 5 hours on an iPhone, according to Jobs.
In a Wednesday blog post, Adobe released a beta version of an H.264 hardware decoder. “The primary reason this API exists is because we have been working with Apple to come up with a way to reduce power consumption on Macs,” wrote Adobe’s Tinic Uro.
The video acceleration API is currently only available in Mac OS X 10.6.3 or later and is limited to GPUs models such as NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, GeForce 320M or GeForce GT 330M, Uro wrote.
Adobe noted that the hardware decoder will only work on two videos at a time. If you open a third, that video will revert to software decoding. Some users in Mac OS X 10.6.3 will also have to re-start Safari for hardware decoding to work, Uro said.
Touch
Jobs said Flash was designed for PCs with mice, relying on pop-up, roll-over menus. Apple’s touch-based devices do not use mice and have “no concept of a rollover.” As a result, Flash Web sites need to be re-written to support touch-based devices. “If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?” Jobs mused.
Third-Party Apps
Adobe wants developers to create third-party apps that run on Apple devices, Jobs said. Dealing with third-party apps, however, is often a “painful experience” that “results in sub-standard apps [that] hinder the enhancement and progress of the platform.” Apple, Jobs wrote, “cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.” Adobe has no interest in writing the best possible iPhone, iPod, and iPad apps, Jobs argued. “It is their goal to help developers write cross platform apps. And Adobe has been painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple’s platforms.”
In conclusion, Jobs accused Adobe of running an antiquated system that was “created during the PC era – for PCs and mice.” Flash “falls short” when it comes to the mobile era, Jobs said. He acknowledged that Apple has had a long relationship with Adobe, but in recent years, “the companies have grown apart” and currently share “few joint interests.”
Adobe did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Adobe’s principal product manager, Mike Chambers, said in a blog post that Adobe would no longer invest in iPhone-based Flash development after Apple banned private APIs and required apps to be written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine.
“Essentially, this has the effect of restricting applications built with a number of technologies, including Unity, Titanium, MonoTouch, and Flash CS5,” Chambers wrote at the time. “While it appears that Apple may selectively enforce the terms, it is our belief that Apple will enforce those terms as they apply to content created with Flash CS5.”
It’s no sure bet that Hewlett-Packard’s $1.2 billion purchase of Palm Inc. will be successful, analysts say, citing intense competition for smartphones and the 12 months it would take for HP to build a WebOS tablet to compete against the iPad.
A team of five IDC analysts said HP has only a one in four chance that the acquisition will prove a success. In the event that the acquisiton proves successful, though, HP’s bet will pay off 20 times, they added in an IDC research note.
“Even with a deep-pocketed parent, Palm still faces formidable headwinds as it attempts to build a presence in the smartphone space,” the IDC team wrote, noting especially how strong the Android mobile OS will be by 2013, when it projects it to be second in the worldwide market after Symbian. An HP-Palm WebOS-based smartphone would also face Apple’s popular iPhone device.
Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner Inc. also sees the Palm acquisition as risky for HP.
First off, he noted, “Palm stockholders get more value than I thought [Palm was worth]. For HP, they get a smartphone business in a box. But it’s by no means a sure bet. There is a lot do.”
Dulaney said that even though Palm’s WebOS is a solid mobile operating system, it faces strong competition from “big players with many models.” Dulaney and the IDC research team also noted that in addition to competing against iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices, HP must battle to attract independent developers to build WebOS applications in addition to or rather than apps for more popular operating systems like iPhone, Symbian and Android.
“There are so many [companies] after developers [so it's] a big challenge,” Dulaney said. “I’m not sure that HP has enough clout today to get to them.”
Nokia, the biggest maker of mobile phones in the world, even open-sourced its Symbian OS primarily to get more developers interested in making apps for it, he noted.
The IDC analysts added that Palm “has proven unsuccessful in gaining widespread support the WebOS platform amongst developers so far” — only 2,000 applications have been developed for WebOS compared to 150,000-plus available for the iPhone through Apple’s App Store. If the Palm acquisition is completed, HP will have to invest heavily to gain significantly more developer support, the IDC analysts said.
HP expects the deal to close by July 31.
Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates, expressed mild reservations about the deal, but added that HP needed a WebOS product to compete in the smartphone market. In addition, HP benefits from having many former Palm executives already working at HP, including Todd Bradley, head of HP’s Personal Systems Group, he added.
Gold did note that HP has had mixed success with previous acquisitions, including the $19 billion Compaq deal that closed in 2002. “HP has not always been good at integrating acquired technologies into their business. While the potential for success is there we will have to wait and see how well HP does at integrating Palm into the mainstream operations before calling this a win for HP.”
The IDC analysts said that “HP needs to move at warp speed to bolster Palm’s position, relationships and products which are heavily under siege by Apple, RIM and others.” HP, while a top worldwide provider of PCs, “will need to manage this business differently than the PC business” because there’s far more innovation and fragmentation in the mobile device industry, they added.
Also, Palm has little presence outside the U.S., meaning HP will have to push its suppliers to lower component costs to create cheaper smartphones and other devices where carriers don’t subsidize devices as is done in the U.S., IDC said.
Steve Hilton, an analyst at Analysys Mason, said HP’s best chance of success could be building a WebOS-based smartphone directed at corporate users. HP could use Palm to “dislodge RIM and Nokia” in enterprise settings by utilizing its already powerful corporate sales and marketing organization.
Gold and IDC said that HP could find success in building WebOS-based tablets, though such a project could take 12 to 18 months, keeping HP well behind devices like Apple’s iPad and others.
“WebOS is well-positioned for relatively easy migration to media tablets, allowing it to better participate in the rapidly developing tablet device market,” IDC’s team wrote. IDC estimates about 7.6 million tablets will sell this year and that annual sales will reach 50 million by 2014. Gold said WebOS “could easily be re-positioned for tablets and other consumer devices” providing a “key growth area” for HP.
Dulaney disagreed with the potential for WebOS tablets, saying that such an effort would present “a huge challenge” to HP, mostly because the operating system is relatively new, while the iPhone and iPad run operating systems based on Apple’s mature OS X software. “Much has to be done to WebOS” before it can run tablets, he added.
The presumption that HP will build a WebOS tablet has fascinated bloggers and analysts, including Jay Yarow at The Business Insider, who noted that he expects HP’s Bradley to outline the combined firm’s tablet plans once the deal closes.
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The more you roll the dice, according to the law of large numbers theorem, the more likely you are to hit an expected average of 3.5.
And according to Google VP Andy Rubin, the more the search giant blankets the industry with competing Android-droid based mobile handsets, the more likely Google is hit its expected value of market dominance over Apple’s iPhone.
“It’s a numbers game,” Rubin said. And the numbers look increasingly rosy for Android.
Consider AdMob’s new report (PDF), which pegs Android as accounting for 25 percent of mobile ad requests from smartphones globally and for a whopping 46 percent in the U.S.
Consider also that Android now has 50,000 applications going for it–a population that is growing at a frenetic pace:
Importantly, unlike Apple, Google isn’t dependent on a single device for its growth: there are currently 34 Android devices from 12 manufacturers–only one of which comes from Google itself. This is a strength for Google. Its own Nexus One sales are reportedly underwhelming, but Google is playing its odds, as Rubin notes:
“When you have multiple OEMs building multiple products in multiple product categories, it’s just a matter of time” before sales of Android phones exceed the sales of proprietary systems like Apple’s and RIM’s….”I don’t know when it might be, but I’m confident it will happen. Open usually wins.”
Except, perhaps, if open is sued. Apple has already taken a shot over Android’s bow by suing HTC, Google’s partner on the Nexus One. Now Microsoft is jumping into the fray, with sources close to the company hinting that Android violates Microsoft’s patents.
Such legal maneuvering suggests Google is winning, and winning in a market that is absolutely huge (Morgan Stanley PDF). Apple and Microsoft wouldn’t be firing shots if they didn’t see a clear and present danger to their businesses.
For its part, Apple still outpaces Android, but Apple increasingly is playing copycat to Google’s developer story. Google has big numbers increasingly in its favor, as well as an open approach to developers and partners (like Adobe Systems) that make it appealing to prospective buyers…
…and a threat to existing competitors.
Computer security company BitDefender is warning that a new malware threat has cropped up for PC users that own iPads. The threat comes in the form of an email telling iPad owners they need to download a new version of iTunes, complete with a link to a Web site with a download link for an app that gives attackers access to their computer.
The email link directs users to a Web site that looks just like Apple’s iTunes download page where victims can download what appears to be an updated version of the iTunes application for Windows, but instead is an installer for the malware BitDefender is calling Backdoor.Bitfrose.AADY. Once installed, attackers can potentially gain access to the serial numbers and registration keys for installed applications, passwords for POP3 email accounts ICQ and Messenger passwords, and the computer’s protected storage area.
Since the malware application runs only on Windows-based PCs, Mac users won’t be impacted. Based on the number of iPads Apple is selling, however, there are likely a substantial number of Windows users that could get stung by this threat.
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