Xbox World: New Microsoft console to support Blu-ray, new Kinect

As a bit of a last hurrah for Xbox World, the UK gaming magazine that's set to ride off into the sunset after its December 12 issue, its editors have pulled together all of their secrets and sources to spoil plenty of information about Microsoft's new rumored Xbox gaming console well in advance of its (likely) first appearance in early-to-mid 2013.
Spoiler: It might even just be called, "Xbox," as opposed to the "Xbox 720" or any of the other flashy names thrown around rumor reports as of late.

"Xbox World has been at the cutting edge of Durango coverage for over 12 months. Unless something really dramatic changes, everything we reveal in our penultimate issue will be revealed long before E3 in June," said editor-in-chief Dan Dawkins in an interview with CVG.

Some of these details include the long-awaited suggestion that the new Xbox will finally be able to support Blu-ray playback, a rumor that's been making the waves for the better part of a year now. The new Xbox will also allegedly support a brand-new version of Microsoft's Kinect motion-tracking device that, according to earlier rumors, might even include a dedicated CPU for enhanced detection capabilities.

Xbox World's other tidbits about Microsoft's next-generation gaming console include the suggestions that it'll feature both TV output and input – if only it had set-top functionality, too – as well as directional audio, an "innovative controller," and support for augmented reality glasses at some point in the future. That sound you just heard was a team of Google engineers collectively patting themselves on the back.

As for the raw specs of the new Xbox, the "Durango" developer kit that's currently out and about sports a 16-core processor (four hardware cores times four logical cores apiece) and eight gigabytes of RAM, according to Xbox World's expose.

And for those wondering about the credibility of the magazine's suggestions – which does, at first glance, appear as if the publication's trying to drum up any and all interest it can for its swan song – there is the fact that Xbox World was the first to the scene in January of this year with details that Microsoft's new console would feature "augmented reality, directional sound, and a four-player, finger-tracking Kinect." These tidbits were later confirmed by an alleged Microsoft planning document that leaked out in June.

As for when Microsoft's console might first see the light of day, current signs point to the 2013 E3 convention; CES was previously thrown out as a possibility until Microsoft announced that the 2012 CES was going to be its last big appearance.

Here is why Cisco bought Meraki for $1.2 billion in cash

Cisco Systems of San Jose, California says it is buying Meraki Networks of San Francisco for around $1.2 billion in cash. The news of the deal leaked on Twitter, when Cisco accidentally posted the news on its blog and swiftly removed it, but it was too late. Cisco is hoping to focus on smaller companies and medium sized campuses with Meraki and its products.
Meraki rises from the Roofnet
The company which makes WiFi gear focused on large campuses and corporations was started in 2006 and emerged from an MIT research project, Roofnet. It was backed by Sequoia Capital and Google, and initially focused its energies on consumers and building municipal WiFi networks, including one in San Francisco.
When that proved to be a false start, the company shifted gears and started focusing on hotels in emerging markets, apartment complexes and eventually at corporate market. We have been fans of Meraki and its mesh networking approach to wireless networks from the very beginning, when it was still part of MIT’s Roofnet. We followed them on their journey for a long time now, including the time when Google had municipal wireless ambitions and invested in the company. They even wired up our inaugural Green:Net conference. But it wasn’t till 2009, the company hit its stride.
With a little boost from iPhone
Meraki Networks’ rise has mirrored the importance of WiFi in both work place and in the networks. Growing popularity of smartphones and more recently tablets has resulted in everyone from hotels to corporations to telephone companies embracing WiFi and investing heavily in WiFi networks. In an interview in 2011, CEO and co-founder Sanjit Biswas told us:
“We used to have one device on Wi-Fi: our laptop,” says Biswas. “Then we had two devices — laptop and our phones using the Wi-Fi.” Soon, we will have multiple devices that are piggybacking off the Wi-Fi based network connections. Biswas predicts that by 2012, we will have between four and five devices around us with Wi-Fi built into them.
The WiFi boom has been great for a handful of companies – Aruba Networks has seen is fortunes boom, despite economic troubles in Europe. Ruckus Wireless, which sells to carriers, went public last week and raised $126 million from the market. And Meraki was enjoying a good run as well.
In a letter to his employees, Biswas wrote:
When we started out six years ago, we were three guys at MIT wondering where our bootstrapped venture would take us over the next few years. This year has been particularly amazing for us (sorry to say amazing three times in a row, but it really has been). We successfully shipped another major product family, achieved a $100M bookings run rate, grew from 120 to 330 employees and did it all while achieving positive cash flow. As founders, all three of us plan to stay on as leaders of the business unit and look forward to continue towards our goal of $1B in annual revenue
Aruba, Cisco & Meraki
What makes Meraki special is essentially its mesh networking software and a cloud-based device management platform that makes it easy to monitor and keep a tight control on a WiFi network. It has a more web-centric approach to software, something a company like Cisco sorely needs.
Aruba Networks has been making strong headway in the corporate world because of its ClearPass and Aruba Instant products, that gives it a leg-up against rivals including Cisco. With Meraki, Cisco, now can talk the same game in a business that is growing at breakneck speed, when compared to rest of the networking equipment business. The new tablets have CIOs scratching their heads. Infonetics Research had this to say about the WiFI equipment market:
“Wireless LAN has had a very good run over the last couple of years, even outperforming wired LAN, and the WLAN market is now approaching the $1-billion-per-quarter mark,” notes Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research.  ”The world is going wireless, and users expect fast, always-on connectivity no matter where they are. Enterprises need to keep pace with ever-increasing bandwidth demands, and next-gen WLAN gear based on fast 802.11n and soon 802.11ac technologies gives them a reason to upgrade.”
Cisco, a company that has long been associated with enterprise networking, is currently the number one player in this market, but it is not safe in that spot. Its rivals like Aruba Networks are catching up and are much in demand with the all important corporate market. Hewlett Packard and Motorola are other major players in WiFi equipment business. Cisco had acquired Linksys, a brand associated with WiFi and home networking equipment.
Meraki seems to be be a better acquisition for the company as it is more tightly focused on Cisco’s core markets – corporations, government and educational entities. And as for Meraki, well, it is good to see Biswas and his two co-founders, glad to see that their hard work is finally getting rewarded.

Touch-screen desktops: A hazard to your health

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is floating around extolling the virtues of Windows 8. Reviewers are giving more positive reviews than negative reviews. Smart people I know have actually changed their minds, agreeing that Windows 8 is great. Life is good at Microsoft.
That said, I personally do not like it. I specifically dislike the idea of full-screen apps running on 27-inch screens. Will I like it more if the desktop PC becomes a touch-screen PC where the advantages of touch come to the fore? No.

First off, I need to remind people that both touch-screen laptops and touch-screen PCs have come and gone in this marketplace. Sure, they were somewhat different, but the reasons for the disappearance are the same.

HP had a touch-screen machine pro-Windows during the DOS era. It failed miserably in the market. One of the first laptop inventions in 1982 was the Gavilan computer with a touch panel called the "solid state mouse," which required users to hold their arm in the air and move things around much like with a touch pad. This motion was annoying and helped scuttle the machine.

The HP machine was also a 1980s era machine with the same problem. Using any touch system that is not on the lap or flat on the desk invites "mouse shoulder," a form of tendonitis. This can also develop from using the mouse improperly, which I unfortunately experienced some years back. It's an incredibly miserable ailment that can take six months to a year to resolve itself, during which you can barely move the shoulder.

This is going to happen with these touch screens—not the touch screen on the phone, and not the touch screen on the tablet, but with desktop touch screens and some notebook touch screens. I predict there will be a huge increase in the number of tendonitis claims and the companies, possibly including Microsoft, will find themselves in a legal tangle because of it.

Carpal tunnel syndrome almost destroyed the business once already and finally people learned new habits to stave it off. This resulted from pounding on improperly designed keyboards. There were a lot of lawsuits and people were in agony.

This new touch screen phenomenon can result in the same mess. Suspending your arms in mid-air to poke at the screen is like some Gitmo torture technique. Print this article out and keep it for reference. It will take about eight months before touch screens for the desktop begin to make some inroads so this problem will emerge in about two years, unless the public rejects the devices as they should.

What is Ultra HD (4K)?

Just when you thought it was safe to buy a 1080p HDTV, along comes another new video format. In fact, you may have even seen a "4K" logo in movie theaters lately. But what exactly does 4K mean (aside from the stock memory in a Radio Shack TRS-80, for the aging geeks like me in the audience)? Is 4K—now known officially as Ultra HD—something you can get today, or at least soon enough that you should hold off on buying, say, an HDTV or Blu-ray player? Is it something you'd even want? Here's everything you need to know about Ultra HD—for now, at least.
What Is Ultra HD?

Ultra HD, or Ultra High Definition, is the next big step in HDTV resolution. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) defines an Ultra HD television as one that displays at least 8 million active pixels, with a lower resolution boundary of at least 3,840 by 2,160. That said, it's a little more complicated since there's still no single 4K standard and there are multiple varieties of digital content, ranging from 3,840 by 2,160 to 4,096 by 3,112, depending on the particular movie shown in a theater.

This format was originally known as 4K, but the CEA recently officially changed its designation to Ultra HD. This is a different thing from 48-frames-per-second video, which is making news lately thanks to the upcoming Peter Jackson movie, The Hobbit. (For more on that, read Why the Short 'Hobbit' Clip Looks Weird: Frame Rates Explained.)

How Is Ultra HD Different Than 1080p?

Depending on the variety, Ultra HD generally offers four times the resolution of standard 1080p (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) HDTVs. Even so, 4K content will still be compressed for home use, as an uncompressed two-hour movie playing at 30 frames per second would require 55TB of storage just by itself, according to an excellent post from Michael Cioni, who acted as digital intermediate supervisor on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Ultra HD also takes a solid 1GB-per-second connection for reliable playback, which means fast hard drives and faster-than-usual Internet and network connections.




Photo credit: HDMI.com

In terms of screen real estate on a desktop, 4K makes a huge difference, but that's not necessarily the case when it comes to watching movies. Many regular viewers already struggle to see the difference between 1080p and 720p, at least in smaller television sizes, although it's much more obvious on 50-inch and larger TVs. But now, with the Retina-style displays found on today's mobile gadgets, people are becoming more and more used to seemingly "perfect" resolution, so the extra detail in Ultra HD could eventually become important, even to mainstream viewers.

When Will You Be Able to Get Ultra HD?

The first Ultra HDTVs are hitting the market, albeit at very high prices. Back at the beginning of September, LG, Sony, and Toshiba all unveiled 84-inch Ultra HD TVs (which were still being called 4K at the time). LG's model, the 84LM9600, went on sale in late October. Sony was even earlier, releasing a 4K projector back in 2011. With prices hovering in the $20,000 to $25,000 range, most of us won't be buying in right away. Panasonic even showed off a 145-inch 8K "Super Hi-Vision" TV that is, well, really big and really sharp.

Look for much more Ultra HD to show up at CES, which takes place this year from January 8th, 2013 to January 11th, 2013 in Las Vegas.

Is There Even Any Ultra HD Content You Can Watch on an HDTV?

In a word: No. In a few more words: Sure, sort of: TimeScapes, a beautiful 50-minute film of night sky cinematography, became the first 4K digital movie available for consumer purchase in July. It was shot on a RED Epic camera (pictured below) in 4,096-by-2,304-pixel resolution. A $9.99 1080p copy is available on iTunes, but full 4K versions come in $99 and $299 USB-stick varieties, with an even sharper picture on the $299 version.




Do you see the problem yet? I spent the last paragraph talking about one movie. What else? There are a few files on YouTube's 4K landing page. Movie studios now routinely deliver 4K movies to commercial theaters, as I indicated above, but none are available for home purchase yet. A professional-grade camera like the Canon EOS C500 records 4K content, but at $26,000, it's not exactly a stocking stuffer. The GoPro Hero3 Black Edition claims to put 4K recording in your hands for just $400, though at 12 frames per second and with such a tiny lens, consider it a marketing gimmick more than anything else.
Do You Need Ultra HD?

Not yet. And not any time soon, either.

Think of Ultra HD as something mainstream consumers will be using in the next five to 10 years—meaning that early adopters and enthusiasts may be interested sooner, if the costs come down enough and there's enough content available. And if you're a 3D movie enthusiast, 4K promises to improve the realism of the effect, so you have that to look forward to.

Speaking of which, there's a chance Ultra HD could end up like the current 3D fad, in that there's just not lot of content available to watch, even years after the technology's debut. But Ultra HD has better chances of becoming mainstream, because it doesn't need special glasses, and because some movie studios are already defaulting to shooting in it, which promises a broad base of available content down the line. Bottom line: For most of us, however tantalizing that 4K logo may seem, it's not a realistic proposition in the immediate future.

Review: 4 superzoom digital cameras

If you've outgrown your standard point-and-shoot, but are still uncomfortable with the manual controls in a DSLR, then you might want to consider superzooms. Regardless of what you want to capture, whether candid moments at a birthday party, split-second action photos of your kid on a football pitch, or even the scenic vistas of Manali, these shooters can handle it all...

Sony HX200V

We discovered the HX200V to be a solid performer, equipped with a range of pre-set filters, as well as the capability to shoot 3D photos and panoramas. And it is fast, acquiring focus in a snap and allowing us to shoot multiple pictures without any discernable lag.

Overall, it is a well-rounded package that appeals to users who value image quality and the versatility that comes from having the ease of a point-andshoot combined with the flexibility of manual controls.

What we like

The camera has excellent build quality. Though it is all plastic, the construction feels solid. Also, a rather large DSLR-like righthand grip helps the user keep the camera steady while clicking pictures. Very good image quality in all shooting conditions: Colours look bright and vibrant, and details look sharp and clear. Features like panorama mode and HDR work well. You can zoom in and out while shooting movies, and subjects remain in sharp focus. The camera records audio in stereo sound. Usually, the mechanical zooming in and out of the lens introduces audio disturbances in videos. But on the HX200V, the interference was barely audible.

What we don't like

The HX200V has a problem while focussing on subjects closer than three metres if you are using maxed-out zoom. Not exactly recommended for macro photography.

While the camera offers 30x zoom, we would have liked to see some more at this price point.
Nikon P510





When it comes to optical magnification, the P510 is king with its whopping 42x zoom. In comparison, most entry-level DSLRs, when paired with a standard telephoto lens, have a zoom that ranges between 15x and 18x. Besides, this shooter boasts of performance that matches its specs.

That said, the P510's user interface is standard affair; not as exhaustive and full of features as that of the Sony HX200V. Still, it covers the basics like auto mode, scene selector, program modes, etc.

If you're looking for maximum zoom, the P510 is the camera for you - ideal for a person who loves adventure holidays and the great outdoors.

What we like

The zoom! If you are used to point-and-shoot cameras, you will be amazed with the reach that the P510 allows you. And what's more, the extra zoom also helps in getting amazingdefocused/soft backgrounds when clicking portrait shoots.

The image quality is mostly good, even at the high-end of the focal range. Colours are rendered accurately, with lots of detail and the right amount of exposure. In video mode, the camera captures audio in stereo, and also allows you to take advantage of its full optical zoom. It picks some faint sounds from the lens movement, but this is not a deal-breaker.

What we don't like

The P510 is built using glossy plastic and that feels cheap. Also, for its size, the camera is pretty light, something that doesn't inspire confidence in its build quality.

The performance in low-light conditions leaves much to be desired. The shooter is slow to acquire focus, and pictures have lots of noise or grain in them. In cases where its flash is used, the camera tends to underexpose the pictures. In short, low light photography is the P510's Achilles heel. Focus is slow to latch on during videos. This means if you zoom to pan in and out, there could be moments when your subjects will not be in focus.

FujiFilm Finepix SL300




Despite its price, the SL300 packs in a decent 30x zoom lens. It also boasts of an electronic viewfinder though it's not very bright or sharp and we mostly used the LCD display to frame our pictures.


On paper, this shooter looks good, but don't expect miracles in terms of performance from it. Still, given its price, it's a decent deal if you are looking to buy a highzoom shooter on a budget.

What we like

The SL300 is a bridge camera (i.e. a point-and-shoot with a DSLR-like body) with solid build quality. The lens has a nice rubber grip, while its matte plastic body has been given a thin coating of soft rubber around the screen area. Its size and form factor make it comfortable to handle, and easy to hold steady during shoots.

30x zoom seems good at its price, and pictures shot at maximum focal length come out well when the camera is used outdoors in sunlight.

What we don't like

The SL300 is a slow performer. In low light, acquiring focus takes a few seconds. Durations between continuous shots are also longer when compared to other shooters reviewed here: Once you have clicked a picture, the camera takes just a tad longer to process the image and although it all happens within a split second, the difference is apparent between rapid shots. This means you might not enjoy clicking action photos with this one

Image quality is good in proper light, with accurate colours. But in low-light conditions - for example, in the evening - images lack sharpness. The main problem is the over-smoothing that the SL300 applies to images This reduces details and makes the pictures look a little washed out. Videos are limited to 720p and grain is visible in footage Besides, you can't use the full 30x zoom during videos Also, the camera lacks ability to record stereo sound.

Canon SX260HS 





SX260HS is a pint-size camera, but it still packs in a lens that can provide up to 20x zoom. And while it was the only device in this shootout that did not have a viewfinder, it still performed solidly making it an ideal buy for anyone looking to get lots of zoom without sacrificing on portability.

What we like

For an ultra-compact camera, SX260HS is fast. It acquires focus in a snap, and duration between shots is virtually non-existent in well-lit conditions.

Barring the pictures shot in extreme low-light, the SX260HS snaps excellent photos even at the high-end of its zoom. The pictures have lots of details and look sharp and clear. Its small size is an advantage, making it an ideal travel camera.

What we don't like

The quality of movies made indoors is average, with visible noise. Also, the camera picks up audio from the lens mechanics while zooming in and out. Battery life is below average with the camera lasting for around 200 shots on full charge.

Google‘s Android is eating Apple‘s lunch

Smartphones and tablets powered by Google's  Android software are devouring the mobile gadget market, eating into Apple's turf by feeding appetites for innovation and low prices, analysts say.
The Android operating system powered nearly three out of four smartphones shipped worldwide in the recently ended quarter as the mobile platform dominated the market, according to industry trackers at IDC.
"Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launched in 2008," said IDC's mobile phones research manager Ramon Llamas.
"In every year since then, Android has effectively outpaced the market and taken market share from the competition."
In tablets, Apple's market share has fallen to just over 50 percent from 65 percent in the second quarter as Android devices gain ground, according to IDC figures.
"Having a lot of people building a lot of things covering a lot of price points with multiple brands in multiple places makes a big difference," said NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker.
"Variety is strength when it comes to moving units."
Android smartphones shipments surged to 136 million, topping those in the same three-month period last year by slightly more than 90 percent, IDC reported.
Samsung's Galaxy S3 overtook Apple's iPhone 4S in the third quarter to give the South Korean firm the world's best-selling smartphone model for the first time ever, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
"The pace of innovation in Android is faster than Apple," said Gartner vice president of mobile computing Ken Dulaney. "They are just trying harder; Apple is way behind in that area."
Android is benefiting from being an "open-source" platform that gadget makers use free of charge and improve as they deem fit, providing Google with insights along the way.
Apple tightly controls its products from the software to the hardware and even the online shop for music, books, games or other content.
"What you get with Android is this incredible feedback loop with developers, equipment makers, customers, and designers," Dulaney said.
"At Apple, as long as they have a great vision internally it is fine but they don't have the feedback Android does."
Having thousands of different Android devices vying for consumers' cash is a strength when it comes to market share but puts hardware makers into a fiercely competitive arena, Baker noted.
"Other than Samsung, I don't know if other Android guys are making money," the analyst said.
Google gives Android away free, but the platform is crafted to make it easy for people to use the California Internet titan's money-making services such as search and maps, and get content at its online Google Play shop.
Forrester analyst Charles Golvin said that forces powering Android momentum include changing demographics of smartphone buyers.
Early adopters of smartphones focused more on new technology than on price, but the devices have gone mainstream with cost increasingly important to shoppers, according to Golvin.
"People are more inclined toward the Android platform because there is more choice and most of that choice is low price," Golvin said.
The open nature of Android and the myriad models offered by gadget makers serve as a "double-edged sword," warned the analyst.
Apple pushes annual updates of iOS mobile operating system out to its devices, while new versions of Android hit more often but must get through hardware makers and telecom services to get onto people's handsets.
"You have this lengthy chain of intermediaries who are delaying the delivery of that new software and its innovations to existing devices in the market," Golvin said.
He backed his point by noting that many Android devices in use still run on generations-old versions of the operating system.
Android gadget variety can also make it tough to design accessories or even "apps" that can be used across the array of devices.
For its part, Google has done an excellent job of improving the "ecosystem" of music, films, apps, books and more available for Android-powered devices, according to analysts.
In the red-hot tablet market effectively created by the iPad, strong growth is being seen by Android rivals including Amazon's popular Kindle Fire and Nook devices from Barnes & Noble, which run custom versions of the software.
Analysts believe that the Google-backed operating system is likely to spread to typically "dumb" gizmos like appliances.
"These platforms are becoming the molecule elements for building all kinds of hybrid devices," Dulaney said.

Microsoft‘s ‘Do Not Track‘ effort draws advertisers‘ ire

A movement by privacy activists to curb tracking of internet users' browsing habits scored a major victory last month when Microsoft launched its new browser with "do not track" as the default, or automatic setting.
But some advertisers are in revolt against the move, certain websites are skirting the Microsoft effort and the debate over online privacy and tracking is heating up.
The controversy stems from practices used by websites and marketing partners to track browsing activity to be able to deliver ads targeted to individuals.
The ad industry argues that tracking is done anonymously without violating privacy, but some say it is easy to connect the person's anonymous IP address or mobile device to a real person.
"It is trivial to make those connections," says Jim Brock, a former Yahoo! executive who now heads a venture called PrivacyFix which offers browser plug-ins for privacy and other services to consumers and businesses.
Websites and mobile device use a variety of software to determine a user's browsing habits. Marketers can then use that data for "behavioral ads" designed with people's habits in mind.
In some cases, these electronic tags can predict if a consumer is price-sensitive, allowing sellers to charge more or less for a product or service.
Privacy activists say a simple web search can make consumers a target for marketers, and that viewing certain websites may identify them as homosexuals, AIDS patients or suffering from another disease.
"That is one of the scariest things, and it shakes people's faith in the marketing industry," Brock said. "There is very little protection for targeting based on health conditions. This is information that can get in the hands of insurance companies and employers who might not use it in a way we would expect."
Most web browsers allow users to activate a "do not track" privacy feature, and Microsoft designed its Internet Explorer 10 with the feature as the default setting.
"We believe consumers should have more control over how data about their online behavior is tracked, shared, and used," Microsoft chief privacy officer Brendon Lynch said in announcing the move.
Advertisers see the issue differently, arguing that Microsoft should not make the decision for consumers.
The Digital Advertising Alliance, a consortium of the largest US media and marketing associations, told its members they can ignore or override the default settings in Microsoft or other browsers.
"The trade associations that lead the DAA do not believe that Microsoft's IE10 browser settings are an appropriate standard for providing consumer choice," said the alliance, which includes the Better Business Bureau.
"Machine-driven do not track does not represent user choice; it represents browser-manufacturer choice."
Yahoo! has also broken ranks with Microsoft, saying it "will not recognise" the "do not track" settings by default.
A Yahoo! blog post said Microsoft acted "unilaterally" and that "this degrades the experience for the majority of users and makes it hard to deliver on our value proposition to them."
Representatives Edward Markey and Joe Barton, who head the House privacy caucus, expressed disappointment over the actions by advertisers and Yahoo!, saying they highlight the need for better privacy laws.
"If consumers want to be tracked online, they should have to opt-in, not the other way around," the two lawmakers said in a statement.
Some analysts argue that wiping out all online tracking would undermine the economic model of the Internet.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington think tank, recently modified its website to warn visitors with "do not track" enabled with a pop-up message which asks them to enable tracking.
ITIF analyst Daniel Castro said most consumers do not object to online tracking if they understand that ads support the websites they visit.
"You can't say you don't want targeted advertising but you do want free access to websites," Castro said.
"People like free content and they are willing to make some tradeoffs."
Richard Frankel, president of the ad technology firm Rocket Fuel, said that even though "everyone claims to hate online advertising" there would be very little content on the internet without it.
Frankel said that imposing tracking restrictions would cut revenues and thereby "would stifle investigative reporting, dissuade open discussion and commentary, and muffle free speech."
Brock acknowledges that revenue will be lost if without behavioral ads, but that the industry has failed to persuade consumers of their value.
"There will be less data to monetise," said Brock, who describes himself as "a former tracker."
"But what the industry has not done is to explain why we benefit from targeted advertising."
Brock argues that with industries unable to reach agreement on privacy standards, consumers may face confusion and it may be time for the government to step in with legislation.
"I believe in ad-supported media, but the industry is giving us no choice," he said. "They need a kick in the butt from the government."

Review: Nintendo Wii U

When Nintendo first broached the idea of multiple-screen video games in 2004, many critics were skeptical that players could focus on two images at once. Yet the handheld DS, blending one touch-sensitive screen with a slightly larger video display, became a runaway hit.
Turns out the portable DS may have just been a dress rehearsal for Nintendo's latest home console, the Wii U, which blows up the dual-screen concept to living-room size. It goes on sale in the US on Sunday, starting at $300.
The Wii U is the heir to the Nintendo Wii system, whose motion-based controls got couch potatoes around the world to burn calories as they swung virtual tennis rackets, bowled and flailed around in their living rooms. The new console still allows you to use your old "Wiimotes," but its major advancement is a new controller, the GamePad, with a built-in touch screen that measures 6.2 inches (15.7 centimeters) diagonally.
The GamePad looks like the spawn of a tablet computer and a classic game controller. Its surface area is a little smaller than an iPad's, but it's about three times as thick, largely because it has hand grips that make it more comfortable over prolonged game sessions. It has an accelerometer and gyroscope for motion-controlled games, as well as a camera, a microphone, speakers, two analog joysticks and a typical array of buttons.
It's the touch screen that really makes the difference. In some cases, it houses functions that are typically relegated to a game's pause screen. In others, it allows a group of people playing the same game together to have different experiences depending on the controller used. Nintendo Co. calls this "asymmetric gaming."
In the mini-game collection "Nintendo Land," you can shoot arrows or fling throwing stars by swiping on the touch screen. One of the games in the collection, "Mario Chase," uses the GamePad to provide a bird's-eye view of a maze through which you can guide the hero. His pursuers - up to four players using Wiimotes - see the maze from a first-person perspective on the TV screen.
"New Super Mario Bros U" brings the asymmetric approach to cooperative action. While Wiimote-wielding players scamper across its side-scrolling landscapes, the GamePad user can create "boost blocks" to help them reach otherwise inaccessible areas. If you're going solo, you can play the entire adventure on the GamePad screen, freeing up the TV for family members who might want to watch something else.
On a more basic level, the GamePad lets you select your next play or draw new routes for your receivers in Electronic Arts Inc.'s "Madden NFL 13." You use it to adjust strategy or substitute players in 2K Sports' "NBA 2K13."
Ubisoft's "ZombiU" - the best original game at launch - turns the GamePad into your "bug-out bag." It's where you'll find all your undead-fighting supplies, from bats and bullets to hammers and health kits. It lets you access maps and security-camera footage as you navigate the devastated streets of London. If you hold it vertically, you can scan the virtual space in three dimensions to locate zombies who are lying in wait.
Essentially, the GamePad functions like the bottom half of the portable DS, with triggers, buttons and the touch screen offering additional information and an added dimension of control. In this comparison, your living-room TV would be the equivalent of the DS' top display.
It's somewhat gimmicky: Much of the time, you can easily imagine playing with just a regular joystick. But in "ZombiU," the GamePad adds to the atmosphere, creating the panicky feeling of scrambling around in a backpack while another undead horde approaches.
The high-definition graphics produced by the Wii U are close to those of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3. That should bring back some of the game makers who had fled the underpowered Wii - at least until Microsoft and Sony bring out their next-generation consoles (neither company has announced any plans yet).
Some fine games from the past couple of years - Warner Bros.' "Batman: Arkham City," Electronic Arts' "Mass Effect 3" and THQ Inc.'s "Darksiders II" - are finally coming to a Nintendo console. The enhanced GamePad controls don't substantially alter their DNA, and if you've already played them on the Xbox or PS3, you aren't missing much. But if I'd had the option to play them the first time around with the enhanced GamePad controls, I would have.
The Wii U's online functions include video chat, its own social network and the ability to search for TV shows and movies from services such as Netflix and Hulu. These are all free. I wasn't able to test those features before writing this review.
I don't expect the Wii U to make as big a splash as the original Wii did six years ago. Nintendo's competitors are dipping their toes into the dual-screen pool as well: Some Sony games link the PS3 with the handheld Vita, while Microsoft's SmartGlass app for tablet computers adds bonus material to Xbox games such as "Halo 4" and "Forza Horizon."
Still, the Wii U goes all in on the multiscreen concept for a relatively inexpensive price. And in a world where people tweet on their iPads while watching sports or reality shows on their TVs, the whole GamePad concept feels perfectly natural.
The Wii U's success will depend on what Nintendo and other developers do with that second screen. The early results are very promising.

Apple‘s stock on a downward spiral as taxes worry investors

Gravity has taken hold of Apple, and a lot of investors have been smacked on the head.
Apple, the largest US stock by market value, was headed toward its eighth straight week of declines on Friday, as the rush to secure profits before a potential hike in capital gains taxes next year has investors dumping the market favourite.
Since hitting a record high of $705.07 a share in September, Apple has lost about a quarter of its value. The stock's descent has vastly outpaced those of the S&P 500, which is down just under 7 percent in the same time frame.
"No individual investment can defy gravity," said Erik Davidson, deputy chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank, in San Francisco.
The declines have shaved about $170 billion off the company's market capitalisation -- or just a bit more than the entire value of Coca-Cola. Apple is still currently worth about $493 billion, about $100 billion more than the second-most valuable US company, Exxon Mobil.
Apple on Friday afternoon was little changed, up 0.2 percent at $526.59.
Taxes on capital gains and dividends are likely to rise next year as part of an expected deficit-cutting deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff of scheduled tax hikes and spending cuts.
With a stock like Apple, where investors may have large embedded capital gains as a result of its stellar run, selling now locks in gains and offsets the possibility of higher taxes next year. The uncertainty over the outcome of talks in Washington over the fiscal cliff has sapped the natural inclination to buy declining shares.
"Some of the selling is being driven by these tax decisions, but the flip side is there is not a lot of buyers because the buyers are procrastinating to see how the negotiations come out," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. "You probably have an inordinate effect to the downside because of these tax strategies."
The current 15 percent tax rate on dividends and capital gains is scheduled at expire at year end, and the two items are to revert back to being taxed as ordinary income, which means the highest earners would face rates of 35 percent.
The recent plunge is a reversal of fortune for high-flying Apple, those though the shares remain up about 30 percent for the year so far. Apple shares have rise every year since 2003 with the exception of 2008, when the market was struck by the global financial crisis.
"If you've got all these gains - which a lot of Apple investors have because it's done very, very well - then you're going to see selling in the likes of Apple and other companies that have had good runs," Davidson said.
Apple's stock has been below both its 14-day and 50-day moving average for over a month, suggesting both the short- and mid-term momentum is negative.
Despite the declines, Thomson Reuters StarMine estimates the stock's intrinsic value is about $833.90 a share. That figure is derived from analyst estimates for growth over the next five years and StarMine's expected growth rates for several years after that.
Given that the stock is likely worth more than where it is trading, tax concerns are probably playing into the recent weakness, said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors, in New York.
"I think the stock is worth $750," said Orlando.
"If you are sitting here looking at Apple trading at $500, you say, 'Well the stock ought to be 50 percent higher over the course of the next year or two,' so the stock looks pretty attractive."

YouTube ban to be lifted in Pakistan

Pakistan, which had banned popular video-sharing website YouTube  following the release of a film that allegedly insulted Islam, will lift the ban next month, an official said.
Farooq Awan, chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) said the website may be reopened within 20 days, the Dawn reported on Friday.
Awan said talks were underway with Google, the company that owns YouTube, to block the "blasphemous contents" of the anti-Islam film.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had ordered the ban on the website in September, in the aftermath of protests against the film.

WhatsApp, BBM, iMessage gain foothold as SMSes decline

The habit of traditional messaging via SMSes among Americans has slowed for the first time ever, a new study has suggested.
The number of SMS messages sent per customer each month dropped 3 percent to an average of 678 texts in the third quarter, according to a report by independent mobile analyst Chetan Sharma.
However, that doesn't mean Americans are turning their backs on emoticons and LOLs completely, as customers are just looking for cheaper ways to text, the New York Daily Newsreports.
According to the report, services like Apple's iMessage, Viber and Jaxtr SMS allow customers to send SMS-like texts at a much lower cost than the major US carriers, which charge as much as 20 cents for a single text.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that the rise in alternative messaging presents a major threat to his company.
"You lie awake at night worrying about what is that which will disrupt your business model. Apple iMessage is a classic example. If you're using iMessage, you're not using one of our messaging services, right?" he said.
Social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram may also be partly to blame for the declining numbers, the report said.

Review: Google Nexus 10

When I first turned on Google's new tablet computer, I immediately thought of it as a mere conduit to Google services.

Besides giving you quick access to Gmail and YouTube, the Nexus 10 steers you to digital movies, books and other content available for sale through Google's online Play store.

Because of that, I wasn't thinking of the Nexus 10 as an alternative to Apple's general-purposeiPad - even with a price tag that's $100 cheaper, starting at $399. It took more thought and time with the Nexus to change that perception. After all, apps available for Android smartphones work on the tablet as well.

Still, the Nexus really shines when it comes to media - especially content bought through Google.

For the past year, Google has been trying to challenge Apple and Amazon by selling digital content.

The Play store is Google's version of iTunes for Apple devices. There, you can get a variety of apps, some free and some for a small fee. You can buy or rent movies and obtain books, magazines and music. Google isn't satisfied with building search engines and selling ads. It wants a bigger role in the digital economy.

Over the summer, Google came out with a 7-inch (17.5-centimeter) tablet called the Nexus 7. Just as Apple made an iPad Mini that's about the size of the Nexus 7, Google is now selling a larger version of the Nexus, about the size of Apple's regular iPad. It starts shipping this week.

On the Nexus 10, icons at the bottom of the screen emphasise Google's media products available through Play. Click on a picture of film to watch movies, headphones to listen to music and a book to, well, read books. Another icon gets you to the Play store to obtain more content and apps.

The Nexus has a rubberised back and fits more snuggly on my lap than the metal-backed iPad. In my hands, I don't feel as if the Nexus would slip out and crash on to the hard floor, as I continually do with the iPad.

There are front-facing speakers going up and down both sides of the Nexus, compared with just one tucked in a corner on the back of an iPad. You feel more immersed watching video with sound coming right at you from the entire device. I hadn't considered that a problem on the iPad, but I began to notice it once I played video on the tablets side by side.

The screen measures 10.1 inches (25.6 centimeters) diagonally, which is more than the iPad's 9.7 inches (24.6 centimeters). But the screen isn't any larger because while it's about an inch wider in horizontal mode, it's also about a half-inch less in height. This works well for widescreen content, which completely fills the screen. On the iPad, the latest movies and TV shows often have black bars, no matter how you hold the tablet. In some cases, you might see the sides of video cut off to fit the space, as I did watching this week's episode of "Revenge" on Hulu. Again, I hadn't considered that a problem on the iPad, until I began to notice it.

What makes the tablet's shape good for movies makes it less-than-ideal for magazines, though. There's wasted space on the top and the bottom for magazines on the Nexus. But I watch TV shows and movies online more often than I read magazines digitally, so I'll let it slide.

As for books, text on the Nexus' screen comes out sharp. News sites and apps also look nice. The Nexus has a screen resolution of 300 pixels per inches, slightly better than the 264 ppi for the latest full-size iPad (which itself is far better than the 132 ppi on the older iPad 2 model still available).

True, there are other tablets designed as media players, too. Amazon.com Kindle Fire and Barnes and Barnes & Noble Nook HD come to mind, and both have larger versions out this month. But neither has the diversity of apps available for the Nexus and other full-fledge Android devices (The Kindle and the Nook run on modified versions of Android and restrict apps to what's available through their own online stores).

So what does that mean?

Apps on my Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone automatically appear on the Nexus 10 after signing in with the same Google account. I'll note that the Nexus 10 is also made by Samsung Electronics, even though it's branded Google.

Three of my apps, for AccuWeather, Citibank and Dunkin' Donuts, aren't compatible for unknown reasons. But those I use most often - Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare and a slew of other weather apps - all work on the Nexus. The companion app for the TV show " Dexter" also works, allowing me to play trivia games and watch video clips.

Not all apps have been specifically adapted for the tablet's larger screen, but they take advantage of the entire screen, nonetheless, thanks to the way Android lets software programmers build their apps in modules. All the content gets blown up and still looks decent.

Apple's store has a far wider selection of apps, though, including a half-dozen apps for exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. A search on Play comes up with only one.

The Nexus comes with the latest version of the Android operating system, version 4.2. It introduces a new feature for sharing tablets, the way family members can share Windows and Mac computers while keeping personalized settings. You no longer have to fight with a kid who constantly changes the volume or moves apps around. Now, just sign in as separate users.

The Nexus is a tad lighter, while the iPad promises longer battery life and has an option for cellular broadband for $130 more, plus the cost of data plans. Neither has a slot to expand memory with SD cards. Both have two cameras - 5 megapixels on the back for taking photos and video, and a lower-resolution one on the front for videoconferencing.

The iPad remains king among tablets, with its ease of use, variety of apps and dominance in the market. But challengers such as Google offer choice. The Nexus 10 is a good choice if you already have an Android phone and use a lot of Google services. That's especially true if you also watch a lot of movies and TV shows, but don't want to be limited to that.

Fujitsu launches notebook-cum-tablet

Fujitsu Technology Solutions has unveiled a notebook-cum-tablet. The notebook's screen can be easily detached from the keyboard component to use as a tablet.

Satoru Hayashi, executive vice chairman ofFujitsu Technology Solutions, told TOI that the innovation followed a study of the way people used products like laptops, tablets and smart phones often for the same purposes -- like reading a note or a book or for writing.

"The new product also supports Windows 8. This is a big improvement in the interface and usability of the notebooks," Hayashi said. The product was formally unveiled at Fujitsu Forum 2012 here and is now available in select countries.

Most leading PC brands today have laptops-cum-tablets . Among them are the Asus Transformer and Asus Taichi, Dell Inspiron Duo, Lenovo Yoga Ideapad, HP Envy X2, and Acer Iconia TAB W500.

Admitting that economic slowdown in many parts of Europe had led to some softness in the company's growth in the continent, Hayashi said the sharp growth witnessed in emerging markets had helped in balancing the overall growth. "We have adopted strategies to reduce expenses and cater to customers' need here," he added.

Niamh Spelman, senior vice president for emerging markets, said India, Russia and Middle East had shown positive growth. India, she said, was showing strong market potential for products, services and solutions and was likely to be a major player for the company in some years. The requirements of emerging market customers are unique and Fujitsu recognizes that specific products are needed to meet these needs.

"India is a market that leapfrogs its own development. However, we need to be selective in terms of the products and solutions that need to be carried in India," Niamh said.

"India is the largest SAP market in the world. We are also looking at providing solutions to the government sector and its agencies," she said.

At the Fujitsu Forum, the company also announced new versions of its data centre appliance , FlexFrame for SAP, and a solution for cloud computing . The FlexFrame orchestrator is a new platform introducing support for SAP HANA installations to its data centre operations across SAP application landscapes. HANA is an in-memory computing solution that enables real time analytics with large volumes of data.

Facebook: 4 things to avoid

Very few of us read the lengthy terms and conditions when we sign up for anything, but social networking site Facebook has some very strict rules that might lead us being de-friended by the network itself if we aren't careful.

Some of the reasons are actually about legal realities, such as businesses unwittingly breaching copyright with the content on their Facebook pages, while others are just laws according to Facebook and can lead to a personal page being removed or disabled without warning, News.com.au reports.

"You or your business could be running the risk of suddenly disappearing from networks," says social media law expert and solicitor director of PodLegal Jamie White.

According to the report, the first rule we must follow on the social site is that though Facebook is all about having friends and connections, one mustn't have too many. The average is 120 and the limit is thought to be 5000; which is when Facebook gets suspicious that no-one can be that popular and may look into your account.

The second rule is keeping your profile as real as possible. If you use an alias and have a kitten as your profile photograph you're asking for trouble. The network has been known to take down a page allegedly belonging to a cow, and one from a legitimate UK MP because it didn't think it was real, the report said.

The third rule we all must take care is not being too active on the social site, even if Facebook is all about posting. But going overboard should be well avoided.

The fourth and the final rule is keeping in mind the term and conditions of 'Copyright'. With internet being the primary medium of free sharing of content, a cardinal rule to follow in Facebook is 'If you don't own it, don't post.'

What‘s the shelf life of a techie? Just 15 years

If you have seen Skyfall, you will doubtless remember the 20-something Q. It's the first time ever in a James Bond film that Q or the Quartermaster - MI6's resident tinkerer who creates all the wonderful spy gadgets that Bond uses - is younger than Bond himself, much younger. So when Bond meets Q in Skyfall, he scoffs, "You still have spots (pimples)," to which Q replies, "Age is no guarantee of efficiency."

In the world of technology, that's almost a truism today. Youthful Qs are becoming the norm. Technology is changing so rapidly that older engineers must put in an extraordinary amount of time and effort into new learning and also to unlearn old ones. Otherwise , they are likely to find themselves less relevant.

"The shelf life of a software engineer today is no more than that of a cricketer - about 15 years," says V R Ferose, MD of German software major SAP's India R&D Labs that has over 4,500 employees . "The 20-year-old guys provide me more value than the 35-year-olds do."

The past few years have seen dramatic changes in technology. Computing is being increasingly done on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. These devices have lower processing power and storage capacity than PCs. And they run on batteries that require recharging . Hence, applications built for them must have smaller footprints and be highly energy efficient.

Computing is increasingly moving towards cloud computing, where centralized IT infrastructure and applications cater to multiple users over a network, usually the internet. This is in contrast to the systems we have been used to for long, where we buy a licence for an application , which then resides in our local PC or server.

For businesses, another dramatic new development is the vast amounts of relevant data being created thanks to social media, blogs, sensors, video sites and more.

Skill sets become redundant fast

It is a process of continuous learning in the world of technology. A new challenge is data management . Companies need to bring these data together and analyze them to take decisions and make predictions.

All of these new computing models require architectures that are very different from those that went before, and what older folk learnt in their engineering schools and training programmes.

Mukund Mohan, CEO of Microsoft's startup accelerator programme in India, says the shelf life of certain kinds of developers has shrunk to less than a year. "My daughter developed an app for iPhone 4. Today, she is redeveloping the app to make it smarter for iPhone 5. Five years ago, developers were talking Symbian (the Nokia operating system). Today, it's not very relevant. You have to look at Android or iOS or may be even Windows 8 to stay relevant."

Shailesh Thakurdesai, business development manager at Texas Instruments India , says college hiring is a priority for the company because "freshers learn fast and do things differently, without the baggage of past experience" . This semiconductor company has to constantly deal with the challenge of rapid miniaturization of integrated circuits and changes in the associated design software,

How difficult is life today for older engineers? What's expected of them? SAP's Ferose says as long as the market is improving, and the supplydemand situation is skewed in favour of demand, people will be fine. "But that environment will change," he says. "Also, the pace at which technology is changing, at 35 if you are not learning yourself, you will become redundant very quickly. We find people after 40 finding it very difficult to be relevant. They have missed a whole learning cycle. I'm always telling my people, 'be paranoid to learn' ."

Some companies guide technical professionals towards taking on more managerial responsibilities over time. Ravi Shankar, chief people officer at MindTree, says he advises employees to map their career graph into a 5-5-5 formula, three blocks of 5 years each. In the first five years, the employee is a technical contributor. In the next five, he or she moves on to become a team leader or an architect , understanding the P&L (profit & loss) requirements of the company. Subsequently , the employee takes on much stronger leadership responsibilities , with technical skills upgrade.

Naveen Narayanan, global head of talent acquisition at HCL Technologies, says there are roles where the employee is not developing technology, but architecting a solution for the customer to solve a business problem. "You are taking a managerial role," he says. Texas Instruments' Thakurdesai says the domain knowledge that older engineers have often works well in defining the products and features required for a particular domain.

But everybody agrees that even managers have to upgrade their technical skills to stay relevant. As Ferose says, "I can't be just a manager, I have to be technically handson . If I have to have a conversation with my CTO, and if I say Idon't understand technology, then there is no conversation ."

Some companies have introduced a range of curricula for employees to upgrade themselves.Infosys has more than 1,000 programmes that employees can choose from. Many of these provide certifications in tie-ups with universities or global enterprise product biggies like SAP, Microsoft , Cisco and IBM.

Infosys's head of education & research Srikantan Moorthy says every business unit creates its competence plan, and then each employee decides his or her competence plan. "Employees then take courses accordingly, and earn points based on the courses they complete," he says.

As Indian services companies increasingly move towards platforms and products , such retraining will become even more important, and the programmes will have to be more intense. Microsoft's Mohan says many technology professionals in the US have ingrained the idea of retooling themselves. "This is still not visible much in India. This is an era of hyper-specialization . This means upgrading yourself constantly, even on weekends," he says.

Times View

No predicting the future

The world is changing so rapidly that continuous education for continuous employment is becoming the norm in many fields. But nowhere is it as striking as it is in information technology. To take just one example: till just a few years ago, PCs and Windows were our primary computing tools; today, computing conversations are dominated by smartphones, tablets, Android and iOS. In another few years, it could be something altogether different, and we have no way of predicting what that will be. So the only way out for professionals in the field to sustain their careers is to be forever on their toes, tracking trends and learning new skills all the time.

Chinese government gazette opens account on Sina Weibo

The gazette of the State Council, China's cabinet, opened its account on China's Twitter-like service Sina Weibo Saturday.

The gazette Weibo account will be used to publish the country's major policies and guidelines in a timely and accurate manner, according to an advance notice released on the Sina Weibo Friday.

Its first Weibo messages released Saturday are a number of government decrees and regulations on waterway management, automobile recall, education, and green food as well as the reshuffle of government officials, reported Xinhua.

The account was followed by 190,000 fans as of 10 a.m. Saturday on Sina Weibo, which is used by more than 300 million Chinese Internet users.

More Chinese government administrations and agencies have turned to microblogs to interact with the public, as microblogging services are gaining increasing popularity and influence among the country's 500 million Internet users.

Government administrations and agencies use microblogs to offer information, answer queries, address complaints, and sometimes provide credible responses to rumours.

The number of government microblog accounts registered at Sina Weibo reached 50,947 by the end of September, an increase of more than 6,000 compared with three months ago, according to a Sina Weibo report released in October.

China's government microblogs have entered a stage of stable development and effective operation and become a priority channel for authorities to communicate with the public in case of emergencies, it said.

Apple removes code ‘hiding‘ Samsung apology from website

Tech giant Apple has removed a piece of code from its UK website that had allowed them to keep an apology to Samsung out of immediate sight.

A link to the apology formerly visible only by scrolling to the bottom of the page can now be seen immediately by users with large displays.

According to the Telegraph, the code that was removed had the effect of forcing the user to scroll down to see a notice of the verdict of a patent infringement lawsuit between Apple and Samsung that ruled in favour of the Korean mobile maker.

The iPhone maker was ordered to post the notice after it lost its case against Samsung who, Apple alleged, had infringed its design patents in the UK.

Apple lost the patent case and a subsequent appeal on October 18, in which the court upheld the previous decision that said Samsung's Galaxy tablet did not infringe upon Apple's patents. ' Apple was ordered to post a notice of the court's decision on its website for no less than six months to "correct the damaging impression" left by its suit against Samsung.

According to the paper, parts of the original notice included excerpts of other rulings from around the world that favoured Apple.

Apple made a request for 14 days to make the changes, but this was rejected.

Gujarat IT companies diversify operations in US

Barack Obama's return to theWhite House and his strong views against outsourcing jobs overseas may be bad news for the Indian outsourcing industry. However, IT companies in Gujarat have found a way to retain their clients in the US by branching out to other segments.

IT companies in Gujarat, which relied highly on North American companies, have either started focusing on other countries in Europe and Asia in the last 12 months or have diversified into smaller operations of consulting and providing enterprise solutions to American companies.

Azure Knowledge Corporation opened an office in Philadelphia in July to run a project for theUS Department of Education. The Ahmedabad-based knowledge processing outsourcing company checks and ranks the quality of US-based call centres which work for the education department in the US.

Jay Ruparel, co-founder, Azure, "During the presidential campaigning, Obama was pretty serious about keeping jobs in the US, which is why we thought of expanding our services and running quality control projects there. Although the operations are quite small, it will help us deal with any allegation that we are snatching jobs by taking them offshore. Besides, we can retain clients and it will give us a cushion amid slowdown."

In December 2011, the Obama administration tabled the US Call Centre Bill to put aggressive mandates on all overseas call centre operations.

Sunil Kakkad, president, Gujarat Electronics & Software Industries Association, said, "Several small companies from Gujarat have opened office in the US and are diversifying into other segments in IT to be safe against new anti-outsourcing policies." Kakkad, who is the chairman and managing director of Sai InfoSystem (SIS), recently started the company's mobile commerce operations in Chicago out of fear that the Obama government may bring out a policy against outsourcing. "The precise reason we started operations in the US is the fear that the government may go against outsourcing anytime," said Kakkad.

According to the industry's apex body Nasscom, Indian IT firms have recently increased their investment by ten times in US-based centres. This has created around 175,000 jobs in the US, which was facing high unemployment rates at one time.

Despite the strong anti-outsourcing views, some Gujarat companies are optimistic about the growth of the industry in the US market. Pratul Shroff, founder, eInfochips, said, "Visa rejections soared under Obama's administration and our company also experienced it. But, almost 96 per cent of our revenue comes from the US. It means that whenever there is a crisis, there is potential. Once customers see the value of outsourcing offshore, they will come to Indian companies."

Telcos can tap funds from abroad for 2G auction: Govt

Indian mobile telecoms carriers can raise loans from abroad to refinance local debt, the government said on Friday, helping them to join the bidding process for airwave spectrum.
India is due to start an auction of second-generation (2G) mobile phone airwaves on Monday through an auction after a court ruled that a sale in 2008 was flawed and should be cancelled.
The base price for the forthcoming auction has been set at more than seven times what carriers paid four years ago, raising concerns among executives about how their companies can pay for the airwaves.
Bidders in the 2G auction can now tap short-term foreign currency loans to pay for spectrum bought in the sale and later replace them with longer-term external commercial borrowing.
The government will also remove some of the restrictions that prevent these telecoms businesses from raising loans from their parent companies, a circular from the finance ministry said.
India closely controls how companies can raise money abroad through commercial borrowing, with a complex set of regulations across industries.
The ceiling for external commercial borrowings is currently $750 million per company.
Telecoms executives have called on the government to allow them to tap funds from abroad, given that banks have been reluctant to lend to the sector.

Amazon launches wine marketplace in US

Amazon.com unveiled a new online wine marketplace on Thursday, in the company's second attempt to crack a sector curtailed by a tangle of complex regulations.
Amazon Wine launched more than 1,000 winesfrom wineries in the United States, including Francis Ford Coppola, Hall, Mark Ryan, Eden Canyon, Pepper Bridge and Roadhouse.
The world's largest internet retailer said customers could order up to six bottles for a shipping fee of $9.99.
The service will be available to California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.
Amazon said more states will be added "soon."
Indeed, the limited number of states highlights the challenges of online wine sales due to regulations governing the sale and delivery of alcohol across US state borders.
Amazon had tried getting into the online wine business a few years ago, but put the effort on hold.
Wine.com launched its own online wine marketplace earlier this week, ahead of Amazon's move, which had been reported recently.
Wine.com, which has been in the online wine business for 14 years, launched its marketplace with shipping to 20 states and also offered wines from countries outside the United States, including France, Italy, Spain and Australia.
"Amazon has not offered us anything at this stage," said Jean-Charles Boisset, president of Boisset Family Estates. "We have contacted them and would love to talk."
Boisset has wineries in the United States, including De Loach and Buena Vista, and also imports a lot of wine from its wineries in France and Italy.
Boisset is working with Wine.com on its new marketplace.
A marketplace approach is better than the traditional wholesale distribution system because it allows smaller wineries to reach consumers more directly.
Boisset has sold its wines through Wine.com for years. The new marketplace will help the company offer more unique wines that were previously only available from tasting rooms at its wineries, Boisset said.

IBM sued for fraud, breach of contract by US chemicals co

Avantor Performance Materials has filed a lawsuit against IBM for fraud and breach of contract over the implementation of a software project that resulted in a "disaster" for the chemicals manufacturer.

The company, which produces chemicals and raw materials for pharmaceutical products, laboratory chemicals and chemicals used in the electronics industry, said in a statement that it was seeking tens of million in damages from IBM.

According to the lawsuit filed on Thursday in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, Avantor said IBM had misrepresented the capabilities of a software program that runs on a platform by SAP, resulting "in a near standstill" of Avantor's business.

IBM, which partners with German business software maker SAP in its consulting business, was not immediately available for comment.

Avantor in 2010 chose to replace its legacy information technology systems with a global SAP roll-out as part of a rebranding and growth strategy.

Contrary to IBM's pre-contract representations, Avantor said the software program "was woefully unsuited to Avantor's business, and could not provide crucial functionality that Avantor needed to run its core business processes".

Avantor also called IBM's consultants "incompetent and inexperienced".

When the system went live, Avantor said it was a disaster due to a number of errors ranging from failure to track or process orders correctly to directing "that dangerous chemicals be stored in inappropriate locations".

According to the lawsuit, IBM received around $13 million in fees and was asking for more to remedy the issues around the software implementation.

DoT issues new rules for buying SIM cards

Taking new mobile phone connection from will require physical verification of facts provided by subscribers and submission of forged documents will lead to police inquiry.

Tougher guidelines by the Department of Telecom, which took effect, make operators responsible for inaccurate information provided by subscribers for taking new pre-paid and post-paid mobile connections.

Under the new rules, the authorised personselling SIM cards will have to give an undertaking that he has seen the applicant and matched the photograph attached on the application form.

Retailers and franchisees selling mobile SIM cards will have to register police complaint against subscribers if they submit forged documents to get the connections.

All the telecom operators across the country are required to comply with the new guidelines.

"By and large we are compliant with most of the norms though there are a few areas for which we have sought clarifications from DoT like verification of date of birth and age," GSM industry body COAI director general Rajan S Mathews told PTI.

He said the government has indicated that the operators have to verify certain documents which include date of birth and age of users.

"We have asked DoT what should we do in case if the user has no documents related to his date of birth," he said.

COAI is expecting a reply on the issues in the next few days.

Mobile phone services allowed between India and Pakistan

Authorities have agreed to allow mobile phone services  between Pakistan and India though certain issues remain to be settled, a Pakistani parliamentary panel has been informed by officials.

The Standing Committee on Commerce of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament was told by officials of the Ministry of Information Technology yesterday about the move to allow mobile phone services between the two countries.

The panel expressed displeasure at the lack of modern communication facilities between the two sides.

Commerce Secretary Munir Qureshi said the "main hitch is technical linkages between the telecom companies of India and Pakistan as they too have to get approvals from parent companies or their boards".

Several members of the parliamentary committee said security concerns in both countries too were an obvious issue.

The Dawn newspaper quoted lawmaker Sheeren Arshad Khan as saying, "I have a sales outlet in Amritsar but one of the most serious problems is that we only have landline between India and Pakistan."

Microsoft unveils language translation tool

Software giant Microsoft has demonstrated a tool that 'works like a human brain' to instantly translate spoken language. 

The firm demonstrated the software that translated spoken English into spoken Chinese almost instantly. 

The software preserves intonation and cadence so the translated speech still sounds like the original speaker. 

According to the BBC, Microsoft said research breakthroughs had reduced the number of errors made by the instant translation system. 

The firm said it modelled the system on the way brains work to improve its accuracy, the report added. 

The software was demonstrated in a presentation last October, when Microsoft's chief research officer Rick Rashid spoke in English and it was almost instantly turned into Chinese by the program. 

Rashid gave more details of the project in a blogpost after saying that the demonstration had generated "a bit of attention". 

According to the report, in 2010, Rashid wrote that Microsoft researchers working with scientists at the University of Toronto improved translation further using deep neural networks that learn to recognise sound in much the same way as brains do. 

Applying this technology to speech translation cut error rates to about 15 percent, said Rashid, calling the improvement a "dramatic change".

Wikipedia allows users to upload videos

Wikipedia, the world's largest online encyclopedia, has launched a new project enabling registered users to post videos, according to the portal's press service.

"A new video player has been enabled onWikipedia and its sister sites, and it comes with the promise of bringing free educational videos to more people, on more devices, in more languages," Wikimedia Foundation said Friday.

Wikipedia articles have remained largely text-based until now.

The video upload project, carried out in cooperation with open-source video start-up Kaltura and the Google search engine, was launched in 2008. But it was delayed due to numerous technical problems.

The new HTML5 player is a result of a combined effort between Wikipedia, Google and Kaltura.

Wikipedia, which sees 25 million unique daily visitors to its English section alone, currently hosts only about 15,000 videos.

The videos were added either via the older Ogg Theora player that has been in use since 2007 or as part of testing the new player, based on HTML5.

Facebook‘s Sheryl Sandberg sells stocks worth $7.44 million

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and two other executives at the social networking company sold millions of dollars worth of stock this week as restrictions on insider trading expired.

Sandberg netted about $7.44 million by selling roughly 353,000 Facebook shares on Wednesday, according to a filing with the SEC on Friday. Sandberg still owns roughly 20 million vested shares of Facebook stock, including shares held in her trusts, according to the filing.

Facebook General Counsel Theodore Ullyot and Chief Accounting Officer David Spillane also sold millions of dollars worth of shares this week, according to filings. All the Facebook executives' sales were part of pre-arranged stock trading plans.

The sales are the first by Facebook's senior management following the company's high-profileinitial public offering in May.

The world's No.1 online social network became the only U.S. company to debut with a market value of more than $100 billion, but has seen its value plunge more than 40 percent since then on concerns about its long-term money-making prospects.

Shares of Facebook, which were priced at $38 in the IPO, closed Friday's regular session down 3 cents at $21.18.

The flood of shares set to hit the market as insider trading "lock-up" provisions expire in several phases have added to the pressure on Facebook's stock.

Roughly 230 million shares of Facebook became eligible for trading this week, as trading restrictions for employees expired. Another 800 million shares will be eligible for trading on November 14, significantly expanding the "float" of roughly 692 million Facebook shares that were available for trading as of September 30.

Facebook's 28-year-old chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has committed to not sell any shares before September 2013.

Ullyot sold slightly more than 149,000 shares on Wednesday and Thursday, collecting $3.13 million. Ullyot has an additional 1.27 million in vested shares.

Spillane sold 256,000 shares on Wednesday, more than half of his vested shares, for proceeds of $5.4 million. Spillane had more than 863,000 Facebook shares, including unvested shares, according to a filing in May.

Videocon pulls out of CDMA spectrum bid

Videocon has withdrawn its application to participate in the CDMA spectrum auctions, executives with direct knowledge of the development confirmed. Last month, it was the only company to submit bids for GSM and CDMA airwaves sale.

This leaves Tata Teleservices as the only participant in the CDMA sale and that too in just three circles.

Videocon's exit may force the telecom department to do away with the CDMA spectrum auctions and will also reduce the government's estimates of garnering more than 45,000 crore from the upcoming 2G airwaves sale.

The spectrum auctions, scheduled to begin on November 12, will be held in two parts. First companies will have to bid for airwaves in the 1800 MHz band largely used for GSM-based mobile services. CDMA spectrum auctions in the 800 MHz band are scheduled to begin two days after close of the 1800 MHz band.

In addition to Videocon, other mobile operators taking part in the GSM sale process includeBharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone and Telenor. The auctions are being held after the Supreme Court in its February 2 verdict quashed 122 permits issued by former telecoms minister A Raja and directed that these licences be reallocated through a bidding process.

ET had reported earlier that industry executives shared the view that Reliance Industries, which is not taking part in the airwaves sale, would buy out Videocon's permits after the auctions. Reliance had followed a similar strategy when it bought a 95% stake from the HFCL Group inInfotel, the only company to win pan-India 4G airwaves in the broadband wireless (4G) auctions of 2010.

Wipro: Demerger could help consumer care growth

The demerger of Wipro's non-IT businesses into a new unlisted entity,  Wipro Enterprises, will open the doors to potentially large acquisitions for the company's consumer care business.
Vineet Agrawal, president of Wipro Consumer Care and Lightning (WCCL), told TOI, "The demerger will give us a lot more flexibility, if tomorrow we want to do a large acquisition. Earlier such a scenario could have been an issue viewed from the eyes of an investor, who's investing in Wipro."

T K Kurien, CEO-IT business, said, "In the consumer care business, if the return on capital employed is x, it is 2.5x in the IT business. So when you have to make an investment decision, and you ask yourself where you should put it, then the consumer business would get no investment. These are the kind of things that would change with the demerger."

Facebook cancels shortcut log-in over security concerns

What was supposed to be a shortcut for Facebook users to log into their pages ended up exposing their email addresses - and, in some cases, potentially allowing access to their accounts as well.

A Facebook spokesman said Friday that the company had created the shortcut, called auto login, to let some users go directly to their pages by clicking on a Web link sent to their email addresses. Once they clicked on the link, they could get into their accounts, rather than having to go to Facebook.com and log in.

Some of the links required users to type their passwords, while others did not, the company said.

On the website Hacker News, a technology discussion board, Matt Jones, an engineer at Facebook, said the company had offered the service for "ease of use" and never made the Web addresses "publicly available."

But they did become publicly available, as the discussion on Hacker News revealed Friday.

The Facebook spokesman, Frederic Wolens, said some users may have posted the links on the Web, allowing anyone to search for them on the Web. Those links could give a stranger access to the Facebook pages connected to them, as well as the email addresses of those users. Wolens said he had no explanation why someone would post the links.

When Facebook found the problem, it discontinued the shortcut.

The Hacker News thread said more than 1 million Facebook accounts had been affected. Facebook could not confirm that figure Friday afternoon.

TrendMicro, a private security company that offers safety tools for Facebook users, said Web address shortcuts were inherently dangerous because they could ultimately end up on the Web.

"Many, many hackers are targeting these portals because of the ubiquitous trust and use of them," said Tom Kellermann, vice president for cybersecurity at TrendMicro. He added, "You don't take shortcuts through woods in cyberspace."

The news of the security hole comes a week after a Bulgarian blogger, Bogomil Shopov, said he had bought 1.1 million Facebook users' names and email addresses on the Web for $5. He found the information for sale on a marketplace site, gigbucks.com. The items are no longer available.

Wolens of Facebook said the data had been acquired and compiled by someone who took whatever information Facebook users made public on their pages - and from other publicly available data about those users.

Kellermann of Trend Micro said the problem with the shortcut could explain how the names and email addresses that Shopov had found became public. Facebook said the security flaw and the user data for sale had nothing to do with each another.

"We have no reason whatsoever to believe that these two incidents are related," Wolens said.

Google‘s appeal against French tax searches rejected

A Paris appeals court has rejected a request by internet search giant Google to invalidate the search and seizure of documents by French tax authorities, according to a copy of the decision obtained by AFP on Friday.
The court rejected Google's arguments against the 2012 tax raid and ordered the US company to cover legal expenses for the appeal.
According to news weekly Canard Enchaine, French tax authorities have made a billion-euro ($1.3 billion) claim against Google over financial transfers between Google's Irish holding company and its French unit for four tax years.
Google France told AFP this week that it had received no such tax claim, and that it complies with tax laws in all the countries in which it operates.
According to the court decision dated August 31, the French tax authorities believe that "the company Google Ireland Limited in practice carries out commercial activities in France using the human and material resources of the company Google France, without making the corresponding tax declarations."
Google reduces the amount of tax it pays in France by funneling most revenue through a Dutch-registered intermediary then to a Bermuda-registered holding of Google Ireland Limited, before reporting it in low-tax Ireland.
According to estimates, Google generated between 1.25 billion and 1.4 billion euros in revenue in France last year, primarily from internet advertising. It paid only a little more than 5 million euros in tax, however.
Google also rejected a report by the Canard Enchaine that the tax issue was brought up during a Monday meeting between French President Francois Hollande and Google chief Eric Schmidt.
The weekly said the tax claim was being used to pressure Google to compromise in a dispute over compensation to French news media websites.
The websites want the search engine to hand over a percentage of advertising revenue Google earns from directing users to their news content.
Google has threatened it would remove French media websites from its search results instead of handing over a share the advertising revenue.
Hollande has warned France will adopt a law to settle the dispute if Google fails to reach an agreement with French media by the end of the year.

Tracing Microsoft‘s journey from text to touch

With recent release of the touch-centric Windows 8 software, Microsoft continues more than three decades of making operating systems for personal computers.

Microsoft got its start on PCs in 1981 through a partnership with IBM. Microsoft made the software that ran IBM's hardware, and later machines made by other manufacturers. That first operating system was called MS-DOS and required people to type instructions to complete tasks such as running programs and deleting files.

It wasn't until 1985 that Microsoft released its first graphical user interface, which allowed people to perform tasks by moving a mouse and clicking on icons on the screen. Microsoft called the operating system Windows.

Windows 1.0 came out in November 1985, nearly two years after Apple began selling its first Macintosh computer, which also used a graphical operating system. Apple sued Microsoft in 1988 for copyright infringement, claiming that Microsoft copied the "look and feel" of its operating system. Apple lost.

Microsoft followed it with Windows 2.0 in December 1987, 3.0 in May 1990 and 3.1 in April 1992.

In July 1993, Microsoft released Windows NT, a more robust operating system built from scratch. It was meant as a complement to Windows 3.1 and allowed higher-end machines to perform more complex tasks, particularly for engineering and scientific programs that dealt with large numbers.

Microsoft had its first big Windows launch with the release of Windows 95 in August 1995. The company placed special sections in newspapers, ran television ads with the Rolling Stones song "Start Me Up" and paid to have the Empire State Building lit up in Windows colors.

Comedian Jay Leno joined co-founder Bill Gates on stage at a launch event at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

"Windows 95 is so easy, even a talk-show host can figure it out," Gates joked.

The hype worked: Computer users lined up to be the first to buy it. Microsoft sold millions of copies within the first few weeks. Windows 95 brought built-in Internet support and "plug and play" tools to make it easier to install software and attach hardware. Windows 95 was far better - and more successful - than its predecessor and narrowed the ease-of-use gap between Windows and Mac computers.

At around the same time, Microsoft released the first version of its Internet Explorer browser. It went on to tie IE and Windows functions so tightly that many people simply used the browser over the once-dominant Netscape Navigator. The US Justice Department and several states ultimately sued Microsoft, accusing it of using its monopoly control over Windows to shut out competitors in other markets. The company fought the charges for years before settling in 2002.

The June 1998 release of Windows 98 was more low-key than the Windows 95 launch, though Microsoft denied it had anything to do with the antitrust case.

Windows 98 had the distinction of being the last with roots to the original operating system, MS-DOS. Each operating system is made up of millions of lines of instructions, or code, written in sections by programmers. Each time there's an update, portions get dropped or rewritten, and new sections get added for new features. Eventually, there's nothing left from the original.

Microsoft came out with Windows Me a few years later, the last to use the code from Windows 95. Starting with Windows 2000, Microsoft worked off the code built for NT, the 1993 system built from scratch.

The biggest release since Windows 95 came in October 2001, when Microsoft launched Windows XP at a hotel in New York's Times Square. Windows XP had better internet tools, including built-in wireless networking support. It had improvements in media software for listening to and recording music, playing videos and editing and organizing digital photographs.

Microsoft's next major release didn't come until Vista in November 2006. Businesses got it first, followed by a broader launch to consumers in January 2007. Coming after years of virus attacks targeting Windows machines and spread over the Internet, the long-delayed Vista operating system offered stronger security and protection. It also had built-in parental-controls settings.

But many people found Vista slow and incompatible with existing programs and devices. Microsoft launched Windows 7 in October 2009 with fixes to many of Vista's flaws.

Windows 7 also disrupted users less often by displaying fewer pop-up boxes, notifications and warnings - allowing those that do appear to stand out. Instead, many of those messages get stashed in a single place for people to address when it's convenient.

In a sign of what's to come, Windows 7 was able to sense when someone is using more than one finger on a touchpad or touch screen, so people can spread their fingers to zoom into a picture, for instance, just as they can on the iPhone.

Apple released its first iPhone in 2007 and the iPad in 2010. Devices running Google's Androidsystem for mobile devices also caught on. As a result, sales of Windows computers slowed down. Consumers were delaying upgrades and spending their money on new smartphones and tablet computers instead.

Windows 8 and its sibling, Windows RT, represent Microsoft's attempt to address that. It's designed to make desktop and laptop computers work more like tablets.

Windows 8 ditches the familiar start menu on the lower left corner and forces people to swipe the edges of the screen to access various settings. It sports a new screen filled with a colorful array of tiles, each leading to a different application, task or collection of files. Windows 8 is designed especially for touch screens, though it will work with the mouse and keyboard shortcuts, too.

Microsoft and PC makers alike had been looking to Windows 8 to resurrect sales. Microsoft's recent launch event was of the caliber given for Windows 95 and XP.

But with Apple releasing two new iPads, Amazon.com shipping full-sized Kindle Fire tablets and Barnes & Noble refreshing its Nook tablet line next month, Microsoft and its allies will face competition that is far more intense than in the heyday of Windows 95 and XP.