Panasonic, NEC unveil 9 Linux phones

BARCELONA (Reuters) -

NEC and Panasonic will unveil on Monday nine new cell phone models running the open-source LiMo operating system, wireless Linux foundation LiMo said at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.

The focus of the cell phone market has been shifting to software development since Google and Apple entered the mobile market in the past two years, with phone vendors and operators increasingly looking for open source alternatives like LiMo to cut costs.

The market for software platforms on cell phones is led by Nokia's Symbian operating system, but it has lost much ground over the last year to Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion.

Computer operating system Linux has had little success in cell phones thus far, but its role is increasing with the LiMo platform, and Google is using Linux for its Android platform.

Linux is the most popular type of free or so-called open source computer operating system, which is available to the public to be used, revised and shared.

Linux suppliers earn money selling improvements and technical services, and Linux competes directly with Microsoft, which charges for its Windows software and opposes freely sharing its code.

LiMo also said five firms -- Aromasoft, CasioHitachi Mobile Communications, Marvell, Opera Software and Swisscom -- had joined the not-for-profit foundation, increasing its membership to 55.

Google's Android camp has so far announced 47 members.

However, LiMo has been missing support from the largest cell phone vendors -- so far only NEC, Panasonic and Motorola have unveiled phones using its software.

The world's second- and third-largest cell phone vendors, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, are members of LiMo, but have not unveiled commercial models.

LG Electronics will be providing technology previews of its sleek touchscreen handset at the trade show, LiMo said, while Samsung will show plans of two devices.

LiMo hopes to benefit from its focus on giving greater say over software development to telecoms operators.

Last week its key members -- Vodafone, Orange, Japan's NTT DoCoMo, Korea's SK Telecom, U.S. operator Verizon Wireless and Telefonica -- pledged to introduce LiMo phones in 2009.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki, editing by Martin Golan)

By Tarmo Virki, European technology correspondent

http://tech.yahoo.com/news

DivX 7 video software released for Mac

DivX has announced the release of DivX 7 for Mac, the latest major version of its video encoding software. The decoder is free — a Pro version with encoding tools is also available for $20.

DivX is commonly used to encode video distributed over the Internet, and the Divx 7 for Mac software makes it possible for you to play .divx and .avi videos using QuickTime. DivX 7 supports High Definition (HD) H.264 .MKV (Matroska) files. Matroska is an open standard for audio and video file “containers” — it’s not an encoder — and is often used for subtitled video content.

The free download includes a six-month trial version of the DivX Pro codec and a 15-day trial of the DivX Converter application. The codec itself, however, does not expire — you can use it indefinitely without having to pay.

System requirements call for Mac OS X 10.4 or later, QuickTime 7 and a G4/800MHz or faster.

[Editor’s note: DivX shares only a name with a now-defunct pay-per-view DVD system. Unlike that DIVX, this DivX is actually useful to end-users.]

By Peter Cohen

http://tech.yahoo.com/news

Economic crisis 'to boost cyber crime': Microsoft

SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL, Spain (AFP) -

The global financial crisis threatens to spark a rise in cyber crime as computer experts lose their jobs and resort to illegal ways to earn a living, a senior official of Microsoft said Thursday.

"Today these (cyber) attacks are not about vandalism any more, today it's about cash," said Roger Halbheer, Microsoft's chief security advisor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"Cyber crime has gone from cool to cash. And this will definitely grow in the future," he told AFP on the sidelines of an international conference on terrorism and cyber security.

It is "one of the things that scares me about the economic downturn because I'm expecting cyber crime will grow."

He said the crisis had meant people with good knowledge of the industry were being laid off. "They then have time and they don't have money," he said.

"At the moment we are still at the cool side. But I'm expecting it to move to the cash side."

He referred to the Conficker worm, believed to have burrowed into millions of computers around the world in the last few months, as a possible example of this "cool to cash" trend.

"What the goal of Conficker is is still unclear," he said.

But criminals often create these "so they have a network of computers they control and then they try to sell their services to scammers and phishers or whatever ... So it might well be that this is what the guy who wrote this (Conficker) is trying to do now."

A task force assembled by Microsoft has been working to stamp out Conficker, also referred to as DownAdUp, and the software colossus has placed a bounty of 250,000 dollars (189,000 euros) on the heads of those responsible for the threat.

The worm, a self-replicating program, takes advantage of networks or computers that have not kept up to date with security patches for Windows.

It can infect machines from the Internet or by hiding on USB memory sticks carrying data from one computer to another.

"It is a pretty bad beast.., one of the worst we've seen in a long time," said Halbheer. "It looks for a lot of different channels which makes it so dangerous."

He said algorithmns used in the worm were first published in December and renewed in January. But Conficker used the first version and then updated it in January.

Microsoft has modified its free Malicious Software Removal Tool to detect and remove Conficker. Security firms, including Trend Micro, Symantec and F-Secure, provide Conficker removal services at their websites.

Halbheer also called for more collaboration between the private and public sector to combat cyber crime.

"A lot of critical infrastructure is owned by the private sector - the banks, telecom companies, energy companies. The government however has enforcement power as well as the intelligence power.

"We need to reach a state where we trust each other and exchange information."

As an example, he said that a bank could come to the government and say "we've been hacked into but we don't want to make it public."

The biggest challenge to this is in countries "where you don't have stable governments."

By by Denholm Barnetson

http://tech.yahoo.com/news

Canonical: Linux isn't dead on netbooks

Ubuntu distributor Canonical has attacked Microsoft's claims that Windows is now the dominant force on netbooks as "absolute nonsense". Microsoft claimed victory in the netbook market earlier this week, reporting that 96% of netbooks sold in the US now come with Windows. The software giant also claimed return rates of Linux netbooks were four times higher than Windows, citing Canonical itself as a source.

Speaking exclusively to PC Pro this afternoon, Canonical's head of platform marketing Gerry Carr has rubbished Microsoft's claims. "There's no evidence that we or anyone can point to of higher return rates on Linux versus XP," he said. "There is some evidence of poorly engineered products where there was little thought given to the operating system put on there... of higher return rates in some circumstances." "We certainly refute the implication there's an industry-wide problem of high Linux return rates."

Carr also dismissed Microsoft's claims of sales dominance, pointing out that the 96% figure related only to US retail stores. "At bricks and mortar retail, Microsoft has got a very strong strangleholdon the distribution of machines into that market. Online is a different story," he claimed. "Dell has said 30% of its machines are shipping with Ubuntu."

Retailer ignorance

Carr claims that retailers rarely offer consumers the choice of Linux machines. And even when they do, poorly trained staff would advise customers to stick with what they know - Windows. "It's obviously a problem. In retail and mainstream computing it's new. We get asked by Toshiba and HP about how we're going to solve that. There is a collective will to resolve it, we're not there yet. We're producing materials, we'll try and turn people around." "Conversely, if you get that guy in a store who is in fact a geek, this is manna from heaven. There are quite a few in those organisations, and it can work in your favour."

Ulterior motive

Carr argues that Microsoft's impromptu attack on Linux is motivated by the forthcoming launch of Windows 7. "It really is the case that Microsoft wants to clear the ground for Windows 7, it wants to be able to charge its usual premium for licences, and it's pretty difficult for Microsoft to do that with Ubuntu in the market," he said.

"We really are at the beginning of this. Any notion that it's over, any notion that Windows has won, or any notion that the game has been fought and now it's going to be businesses as usual is absolute nonsense." "What people really need is competition and innovation, and they need a choice of operating systems to get that. I think it's going to be a very healthy battle."

Ubuntu's Netbook Remix - a version of the OS dedicated to the low-powered laptops - will be available for download from 23 April.

Google: not all Street View users are burglars

The director of Google Earth and Maps, John Hankes, has rubbished claims that Street View poses a threat to personal property, in an interview with The Times.

He said the product, which has been branded a burglar's charter by the tabloids, was "really popular and people are using it broadly and I am totally convinced that they are not all using it to plan robberies".

Street View has weathered a storm of controversy and curiosity since it was introduced to the UK in March, with Henry Porter of the Observer newspaper describing the company as an "amoral menace", and accusing Street View of "[invading] the privacy of millions and [making] the job of burglars easier." He also described as "gratifying" the case of the inhabitants of Broughton, Buckinghamshire, who blockaded a Google camera car and prevented it photographing their village.

But Hanke defends the service, saying "public debate is very healthy and that is a good thing. The reason we are doing it is because we think it has a lot of benefits."

He also sought to calm fears that Street View could aid criminals. "It is not real time, you can see that there is a red vehicle in front of a house on a certain day. But can you check on Street View to see if there is anyone at home? No, because it is one image taken at a certain point in time."

Users can also inform Google of images they find objectionable or invasive - as proven by PC Pro - but a request from Privacy International asking the Information Commissioner's Office to force Google to suspend Street View is still pending.

Still, Hankes is philosophical. "As a company we may not make 100% of everybody happy in all situations but I don't think you can live your life as an individual or as a company not wanting to step on anybody's toes. We have to chart a course between the benefit that can come from something and adhering to social mores and the law."

Is Apple stockpiling flash for new iPhone?

Apple has reportedly placed an order for 100 million 8GB NAND flash chips, adding further fuel to the rumours of a new iPhone launch.

Apple is widely expected to launch its third-generation iPhone hardware in June, at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference.

We reported earlier this week how Apple's UK exclusive network partner, O2, was attempting to clear out its stock of iPhone 3G handsets in anticipation of the new launch.

Apple currently offers both 8 and 16GB versions of the iPhone, and the hefty memory order may suggest the company is looking to boost the capacity of the devices.

The huge order has contributed to a tightening of supply of flash memory chips, according to a report on DigiTimes.

Flash prices have risen by 16% since the end of March, with fellow phone manufacturers Nokia and Sony also bolstering their NAND flash inventories.

Sims creator quits EA

Famed game designer Will Wright is leaving publisher Electronic Arts to focus on his own multimedia entertainment firm. Wright is the man behind the wildly popular Sims, as well as the more recent Spore. The Sims and its numerous spin-offs, expansion packs and extensions have sold more than 100 million units worldwide.

Wright is leaving EA after 12 years and will turn his attention to Stupid Fun Club, an entertainment "think tank" developing content across a range of media, including video games, movies, television, the internet, as well as toys. EA is taking an equity stake in the venture, which Wright founded in 2001. Wright and EA will own an equal share and are the principal shareholders.

"The entertainment industry is moving rapidly into an era of revolutionary change," Wright says in a statement. "Stupid Fun Club will explore new possibilities that are emerging from this sublime chaos and create new forms of entertainment on a variety of platforms."

An EA spokeswoman said there was no disagreement between the company and Wright. "The way we see it is not all of Will's concepts fit in with the EA business model for interactive entertained and Stupid Fun Club is an opportunity for Will to try new things and new formats," the company claims. EA will maintain rights to develop games based on the company's projects. Wright created the original Sims games while at Maxis, the company he co-founded in 1989 and sold to EA in 1997. The game franchise lets players guide virtual people and cities.

Reuters

Conficker finally wakes up

More than a week after the 1 April scare passed without incident, the Conficker worm finally appears to be active. Researchers at Trend Micro have spotted the worm updating via peer-to-peer nodes and dropping a payload on to infected machines.

It's still not clear exactly what the payload is doing, although it's suspected to be connected to the Waledac family of malware, which has been used in the past to build huge botnets and steal data from infected PCs. The Trend Micro blog reports that the new variant runs in random file/service names, and then deletes itself afterwards, leaving no trace behind.

The researchers claim the file also connects to the MySpace, MSN, Ebay, CNN and AOL websites, although it's reported to be merely checking there's an active internet connection, rather than launching a denial-of-service attack on those sites.

Trend Micro claims the new update also has an "untrigger date" of 3 May, when the worm will shut down. You can check if your machine is infected with the worm by visiting the Conficker Eye Chart.

Microsoft begs Windows 7 testers to start from scratch

Microsoft is imploring millions of Windows 7 beta testers to perform a clean install of the forthcoming Release Candidate, rather than upgrade from the beta. The company claims its telemetry shows that millions of people are running Windows 7 full time. However, it's asking those customers to go through the pain of a clean installation because it wants to test the real-world upgrade experience.

"The RC is about getting breadth coverage to validate the product in real-world scenarios," the company claims on the Engineering Windows 7 blog. "As a result, we want to encourage you to revert to a Vista image and upgrade or to do a clean install, rather than upgrade the existing Beta."

"We know that means reinstalling, recustomising, reconfiguring, and so on. That is a real pain. The reality is that upgrading from one pre-release build to another is not a scenario we want to focus on because it is not something real-world customers will experience."

Those who attempt to install the Release Candidate over the beta will find their path blocked. However, the blog does provide a workaround for those who are determined to upgrade from the beta, which essentially involves changing the build number to an earlier version to trick the Release Candidate into thinking its upgrading a Vista machine.

Microsoft warns that those who don't perform a clean install may suffer "some oddities after upgrade". Microsoft claims these are merely build-to-build issues that are often experienced by people who download leaked, unofficial builds of the operating system.

"We've seen people talk about how a messenger client stopped working, a printer or device 'disappears', or start menu shortcuts are duplicated. These are often harmless and worst case often involves reinstalling the software or device," the blog claims.

Microsoft doesn't provide any further information on the release date for Windows 7 RC, but the fact that it's issuing upgrade instructions now suggests the release is imminent.

Hunting Easter eggs in software

Easter eggs are not just made of chocolate. With a bit of perseverance they can be found hidden inside DVDs, games and even business software.

Computer code with a hidden purpose can be found lurking beneath DVDs, video games, and software such as spreadsheets, or word processors, Marc Cieslak found out.

The secret add-ons are often little jokes or tips-of-the-hat by programmers who have slaved for months and even years over a piece of software.

"Show off"
Easter eggs have been around since the dawn of personal computing and often take the form of a hidden credits list to programming teams.

"Historically Easter eggs are just a chance for software programmers to really show off what they can do," said Tom Royal from Computer Active magazine.

"Quite often they are working on quite dull office products and it's their way of getting their names in the finished product," he added.

Peeling away the layers of an application by using arcane key combinations can reveal hidden content in some unlikely places.

Microsoft's Excel 97 contained a weird psychedelic flight simulator which led the user to a black monolith down which scrolled the names of the programming team.

Excel 2000 went a step further by hiding an arcade style driving game in the code of its spreadsheets.

Plus, typing "Google Easter eggs" into the search engine of the same name and hitting the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button takes uses to an Easter themed game.

Bonus material

It has been a long held practice that video games contain content that the player is supposed to discover for themselves.

In Grand Theft Auto 4, take a helicopter ride over to the statue of happiness, jump out and look for a doorway.

If the player ignores the signs and enters the structure, the statue's beating heart can be found after a long climb.

Call of Duty 5: World at War contains an entirely new game - just complete the single player campaign mode to unlock a creepy zombie shooter.

The film world has embraced the notion of the Easter egg too - some secret and special bonus material can often be found in DVDs hidden in among the production notes and photo galleries.

Hardware features

But accessing Easter eggs on DVDs can be a real test of the film lover's patience because these may require pressing the right sequence of keys on menu screens or hitting the play button at a certain time.

However, persevering through trial and error could reveal bonus material such as outtake reels, more behind-the-scenes features, or even entire re-edits of films.

Occasionally the odd hidden feature exists in hardware too - Nokia's N95 mobile phone has a little-known accelerometer that can enable motion controlled applications.

It can be activated by downloading a plug-in from the Nokia research website. This means the handset can used for motion sensitive applications, for example as a pedometer.

Prospective Easter egg hunters are unlikely to just stumble across many of these hidden items.

But there are many online guides with detailed instructions on accessing hidden content.

Small is big in gaming world

By Maggie Shiels

Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley

Small can mean big bucks in the world of gaming where micropayments are being seen as playing an increasingly important part in making money for the industry.

Amid a downturn in advertising revenues, a recent survey at the GamesBeat conference in San Francisco found that 66% of those polled "were excited about this growing trend" which is most often seen in so-called 'free to play' games.

That is where it costs nothing to play but developers sell items or different levels within the gaming experience.

"Micro payments have been proven to work very well in the far east, Korea and China," said Dean Takahashi from VentureBeat, which organised GamesBeat.

"Initially they took off there because there is such a big problem with piracy and with a micro-transaction, you can always verify the credit card transaction or the payment system so you are assured people will pay up.

"The big test is whether North American gamers, the biggest market, are really going to go for this or not," Mr Takahashi told the BBC.

Analyst Michael Cai, who is the vice president of video games at Interpret, said young gamers like the new model but that is no guarantee of success.

"As this generation grows up the big question is what are they going to adopt and embrace? A lot of the publishers have started to embrace these (payment) models as well and everyone is looking at micro-transactions very carefully," said Mr Cai.

One game often cited as making the most of micropayments is Mob Wars, where players rise through the mob ranks by committing crimes and fighting other players.

Real money is used to buy weapons and other virtual goods on the site. The TechCrunch blog noted "some estimates suggest revenue may have peaked at $1 m (£667,000) a month and there are nearly 2.5m active users of the application on Facebook today."

Games as a service
In the free to play marketplace a company called Playfish has grown from 20m users to 60m in the last 18 months.

It has five out of the top 10 games on the world's biggest social networking site, Facebook. Playfish games like Pet Society and Who has the Biggest Brain? are also available on Apple's App Store.

"We are huge believers in the free to play model because it minimises the barrier to entry for gamers and gets as many people involved for free as quickly as possible," said Kristian Segerstrale co-founder of Playfish.

And of course once users are hooked on a game, or invested in it, that is the perfect time to persuade them to part with some hard cash.

"Pets Society is our biggest playing game with 3 m daily users. In the game, gamers adopt a pet and take care of it. They can win coins to spend on, say, food or clothes or furniture.

"But not everyone has time to earn money in the game so they can spend $5 and buy 2500 coins, which normally takes days to win and spend it on what they like," explained Mr Segerstrale.

He said on average, players spend $7-$22 (£5-£15) a month and that "micro-transactions will win over subscription fees because they are more flexible."

"As games become a service, it doesn't make any sense to make users pay up front, no-one does that with their gas bill or telephone. You pay over time," said Mr Segerstrale.

"Friction"

VentureBeat's Mr Takahashi predicts the market for micropayments could become a multi-billion dollar business, if it takes off.

That might be one reason why Apple will later this year launch its in commerce app in the AppStore, which will allow developers to introduce new layers into games that they can charge customers for and ramp up the micro-transaction side of things.

"It's important for developers to boost their revenue stream and look at how to monetise software, especially if you are a business person, " said Neil Young the founder of NGmoco that makes games exclusively for Apple's 25,000 strong app store.

"My sense is that taking the friction out of purchasing things inside the gaming experience itself is going to lead to more usage and a better revenue stream for developers."

Facebook and MySpace are both working on their own payments systems but TechCrunch noted that it is the "nimbler start ups" that are making headway in this field.

It said Spare Change Payments is processing $2.5 m (£1.6m) a month in micropayments, adding up to a "$30m (£20m) annual run-rate."

"Entertainment"

As the online world becomes more mobile the use of the phone as a payment model is also expected to take hold.

While a recent survey by KPMG revealed that most people in the US have issues around security, a majority also said they would consider using their mobile if these could be addressed.

n Europe and Southeast Asia, mobile payment is one of the most popular ways to pay for virtual goods since nearly everyone has a phone.

In the US the uptake is slower because of the high fees charged by carriers, which are generally 40% of any mobile payment compared to 25% in Europe and between 5-10% in Asia.

"In the world of mobile payments, gaming is the biggest driver of business said mobile payment company Zong

"Most of our transactions are coming from in game payments," said Zong founder David Marcus.

"The average transaction is five to six dollars with people mostly buying either virtual goods or virtual currency. It's a new kind of entertainment and if you look at certain games that cost $30-$40m to produce, it's a full entertainment industry that is looking to monetize these things.

"Now that Electronic Arts is launching their first free to play game, virtual goods and virtual currency will no doubt be a part of it and mobile payments are going to be a big part of it also," said Mr Marcus.

"Greed over gameplay"

In a struggling economy, much is being made of the new payment models trying to take root. Some in the industry however are concerned there is too much focus on making money.

"The revenue model always dictates the shape of the content and so different types of games will need to be created to support this type of mechanism," explained Rob Tercek, the president of mobile at the Oprah Winfrey Network and chairman of GDC Mobile.

"If it's a game where you are meant to pay for micro-transactions, then the designer has to design into the game the need for these upgrades or items for sale that may or may not be a great model, especially when played on a mobile device.

"My feeling is that a game is either a good game or a bad game and just because you bought a bigger gun or some better shoes shouldn't change the game," stated Mr Tercek.

NGmoco's Mr Young is also wary.

"As long as developers don't prioritise greed over game play. You need to remember that at the end of the day, we are there to provide fun gaming experiences for people. Not something where they are constantly badgered to pay up for something.

"It's a careful balance we will have to learn as game makers," concluded Mr Young.

Google sees voice search as core

Google has said it sees voice search as a major opportunity for the company in building a presence on the mobile web.

The company's vice president of engineering made the comments during a wide-ranging discussion at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.

"We believe voice search is a new form of search and that it is core to our business," said Vic Gundotra. SearchEngineLand editor Greg Sterling agreed: "If done right, it could be a valuable strategic feature for Google."

Mr Gundotra acknowledged to the audience that "voice recognition in the early days was a nice trick but not very usable". There were early complaints that Google's offering could not understand accents other than American and that results were often garbled.

"Look how far we have come. I get the advantage of looking at daily voice queries coming in and it's amazing. It's working. It's reached a tipping point. It's growing and growing very, very fast and we are thrilled about it," said Mr Gundotra.

He declined to share figures about just how many queries the company deals with via voice search. However, Mr Gundotra did say: "It's one of those technologies we think gets better with usage.

"We launched it on the iPhone and have seen a 15% jump in accuracy because, as more people use it, we collect more data and our accuracy gets better."

'Queen's English'

In 2002, Google Labs introduced a service that allowed users to search with a simple phone call. The company admitted it "wasn't very useful because the results were displayed on your computer and Google discontinued it".

Six years later, the search giant introduced an improved feature under the Google Mobile App for the iPhone.

It is also available on the Android based T-Mobile G1 and last month was introduced on the BlackBerry as a free download. The New York Times's Gadgetwise blog rated the BlackBerry version the "App of the Week" earlier this week.

Early iterations that worked best with North American accents had problems understanding other accents, including British. BBC technology cCorrespondent Rory Cellan-Jones reported in November last year that his attempts to use it were "pure gibberish".

For example, his query about the next train, West Ealing to Paddington "delivered some useful information about 'neck strain' - but no train times".

Those problems have since been largely ironed out and Google said it was continuing to work on improving the accuracy of the service. This, Mr Sterling said, is crucial if the company wants it to give them the edge in the marketplace.

"My view is voice search could be a strategic differentiator if it works well. It depends on how much better Google's system is compared to, say, Yahoo's or Microsoft's.

"If they come up with a really great version that is really accurate, it could retain users and likely increase search usage for Google," said Mr Sterling.

"Stay tuned"

At Web 2.0, Mr Gundotra also talked about a web-based version of Google's e-mail service, Gmail. He demonstrated a "technical prototype" on the iPhone and the G1 and said "Stay tuned" for a release date. Mr Gundotra said the prototype used HTML 5, an as-yet incomplete version of mark up language of the world wide web.

He revealed that Google would create a whole suite of offline apps using HTML 5 and that "we are going to be leaders in taking advantage of HTML 5".

Mr Gundotra also said that engineers were working hard to bring the Chrome browser to the Mac and that while there was no date for delivery, "we are making progress to get it out as fast as we can".

Twitter purchase

During a question and answer session, Mr Gundotra was quizzed on rumours circulating in the blogosphere that Google is looking to buy the micro-blogging service Twitter.

"I'm a big fan of Twitter but we don't as a policy comment on rumour or speculation," he said.

Meanwhile, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has said that he has been "flooded with requests for a response to the latest internet speculation about where Twitter is headed".

In a blog entitled Sometimes We Talk, Mr Stone wrote: "It should come as no surprise that Twitter engages in discussions with other companies regularly and on a variety of subjects. "Our goal is to build a profitable, independent company and we're just getting started."

By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, San Francisco

Greenpeace Chides Dell, HP, Lenovo for Telling Toxic Lies

Vendors had pledged they would eliminate PVC and BFRs from their products by the end of last year

Greenpeace has slammed Dell, HP and Lenovo after the three PC manufacturers went back on their promise to phase out toxic chemicals during production by 2009.

The companies had previously told the environmental group they would eliminate vinyl plastic (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their products by the end of last year.

However, all three have said its unlikely they'll hit their targets. Lenovo has pushed the deadline back to 2010 but HP and Dell have yet to reveal a new deadline.

Greenpeace said that Apple was the only one of the world's five biggest computer makers to start reducing its use of toxic chemicals.

In its Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace also revealed that Philips had considerably reduced its e-waste, putting the company 4th in the list of the greenest tech companies, compared to its position of 15th last year.

The report also praised Samsung for publicly supporting a reduction in greenhouses gases and Dell and HP for cutting in emissions in their own operations.

Result of Internal Investigation into Improper Accounting Practices at Consolidated Subsidiary Companies (Final Report)

– TOKYO, Japan, March 31, 2009 –

Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson") today announced further measures aimed at preventing a reoccurrence of improper accounting practices at consolidated subsidiary companies, and the actions to be taken against the staff responsible for the incidents. This announcement follows the February 25 news release entitled "Result of Internal Investigation into Improper Accounting Practices at Consolidated Subsidiary Companies (Interim Report)."

Epson will use these events as an opportunity to prevent a reoccurrence by reviewing and improving its management of subsidiary companies, and to further strive towards the implementation of trust-based management.

1. Measures to prevent reoccurrence

At the time of the previous announcement, Epson had yet to announce definite measures to prevent a reoccurrence. After a series of internal reviews that sought to investigate and analyze the causes of the incidents, the Company has now determined the measures it will take to prevent a reoccurrence, and is now implementing these where possible.

1. (1) Strengthen corporate control to supplement regional management

   While emphasizing regional management by the regional headquarters, Epson will ensure transparency of financial information and the IT environment of regional subsidiaries at a corporate level.

2. (2) Continuation and strengthening of J-SOX

   Epson will improve its risk assessments and persevere in its efforts to enhance internal control systems over financial reporting. In particular, it will concentrate its efforts on subsidiary companies where it is required by law to conduct management assessments and that are subject to internal control audits, and subsidiary companies where financial reporting may present a risk to internal control systems.

3. (3) Strengthen audits conducted by the internal Audit Office

   Epson will improve oversight of the American regional headquarters as the latter checks the audit situation at its Latin American subsidiaries, and will increase the frequency of audits at Latin American subsidiaries by Epson's internal Audit Office. The Company will also take note of the issues raised in the accounting processes relating to these incidents, and amend the items to be subject to future audits.

4. (4) Strengthen finance and accounting global network

   By registering finance and accounting organizational structures and personnel at a corporate level, Epson will gain a direct understanding of the current situation and will be able to increase opportunities for personnel exchanges among finance and accounting staff. Doing this will enable the Company to strengthen the global network among its finance and accounting function. Where necessary, Epson will also conduct a common education program as it seeks to improve and share among its finance and accounting staff an awareness of compliance issues and ethics, and related skills.

2. Actions towards related staff

Epson has dismissed those directly responsible for the improper accounting practices at its Brazilian and Mexican subsidiaries, and has implemented punitive measures against other related staff.

The Seiko Epson directors responsible for this incident have also decided on a voluntary refund of their monthly remuneration as detailed below. This has been done to establish management responsibility for the extraordinary loss resulting from the improper accounting practices and the consequent postponement of the submission of the quarterly report, and to express Epson's determination to avoid a reoccurrence.

• Reduction of monthly remuneration: Two representative directors and the director responsible for finance and accounting
• Amount: 5%
• Period: March 2009 (one month)

System's Ability to Reduce Radiation Dose Ideal for Pediatrics

ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IS FIRST PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL TO INSTALL TOSHIBA'S Aquilion ONE DYNAMIC VOLUME CT SYSTEM

TUSTIN, California — March 31, 2009 — Helping to provide safer imaging for children in a hospital setting, Arkansas Children's Hospital has installed Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.'s Aquilion® ONE 320-detector row CT system. As the world's first dynamic volume CT scanner, the Aquilion ONE can lower radiation dose, which is particularly important when imaging pediatric patients.

As the first pediatric facility to install the Aquilion ONE, Arkansas Children's Hospital selected dynamic volume CT for its ability to significantly lower patient radiation dose exposure and decrease the sedation needed for exams. Traditionally, when children are imaged using multi-detector CT, sedation is frequently required to keep the patient still long enough to obtain a clear diagnostic image. The Aquilion ONE's fast exam time, which captures up to 16 cm of an anatomical region in one rotation, means that less patient sedation is required.

The Aquilion ONE will be used to serve the facility's primarily pediatric patients in multiple settings, including cardiology, orthopedics and neurology. The facility also plans to use the Aquilion ONE in new dynamic studies focused on joint and respiratory issues and to develop new pediatric protocols to continue to increase pediatric safety in CT imaging.

"The ability to image pediatric patients with reduced radiation and no sedation will greatly benefit our patient community," said Dr. Bruce Greenberg, professor of radiology, Arkansas Children's Hospital, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. "Technology like the Aquilion ONE continues to help us deliver the best possible care to patients while keeping patient safety at the forefront."

The Aquilion ONE features Toshiba's SUREExposure Pediatric software, which automatically measures the size and age of each patient and tailors radiation dose to achieve the best and safest image quality for each exam. The software uses protocols selected based upon the patient's age, size and type of exam to ensure patients receive only the radiation required to obtain a clear diagnostic image. SUREExposure Pediatric software comes standard on all Aquilion products.

"The Aquilion ONE's ability to reduce radiation and capture images with significantly less pediatric sedation makes it an ideal addition to this facility," said Doug Ryan, senior director, CT Business Unit, Toshiba. "Arkansas Children's Hospital is the first U.S. pediatric hospital to use the Aquilion ONE with advanced dynamic volume CT protocols that will continue to make imaging safer for all patients — especially children."

Introduced in November 2007, this advanced system scans an entire organ in a single pass and produces 4D videos that show an organ's structure, its movement and blood flow. In comparison, a 64-slice, 128-slice or 256-slice CT scan can only capture a portion of an organ in a single pass, forcing physicians to "stitch together" multiple scans of an organ to get a full image. The new technology helps reduce multiple exposures to radiation and exam time.

Medianet Technologies Including New Cisco Set-Tops Transform Consumer Experiences for the Connected Life at Home

Comprehensive Line of IP-Enabled Set-Tops Supports Cable Service Providers' Vision to Deliver More Social, More Personal and More Interactive Consumer Experiences

WASHINGTON - The Cable Show 2009 - April 1, 2009 - Cisco today announced that it is partnering with cable service providers to deliver the Connected Life at Home, by transforming their networks into medianets. A medianet is a network optimized for rich-media. Medianets are end-point aware, media aware and network aware to ensure an optimal quality of the total experience while automating many aspects of configuration and optimization. A cable medianet infrastructure can now be extended into the home with Cisco's next-generation set-top boxes. These provide traditional cable services while enabling a new generation of services powered by Internet Protocol (IP) technologies. The Cisco Explorer® models, introduced at the Cable Show 2009, range from sophisticated high-definition DVRs providing whole-home video services to digital-only interactive set-top models.

Together with cable service providers, Cisco can now deliver the Connected Life at Home to consumers with whole-home media experiences, including the sharing of video and personal media inside and outside the home. The Connected Life at Home is the foundation for more social, more personal, more interactive consumer experiences and new service innovation.

Facts:

१.Cisco service provider customers, including Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Cox Communications have confirmed plans to deploy Cisco's next-generation set-top box platform in select systems later this year।

२.The Cisco Explorer 8600HDC DVR Set-Top Series and IP Gateways extend medianet into the home, enabling the Connected Life at Home experiences such as:

• HD Whole-Home DVR Services: DVR or user-generated video content can be shared across multiple set-tops in the home.
• Personal Content Sharing across Internet & HDTV: Internet-based video can be rebroadcast on HDTV, while DVR content can be passed over the Internet to the PC, in and outside the home.
• Content Access on Mobile Devices: Content enjoyed within the home can be programmed to be viewed on mobile platforms.

३.New medianet technologies offered in Cisco's new next-generation set-top portfolio include MoCA, tru2way, DLNA and DTCP-IP. Cisco's IP Gateway supports both MoCA and DLNA.

Supporting Quote:

"Cisco is driving a new generation of Internet-based video and rich-media experiences enabled by medianet technologies, creating new revenue-generating opportunities for our service providers customers," said Tony Bates, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Service Provider Group. "The build-out of medianets evolve today's networks to become media aware, network aware and end-point aware to deal with the proliferation of video and other rich media services. Our next-generation set-top box platform is truly an extension of medianet, and represents the foundation for innovative new multimedia services as delivered by service providers in the home."

Dell Precision Workstations

Dell Precision workstations are Dell's highest performing and most scalable systems, specifically designed for graphics-intensive professionals in engineering, product design, animation and digital imaging.

Peace-of-Mind Through ISV Application Certification

As the world’s leading workstation vendor1, Dell partners with strategic Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to certify system and application compatibility so that your applications can run gracefully on Dell Precision workstations.

Dell PrecisionTM Tower Workstations

New Dell Precision T7500 : massively scalable workhorse with up to 1 billion possible configurations.

New Dell Precision T5500 : compact powerhouse offering dual-socket performance in a single-socket footprint.

New Dell Precision T3500 : solid balance of price, performance and scalability for workstation-class applications.

Laptop is a personal computer

A laptop (also known as a notebook) is a personal computer designed for mobile use small enough to sit on one's lap. A laptop includes most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device (a touchpad, also known as a trackpad, or a pointing stick), speakers, as well as a battery, into a single small and light unit. The rechargeable battery required is charged from an AC/DC adapter (ie, a wall wart) and typically stores enough energy to run the laptop for several hours.

Laptops are usually shaped like a large notebook with thicknesses between 0.7–1.5 inches (18–38 mm) and dimensions ranging from 10x8 inches (27x22cm, 13" display) to 15x11 inches (39x28cm, 17" display) and up. Modern laptops weigh 3 to 12 pounds (1.4 to 5.4 kg); older laptops were usually heavier. Most laptops are designed in the flip form factor to protect the screen and the keyboard when closed. Modern 'tablet' laptops have a complex joint between the keyboard housing and the display, permitting the display panel to twist and then lay flat on the keyboard housing. They usually have a touchscreen display and some include handwriting recognition or graphics drawing capability.

Laptops were originally considered to be "a small niche market" and were thought suitable mostly for "specialized field applications" such as "the military, the Internal Revenue Service, accountants and sales representatives". Battery-powered portable computers had just 2% worldwide market share in 1986[4]. But today, there are already more laptops than desktops in businesses, and laptops are becoming obligatory for student use and more popular for general use. According to a forecast by Intel, more laptops than desktops will be sold in the general PC market as soon as 2009.