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INTEREST: Cisco Systems: disappointing results lead to exiting parts of consumer businesses
by billing 13 Apr '11

13 Apr '11

...from: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/Cisco-Systems-exiting-parts-capress-375506… Cisco Systems exiting parts of consumer businesses, plans to stop making Flip camcorders Email Print Topics:Earnings FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2009 file photo, a Cisco Systems' Flip Video camera is displayed at Best Buy in Mountain View, Calif. Cisco Systems Inc. is exiting parts of its consumer businesses, with plans to shut its Flip video camera business Tuesday, April 12, 2011.(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) Peter Svensson, The Associated Press, On Tuesday April 12, 2011, 12:19 pm By Peter Svensson, The Associated Press NEW YORK, N.Y. - Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, on Tuesday said it is killing its Flip Video camcorder business as part of a reversal of years of efforts at diversifying into consumer products. The about-face comes after several quarters of disappointing results and challenges in its core businesses. Analysts say the company has been trying to do too many different things. A week ago, CEO John Chambers acknowledged the criticism, sending employees a memo vowing to take "bold steps" to narrow the company's focus. The San Jose, California, company said Tuesday that it expects its consumer business shakeup will result in the loss of 550 jobs, or less than 1 per cent of its work force of about 73,000. It also expects to take restructuring charges of no more than $300 million spread out over the current quarter, which ends April 25, and the following one. Cisco bought Pure Digital Technologies Inc., the maker of the Flip Video camcorder, for $590 million in 2009, just two years after the San Francisco-based company made its first camera. The Flip Video quickly became a top seller because it was easy to use. A signature feature, since copied by many other manufacturers, was a USB connector that flipped out of the case, letting the user connect the camera directly to a computer. The camera even contained video-editing software that fired up on the computer. Last year, the Flip Video was still the top-selling video camera in the U.S., with 26 per cent of the market, according to IDC analyst Chris Chute. But that only amounted to 2.5 million units sold. Dedicated video cameras are small potatoes compared to digital still cameras and smart phones, both of which now shoot video. That could be the reason Cisco appears to see no point in selling the business — the announcement Tuesday said Flip will be closed down. It will continue to support the sharing of Flip videos online. A Cisco spokesman did not respond to a question about why the unit would be shut down. Top competitors in the pocket camcorder field, which could benefit from Flip Video's demise, are Eastman Kodak Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. The company said it will realign its remaining consumer business to support four of its five key priorities — routers and switches; corporate communications and collaboration equipment; data-centre products and video. That means it's retrenching on another consumer video business — home videoconferencing. In November, Cisco started selling the umi, a $599 box that turns a high-definition TV into a big videophone. But signs soon emerged that the umi wasn't doing well. It cut the price of the unit in March, along with the monthly service fee, which went from $24.95 per month to $99 per year. On Tuesday, Cisco said it will fold umi into its corporate videoconferencing business and stop selling the box through retailers. Instead, it will sell it through corporate channels and Internet service providers. Cisco's Home Networking business, which makes Wi-Fi routers and has the 2003 acquisition of Linksys at its core, will be "refocused for greater profitability," but Cisco will keep selling the routers in stores. Cisco shares fell 6 cents to $17.41 in midday trading. The shares are close to their 52-week low of $16.97, hit a month ago. Analyst Simon Leopold at Morgan Keegan said the pullback on the consumer side is a good thing for investors, but not enough to set off a stock rally. Consumer products have been a drag on Cisco's results because they carry profit margins that are far lower than the big-ticket capital equipment the company sells to corporations and governments, Leopold said. But the drag has been minor, because consumer products are still only a small part of Cisco's overall business. More importantly, Leopold said, investors have been selling Cisco stock because it's been losing market share in corporate products. He believes the selling is overdone because the losses are mainly in fringe products rather than bread-and-butter routers and switches.

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INTEREST: Google, Nortel, and Patent Protection
by billing 05 Apr '11

05 Apr '11

...from: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/patents-and-innovation.html Patents and innovation 4/04/2011 07:45:00 AM The tech world has recently seen an explosion in patent litigation, often involving low-quality software patents, which threatens to stifle innovation. Some of these lawsuits have been filed by people or companies that have never actually created anything; others are motivated by a desire to block competing products or profit from the success of a rival’s new technology. The patent system should reward those who create the most useful innovations for society, not those who stake bogus claims or file dubious lawsuits. It's for these reasons that Google has long argued in favor of real patent reform, which we believe will benefit users and the U.S. economy as a whole. But as things stand today, one of a company’s best defenses against this kind of litigation is (ironically) to have a formidable patent portfolio, as this helps maintain your freedom to develop new products and services. Google is a relatively young company, and although we have a growing number of patents, many of our competitors have larger portfolios given their longer histories. So after a lot of thought, we’ve decided to bid for Nortel’s patent portfolio in the company’s bankruptcy auction. Today, Nortel selected our bid as the “stalking-horse bid," which is the starting point against which others will bid prior to the auction. If successful, we hope this portfolio will not only create a disincentive for others to sue Google, but also help us, our partners and the open source community—which is integrally involved in projects like Android and Chrome—continue to innovate. In the absence of meaningful reform, we believe it's the best long-term solution for Google, our users and our partners. Posted by Kent Walker, Senior Vice President & General Counsel

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INTEREST: SoftBank of Japan to provide connections....
by billing 30 Mar '11

30 Mar '11

...from: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/30/softbank-to-offer-free-phones-to-earthqu… Softbank to offer free phones to earthquake orphans, free replacement for lost iPhones By Richard Lai posted Mar 30th 2011 at 9:14AM Following the catastrophic earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, surviving victims from the affected region are going to face a tough time over the coming months, if not years. Many of those who are more fortunate have been actively contributing in one way or another, regardless of distance, to help put Japan on its road to recovery. Back in the country, one such generous person is non other than Softbankfounder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who's recently visited Tamura, one of the cities most affected by theFukushima nuclear disaster. During that trip, Son announced that Softbank will cover a year's worth of living costs (commute and food) and provide job positions for the 1,200 people to be relocated to Takeo in Saga, the prefecture where Son originated. Additionally, Son is using Softbank's "Let's Do It" campaign site -- a tracker for his "Let's Do It" tasks posted on Twitter, each accompanied by a completion status indicator -- to crowdsource requests for supporting earthquake victims. So far, these requests are mainly about ways to increase efficiency for donation efforts (like publishing a live list of item shortages for each shelter, and setting up new mobile networks at the shelters), but there were two that caught our attention. Last week, one of Son's followers suggested that Softbank should provide orphaned children free phone credit for a limited time, so that they could contact their friends and other family members. Son then retweeted this idea and announced that all earthquake orphans will receive free phones, along with call costs waived until they reach the age of 18. Another gadget-related initiative came in earlier today with Son promising free replacement for all lost or damaged iPhones due to the earthquake, with details to follow later. Obviously, anyone providing aid to Japan in any way, shape, or form deserves just as much credit, but Softbank's extra mileage and cunning use of social networking is certainly praiseworthy in its own right. Here's hoping that Son's actions will inspire others for even greater causes.

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INTEREST: Google flips Android kill switch, destroys a batch of malicious apps
by billing 07 Mar '11

07 Mar '11

...from: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/06/google-flips-android-kill-switch-destroy… Google flips Android kill switch, destroys a batch of malicious apps By Sean Hollister posted Mar 6th 2011 1:19PM When 21 rogue apps started siphoning off identifying information from Android phones and installing security holes, Google yanked the lot from Android Market, and called the authorities to boot. But what of the 50,000 copies already downloaded by unwitting users? That's what Google's dealing with this week, by utilizing Android's remote kill switch to delete them over the air. But that's not all, because this time the company isn't just removing offending packages, but also installing new code. The "Android Market Security Tool March 2011" will be remotely added to affected handsets to undo the exploit and keep it from sending your data out, as well as make you wonder just how much remote control Google has over our phones. Yes, we welcome our new Search Engine overlords and all that, so long as they've got our best interests at heart, but there's a certain irony in Google removing a backdoor exploit by using a backdoor of its own -- even one that (in this case) will email you to report what it's done. ...and the full blog entry from: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/03/update-on-android-market-security.… An Update on Android Market Security Saturday, March 5, 2011 | 10:08 PM On Tuesday evening, the Android team was made aware of a number of malicious applications published to Android Market. Within minutes of becoming aware, we identified and removed the malicious applications. The applications took advantage of known vulnerabilities which don’t affect Android versions 2.2.2 or higher. For affected devices, we believe that the only information the attacker(s) were able to gather was device-specific (IMEI/IMSI, unique codes which are used to identify mobile devices, and the version of Android running on your device). But given the nature of the exploits, the attacker(s) could access other data, which is why we’ve taken a number of steps to protect those who downloaded a malicious application: We removed the malicious applications from Android Market, suspended the associated developer accounts, and contacted law enforcement about the attack. We are remotely removing the malicious applications from affected devices. Thisremote application removal feature is one of many security controls the Android team can use to help protect users from malicious applications. We are pushing an Android Market security update to all affected devices that undoes the exploits to prevent the attacker(s) from accessing any more information from affected devices. If your device has been affected, you will receive an email from android-market-support(a)google.com over the next 72 hours. You will also receive a notification on your device that “Android Market Security Tool March 2011” has been installed. You may also receive notification(s) on your device that an application has been removed. You are not required to take any action from there; the update will automatically undo the exploit. Within 24 hours of the exploit being undone, you will receive a second email. We are adding a number of measures to help prevent additional malicious applications using similar exploits from being distributed through Android Market and are working with our partners to provide the fix for the underlying security issues. For more details, please visit the Android Market Help Center. We always encourage you to check the list of permissions when installing an application from Android Market. Security is a priority for the Android team, and we’re committed to building new safeguards to help prevent these kinds of attacks from happening in the future. Posted by Rich Cannings, Android Security Lead

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FYI: just purchased an iPad? Maybe get price protection...
by billing 05 Mar '11

05 Mar '11

Turns out that, even though the iPad 2 is not shipping in Canada until March 25, the prices of the current iPads have already dropped..... AND Apple is giving price protection to some who have recently purchased one of the first generation iPads. To find out if you qualify, quickly call Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 and talk with a representative. (there's no voice menu option for "Give me a rebate" .... ::-) If you haven't yet purchased an iPad but have been thinking about it, now is the time to get this new, reduced pricing on the current remaining stock of iPads...... prices for a "new" iPad now start at $419 for the 16 GB, WiFi only model. If you don't mind a "previously owned" option, Apple also has limited stock on "refurbished" iPads. Refubs of the WiFi-only models begin at $369 for the 16 GB model. Apple also stands by their refurbished products with the following: We test and certify all Apple refurbished products and include a 1-year warranty. All refurbished iPad models also include a brand new battery and outer shell. Refurbed iPads can be found in the Canadian Apple store at: http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad?mco=OTY2ODY4NQ

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INTEREST: Tweeting without the Internet.....
by billing 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

...well, of limited use if you're not tweeting to the hashtag #egypt, but, even so..... ...from: http://gizmodo.com/5748203/those-with-limited-internet-access-can-call-thes… Those Without Internet Access Can Call These Numbers to Tweet #Egypt News Google, Twitter, and voice-messaging company SpeakNow have put their brightest minds together to provide a way for people with limited or no Internet access to tweet about the events occurring in Egypt: @speak2tweet. Here's how it works: [A]nyone can tweet by simply leaving a voicemail on one of these international phone numbers (+16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855) and the service will instantly tweet the message using the hashtag #egypt. No Internet connection is required. People can listen to the messages by dialing the same phone numbers or going totwitter.com/speak2tweet. Not even a Twitter account is required to tweet using this service. All you or someone who wants to share news needs to do is pick up a phone, dial the number, and get the words out. [Speak to Tweet via Google]

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FYI: Canadian Government seeking your input...
by billing 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

...regarding amendments to the Canadian Copyright Act until the end of January 2011. Dr. Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, has written about some of the issues surrounding the proposed changes to existing copyright law in Canada. He also did a presentation before the Bill C-32 legislative committee on December 1, 2010. His presentation can be viewed at: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5493/125/ ...and you can read his elaborations of his views on Bill C-32 at: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5577/125/ - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 ...from: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4850539&Lan… OR http://preview.tinyurl.com/4tjrsqb Legislative Committee on Bill C-32 HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 Comité législatif chargé du projet de loi C-32 For immediate release NEWS RELEASE STUDY OF BILL C-32, AN ACT TO AMEND THE COPYRIGHT ACT Ottawa, December 06, 2010 - On Friday, November 5, 2010, the House of Commons adopted a motion that Bill C-32, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, be read a second time and referred to a legislative committee. The Legislative Committee on Bill C-32 (CC32) started its study of the bill on November 23, 2010. Bill C-32 adds new rights and exceptions to the Copyright Act. As noted in the bill’s summary, its objectives are as follows: update the rights and protections of copyright owners to better address the challenges and opportunities of the Internet, so as to be in line with international standards; clarify Internet service providers’ liability and make the enabling of online copyright infringement itself an infringement of copyright; permit businesses, educators and libraries to make greater use of copyright material in digital form; allow educators and students to make greater use of copyright material; permit certain uses of copyright material by consumers; give photographers the same rights as other creators; ensure that the Copyright Act remains technologically neutral; and mandate a review of the Copyright Act by Parliament every five years. The Committee believes that it is important to hear from Canadians on this topic. The Committee will be meeting with various stakeholders affected by copyright reform, including authors, artists, musicians, record labels, book publishers, collective societies, libraries, museums, school associations, software developers, retailers and consumers. The Committee will also be accepting briefs on this topic from groups and individuals who will not have the opportunity to appear before the Committee. The Committee welcomes briefs on the objectives and subject matter of Bill C-32. If a brief proposes amendments to clauses in the bill, draft alternative language should be included if possible. In order for briefs on Bill C-32 to be considered by the Committee in a timely fashion, the document should be submitted to the Committee’s mailbox at CC32(a)parl.gc.ca by the end of January, 2011. A brief which is longer than 5 pages should be accompanied by a 1 page executive summary and in any event should not exceed 10 pages in length. The Legislative Committee on Bill C-32 (CC32) is composed of 12 parliamentarians representing four political parties. It is chaired by Gordon Brown, M.P. for Leeds-Grenville (Ontario). - 30 - For more information, please contact: Michelle Tittley, Clerk of the Legislative Committee on Bill C-32 Tel: 613-947-1971 E-mail: CC32(a)parl.gc.ca

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FYI: Apple Support profile for you devices
by billing 10 Jan '11

10 Jan '11

...from: https://supportprofile.apple.com/ http://www.macworld.com/article/156866/2011/01/apple_support_profile.html?l… Apple launches Support Profile site Posted on Jan 5, 2011 10:30 am by Jeff Porten, Macworld.com Getting technical support for your Apple products has become a bit easier with the introduction of the new Apple Support Profile Website. This site provides one-stop shopping for you to check the registration and warranty status of all of your Apple products. If you have a repair or support issue in progress, you can review Apple’s records about the issue right from your Web browser. Log into the site using your Apple ID (the same username and password you use in the iTunes stores), and Apple will display all of the computers they already know about. Oddly, although I’ve been using the same Apple ID for years and I’ve owned fifteen Macs (no, really), my profile page only displayed my old PowerBook G4 and an anonymous serial number next to an Apple logo. If your profile is similarly lacking, below these entries you’ll find a link to manually register more equipment. The site can auto-detect the serial number of the Mac you’re using to reach the site, although it can’t do the same for iOS devices. (You can find your iPod touch or iPhone’s serial number in Settings > General > About. There are similar entries in the Settings menu of most other iPods.) Apple also has an option called VoicePass for US and Canadian customers, which promises to match your profile to your phone numbers so they’ll have your computer information at their fingertips when you call from that number. Presumably they could have done this without asking permission, but it’s a nice touch allowing you to update which numbers they keep for you. American customers also have the option of receiving text messages with status updates. Even if you’re not currently troubleshooting a Mac or iOS device, this is information that is useful to have in one place, both for you and for Apple, when it comes time to call the Support line.

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Apple Education Seminars Invitation - Tech Series: iPad and iPhone Deployment
by Doug Hamilton 23 Nov '10

23 Nov '10

Tech Series: iPad and iPhone Deployment Monday, December 6 2010 10:00AM to 2:00PMAdd to iCal You've been invited to an event Join Apple for free seminar to introduce IT leaders to the capabilities of Apple mobile technology in education. Discover how to integrate with standards-based networks, build collaboration services in an Active Directory-integrated environment, and learn best practices for deploying iPads, iPhones and iPods on your campus. Please use the address in this e-mail to register for the event. Holiday Inn - Winnipeg South 1330 Pembina Highway Conference Theatre Room Winnipeg, MB R3T 2B4 Get Directions Copyright © 2010 Apple Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014.

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INTEREST: the game of "telephone"s... Android and iPhone
by billing 19 Nov '10

19 Nov '10

Yesterday, Steve Wozniak (one of the co-founders of Apple Inc.), when asked about comparing the features and futures of Android cell phones and Apple's iPhone was widely quoted as saying to a reporter from the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf (in an article filed under "Operating system Google wins race for smartphones"): http://gizmodo.com/5693169/steve-wozniak-androids-more-features-will-beat-i… ... Android phones, with their "more features," will do better. What he actually says is: http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/18/exclusive-woz-misquoted-almost-every-app… - "I saw a lot of headlines all over that are not something that I say." - "Almost every app I have is better on the iPhone." - "If it concerns quality, the iPhone is leading." - "I pointed out one thing that [Android] does that I would like to have on my iPhone...." - ...Android would become more popular "based on what I've read" - "Android will be probably a lot like Windows and we got a lot of junk from Windows. At least the iPhone is good." - "...but [Android] can get greater marketshare and still be crappy." This article also publishes part of the audio of their conversation with Mr. Wozniak for your listening pleasure. The original De Telegraaf article can be seen at: http://www.telegraaf.nl/digitaal/8250271/__Besturingssysteem_Google_wint_ra…

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