Report: Android fragmentation could harm growth

Google's Android operating system may be a victim of its own success.

More than 6 million handsets shipped in 2009 using Google's Android software. And the forecast in 2010 is that this figure will triple with shipments possibly topping out at 20 million this year. But a new study from IMS Research indicates that the rapid pace of Android's growth could cause more fragmentation, which could ultimately harm Android's potential as a leading smartphone operating system.

The problem is that in going from the 1.5 version of the software to 2.1, Google has released four different versions of the software, which are incompatible with each other.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20002019-266.html

An Apple launch that thought differently

Eager iPad owners in San Francisco: They're not paying attention to that bottle of wine!

(Credit: Maya Baratz)

SAN FRANCISCO--Even the raspberry cream eggs were getting ignored.

At one Easter dinner party on Sunday night, a gathering of single and coupled adults with an average age of about 30, the real centerpiece wasn't the vase of lavender tulips that one person had arranged on the table or the glut of various pastel-colored marshmallow-cream confections that were passed around. It was, instead, a trio of brand-new Apple iPads that three separate guests had brought, eager to show off the glowing slates to the others in attendance. At least one of them had shown up in line at an Apple Store at six o'clock the prior morning to ensure that he could have it.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20001966-36.html

HP research could yield faster, more powerful PCs

A new discovery by HP could lead to faster, more powerful computers and other devices in the near future.

Hewlett-Packard's HP Labs research branch has discovered that the memristor, a new electric circuit developed by HP in 2008, has far greater potential than initially thought, the company announced on Thursday.

Previously seen mostly as a new type of storage similar to flash memory, HP found that the memristor can also perform its own logic. Such a discovery can pave the way for chips that can both perform calculations and hold data, potentially eliminating the need for a traditional core CPU.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-20002029-76.html

Report: Google testing desktop Google Voice

Google continues to evolve its Google Voice product, with reports it's testing a desktop-based version inside the Googleplex.

TechCrunch says that Google has been internally testing a desktop Google Voice application this week, the fruits of its acquisition of Gizmo5 last year. This would allow Google Voice users to treat their PC or Mac like a phone, bypassing the current requirement that Google Voice service be connected to a phone.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20002022-265.html

Wi-LAN sues everybody over Bluetooth

A small Canadian wireless company is threatening to take a huge chunk of the technology industry to court.

Ottawa-based Wi-LAN, which patents wireless products, is suing around 18 of the tech industry's largest players over what it claims are patent violations of Bluetooth technology. More specifically, Wi-LAN is alleging that these companies--which include Acer, Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Motorola, Sony, and Toshiba--have all infringed on one of its U.S. patents for selling PCs and mobile phones equipped with Bluetooth.

Announced Thursday, the suit claims a violation of Wi-LAN's U.S. Patent No. 5,515,369. Issued in 1996, the patent covers a "method for frequency sharing and frequency punchout in frequency hopping communications network."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20002015-94.html

The cloud--it's not for control freaks

Moving server software to the cloud has a lot of advantages. A company no longer has to worry about patches, deploying upgrades, and an number of other concerns.

But it also has one big downside--one that many CIOs are still struggling with--a the loss of control.

"They do lose control, when they move to a cloud-based service, of some things," Microsoft Senior Vice President Chris Capossela said during a lunch meeting on Wednesday. "They lose control of when things get updates. They lose control of saying 'no' to some new thing."

Capossela

(Credit: Microsoft)

Capossela acknowledged that many technology executives, even those who are shifting work to the cloud, see it as a mixed bag.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20001983-56.html

Microsoft to fix 25 holes in Windows, Office, Exchange

Microsoft will issue 11 security bulletins in next week's Patch Tuesday to fix 25 vulnerabilities in Windows, Microsoft Office, and Exchange, including two holes for which exploit code is in the wild.

Five of the bulletins address critical vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to take control of the computer, five are rated important, and one is rated moderate.

With the updates, Microsoft will be closing two outstanding security advisories that have been worrisome because code to exploit the vulnerabilities is available publicly.

One of the advisories is 981169, which involves a vulnerability in VBScript that could allow the remote execution of code and a complete takeover of the system. Disclosed on March 1, it affects older versions of Windows running Internet Explorer.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20002053-245.html

Yahoo eyes ex-Microsoft exec for top product job

According to numerous sources, Yahoo has been seriously courting former Microsoft exec Blake Irving to take over as one of its key execs, running its product organization and essentially becoming the Internet "visionary" many think the company lacks.

While it is unclear if Irving has agreed to take the job, sources said Yahoo management was keen on him working there.

Blake Irving

(Credit: Microsoft )

A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment when BoomTown asked about its discussions with Irving about the job.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20002040-93.html

Iowa, Texas tops in wind power effort

Iowa and Texas lead the nation in wind energy efforts, according to the annual report released Thursday from the American Wind Energy Association.

Iowa claims the title for the state with the largest percentage of electricity from wind energy. As of the end of 2009, over 14 percent of Iowa's power was from wind energy.

And while the large state of Texas may still only get a modest percentage of its power from wind energy, it actually has the most wind power capacity of any U.S. state. Texas is also home to the largest wind farm in the U.S.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20002035-54.html

Adobe to launch updater service next week

Adobe will release its latest security updates for Reader and Acrobat on Tuesday via a new update system it has been testing the past six months, the company said on Thursday.

The Adobe updates will coincide with April's Patch Tuesday during which Microsoft will fix 25 vulnerabilities, including two for which exploit code has been released in the wild.

On Tuesday, Adobe will activate its updater technology for all users of Adobe Reader and Acrobat and use it to deliver the updates to resolve critical security issues, details of which were not disclosed in its security advisory.

The updates affect Adobe Reader 9.3.1 for Windows, Mac, and Unix, Acrobat 9.3.1 for Windows and Mac, and Reader 8.2.1 and Acrobat 8.2.1 for Windows and Mac.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20002045-245.html

Apple's Game Center isn't worrying game networks

Gamers who use Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch, and now the iPad are likely to be looking forward to Apple's "Game Center" network, which was announced among the other updates as part of iPhone OS 4.0. But what about the companies that are running existing social networks for the platform?

It's not the end of the world, apparently.

Ngmoco, maker of popular game titles such as Rolando, We Rule, and Touch Pets, also created the Plus+ social network. It's built in to all of its own titles, as well as a select group of games from other developers. Ngmoco's chief publishing officer, Simon Jeffrey, told CNET that the company "has anticipated this move from Apple for some time," and that it should bring a "cleaner developer and consumer experience."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20002083-248.html

FCC pushes forward with broadband agenda

The Federal Communications Commission is moving forward with its National Broadband Plan despite an appeals court decision earlier this week that called into question the agency's authority over regulating the Internet.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Thursday issued a statement that said the court's decision "does not change our broadband policy goals, or the ultimate authority of the FCC to act to achieve those goals.The court did not question the FCC's goals; it merely invalidated one technical, legal mechanism for broadband policy chosen by prior commissions."

The agency plans to start addressing items from its plan as soon as its next open meeting on April 21. The first two items to be considered are reforms to the Universal Service Fund as well as an examination of competition in the cable set-top box market.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20002076-266.html

NASA unveils sweeping new programs

ne week before President Obama is scheduled to attend a major "space summit" in Florida, NASA unveiled sweeping new programs Thursday designed to implement the administration's proposed shift to commercial manned rockets and development of new technologies to enable eventual deep space exploration.

The president's fiscal 2011 budget request, which would cancel the Bush administration's Constellation moon program, does not specify a long-range target for manned exploration or a timetable for moving beyond low-Earth orbit, factors that have generated widespread criticism.

But NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, a former shuttle commander, defended the agency's new direction Thursday, saying the president's controversial "vision" is, unlike past programs, affordable and sustainable.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-20002088-239.html

U.K. embraces 'three strikes' for illegal file sharing

The U.K.'s House of Commons overwhelmingly voted in favor of creating a law that would enable copyright owners to seek the suspension of Internet service of those accused multiple times of illegal file sharing.

The House of Commons voted 189 to 47 to pass the Digital Economy Bill, which also seeks to give the country's government the authority to block access to Web sites suspected of engaging in pirated material, according to British publication The Telegraph.

The bill still needs to go back to the House of Lords, which is nothing more than a formality since that's where it originated.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20002018-261.html

Apple strikes back at Google with iAd

Can Apple really out-Google Google?

The growing rancor between Apple and Google has been generally fed by Google's attempt to outdo Apple's iPhone with its Android software. But now Apple is taking aim at Google's bread-and-butter--online advertising--with plans to introduce a mobile advertising platform called iAd along with the release of the iPhone OS 4.0 software later this summer.

Apple's strategy is to give iPhone developers and corporate marketers a way to incorporate sophisticated and compelling ads in iPhone applications by essentially allowing them to build an application within an application. CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated several ads created using iAd, such as an ad for the upcoming Pixar film "Toy Story 3" that included trailers, games, and other content that could be accessed from a portion of the screen at the bottom of an application.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20002079-265.html

iPhone OS 4.0 Brings Multitasking, Ad Framework For Apps

"Apple had an event today to show off the next major update to the iPhone OS. iPhone OS 4.0 should arrive this summer (presumably with a new iPhone) for iPhone and iPod Touch, and in the fall for the iPad. According to Apple the update has more than 1,500 new APIs and 100 new features including the sorely missed multitasking. Other highlights include unified inbox, improved security, support for multiple Exchange accounts, application folders, iBooks, and iAd, an advertising framework for developers to put ads in their applications. The official word from Steve on Flash and Java remains a simple 'No.'"

Updated 20100408 22:09 GMT by timothy: Read on for more information, including some bad news if you want to program for the iPhone in C# or Flash CS5. alphadogg points out some what he calls surprise capabilities targeted at enterprise users and IT departments, including e-mail encryption and "mobile device management."

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/04/08/2122254/iPhone-OS-40-Brings-Multitasking-Ad-Framework-For-Apps

GNOME 2.30, End of the (2.x) Line

"GNOME 2.30 was originally intended to coincide with GNOME 3.0 — a massive cleanup and rethinking of the popular desktop. However, GNOME 3.0 is delayed for at least another release, which leaves GNOME 2.30 as most likely the last version in a series stretching back almost a decade. [...] 2.30 will probably be the final version of the 2.0 series. For those who were around for GNOME 2.0 back in 2000, the 2.30 release stands as evidence of how far GNOME in general and the free desktop in particular have come in the last decade in usability and design. If you do a search for images of early GNOME releases and compare the results with 2.30, you can have no doubt that, although GNOME sometimes tends to over-simplify, its improvements over the last decade remain unmistakable."

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/04/08/2236241/GNOME-230-End-of-the-2x-Line

Microsoft's CoApp To Help OSS Development, Deployment

"Microsoft employee Garrett Serack announces he has received the green light to work full time on CoApp, an .msi-based package management system aiming to bring a wholly native toolchain for OSS development and deployment. This will hopefully bring more open source software on Windows, which will conversely bring OSS more users, testers and developers. Serack is following the comments at Ars Technica, so he might also follow them here. The launchpad project is already up."

http://developers.slashdot.org/story/10/04/08/2343205/Microsofts-CoApp-To-Help-OSS-Development-Deployment

DIY 80GB iPod Touch

"Having recently acquired an iPod Touch, DeviceGuru blogger Rick Lehrbaum soon found himself with an 80GB iPod paperweight knocking around and collecting dust. Then it hit him: why not use a Pogoplug as an iPod server, effectively filling his nifty new iPod Touch with 80GB of music whenever he has WiFi access? The how-to article at DeviceGuru.com explains how a Pogoplug and iPod Touch combined with free web services at pogoplug.com combine to form the 'PogoPod System.' It also introduces the Pogoplug's new UPnP support, and briefly reviews a couple of UPnP media-rendering iPhone and iPod Touch apps."

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/04/09/011215/DIY-80GB-iPod-Touch

The Economist Weighs In For Shorter Copyright Terms

"The Economist says that long copyright terms are hindering creativity, and that shortening them is the way to go: 'Largely thanks to the entertainment industry's lawyers and lobbyists, copyright's scope and duration have vastly increased. In America, copyright holders get 95 years' protection as a result of an extension granted in 1998, derided by critics as the 'Mickey Mouse Protection Act'. They are now calling for even greater protection, and there have been efforts to introduce similar terms in Europe. Such arguments should be resisted: it is time to tip the balance back.'"

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/04/09/0444221/The-Economist-Weighs-In-For-Shorter-Copyright-Terms